Hello you beautiful creatures!
I'm soooooo sorry I haven't been able to update before now, but I really, really hope that you can all forgive me! My pc haven't been working properly, and it has deleted this chapter 3 times already :S I'm going to start writing the next chapter tonight or tomorrow, trying to do it as fast as possible! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Love,
Marte

I STILL DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! THE MAIN PLOT AND ALL THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS BELONGS TO J. K, I ONLY OWN EMERALD AND HER INVENTED BABY SIBLINGS AND SOME OF HER CLASSMATES AND STUFF!

Chapter 11

We were almost running all the way up to the castle. Professor Snape had helped me clean my face and hair, seeing that there had been so much blood. Still, there was quite a lot on my shirt. We hadn't even bothered to do anything about it. Both of us saw that cleaning that up would be an impossible task. The reason why we were running was because I had told professor Snape that I wanted to see my brother getting Sorted. I guess that he saw it as a challenge to actually make it in time.

"Where will we go in, sir? Surely you don't mean that we are going to go through the main door to the Great Hall! I don't want everyone to be staring at me."

"Everyone will most likely be staring at you anyway, Miss Potter." Professor Snape began. "But we will go through the teacher's entrance."

Feeling very comforted by those words, I felt myself getting lighter. Like a huge weight was slowly being pulled away from my chest.
The run up to the castle was probably the longest I had ever experienced. It felt never ending. When I first spotted the castle, I couldn't help but smile widely, almost laughing out loud in pure glee. It felt reassuring that I now had proof that we were, in fact, actually moving forwards.
Professor Snape held open the huge oak doors of the castle for me as we reached them, giving me a slight smile as he did. All I could really think about was how messy my hair must've been at the moment. It probably looked like a birds nest! I was too afraid of that to even check. I'd rather live in oblivion of that tiny little detail.
The secret hallway that lead to the Great Hall was one that I was not familiar with. I had never even taken any particular notice in the painting itself. It was of a very fat wizard eating a great feast of a meal. He had rosy cheeks and close to no hair. If I were to guess, I would probably say that he was from the 1700's. It was very practical that none of the students knew the password, though. I could only guess what it had been like in the past, before the painting had been placed there!

"Password?" The fat wizard hiccuped after taking a huge sip of his goblet.

"Lemon tart." Professor Snape answered, his face looking thence and annoyed.

The painting swung open for us to go through. The hallway behind it was so long that I couldn't even see the end of it. It spooked me out a bit. Luckily it was not one of those scary, tight passages that were usually behind paintings. This one looked just like any other hallway, just much smaller. Maybe three teachers could walk alongside each other in it?
Professor Snape began walking, this time much slower so that I would have time to regain my breath. Every now and again I would catch him looking down at me with an unreadable expression. It really annoyed me that he was able to read me so easily, but to read him was the definition of impossible. Maybe I would be able to read him too, one day?
I could see the door now. That dark wooden door that was so familiar, but oh so unfamiliar. I could hear all the people on the other side of it, even as they were completely silent. I could hear sounds of breathing and other small things like that. The two of us stopped just as we arrived at the door.

"You must be quiet as you walk down. Look down on the floor, and don't speak to anyone." Professor Snape informed me, whispering it very quickly into my ear.

"How far are they into the sorting?" I couldn't help myself, I just had to know. His breath tickled against my ear.

"They are only at the J's now, Miss Potter. You have plenty of time, that I can guarantee you." For a short moment, he paused, straightening himself up. "Come to my office after the feast."

I smiled softly at him as I nodded. I could see him straightening parts of his robes, making sure that everything was placed neatly. I guess that he wanted to look even more intimidating. That kind of as his thing, to scare and intimidate his students.

Professor Snape opened the door quickly and took a huge step out into the room. Only a short moment later did I notice that he was signalising for me to follow him, so I entered too, feeling very small as I did. My steps echoes through the room as I walked over to the Slytherin table, and I could hear someone pointing out the blood on my shirt. All I did was to look down onto the floor like instructed, letting my hair hide me. I took the first empty spot I could find, being too nervous to really look too much. This left me sitting closest to the new 1st years.
Professor McGonagall continued the Sorting just as my bum hit the wooden bench. The look she sent me gave me the chills and I could feel my face growing hot. I didn't really pay much attention to the new 1st years who was being sorted, though, unless they turned out to be Slytherins. If they did, then I would probably have to be blind not to notice them! I was sitting right next to them after all. The first 1st year that managed to really capture my attention was a platina blonde, grey eyed boy who happened to sit down right next to me. My very first impression of him was that he was a very spoiled pureblood. The way that most of the Slytherins looked at him only confirmed my suspicion about him having a high status in the pureblooded world. The way he looked down at everyone else almost made me sick.

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall called out, reclaiming my full attention at last.

I wasn't the only one that suddenly stared with new found interest. In fact, the whole Great Hall suddenly became quiet as the grave. It was like everyone in the room was holding their breath at once, hoping that Harry would end up in their house. I watched him walk uncertainly up the steps and over to the three legged stool. I remembered that nervousness all too well! My heart began speeding up as McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat onto his head. As it had done with me, the hat glided down and covered half of his face. It brought a small smile to my face.
The seconds ticked by slowly. Why was it taking such a long time? Suddenly it was past a minute since the hat had touched his head. From my spot at the Slytherin table I could see the soft movement of Harry's lips, almost like he was talking to someone. Who was he talking to? The hat? More talking on Harry's behalf and then, a couple of seconds later, came the wonderful news:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I was glad that Harry had ended up in Gryffindor. Thrilled actually! It would certainly make his chances at making friends much better than mine in my 1st year! He would probably get a lot of friends and be comfortable around the people of his house, maybe even around the other houses. People would really like him!
After that I once again began zooming out. None of the other 1st years awoke any interest in me at all. Not one of them. That was why I was so relieved when food appeared on the table. I hadn't eaten since breakfast so eating had been on top of my list of interests for quite a while. Halfway through my mashed potatoes and chicken breast was the next time I was interrupted, this time by the platina blonde 1st year to my right who had begun to boast about himself.

