Seven Years Chapter 7.
Copyright: Nope, don't own anything, moving on.
The month went by without any further incidents, although that was mainly because Merula had spent every weekend cleaning for Snape or hiding in the unused classroom, taking out her anger on the walls and tables of the room.
Blaise had taught her the Leg-Locker Curse, something she suspected Narcissa never wanted her to learn, especially when she was to spend a summer in the same house as Draco.
But it was hard to tell how far she was along with learning the curse. The walls didn't have legs, and the legs of the furniture didn't exactly change when hit with the curse. Blaise had promised her it was a painful and humiliating experience for whoever got hit, but between ever-increasing piles of homework, Snape's detention, and the other spells she was expected to learn, Merula had maybe a few hours a week to perfect her control over the curse.
If Blaise had been telling the truth- that the curse left its victims hopping with their legs forced together, then it would be worth it. The look on Draco's face would be priceless. There would be other targets of course. Merula needed to get even with the Gryffindors who had gotten away with escaping the trap. She could picture the look of panic as the Gryffindors hopped about and shrieked.
"Thought you would be here," a voice from the door said.
Merula jerked up at the sudden voice and raised a hand to her chest, and she had to fight the sudden urge to test the curse on Blaise. "I didn't think you knew about this place."
Blaise shrugged as he stepped into the room, wiping away dust from a desk. "Weasley provided enough information that first day for me to figure it out."
"Clever," Merula admitted as she turned back to the rest of the empty room. "Are you sure you weren't supposed to be a Ravenclaw?"
Blaise chuckled. "I noticed Potter on a broom outside."
Merula sighed as anger bubbled in her stomach. Why was Potter, having never flown a broom before Hogwarts, the only first year on a Quidditch team? "Blaise, if that's all you-"
"I tested it against Longbottom." Blaise's face split into a wide grin, a malicious light behind his eyes. "If you're quick, then maybe you can still see him flopping around like a fish."
The prospect sounded tempting. Far too tempting. Longbottom had used an entire year's worth of luck to avoid detention. It was time to watch him squirm for once.
"Where?" Merula asked.
"Last saw him running, erm, hopping to the Great Hall," Blaise said, nodding his head toward the door. "I think you'll enjoy it."
Merula didn't need any further encouragement. If she could see Longbottom before someone cured him, perhaps she wouldn't have to rely on Blaise's description.
But for the first time since her ill-fated attempt to watch Draco duel Potter, the stairs seemed to conspire against her. It seemed every staircase she wanted to use had turned in a direction she had no interest in going to. By the time Merula reached the Great Hall, there was no Longbottom to be found.
But there was a Potter and a Weasley glaring at her.
Merula scowled back at them and took a seat at the empty end of the Slytherin table, irritated and annoyed that someone had gotten to Longbottom before she could. Perhaps one of the other Slytherins had seen the whole thing play out, if they were interested in sharing.
"Snyde." Potter's voice hissed as he marched up to the Slytherin table, far too close for her comfort. "You think we didn't see your handiwork?"
Merula swallowed hard as she stood up, now almost nose to nose with the Boy Who Lived and the Weasley behind him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Merula growled, anger rising inside of her. What was Potter going on about? "I haven't seen you or Longbottom since he exploded that concoction in Potions. You have any idea how hard it was to clean that off the floor?"
"Is that why you cursed him?" Weasley cut in. "Because he made your detention a little harder?"
"A detention that you should have gotten," Merula hissed, glancing at the half-dozen upperclassmen of her class watching her, but as expected, none of them lifted a finger. "Why Draco didn't get you in trouble, I'll never know."
"You hit him with the Leg Locker curse!" Weasley shouted, spittle flying from his mouth as Merula glanced up to the professors' table. No teachers there to stop a brawl if Potter wanted one. "And you slithered away from it like a coward!"
Merula resisted the urge to slam Weasley's head into a table, because it would mean she would be cleaning more cauldrons in her spare time. "And what proof do you have of that?"
Weasley's mouth dropped open as if he was surprised she was still arguing with him. "Why else would someone be sulking in a corner of a hallway?"
The urge to slam Weasley's head into a table grew stronger, and Merula barely resisted the idea to actually test the curse Blaise had taught her on Weasley.
But no. They were in a public area, with too many witnesses, including older students who could probably cast the counter-curse. She couldn't get revenge on them, not then.
"And did Longbottom say it was me who cursed him?" Merula sneered, managing a slight grin when Weasley fell silent. "Where is he now?"
"Do you know what you did to him?" Potter's voice was softer than Weasley's voice, but Merula knew the tone of his voice. She had heard it with Lucius when he was truly angry. Not angry at her and Draco fighting angry, but the tone he used when that man had burst out of the fireplace into the Manor.
