"The Sickness"
Why is he doing this to me! Hermione thought angrily. What is he mad about now? Ron had been especially cold to her this morning at breakfast. He refused to speak to her and treated her with a sneering indifference. Hermione was hurt and couldn't understand why he was doing this. It had seemed that their relationship had been on the rocks for a while now. Then again, today's unpleasantness may be due to Ron's and Harry's discovery of Dean and Ginny behind a tapestry. She was sure he would be touchy about his only baby sister engaging in such intimate acts with the disagreeable Dean Thomas. However, that gave him no right to take it out on her. Hemione sat at the Gryffindor table staring at an open book trying not to explode in Ron's face.
Across the hall, at the Ravenclaw table, a young prefect by the name of Alex Drury watched the distraught girl. He sat in the midst of his closest friends: Marcus Moon, a tall, gangly fellow with dirty blonde hair and numerous freckles who has nothing on his mind other than the opposite sex more than half the time, Devon Basil, the loud mouth of the group, always having something to say about anything, and reserved Geofery Ingram, a true Ravenclaw intellectual.
"What you starin' at Drury? Not 'Ermione Granger? She your galfriend? Or 'ave you just got the swell for 'er?" Devon snickered when he noticed his friend's interest in the girl across the way.
"Shut up!" Alex said threateningly.
"Oy, what the 'ell's up with you? I was just 'avin' a li'le fun. No reason to bite off me 'ead…" Devon looked a little put out and kept to his toast.
Moon had paid no attention to their clash over some silly girl. He was more interested in his latest drawing. He was sketching a crude picture of a vela carrying out profane acts with another vela which must be unfortunately transcribed. Moon had to smile as his drawings took shape. Geofery on the other hand was intreged by Alex's sudden interest in Granger.
"Really, what is up with you? You've been staring at her all morning. You never paid that much attention to her before."
Alex paused before answering, debating whether or not to tell them anything. "I…I…" he began. The other three leaned in to hear him better,even Moon wasbriefly affected by the direction of the conversation. "For the past few nights," whispered Drury, "I've been seeing her."
"What!" Devon nearly yelled.
"Shhhhhh!" Alex continued, "She always looms in the second floor corridor like a ghost. Like she's looking for something. I have to patrol that floor so I always bump into her. She…kind of…comes on to me…"
"Yeah, right. You may think otherwise, but you are no ladies' man, Drury."
"Do you want to hear this or not?" Devon clamped his mouth shut to allow him to continue. "Thanks, anyway, she kind of comes on to me, but she thinks I'm someone else. She used to talk to me but now all she does is grope me and we end up…." Another pause.
"No way." Moon said wide-eyed and grinning. "You hit it every night? You wouldn't have guess what a slut she was by looking at her."
Alex jumped up and grabbed Moon by the throat.Moon's robes barely scraped the ground as heheld him high."Don't you dare talk about her that way!" Moon struggled to breathe until Geofery and Devon grabbed hold of Alex's arms. They pulled him back to a sitting position when they tried to deflect the stares of the other houses.
"Relax. He didn't mean it, now did you Moon? See? He doesn't think she's a slut. But back to the point, what the hell is going on?" Geofery gave Alex a concerned look.
"Well, I don't really know right now…It's…It's all so complicated. She…She thinks I'm Draco Malfoy. She used to ramble about taking something and not hurting her or whatever. I don't know. Then, in the morning, she acts like nothing happened."
"Hmm…" Moon, Devon, and Geofery sighed.
Hermione, on the other side of the Great Hall stared at the foursome along with the rest of the school wondering what they were talking about. What could they possibly be talking about that would make one attack the other? However, Hermione's attention was soon shifted back to the pressing fact that Ron was being an arse. Harry tried to keep the distance between the two but I was a difficult job and only led to unsuccessful efforts. The day passed with much tension in the air. It was almost as thick as the heavy mist outside. Finally, she departed for bed in the Gryffindor tower and Ron stormed off to the boy's dormitory after swearing at several first years for looking at him.
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It was late that evening. The moon hung high, illuminating all that would not want to be seen at night. Those that do not want to be seen, of course, have something to hide, as it was this night. A dark shadow loomed in the doorway of a cold brick cottage. There was no sign of life stirring in the home. Either way, occupants could easily be disposed of by a simple Avada Kedavra casting. The run down dwelling sat nuzzled between a trickling stream and a high cliff in the heart of a thick forest. It had been in disrepair for years and wasn't even thought to be in existence. It was long forgotten. Surely, one could come and go without being disturbed or detected. Its roof had collapsed and ivy crept up its stony remains of what was once sturdy wall. The hooded figure made a noise of disgust and swept into the empty building.
The form quickly moved passed the broken pottery and filthy furnishings to the corner of the single room to a wide mouth fire place and began the preparations for a fire. In a matter of seconds a fire blazed in the dusty hearth. The crimson flames suddenly flashed emerald and the shadow stepped through. The world seemed to spin but the silent, cloaked individual felt no anxiety. At last, it seemed, she arrived.
She emerged from the fire place into a dim dungeon chamber. A heavy, four post, oak bed hid in the corner; a cauldron in the other. Beside a grand bookcase filledwith potionand dark arts books and loose parchmentwas a desk which its occupant made no acknowledgement regarding the strange phenomenon of a person strutting out of a hot, burning fire. He hovered over numerous pieces of parchment. His long, greasy hair curtained his face so that it was obscured and made him a nearly completely black smudge in the room, yet would have blended with its dark ambiance.
The woman pulled her hood way from her pale face, liberating her streaming, blonde hair. She took a step forward toward the hooked nosed man. "Severus, I have come."
"Come? 'Come' is for those who have the free will to come and go. You, rather, have arrived." he sneered.
Biting her tongue for the stinging words she could only wish to throw at him, she spoke, "Be it as it may, I am here to pay my debt."
"Indeed you shall…in time."
"What do you mean?" She was perplexed at this. A clear expression of confusion was strewn across her face.
"You want your son to live, do you not, Narcissa? When you came to me, you knew what it was that you were asking for. Now, you must repay me. I'm going through an awful lot of trouble for you. This is the least you can do." He raised his sallow face to meet her tearful gaze. He smirked at her apparent pain.
"How can you make such a demand! My husband rots in Azkaban! My son will surely be killed!" She nearly burst into tears. Her shoulders shook as she fought to keep control. Snape drifted toward her. He steeredher to the bed by her shouldersand removed her cloak. He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes. She attempted to look away but he brought her face back to his. He began to kiss her neck and she closed her eyes, anticipating her retched fate.