Though they had DADA that morning, Rhyann did not approach Snape during class. The professor was as sour as ever, but there was an eagerness in his eyes that he had retained this position. It was known that he had sought after it for many years and the Headmaster had always denied him. Why this year was any different from the previous ones, none could say. Most students believed it was only because no one else would take up the position believing it to be cursed.
The fact that a teaching position could be cursed was a bunch of superstitious nonsense to the dreamer. Not all the professors had been killed. The famous Lockhart had only suffered some amnesia and was in St. Mungo's receiving treatment. There was mention that a Professor Lupin had been discovered to be a werewolf and he was not allowed to work at Hogwarts any more. There was also Umbridge who was found to be acting without permission from the Minister of Magic on a few things and was forced to leave to be punished. Truly, it was not the position that was cursed, it was just the idiocy of wizards.
Snape's class was detailed and well thought out. It was as if he were born to teach DADA. Even those who did not like the foul tempered man had to admit that he knew what he was talking about and agreed that they could learn a lot from him. They immediately began work on counter-jinxes with but a few words of introduction to the class and the importance of this final year for them.
Their last class of the day was Care of Magical Creatures and was taught by Professor Grubbly-Plank. Though Hagrid's absence was suspicious, not Harry nor any of the Gryffindors asked where the half-giant might be. Rhyann had been sure she had seen him at the staff table the first night they had returned. So where was he now?
She did not dwell long on the question though. Whether the great oaf taught the class or not was not any of her concern. Instead of going back to Slytherin tower after the final class of the day, she went straight to Snape's office and knocked on the door. She heard him tell her to come in and she stepped inside. Though he was no longer the Potions Master, the room still looked just like it had the previous year with all the labeled containers lining the walls.
The hooked nose wizard stared at her from behind his desk and motioned for her to take a seat. Rhyann sat down and prepared to say what she wanted to say. With the way Snape was, she had thought it best to start with an apology. He had been right, after all. Yet as he sat across from her with that haughty and bitter glare, she could not bring herself to do so. She pursed her lips, at a loss for words.
After a few minutes, Snape folded his arms across his chest. "You did come to see me about something, didn't you, Miss Rookwood? Because if you're just going to sit there and stare at me, I do have some work to do."
She bit her tongue to give it some motivation to get moving. Best to start with official business. "As you know, Slytherin has the quidditch tournament as its special event this year. My group is working on a mascot. A large serpent that we could summon, preferably an illusion, of course. I am here to ask if you would do us the honor of summoning it for us since you are Head of our House. There will be little else of ceremony about it except for the presenting of trophies at the end."
"Yes, I can do that." Snape replied, making it sound more like a bother than not. He waited a few seconds more and then flatly asked, "Is there anything else?"
Of course she knew he would not make it easy on her. Why should he? She had refused to heed to what he told her the previous school year. Rhyann had pictured this going a lot more smoothly on her part though. She cleared her throat quietly and brushed back her dark hair out of her face. It was harder to force it out than she thought. "You… you were right, Professor."
Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward slightly. "Right about what, Miss Rookwood?"
"Right about it all. Right about the Malfoys." Before she got anything else out, Snape flicked out his wand and shut the door. He did a few more swishes that she assumed activated wards so no one would be able to hear what they were saying.
"You need to watch what you say when not in secure places. There are eyes and ears all over. I would think you would know that by now." He scolded.
"Surely the Malfoys have no such things in Hogwarts…"
"Obviously you have not learned enough yet." He replied tartly.
Rhyann could feel her temper rising. Sometimes she thought that he purposely did this to gain an advantage over the other person. She gripped her hands tightly together upon her lap and refused to lose her calm. "I have learned far too much. I admit that you were right about them and I should have listened then." She refused to say that she was sorry even though it might placate him.
"Well, now it is too late, isn't it? What is the purpose of coming to tell me this now?" Snape offered no sympathy. One set of his long fingers drummed on his arm.
"I just thought…" Her voice faltered. What exactly did she think? Rhyann could not expect him to march over the Malfoy Manor and demand her freedom from them. The professor was still one of their master's most loyal servants. He certainly could not go against any orders that the Dark Lord had given.
"You just thought what, Miss Rookwood? That somehow I could dig you out of the hole you have found yourself in? You must find your own way out of that dark pit. I warned you last year but you chose not to listen." His sneer transferred directly into his tone.
"I don't know what I thought!" The dreamer burst out. She caught herself and forced herself to speak evenly. "It is not easy to admit that one is wrong. Surely you know that yourself. I had perhaps hoped for an understanding ear and perhaps a suggestion as to what I could do. I will listen this time. You were the only one not to have lied to me. You told me the truth even when I did not want to hear it. I much more appreciate the value of that now than I did last year."