She had pretended to be asleep, and by the time Lucius had finished threatening the man, she wished she had been asleep.
"Potter," Merula repeated, no longer shouting against Weasley. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"He was bleeding," Potter said, his eyes boring into hers. "I think his legs gave out sometime after you cursed him. I think he used the walls to get to the Great Hall, at least until someone found him."
"And then what?" Merula asked.
"I knew it," Weasley hissed. "You want to savour your handiwork, don't you?"
"What happened to Longbottom?" Merula repeated, glaring back into Potter's eyes.
"Hermione cured him," Potter replied, her eyes unwavering from hers. "She unbound his legs, and then he went off to the Hospital Wing."
Merula frowned. The Mudblood already knew how to cure the curse. Merula had spent countless weeks in her little hideout, and the Mudblood already had a cure on hand?
"You seem displeased about that," Potter growled. "Did you expect him to suffer when you cast that curse?"
"I didn't curse Longbottom," Merula growled back. "I haven't seen him since Potions."
"Then where were you?" Potter's eyes were still on hers. "If you didn't attack him?"
"The-" Merula felt her voice die in her throat. Why was she telling Potter the quiet spot where she had hidden away? Just so he wouldn't suspect her for something she didn't do? No, she wasn't going to tell him about the room. "I'm not answering that Potter. Get out of my face."
Potter said nothing, his arms crossed. "Where were you Snyde?"
Merula shoved him. It worked, almost surprisingly well. Potter jerked back, and she saw the surprise in his eyes as she stepped by him, hurrying past him, back to the hallways around the Great Hall.
Blaise was waiting in the shadows of one the passages she preferred. The smile on his face faded as he saw her.
"The Mudblood got to Longbottom first," Merula growled as she glanced behind her. "So basically I've spent the last month perfecting a spell that's completely useless against her."
Blaise's face fell as he brought a hand to his chin. "What about-"
"I'll need something stronger," Merula cut in. "Not from that book. Knowing the Mudblood, she's got every counter-curse memorized."
Blaise raised an eyebrow. "I might know something there."
"It better be good." Merula leaned against the wall behind her. "I don't want to cast it on someone and have the Mudblood fix it a minute later."
The smile returned to Blaise's face, and Merula felt a slight shiver up her spine. Blase had a smile that disturbed her.
"If you cast it on her, something tells me she's not going to be able to fight back," Blaise said.
"Then tell me," Merula replied as she jumped up from against the wall, cutting Blaise off before he could continue. "What is this spell you have-"
Merula suddenly felt stiff. She had seen Blaise's lips move, but she never could have imagined the effect. Her body had frozen in place, as if she had been turned to stone, with her arms snapped to her side. She tried to open her mouth, but her jaw refused to move, and given the fact that her legs had become rigid, she was pretty sure she couldn't run anymore.
But she could still see Blaise, and his hands guided her back to the wall, propping her up at an angle where she could see his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus," Blaise explained as he waved his wand again. "Finite Incantatem."
When the counter-spell hit, Merula could move her arms again. Her legs folded underneath her as she fell down the wall, unable to support her body any more.
"I trust you know what it is now?" Blaise asked, his voice almost cheerful.
"Yeah," Merula replied, rubbing her head as she grabbed her wand. "So what you're saying is that I should use this on the Mudblood."
The disturbing grin on Blaise's face widened, and he nodded. "Even if she was hit, she wouldn't be in a position to do anything about it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Merula said as she turned away. "I'll be in the classroom if you need me."
The following weeks were slow and tedious, just as the weeks before had been. But Merula was patient. She had always been good at that. She wasn't like Draco, who couldn't wait a day before complaining to Lucius.
But her father had been generous and had even gone so far as to reassure her that students getting into small trouble was commonplace.
She wondered if selling out a sister, of the same house at Hogwarts, was small trouble in her father's eyes. She would find out come the Christmas holidays, once she could speak to her father in person.
It wasn't until the week of Halloween that something interesting had happened.
For the first time that year, Flitwick finally chose to teach them a real spell, the Levitation Charm, It wasn't great, because it was useless against the stupid Gryffindors, but it was better than the basic theory they had been forced to learn in the previous classes.
Merula was happy. She was the first, and by the end of the class, the only Slytherin student to succeed with the charm, having levitated a feather a few inches off a table. Even Draco, with all his boasting, hadn't managed anything more than tossing his feather to the ground, to which he lost five points.
It was a good class. Humiliating Draco constituted a good week, even if he lost the points she had gained for Slytherin.
