Chapter Five:
"Sev, What happened!?" Lily shrieked and covered her nose. The smell of burnt hair was still thick in the air.
"James and Sirius..." Severus muttered darkly.
"Those jerks set your hair on fire!?" She yelled in outrage.
He nodded and she rushed to him to survey the damage. The hair on the back of his head was considerably shorter than the front now. A bit of it stuck up at random.
"How is it?" He asked miserably.
"Not so bad." Lily lied.
"Why did they do this to you? Did you do something?"
"Nothing! I didn't do anything!" Snape said defensively. This wasn't entirely truthful...Snape had bewitched Sirius's quill to vomit green ink all over his nearly finished essay.
"Well, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!" She said boldly and marched toward the door.
"No, don't! Just forget it." He didn't want Lily fighting his battles for him.
She frowned. "Well...alright."
"I know how we can get back at them," she said smirking evilly. "I know where they leave their school bags in the common room!"
"Are you sure you're in Gryffindor?" Severus asked grinning at his fellow conspirator.
Lily laughed and slapped him on the back.
Professor Snape woke with a jolt. He sighed deeply. Ever since that girl started living here he found himself dreaming more and more about Lily. It wasn't so much that she resembled Lily, he'd seen plenty of girls that looked like Lily, but more that she was like her in some other way. He couldn't quite place what it was though. He groaned when he saw the morning light flooding through the kitchen window. He had fallen asleep in his chair again. It didn't surprise him much when he still felt unrested. He couldn't really remember the last time he had actually slept well. It felt like it had been a long, long time.
"You shouldn't do that, you know..." Snape heard a voice say to him.
"Do what?" He snarled at her.
"Sleep all night in that chair." Trudy answered, undeterred by his foul mood.
He stood up and straightened his back. He was feeling quite stiff.
"What are you, my mother?" He asked, his voice dripping with disgust. He flung open the secret entrance to the stairwell, entered and shut it behind him.
"Is it so wrong to care?" She called after him through the bookcase.
Later that day when Snape finally reemerged from the upstairs and he found Trudy studying the books he had borrowed on the carpet.
"Why don't you show me what you've learned?" It sounded more like an order than a request.
"Okay," she said, climbing to her feet and moving to the table. She was nervous and a little shy, but showed him what she knew.
"Well done," he remarked. "You've gotten through roughly two chapters already." He said, sounding impressed.
Snape helped her through the next chapter and before they even realized it, the day was nearly over. They ate dinner together and before Trudy was about to retire for the evening, she paused in the doorway.
"Professor Snape? May I come with you to Hogwarts again tomorrow?" She asked. Trudy crossed her fingers tightly behind her back, hoping he would say yes. She really wanted to hang out with Lenore.
"I suppose..." He replied, turning his back to her and busying himself with something on the table.
"Thank you," She said appreciatively and headed off to bed.
The next day Professor Snape was true to his word and took Trudy along with him to Hogwarts. She was told to arrive at his office at the same time in the evening, and was delighted when she found Lenore in the Great Hall.
"Hey, Trudy." Lenore greeted her happily.
"Hello, How are you?" Trudy replied.
"Fine. You?"
"I'm well. What should we do today?"
"Let's go outside." Lenore said, pushing her empty plate away from her and standing went down to the lake again and stared out along the grounds.
"Lenore, What's that over there?" Trudy asked, pointing to a dark mass of trees.
"Oh! We should explore in there today! That's the Forbidden Forest." Lenore announced.
"...But if it's forbidden..." Trudy said warily.
"It's only forbidden because it's easy to get lost in. It's not all that dangerous." Lenore said confidently. This was a flat out lie. The forbidden forest was incredibly dangerous.
"I'd rather not get lost either..." She replied, still reluctant.
"We won't get lost. Look," Lenore said and pulled out her wand in an agitated sort of way. "I know a spell that makes my wand a compass. We won't get lost. Don't worry."
But Trudy did worry and felt a little helpless as she followed Lenore into the forest. It was dark and a little eerie. The trees and thick underbrush seemed to hum excitedly as they entered.
"Listen, Lenore. I'm not sure we should be in here." Trudy said urgently.
"Trudyyyy," Lenore dismissed. "It's fine. I've been in here before." What she failed to mention was that the circumstances under which she had been in here had been entirely different. It had been safely escorted by the game keeper, Hagrid.
"I want to see if we can find a unicorn," she said, brushing away a vine that had snagged her skirt. They did not find a unicorn, however. Instead they found something a great deal more frightening.
Lenore stopped so abruptly that Trudy ran into her.
"What-?"
"Shh!" Lenore hissed. "Back up slowly and quietly," she whispered.
Trudy heard some kind of grinding noise. She craned her neck to see around Lenore's shoulder.
