Chapter 8
Giliana finished tying the strings on the back of her corset. She was wearing a long white peasant skirt, with a white corset. She was getting ready to go to the Slytherin party at the lake, since, she had promised Draco she would come; although she wasn't too excited about it after all.
She couldn't help but still feel embarrassment from Snape reading the note Draco had given her during class. She sighed, and shrugged it off. She looked around the dorm room. She was alone.
Most of the other Slytherins were already out by the lake, partying. Giliana was coming fashionably late; she wasn't in a hurry. She preferred to be alone in the dorm room anyway.
She put her things away neatly, walked out of the Slytherin dorm, and out of the common room.
Walking through the dungeons, she passed by Snape's classroom. She knew Todd had detention in there tonight. Was she in there now? What was she doing?
Todd slumped along the dark dungeon halls. She had to go to detention for 5 hours tonight. And, worst of all, no sleeping. He'd probably just make her sit there. He knew that would be punishing enough. Todd hated to be bored more than anything. When she was bored, she started thinking... and thinking about things in the present time isn't always a good idea. It always depressed her. And then she would lose her...edge?
Todd pondered to herself before slowly creaking open the large black door to the Potions classroom. She looked in and saw Snape sitting at his desk. She hesitantly closed the door and looked at the ground as she stormed to her seat, crossing her arms and looking to the right at the enchanted window that showed a view that wasn't really there -- they were underground, after all. Snape just grunted a little and glared at her as a greeting. He stood and walked to a large hourglass, and turned it over.
"When every last grain of sand is at the bottom...you may leave." He spoke with hatred. "If I catch you sleeping, you'll have to stand for the remainder of the time." Snape then walked to a cabinet and seemed to be taking an inventory of his supplies.
Giliana walked through the entrance hall, to the grounds. She walked along until she reached the lake.
She saw where the Slytherins were partying. There were Slytherin girls freak dancing on the shore in tight clothes and short skirts.
There were a few tables set up with cartons of butterbeer. A number of the Slytherin boys were sitting on the grass, drinking one right after another, joking and rough housing with each other.
Giliana walked past most of them, until she found Draco, sitting in a chair shirtless, showing off his beautifully fit body. He was bragging, joking, and talking with Crabbe and Goyle, who agreed to everything he said; and was drinking a container of butterbeer.
When he saw Giliana, he smirked. He got up, grabbed her right hand and kissed it.
"I'm so glad you came." He smiled mischievously. He was acting a bit giddy. Giliana could tell he hadn't been drinking lightly.
"I told you I would." She said to him expressionless. She always kept her word, and had wanted to come. But now that she was there, she wasn't impressed, and knew she was going to get bored.
"You look ravishing tonight." He smiled, and offered her a drink. She refused. "Suit yourself..." He shrugged, drank the butterbeer he had offered her, and smiled at her again.
Most of the time Giliana was there, she just sat next to Draco; his arm around her, telling jokes to Crabbe and Goyle, and a few others, who always laughed at his arrogant jokes. She fake laughed at all his jokes, just so she could go about unnoticed. She could feel some of the jealous girls' eyes on her back; all envying her for being Draco's "girlfriend," according to them.
Draco was very attractive, and probably why she had decided to come in the first place, but Giliana really couldn't see anything interesting in him. She couldn't see why so many Slytherin girls wanted him so much.
Todd sat in her seat, trying to save herself from boredom. Her eyes stung from the light smoke in the air, which was coming from a few cauldrons bubbling in the corners. Her thoughts were uneasy, every few moments turned back to Lupin. She couldn't stand thinking about him all the time, even if those thoughts were wonderful. Love was so complicated.
The clock was ticking, every second seemed slower than the last. She kept feeling her eyes getting heavy, and she almost put her head down a few times. It was getting later and later, but there was still more than half of the sand in the hourglass left. Todd struggled to stay awake. She looked over at Snape, feeling very annoyed.
He was endlessly grading papers at his desk. She couldn't understand how he could manage to stay awake just to see her suffer. Lupin continued to cross her mind, and all her thoughts became a blur, as she started to doze off...
"Miss Black." Snape looked at her, his teeth slightly bared, his eyes narrowed.
Todd quickly saved herself from falling asleep when she head Snape's eerie voice. She figured she was probably going to have to stand now. She sighed and pretending she was only looking down.
