Ariel sat up in a cold sweat. She'd had a nightmare that her body remembered but she couldn't. It sat on the edge of her consciousness, just out of her reach, like a figure lost in mist.

Lavender was muttering in her sleep, again. Ariel wanted to chuck a pillow at her. It had taken her ages to fall asleep earlier because of it. She'd been tossing and turning all night, unable to scrub the embarrassment from her mind. The Gryffindors had greeted her and Ron with thunderous applause after their stint. It had felt good for only a moment or so until Ariel had seen Hermione's face. She had been more upset with Ron than her, but Ariel had still felt pretty horrible for worrying everyone. They'd been trying to do the opposite when they'd taken the car.

You could have died! Hermione had said, and Ariel had remembered the way Snape had touched the top of her head, like he was making sure she was real. It had been a miracle that the stupid tree hadn't done them in.

Ariel was going to have a few choice words with Dobby the next time she saw him — though how could she fault him if he was trying to save her?

Conflicted, and now wide awake, Ariel reached for her nightstand only to remember that the coin was gone. Snape hadn't given her a new one, either. She frowned and fidgeted for a moment, trying to shake the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The idea of putting on her Cloak and sneaking down to the dungeons passed through her mind, but Ariel immediately dismissed it. Snape would chuck her right back into the Whomping Willow if she snuck out of bed her first night back. Even Dumbledore had told them that they were on thin ice.

She was really very good at getting herself into trouble, Ariel thought to herself. It wasn't like she did it on purpose. Snape would probably have something different to say about that - Aunt Petunia too, when Ariel thought about it. That was probably about the only thing they had in common, besides Mum.

Thinking about Mum made her heart pang with longing. She didn't want to think of her tonight. There was a time and place to mourn her, and that time and place had come and gone.

Ariel sighed and laid back down. Lavender let out a very unceremonious snore before she turned on her side and by some miracle, became quiet.

Her eyes flickered back to her nightstand, longing for some Dreamless Sleep. Snape had told her she couldn't take some for a while — she was starting to build up a tolerance and her dreams became wilder with it now, leaving her more tired than ever. That was why he'd started teaching her Occlumency, though she had always wondered if it was so he could read her mind, too. He'd mentioned that part casually like it hadn't been a big deal.

Ariel groaned as she flipped onto her side. She was starting to feel paranoid. Between Dobby and Snape and the Terrible Thing coming to Hogwarts…

She breathed through her nose, letting it become deep and even until she felt herself begin to relax. The worry began to fall off her like sheaths of rain into the water in her mind's eye, floating away and she did too.

She let the soft eb and flow of it take her, until two words came back to her from her dream that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight.

He's coming

Severus lost his appetite (not that he'd had much of one to begin with anyway) almost as soon as he'd sat down for breakfast that morning.

He stalked in and seated himself between Minerva and Dumbledore's chairs so that he wouldn't have to suffer through a conversation with the new resident fathead, whenever he decided to appear. The staff table was blissfully lacking at the moment. He'd been listless all morning and all night, unable to settle himself into one spot for very long. Severus had always been restless but after the incident with Lily's daughter there had been no amount of Occlumency that had let him relax for more than a few minutes at a time.

"Good morning, Severus." Dumbledore greeted him, his eyes twinkling brighter than usual.

"No, it's not." Severus sat as the black coffee poured itself. He scoured the hall for the girl and found her absent as well. If she didn't show, Severus was going to wring her up by her toes.

Minerva offered him a tilt of her head, but it was evident she was also still livid about the incident last night. It was the first time Severus could recall the two of them being in complete agreement about something. He knew the rest of the staff thought he was too harsh with the students, Minerva most of all. The only other occurrence Severus could recall where she'd been as cross as she had been last night was any number of the countless occurrences with those awful Weasley twins.

"Pomona is inspecting the damage done to the Willow," Minerva said to him in a voice as tight as a vice. "It will mend. However, there's been no sign of the car. That may be for the best… I overheard Weasley's brothers whispering about how the modifications hadn't been Ministry approved."

