Chapter 15
Within moments the Great Hall was flooded with students. Somehow, Lexie didn't find the emergence of all of the other students to be much comfort to her. She wondered if Snape had had any luck during his search of the third floor, or any of the other teachers who'd been searching for that matter.
One of the few Gryffindor's who Lexie had become friends with, Carrie Christie was one of the last to be herded in, looking confused like the rest of the students. She stopped when she reached Lexie, still seated at her spot at the Slytherin table.
"Lexie… do you know what's going on?" she asked, looking around as if searching for the answer amongst her peers.
"Sirius Black is inside the castle." Lexie said under her breath, careful not to let her voice carry too far, just incase this wasn't supposed to be public knowledge just yet.
Carrie's eyes bulged. "What!" she asked in shock.
Lexie nodded in reply. "But how?" she asked, mimicking Lexie's same questions to Snape in the same order.
Lexie shrugged and shook her head. Carrie stood with her as the few remaining stragglers entered the hall. They were closely followed by the headmaster, who addressed them all.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately. Send word with one of the ghosts. Oh, yes, you'll be needing…"
One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well." He said, and with that he'd gone. The head boy and girl began shuffling students toward the sleeping bags, insisting that they'd be having lights out almost immediately.
Carrie shrugged and flopped down onto the nearest sleeping bag. Lexie crawled into the one next to her. They were soon joined by an athletic looking bloke with a beautiful, toothy, white smile which he flashed at them before taking the sleeping bag nearest Carrie and snuggling in.
Lexie stared up at the ceiling while the lights were extinguished. There was an extensive amount of whispering going on, which was impossible to ignore. Amongst the whispers that she could make out were Carrie's voice whispering to the boy next to her. Also audible were voices coming from the row across from them. It was only then that Lexie noticed the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter and his two bookends, the Granger girl and one of the younger Weasley boys, whom he, Harry Potter, was rarely never seen without.
She couldn't sleep. No one else was settling down which made it impossible for her to even think of dozing off. Instead she continued to stare blankly at the enchanted ceiling which was scattered with stars.
Just then the doors creaked open. Lexie jumped and quickly rolled over to see who it was. She felt disappointment coarse through her when she realized it was McGonagall. She spoke quickly with the Head Boy and Girl before departing. Teachers continued to appear and disappear in this manner for some time, always speaking to those standing guard over the students and never staying more than a moment or two.
Dumbledore came in sometime in the wee hours of the morning. Lexie watched him speaking with the oldest Weasley, the Head Boy, but she could hardly pay attention beyond the stating that there was no sign of Black within the castle. Lexie heaved a sigh and rolled over, her back facing the door.
She was so frustrated. Being here, laying on the floor with hundreds of kids, at least five years her junior. She ground her teeth. She was an Auror for Merlin's sake. And here she was, completely useless while Sirius Black was either inside the castle or running around outside on the grounds. She was so close! Here she was, in the same building with him. Perhaps, had she not been undercover, she could've been the one to catch the son of a bitch. "That'd certainly improve my standings within the ministry," Lexie thought to herself bitterly.
"This mission with Snape is going nowhere fast. How am I ever going to get him to tell me if this front of Mr. 'I'm reformed, I'm a respectable Hogwarts Professor now' is bullshit or if it's for real…" she thought as she bit on her lip.
"I have to get him to trust me." She resigned, though, she had no idea how she could really get him to do that.
Those thoughts were too complicated for three a.m. Her eyes were itching with fatigue. She clenched them shut for a minute and opened them again. It hadn't provided much relief. Her brain was growing foggy and she felt herself losing focus. There's something about the middle of the night where your thoughts have a way of floating away from the issue at hand, to something more pleasant and less complicated to think about. They began to drift back to the events of earlier that evening. Snape's office.
She let her eyes drift shut, as they'd been aching to do. Snape was pinning her against the wall. His fingers laced expertly around her wrists and he was so very close to her again. And she liked it. She didn't know why, but she liked it… a lot. For the second time was even more tantalizing than the first. Had he really planned to kiss her? Or was that just her imagination?
Lexie gathered the sleeping bag up to her chest and hugged it tightly. She imagined the scenario going just a bit further. Instead of only hovering just above her lips, Snape let his lips brush hers gently. In her mind it was warm, gentle, sensual and perfect. She imagined taking the next step, snaking her arms around his neck and pulling him to her. She was just about to open her lips and let his tongue invade her mouth when…
Her fantasy was suddenly interrupted by the creaking of the door. It had been wrenched open violently. There were heavy footfalls entering the hall again. She jumped and looked up. It was Snape. Her heart leapt into her throat. She tried to remain inconspicuous. This was one of those times where she was very grateful that no one could read her thoughts.
Oh shit! Suddenly it had occurred to her that Snape had entered the room just at the moment she'd been fantasizing about kissing him. Had he done that? Or had it really just been her imagination taking over due to the lateness of the hour?
He stopped right next to her to speak with Dumbledore. She felt herself breathing hard and straining to her their conversation.
It appeared that Snape seemed to have an idea about who'd helped Sirius Black enter the castle; an idea that Dumbledore was dismissing in a scolding tone.
Dumbledore swished away from him quietly, leaving Snape to seethe. Lexie didn't know why she could feel how angry he was, but she could. She could practically feel the waves of dislike radiating from his body. It was a sensation she'd never experienced with this much certainty and force before.
There had been occasions in the past when she would've sworn she could tell she knew what someone was thinking, but at the time she'd just chalked that up to being a good judge of character and people's demeanor. But this time was different. She wasn't even looking at Snape and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
He was perfectly disgusted with Dumbledore. He was indignant. He thought that Dumbledore was losing his good judgment. He was disappointed that Dumbledore wouldn't even let him speak his mind… because he, Snape, was sure that he was right.
For one fleeting second, Lexie could feel his eyes move from Dumbledore to her. They lingered on her 'sleeping' form for a moment. Suddenly, she had no idea what he was thinking. Of course, it was difficult to pretend to be sleeping and interpret someone's emotions at once… especially when one was as tired as Lexie was to begin with.
Just then he turned on his heal, shiny black hair flipping around his face and stalked out of the hall, his long black immaculate robes billowing out behind him.
A/N: OK, I know, dreadfully short chapter, not much going on. But I just felt SO GUILTY that I haven't updated in weeks. Truth is, I've started back to college and I'm getting settled into my classes & all that good stuff. I've got SO MUCH planned for this story – I actually know the end right now and am already planning for a sequel. So, once again… my DEEPEST apologies for a rotten chapter – but, at least it's something. For those of you who are bored with waiting for me to post, check out my cousin's story, "Changes" – it's a Sirius Black story. SB/OC – VERY FUNNY stuff. Though, it's quite in another rhelm from my dark, angsty stuff. But I think all my readers have got good taste & will probably enjoy it, because I REALLY DID! And if you do decide to check it out, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review for her! She's a great little author! Her story also has a sequal – "Giving Love a Second Chance" – you can get to these through my "favorites" link. Her penname is "Writer-in-Disguise" – which is a very apt name for her, but that's a whole other, very long story! HAHA! OK, read & review mine if you like. I always get like 60 hits on a chapter & about 3-4 reviews from my most loyal, wonderful, esteemed, intelligent, talented and attentive readers! THANKS A MILLION!
