*Note: I might be a little lax on exact time frames and rules of Howarts in this story, it's been a few years since I've read them and some of what I've changed is integral to later in the story.
~J.
Allyna heard the scream and saw students pointing upwards and looked up in horror. There, hanging over the edge of one of the staircases, held by her ankles by several older Slytherin girls who were laughing, was little Holly Whitwood. The poor girl's robes were almost hanging over her face, blinding her as she kicked and squealed, yelling for help. "Let me go! Please let me go!" she wailed, begging for mercy. The Slytherin girls were laughing harder as were several of the Slytherin students on the ground.
And then there were gasps and screams all around. One of the Slytherin girls had lost her grip on Holly's ankle and the girl was too heavy for the other girl to hold alone. And now she was falling; falling all the way down from one of the top tiers of the balconies to the far, far ground below. She heard Severus shout a spell, but it missed and the girl kept falling.
Without thinking, Allyna's wand was in her hand and she shouted one of the most powerful spells she'd ever cast. "Aqua Occularis!"
There were gasps and shouts everywhere as instead of hitting the ground, Holly splashed into a giant ball of water. She swirled in the middle of it, eyes wide and bubbles escaping from her mouth as she looked around in surprise at not being dead. She ran to Holly, Severus on her heels. As she came closer, she whispered, "Eradicatus" and the bubble of water burst, spreading all over the hallway to the dismay of the other students who were splashed and soaked.
Little Holly sat, sopping wet, in a small flood of water, coughing and shivering. Allyna reached the little girl and pulled her into her arms. "Are you all right?" she cried, checking the girl over for injuries. The little girl shook her head yes, but her teeth began to chatter. Allyna stood and lifted the little girl into her arms. She looked at Severus and said simply, "I'll take her to the infirmary, Professor." He nodded and she got a better grip on the little girl and began to make her way towards the infirmary, her wand pointing the way like a compass.
Meanwhile Severus looked up at the girls who'd dropped Holly. They were all white-faced and scared. As they should be, he thought. He called their names before they could scatter and they began to make their way down to him. He saw the rest of the students standing around. "Get to class!" he shouted, causing them all to hurry to their next classes, wet robes, shoes and all. He sent a quick patronus to Albus and Professor McGonagall, which was to be Allyna's next class, and let them know what had occured. He took 100 points each from the girls, not even caring that it took them below the beginning line that each house with began with at the start of the school year.
"Do you understand that you could have killed her?!" he shouted at them. They nodded, wincing and didn't protest the point-loss or the month's worth of detention with Filch that they earned. He escorted them to Dumbledore's office where they had to explain to the Headmaster exactly what had happened. Albus saw that Severus had everything well in hand, and had only moments before received a Patronus from Poppy in the infirmary explaining what had happened.
"Letters will be sent to your parents. I know that Severus has already deducted points from you, but I will also be taking fifty points from each of you for putting a fellow student in danger. You are to return to your common room immediately and write a foot of parchment essaying why what you did was wrong." And with that, Albus dismissed them and Severus.
Severus personally escorted the girls to Slytherin common room and ordered them to begin working on their essays. He paced back and forth, watching them work, crossing and rewriting constantly as they tried to finish the foot of parchment Dumbledore had ordered. He released them long enough to go down to dinner and walked along watching the reactions of other students. He wasn't surprised when there was much whispering and shying away from the three girls, even from their own house. When they sat at the Slytherin table, others scooted away from them on the bench. The girls looked like they were ready to cry, Snape smiled grimly, they had learned their lesson.
Suddenly there was a loud applause and Severus's head jerked up to see Allyna had entered the room with little Holly Whitwood and the entire table of Ravenclaws had stood up and were clapping for her. Holly herself was smiling up at Allyna and Allyna just looked stunned. This was definitely not something she had expected. She blushed and took her seat at the Slytherin table, sitting by herself. She smiled politely at the few Ravenclaws who were brave enough to come over to thank her for saving their classmate. He watched her nod and accept their thanks, but didn't act as though she was very happy with the attention.
"Interesting," he said to himself. Once again, if it had been Hermione Granger, or really any other student, they'd have been basking in the praise and applause. Allyna seemed to shy away from the spotlight. He wondered why, briefly, before his attention was drawn elsewhere
Dumbledore began making a few announcements, touching briefly on what had happened to the Whitwood girl. "And for bravery and quick thinking in saving another student's life, I award Miss Allyna Wilson two hundred and fifty house points. Well done, Miss Wilson, well done, " Albus intoned, looking with bright eyes at the slightly-hunched form of Allyna. Severus could see a faint blush touch Allyna's cheeks and she ducked her head shyly. The was applause once more from the Ravenclaw table, this time joined by Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Severus noticed that Hermione Granger, in particular, was clapping rather hard for the older girl. He also noticed, quite pleased, that his house was no longer so far below the negative on house points.
