The next morning, at 2:00 am, Martha woke to Sidney screaming in her sleep. She ran to Sidney's bed, and was about to tell her off when she noticed Sidney was asleep. She murmured, "Pansy, get Professor Snape." Pansy nodded and bolted out the door.
Sidney was screaming, "PLEASE, DON'T! PLEASE!" The two girls who were actually awake tried to wake Sidney. As soon as Sidney awoke, she fell off the bed, and went under it, "Please Uncle Vernon, don't hurt me!" The door opened and Snape saw Sidney under the bed, crying. He sighed and said, "Ms. Potter! Get out from under that bed this instant!" Sidney cringed away from him as he tried to touch her. He was shocked, "Ms. Potter?" Sidney said, "No! Uncle Vernon will get me!" Snape bent over, "Uncle Vernon?" Sidney cringed away from the name.
Snape suddenly noticed bruises on her arms, and when Sidney became fully awake, she saw his gaze on her bruises. She put the sleeves down her arms again. He saw something strange in the way she acted. She flushed and got out from under the bed, "I'm sorry if I woke anyone, sir." He looked at her; her eyes were vaults locked tightly. Snape said, "Ms. Potter...is anything wrong?" Sidney shook her head, "Just a nightmare." She hung her head as if what she'd done was bad.
Martha stared at Sidney, who acted like she thought she'd done something wrong. She said, "Sidney...?" Sidney looked at her, then at the time. She yawned, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wake anybody up!" Pansy walked up to Sidney, and put a hand on her shoulder, "Sidney, you seem fine to me." Sidney nodded, "That's because I am fine, thank you very much." Rachael said, "Are you sure?" Sidney slumped a little, "Yes."
Snape watched Sidney as children her own age touched her; she winced a little bit. Then she's act like nothing had happened. This behavior needed to be reported to the headmaster, he concluded inside his mind.
He left the room, walked up the stairs, and entered the headmaster's office.
Meanwhile, Sidney and the girls got back into bed. Sidney was suddenly very scared. What had she screamed in her sleep this time? What if Vernon Dursley actually does hurt Harry? She'd never forgive herself; she sighed and got out of bed. She showered, and got into her school robes. She sighed, "Conceal, don't you dare let it show." The sigh was quiet, yes, but Martha, who still hadn't fallen asleep heard her say it as she walked up the stairway to the common room.
Sidney sat there, staring at the fire. The beautiful, crackling red and orange flames warmed her up. She sighed and read, Hogwarts, A History for the rest of the free time she had. Finally, at 7:00 am, Sidney stood. She went to her first class; Potions. She stood outside the classroom door. Soon enough, Snape poked his head around the corner and saw Sidney outside his classroom. He said, "Ms. Potter." She looked up from Hogwarts, A History. He beckoned her to enter his classroom. She did; it was a dark room with no windows. She put her cauldron on her desk. She put her wand on her desk and got out a quill and ink.
He watched her; she was so to the point. He said, "Ms. Potter, I'm concerned about the incident this morning." She looked up, those vaults still tightly shut, "What of it, sir?" He said, "You weren't exactly composed." She murmured, "I...was still partly asleep." He said, "Did you get to sleep well afterwards?" She said, "Not exactly, sir." He said, "However not?" She said, "I didn't sleep. I couldn't risk another nightmare; I would've wakened my house mates." He stared at her, wondering how on earth she did that. Made herself perfectly polite and pleasant when a normal child would possibly stutter and break off.
Sidney stared into her potions book, and Snape said, "Why do you read so much?" She looked up, "Pardon?" He said, "I notice you read a lot. Why?" She looked up, "How am I to know the answer to any of the questions I'm asked if I don't read the answers, and learn them if I don't read?" He smiled at her; he liked her. She said, "Are we making a potion today?" He nodded, "Tickling potion." She cracked a smile, "Oh; this will be interesting. Don't you ever have children spill their potions, or mess up?" He said, "Yes...I have to send them to the hospital wing."
Her bright red hair reminded him so much of Lily; he sighed and said, "That's all; if you will, I request for you to wait outside the door now." She nodded, picked everything up. He said, "No need to move your stuff; you'll be right there." She smiled at him, picked up her books and wand, and then she left the classroom. He smiled at her retreating back; she was so much like her mother.
As she waited for another half an hour, the Gryffindors came. She looked up, saw her brother, and walked up to him, "Hey, Harry!" He said, "Sidney!" He hugged her; the Gryffindors gasped, "She's a Slytherin!" She said, "Yeah, and you are Gryffindors!" Ronald said, "At least we won't turn evil!" He pushed her into the wall, and she didn't show any emotions. He was surprised; he was supposed to be very strong. Usually, when he pushed someone, they would cry out or something.
Snape saw Ronald Weasley push her and comment about her house; of course she hadn't heard any of them yet. She bounced into the wall kind of hard; she didn't cry or show any emotion. She just said, "What?" Harry looked at her, "People in Slytherin turn bad." She said, "But, I'm not bad, am I Harry?" Ronald looked at her in bewilderment. She ignored him; Harry muttered, "I-I don't know." Snape opened the door, "Ten points from Gryffindor for pushing, Mr. Weasley; actually, another 10 for commenting about Slytherin. Mr. Potter, five points from Gryffindor! She's your sister, and you should know whether or not she's bad!" Harry hung his head, "Sorry, Sidney. It's just, they told me that Slytherins turn into bad people." Sidney said, "Hey, it's okay. I've heard a couple comments about Gryffindor, too!"
Ronald Weasley came up to Sidney, "Sorry I pushed you; I shouldn't have done that." She pursed her lips, "No problem." Snape watched her as the tall boy towered over her. She didn't seem to mind, except for a quick step back from him. Snape was impressed; not many kids can bear being shorter than others.