Anything that's not blatant is
a riddle
Please read and review if you can!
Author's penname: Elixa Amethyst
Voices of the Past Part II
Written March 2002 onwards, pre Order of the Phoenix.
All characters and things you recognise, are © JKRowling, no infringement
intended.
All references to
"mediwizard" mean healer.
Read Part I at ?storyid1672635
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Chapter Eleven
A Walk in the Night
With that news, I was subsequently in a very bad mood for the rest of the day, if not the week. I doled out harsh times to anyone I found putting a foot out of line and I did my best to scare anyone who thought of speaking about who I was related to into complete and utter silence. It was lonely being like this, and I wasn't going to get Kerry back this way either. Susan just seemed to be trying to get closer to me by the day, and I was letting her… Draco talked about other things whenever we met, which I was thankful about, but inside I just felt so annoyed and suspicious that I could explode myself. It didn't help Lysander was aiming himself for a decent crack at me whenever we were in lessons together. If I didn't talk to someone I was going to do something I really would regret.
"My we do look stormy tonight don't we?" My mirror said and I washed my hands and face roughly.
"Shut up!" I snapped at it. The mirror stared back at me for a while and then the face disappeared. I walked out of the bathroom and into my dormitory. I threw myself onto my bed, the curtains drawn around me and tried to sleep.
"Elixa, wake up, what are you doing here?" I opened my eyes, and saw I was staring into Severus's face. I jumped. I was standing in the corridor in the middle of the night, not far from the library. I had a book clasped in my hands, and I looked down at it.
"What's going on?" He demanded, taking the book from me. "This is from the restricted section."
"I don't actually know Professor…Was I sleepwalking?" Severus clasped my hand, and his hand felt warm to mine.
"Are you sick?" He asked. I shook my head.
"Not by anything I was aware of. Unless someone has poisoned me or something." I was confused, and disorientated.
"Professor, you found them did you?" Filch came down the corridor, carrying a lantern, Mrs Norris at his heels. "Miss Amethyst? I thought you were a prefect?"
"I'll take you to the hospital wing-." Severus interrupted.
"No, I'm fine. I was just sleepwalking." I looked at the book in my hands and saw it was 'Advanced Dark Arts for Darkest Souls.' What was I doing with a book like that?
"I'm not convinced." Severus said.
"She's bluffing Professor, she's been sneaking round the school at night. Someone was doing it the other night too."
"I did not leave my bed last night I assure you Mr Filch." I interrupted.
"She's my house, and I'll deal with
her." How that reminded me of the previous year…
"She's your niece…" Filch started, cautiously.
"And you think that will cloud my judgement Argus?" Filch looked humble.
"Well… er… no Sir… just don't want her getting away with lying."
"Thank you Argus. That will be all." Severus and I watched Filch leave the corridor via a hidden passageway behind a tapestry. Severus plucked the book from me, then made me walk, heading downstairs through passageways I didn't know existed. It was next to no time that I was being pushed through his office door, and the torches on the wall were lit. Severus shut the door behind us and took another look at the book. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling the cold now we were back in the dungeons. I'd never sleep walked as far as I remembered.
"Were you really sleep walking?" Severus asked in serious tones. I looked up and caught a look from his black eyes, glinting dangerously.
"Yes." I replied.
"Then how can you be sure that it wasn't you last night…?" I felt very uncomfortable.
"Well if it was me, I was sleepwalking, but I've never done it before." There was a sharp knock at the door. Severus opened the door to his cupboard, which was charmed to hold more and I was shocked that he shoved me in!
"Don't make a sound." He warned in his soft voice. I hugged my legs and shivered. The door shut, and left a tiny crack, which if I leant slightly forward, I could see a bit of what was going on. Severus opened the door just enough to talk to the person outside.
"Minerva, what are you doing up?"
"Argus mentioned something about someone sleep walking… Elixa, I thought there might be something wrong."
"There's nothing wrong, she was sleep walking. She's in her dormitory now." There was a pause.
"Can I come in? We need to discuss something."
"Can't it wait? It's the middle of the night for Merlin's sake, I'm going back to bed."
"No, it can't Severus." McGonagall was using her stern Scots tones. Severus stepped back and let her in. I saw the tartan slippers and dressing gown enter the room though the crack in the cupboard doors.
"It's highly unlikely a student can sleepwalk through a common room door, and select a book from the restricted section isn't it? Are you sure she wasn't up to something?" I couldn't see his face, but I suspected it was sour.
"Minerva…"
"Severus, you can't expect me to turn a blind eye to what is going on. The girl lost her parents, and she had no one to turn to."
"Are you saying she's doing this because she's bereaved?"
"I'm pointing out that you could be a little more accommodating towards her."
"Accommodating? She stayed with me this summer- I am being responsible for her!"
"You may be all that, but do you know who her friends are? Do you know how she feels about her parent's deaths? Do you know what she could be going through at the moment?" There was a long silence. "I thought as much. When I saw you and her in that corridor last term, I was very worried about you and particularly her. It's no wonder she can't turn to you if you've had her up against a wall and threatened her."
"That was not about-."
"It doesn't matter- you wouldn't threaten a student that way, although sometimes I doubt you. I don't approve your teaching methods of bullying, and I never will." I couldn't believe how McGonagall had silenced Severus. He held up his hands and sat down, his back to me.
"If you think you're the font of all knowledge, you deal with her." McGonagall raised an eyebrow, walked across the room and leant down into Severus's face.
"She's your house, and your family… I thought you always wanted to deal with those…?" She stood up and left the office. Severus had his back to me in the cupboard, sitting in a chair. I put my head on my knees. I didn't want to be here… I never asked to be here. Severus got up and I saw him walk over to the cupboard.
"I suppose you heard all of that."
"I'd be lying if I said no." I replied. He opened the door and I hauled myself out with help from Severus.
"Sit down." He said, and started a fire.
