Chapter 13 - The Misbehaves

At first, she wasn't aware where she was. But, as Katia slowly regained consciousness, she found herself surrounded by the sterile environment of infirmary. Every part of her body was in pain, but somehow, she was still alive and breathing.

Then, she heard footsteps approaching her infirmary room. Katia struggled to open her eyes, finding the lids surprisingly heavy.

The black robed figure of Professor Snape brushed past her bed and she heard him putting glass vials on her nightstand. She wanted to tell him that she was thirsty, but was unable to produce a sound from her dry throat. Any second, he would leave her, thirsty and sore, thinking that she was asleep.

Katia gathered all her strength and caught his hand. He flinched, as though he was expecting her touch to burn.

Katia was obviously trying to say something, but screaming for hours had badly abused her vocal cords.

"Miss Ivanov, something tells me that this is not the end of your problems; it's just the beginning."

Katia would take his words amiss, but the tone of his voice seemed somehow playful; it lacked usual sarcasm, so she smiled.

Snape helped her with vials, and soon, the pain she felt earlier had eased. Three vials later, she dared to clear her throat, finally finding her voice. She couldn't call this rasping her voice, but it was a voice, nonetheless.

Her eyelids became heavy again and she suspected that one of vials contained a Sleeping Draught.

"How do you feel?" Asked the Potions Master.

"I've had better days," she croaked. And then sleep embraced her.

Severus wanted to be nowhere near the inane girl. But, it was his duty to help her, and he spent some time preparing potions for her.

He was sure that the girl was still sleeping when she suddenly grabbed his hand. He cringed at her touch, expecting the unpleasant and somewhat painful feeling which he had felt last time, but surprisingly, nothing happened. He only felt her thin, trembling hand which barely clenched around his.

He wondered: What had changed?

That persistent thought wouldn't leave him alone as he sat in the comfortable armchair in his quarters.

Severus tried to be reasonable. It wasn't her fault that her housemates almost killed her. Of course, there was something not right with her and he was eager to investigate it further. But, Katia herself seemed harmless.

The fireplace roared with flames and the white head of Albus Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the inferno.

"Severus, may I have a word?"

Ron and Harry had been playing Wizard Chess for quite some time. They hadn't found anything new about the Slytherin Monster or Chamber of Secrets since Harry had found and started writing in the diary, and they were anxious.

Ron, however, was distracted somehow. His mind seemed to be wandering, and it took an explosion to jerk him back to reality.

At least that's how it looked for Hermione.

"I can't believe I finally beat you, Ron!" Exclaimed Harry, disbelieving his good luck.

Ron just shrugged. "Seems you're lucky today."

Hermione put down the book she was reading. "Three times in row? Even I can't believe in such luck, Ron," she said knowingly. She glanced around the common room, and seeing that they were alone, spoke again.

"Something is on your mind; you hide it poorly," she sighed, seeing confirmation in Ron's expression.

"We're worried about you," reassured Harry.

"All right, I'll tell you, but- but I don't know how I should feel about it." Ron looked at the chessboard, twisting his fingers nervously.

"It's okay we won't judge you. We're friends, right?" Hermione was curious, but tried to be patient.

Ron looked at them and then averted their eyes. "You know what I think of Ivanov," he said quietly. "But I saw Zabini swap the drinks during breakfast. I told Snape."

Hermione put a reassuring hand on his arm. "You did right thing."

"I wasn't so sure when I went to Snape's office. You wouldn't want to see him like that. It was as if he suspected me of all people." He took a deep breath. "But I told him and he- he awarded ten points to Gryffindor."

Harry seemed to weigh his words and Hermione used this to voice her point.

"You did the right thing. You probably saved her life. I'm sure that Professor Snape found a cure for her." She emphasized the title, correcting him as always, but it was more like a habit for Hermione.

Ron looked at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. When he spoke his voice was calm and rather quiet. "I just couldn't stand the thought that if I didn't do anything, she would die. No matter how much I dislike her, I needed to do something."

"The attacks stopped," Harry said finally. "Do you see the connection?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, we don't Harry. Katia is not able to perform dark magic with her poor abilities," she said as if speaking to children.

"One would never know that," said Harry as he cleared the chessboard so they would be able to play again.

When Katia woke up again, she found some flowers on her nightstand and a sealed scroll of parchment. She took it carefully with trembling hands. She recognized the seal as Kashpirovsky's and impatiently unrolled the parchment, curious of what analysis he had made. There was only one word, written in steady, Cyrillic script:

Василйск

В. К.

Oh. A Basilisk. She was almost eaten by a freaking basilisk! Thank Rasputin that she had not dared to look it in the eye; she would be in worse condition than the petrified people who were spending their time in the infirmary with her! A kind of irreversible state as a matter of fact.

Her hand still trembled, probably a side effect of the curse attack, as she tore the parchment into tiny pieces. She wasn't going to talk about her recent discovery with anyone. She decided that she will find a way to kill the giant snake herself, and make use of the creature's body parts. It would make a great start of her career in Potions and she wasn't going to share it with anyone.