Oh, how Severus was going to make that boy pay. He had them for Potions tomorrow… he'd dish out his revenge then. "You would think one of the modifications would have been idiot-proofing the damn thing."

She gave him a serious sort of look that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Albus has reminded me that it could have been much worse."

Severus shot a glance at Dumbledore. "He's undoubtedly put the incident behind him."

"He's never been one to hold a grudge," Minera sighed. The glint in her eyes hardened suddenly, drawing Severus' attention to the entrance of the Great Hall. The girl had entered with Weasley-twerp and Granger on her flanks. She looked tired but excited, sliding onto one of the benches besides Longbottom, who nearly knocked his entire plate over.

"I want her detention," Severus said to Minerva, who was glaring at the girl and Weasley-twerp as well. She was wiping the excess marmalade onto her plate like blood on a cloth. For a moment, Severus thought she might deny him since he'd had the girl in the dungeons for nearly the entire winter, but he had clearly underestimated her displeasure — it might have even rivaled his own.

"And Weasley?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I'm sure Pomfrey will welcome the free labor."

Minerva gave him a wry smile, taking a sip of her tea.

Severus glanced back at the girl, who seemed to be getting a lecture from Granger. He'd forgotten he was only hours away from having to read her bloody handwriting again. It gave him a damn headache, especially when she wrote smaller to fit the maximum amount of parchment.

Miss Evans rested her chin on her elbows, propped up by the table. She was shaking her head as Weasley-twerp said something that made Miss Granger glare. Her eyes briefly flickered in Severus' direction. She perked up before she shrank under his glower, muttering something to Weasley-twerp who had begun to look back towards Severus, but was pulled away by Miss Evans hissing something at him frantically. She took a piece of toast and began crumbling it through her fingers instead while Granger ate a banana with an air of propriety.

The morning post arrived, the quiet din of the Great Hall growing for a moment or so as the owls rushed overhead. Miss Evans normally never paid any mind — if Petunia ever wrote to her then Severus was a Hufflepuff.

Something fell directly in front of the brats, clocking Longbottom in the head as a small, grey owl crashed onto the table. Miss Evans poked at the owl, nodding at Weasley-twerp, who was suddenly wearing an expression of pure panic.

"Ah, here it is." said Dumbledore, looking over his half-moon spectacles.

It took Severus and Minerva a moment to realize what he was talking about. The Howler was beginning to smoke at the corners, the other children edging away from Weasley-twerp — all except Miss Evans, who seemed more curious than wary. Granger had her nose buried in one of Lockhart's textbooks, obviously trying to ignore the scene, but her eyes flitted to Weasley-twerp as Longbottom gestured to the Howler hesitantly.

Severus sat back in his seat and drew a long sip of coffee as Molly Weasley's voice filled the hall. It was taking every ounce of control he had not to smile.

"— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"

"Oh dear," Dumbledore murmured as the plates rattled.

Miss Evans was wincing as dust flaked from the ceiling, upsetting her plate. She'd gone very pale, so pale that Severus was able to notice all the way from his own seat. Distantly, he thought about what Lily might have done if she were here. Severus mused she might have done similarly… humiliation had been one of her more powerful tools, but it was one thing to use on himself and Potter and another on her own child. Flying a car to Hogwarts, though, might've been the straw that broke the camel's back. His own temper had been difficult to reign in. He'd been up all bloody night pacing his quarters, unable to quell the gnawing in the pit of his stomach.

"— ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

Weasley-twerp and the girl gawked as the Howler smoldered into ash. From behind her goblet, Minerva was hiding a smirk. Something felt something akin to satisfaction settle into the pit of his stomach, but it was hard to keep down as the girl patted Weasley-twerp on the shoulder comfortingly. Around them, several students began to laugh and go back to their meals, his Slytherins peering up at him expectantly. It was almost time to begin handing out timetables.

