HSC is evil. I've also been not at my house and not at my computer, so I
didn't have access to this story. So yeah. That's just the way it goes, my
friends. Shit happens. Anyway, I'll get this chap out to you ASAP.
~*~*~*~
Eris butted the quill along Virginia's desk as the red head tried to study. "Stop it, Eris. I don't have time to play," Virginia snapped. "I have a test tomorrow." The kitten tried very hard to look repentant, but failed miserably. And it's my birthday on Friday, and Ron's been ignoring me lately but I know Draco has something planned, but somehow I'm very afraid cos he's been sneaking around with the twins, and snakeroot in a Transmogrification potion will. . .Virginia's train of thought skipped around wildly as she nevertheless tried to concentrate on studying.
~*~*~*~
Virginia ran for Snape's class, Eris bounding along at her heels.
"Late dammit, late!"
She started to clatter down a staircase.
Then her foot slipped on the top step.
Mouth open in a surprised 'o', Virginia fell down the stairs, hands clutching at her book bag.
Eris wailed for a moment, then a booted foot sent her hurtling down to join her mistress in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs.
Red hair fanned out on the grey stone floor, because Draco liked to see her wear it out around her face. Black robes half ridden up one leg, exposing white knee socks embroidered with red and gold lines, hem of her Gryffindor skirt showing as her limbs sprawled akimbo. Face white and still as red blood slowly seeped from a wound on her head, arm bent at an unnatural angle from the elbow. Ink flowed slowly from her bookbag where she had fallen on it and broken the bottles.
Her familiar a small mound of ruffled silver grey fur, motionless. Unable to go for help.
~*~*~*~
Snape glared as the last student scuttled through the door.
Wait, not the last student. Where was little Ginny Weasley?
"And where, pray tell, is miss Weasley?" Snape purred in a dangerous tone. "She wouldn't have happened to have forgotten we have a test today, would she?"
The Gryffindors looked at each other, and a girl hesitantly raised her hand.
"Yes, miss Bones?" Snape snapped.
"I thought she was right behind me," the small girl stuttered, shrinking back into her seat and no doubt already regretting her decision to speak up. "She had to find her textbook. . ."
"Any reasons why she couldn't that might be attributed to her decisions regarding the state of animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor?" Snape asked poisonously.
Some of the looks that flitted between the students told him that was so.
"Quite."
Snape's fingers tightened on the desk.
"Start the test, and if I hear one word. . ."
Terrified silence fell over the room as Snape swept out, black robes flaring behind him adding to that bird of prey aura he projected.
~*~*~*~
Snape stalked through the dungeons, knowing somehow that something was wrong. Ginny never missed a Potions class. For some reason the red haired girl didn't find him frightening at all, and adored the work of mixing potions. She was pretty good at it too. His footsteps rang out in the silent halls, then faltered, stopped, then sped up again.
"Miss Weasley?"
No answer from the huddled mass of robes and outflung spray of red hair.
Small bundle of grey silver fur next to her, books scattered across the floor, pages flapping uneasily, ink spread out in mingled pools of black, red and blue. . . Parchment rolls unrolled and soaking up the ink that covered carefully scripted words. A phrase jumped out at him.
'In the event of accidental death of subject, try adding the feverfew first next time. . .'
Before it was covered in the slowly seeping black ink. . .
"POMFREY!"
~*~*~*~
Virgina woke up slowly, head and arm aching, feeling very muzzy headed.
Where was she? The infirmary? What had happened?
She tried to remember. Something. . .she'd been running to class, because she had a test for Potions and she really did want to keep her grades up in that subject. Wanted to have a good enough track record that she could do Advanced Potions next year. . .and the staircase. She'd stepped on the top step and gone flying. She'd more or less missed all the steps in an almost graceful swan dive. . .until she'd hit her head on the corner of the step at the very bottom and hadn't that hurt like a *bitch* before she'd fallen into unconsciousness?
And that would be a resounding yes, from the participating audience.
The question was. . .why had she fallen?
Then another question hit her.
