Author's Note: Yes, I have a hit count, but you just proved why it doesn't do much good. You read the story, had an opinion about it, but had I not asked, I doubt I would have heard it. The hit count tells me that at least someone looked at a particular page, whether or not they actually finished reading it, but I can't look at that number and tell what the reader was thinking. And yes, I know Snape's reaction was far from realistic, but the problem with his personality is that if I was to give him time to change to the point I need him to by the end of the story, we'd be dealing with fifty long, repetitive chapters of slowly diminishing hostility. As fun as that could be because I love an angry Snape, I don't think I'd be able to find the time for it. As it is I barely have time to do any writing, and this is a long story all on its own.
Haunted
By Be Boring
Chapter 6: Settling In
Three weeks had passed since that eventful first day of school, and Necia felt that she had settled nicely into Hogwarts. Her friendship with the trio appeared to be completely solid now, and she had even become good friends with Ginny, who was far more mature than the other girls she shared a room with. It seemed to be a great relief for her to come in and talk to Necia and Hermione without having to worry about immature remarks that she said the other girls constantly made. Apparently she was teased for her friendship with the infamous Harry Potter. "It's all completely ridiculous," Ginny had remarked to Necia when she first shared her roommate problems with her. "It's only because I'm friends with Hermione that I'm even around Harry. He has never paid any attention to me. I don't think you could even consider us to be friends." In the end, it just meant that Ginny was forced to hang around with her brother's friends because the kids her own age were thicker than Hogwarts' walls. In fact, Necia considered herself to be closer to Ginny than she was to Hermione. The Head Girl was simply too focused on her schoolwork to be a good friend to another girl. She was sufficient enough for a pair of boys, but she lacked the sensitivity needed to be the kind of friend that Necia was looking for. Ginny filled in whatever Hermione couldn't provide, so between the two girls Necia was pretty satisfied.
Harry and Ron turned out to be more entertainment than she could have ever expected. Although she wasn't given the same potions that the rest of the students were, she still kept her seat near the others in Advanced Potions, and she learned quickly that Ron could do a very accurate impression of Snape. Whenever Snape's back was turned, Ron would put the coldest, most superior expression that he could manage on his face and lean over Harry's cauldron, clucking his tongue softly in disapproval every time Harry made a move. Occasionally he would whip his robes around dramatically, but that was only when Snape left the room, which was extremely rare. Necia hated the feeling that he was always staring at her; she was absolutely dreading the day that she would have to start private lessons with him. Thankfully so far he hadn't mentioned anything to her. She suspected that he was putting it off, which didn't bother her in the least.
Her other classes proved to be far more pleasurable. Despite sharing Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, she really enjoyed all of her other classes. Of course, she wasn't nearly as skilled in the others areas of magic as she was with potions, for some reason Charms was especially challenging for her, but she liked the teachers several times better. None of them compared to her mother, but she would never expect them to. McGonogall was rather strict, and Trelawney couldn't have been phonier, but Flitwick was a very friendly little wizard, and Hagrid was kinder to her than she could have ever expected. She knew that it was largely due to her friendship with the trio, but Harry had shared with him the reason why she had transferred to Hogwarts, and now he seemed to have an extreme soft spot for her.
As Necia stared blankly at her star chart and flipped through Unfogging the Future, struggling to figure out whether the certain angle between Mars and Jupiter meant that she was going to die at an early age or win a great deal of money soon, Ron leaned over her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Don't hurt your head trying to figure that stuff out. Just do what we do."
She sat back, letting the book close itself with a heavy thud. "And what is it that you do?"
Harry sat down across the table from her and pulled out a roll of parchment. "We make tragic things up off the top of our heads. I'm sure you've heard the predictions she's been making in class. Have you heard her say anything positive? She seems to believe that all of us are doomed to live miserable lives. You should have been around third year, she was absolutely unbearable then. For some reason she seems thrilled every time we turn in a paper predicting how our lives are going to be royally messed up. We've learned that we can reuse things that we've put down before, as long as it's not on the same assignment, because she doesn't seem to pay any attention. As long as it's gloomy and depressing, she's happy."
"Alright, I guess I could lose some important object next Monday," Necia commented, glancing at the clock on the wall and scribbling it down quickly. She had barely gotten a start on this because of how much time she had spent on her Charms essay, and it was already getting late. If it hadn't been for Hermione giving her a few suggestions as to where to look to find the information she needed, she'd probably still be working on her essay.
"Maybe I'll lose a limb," Ron said thoughtfully. "Then I'll get an infection and be in the infirmary for a few days."
