Seven Years, Chapter 6.

AN: All copyrights belong to their respective owners.


Duel

The word echoed in Merula's head as she stepped out of the Great Hall, her plate finished, the first of all her housemates.

Draco had challenged Potter to a duel? When? Where?

"Trophy Room, third floor, midnight."

Merula spun around at Blaise, who pressed a finger to his lips. She nodded as she thought over his words. "Thanks, Blaise."

"You're going?" Blaise asked, his tone cautious as Merula paused against the pillar she was leaning on. Was she really going to go?

"Why would I want to go?" Merula forced out a laugh as she looked down at the floor. "Are you going?"

"You do that when you try to lie," Blaise said. "You know, your eyes are darting all over. It makes it really easy to see when you're lying."

The words stung for a moment, and Merula felt a sudden urge to deny it, but a door opened behind Blaise before she could protest.

"Hey Malfoy," Blaise sounded too cheerful for her liking. "Heading up to the duel?"

Merula glanced up to see the expression of her adoptive brother, and felt a spike of disgust when she realized the size of his grin.

"Snyde," Draco sneered. "What are you doing here?"

"Beats me," Blaise added, shrugging his shoulders as a grin spread across his face. "Perhaps she wants to haunt this corridor?"

Merula clenched her teeth as Draco laughed. "I'm headed to the library, because I actually care for our classes, unlike you."

"Ooh." Draco laughed. "What are you, a mudblood? You don't need to study."

"I want to," Merula shot back, feeling the anger in her chest rise. "I want to do something productive with my time, unlike you."

Draco clenched his teeth. "I'm productive."

"Father will see things differently," Merula felt the words slip out of her mouth almost immediately. "Especially if your grades don't hold up."

"Oh, he'll think I'm productive, Snyde," Draco snarled as he turned on his heel, the two meat-heads following behind him. "Just you wait and see."

Blaise sneered at Merula and rolled his eyes as he followed Draco, though his face changed to what might have been sympathy just as he stepped back into the Great Hall.

Merula grimaced as she turned away, her mind racing. If she sent a letter to father now, would Draco retaliate? She knew where the Owlery was. All it would have taken were a few frantic scribbles and she could bring Lucius down on Draco, and she could even get back to the Dungeons before bedtime.

But if Draco really was punished, then he would have extra motivation to come after her, and sooner or later he would remember that damned Percy Weasley.

Merula sighed as she climbed the steps to the fourth floor, shooting a glance at the Owlery tower. All it would take would be a few minutes.

No. The risk was too great. She couldn't let Lucius know. Draco could deny it, and he could lie far better than anyone, herself included.

Merula gritted her teeth as she glanced back down the staircase before she headed up again, to find a nice, quiet place to hide out.


She must have dozed off, Merula decided as she yawned. The deserted classroom was just that- deserted. Weasley, the one she particularly hated for getting her in trouble, was right- nobody had come to bother her, especially not well after curfew.

Merula flicked her wand to cast the charm that told her the time. Much to her surprise, it was a half hour before the duel between Potter and Draco was to begin.

It would be interesting for sure, Merula decided as she stepped out of the classroom, glancing down the hall for patrolling prefects. Of course, with the corridor deserted, there wouldn't be any.

And yet Merula felt a nagging feeling in her head. What was it that she was forgetting?

It couldn't have been Lumos, the first and only-

Merula stopped midway through the hallway. They had only learned a single spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts. And how was it possible to defeat a human in a duel with Lumos? Would Draco have to blind Potter with it?

The image of Draco waving his wand inches away from Potter's face made Merula giggle. The image of Potter doing the same made the image even funnier.

Merula ducked into another empty room to stifle her laughter, lest a patrol find her giggling to herself in a hallway, far past curfew. She could see them now, both of them, blinded like Weasley when he successfully cast the Lumos spell... with his wand pointed at his own face. She could imagine them shrieking and yelling, blinding waving their wands trying to get an attack off without blinding themselves in the process.

It would be a glorious sight. And that was why she needed to see it.

It was surprising that there were no patrols in the third floor hallway when she slipped into the dark, unlit Trophy Room. Perhaps fate wanted to see Draco and Potter blinded, with her as a witness.

The slight sound of the door opening got her attention, and Merula frowned as she saw Potter come in, followed by Weasley, the Mudblood, and Longbottom, the boy who had held up flying class. Potter was expected to show, Weasley was a possibility that, in hindsight, was more likely to show up than not, but the Mudblood and Longbottom?

"Potter," Merula hissed. "Did you bring your friends to watch you lose?"

"Why are you here?" Weasley had pushed Potter back, his stick pointed at Merula.

