Lindsay Entered the Gryffindor common room with her violin case tucked under her arm as usual. Hermione, who was sitting in front of the fire with an open book on her knee, noticed the puzzled look on her face immediately. Ginny was sitting next to Hermione, relaxing as she stared blankly into the fire. Ron and Harry were sprawled on the couch next to them with unopened textbooks in their laps, talking about Quidditch. "Is everything alright?" Lindsay didn't respond immediately so Hermione repeated the question more loudly.
"Oh, sorry, uh...yeah everything's fine." She stopped and knelt in front of the fire and looked up at Hermione and Ginny. "It's just a little odd," she said quietly. "He's asked me to play the same piece every single time, but tonight he asked me to play something soft."
"Whose piece went soft?" shouted George, who seemed to appear from nowhere with Fred at his side. Many of the Gryffindors snickered, but some were looking ill-at-ease.
"Oh, you're disgusting!" shouted Hermione, slapping her hands down on her textbook as Fred and George neared the couch. Ginny brought her hand up to cover an uncontrollable smile. Harry and Ron laughed aloud and made no attempt to hide the fact.
"You're absolutely right, Granger," said Fred in mock disgust, his elbows resting on the back of Harry and Ron's couch. George was a mirror image standing next to him. "The idea of Lindsay and Snape in a passionate embrace is just absurd. As greasy as he is, he'd just slide right off of her."
Lindsay, good-natured as usual, stood up smiling ready to retort, but was beaten to it by a very disgruntled-looking Jackson. "Fred and George may seem like they're joking, but they're really just saying what we're all thinking."
"Speak for yourself, Jackson," answered Fred.
"We really are just joking," added George.
Lindsay looked both puzzled and hurt as she rounded the couch to stand in front of Jackson, effectively placing herself between him and Fred. "What are you talking about?"
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," spat Jackson. "You're always with him. It's unnatural."
"If by 'him' you mean Professor Snape, I don't understand what the problem is. He sent for me. You were here; you saw that. And I've been honest with all of you about what happens. I play my violin for him, that's it. I regularly do the same for Dumbledore."
"But this is Snape we're talking about," said Jackson as if the mere mention of the name was suitably explanatory. Several of the students muttered encouragement, and Jackson looked around to see who was on his side. His confidence was greatly bolstered by the many heads nodding in agreement with him. "Nobody likes him. Even his Slytherins hate him. They're just too afraid of him to admit it. And yet you spend an inordinate amount of time with him. Why is that?"
"I spend more time with Hagrid than anyone. A lot of the students spend time with the professors. Neville's with Professor Sprout right now. Are you going to accuse them of something illicit too?" answered Lindsay.
"It's not just us. People in the other houses are saying it too, even some of the Slytherins."
"Exactly what are people saying, Jackson?" asked Fred in an uncharacteristically icy tone. Both he and George had a rising flush of red in their cheeks and ears. The common room suddenly became eerily silent. Fred stepped a little closer to Jackson and rested his hand on Lindsay's shoulder. Jackson looked from Fred to George, apparently unwilling to fully engage the angry twins. Wately rose from the table where he and Jackson had been playing a game to stand next to his friend, and directly in front of George. Other Gryffindors were beginning to hedge closer. Harry and Ron were off the couch and standing behind the twins. Hermione and Ginny hadn't left their places, but were no longer seated.
"She's spying for Snape," blurted Wately.
"Spying?" said Lindsay. "That's silly. What could I possibly be spying about?"
"All I know is that I got caught in the greenhouse with my mags. Now I've got detention with Filch every night."
"Everyone knows you read your pornos in the greenhouses, Wately," said George.
"But Snape didn't! Not until she told him!"
Jackson turned to look at George. "You can't tell me that you haven't noticed an increase in the amount of detentions Snape's been giving us."