Where was Eris?
Virginia sat upright in bed, then lay straight back down. Ok, not a good idea to move that fast with a possible, almost certain concussion. . .
"Miss Weasley, please stay still!" Madame Pomfrey fussed, bustling up with a bottle of something that would certainly taste foul and a measuring spoon. Virginia smiled slightly. "What are you doing back in my infirmary so soon? Running down stairs. . .you just have to make sure that you don't get so late for class that you have to rush."
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," Virginia said, mind already working quickly. She didn't normally fall down stairs, even if she was running at break neck speed. She never had before, not even that time when she'd been reading a textbook in one hand, juggling a cup of hot coffee in the other and running for the common room before curfew. She'd made it too. Though just barely. And she was pretty sure there'd been an incredible amount of non-grip on that step. . . "Where's my cat?"
That question got her an averted glance and a mouthful of predictably foul tasting medicine. Virginia shut up and let Madame Pomfrey do her work. Suddenly very worried. . .
~*~*~*~
She was napping later when Fred and George crept in, looking serious. What she wanted to know now, was where was Draco? And where was her sodding cat?
"Ginny. . ."
"Good, maybe you two will give me a straight answer. Where is Eris?" Virginia said with carefully spaced and enunciated words.
They shared a glance.
"Fred. George. Where. Is. My. Cat? Small, silver fur, green eyes, black collar. Kinda cute and fluffy, but completely evil?"
"Ginny. . ."
"That is to say. . ."
"What *happened*?" Virginia demanded. She wouldn't cry.
"Hagrid's looking after her for now," Fred said in a rush.
"Because she must have-"
"Been caught up in your robes-"
"Or something because-"
"She was next to you at the bottom of the stairs-"
"And Hagrid's *certain* she will-"
"Make a full recovery. In time."
Virginia blinked slightly, as her shaken up brain processed the twin's double speak.
"Where's Draco?" She asked softly.
~*~*~*~
Dum de dum dum DUM!
Ahem. So here we are, again, and someone is out to get our fair hero and heroine! What will happen in the next instalment of their thrilling adventure? Stay tuned!
DitzCat.
~*~*~*~
Eris butted the quill along Virginia's desk as the red head tried to study. "Stop it, Eris. I don't have time to play," Virginia snapped. "I have a test tomorrow." The kitten tried very hard to look repentant, but failed miserably. And it's my birthday on Friday, and Ron's been ignoring me lately but I know Draco has something planned, but somehow I'm very afraid cos he's been sneaking around with the twins, and snakeroot in a Transmogrification potion will. . .Virginia's train of thought skipped around wildly as she nevertheless tried to concentrate on studying.
~*~*~*~
Virginia ran for Snape's class, Eris bounding along at her heels.
"Late dammit, late!"
She started to clatter down a staircase.
Then her foot slipped on the top step.
Mouth open in a surprised 'o', Virginia fell down the stairs, hands clutching at her book bag.
Eris wailed for a moment, then a booted foot sent her hurtling down to join her mistress in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs.
Red hair fanned out on the grey stone floor, because Draco liked to see her wear it out around her face. Black robes half ridden up one leg, exposing white knee socks embroidered with red and gold lines, hem of her Gryffindor skirt showing as her limbs sprawled akimbo. Face white and still as red blood slowly seeped from a wound on her head, arm bent at an unnatural angle from the elbow. Ink flowed slowly from her bookbag where she had fallen on it and broken the bottles.
Her familiar a small mound of ruffled silver grey fur, motionless. Unable to go for help.
~*~*~*~
Snape glared as the last student scuttled through the door.
Wait, not the last student. Where was little Ginny Weasley?
"And where, pray tell, is miss Weasley?" Snape purred in a dangerous tone. "She wouldn't have happened to have forgotten we have a test today, would she?"
The Gryffindors looked at each other, and a girl hesitantly raised her hand.
"Yes, miss Bones?" Snape snapped.
"I thought she was right behind me," the small girl stuttered, shrinking back into her seat and no doubt already regretting her decision to speak up. "She had to find her textbook. . ."