"Honestly," Hermione muttered from her chair next to Necia. "Madam Pomfrey would be able to fix that in no time. You wouldn't even miss an entire class."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I think you're missing the point. All Trelawney cares about is that my month will be filled with doom and gloom. She's not going to care whether it makes sense or not."
"That's only because the woman has less common sense than Cornelius Fudge did. If she had even half as much intelligence as the average witch or wizard, she would have caught onto this ridiculous trick of yours and Harry's by now. And you're even pulling Necia into it! Sometimes I can't believe you made it to your seventh year."
When she stood up and stalked off to the girls' dormitories, Necia looked around at the faces around her, all of which were smirking except for Ron. Ginny, Harry, and Neville looked like they knew a great deal more about what was going on than she did. Ron finished his paper surprisingly fast, and then made some quiet comment about being tired and headed for the boys' staircase. Without delay, Necia burst out, "What just happened here? Is there something I don't know about?"
Ginny leaned forward, smiling as she started to explain. "Ron and Hermione have been doing this for a few years now. They'll seem like normal friends for a while, then they'll just start fighting over the smallest thing. It became a lot more noticeable last year. They would never admit it, but they care for each other as more than friends. Don't worry, everything will be back to normal in the morning. It always is."
Although she wasn't quite finished, Necia rolled up her parchment and shoved her things into her bag. "Either way, they've got the right idea. I'm going to bed. I'll find some way to sneak in finishing this stupid thing tomorrow." She made her way slowly up the stairs, pausing halfway up as it occurred to her that Hermione was probably wide awake and wanting to talk to her, if only to complain and get things off her chest. 'Oh well, I already said goodnight to everyone else,' she thought dejectedly. To her relief, Hermione was laying in her bed, pretending to be sound asleep. Necia quickly changed and lay down on her bed as well, wondering if she should try to talk to Hermione right now. Their conversation wouldn't be private, Lavender was sleeping already but she could very well wake up and eavesdrop. As she was debating it, her mind steadily grew foggier until she rolled over and dozed off. 'I'm sure it can wait until morning,' she thought groggily.
Snape yawned and twisted his back a little to get some of the stiffness out of it. A first year with a weak stomach had vomited in his last class, so he was keeping himself firmly locked in his office until Filch finished cleaning it up. While the older man was usually his ally when the need arose, Severus didn't really enjoy spending more time around him than was absolutely necessary. He was currently flipping through odd papers on his desk, including notices about the upcoming Quidditch season and Madam Hooch's suggested times for each team to practice. Snape usually listened to her, and he didn't bother attending any extra practices that he called for in order to interfere with the other teams' practices, which meant that now he knew when he would be available in the evenings. He frowned as he looked over the notice. Now he didn't have an excuse to delay starting his private lessons with Necia. 'Why did I even suggest them in the first place? I always could have just kept going as I was and never mentioned the idea to her, then nobody would have been the wiser. How could I have done something so stupid?' Well, now that he had said it, he didn't see any particular reason not to do it. He thoroughly enjoyed taking opportunities to make his students' lives miserable, and Necia was very close to the top of his list. Something about her just sparked off everything inside him that was angry and spiteful. At least he knew why he didn't like Potter. Ms. Holt was just a mystery for now.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice rumbled through the fireplace. "I would like to speak with you for a moment, Severus."
Snape obligingly stood up and walked over to the fireplace, stepping into the swirling green flames and closing his eyes to avoid the soot as he was transported to Dumbledore's office. He dusted off his shoulders as he stepped into the whirring, twinkling office. Dumbledore was standing behind his desk, stroking Fawkes and studying one of his many instruments. "What did you to wish to speak to me about, Headmaster?" he asked sulkily. The old wizard had a look on his face that Snape knew all too well; Dumbledore was going to tell him something that he wasn't going to like.
"A couple things," Dumbledore replied quietly. "I'll start with the lighter topic first. I've heard that young Ms. Holt is very talented in the potions area, perhaps too talented for the class in which she is currently enrolled." Snape opened his mouth to ask how Dumbledore had found out, seeing as how Snape hadn't shared that with him yet, but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him. "I have my ways of finding these things out, as you well know, Severus. I know it was already what you had decided, but I want to make sure you carry out your plans to give her private lessons. You already told me that Lucius wants her. If she's that gifted already, then perhaps she could be just as useful for us one day. It's her decision, of course, but I would hope that she would decide to help us. A skilled potion-maker is always a good thing to have on your side. Things may not be as dangerous for us now that Voldemort is gone, but the remaining Death Eaters have nothing to lose anymore now that they've been exposed, which makes them extremely dangerous in their own right. I wouldn't mind having more numbers on our side, would you?"