"Like I said before," Merula said, as Potter glared back at her. "I'm here to watch Potter lose. You know, the same reason your three are here."

"Well, you're not going to see that!" Weasley almost shouted. "Harry is going to beat Malfoy!"

"And if you don't shut up all five of us are going to be caught!" Merula hissed at the red haired boy. "You know we're all past curfew, don't you, Weasley?"

"You'll be caught too," the Mudblood pointed out, her voice quieter than the boy next to her.

"There's four of you and only two of us," Merula shot back, anger flashing through her mind. "Can't you do even basic maths, Mudblood? Even if we are caught, you'll lose twice the points we will."

"And what about Crabbe and Goyle?" Weasley sounded smug. "They're coming, aren't they?"

The image of the two meat-heads flashed through Merula's mind, and she clenched her teeth. Weasley had a point, as much as she hated the idea of admitting it.

Weasley knew it too, and she wanted to blast the grin off his face.

A meow interrupted her thoughts.

"Lumos," Merula whispered as she pointed her wand to the floor, driving back the darkness.

A cat sat by the Mudblood's feet.

"Isn't that-" Potter started.

"Mrs Norris!" a voice called from down the hall, freezing Potter mid-sentence. "Where are you?"

"Nox," Merula whispered as she slid down the table she had been sitting on, the room plunging back into darkness as she heard the Gryffindors shuffle closer to her and away from the cat. The cat meowed as Merula felt her eyes meet with Potter, and something clicked in her mind.

The two meat-heads were slow and stupid. Draco might have been able to escape the squib caretaker, but certainly not the two of them. And they followed Draco everywhere. If he was coming, then they would have come too. Unless-

The thought struck Merula like lightning, and she felt a boiling anger rise through her chest as her teeth clenched.

Oh, he'll think I'm productive, just you wait and see.

Draco had intended to trap Potter and his friends- and she had walked right into it.

"Miss Norris!" the distant voice came closer.

"Potter," Merula hissed, barely believing the words coming out of her mouth. "There's another exit to my left. Run."

"Miss Norris!" The voice of the squib was close now, close enough for Merula to see the glow of a lantern. "Did you find something?"

The cat meowed in response, and Merula could wait no longer. She heard a slight gasp from behind her as she made the first move, throwing the second door wide open as she bolted out of the Trophy Room, the clattering of loud shoes behind her.

"Stop!" a voice- the squib, shouted from the corridor behind her. "Stop this moment!"

Merula ignored him as she turned a corner, sprinting down the hallway beyond, followed by the gasps of the four Gryffindors.

"Check the tapestries!" a voice- possibly Weasley, called as Merula glanced up at the hallway in front of them. "There might be something behind one of them!"

Merula clenched her teeth as she turned and ran to the left, keenly aware of how her legs were burning. She would have maybe one hallway left of energy left, if that.

"In here!" one of the other voices, distinct over the sound of her own pounding heart, hissed. "It's a secret corridor!"

Merula grimaced as she glanced up at the face of the Mudblood holding the tapestry up.

"This means nothing-" Merula hissed though clenched teeth. "Granger."

"It's the Charms Corridor!" a voice called from ahead. "We'll be able to-"

"Students out of bed!" the voice of Peeves shouted. "Students out of bed down in the Charms Corridor!"

Merula swore as she ran into Longbottom, suddenly frozen at the end of the tunnel, probably from seeing Peeves.

"Dammit," Weasley growled, his eyes turned up at the shouting ghost. "The Charms corridor doesn't have any places to hide, not with Peeves giving our location away.."

"Could we turn back?" Potter whispered.

"You want to take your chances with the squib?" Merula growled, glancing up in the dim light to watch Potter carefully.

She saw a flash of panic in his eyes, and Merula pushed on. "Come on, I still need to get back at Draco for this mess."

"Draco?" Harry asked as the other Gryffindors turned to look at her.

"It was a trap," Merula explained as she glanced up and down the corridor, mentally eliminating the light that led to the Grand Staircase. "Draco never intended to show up to this duel. He wanted to get you into trouble so he could brag about it to father."

"And then why did you come?" Harry asked. "If you knew-"

"I didn't," Merula explained as she flicked her wand, illuminating the dark hallway with light. "Not until Weasley mentioned Crabbe and Goyle."

"I don't get it," Weasley muttered.

"Draco wouldn't leave the Dungeons without Crabbe and Goyle," Merula growled as she glanced down the long, dim corridor, waiting for the squib to march out of the small square of light at the end. "And while he could probably escape the squib, they certainly can't."

Merula glanced at the door behind them, the one leading to the forbidden corridor. "We can't stay here forever. We need to hide."