It was only dampened by the fact that she was the second student to succeed. The Mudblood had somehow beaten her to it. Again.
Her points would have cancelled out the gains made by Mudblood, but thanks to Draco, the Gryffindors left the class with five more points over the Slytherins.
But that setback wasn't enough to damper her mood. Not after what she had seen.
Weasley had insulted the Mudblood towards the end of the class. It was a loud insult, one she was sure he didn't care if everyone in the class heard. And it was an insult that even made her wince.
The Mudblood had reacted predictably, with tears running down on her face when she fled the room, knocking over Longbottom in the process.
Draco had snickered at that, as did his cronies and Pug-face. Merula wanted to laugh too, but she hated Weasley even more than the Mudblood, so she felt conflicted.
She didn't see the Mudblood when she stepped out of the classroom, but the hushed whispers and glances away from the Great Hall, where the Halloween feast was being held, was enough for Merula to guess where the Mudblood was going.
She lingered behind the main mass of students, only giving Blaise a slight smile, which he returned. Nobody else needed to know.
About halfway down to the Great Hall, Merula split from the crowd of students and made her way toward the direction the Mudblood had gone.
It was then that Merula hesitated. The Mudblood, in all honesty, could have fled anywhere. It would take hours for her to search every room and hallway.
The thought stopped her cold in the hallway. As much as she disliked the idea of spending a full dinner session with Draco, Pug-face, and the other idiots in her House, she hated the idea of running around the castle for hours on an empty stomach even more.
Then, another thought came to mind. The Mudblood couldn't run everywhere in the castle. Not back to the Gryffindor wing, where Weasley could find her, nor to any of the other house wings. She wouldn't go to the Forbidden corridor either, for she would be eaten by the two-headed beast guarding it, and worse yet- expelled.
Next, were the various boy's bathrooms scattered across Hogwarts, along with Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Merula doubted any girl wanted to go there, regardless of what she had been going through.
That left a limited number of options left, and Merula had a nagging suspicion that the bathroom she sought was in fact the one in the Dungeons, where Weasley wouldn't be able to find the Mudblood.
For a slight second, Merula genuinely felt bad for the Mudblood. She had been consistently a pain in the side and stolen points that rightfully belonged to Slytherin, but even Merula had to admit that the Mudblood was smart, not like Potter. And she didn't deserve to be stuck in the same House as the Weasley.
The thought made Merula hesitate for a moment and look down at her wand. Mudblood or not, Granger could be turned against Draco- if Merula could say the right things at her lowest point. Was Granger really at her lowest now? Could Merula use Weasley's words to her advantage?
A loud thud, followed by a faint scream echoed through the hallway a moment later, breaking her concentration. What was that?
A second thud and an accompanying scream came from the hallway before her- the first-floor hallway, causing Merula to flinch. Did the two-headed dog get loose? Worse yet, was it hungry?
The thought of Granger being turned into dog food made her pause for a second. If she slipped back into the feast, she could leave Granger to her fate- and eliminate the other smartest witch in her year in one fell swoop. It would deny her the chance to turn Granger against Draco and Weasley, but at least she wouldn't have competition anymore.
And it wouldn't take anything to achieve except to turn around and walk away, to join the feast.
Merula turned to the hallway behind her before she looked down at her wand.
But the curses she had learned from Blaise needed testing, and she would never get a chance if the Mudblood Granger got eaten, not with all the extra security precautions. Worse yet, the year could be canceled, and she would have to spend the year at home with Draco.
"I really am a stupid Gryffindor," Merula muttered to herself as she turned and ran at the source of the noise.
To her surprise, the source of the sound was not the two-headed dog she had seen in the Forbidden hallway. To her disgust, it was a mountain troll, tall enough to not even fit through the large doorway into the girls' toilets without bending over. And true enough, as smelly as the books made it out to be."
"Locomotor Mortis!" Merula shouted as she pointed her wand at the troll. There was a moment of silence as the magic struck the troll. Then the troll spun around and smashed something big and dark against the arch above the door.
The thud shook the hallway, though it seemed as if the stone wall was stronger than the weapon, for the stone archway still remained intact, if only for a moment. The troll, perhaps frustrated, roared and smashed something inside the toilet instead, loud enough to make Merula wince. If every student had not been at the feast, then someone would have undoubtedly noticed the noise.
Another scream followed through as the troll smashed a massive club at something within the toilets, though the tail end of the scream was drowned out by the sound of something shattering, possibly the sinks or the mirrors on the wall.
Merula took a step forward as she glanced past the dark troll, still swinging its heavy club around the room, though the troll had achieved nothing except draw a spray of water from what Merula figured were the destroyed sinks.