Snape nodded, even though he didn't like knowing that now he had no choice but to tutor Necia. "What else did you want to talk to me about?"
"Lucius. Mundungus says that several robed figures left the Malfoy mansion last night, and he believes Lucius was with them. Apparently the Death Eaters decided to bring him out of hiding. Narcissa is still there, Mundungus could see her walking around, but he's sure that Lucius is no longer there. Six robed figures went into the house, seven came out. That's good enough for me. Besides," he tilted his head slightly towards the instrument he had been examining, "I have other sources that warn me about what could be coming."
"What can I do? I can narrow down where they are, but after my last conversation with Lucius, I doubt any of them will want to see me again. I don't know how much help I can be."
"All I need is for you to tell me where we might be able to find them so the Order can continue to keep an eye on them. We only want to watch them for now, we don't want to take any action until we believe they are going to do something."
"I'm sure they're staying at some property owned by the Malfoys. Lucius inherited several estates from his parents when they died, not to mention the ones he bought himself. If he were just looking to get as far away from his enemies as possible, then I would guess he'd be in Greece. His father bought a well-hidden mansion in Athina for Voldemort to hide in while he was performing experiments on himself. It was while he stayed there that his appearance changed so drastically."
"But what if Lucius is still interested in taking Ms. Holt?"
Snape couldn't see how that was possible. Lucius wasn't a stupid man, he would realize that he didn't stand a chance of getting the girl while she was at Hogwarts. "What would make you think that?"
Dumbledore's eyes drifted back towards the instrument again. "I have my reasons. So, where would he stay?"
"He has a small house a few miles from Hogsmeade that no one knows about. The only problem is that I know he's added several hiding places to the property, and I'm not sure where they are. It might not be safe for anyone to search for them, because I'm sure he has his own methods of surveillance. What would you do if he really is staying there?"
"We'll simply have to keep an eye on the house from a distance. I don't think he'll make a move for a while. There's nothing he can do right now."
"You guys, I really don't want to do this," Necia grumbled, dragging her feet to slow everyone down as much as possible as Harry and Ron tried to tow her with them to the Quidditch field. "You're making a really big mistake here."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? You have more than enough attitude to be on the Quidditch team, and we really need a new Chaser. At least try out, is that really such a big deal?"
Necia finally just stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms stubbornly. "I can't play Quidditch. An attitude doesn't make me athletic. I have no interest in going out there and embarrassing myself." Even worse, Hermione was still in a bad mood this morning, so when Ron and Harry had come up with the idea to have Necia try out for the position of Chaser, she had absolutely refused to come along. At least Ginny would be there, but that wouldn't make her feel any better.
Harry stopped and turned back to look at her. "What makes you think you'll embarrass yourself?"
Necia looked back and forth helplessly between the two boys, both of whom were staring at her impatiently. She really didn't want to say this. "I, uh," she started out slowly, "I've never been on a broom before." She didn't think their eyes could get any bigger if they tried. "Don't look at me like that, my mother just wasn't that interested in flying and never got around to teaching me. Now you know why I don't want to go out there. I'd probably fall off, if I even managed to get off the ground. I don't mind watching the tryouts with you, but I'm not going to fly. Is that understood?"
The boys looked at each other, then they both nodded. "Yeah," Harry replied, obviously disappointed. "I guess you've got a point. Besides, I think the Slytherin team will be watching our tryouts. The last thing we want is for you to fall off in front of Malfoy. You'd never hear the end of it."
Draco would be there? Now she was really relieved that they weren't going to make her get on a broom. She didn't want to make a fool out of herself in front of anybody, much less the Slytherins. With the comfort of knowing that her feet were going to remain firmly planted on the ground, she followed Harry and Ron to the Quidditch field, glancing at the stands to see who else was watching. The Gryffindor team was down on the field with the kids apparently planning to try out, while their friends sat up in the stands for moral support, glancing over occasionally with distaste at the Slytherin team, all of whom were shouting out random insults at everyone below them. Necia rolled her eyes and headed up into the stands, sitting next to some excited fourth years who were cheering for their friend. Soon all of the kids were in the air, practicing shooting through the goal posts. Some of them were absolutely pitiful. What made it worse was that she knew they were probably several times better than she was. Her eyes were following a second year girl, easily the youngest on the field, who actually seemed to be doing pretty good, when Draco walked over and sat down next to her.