Her father would most certainly forbid her from doing such experiments and would go straight to Dumbledore with the news, so they won't be informed about the creature. Until it was killed.

If that was even possible.

She wasn't doing anything wrong. After all, the Basilisk wasn't responsible for the writing on the wall.

Severus did not find this afternoon particularly amusing, as he was almost immediately involved with student issues. More accurate, he found himself again under Minerva's annoyed glare as problem with his Snakes resurfaced, unwanted. Of course Ivanov was on the top of the list even if she was a victim this time.

"I'm only trying to be reasonable, Minerva," said Severus, who was already tired with this conversation.

"Reasonable?" She asked, as if surprised. "Severus, she's brought trouble, and nothing more, since she set her foot on Hogwarts grounds. The attacks-" she trailed off. "Chamber of Secrets which has been closed for fifty years! But since Miss Ivanov has been here, it's miraculously reopened!" She snapped, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Severus.

Minerva was furious, and Severus could see it clearly. She blamed his Slytherins for all the evil of this world.

He shouldn't be surprised; her perspective was the same when he was a student here, why would it change now? She was very thoughtful if it concerned her Gryffindors, of course, but when it came to other houses… He couldn't find her logic sometimes.

Like now.

Dumbledore chuckled and put down a quill he was holding above a yellowed piece of parchment.

"Now Minerva, we have no proof that Miss Ivanov is involved in opening the Chamber."

McGonagall exhaled and joined her fingers together. "My priority is safety of entire student body," she said calmly. "I believe that expulsion of that four students which were involved in such an unfortunate incident can save us from further … complications from their side. As far as the Ministry is concerned, the situation doesn't look appealing. We can't hide what's happening here, even if we wanted to."

She looked at Snape and continued despite his eyebrow raised in disbelief and smirk. "My judgment isn't clouded by my personal likes or dislikes towards these children. I care about all of them, not only those who are in my house."

Minerva turned to face the headmaster. "Albus, you know that I'm doing everything I can for the sake of this school, for its students."

"How about Harry Potter?" Asked Snape, his tone slightly amused. "All the evidence is against him since the attacks started. Somehow he was always in the middle of the crime scenes." He raised a hooked eyebrow sceptically.

"Harry Potter is not the subject of our discussion," cut Minerva shortly. "How convenient for you, Severus, to blame the boy and compare him to those- to those criminals," she hissed the last word, expressing her great outcry.

"Expelling my Slytherins won't help the matter," retorted Snape smugly. He would tell her what he really thought, as he took everything against the Slytherin house as an attack on himself, but he preferred to have Albus on his side.

McGonagall grew impatient at this.

"Severus, they almost murdered a fellow student. I think that she should join their fate and be expelled too. There is two against you, the Headmaster and I-"

"I never said that I wanted those children to be expelled," interrupted Dumbledore. "They should be punished, of course, but they are so young. We all made mistakes when we were young." The Headmaster spoke quietly. He was sitting at his desk, leaning on his elbows, with his fingers interlocked beneath his chin.

Minerva only nodded at his remark.

"One of those children may be responsible for writing on the wall and the petrified students, Albus. Don't you care about that?"

Oh dear, thought Dumbledore. They won't let me write this letter.

"Of course I care, Minerva. However I believe that our dear caretaker would solve the problem with punishment with the greatest caution. And Miss Ivanov is the victim here, we should remember that and not blame her for the predicament she has found herself in."

Draco Malfoy could tell that he was really lucky. Not only he wasn't responsible for his house mates' actions but someone else told his godfather about the incident and those who were guilty.

He was sure that during breakfast, while the Great Hall was full of students, there could be anyone who might be looking at Blaise while he swapped the glasses.

Pansy, Millicent and Blaise were looking quite miserable, but Draco did nothing to comfort them, busying himself with his homework and throwing glances in their direction. He was at peace with his conscience – Katia was alive and he did nothing to threaten her life.

The three Slytherins were talking quietly among themselves and no matter how he strained his ears, he couldn't catch a word besides 'Filch'.

Theodore Nott approached them and Draco smirked nastily. Teddy had a particular dislike towards Pansy, and he never bothered to be liked by groups of people.

He said something and Pansy's eyes filled with tears. "It's not true!" She shouted, clenching her fists. "I am not a murderer!"

"We should go for detention, it's time for us," said Blaise, standing up. He caught Pansy by her sleeve and she reluctantly followed, throwing hateful glares towards Theodore, who flashed her a smile that was all teeth; not at all a friendly expression but rather a predatory one.

She was walking through a hallway, accompanied by a tall, hooded figure.

She, was holding a lantern to illuminate their way. They reached a shifting staircase and waited patiently until it delivered them to an entrance to a dark corridor.

The castle seemed familiar, though there were no portraits on the walls and the bricks looked somehow brighter. The passed many twists and forks, and finally, they were standing before a wooden door.

She leaned down and pushed the wood and something clicked.

"We can continue, Master," she said in a strange, disembodied voice. They were probably in the dungeons, and the ground lowered as they continued their walk.