It was then that the troll turned to look her directly in the eyes, and Merula felt her legs freeze over, like when Blaise had petrified her. Why did she act like a stupid Gryffindor? All it got her was a face to face meeting with the troll. And worse yet, it was her legs frozen in place.
Why hadn't she simply left the Mudblood alone? She could have been at the feast now.
The troll roared, and Merula gagged at the stench. She wasn't sure what caused the smell, but it made her sick to the stomach.
The troll took a booming stomp forward, the move making a heavy thud against the floor-
Followed by a hallway-shaking crash as the troll slipped on the wet floor, the heavy thud creating new strength in her legs, allowing her to turn and run away from the downed troll. Right into- Weasley?
"Whoa!" Weasley shouted as Merula collided with him. "Watch where you-"
"Troll," Merula shot back, pointing back to the troll, still sprawled in the hallway but staggering back up again. "Get a professor."
"That's the troll," Potter muttered from the side as Merula glanced back at the struggling troll, feeling a sense of pride rise in her chest. Draco certainly couldn't have fought the troll. Draco would have run away screaming. And thus she was better than Draco, even if the spell Blaise taught her wasn't working.
Then the troll staggered to its feet again, and the feeling of pride disappeared as fast as it had come. Why did it refuse to stay down? Why didn't Hogwarts teach more effective means of dealing with trolls?
"We need to get a professor," Merula growled as she shoved herself between the two idiotic Gryffindors. If there was going to more flying chunks of wall, then she could use the idiots as shields. "Isn't Quirrell-"
"Quirrell fainted in the Great Hall," Potter interjected, and Merula suppressed a groan. "He reported the troll too, but he chose to run away rather than face it."
Merula glanced back at the troll. "You want to fight that thing? You'll go down in history as the Boy who became paste!"
Potter seemed to hesitate for a second, and Merula took the chance to push past him. If the dumb Gryffindor wanted to become dinner for the troll, then she wasn't going to stop him.
"Hey!" Potter shouted as Merula reached the closest hallway- leading to the safety of the dungeons, ready to make her escape when Weasley grabbed her arm, the move jerking her to a screeching halt.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Merula screamed as she brought her wand up, a small smirk rising to her lips as Weasley's legs snapped together, his jaw falling as he wobbled on the spot.
She took the moment to tear her arm free, knocking Weasley down in the process and allowing her one final look at the troll she never wanted to see again.
"Petrification Totallus!" Merula launched the second spell Blaise had mentioned in the rather intriguing book.
The troll, now fighting to inch through the doorway, roared in response before it slipped on the wet floor again, it's legs having escaped into the hallway. If Merula hadn't seen the spells work against the other students, she would swear that Blaise had been teaching her a fake spell.
"Aren't trolls immune to magic?" Weasley asked, and Merula resisted the urge to freeze him.
Freeze?
An idea floated to mind, inspired by the snowball she had blinded Draco with two winters ago. Even if it wasn't magic, it still blinded Draco enough for him to slip on an icy patch.
Could it work with the troll? The troll now staggering up, ready to turn her into food. It had to.
"Nix Minor!" Merula shouted as the troll got up yet again, now pushing its frame through the damaged archway. The spell caused a stream of snow to rush from her wand, coating the face of the struggling troll and causing it to claw at its hideous face as it slipped back down with a thud. As the floor shuddered with the landing, a large portion of the archway finally gave way and crashed into the troll's head.
It was over. Finally.
"Happy now Potter?" Merula growled as she turned to the unfortunately-not paste Boy Who Lived. "Solved your troll problem for you."
"What did you-" Potter started.
"Nix Minor," Merula shot back. "Why don't you get the Mudblood to explain to you what it does?"
Potter's teeth clenched, and Merula barely hid a grin.
"I didn't mean that," Potter turned to Weasley as he spoke. "What did you do to Ron?"
"Leg Locker Curse," Merula glanced down at the Weasley on the ground. This time, she grinned. "Rather effective, wouldn't you say?"
"So you were the one who attacked Neville," Potter growled.
The name seemed… vaguely familiar? Who was Neville again?
"Who?" Merula finally managed to say, her mind coming up blank.
"Neville, the Gryffindor you cursed," Potter's voice was hostile, and Merula narrowed her eyes. When had she cursed anyone? She had spent every waking hour either avoiding her classmates or practicing her curses against a wall.
"Potter," Merula sighed with the last of her patience as she looked up at the Boy Who Lived. "You're full of it. You can't prove anything, because I haven't done anything. Got it? And who is this Neville? Your imaginary friend?"