Snape leaned back in his chair. It squeaked quietly as he shifted his weight. He sat silently for a few minutes, just staring at her and contemplating exactly what he would say. "I'm afraid there is nothing I can tell you. You belong to the Malfoys now. Lucius uses you as he wishes with your family's lives in the balance and Draco uses you as he desires as well." His lip curled up distastefully at that last bit. "And you let them."
"I don't let them!" She exclaimed indignantly. "If I don't do as they say, they could kill my uncles or do something horrible to them. I know that they have the power to make such a thing happen. And I'm not naïve enough to believe that they would not do anything. I know very well that they would." Her words were growing heated again. "I could so easily just kill them in the dreaming realm, but they are favorite in our Lord's eyes and he has approved of what they are doing." She suddenly paused and peered at the older wizard curiously. "How did you know exactly what's going on?"
"Do you forget who I am?" Snape snapped back. "It's not exactly a private arrangement. Lucius brags though not as much as his son. Plus, any intelligent wizard can put two and two together to figure out what is going on. Especially when two of Malfoy's most fierce competitors suddenly die overnight." He motioned to the newspaper on the desk beside him.
Her lips tightened against one another. Rhyann could say nothing about that. She had done the deeds but she was not going to admit to it out loud. She did not care that the professor already knew the truth of it. Some things were better left unsaid.
"No matter what else, you still do let them control you." He continued, ignoring her reaction. "You claim there is nothing that you can do, but that's only because you aren't willing to make any sacrifices to get what you want. No matter what has happened, you still are a spoiled child and you still want everything you desire."
"I am not!"
He gave her a silencing glare. "You are not willing to give up certain things. That is why you cannot change the position you're in. That is why they can still control you."
"You can't expect me to let them kill my family!" Rhyann protested. "If by doing what I'm told to do, I save my family from being hurt, I will do what I'm told."
"Then you will forever be theirs to use."
The dreamer didn't even realize that she had risen from her chair. "I won't! No one can expect me to risk my family!"
Snape remained his cool, detached self. "And do you not trust your family to take care of themselves? If I do remember correctly, they are full grown and able bodied wizards. Capable and intelligent. More so than you, it would seem."
Rhyann opened her mouth to object again but then shut it just as quickly. She knew her uncles were adept wizards and they did have warning of what might happen. She could not help worrying about them, but they wanted her free of the Malfoys and home with them as much as she did. Surely they would understand if she must take a risk of some sort. The question then would be what could she do? She sat down slowly, collecting herself once more.
"They do know the risk. I could warn them if I suspected anything…"
"It does seem as though you learned a little of something then." Snape huffed and lowered his arms stiffly. "It is for you to figure out, Miss Rookwood. I have enough to deal with myself as it is. Now, is that all?"
She had just sat down and now she rose again. "That's all, Professor." The dreamer headed for the door and noticed that he had flicked his wand to undo the wards and the lock. She glanced back over her shoulder at him. "I will listen this time. Thank you."
He gave her a curt nod and returned his attention to the parchments before him as if they had not just had the conversation they just had. Rhyann did not care if he put it immediately out of his mind or not. Everything that they had discussed tumbled around in her own head. Snape had not been far off calling her spoiled still. She could see that. She wanted to hold on to what she had left and had been unwilling to budge on those things. That made her easier to control. If she had not been blinded by her own emotions and wants, she would have figured it out herself.
She wandered through the winding halls. Most of the school would be heading towards the Great Hall for dinner now. She was in no rush to re-join the crowd. Draco would want her there though and there would be questions if he knew she was just strolling around the castle. His bond to her seemed to grow more powerful by the day. He could pinpoint exactly where she was no matter how far away. That was how he could apparate to her. Thankfully Hogwarts had wards to prevent apparition on the grounds.
Rhyann had wanted to be with her family so badly and wanted them safe that all Lucius had to do was send them away, have them out of her reach and make her wonder what was happening with them. It was only about her uncles though. No matter how much she felt betrayed, she could not stop loving Draco and she had not wanted to lose him either. There was a constant struggle of pushing him away and pulling him back to her again. Even when she thought of escaping the Malfoys' clutches, she could always think of a way to still have him.
It sounded silly, she knew. If she were someone else, they might even say pathetic. Rhyann could not live her life in that sort of conflict. What was a relationship if it had love but no trust? Draco was his father's son and he had proved that over and over again. Was she really so dense that she needed to have that lesson repeated dozens of times? She cursed love and the fact that it made a person do stupid things.
Finally, she set herself in the direction of the Great Hall. Rhyann did not think she could find a way to do something and get past her emotions at the moment. She needed some time. Time and a plan.