"I might consider making your time here shorter, only if you cooperate..." He stood up, and paused, his black robes swaying, and looked at the wastebasket by his desk. He slowly walked about the room, and stopped at a random desk. He looked very annoyed.
"Tell me, what do you know about this Slytherin party taking place tonight, Miss Black?" He glared at her in question.
Todd paused. Why did Snape care about Giliana?
"Eh. It's not a big deal, really... just some dumb Slytherins having a power party. I'm sure you know how that might be..." She shrugged, a sly smile spread across her face.
Snape was struggling to keep his cool. He grunted in frustration.
"Just tell me what you know Miss Black, and I will cut your time here short." He insisted, growing very impatient.
"If you insist." Todd gave in. She began to tell him where it was. Todd couldn't help but want him to break up the party. She knew that Giliana didn't fit in with most of the Slytherins, and that wasn't a bad thing at all, it was quite the opposite. All she knew was that this night didn't feel very good... but she didn't have the heart to tell Giliana to not go. It was her choice, after all.
"I got another one!" Draco began. "How many mudbloods does it take to do a charm spell?"
"How many?" Crabbe asked.
"None, dumbass! They can't do magic!" Draco roared. Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of his little crowd laughed.
Giliana suddenly began to fill with hatred. She pushed Draco's arm off her shoulder forcefully. She stood up, looking away.
"What's wrong with you?" He said, still laughing at his seemingly bad joke. He gulped down more of his butterbeer.
"Nothing." She began, sounding very annoyed. "I'm going back to the common room." He eyes narrowed with hatred.
"Oh-ho-ho! Not so fast!" Draco laughed, finishing another carton of butterbeer. "You can't just leave me like this with nothing."
Snape listened to Todd with anticipation in his dark eyes.
"Now tell me, Mr. Malfoy at this party as well, am I correct?" Snape asked, subtly waiting for Todd's answer anxiously.
"Yes... just like most of the Slytherin's." Todd answered, completely confused at Snape's behavior.
"And Miss Lenore...is she there too?" He asked, a little more anxiously.
"Yeah." Todd felt a little guilty.
Snape stopped to think for a moment. There was a look of annoyance on his face.
"Very well then, you're free to go. But don't think that you'll be getting out of any more...shenanigans." Snape hissed at her. Pausing for a second, he then stormed out of the classroom, cloak billowing behind him as if they were an extension of his dark being, before Todd could react.
Draco smiled mischievously at Giliana. He motioned to Crabbe and Goyle to get his firebolt. Giliana started walking away, getting even more annoyed.
"You haven't been a good girlfriend," Draco scolded her mockingly.
Giliana started walking faster, but before she knew it, Draco flew by on his firebolt, scooping her onto the broom in his arm. He flew up just above the trees, and stopped. Giliana had her arms extended by her sides while holding on to the broom with both hands. She could barely sit steadily. Draco turned and looked at her. He smiled mischievously at her.
"You're my girlfriend, and you should start acting like it." He grabbed her by the sides of her face, and kissed her forcefully. Giliana squirmed as she struggled to get out of his kiss. She felt paralyzed. One move and she could fall down to her death. Draco began fondling her. She started pushing him away, and Draco stopped after almost falling off. He flew the broom to a long, thick branch at the top of one of the tallest trees, and dragged Giliana on there with him.
"You're---my---girlfriend---ho!" he insisted, as he struggled to undo her corset. Giliana squirmed as she tried to keep him from untying her corset. She tried climbing along another branch that was higher up, desperate to escape, but Draco lifted her skirt. Giliana screamed, trying to kick his face away from her.
As soon as the Slytherin students noticed Snape coming to end their party, they all ran out of sight, leaving their mess of junk food and cartons of butterbeer scattered everywhere. Snape walked right past the mess, pacing about franticly as if he were looking for something, or someone. He stopped when he came to a small wooded area. He heard some voices echoing from afar...
"LET GO OF ME!" Giliana screamed, as Draco grabbed onto her skirt, exposing part of her undergarments.
Draco pulled her down by her corset, and forced himself on top of her.
He began to kiss her all along her neck, and chest. Giliana screamed even more, trying her hardest to pry him off of her.
Finally, Draco slipped, and fell over, dangling off of the branch. He squealed, and tried to get back up, while Giliana was shouting at him and trying to figure out how to escape while he was holding on for his life.
Snape walked throughout the trees, following the voices. He was hoping it was Giliana's...he wanted to catch her doing something really bad for once, so that he could show Dumbledore just how "good" she was. Then he wouldn't have to...suffer with her presence in the dungeons any longer. The voices got closer and closer, until he was sure they were in one of the trees above him.