The corridor seemed endless, as nothing lit the end. They turned left, the lantern swaying slightly, making shadows dance and creating complicated patterns in the ruts on the walls. She ignored the shadows however, concentrating hard to keep her pace with her Master. The anxiety was building inside of her as they slowly reached their destination.

She pushed a brick and a fragment of the wall started shifting, revealing the door. It was almost completely black and she wondered what it was made of. It was ebony most likely, but, on the other hand – it was dark and it could be her imagination.

She bowed her head, her Master brushed past her, then it was her turn to go inside.

Katia opened her eyes wide to find herself in familiar surrounding of Hogwarts infirmary.

"Hello sweetie," said Wulfrick, smiling. "I was so worried about you." He took her hand in his and she closed her eyes, feeling safe and happy.

It was so unrealistic for her to be here, at Hogwarts with her father, that she blinked few times to be sure that she wasn't dreaming anymore.

"It's so nice to see you father," she wanted to squeeze his hand, but found herself weak as a baby. "The last thing I remember before waking up in infirmary was that I had an attack in front of everyone. You have no idea how embarrassed I am," she whispered.

Her voice has not returned fully yet, so she preferred speaking quietly, than like an old drunk after party.

"You just weren't careful enough, Katia. You housemates planned to slip you a love potion. And you failed to notice when they did," he explained.

"Pansy Parkinson?"

"Accompanied by Zabini and Bulstrode," he added, rubbing circles on her palm with his thumb. "Do you feel any presence of the… occurring event?"

Katia's shoulders shook with restrained laugh. Her father named the curse in similar way as the wizarding world did with Voldemort. He was ridiculous sometimes. There was little chance that anyone could speak Russian so well to eavesdrop on their conversation and understand what they meant.

The was even less chance for someone to find out that Wulfrick wasn't her biological father and she panicked the first day. She could let it pass.

"No, but after so strong of an attack, I wouldn't be surprised if it's retreated for a while." As a matter of fact, Katia felt like she had never been a cursed one. The thirst for something indescribable was gone, as well as her need for pain. There was no desire inside her and she felt rather burned off of strong emotions.

"I would give it a good four or five months before it returns with its usual force. I suppose that you've been using the Time Turned I gave you?"

Katia nodded. "I did every day. I wouldn't be able go take extra lessons with my friend from the other house, being tutored by Professor Flitwick and McGonagall, do my regular homework, practice for Bulgarian's exams and associate with anyone. Not to mention eating meals and to have spare time."

"By the end of the summer term, you should be fifteen then."

She understood where Wulfrick was going with the conversation. "So I can serve during Veleriana's initiation ceremony?"

"Most certainly," he said, smiling.

A single bottle rolled from the table and fell with a clang. Filch made no move to stop it and watched as the remnants of the golden-reddish liquid swirled inside of it.

"I wish they knew what I felt, what Snape must have been feeling while we were carrying her to the infirmary," he slurred, still looking at the bottle as it stopped near the wall.

Adele, who lay on the table leaning on the elbows, turned her gaze from flames.

"There is more to the girl than thick eyebrows and plain features, doesn't it Argus?" She asked playfully and moved her hand before his eyes.

He remained silent.

"How many fingers do you see?"

He made a move like he was trying to wave away a particularly nasty fly. "Fifteen. Now tell me-" He dozed off in a mid sentence.

Some time later a little group of Slytherins was very surprised and incredibly relieved to find Mr. Filch's office empty. None had the desire to visit his private quarters.

A few days passed and the rumours started to die away. They were replaced by fresh ones about a trio of Slytherins, dutifully cleaning the floors, polishing school trophies and dusting off the portraits.

Katia was still in the Hospital wing and she was ordered to have no visitors.

She couldn't feel the presence of the curse; as a matter of fact, she felt as tough someone had burned off her feelings, compared to how it was before Valentine's Day. She felt curiosity and a ghost of anxiety as she drifted off to sleep. There were hallways, the Master and ebony doors waiting for her.

She never slept that much as far as she could recall, but it must have been connected to the curse – the thing kept her body alert and she had had problems with sleeping before.

Then, sleep engulfed her and she found herself in a hallway. The staircase shifted and, although some part of her was aware that it was a dream, she couldn't do anything than more like before. It was like a Muggle movie, playing on its own accord.

When they reached the door and Master brushed past her, she felt herself waking up. She wasn't about to give up, clutching to the remnants of the dream.

"I want to go through the door!" She slurred sleepily. "What's behind the door?!" She said louder, forcing the image to stay under her closed eyelids. Her efforts were in vain as everything turned into black.

She opened her eyes to find herself in infirmary, as usual.

"What door?" Asked a familiar voice beside her bed. She turned her head to met the narrowed gaze of Argus Filch.

She was still drowsy from sleeping and voiced her first thoughts.

"I have a recurring dream," she breathed. "Every night I dream of corridors, Master and the door."

Her eyes were wide open and her gaze unfocused. "I can see patterns in the darkness." She clutched her bedcovers. "I want to know what's behind the door."

A/N: Thanks to Artemis J. Halk for help with this chapter. A bowl of virtual cookies for you :D

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