"Would that door work?" Potter asked, his eyes darting to the same door she was looking at.

Merula glanced up to the door at the end of the hallway and swallowed. "It'll have to do."

"Isn't that the-" Weasley started.

"You want Draco to win?" Merula growled, feeling a rush of anger at the Weasley. "We'll all be expelled at this rate!"

Weasley flinched as Merula rushed forward to the heavy door. "We go in, we hide there for a minute until Filch goes away." Merula hissed. "If we have any luck Peeves won't know where we went."

"Right," Potter muttered, his face pale as he tugged at the door. "It's-"

"Alohomora," Merula growled as she pointed her wand at the lock, remembering the incantation she had practiced on her door so many times.

"Where did you-?" Weasley sounded stunned.

"Standard Book of Spells, chapter seven." the Mudblood interjected as Merula shut the door behind her. "You should know that."

Merula clenched her teeth. Of course it was the filthy Mudblood who knew where the spell came from. Potter she could understand not knowing the spell, but Weasley and Longbottom were disgracefully stupid. But then again, they were Gryffindors, hardly the brightest house.

The room beyond was dim, with a few flickering torches that allowed her to see just enough of the four Gryffindors she had run with, sandwiched against the door, as if waiting on the squib.

Merula took in a deep breath as she looked down at the floor. She didn't care about the squib anymore. So long as she got back to the dungeons to chew out Draco without getting expelled, she could sleep well.

But something on the floor caught her attention, and she felt curious for the first time that night. Why was there a trapdoor here?

A slight noise, far too close to her face, tore her attention away from the trapdoor, into the darkness beyond-

Merula whimpered and felt her knees go weak, as if someone had removed her bones. The rest of the corridor wasn't dark. No, there were a few torches deeper along the corridor. But the light was blocked by a sleeping dog that towered over her.

She had seen large, scruffy dogs before. She had even kicked one or two before, but she had never seen one that was big enough to swallow her whole.

"I think they're gone," a voice behind her observed. "Peeves, I think, got Filch to think it was one of his pranks."

Merula barely heard the words, looking straight at the dog. Perhaps they could slip out before it woke up?

A whimper, loud and certainly not from behind her caught her attention, and Merula found her eyes focused on another dog, this one glaring back at her with glowing yellow eyes. Merula froze in place as she squeezed her eyes shut. So, this was it.

Somewhere behind her, Merula heard a scream, then two, then another as she felt a hand grab her wrist. The touch snapped something back into her frozen body, and Merula felt herself running, her legs feeling like they belonged to someone else as she collapsed on the ground, her legs quaking as she forced herself to her hands and knees.

Behind her, the door slammed shut with heavy panting from the four Gryffindors. For a moment Merula watched the other four as she inched away from the door. If the door broke, Merula knew she wouldn't have the strength left to run, not with her legs turned to jelly.

But a moment passed, and the door held as the beast on the other side seemed to settle down.

"I- I'm going to bed," the Mudblood-Granger announced after another moment of silence, her voice as shaky as Merula's own pounding heart.

"I think we'll be going too," Potter added, his face obviously pale despite the dim light.

Merula stayed on her knees for a moment more as she watched Longbottom file out, then she folded her stiff, aching legs in, watching the door which held back the multi-headed beast.

A two headed dog on top of a trapdoor of some kind.

She thought of the warning Dumbledore had sent out at the start of the semester. Why was there a two-headed monster in the castle of all places? Something flickered in her sleep-derived head. Was the beast… guarding something?

Merula swallowed as she stood up, glancing at the square of light that would eventually lead back to the Sylverin dorms. Perhaps in the morning she could get a reply from Lucius.


Blaise was waiting for her at their usual spot, convenient as ever.

"Draco seemed very pleased last night," Blaise shrugged, a smirk on his face. "I trust you know-"

"That he didn't show up?" Merula sneered. "Yes, I figured that much."

"What happened?" Blaise asked.

"Potter, Weasley, the Mudblood, and Longbottom showed up."

Blaise narrowed his eyes. "Potter and Weasley I expected, but the Mudblood and Longbottom?"

Merula shook her head. "The squib, the caretaker, came in to look for his cat. If Draco had shown up, then he would have at least grabbed Crabbe and Goyle."

"Crabbe and Goyle?" Blaise crossed his arms as he scoffed. "I couldn't imagine them even staying awake that late. One of them, I can't tell which one, was asleep before even curfew."

Merula snorted as an idea came to her. "Blaise, do you know anything that could be hidden in Hogwarts?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Go on, you have my attention."

Merula grimaced as she glanced around the empty hallway before she leaned in close. "We went into the forbidden corridor."

