notre dame.

chapter three.

                 

CHAPTER THREE.

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The Study Hall Blythe had been monitoring was peaceful. Students spoke with one another in hushed whispers and mostly kept to themselves, thankfully they fell into their routine while keeping Blythe's Study Hall rules in mind. She sat at a table at the head of the room, one leg crossed over the other as she hunched over a table to focus on the book she was reading, only looking up at her students every so often. All of the professors handled their study hall differently, and depending on which group Blythe was monitoring would determine how she handled hers. Sixth and seventh years were typically the most behaved, which surprised Blythe, and it was the younger students whom she constantly needed to pace around the room with to keep them on track.

The brunette heard the door open and raised her brown eyes to see Severus in the doorway with Constance Lovegood. Constance wore a light grey dress with a white coat overtop, she held a handbag in front of her and stood with her white-heeled feet together. Blythe stared for a moment and noticed some of her students turning toward the distraction. Severus leveled his dark gaze across the room, and the students all immediately returned to their work while Blythe rose to her feet. She walked down the aisle of tables, her robes brushing around her ankles as she did so. She and Severus shared a look, then a nod, and she stopped to turn toward her study hall group.

"Professor Snape will monitor you for the rest of the hour," she announced, hearing groans from certain students in the room. The silent complaints stopped when Blythe narrowed her eyes at those students, and they returned to their work before she turned and finished walking to meet Severus and Constance. She avoided acknowledging Constance's presence, her eyes lingering on Severus, "Thank you."

He hummed and walked into the room. His footsteps were quick, unsurprisingly, as he marched to the front of the room and slowly examined which students were in the room, or who he would have to keep his eye on. Blythe looked over the students hurriedly, then turned to Constance in gestured her out of the room. The blonde turned on her heel, walking back into the hallway while the sounds of her shoe clicks echoed into Blythe's ears. Her brown eyes dropped to Constance's shoes, almost twitching before she plastered a smile on her face and met Constance's blue eyes, "What brings you here today, Constance?"

"I was visiting Evangeline, then I thought it wouldn't hurt to see you as well," Constance smiled her perfect white tooth smile, not a single smudge of her bright red lipstick on her teeth as she did so. The perfect smile that almost made Blythe frown.

Lie.

Blythe ignored the voice, shaking her head and gesturing down the hall. She knew Constance had ulterior motives that would not be spoken of in the hall, but she also knew that Constance wasn't a friend. Constance was the woman put in charge of watching her after Barty's arrest. The ministry worker sent to ensure Blythe didn't take the wrong step, to ensure she didn't mess it all up like the rest of her family. She could never shake Constance.

"Please, let's sit in my office, and have some tea?" Blythe suggested, beginning her walk and not waiting to see if Constance followed. But sure enough, the heel clicking started and Constance was soon at Blythe's side.

The Lovegood was much taller than the Crouch, and even (but just barely) taller than Severus. Her hairspray updo with her pale blonde locks and high heels also added to her height, effectively helping her tower over Blythe and any student she passed. Constance was always put together, hair pinned up, heels on, and the same bright red lipstick was always worn on her lips. It was a signature, and Blythe could count the times she'd seen Evangeline with a red stain on her forehead after visiting with her mother. Blythe couldn't determine if she was jealous of the Lovegood or not. But then again, she was always reminded that there was an off chance she'd behave similarly to Constance if she had opted to work at the Ministry as her father (and Constance) wanted. Keep her closer to the people less likely to wrap her in dark magic.