AN: I'm sorry I haven't updated for the past few days, I've been bombarded with homework and I've had little/no time to write. Posting a chapter per day has become near impossible, so I'm afraid I won't be able to update as often as I'd like. I have almost finished the next chapter though, so that should be up either later on or tomorrow. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER; All characters apart from Simona belong to the almighty J.K Rowling. I am but a lowly fanfiction writer who puts her characters back after writing about them.
CHAPTER NINE; THE SCAR
The next few weeks passed with relative ease, Simona was finally starting to 'get' Transfiguration and the Ravenclaw in Muggle Studies has seemed to leave her alone. She was even getting better at Potions, Lilly let Simona take control over the Babbling Beverage, (which causes the drinker to spout complete and utter nonsense) and she brewed it almost perfectly, both Slughorn and Lilly were extremely proud of Simona, which caused her to blush quite profusely. The taunts from fellow Slytherins had seemed to alleviate, she still got the odd death glare from Rachel, but the others had seemed to realise that Simona was now 'old news'.
However, Simona had started to notice a change in Severus. He was becoming more and more withdrawn, he barely spoke to Simona when they hung out together, and that's when he actually was around for Simona to ask him. He was starting to hang around with Rosier and Avery more and more, and had become friends with Slytherins in their 6th and 7th years. He seemed to have lost weight, he had become even paler and his moods had seemed to go from bad to worse. Only two days ago, Severus got so mad at Simona when she confronted him about his new icy exterior, he grabbed her by her robes and yelled in her face, Simona had never been so frightened.
Simona was now on her way to Charms, where she sat next to Severus. Still shaken up from his violent outburst, Simona decided it was best to not talk to him. He stormed into the classroom 5 minutes late with a thunderous expression. Simona winced, as this was the same expression he had when he yelled at her. Severus scowled as he rummaged through his bag, and threw his equipment on the desk with a loud BANG. Professor Warren stopped his lecture to the class at this and looked at Severus, raising his eyebrow with an annoyed expression on his face momentarily, before continuing to address the class. Simona was trying to concentrate on what Professor Warren had to say, scribbling down notes on her parchment to correspond with what he was saying, but she couldn't help notice a nasty looking cut on the side of Severus' face. Severus noticed Simona's gaze and he covered it with his hair by bringing his head forward and looking down at the desk.
After Warren had finished lecturing the class on 'Aresto Momentum' a spell used to slow down moving objects, he ordered the class into pairs. Simona would be paired with Severus. Simona turned to look at Severus who was still scowling at the desk. Thinking that it would be better to have a relatively normal Severus, than one who would hex anything that moved, she reached out to touch him on the shoulder. As she did so, Severus' head shot up and he recoiled, as if her hands were made of ice, his face contorted into a snarl. "What, do you think you're doing?" He asked, venomously. Simona was taken aback by this.
"Professor Warren just paired us together to work on the Aresto Momentum charm, I thought you were asleep." Simona said quietly, not wanting to provoke him any further. The scowl on Severus' face softened.
"Oh." He merely replied, absentmindedly rubbing the newly-formed scar on his face.
"What happened?" She asked, pointing at the mark on his face. The scowl on his face returned.
"What's it to you?" He snapped back irritably.
"I was concerned." Simona replied with a frown. Not liking the fact he tended to jump straight to anger.
"Well it is none of your concern." He snarled, his right hand tensing around his quill, it looked like it was about to break in half.
"Of course it is my concern, you're my friend and you've been acting strangely." Simona said softly, hoping that this would coax him out of his foul mood.
The other pairings in the class had seemed to stop working on the spell and turned to look at Simona and Severus. He sneered maliciously.
"Now what the hell is that look supposed to mean?" Simona snapped back, starting to get irritated. Before Severus could reply, Professor Warren approached the two of them.
"How are we doing with the charm?" Professor Warren asked, sensing the awkwardness between Simona and Severus who were now both avoiding each other's eyes. Both students huffed in response. "That well huh?" He replied sarcastically. Severus scowled up at Warren, Professor Warren bowed his head and walked off. Simona guessed that Warren had been on the receiving end of Severus' foul temper, and knew like Simona that it was best not to provoke him.
For the remainder of the lesson, Simona and Severus practiced their charms separately, each mutually deciding to take it in turns to stop a falling pillow. Severus had seemed to do it straight away. Simona took a few attempts to hold the pillow in mid-air, but got it before the end.
They both still refused to look at each other, and every so often, Simona could feel Severus' burning gaze on the side of her face, whenever she would look at him his eyes had seemed to refocus on his textbook. Simona gritted her teeth, and got back to writing notes about the Aresto Momentum charm.
The end of the lesson couldn't come quick enough for Simona, it meant that it was the end of the week again and two whole days of no lessons. Simona walked to the Great Hall for supper by herself, Severus stormed out of the classroom as soon as Professor Warren dismissed them. Simona sat next to Romagna and sighed. She put salmon, potato and green beans onto her plate and went into deep thought. 'Why can't Severus just come out of this mood he's been in for the last couple of weeks, and why won't he tell me what is wrong and how he got that scar?' Simona thought as she pushed food around her plate.
"Cosa c'รจ di sbagliato?" (What's wrong?) Romagna asked, rousing Simona from her thought tunnel.
"Sto bene, sono solo stanco." (I'm good, I'm just tired.) Simona lied, not in the mood for a discussion. Romagna seemed to take that as a cue to not talk to Simona, and instead decided to join in on Celestica and Vicky's conversation. Simona was relieved to not be disturbed and went back to her thoughts. 'I wish Severus would stop hanging around with those Slytherins' she thought.
Simona had noted that the older Slytherins were much more aggressive towards the Gryffindors than Slytherins that were younger than them, they would usually sit near the fireplace of the Slytherin common room and spout nonsense about how Hogwarts' standards were decreasing, why all pure-bloods should support this man called 'The Dark Lord' and anti-muggle propaganda. These Slytherins would also sneer at any other student that were muggle-born or were even half-bloods. Simona had been spared from the tirades of the older Slytherins, for now at least.
After Simona had finished eating, she walked back to the common room, where she saw the older Slytherins were gathered around their usual dwelling. Severus was with them, sat on the edge of a couch he seemed to not take any notice of what the blonde haired, blue eyed Slytherin was ranting in front of him. Simona ran straight up to her room and climbed into bed. She just wanted today to be over with.
AN: Sorry for the short chapter, I decided to split the one I'm writing in half, I just felt the chapter was too long as a whole. I'll update as soon as. Thank you so much for your ongoing support, it means so much to me. xox