The day before the second task was one of buzzing excitement, and although I had missed the first portion of the tournament I was beyond determined to go to this task. Partially to see if everything was going to be as exciting as it sounded and partially because it took place on my favorite place. The day passed in a blur, and I had entirely skipped lunch, instead going to sit down by the lake, much to the dismay of Crabbe, who complained several times about being hungry before getting up and sneaking back inside, I wondered how long it would take my brother before he realized and punished him.
Classes had been incredibly unproductive, even more so than usual, due to the excited chatter. No one else knew what the task would be pertaining to though some rumors spread about sending the champions into the forbidden forest blindfolded. At dinner I let it slip about the location of the second task, before slipping back into a comfortable silence with my new friend. I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I pushed food around the edges of my plate. I had no appetite it seemed, though I partially believed that was in part due to the exhaustion I was feeling from the few hours I had slept the previous night.
My hand still had fits of stinging pain occasionally, but for the most part everything had returned to normal. I had received a letter this morning from my concerned mother, not surprisingly a repercussion from Draco writing home, and despite being barely half way into the year it felt as though I hadn't seen them in at least a year. I intended to write back tonight. Apparently my father had been furious at the school and threatened some sort of lawsuit against the school, according to mom. I couldn't help but smile in awkward gratitude. At least it shows he cares.
I had finally finished the strange muggle book, and had kept it stashed in my nightstand. The ending was predictable, but somehow appealing. Who knew I would be into romance books.
"Earth to Ally." A hand waved in front of my face.
"Eh?" I snapped out of my thoughts, turning to face the brunette girl who had quickly become my favorite person, aside from my brother. Yet despite her company many of the days I felt as though I was longing for someone else.
"If you keep your mouth open like that you'll be eating flies." She joked, smiling kindly. I rolled my eyes.
"Shut it." I pouted.
"Look at that." She commented, moving an inch closer to me and nudging me to look up at the staff table. Onyx eyes glared down at the table and through me.
"Merlin." I hissed turning my back to the table uncomfortably. "I'd hate to know what poor creature crawled up his ass." I remarked which caused Astoria to lightly smack my arm and raise her hand to her mouth to cover her smile. Which for a while I assumed was an etiquette thing until she confessed that she had been insecure of her smile due to teasing from an extended family member.
Her laughter ceased as she looked over my shoulder. "He's really staring you down, I haven't seen that look pointed at anyone other than Potter and the Gryffindorks." I couldn't explain why but I felt a smirk tugging at the corners of my lips.
"Have you noticed he's been much harsher on all of the houses in the past two weeks than like...ever?" She asked, tearing her gaze away from the table and looking at me.
"Yeah, well I already told you my theory." I sipped from the large gold goblet.
"Yes I know I know, however I don't think that catching you flirting with Potter would wreck his mood this bad." I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off quickly as she raised her hands in defense. "I know I know, you are very pretty."
I elbowed her.
Later that night we sat in the common room, curled up on a black leather cushion, sharing a fleece blanket, while my brother and his crew sprawled out on the rest of the couches and various chairs. A low green fire crackled at our feet.
"Potter won't last five minutes." My brother sneered, causing me to roll my eyes discreetly.
"But he already completed the first task." A small first year piped up, he was still dressed in his robes. Silence fell upon him like a hat of shame.
"Maybe you could get the merfolk to only go after him." I suggested sarcastically, nearly busting out laughing when I saw him consider it. I wondered if I should tell him that it was a joke.
I tuned out the rest of the conversation and retreated more so behind the grey and black fleece, staring intently at the green flames licking at the air.
When I finally snapped back into reality I noticed that only the five of us remained in the common room, the fire burning lower and the windows were opaque black mirrors.
"-I bet we could enchant the squid-" I momentarily heard Draco said, had he been talking about that the whole time? I turned to look at Astoria who seemed just as absorbed in him as Pansy was, somehow I had overlooked her presence in the group earlier.
I slowly unfolded my legs and pushed aside the blanket before rising to my feet and stretching, I murmured a goodnight before retreating up to the girls dorms, Astoria following behind me. When I stopped to look out over the common room I noticed the swishing of a black cloak retreating into the shadows.
The following morning we all gathered on three very large tier platforms over the black lake. Compromising with my brother we piled into the next to top layer. The most top reserved for the staff and the visitors from the ministry.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them." A booming voice called out, one of power. Chatter seemed to instantly cease as members from all three schools pushed and leaned to get a better view. A whistle sounded followed by three splashes of water. We couldn't quite see directly below us, where the fourth contestant was located, but a few minutes later we saw a boy, who we recognized as Potter, being pushed into the dark grey water.
The splashes soon disappeared into ripples and then into smooth waves. We waited.
And waited.
Wasn't this supposed to be a a spectator sport?
I turned to raise my eyebrows at Astoria who seemed puzzled to say the least. On my other side Draco stood concentrating down at the lake, narrowing his eyes as if by doing so he would be able to see what was happening.
Thirty minutes passed.
I had been leaning against the railing with my face turned upwards towards the cloudy sky. "This sucks." I whined, "it's cold." I was shushed by both Draco and someone in yellow and black robes.
Excited chattering had begun as bubbles started to rise to the surface, followed by the Hufflepuff champion, whose name I had forgotten, despite my brother spending an almost pathetic amount of time charming badges with this name on it, before passing them around all over the school just to get on Potter's nerves.