"Of all the things that make me envious of my lost youth," Dumbledore said, clasping his hands together as Weasley-twerp buried his face in his hands. "Reaping the consequences of my actions is not one of them."

"I find it hard to believe you were ever held accountable," Minerva said, and Severus could tell she was only half-joking. They both thought Dumbledore was far too lenient.

"I was very good at not getting caught," he said, almost thoughtfully. "Though I never did anything quite like this."

"You mean breaking the law?" Severus asked, unconvinced.

"Oh, no, I most certainly did that."

Minerva rubbed her head like she had a terrible headache. Severus felt similarly — how he longed for the long days of solitude that summer heralded again. They had been his only solace, knowing that the torturous days of teaching would bring about two months of child-free days. Between Dumbledore's inadequacies when it came to disciplining the little dunderheads and making sure the only dunderhead that mattered didn't get herself killed, it was proving to already be a trying year ahead.

"I didn't think it necessary to write to Miss Evans' family, for obvious reasons," Dumbledore gave him a private look, one that sparkled from the corner of his eye. Severus could have killed him had Minerva's temper not been immediately ignited.

"Wretched Muggles," she spat under her breath.

Severus would — and had — have used stronger words, but his attention was unfortunately drawn to Lockhart entering the hall, as was everyone else's. He scanned the sea of cretins, most of whom were now watching him with rapt attention. Appetite now completely gone, Severus was about to stand up and leave when he noticed Lockhart's gaze land on his daughter.

Miss Evans immediately ducked her head low. She hissed something to Granger who rolled her eyes in response.

I am going to rip your face off, Severus thought as he speared a strawberry, settling back in his chair. I'll do what I did to Quirrell's skull if you bother her —

"What color would you call that?" Minerva leaned over to Dumbledore, who was watching with an intrigued expression.

"I believe it's called razzmatazz."

Severus nearly balked. "It makes you look tame in comparison."

Dumbledore beamed. "My, is that a compliment, Severus?"

He didn't have time to refute that as the cretin made his way up to the table, grinning at them as he took a seat next to Dumbledore, who pulled his chair out for him. Lockhart didn't even nod in thanks as he began to ramble, making the Severus' molars smoke as he ground them together.

"I was assisting Pomona in repairing the damage done to the Willow," he announced. "Dreadful, really — poor thing was beside herself."

Severus and Minerva shared a private look, one that Miss Evans somehow caught from across the Great Hall. She was staring at him, his black eyes wide with curiosity as Dumbledore and Lockhart conversed. Severus tried to deter her gaze with a glower that would've caused Longbottom to faint, but she continued to study the High Table until Granger pulled her arm and diverted her attention back to Weasley-twerp's moping.

"I'd like to volunteer to serve Miss Evans' detention," Lockhart said, checking his teeth in the reflection of the cutlery.

Severus' fists cracked beneath the table. Dumbledore would be very cross with him if he murdered Lockhart in front of the children, but it was a price he'd happily pay.

"Would you?" Minerva looked like she'd bitten into a sour lemon. "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to fight Severus for it."

Lockhart looked about, as if he hadn't a clue who Minerva was talking about. Severus longed to lodge the cutlery into one of his major arteries.

"No, he won't." Severus said as he stood, throwing down his napkin on his plate. "He can have Weasley, if he wants, but I will be teaching that girl a lesson she won't soon forget."

"I understand her better than anyone, Severus." Lockhart wagged a finger at him. Severus thought about slicing it off with a flick of his wand. It would be hard to pinpoint it on him if he was discrete, but Dumbledore would know and be extremely unhappy with him.

Severus raised an eyebrow at him — he didn't trust himself to speak. Minerva looked far too amused for Severus' liking.

Lockhart gestured to the Gryffindor table. "The need to be in the limelight — the knowledge that you're special, more special than those around you. I know all too well that feeling, of wanting to make a splash."