"I'm surprised you aren't out there showing off," he drawled, leaning back in his seat and letting his right ankle rest on his left knee. "That's what everyone in Potter's group does. The Weasleys and Potter are on the Quidditch team and Granger is the smartest out of the seventh years, so what's your talent? Potter must have brought you into the fold for a reason. He has a reputation to uphold, you know."
Necia rolled her eyes. "Harry doesn't need to work on keeping his reputation, he's been famous almost since he was born. People didn't start noticing you until your father was arrested."
Draco glared at her coldly, a flush of color rising in his cheeks. "Maybe Potter decided to let you join his little group for private reasons. Perhaps your talents are better shown behind closed doors."
Now they were both glaring at each other furiously. It wasn't that Necia was surprised that Draco would say something that cutting, it was just that she didn't like it being said where others could hear it too. Already the fourth years around them were curiously glancing in their direction. "I don't need to coerce people into liking me, and I certainly don't need to use sexual favors. That's your area." Angrily, she rose to her feet and stalked away, furious that she hadn't been able to come up with a better retort. Draco rarely ran out of insults, and it was extremely frustrating to be tested against him in public. In that playing field, she would lose.
Just as she reached the edge of the field, Harry came jogging up to her. "Look, I know you said you didn't want to fly, but did you just mean on your own, or would you think about trying it with a partner?" The hopeful look on his face as he spoke finally brought a light smile to her face and she looked over at his broom.
"Is that an invitation?"
He followed her gaze and smiled in return. "Just a suggestion."
Moments later, Necia gasped as the broom tore away from the ground, forcing her stomach down to her general thigh region. Harry let out a long, loud whoop of exhilaration as he aimed the Firebolt nearly straight up in the air, leaving the other students as merely specks on the ground beneath them. Necia squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she clutched Harry's middle against her frantically. It was official, flying was not the thing for her.
When Harry finally leveled the broom out so that they could talk, he discovered that his passenger was in no mood to open her mouth for any reason, for fear of the frenzied scream inside of her bursting out. He smiled at the sheer white color of her face and slowly started to descend again, making sure that the landing was as gentle as possible.
"So, am I to assume that you're not going to reconsider trying out for the team?" he smiled sheepishly back at her. It had never occurred to him that she wouldn't enjoy flying, and he felt bad about pressuring her into it.
She managed a shaky smile back at him. "That's a pretty safe bet," she replied, sighing and letting her head fall against his shoulder in the relief of being back on solid ground.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone quickly walking away, only noticing the bright flash of red as they left. 'Ginny?' she thought curiously. Why was she leaving? Wasn't she supposed to be helping rate the tryouts? She gratefully slid off of Harry's broom and, with a quick excuse that she wasn't feeling well now, took off after her friend. She finally found Ginny sitting behind one of the dressing rooms, fiddling with her hair and staring blankly off into space. Necia lowered herself down to sit cross-legged next to her.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly, trying not to let her voice carry too far. Slytherins that weren't even on the Quidditch team were all over the damn place, hoping to get a good idea of what the new Gryffindor recruits were capable of.
Ginny looked up innocently. "Wrong? Nothing, I just felt like being on my own for a little bit."
Suddenly, a very surprising thought occurred to Necia. "Were you upset because I took that broom ride with Harry?"
Ginny looked startled at the comment. Necia didn't know about her lifetime crush on the famous Boy Who Lived. The blush on her face revealed everything perfectly without a word being spoken, but she felt it necessary to add something anyway. "I've liked Harry for a long time, and last year I thought there was a chance of him being interested in me, but it looks like he's not interested after all."
Necia looked uncomfortably down at her hands. She couldn't deny that she had been entertaining some thoughts of a stronger relationship between herself and Harry, but had she known that Ginny cared so much about him, which was apparent by the forlorn look on her face, she would never have made any designs on him. "You know, it's not like anything has happened, and as much as I like him, I think Harry and I are better suited as friends," she whispered, suspiciously eyeing two Slytherins peeking around the corner. At least they were too far away to hear.
Ginny looked up hopefully. "Do you really think so?"
Actually, Necia strongly suspected that Harry wanted more than friendship with her, but she didn't want to dash any of Ginny's hopes. If Harry kept pursuing her, then what could they do about it? Until then, however, she felt her friend deserved the chance more. Besides, right now really wasn't the time for her to be starting a serious relationship, or even a semi-serious one, and she wanted to make it perfectly clear to Draco that she wasn't doing anything with Harry. She didn't feel like having rumors spread about her so early in her time at Hogwarts. "In fact, I think I might be able to help you, but for right now, let's get back to the tryouts."