He followed the Slytherin students to the common room, noticing that several students were giving Allyna the cold shoulder, sticking up for the girls they'd known all their years at Hogwarts. Severus noticed that young Draco Malfoy was sidling up next to Allyna and they began speaking. Allyna's face became angry and she said something to Malfoy that made his face darken in anger and stomp off, looking rather pissed off.
He noticed that several girls, Allyna's roommates if he remembered correctly, were whispering among themselves and sending pointed glances towards Allyna. They hurried to their room. Severus thought that this couldn't be good, but thought nothing of it when Allyna simply sat at one of the tables and began working on essays for Professor McGonagall. He sat in front of the fireplace, reading and became absorbed in his Potions Monthly magazine. He heard a shrill scream when Allyna entered the room. Cursing, Severus rushed up the stairway and threw open the door and looked around in horror. All of Allyna things had been torn to bits or burned, including her robes, books, and even the sheets and hangings around her bed.
The other three girls were sitting on the couch in the corner, smirking at Allyna. "What in the seven hells is going on in here!" Severus shouted. The three girls shrugged.
"Allyna just started screaming Professor. We didn't see anything," the oldest, Maegan, said, with humor in her voice.
Severus grimaced. Since he hadn't seen them do the damage, he couldn't punish them. The devastated look on Allyna's face was enough to slightly pierce even his hardened heart. "Miss Wilson, if you'll gather anything that is still salvageable, we'll go and talk to Dumbledore." he said.
She just shook her head, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. Nothing had been spared; when they couldn't open her nightstand drawer, they'd transfigured a hatchet and had chopped it to bits and everything in it. The only thing that hadn't been touched was the blue rose that Holly had given her that morning and her personal book of spells that she always kept on her, both were still in her pocket.
Severus put a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the room. When the door was shut, he could hear the girls laughing and he wanted to turn back around and curse all three of them soundly. Instead, he steadied himself and cast a quick spell on her homework and books so that no one could tamper with them, and led Allyna to the Headmaster's study.
They knocked and were quickly granted an "enter." Dumbledore was quite surprised to see them again. "Well, well. Twice in one day? What have you done now, Miss Wilson?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. But when he saw the looks on their faces, the humor quickly died. "Severus?" he asked, knowing he wasn't going to like what he was to hear.
"I'm afraid that Miss Wilson's belongings have been destroyed...and cursed, Headmaster. They cannot be repaired. And I'm afraid for her well-being if she is left in the room she shares with the girls who are most-likely responsible for it." Severus said solemnly. "I had known she would probably have issues due to being an American, but I'm afraid that after the events of today, she is rather an outcast in Slytherin house. Perhaps she should be reSorted into another house, Headmaster?"
Albus stroked his beard thoughtfully, looking at Allyna. Finally he spoke, "I'm afraid that won't be possible. However, I do believe that you need a safer place than the Slytherin rooms to be. Severus, do you remember the room across from the Potions classroom? It was once an extra dormitory room when we had an excess of Slytherin students. Each of the houses has one. I do believe we could allow Miss Wilson to have her own room for now, it would probably be safer for both her and her belongings. I will speak to the house elves immediately about warding the room for her protection, only she, myself and her teachers, including you, Severus, will be allowed to pass them. Even the ghosts will be restricted from the room. Does this suit you, Allyna?" Dumbledore asked.
Allyna was sitting in a slight state of shock. She was to have her own room, away from the hateful confrontations of her fellow students and near the Potions room? She nodded, unable to form words immediately.
"Excellent!" stated Dumbledore, standing and smiling. "By the time you reach the room, the house elves will have it ready for you."
Severus, still a bit upset that he couldn't punish the offenders, grabbed Allyna's shoulder and began taking her back towards the dungeons. By the time they reached them, a house elf was standing outside of a room that was near his Potions classroom and his own quarters. He delivered Allyna there and began to walk away. "Thank you, Professor." Allyna called softly. He turned and looked at her oddly before simply nodding and returning to his own quarters.
The house elf showed her the room they had prepared and bowed before disappearing after setting the magical wards on the door. Allyna called a soft thank you as it blinked out of existence and opened the door to her new room.
Allyna turned and gasped softly at the room that was now to be her own. It was paneled in dark wood instead of the bare stone walls of the castle, making it seem a bit warmer. A fire was burning steadily in the fireplace. A long table, already piled with her books and essays ready to be turned in were on it, along with her quills, ink bottles and a candle. A bookshelf was beside the bed, mostly empty but for a few books that had been left by the last owner of the room. A bed, hung with Slytherin green hangings was large enough to fit two people. Feeling happier than she had in a very long time, she crawled into the bed which one of the house elves had magically warmed and fell asleep as her head hit the pillow.