I'll show you a splash I'll splash your fucking brain matter against the wall —

He thought of the girl's face in Diagon Alley when Lockhart shoved her in front of all those cameras. It was similar to when he'd first met her at Petunia's, with twigs and dirt in her hair or when Parkinson had said something particularly scathing during his class. The memory made him feel like he'd been punched in the stomach, a feeling he quickly twisted into something else entirely.

"There is nothing even remotely special about that girl at all." Severus said coldly.

Minerva gave him a look of pure shock as he took his leave, not bothering to wait for a response.

He felt their eyes on his back, the most pointed from the girl across the hall, who couldn't have heard him, but hers was the heaviest.

After a day of avoiding Lockhart and her new shadow named Colin, Ariel was exhausted.

She poked at her dinner, uninterested but still somehow hungry. Hermione kept dumping more shepherd's pie on her plate, but Ariel just shoved it around and chewed the inside of her cheek instead of her food. Behind them, Malfoy was telling the older Slytherins how Ariel had been giving out autographs — it wouldn't have bothered her so much if Lockhart hadn't also assumed that Ariel also reveled in her fame. It was absolutely mortifying… actually, mortifying didn't even begin to cover it. She hated all the attention and all of the teasing it brought with it.

It was easy to forget she was famous for something she didn't even remember. Sometimes, she wondered if forgetting altogether would be easier than remembering that she defeated a dark wizard but hadn't defeated him before he'd gotten to her parents. It must've been easy for Lockhart to love all the pining when he'd saved so many people…

Ron looked equally as miserable, but it didn't appear to have affected his appetite. Ariel looked around quickly, scanning the table for Ginny, but she didn't see her. She frowned, about to ask Ron where his sister was when the twins sat themselves on either side of her. Ron gave them a dark look, one that was a warning, but luckily, they didn't mention the Howler from that morning.

"So," George slid in the seat next to Ariel, slinging his arm over her shoulder. "how was your day?"

Ariel glanced at Ron, who was smashing his carrots with his fork. "Absolutely stellar, can't you tell?"

Pansy turned around with Malfoy, who seemed to have forgotten that Ariel had broken his nose and gave him a black eye last year and pretended to snap a picture. Ron made a rude gesture with his hand which only caused them to laugh louder.

"What's wrong with her?" George asked Hermione, who was staring at Ariel's plate again.

Hermione pursed her lips. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Cornish pixies," Ariel answered before anyone else could.

"We had a hinkypunk," Fred chimed in. "Nearly took off a piece of George's ear."

Ariel wanted to say that a hinkypunk sounded loads more interesting than pixies, but poor Neville was listening to the conversation a few seats over, looking mortified. Every few minutes, Malfoy and the other Slytherins would glance over and snicker at him.

"Did he leave you alone with it, too?" Ariel asked, shoving her plate away from her. "It was a nightmare trying to round them up again."

"Merlin, I wish." George shook his head. "He wouldn't even let it out of the cage… just read some passage from one of his books about the time he dealt with an infestation in some poor bloke's basement. Dreadfully boring if you ask me."

"So then how did it almost take off a piece of George's ear?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms at them.

"Well, Lockhart never said we couldn't let it out… he just said he wasn't going near the thing."

"There's a reason for that, you know." Hermione shook her head disapprovingly. "Hinkypunks are far more dangerous than pixies."

"Then maybe she should've told us how to round them up." Ron said under his breath.

"Then maybe you should have read the books before class!" Hermione shot back.

Something evil is coming to Hogwarts and Lockhart was asking us about his favorite color instead of teaching us Defensive magic, Ariel wanted to say, but she didn't want to hurt Hermione's feelings. She'd gone beet red this morning when Ron had asked her why she'd drawn little hearts around Defense on her timetable.

Ariel smashed her mashed potatoes with her fork, splattering some onto the table. Fred and George made a face that she assumed was because of the projectile food, but quickly felt herself stiffen when she realized they were actually staring behind her.