Blaise's jaw dropped. "No."

"There was this big two headed dog in there," Merula continued, her voice low. "Big enough to swallow Crabbe and Goyle in a single bite."

Blaise's eyes widened. "And?"

"It was sitting on something," Merula continued. "A trapdoor of some sort."

Blaise frowned as he turned away, swallowing as he took a step back. "If I think of anything, I'll let you know. Thanks for telling me."

Merula nodded. If Blaise was gone for too long, people would get suspicious. "I'm going to write a letter to Lucius, see if he knows anything."

"Keep me posted," Blaise called over his shoulder as he went back to the Great Hall, leaving Merula alone again.

"Miss Snyde?" a voice called from behind her.

Merula spun around to see Snape at the end of the hallway, looking very much displeased. Ah, so that was why Blaise wanted to leave.

"Do you have a moment?" he asked, taking a long stride forward. "I have some questions for you."

Merula swallowed, a cold feeling rising inside her. Had she been spotted leaving the Charms Hallway?

"Your… brother," Snape said, his face seemingly disappointed. "Has informed me that you were out past curfew last night."

Merula's mind went blank for a long moment.

How much did Snape know?

Did he know about the duel? Her escape from Filch? The two-headed dog? The trapdoor?

Merula swallowed as she took a hesitant step back. Then something hit her.

Snape had said her brother, Draco.

Draco didn't know about the trapdoor. Nor the two-headed dog. He didn't even know if she had gone up to the duel.

Merula felt a slight smile rise to her lips. Maybe she could-

Snape's eyes were black, pitiless voids, and the cold inside Merula's stomach expanded to her legs, freezing her in place.

"Is Draco's report true?" Snape's voice was even, and Merula suddenly felt very small. She thought of Potter, having faced down Snape only a few weeks prior.

Merula felt a whimper escape her mouth as she forced herself to nod.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Twenty points from Slytherin. You should not be out after curfew."

Merula opened her mouth to protest as the first verges of a lie formed in her head.

"You will also help me clean up my potions storage every Saturday until Halloween." Snape continued. "Are there any questions?"

The lie died there and then as Merula felt her head drop, looking down at the floor. "No sir."

"Very good. I will expect you Saturday once you have finished breakfast."


She had awoken early Saturday morning, and made her way up to the Great Hall.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, she found her appetite having disappeared, replaced with dread. Was it because of Lucius or Snape? She wasn't sure.

She glanced up to the upper levels of the window for her owl. Maybe Lucius finally had time to reply to her letter?

As she felt her eyes pass through the windows above, Merula blinked as an owl dove before her spot at the end of the Slytherin table, dropping a single, small note before her. Merula swallowed as she took the corner of the sheet of paper, glancing around for unwelcome onlookers. The Great Hall had been mostly deserted, except for a smattering of Hufflepuffs off to the side. She ignored them.

The handwriting on the letter was crisp and formal, just what she expected from Lucius.

Good morning Merula, the letter began. I have received your previous letter, and I can confirm that Hogwarts, with it's long and storied past, does indeed have… hidden things, as you inquired. However, given the vague nature of your inquiry, I cannot comment further on just exactly what you are looking for.

Merula sighed as the pit of dread in her stomach mixed with sour disappointment. Perhaps she could wait until Christmas break to speak with Lucius.

With best wishes, Lucius Malfoy.

Merula ran a hand through her hair as she crumpled the letter. If she tossed it into a torch, perhaps she could destroy the evidence before the school found out?

A growl in her stomach distracted her from that thought, and the appearance of a plate of hot food made the disappointing letter irrelevant. While she had no doubt the food was good, Merula felt a chill midway through her plate. When she looked up, she met the black, empty eyes of Severus Snape for a long moment.

The hunger in her stomach faltered as it was drowned by a wave of dread.

Merula looked down at the plate of food, which no longer even looked remotely appealing before she stood up, grabbing her wand and crumpled letter. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Snape rise up from his seat as well. A laugh came from her left as Merula took her first step away from the Slytherin table.

Harry Potter had just entered the Great Hall, surrounded by three red-haired Weasleys, all of them laughing and grinning. A hunger, colder and darker than what she had felt earlier, flared up within her, and Merula found her nails biting into her palm.

"Miss Snyde," Snape greeted her as she approached the professor's table. "Let us be quick."

The trip down the halls of the dungeons was quiet, with the exception of the whispers and glances of the other Slytherins. No doubt Draco would hear of it by noon.

Snape frowned as he gestured for Merula to follow him into a dark room. "You will organize my shelves. I do not expect you will have the strength to clean the cauldrons, not after what Longbottom did to his cauldron during class."