"Back in Malfoy manor we have a great feast like this every day! We don't even have to cook it ourselves. Our house elves does it for us!"

I immediately understood that this boy was that kind of person that I would never ever get along with. Just as he was finished talking, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. The other first years, on the other hand, looked at the boy like he was some kind of royalty. Maybe it was true? I couldn't really say that I knew much about the hardcore pureblooded traditions and how they treated others. I only knew that many of them lived like old fashioned idiots who thought that they were so much better than other people. The more I thought it over the more I began thinking that it was true. The pureblooded world was pretty messed up after all.
I looked to my left and down across the table. I really wish that I hadn't. All that met me there was dirty looks from my fellow classmates. I only gave my dorm mates a short look before I saw them turn away whispering and giggling to themselves, most likely about me. This made me turn away quickly. I might know that they were talking about me, but that didn't mean that I was going to watch them do it.

"I can't say that I've ever seen you anywhere before! There is no way that you can be a pureblood." The 1st year boy suddenly sneered.

It was almost like it came from very far away, instead of right beside me. I wanted to slap him so hard! Didn't he have any respect for older students?

"It's because I'm not." I answered simply.

"What are you, then?" he continued with the same pathetic, evil sneer.

"Half-blood, if you must know."

"Ah, I knew I smelled some dirty blood!"

The boy wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something rotten. The people around him began laughing rather loudly. I couldn't help but look down at my plate, before studying the teacher's table to distract myself. One of the teachers there actually shocked me. I had seen him before, in my very 1st year, but I never quite managed to picked up his name. I had for a long time thought that he had resigned, but apparently he had not. He looked more nervous than I could remember him to be and he was wearing a purple turban on top of his head. The teacher sat to professor Snape's right, and I could clearly spot the annoyance in professor Snape's face. I couldn't really blame him.
For a while all I did was to stare at the new teacher, trying to search my brain for a name to label him with. Out of nowhere he suddenly lifted his head to meet my staring but curious eyes, staring straight back at me. A sharp pain shot through my head, almost making me moan loudly. I averted my eyes from him, instead keeping my head low for the rest of the evening.

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My headache never disappeared, it only grew worse and worse and it felt like someone was poking my brain with a fork. I was unbelievably relieved when people began filing out of the Great Hall. I was on my feet before I could even think, and was actually one of the first Slytherin's to leave. My only thought was to get out. Go anywhere. It was a very strong, indescribable need, but it took up my entire brain, forcing me to fulfil it. I was almost running through the hallways because of that. I didn't even have any idea where I was heading, I just let my legs carry me away from the people I hated so much. My legs were in charge now.
The only reason I stopped was because I was feeling too dizzy to run anymore. My headache was almost screaming inside my head, and it was probably the main reason why I was dizzy in the first place. It turned out that I had been running towards professor Snape's office. My body slid to the ground heavily, almost like a bag of potatoes, leaning onto his door, waiting for him to arrive. Had I been older I probably would've looked very much drunk!

"I must say that you never really stop to surprise me, Miss Potter."

I snapped my head to the left, finding his slender form standing there in front of me.

"I have the most terrible headache, Sir." I whispered weakly.

Professor Snape had to support me into his office, me being way to foggy to really do anything properly. Very carefully did he help me through his office and all the way over to his secret chambers. He was so strong! Professor Snape didn't even shake slightly as he supported me. I would've though that he would at least show some discomfort about having to bend his back so much, since I really was much shorter than him, but I could not spot anything. Not even on his pale face.

"Sit." he instructed me, gesturing to one of the armchairs in his living room.

And I did, with much pleasure! I could feel the coldness of the dim room as I watched professor Snape lit the torches all around me. He then proceeded to walk over to one of the many cabinets, collecting a small, greyish potion, resembling almost dirty water in my opinion.

"Here, this will help with the headache." he told me softly, handling me the vial.

Many young students at Hogwarts probably would've suspected him to poison them, being very suspicious indeed. Me? No way. I didn't even think twice as I swallowed it. Besides, I had learned from professor Snape that smelling a potion could make swallowing it much worse!
It took only mere second before I felt it take effect, lightening up my foggy head bit by bit. A small smile spread across my face because of this!

"Thank you!"

The two of us only sat there quietly for several moments, studying each other. I had always found professor Snape quite interesting and his knowledge never failed to surprise me, especially since he was the same age as my parents. I couldn't believe that! My dad and professor Snape the same age?! If he didn't know something already, then it wasn't important enough to know. While the rest of the school hated or disliked him, he was my favorite teacher. He always had been. He understood, always.

"Why are you always so nice to me, sir?" I couldn't help myself asking, I truly wanted to know.

"You have proven to be worth teaching. All the other students are prats and idiots!"

"But you were nice to me even before you knew I was clever, sir."

"Did I?"

"Yes, you did."

My curiosity was slowly building by his sudden silence, eating me up. It was driving me insane!

"You have always had a certain way of capturing my-" he paused. "-interest, Miss Potter." Professor Snape said at last. "You facinate me."

Somehow I couldn't make myself truly believe him. I could detect a very small hint of uncertainness in him. What was it that he wasn't telling me?