"Miss Evans." said a cool voice from behind her. When Ariel whirled around, nearly sending herself spinning off the bench, Professor McGonagall was standing there.

She straightened up, trying to hide the mess with her frame. "Yes — erm — "

"Your detention," she handed her a piece of parchment with a date and time on it. "will be with Professor Snape."

She felt a terrible sort of tingle crumple up in her sternum as Professor McGonagall swept away without another word.

"Well," Ron leaned his head next to hers so only she could hear him. "That Howler was awful, but I don't envy you, mate. Having your dad as a professor's got to be pretty rotten."

Hermione was giving them both one of her disapproving looks, like she knew what they were talking about but didn't know for sure, so she couldn't reprimand them.

"It's not so bad most of the time." Ariel said, but her mouth had gone dry.

"Cheer up," Ron said, pushing half of his chocolate cake onto her plate. "It could've been worse — you could've had detention with Lockhart. I bet he'd make you answer his fan mail… or worse, lick all the envelopes."

Ariel was very glad to be back in her dormitory, surrounded by the warmth of the fire and her friends. She'd nearly forgotten this feeling, of the magic in the walls and floor. The Dursley's had nothing that felt like Hogwarts, only to scent of Febreze and citrus candles that made Ariel's nose itch. Even Hermione's home, where her parents had welcomed her the same way Mrs. Weasley didn't quite feel like the here and now.

They'd come up after dinner and sat in the Common Room until Seamus and Ron had fallen down a Quidditch hole Ariel and Hermione didn't care to follow. Neville had been sitting silently in a chair by the fire until Ariel had joined him with some marshmallows to roast. After leaving the Great Hall she'd realized she was rather hungry.

They hadn't headed up to bed until almost midnight. Even though Ariel was tired she didn't want to sleep yet, and so she'd ended up joining Lavender and Parvati in their before-bed rituals. Tonight's was nails, which Ariel didn't think much of, but didn't hate the idea of painting them.

"Have you spoken to Ginny?" Hermione asked, settling herself against the pillows on her bed. Normally, she'd have a book ready to go in her lap, but she was watching Lavender paint Ariel's nails instead.

She tried to shake her head no, but Lavender gave a quick little gasp. "Don't move!"

"I haven't," Ariel admitted, feeling rather guilty. "I don't remember seeing her this morning at breakfast, actually. Or dinner either…"

"She had an upset stomach," Parvati chimed in, giving herself French tips as she sat cross-legged on her trunk. "The other first year girls were all talking about it."

Hermione frowned. "They were talking about her?"

"Not like that," Parvati rolled her eyes. "You remember what it was like, meeting one another for the first time. It takes a while to warm up… especially if you're homesick."

"Maybe we should include her more," Ariel looked at Hermione. "I feel bad…"

"She'll be fine," Parvati waved her off. "she's better off getting to know the other girls in her year instead of clinging to you too."

"Ginny's not clingy!" Hermione shot back defensively.

"No, but you two sure were." Lavender gave them both a pointed look. "Especially with all that whispering going on between you and Weasley…"

"And your hair," Lavender gave a shudder, which caused her to get a drop of polish on Ariel's sock. Hermione vanished it with an annoyed flick of her wand.

"It looks much better," Parvati reassured Ariel, who had a retort on the tip of her tongue. "Less like a helmet."

"All that whispering," Hermione said hotly. "was because Professor Quirrell — "

"Can you draw flowers on?" Ariel interjected quickly. "Like Parvati's?"

Parvati beamed from across the room as Lavender excitedly showed her the best colors to go with her nails. Ariel had chosen green — it was the only color that wasn't a shade of pink or purple or white.

Hermione declined the offer to do her own nails but went bright red when Lavender and Parvati opted to do theirs lilac, which was Lockhart's favorite color. Ariel bit her tongue as they gossiped excitedly about their first class with him, feeling rather churlish about it. Hermione busied herself with rereading Lockhart's autobiography for the billionth time while Ariel got ready for bed, careful not to mess up her nails.