Merula felt a stab of rage running through her. That was right. Not only was Potter having Quidditch practice with the Weasleys, but the idiot Longbottom was free as well, while she was stuck ordering shelves for a month.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Snyde?" Snape's voice was low and unfriendly.

"Nothing-" Merula hissed. "Sir."

"Then I suggest you get to work cleaning the shelves," Snape replied as he turned toward the cauldrons.


Merula sighed as she finished the last of the potions, wiping away a sheen of sweat in the process.

The row was orderly, and apart from a thin layer of dust around the various rows of potions, she couldn't tell if there was anything out of order.

"Professor?" Merula called down the row of potions. "I believe I'm finished."

A moment of silence followed as Merula heard Snape's brisk footsteps.

"You are dismissed," Snape said as he inspected the row of potions. "You have organized well."

Merula nodded as she looked down at her shoes. "Thank you, sir."

"Miss Snyde," Snape continued. "You seem to have something on your mind."

"Potter was there too," Merula blurted out. "Weasley, Longbottom and the Mudblood were all there-"

"Mudblood?" Snape's voice was cold, and Merula blinked at his response. Everyone used that word. Lucius, Draco, all of the parents she met before coming to Hogwarts. But not Snape?

"Granger, sir," Merula corrected, unwilling to look up from her shoes. Snape was angry. She didn't have to see his face to know that.

"I would suggest that you lose that word from your vocabulary," Snape continued, his voice even but dripping with something that made Merula want to curl up into a ball. "Other professors may not be as… understanding."

"I'm sorry," Merula whispered.

"Tell me, where did you encounter these four Gryffindors?" Snape asked.

"Draco challenged Potter to a Wizard's Duel," Merula explained. "Midnight at the Trophy Room."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "And you are saying that Draco broke curfew as well?"

Merula shook her head. "He never showed up. He wanted to get Potter in trouble."

Snape frowned. "Mr. Filch claimed he received a claim about students out of bed."

Merula winced. "In the Charms Corridor, yes."

"And how did you escape there?" Snape asked. "Mr. Filch claimed that he did not find any students there."

Merula felt her mouth go dry as the thought of the two-headed dog flashed through her head. She could see his line of thought. There was only the Forbidden Corridor linked to the Charms Corridor. Did Snape know they hid in the Forbidden Corridor? Did he know that one of the Gryffindors had grabbed her and thrown her to safety?

"Miss Snyde?" Snape asked.

"We went back through the tapestry," Merula blurted out. "We went back to the Trophy Room and returned to our dorms through the staircases there."

Snape watched her for a long second. "Very well, Miss Snyde. I trust you did not go into the Forbidden Corridor?"

Merula choked. So Snape knew after all?

"No sir, we did not," Merula lied, panic rising as she squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to meet Snape's burning gaze.

"Very well then," Snape continued, his voice betraying no emotion. "I don't suppose I have to repeat the Headmaster's warning about the Forbidden Corridor?"

"No sir," Merula gasped. "We wouldn't go there, never again."

Snape frowned as he turned on his heel. "Very well then. You are dismissed."

"Thank you professor," Merula muttered as she hurried from the room. Oh the things she would do to Draco for this for tricking her.

"I saw you going with Snape earlier," Blaise's voice called from the side of a corridor as she passed.

Merula glanced up at Blaise before she nodded. "Draco turned me in."

Blaise narrowed his eyes. "Is that why we lost twenty points overnight?"

Merula nodded. "But Draco didn't know I went into the corridor, he just told Snape that I was out past curfew."

Blaise frowned. "It's bad practice to turn another Slytherin in. Don't know what Draco was thinking."

Merula shook her head and sighed. "Should I tell Lucius about what he did?"

Blaise paused and frowned. "You are returning home over Christmas, right?"

Merula nodded. "You think I should tell him then?"

"There's a better chance that Lucius can do something there." Blaise reasoned. "After all, Draco would be trapped in the house with you for the entire break."

Merula sighed at Blaise's logic. "It's not fair. Potter and his lot get away with it scot free, Draco gets away scot free, and I'm stuck here doing storage clean up until Halloween."

"Then make it fair," Blaise said, a slight smirk on his face. "You'll get Draco over the holidays, won't you?"

Merula raised an eyebrow. "And just what are you thinking about?"

"See, there's this certain curse I've heard about," Blaise said with a malicious twinkle in his eye as the smirk on his face widened, his hands gesturing for her to come close as his voice lowered to a whisper. "I think you'll like it."


Chapter 6 done!

Read, Review, etc. Feed your author plz.

Next week: FE3H rewrite will begin.