A great monster crouched with its back to them, gnawing on what looked like a dead deer. It was tall, with long legs and covered in fur. It had beautiful striped markings. The monster resembled a cat, but had long ears and a face more like a fox. They were lucky it was consumed in its meal, because it looked quite dangerous.
The girls began to back up very slowly. They were about 100 feet away when Lenore's foot got caught underneath a vine and she fell with a crash. The cat monster's head whipped around and spotted them with its great golden eyes. It hissed and in one graceful movement, it bounded toward them.
"Get up!" Trudy shrieked and hoisted Lenore up by the shoulders roughly.
They began to run, but they wouldn't get far. The cat monster moved through the forest effortlessly and would be upon them shortly.
"Do you know any spells?!" Trudy yelled, grabbing Lenore's hand to stay together.
Lenore said nothing, but continued to run as fast as she could. She looked as if she were racking her brains for some spell that could help them. Of course,in a moment of crisis one's mind becomes blank. They could hear it right behind them, any moment now it would pounce.
Lenore spun around and stopped dead in her tracks. She pointed her wand at the creature lunging at them and bellowed "Ruptispectus!" It skidded to a halt and swiped at the air around it. It's eyes had become swollen shut. It couldn't see them.
Lenore backed slowly away from it. It was sniffing the air, trying to discern where they were by sense of smell. It had huge fangs that glistened in the sunlight. Trudy gripped Lenore's arm so tightly that she let out a yelp of pain. The cat monster lunged toward the noise and its claws sunk deeply into Lenore's leg. She let out a scream and Trudy wrenched her away from the monster. Lenore stumbled and fell onto the ground a few feet away. Trudy ripped a branch from a nearby tree frantically and drew a transmutation circle in the dirt in front of the cat monster. It prowled dangerously close to her. She thrust her hands upon the circle and a wall of dirt erected from the ground, blocking it's path. The monster yowled furiously.
"Quickly! We have to hurry. It won't hold for long." Trudy shouted and helped Lenore up.
"I can't walk!" She cried, limping and wincing in pain.
"Hurry, I'll help you." Trudy said, taking some of Lenore's weight onto her shoulder. Trudy was terrified. The soil had been loose and weak,that wall would not hold for long.
When they made it quite a distance away from the monster and felt it was okay to stop, they threw themselves down onto a fallen tree.
"Are you okay?" Trudy asked, staring at her bloody leg.
"Yeah," She said in an unconvincing voice.
"We better stop that bleeding, or you'll pass out." Trudy said and bent over and picked up a fallen branch. She knelt beside Lenore and ripped the bottom of her dress into strips and applied a tourniquet to Lenore's thigh.
"Thanks." Lenore said in astonishment. It was odd that Trudy knew how to do such mundane things. In the wizarding world, most wounds could be healed by a simple spell.
"We can't stay. Get your wand out and use it as a compass." Trudy said, she was worried that Lenore's blood would attract other unwanted beasts.
"Okay," She panted and pulled her wand out. They had ran a considerable distance away from the castle. Lenore mustered the strength to stand and they hobbled on. It would be nearly dark before they got back.
"Sorry, Lenore. It's my fault you got hurt." Trudy said sadly.
"Nonsense, I was the one who wanted to come in here, remember?" She said, grinning at Trudy. Her wound hurt a lot and she knew it was her fault.
Night had fallen in the forest and Trudy felt uneasy. They should have been out of the forest by now...They were going the right way weren't they?
"Lenore, check your wand again, won't you?"
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Trudy and Lenore froze. Something large was crashing through the forest and was getting very close to them. Trudy pulled Lenore behind a tree and they crouched in a low bush.
"Girls! Come on out now!" They heard a gruff voice call.
"Lenore! Lenore McGonagall!" It continued.
"That's Hagrid!" Lenore exclaimed and bolted up.
"Hagrid! Over here!" She shouted, waving her arms.
"Lenore! What're you doin' out here!?" A giant of a man yelled, crashing toward them.
The man was carrying a crossbow and a great black dog followed in his wake. He had a bushy beard and despite his size, a kind face. Hagrid carried Lenore and Trudy followed, patting the big black dog. It was quite friendly. They eventually made it back to the castle and hurried to the hospital wing. Hagrid left and said he was going to find Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Trudy cringed slightly at the thought. She was almost two hours late and Hagrid would surely tell Professor Snape where she'd been. What if he refused to bring her back to Hogwarts?
The matron examined Lenore's leg and then looked to Trudy.
"You applied this tourniquet?" She inquired.
"Y-yes. I wasn't sure what else to do." Trudy explained.
"Well, you did the right thing. She might have bleed to death if you hadn't." The woman said approvingly.
The doors burst open and in flew a rather panic-stricken Professor McGonagall.