Something caught Ariel's eye as she climbed in her bed, her toes practically ice cubes. The sight caused a shiver to crawl down her spine colder than her feet. An eye, just visible through the opening, stretched wide. Ariel's heart skipped a beat until she recognized the flash of copper hair.

"Ginny?" she called. "Ginny, is that you?"

The eye disappeared. Ariel glanced over at the other girls, but none of them seemed to have heard her, busying themselves with their own bedroom routines.

Only just a little freaked out, Ariel fell back against her pillows. She wanted to turn away from the doorway but for some reason she couldn't name, she didn't want to turn her back to the door either.

She reached for the coin only to once again remember it was gone. Snape probably would've sent a nasty curse through it if she tried talking to him now anyway. He'd looked extremely cross this morning, not missing an opportunity to glare viciously whenever they'd made eye contact. Her detention with him was going to be awful.

Ariel's eyes flickered back to the door. There was only darkness now, but she didn't turn away until Hermione lowered her light.

He's coming, Ariel thought, recalling her dream from last night.

She stifled another shiver as she pulled the covers over her head. She was certainly in for another sleepless night.

A few days later, Ariel made the journey down to the dungeons. The overwhelming sense of deja vu was not lost on her as she rapped her knuckle against Snape's classroom door, silently cursing herself for forgetting to bring a jumper. She'd forgotten how bloody cold the dungeons got, even in September.

She gulped when he jerked open the door and gave her a long, cold stare. He didn't look as mad as he had the last Ariel had seen him, but he still looked pretty mean.

"In," said Snape. His eyes glittered down at her.

Ariel bristled as she brushed past him, biting back a retort that would get her in trouble. He hadn't spoken to her in almost a week and that was all he had to say?

He slammed the door shut with an audible bang and swept past her to his desk. She stood still and clutched the strap of her rucksack tightly in her knuckles, trying not to look nervous but not too confident. She was still sorry about the car.

"Your punishment," he said softly, holding out the scraper, which looked like it had seen much better days. The metal was rusted, and the handle's varnish had been stripped. Aunt Petunia used to make Ariel use one so old that it had given her splinters.

She sighed, dropping her rucksack onto one of the workbenches. "What am I doing?"

Snape gestured to the workbenches she'd passed at without looking. They were covered in some blueish-greyish film with what looked like something's insides strewn about.

"Cleaning," he said, his voice dark and foreboding, as if he were about to deliver the line in a horror novel that made your skin crawl. "Flobberworm guts."

Ariel made a face. "It looks like flobberworm genocide to me."

"They were alive," he added, as if this was completely normal. "some students had more trouble than others."

She wanted to say that that sounded terribly cruel but decided against it. She wasn't really in any sort of place to be arguing with him anyway. She glanced at the scraper in her hand and then back at the massacre. "Do I get a bucket or something to put them in?"

As if on cue, one cracked into place after sliding from across the room.

"Brilliant," Ariel said. "thanks."

Snape gave her a look of disgust, waving dismissively at the table. "I want it spotless."

She looked down at her nails — they were going to be ruined after this. Lavender would be excited to do them again, though. Her and Parvati changed their nail color once a week.

Ariel blew a gust of air through her teeth and looked down at the scraper. This was going to take her ages. She probably wouldn't be back until after midnight, and she hadn't even started to look at her Herbology assignment. Hermione had reminded her of that before she'd left.

Already feeling defeated, Ariel set to work. It took her a while to figure out the best way to go about it — there seemed to be several layers to the carnage, some of it still wet (a thought that made her gag). She started with that disgustingness before really digging in. She hoped Snape didn't care about her scratching up the table — though he hadn't mentioned it so he couldn't hold it against her if she did.

She glared at Snape mutinously after some managed to splatter dangerously close to her mouth. He wasn't even paying attention to the fact that she was covered in worm-guts or how miserable she was. He'd had his head ducked low so that all she saw was the curtain of hair.