Attached on his arm was a small Ravenclaw, who seemed to be struggling to swim. A few minutes later followed the Slytherin favorite, Viktor Krum, with the bushy haired member of the golden trio in tow. And lastly two more rose out of the water, though I didn't recognize either of them. Just as the clock tolled an hour since they went down did another member of the tournament shoot from the water and onto the deck.
"Wasn't there a girl?" I questioned out loud to no one in particular.
"She was forced to retire like twenty minutes ago." Astoria answered, leaning almost entirely over the railing to see. Bodies pressed up against us to see over the ledge as the judges were making their decisions. I started to feel claustrophobic and weaseled my way back through the crowds into an empty space at the back.
"Malfoy." Greeted the tall shadow I had not noticed standing there. King Bat.
"Snape." I replied in the same tone. An uncomfortable feeling plucking at the back of my head. He didn't say any more.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked bravely, although admittedly not removing my eyes from the view straight ahead of me.
"Excuse you?" he drawled, in a measured voice.
"You seem to have been in an even worse mood than usual, noticed some of the other Slytherins." I spoke, looking out of the corner of my eye. For some reason, this banter seemed almost normal.
"It's none of your concern." He answered calmly, despite narrowing his eyes slightly at me. "Shouldn't you be rooting for Potter?" He harshly whispered. I was taken back, What?
"Why would I do that?" I turned fully to face him. "That would be counterproductive." I put a hand on my hip. I could have sworn I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.
"No idea." He spoke slowly, before turning and removing himself from the conversation. I felt heat rush to my face. What a complete ass.
I decided to walk back to the castle right before the winners had been announced, making sure I got away from the crowds before the sea of students and staff members flooded onto the shores. Since classes had been cancelled for the day, and I didn't fancy returning to the dormitories just yet I elected to wander about the grounds, down by the forbidden forest, and although the name should have been enough to keep me away, I couldn't help but stroll along the edge line of the trees. As was common for me, apparently.
A rustling in the leaves above me snapped my head up, reaching to my hip to place a palm on the handle of my wand. But it wasn't until after I looked back in front of me that I saw it.
Him. Stefan.
"What do you want?" I interrogated taking a step back and stepping on a branch.
"Oh, you remember me do you? I'm flattered. I vould have assumed you'd forgotten about me." A thick accented voice purred.
"What do you want." I repeated, holding my head, the one spell I knew well was on the tip of my tongue. He took a step towards me. I shot first.
"Serpensortia!" I hissed flicking my wrist and sending a medium sized snake flying through the air and smacking in the center of the boys chest. It bounced off and landed into a pile of damp leaves with a small thud, hissing and picking its head up ready to strike, but I didn't stick around. I ran quickly alone the edge of the forest, attempting to blend in to the winter scape. From far behind me I heard the counter curse which turned the small creature into a black pile of smoke.
I really needed to brush up on more spells.
When I had turned to look over my shoulder I felt my leg snag on a root and screamed in frustration. Nothing had been broken or sprained that I could tell, but I would definitely have a bruise.
"Going somevhere?" the voiced cooed, bending down to squat in front of me. I swung my hand narrowly making contact with his nose.
He looked beyond irritated and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was dealing with a minor headache. He stood like this for a minute or two, and taking advantage of his lack of concentration I rose slowly to my feet.
He flicked his wand and I fell to my knees, unable to move, despite trying to plead with my legs.
"Look, It's not something I vant to do. I just have to. Eye for an eye and all that." He said in a bored tone.
He wouldn't really kill me. I thought, almost confident, thankful for my family's connections. Surely he knew who I was. I internally cringed at sounding too close to my brother.
What happened was much worse.
"Crucio!" He snapped his wand onto me. And white-hot knives were piercing every inch of my skin. My head felt as though it would surely burst with pain. I was almost certain I had begun thrashing on the ground like a fish out of water. I was screaming, I think.
The pain briefly stopped, though I could still feel the aftermath of the curse. But before I could do anything, before I could even move close to the wand that had fell from my hand at some point, though I was unsure of where and when; I had been hit again by the Cruciatus curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that I no longer knew where I was. It felt as though I was being torn to shreds.
The pain briefly stopped again, this time, longer than the first pause. I was barely able to open my eyes before being hit by the curse again. Screaming again. I was trying to plead, but I don't think any words actually came from my mouth.
"Stop it." I panted, during the next break. I opened my eyes, but despite the splotches covering my vision I was still able to see the sick twisted smile on his face, Red hair pulled into a low ponytail.
More pain. This time it accompanied a flash of something I couldn't be sure as to what exactly it was I was seeing. Black hair?
White hot knives cut into me again.
The black figure with a blurred face and features stood facing me, a green light flashing behind my eyes.
'Leave.' A voice whispered between my screams. I couldn't be sure but it sounded as though it was inside my head. Another round of pain that felt as though lightening was repeatedly striking me. I could feel myself shaking.
The pain seemed to drift further away as a scene played out in front of me. The faces of the two people arguing remained blurred though I could almost recognize the girl as myself. Their words even though they were merely feet apart from where I stood, sounded muffled as though I was listening to them from underwater.
'Severus-' the girl started, stepping towards him and stopping immediately when he put more distance between himself and her. 'Severus what are you saying.'
'Leave.' The man ordered, sounding pained. 'This relationship is inappropriate and as of now, terminated.'
The faces both seemed to be coming into focus before I felt like someone grabbed the back of my collar and yanked me backwards. I felt no pain, a wonderful release from the burning sensation that had previously taken over me. I saw nothing, though I wasn't sure if my eyes were opened, closed, or blind. And while I felt like a tangled mess of limbs and bones, one thing I could feel was a word. A name. I clung to it.
Severus.