"You foolish girl!" She screamed at Lenore, whose face had gone quite white.
"What were you thinking going into the Forbidden Forest!? I ought to box your ears!" Professor McGonagall yelled, grabbing Lenore and pulling her into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry, Auntie." Lenore said apologetically.
"And you!" Professor McGonagall raged, turning her wrath toward Trudy. "Why did you go in there!?"
"I-I I'm sorry ma'am." Trudy stuttered. She was flustered by the sudden change in tack.
"Leave her alone, Auntie. She didn't want to go, I forced her. If she hadn't been with me, I might have died." Lenore piped in, the matron nodded in agreement.
Professor McGonagall winced at the thought. "Well, Miss Quinn if you know what's good for you, you'll go to Professor Snape as quickly as you can. He's practically beside himself with rage."
Beside himself with rage? Oh my...That wasn't good at all. Trudy felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She was in big trouble.
"Are you alright? You're face has suddenly gone white!" Lenore exclaimed, glancing over at Trudy.
"Fine," Trudy squeaked. She stood up abruptly and said a hurried goodbye to Lenore. She ran out of the hospital wing and skidded down the hallway at top speed. I'm in so much trouble! She rushed down to the dungeons and knocked hastily on the door of Snape's office.
She cautiously opened the door and walked inside. Professor Snape sat at his desk. Why did it seem like there was a black cloud of doom hanging overhead? He surveyed her with his dark eyes as she entered and sat in the hard wooden chair facing his desk.
"You and I need to have a chat," He said softly. Trudy wasn't thrown by the calmness of his voice. She could tell he was quite angry. She nodded her head cooperatively.
"Hagrid had some interesting news for me," He said smoothly. He had his elbows propped on the desk and his fingers laced together. His chin rested gently on his fingers.
"D-did he?" Trudy replied. She almost preferred the shouting instead of this deadly calm Snape.
"Yes...He seemed to be under the impression that you and Miss McGonagall had gone into the forbidden forest today." Snape said as he glared daggers at her.
"Is that true?" He asked. Snape's lips had become very thin and he sat very still, almost like a statue.
"Y-Yes, Sir. I'm afraid it is. I'm very sorry." Trudy said, lowering her head submissively.
"What on earth possessed you to go into the forbidden forest?" Snape asked. His eyes flashed dangerously.
"I'm not blaming this on Lenore," She started hesitantly. "It's just as much my fault as it is hers. I should have known better when she told me that it was forbidden. She said it was forbidden because it was easy to get lost in, not because it was dangerous."
"She showed me that she knew a spell that would keep us from getting lost. It was against my better judgment." Trudy explained delicately. A cold silence followed.
"Please forgive me." Trudy whispered. She felt so stupid. Why had that seemed like a good idea? She hoped that he'd still take her to Hogwarts with him. She couldn't stand the thought of being left alone again.
Professor Snape was shocked that Lenore had lied to her. Well, maybe not that shocked, but shocked that she would lie about such a dangerous place. What if they had been killed? That foolish Gryffindor and her ridiculous blind courage! How was that an endearing quality!? He wondered, picturing Lenore dragging Trudy into the forest.
"Do you realize that you could've been killed!? Hagrid told me that Lenore was injured. What happened!?" His voice suddenly thick with fury. He glanced at Trudy. She had small cuts all over her face and shoulders and her dress had been ripped nearly to shreds.
"Yes, I'm sorry. We were attacked by some kind of monster. We got away, but we were really scared." She admitted and clenched her fists in her lap. What if Lenore had been killed? Would she have even more blood on her hands than she already did? Trudy blinked back tears. She wasn't going to cry, she told herself angrily. No way am I going to cry in front of him.
"You've been very careless," His voice cut like a knife. "I will not permit you to see Miss McGonagall for two weeks. Perhaps being separated from your friend will teach you to think for yourself!" He spat.
"Yes, Sir." Trudy replied. She knew she deserved whatever punishment she was dealt.
"May I tell her of this?" Trudy asked shakily.
"No," He replied cruelly. "You will stay in this office and work on your studies. Even someone as dimwitted as Miss Lenore McGonagall will assume what happened."
"Yes, Sir." She nodded sadly.
Snape stood up abruptly and glided away from the desk.
"Get up. We're going home." He said grabbing her roughly by the arm and dragging her out of his office. It was a horrible end to a horrible day. Trudy vowed she would not fall into Lenore's harebrained schemes again so easily. She did like Lenore and wasn't particularly angry at her. Her mischievous ways vaguely reminded her of her brother. However, she now recognized her trouble making potential. She would have to be on her guard from now on.
End of Chapter Five!
Lenore's a cheeky little thing, isn't she? Well, hope you enjoyed it! Next time you'll find out a bit more about the Alchemist Guild!
-CindersNSmoke