"Did they ever find Mr Weasley's car?" she asked, genuinely curious but also longing for a reprieve.

He looked up from his book, his eyes cold and hard. "There's no talking in detention. Five points from Gryffindor."

Ah, she'd forgotten this was a real one. She was so used to the fake ones that she couldn't remember what it was like to be miserable. "Sorry."

She started scraping again with more vigor than before. The smell was starting to get to her, so she grabbed her scarf and covered her mouth and nose with it. She saw Snape roll his eyes briefly before going back to grading what looked like her essay from earlier that week.

At least he hadn't asked them what his favorite color was, though Ariel thought she would have guessed pretty easily what it was. She almost laughed out loud but was able to quickly disguise it as a cough. Snape frowned at her momentarily — he'd probably thought she was about to throw up.

I can smell you

Ariel froze. All of her internal organs seized up at once as a voice spoke. She frantically turned around expecting to see somewhere there, but the room was empty besides her and Snape. He didn't appear to have heard it either.

Come, come to me

Ice-cold venom spread through her.

Let me tear

Not again, no no no —

I can smell blood, smell you —

It couldn't be —

Kill, let me KILL you —

"Miss Evans —" someone else was saying, over and over, but it took a moment or two for it to register. Ariel hadn't heard it over the Other Voice. She snapped back to the present like a rubber band that had been stretched too thin. Snape's hands were covering her own, trying to take them off her ears.

Ariel let her hands drop but Snape's stayed on either side of her face, framing it. She wondered if she could feel the blood pumping through her, thundering in her ears.

He'd stopped calling her name, but his mouth was open, like he didn't know what to say. His eyes were bottomless.

"There was a voice," she managed to strangle out.

Snape's eyes narrowed into slits. "A voice?"

Ariel swallowed roughly. "It wanted to kill… it said it smelt blood."

If Snape hadn't been so good at hiding his emotions, Ariel might've thought he looked disturbed. "What else did it say?" he demanded.

"Nothing… that was it," Ariel shivered, and it had nothing to do with the cold. "I could feel it getting closer."

Snape stared at her with an unreadable expression for a long moment. "If this is some kind of farce —"

"I wouldn't make this up!" she said, a lot louder than she would've liked. "I know what I heard!"

He lifted her atop the workbench. Distantly, Ariel's stomach turned knowing that she'd just scraped flobberworms from it and was now sitting on it, but she quickly forgot about it as Snape's fingers lightly traced the skin around her eyes and up her temple.

"I'm guessing you didn't hear it." she guessed, the realization settling into the back of her stomach like a rock. Why was it always her?

He was silent for another long moment. "No," he finally said slowly. "I only noticed because the scraping stopped. When I looked up, you seemed to be having some sort of fit."

"I wasn't having a fit," she scowled.

"You certainly looked like it."

"Are you calling me mental?"

"I should have had Pomfrey check you for a concussion," he muttered. "Though there clearly must've been underlying neurological problems for you to have driven the damn thing in the first place."

Ariel started to shake her head, ignoring the other comment, but Snape held it firmly in place. "I would know if I did. I've had them before. Concussions don't make me hear voices."

"Brain injuries are not to be taken lightly," he said dismissively. "If you were hurt — "

"I'm fine." she hopped down from the workbench, wiping off her robes. She made a face at the flobberworm residue that flaked off.

Snape's hands flexed at his sides before he balled them tightly together. "People who are fine do not hear disembodied voices."

"Maybe there's something wrong with your hearing, then." Ariel shot back. "I know what I heard!"

His expression was so sharp it could've cut diamond. Ariel felt her chest tighten as the silence grew between them, straining to hear the Other Voice again but it was quiet. Even Snape seemed to be listening for a moment before Ariel noticed his eyes lock on her hands. It took her a moment to realize she was shaking. Embarrassed, she shoved them into her jean pockets and started a staring contest with the floor.

A terrible suspicion was making its way through the crowded thoughts in her mind, one that shouted over the din of everything else.