Draco suddenly got quiet. He saw Snape walking about just underneath them. He quickly jumped onto another branch, got his firebolt, and flew away, leaving Giliana alone, at last. Giliana slowly and carefully climbed down the trees; her skirt torn, her corset loose and dirty; her hair full of leaves. She collapsed when she hit the ground, and Snape's eyes widened when he turned around and realized she landed right behind him.
Speechless and hurt, Giliana slowly got up when she saw Snape. She didn't say anything.
Snape was satisfied that he could finally find out what she had been up to, knowing he had caught her up to no good for the first time.
He looked delighted for a moment. He had caught her, and only her doing something wrong, all the other Slytherins had fled. He could finally punish her... be free of her.
"Miss Lenore..." He snapped, but when he finally rested his eyes on her, he lost all focus. Snape noticed how her eyes stood out at him; they were screaming with sadness. Frustrated, Snape re-focused with a little difficulty, and continued, "Tell me what in the world were you doing?" He said angrily. He snarled at her. Giliana just looked at the ground. He grabbed her arm, and forcefully led her to his classroom to question her.
The moment they got there, Giliana began to shed a few tears, and collapsed on the nearest desk she could find, and quietly sobbed herself to sleep as soon as she sat down.
In his frustration, Snape walked over and began to pile loads of heavy work for her to do when for when she woke. He paused for a moment and turned to look at her. She was sound asleep. He sighed, and suddenly didn't feel the hatred and annoyance for her any longer. Snape slowly walked over to her.
Giliana looked helpless in her sleep. She never seemed that way before...
He walked over to his desk, sat down and sighed, burying his head in his hands.
Giliana woke up in the potions classroom. She sat up for a moment, wondering how she got there. She looked out of one of the windows. It was still dark outside. She looked over at Snape, sitting at his desk, obsessively grading papers.
Snape looked up at her when he realized she was awake. He grunted and quickly looked back down at the papers he was grading, trying to keep his focus. Giliana suddenly remembered everything that had happened.
She got up, wondering where to go. She didn't feel safe walking back to the common room...Draco. Her eyes began to well up with tears.
Snape looked up, annoyed when he realized she was crying.
"Miss Lenore...don't cry." He said angrily through his teeth.
Giliana crawled into a corner in the room, and sat down in a fetal position, her arms around her legs and knees. She buried her head in her knees, and broke down into tears.
Snape rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. He sighed, walked over to Giliana, and stood beside her, as if she was going to stop crying with him just standing there.
He sighed with annoyance, and bent over, and put his hand on her shoulder very gently.
She looked up at him, and began to calm down. For a few moments, she just stared at him, tears slowly coming down her cheeks.
Snape's annoyance had faded slightly. He sighed to himself, got up, and looked away.
"You're up way past curfew." He scolded. "Go back to your common room immediately, before I take 50 points from Slytherin."
Another tear came down Giliana's face.
"I can't..." she walked up to him, and weakly tapped him on the shoulder. "I can't go alone."
Snape sighed, and turned around and looked at her.
"Very well." He was not quiet amused, but grabbed her by the hand, and led her out of the classroom, and into the dungeons.
"Please keep up," he said, forcefully, trying to get there as fast as he could. Giliana held on tightly to his hand as they walked down the dungeons.
They turned a corner, and finally came to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Immediately, Snape let go of her hand.
"Here we are." He mumbled.
"Albino." Giliana said softly. Her voice was hoarse.
Snape began to turn around to leave. Right as he was about to take his first step, he felt Giliana's arms around him.
'Ack!' he thought. His eyes widened. He turned around. Giliana was hugging him the way a little girl would hug a huge plush toy.
"Thank you Professor..." Giliana whispered in her hoarse voice.
For a moment, he just stood there, in Giliana's arms. He then pushed her away, and turned around to look the other direction, the one he was headed.
"Er...You'd better get to bed..." He tried to sound annoyed. He hesitantly began walking back to the potions classroom.
"Goodnight Severus." Giliana called out softly as she stepped inside.
He stopped, alarmed at her calling by his first name. He looked back, as if to say something, and was disappointed when he realized she had already gone inside.
He shook his head, and began to walk back to his quarters. It had been a strange night. Too strange for his liking. But somehow, he didn't mind all that much.
