Gah! So sorry, I forgot a tiny little paragraph/detail in the writing of this chapter which is now added, sorry about that. :P Any new readers PLEASE REVIEW!
Chapter Ten
Boring Days and the Fall
Lenore would never have thought when she was growing up that living in a castle could be boring but the wonder of Hogwarts began to wear off after the first few days. The first day was eventful, strange, bizarre would even be a fitting word but the next few days, despite her constant nit-picking at Snape, were uneventful. Snape had thrown a fit when she finally come out of her room on her second day in the castle. He ranted about the dangers of going outdoors. She had paid him back by turning every single one of his robes a shocking pink. Not that she particularly liked the color but she couldn't stop laughing when he was forced to go to Diagon Alley with robes as such.
Then it became a ritual, he would yell at her about something, whether it be she wasn't wearing robes (though she loathed to admit it, she now wore them every day as to not be yelled at again) or she was throwing food to a school owl she had befriended. She would then retaliate by pulling a prank on him, one day when she knew he was going into Hogsmade she changed his hair to a sandy-blonde, his eyes flashing blue, and made him one of the best-looking guys she could imagine, without him knowing. She even changed his robes from his standard black to a deep blue.
She had been very pleased with her work until he tried to 'ground' her. That pissed her off so royal that she wouldn't come out of the library or her room to see anyone. She was trying to come up with the best prank she had ever done. Before long, a week had passed and she felt bored with their ritual. Her latest prank nearly got Snape made enough to almost hit her again. She had been surprised that merely causing all of his potion ingredients to turn into butterflies and bunnies would make him go so crazy. He had literally dragged her from the library down to the dungeons; squeezing her arm so hard it hurt (a bruise that was still fading encircled her arm) and forced her to tell him how to change the potion ingredients back.
Lenore would not have been described a coward, by anyone. In fact most would say she has more stupidly brave than anything else, 'stop teasing the mean dog, it'll bite back one of these days' was a saying a grandmotherly old woman said to her once. But the anger in Snape's eyes frightened her and when she told him how to change it back (he had to wave his wand saying 'Abracadabra' but only he could do it) rage hit his eyes so quickly that she tried to take a step backwards but his grip was too tight.
Once he had rid himself of the animals he started shouting at her, calling everything she did immature, all the while she was inching towards the door. His voice had grown so loud she was surprised the entire castle didn't hear him yelling at her. She had bolted soon after that, she wasn't sure how long it took him to notice she wasn't there but she didn't care. She hid in her room for the rest of the day; Dobby brought her dinner because she claimed she didn't feel well. Every night she had been forced to dine for supper in Snape's quarters and she hated it, Albus was gone and random teachers came and went but she and Snape were relatively alone in the castle.
When Friday rolled around and she made to go out to the get-together with Fred and George Snape out right forbid her to go, saying that she would not be corrupted by the pranksters. She had snuck out and went anyway and he still didn't know about. She smirked thinking of it. He had no right forbidding who she could see or who she could not.
She was right now trying to fill her boredom with something other than books. Today was a rather busy day in the castle, Albus had returned, as had a Weasley, Arthur as he was introduced joined by someone the poltergeist called Mad-Eye-Moody (a man with a glass eye and a weird face). Snape was currently in Albus's office along with the others and she was finally free to wonder the halls without the cloaked devil coming up behind her.
At the moment she was wondering around somewhere on the seventh floor. "A gentle breeze, from Hushabye mountain, softly blows o'er lullaby bay." She sang to herself moving down the hall. She hummed the tune as she came to the staircase leading up. "So close your eyes on Hushabye mountain." She sang softly. She stopped, a movement on the stairs catching her eyes. "Oh, hello little rat." She said following it down the stairs. The mangy little thing seemed to scurry away faster. "Oh, don't run away, I'm not going to hurt you, I just think you'll be a cute present to give Snape in the middle of the night."
The rat paused and seemed look at her from the middle of the staircase before scurrying away. She giggled and hurried down the stairs after it. It was a peculiar rat, she kept thinking she saw flashes of silver when it moved but she knew that it had to be her imagination.