"You cursed him in one of those dark hallways you always lurk in," Potter growled. "He had to jump all the way to the Great Hall to get help."
Something clicked within her mind. Potter was talking about Longbottom? Was Neville really his first name?
"I didn't do it-" Merula started, before her voice caught in her throat. What was the point of convincing Potter? Potter wasn't going to listen to reason, and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him about the unused classroom she used when she needed a place for alone time. And she wasn't actually going to tell him about Blaise.
"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Potter whispered, his voice frigid, and Merula realized he was too close for her comfort.
She shoved him again, harder than the time in the Great Hall, and Potter sprawled back, his body being surprisingly fragile as he fell to the ground, a shout of surprise escaping him as he landed against the wall, his glasses clattering to the ground.
Merula took the chance to run, run away from the destroyed toilets, away from the Mudblood and the troll. She knew the passages underground well enough to slip into the Common Room within minutes.
"You're late," one of the prefects glanced up as she entered the Common Room. "Where were you? We were just about to send someone to find you."
Merula felt her mouth go dry as she glanced around her assembled house. Blaise, looking perfectly innocent in a way only he could, Draco, grinning like a madman, and the gang of half-wits.
"That's enough," a voice cut through. "We're all here. Snyde, I'll speak with Professor Snape after the Troll is dealt with. I expect you'll be cleaning cauldrons until Christmas."
Merula glanced up at the oldest prefect, and swallowed the reply she had been saving up. What was the point anyway?
"So," Professor Severus Snape said as he entered the room. "Either you have a knack for getting into trouble or you have been jinxed."
Merula glanced up at Snape, and noticed he walked with the slightest limp.
"Are you alright, sir?" Merula managed as their eyes met.
"I am not the one who has a… unfortunate habit of getting into trouble, Miss Snyde," Snape replied, and Merula looked down at her shoes at his piercing gaze. "Tell me what happened."
"I…" Merula started, her voice trailing off. Everyone knew she couldn't lie to save her life. What was the point?
"Why were you not at the feast?" Snape asked.
The memory of Hermonie Granger running from class rose in her mind, and Merula squirmed in the overly large chair.
"I was… following the- Granger, sir."
Snape's lips did not change, though he nodded. "And why was that?"
"I wanted to curse her," Merula admitted, the initial plan coming back into her mind. "Like what happened to Longbottom. I didn't want her to get to enjoy the Feast. For all the work I put into class, she always seems to be one step ahead."
Snape said nothing as Merula looked down. "I- I worked on a curse in secret. Practicing against a wall until I could practically perform the curse in my sleep."
Snape cleared his throat, and Merula glanced up, looking at the Professor.
"And did you ever get to perform this… curse on Miss Granger?" Snape continued.
"No sir," Merula admitted. "The troll beat me to it. Then Potter and Weasley showed up."
Snape frowned, and Merula sighed. "I cursed the troll. It wouldn't go down even if I used-"
"Petrification Totallus," Snape interrupted. "Yes, I am aware. We found traces of two lesser curses. Curses I now know you cast."
"How-" Merula started.
"Because Potter, for all his fame, does not know how to cast such a curse," Snape's voice was even, but it contained a hint of amusement, though Merula wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. "Neither does Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger's wand had not cast a spell for some time. They had claimed some rubbish about levitating the troll's club and smashing its head, which certainly did not explain the presence of snow on the troll's face."
Merula said nothing as Snape turned his eyes back to her. "Miss Snyde, for your own sake, I would suggest that you avoid dealing with Mr. Potter or Miss Granger in the coming months. I will not be so lenient the next time."
Merula blinked. "I don't understand."
"You did not commit any crime," Snape replied, his eyes hard as he looked at her. "In fact, if not for your actions, things could have gone very differently with Miss Granger and the troll."
"I-" Merula started as Snape raised a hand.
"That being said," he continued. "Your actions were malicious, and you had every intention of harming Miss Granger in that room, had the troll not interfered. I will hear no more… incidents regarding Miss Granger for the rest of this year, and in turn, I will allow you to go."
Merula blinked as something within her head clicked. She was getting off?
Snape seemed to read her mind as she stood up, and he raised a stern finger as he continued. "You will have no more trouble with Miss Granger for the rest of the year, do you understand?"
Merula swallowed. "I understand, sir."
"Good," Snape said, leaning back into his seat, though his eyes still pierced her. "Perhaps if you put some effort into studying for your classes, you may find another way to achieve satisfaction."
AN: Chapter 7 done. Slight apologies for the late nature of the chapter. My workload has increased.
As always, read, review, and whatnot.
