The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

25. Righteous Anger

The moment the bell rang, most of the class left, but, at Snape's order, Althea stayed behind, slowly packing up her things and wiping the few tears that had managed to escape from her cheeks. When everyone else had left, she approached the front, hugging her book to her chest and her eyes downcast.

"You will come to my office at precisely ten a.m. Saturday," Snape said coldly. "You will be sorting out potion ingredients."

Althea nodded, turning to leave.

"Did I say you were dismissed?" Snape snapped.

Althea flinched before turning back to face him, her eyes watering.

"You will not be using magic," Snape resumed. "And you will not leave until you have finished. Is that understood?"

Althea nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Snape said, his voice low, cold, and deadly.

"Y-Yes," Althea whispered, her voice taunt with emotion as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Good," Snape spat. "Go."

Shaking, Althea left the room, walking just far enough away to be out of earshot of the other students before she broke down into tears, leaning against the wall and attempting to muffle the sound against her hands. She had only been crying a few moments when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Flinching, Althea looked up, surprised to see Professor McGonagall with a concerned look on her face.

"Come along, dear," she said gently, helping Althea to her feet.

With an arm around her shoulders, McGonagall led her down the corridor and into her office.

"I'll be right back," McGonagall promised, pouring out a cup of tea for her before making for the door.

The moment it shut behind her, Althea broke down in sobs again, hiding her head in her hands.

.

"How are you feeling?" Eliana asked, handing Remus a potion to ease his aching body.

"Better," he said, beginning to drink. "Thank you, Ellie, for staying with me."

"It's no problem, Remus," she replied with a warm smile.

A sudden knock on the door of Remus' office met their ears. Looking up curiously, Eliana approached, calling, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Miss Black," McGonagall's voice replied.

Quickly opening the door to let her in, Eliana asked, "Is everything all right?"

"I'm not sure," McGonagall admitted worriedly. "I found Thea crying in the corridor. I took her to my office, but I thought you'd know how to comfort her better than I."

"I'll come at once," Eliana promised. "Go wait with her, please, while I check on Remus."

"Of course," McGonagall replied.

Sipping back into the room, Eliana asked, "Will you be all right without me for a bit? Althea needs me."

"I'll be all right," Remus promised with a weary smile. "Thank you."

.

Althea was still crying, although her breathing was beginning to even out, when McGonagall returned, Eliana following almost immediately behind her.

"Hey," Eliana said in a concerned voice, wrapping her arms around her. "What's wrong?"

Althea didn't speak as she held her mother close, her tears returning afresh. When she had cried herself out, Eliana sat down in the chair next to her, taking one of her daughter's hands in her own, wiping away her tears with the other.

"What happened, Althea?" Eliana asked gently.

Sniffling, she admitted, "S-Snape was subbing for Professor Lupin, and - and he...well he spent the first twenty minutes ridiculing him and wasn't teaching anything at all. And I - I got so annoyed that I..."

"What did you say?" Eliana asked, fearing the worst.

McGonagall, who was still standing in the corner, listening in concern, frowned.

"I - I said...'With all due respect, Professor, if you've come to this class to lecture us on Professor Lupin's supposed inadequacy instead of actually teaching us anything, would it not be better to use this time to bring your complaints to Professor Dumbledore so that we may actually learn something in the meantime? Some of us are sagacious enough to judge a teacher's ability without help.'"

Silence fell as Eliana and McGonagall shared looks.

"What did he do?" McGonagall asked in concern.

"H-He said...he gave me detention and then said that he had gotten used to not having to hear my opinions and that I should just keep my mouth shut," Althea whispered.

With a sympathetic sigh, Eliana embraced her again, holding her close as she shared a look with Professor McGonagall over Althea's shoulder.

.

Eliana was pacing around Dumbledore's office while McGonagall stood, stock-still by Dumbledore's occupied desk. He looked unusually grave. At the sound of a knock on the door, all three looked up. Eliana ceased her pacing.

"Come in," Dumbledore called.

"You asked to see me?" Snape said coldly, his eyes briefly flitting over the other two occupants in the room.

"Yes, please sit," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

Snape did so, his expression blank.

"Madam Black and Professor McGonagall came to see me a few minutes ago with a very strange and frankly rather disturbing story," Dumbledore remarked. "I would like your perspective on this incident. According to the two of them, Thea was found crying not far from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."

"Don't ask me to conjecture why a thirteen-year-old was crying," Snape said coldly. "They're fickle, temperamental-"

"Don't you dare insult my daughter," Eliana snapped, firing up at once.

"Please, Eliana," Dumbledore said calmly. Turning back to Snape, he resumed, "Thea says you spent the first part of the class insulting Professor Lupin's teaching methods and plans, but when she requested to actually be taught something, you gave her detention and told her not to share her opinions. Is this an accurate representation of the matter, Severus?"

"Excluding Miss Black's blatant disrespect, yes," Snape said coolly.

"Althea's words were 'With all due respect, Professor, if you've come to this class to lecture us on Professor Lupin's supposed inadequacy instead of actually teaching us anything, would it not be better to use this time to bring your complaints to Professor Dumbledore so that we may actually learn something in the meantime? Some of us are sagacious enough to judge a teacher's ability without help,'" Eliana snapped angrily. "Which considering your behaviour, I would think more than respect-"

"Madam Black," Dumbledore interrupted. "While I appreciate your righteous anger on your daughter's behalf, your comments are currently not helping." Turning back to Snape, Dumbledore said, "While I understand why Miss Black's words were angering, your reaction was inexcusable, Severus. You will cancel the detention and apologize."

Snape said nothing, but Eliana could see his jaw was clenched. With a curt nod, Snape got to his feet and made his way toward the door.

Before he had reached it, Eliana said sharply, "Snape."

He stopped, turning back to face her with a cold glare.

"If you ever for any reason make my daughter cry again, I will end you," she snapped.

Snape was silent a moment before, with a slight upturn of his lips, he said, "At least then you might get a double cell with your dear cousin."

Without another word, he disappeared.