"Oh wait up little rat, I'll promise I won't let Snape kill you, I just want to scare him a bit." She got to the bottom of the stairs, the start of the sixth floor and looked around. "Oh, drat. I really wanted to see his reaction too. I guess I'll just go fine Mrs. Norris; she'll take care of you. Can't have rats running about can we?" She mainly was trying to fill the silence but as she started towards the stairs she leaned over the railing on an impulse. "How high…whoa…" she took a step back getting dizzy just looking down. "That's pretty high."
She shook her head glancing down the halls. "I saw a rat with a silver foot, a silver foot on a rat—fancy that," she giggled to herself skipping towards the stairs of the seventh floor again, she hadn't finished exploring and was having fun making up tunes. "A silver foot on a rat. I saw a werewolf with a deer—a deer? Well not a deer. Not a deer? A stag! Not a hag?" she laughed putting one foot on the stairs. "Not a hag but a stag, they were chasing the rat with the silver foot, when a big huge…" she stopped and paused in her singing. "When a big huge Grim stated his fate. 'Mr. Rat With the Silver Foot'—fancy that—'You've been very bad'—Bad?—'Bad. And when Mr. Rats are bad'—'Bad?'" She grinned, spotting the rat, he was frozen in place near the one of the halls on the sixth floor. "Mr. Rat!" she started towards it when suddenly it was changing.
She let out a gasp and stumbled back, startled. "H-hello," the voice was squeaky and the person stepped into the light.
Merlin, he even looks like a rat. She thought shaking her head, taking a step away from him. "What are you doing running around Hogwarts? You're not a teacher." She wasn't smiling anymore.
"No." he said, his beady eyes darting around.
"Who are you?"
His eyes focused on her. "You are to tell no one of what you saw."
She made a face. This guy was making her uneasy. She wanted to go see Dumbledore, tell him about this strange rat. He gave her the creeps. "What?"
He took a step towards her, his silver arm glinting in the light. "I wasn't here."
"To hell with you, what are you a criminal or something?" she asked, edging towards the stairs. His eyes flared in surprise. "Oh my god," she took off running down the stairs. He was close behind her and she had barely made it to the middle when he grabbed her. "Let go! I'll scream!" she threatened as he twisted her arm. She lashed out, kicking and hitting him. His eyes were hard and he winced with each blow but he didn't loosen his grip. "LET GO! HELP!"
His silver hand slapped over her mouth as he shoved her against the railing on the stairs. "Where's that damn wand when I need it?" he muttered glancing down.
Wand! She strained to reach for hers when suddenly the staircase moved. His body was thrown against hers and she had this feeling that she was flying. She let out a scream, trying to grab at anything. The first thing that came to her hand was the man's robe. She was dangling over the edge of the stairs as the man stared at her. Malice entered his eyes as he looked down at her.
"Please!" she cried, tears streaming down her face, the staircase still moving. "Pull me up!" she begged. He stared down at her. "Please! I'll do anything just don't drop me!" His robe started to rip. "PLEASE!" she begged, trying to climb up herself but only proceeded on tearing the robe more. The rat like man shook his head at her and slowly removed his robe. She let out a cry as she dropped farther down. "Please! Pull me up!"
"Goodbye," he removed his robe.
She let out a scream as she fell, unsure of how to either break or stop her fall. Her back hit the railing of another staircase and she let out a scream of pain as something cracked. She toppled over and began to roll down the stairs, unable to stop herself. Just as she was about to reach the bottom the stairs began to shift, the bottom swinging out and she let out another scream as she rolled off into thin air.
Her reflexes kicked in and she grabbed the edge of the staircase. One of her wrists let out a loud crack and she lost all feeling in it. She was nearly blinded by pain and she couldn't feel anything below her waist. She hung on with one arm until she realized she had to let go unless she wanted her fingers to be squished. She dangled and looked down, her mind function on automatic.
She waited until the staircase was above yet another floor and she let go, just before the staircase stopped on its chosen stair. She hit the ground hard, a snap in her leg caused another burst of pain and her head it the coble stone floors with a resounding thud. She stared up at the ceiling, colors swirling as the pain came in waves, each time she breathed. She let out a small gasp before blackness occluded her vision, unable to think about anything but the pain, also unaware that the rune on her hand had flared up as she was falling. It glowed a deep red growing darker as each second passed.
Can anyone guess why the rune growing darker is so important?