"What if he's back?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

Snape didn't have to ask who she meant. Ariel wondered if Voldemort got off on being that bloke.

"That's not going to happen." he said stiffly, but she noticed that his eyes flitted around the room. If Ariel hadn't known better, she might've thought he'd done so nervously.

"That's what you said last time, too."

His face twisted — it wasn't in fear, but it was an expression that didn't do him any favors. "Was it the same voice?"

"No…" Ariel hesitated. "It was definitely different."

Snape stared at her, the intensity causing her eyes to dart to the wall behind him instead.

"Maybe I'm just tired." she sighed, rubbing at her eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping." it wasn't a question or a statement, but rather a pointed accusation.

Ariel shrugged. "Not really."

He made a sound like a half growl, half groan and stalked past her. He nearly took her out, almost slamming into her shoulder as he barreled past and into his storage room. She stood there for a moment, contemplating Snape's reaction and the Other Voice. He didn't seem too concerned about a voice wanting to murder her — not like last year, with the Smoke-Monster. He just seemed angry that there might've been something wrong with her brain.

She followed to find Snape turning over a vile that held some kind of black sludge.

"The ocean doesn't work anymore," she said quietly. "I have these stupid nightmares I can't remember but also can't forget."

Snape stopped inspecting the sludge and smashed the vial against a shelf, vanishing the mess with a flick of his hand. "Occlumency is separating thought from emotion. If you don't know what's causing it, then you cannot rid yourself of it."

She pondered this for a long moment before answering. "Sometimes they don't feel like nightmares… they feel like memories I've never had."

"Do you mean dreams?"

Ariel scowled at him. "No, that's what I'm trying to tell you. They're… different."

"I don't know what that means." he snapped. "You've mentioned nothing of the sort before."

"I thought it might be connected." she said, exasperated.

His brow furrowed in thought. "To the voice you heard just now?"

Ariel nodded. She couldn't explain it, but unless someone invisible had snuck in, she had this feeling that it was connected to the feeling of dread hanging over here ever since Dobby had visited.

Snape stood hunched over the shelves for a minute or so. Ariel watched his eyes scanning the bottles and labels but could tell he wasn't really reading them. She would've given a boatload of galleons to know what he was thinking.

Ariel suddenly felt ridiculous for being any of this up. Besides the voice, she had no proof any of this was connected or meant anything, and it was only worrying Snape.

"I'm alright, really." Ariel said, taking a small step forward and attempting to sound reassuring. "The voice… maybe I started to doze off."

Snape didn't say or do anything, he just stared at her with a fathomless expression. She started to feel uncomfortable again until he moved, flicking off the dirty bulb above their heads.

"Come along," he shooed her out of the storage room and back into the dim, greenish light of his classroom. "When you return to your dormitory you are to go straight to bed, do you understand?"

She gave a jerky nod of her head — he didn't have to tell her twice.

"And if you hear anything — dream or not," his hand grabbed her chin, jerking it upwards so she was forced to look at him. "you will tell me immediately."

Snape walked with her back up to Gryffindor Tower in silence, never more than a step behind her. She got the feeling that he wanted her to walk faster, but he was significantly taller than she was, and her legs could only move so fast without her running.

As she climbed through the portrait hole, he handed Ariel something that made her heart thump excitedly against her ribs.

"Do try not to lose this one," Snape said dryly, dropping the coin into her waiting palm.

"Third time's the charm." she gave him a small smile and tucked it into her pocket.

He rolled his eyes and left without another word. Ariel stayed at the portrait's entrance until she could no longer see the light of his wand. He hadn't gone the way they'd come — she wondered where he was going at this hour.

When she turned the coin over in her hand, she saw that it read Headmaster's Office.

Ariel smiled the widest she had in days.

A/N: An update on Christmas?! A miracle!

Reviews would be the greatest present, I hope you're all well and staying healthy (you can thank the flu for this chapter, it's all that got me through it).