With a considerably more cheerful Ginny at her side, Necia returned to the field, watching queasily as the different kids darted around above her. Even watching them from below made her stomach dance around, now that she knew what it was like to be up there. Before too long Harry came to sit beside her, watching Ron defend the goal posts as the new kids tried to score. "What are you thinking about?" he asked casually, leaning back and shading his eyes from the sun as he followed the progress above them.
Necia shrugged, very much aware of Ginny unashamedly eavesdropping on them, which wasn't difficult considering the fact that she was sitting right next to them. "Actually, Ginny was just telling me that the school is considering holding a Yule Ball. It's been a few years since they did that, right?" Ginny had actually shared this information a few days earlier, but Harry more than likely hadn't heard it even if anyone had mentioned it directly to him.
He nodded, bringing himself forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "Yeah, the last time was in my fourth year, but that was because the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were here. Why are they doing it this year?"
Ginny leaned in to join the conversation. "It's as a celebration of You-Know-Who's death. We're free, we ought to celebrate."
Suddenly, Necia had the very strong feeling that Harry was fully prepared to ask her to go with him right then and there. In an attempt to save Ginny the humiliation, she quickly blurted out, "You know, I almost forgot that I have to talk to Professor Lupin about my vampire essay." Without giving anyone a chance to say anything, she jumped to her feet and strode purposefully across the grounds, not daring to look back. How stupid did that sound? She didn't need to talk to Lupin, but it wouldn't hurt to visit him anyway. Being as close as he was to Harry and his friends, he had automatically adopted her as another preferred student. She had never been to his office alone before though, she had always been with at least one of the others when they went to have tea with him.
Lupin looked up from the tests he was grading and smiled as she knocked on the door. "Hello, Necia. I must say this is something of a surprise. How are you doing?"
She came in and nervously settled herself down in a chair in front of his desk. "I'm alright, I just have a hard time watching the Quidditch tryouts. How are you?"
He nodded understandingly as he replied, "I'm as well as can be expected." She understood the comment; the full moon had finished only two days earlier and he looked thoroughly exhausted. "I know what you mean about Quidditch. I never really understood how James and Sirius could feel safe darting around on a mere piece of wood so high up in the air." He was silent for a moment, then he looked at her meaningfully. "It has been brought to my attention that you're rather proficient in potion-making, and it won't be long before you are being privately tutored by Severus Snape. If you don't mind my asking, whose idea was this arrangement?"
"Professor Snape was the one to mention it, although I've been noticing that he seems reluctant to actually start the lessons, which I am extremely grateful for. I can't say the prospect is exciting."
Lupin smiled. "No, I don't suppose it would be. Harry has a long history of bad experiences with Professor Snape, so I was wondering how it was leading him to treat you. Has he shown any prejudice against you?"
"I don't know him very well, so I couldn't tell you if I'm being treated differently than any other student, but I know there's the automatic dislike he has of Gryffindors. I've sensed that, but I don't believe I'm discriminated against more than anyone else. I don't think he would have suggested private lessons if he really hated me all that much. I think he just naturally dislikes everyone."
Once again Lupin smiled, nodding in agreement as she spoke until she reached the end of her comments. "There's one point I will have to warn you against. Severus would gladly suggest private lessons if he thought it would be an opportunity to make someone's life more miserable, but this may just be my personal opinion of him interfering with my observations. I hope you don't think I'm prying, I'm just concerned about how these private lessons may go. If at any time you feel you're being treated unfairly or inappropriately, please come and tell me about it and I'll help in any way I can."
The rest of the visit was perfectly enjoyable, Lupin was one of the kindest people she had ever met, but his words of caution stayed with her when she left his office. She understood his worries about her being treated unfairly, but inappropriately? Was he suspicious of Snape's intentions in requesting private lessons? She shook her head to clear away the thoughts. He was only preparing her for some rough treatment, which she already was getting ready for, and she was honestly grateful for his concern. She felt that even outside of her friendship with Harry, Lupin had taken an extreme liking to her, and it was easy for her to talk to him as well.
Meandering thoughtfully down the corridor, Necia didn't even notice where she was going or who was approaching her until she found herself facing Severus Snape. He smiled grimly down at her, immediately sending chills through her. "Ms. Holt, I believe it's time for us to discuss your tutoring."