"Any reasons why she couldn't that might be attributed to her decisions regarding the state of animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor?" Snape asked poisonously.
Some of the looks that flitted between the students told him that was so.
"Quite."
Snape's fingers tightened on the desk.
"Start the test, and if I hear one word. . ."
Terrified silence fell over the room as Snape swept out, black robes flaring behind him adding to that bird of prey aura he projected.
~*~*~*~
Snape stalked through the dungeons, knowing somehow that something was wrong. Ginny never missed a Potions class. For some reason the red haired girl didn't find him frightening at all, and adored the work of mixing potions. She was pretty good at it too. His footsteps rang out in the silent halls, then faltered, stopped, then sped up again.
"Miss Weasley?"
No answer from the huddled mass of robes and outflung spray of red hair.
Small bundle of grey silver fur next to her, books scattered across the floor, pages flapping uneasily, ink spread out in mingled pools of black, red and blue. . . Parchment rolls unrolled and soaking up the ink that covered carefully scripted words. A phrase jumped out at him.
'In the event of accidental death of subject, try adding the feverfew first next time. . .'
Before it was covered in the slowly seeping black ink. . .
"POMFREY!"
~*~*~*~
Virgina woke up slowly, head and arm aching, feeling very muzzy headed.
Where was she? The infirmary? What had happened?
She tried to remember. Something. . .she'd been running to class, because she had a test for Potions and she really did want to keep her grades up in that subject. Wanted to have a good enough track record that she could do Advanced Potions next year. . .and the staircase. She'd stepped on the top step and gone flying. She'd more or less missed all the steps in an almost graceful swan dive. . .until she'd hit her head on the corner of the step at the very bottom and hadn't that hurt like a *bitch* before she'd fallen into unconsciousness?
And that would be a resounding yes, from the participating audience.
The question was. . .why had she fallen?
Then another question hit her.
Where was Eris?
Virginia sat upright in bed, then lay straight back down. Ok, not a good idea to move that fast with a possible, almost certain concussion. . .
"Miss Weasley, please stay still!" Madame Pomfrey fussed, bustling up with a bottle of something that would certainly taste foul and a measuring spoon. Virginia smiled slightly. "What are you doing back in my infirmary so soon? Running down stairs. . .you just have to make sure that you don't get so late for class that you have to rush."
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," Virginia said, mind already working quickly. She didn't normally fall down stairs, even if she was running at break neck speed. She never had before, not even that time when she'd been reading a textbook in one hand, juggling a cup of hot coffee in the other and running for the common room before curfew. She'd made it too. Though just barely. And she was pretty sure there'd been an incredible amount of non-grip on that step. . . "Where's my cat?"
That question got her an averted glance and a mouthful of predictably foul tasting medicine. Virginia shut up and let Madame Pomfrey do her work. Suddenly very worried. . .
~*~*~*~
She was napping later when Fred and George crept in, looking serious. What she wanted to know now, was where was Draco? And where was her sodding cat?
"Ginny. . ."
"Good, maybe you two will give me a straight answer. Where is Eris?" Virginia said with carefully spaced and enunciated words.
They shared a glance.
"Fred. George. Where. Is. My. Cat? Small, silver fur, green eyes, black collar. Kinda cute and fluffy, but completely evil?"
"Ginny. . ."
"That is to say. . ."
"What *happened*?" Virginia demanded. She wouldn't cry.
"Hagrid's looking after her for now," Fred said in a rush.
"Because she must have-"
"Been caught up in your robes-"
"Or something because-"
"She was next to you at the bottom of the stairs-"
"And Hagrid's *certain* she will-"
"Make a full recovery. In time."
Virginia blinked slightly, as her shaken up brain processed the twin's double speak.
"Where's Draco?" She asked softly.
~*~*~*~
Dum de dum dum DUM!
Ahem. So here we are, again, and someone is out to get our fair hero and heroine! What will happen in the next instalment of their thrilling adventure? Stay tuned!
DitzCat.