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Professor McGonagall was seated at a small table with a cup of tea and some biscuits. She was reading the newspaper. Her hair was down in a long braid, but she hadn't yet changed into her night clothes. She looked away from her paper to listen to the raised voices coming from the common room. Raised voices and sudden loud noises were familiar occurrences as her Gryffindors were easily excited. The natural excitability of her Gryffindors had become particularly volatile since the arrival of the Weasley twins at Hogwarts. She waited a moment, expecting her students to regain their composure. When the raised voices turned to full-on shouting, she slammed her newspaper onto the table in irritation and rose to quell the commotion, fully expecting the twins to be at the heart of it.
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"We're all Gryffindors here," shouted Fred and George in unison.
"She's not; she was never sorted!" retorted Jackson.
"Well, she stays in Gryffindor Tower. That's good enough for us," replied the twins.
"Please, guys," pleaded Lindsay, "I promise you, I'm not spying on you and there's nothing going on between Professor Snape and me."
"Right," said Jackson snidely.
Wately quickly followed up with, "Oh, come on, we've all seen him watching you. When Snape's not looking at your arse, he's staring at your tits!" Just as soon as the sentence was given life, the balled fist of George's right hand smashed down onto Wately's chin. Fred shoved Lindsay out of the way as he lurched for Jackson. She landed hard on the floor. Jackson's left hand shot out and caught Fred's shoulder, stopping his forward momentum. Jackson's right hand was balled into a fist and raised in the air ready to launch, but Fred brought his right hand up to break Jackson's hold on him and threw his left hand into Jackson's stomach. A large 7th year boy rushed at George and wrapped his arms around his waist, knocking him to the floor on top of Fred. In the blink of an eye, every occupant of the common room was in pile, wrestling on the floor. The younger students, who had already gone to bed, had begun to gather on the dormitory stairs to see what all the commotion was.
No one saw or heard McGonagall enter the common room, nor did they hear her shout at them until she drew her wand, which she pointed at her throat. "Sonorus. STOP THIS! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Her voice thundered and everyone froze in their places. The room instantly became as quiet as a crypt. The younger students turned and bolted back up the stairs to their dormitories. "Quietus." McGonagall lowered her wand and silently surveyed the students, taking note of all the blackened eyes, swollen lips, and bloodied noses. She stared in disbelief as Hermione Granger rose from the floor. Hermione's hair stood on end; she was rubbing the back of her head where someone had pulled out a great patch of it. Ginny Weasley stood next to her with a bloodied lip that was dripping onto her shirt.
"What is the meaning of all this?" She looked from one face to the next, but they all dropped their heads and refused to answer. "Rest assured that I will get to the bottom of this, and you will all be severely punished for this egregious display. I have never seen such appalling behavior!" McGonagall's voice was icy and quavered with rage. "Fighting with members of your own house, I'm ashamed of all of you!" And there began the most vicious, and quite possibly the longest, tirade of Minerva McGonagall's teaching career. Every person in that room wished that she would just beat them, or hex them, or do anything else, just as long as she stopped yelling at them. "Two-hundred points from Gryffindor!" She stormed out of the common room toward her private quarters as Neville Longbottom entered. His features changed from good-humored to perplexed as his eyes took in the destruction.
"What's happened?"
"Ugh, Neville!" snorted Hermione as she turned and stormed up to her dormitory.
"What?"
McGonagall began investigations in the morning. No one was sure who talked, but someone certainly had told her something. She took the news to the Headmaster. "I'm very concerned, Albus. There's a great deal of animosity brewing among the students regarding Miss Gray. I don't understand it. The only ones that don't seem to be bothered are the youngest students and the more hormonally driven boys."
"What has brought on this sudden change, Minerva? I was under the impression that Miss Gray was generally thought to be quite amiable."
"Apparently," began McGonagall, shooting a piercing gaze at Snape, "some of the students think that Miss Gray has been spying on them for Severus."
"Preposterous," murmured Snape.
"How does Miss Gray feel about this?"
"Well, she's obviously upset, but she's been quite clear about wanting to continue her studies."
"Good," said Dumbledore, looking relieved. He turned from them, sat down behind his desk and picked up a magazine. "Let us see that this animosity doesn't grow any further. Otherwise we'll continue as usual."
"Very good," said McGonagall as she turned and left.
"Anything else, Headmaster?" said Snape.
"No, I don't think so," said Dumbledore as he raised his magazine and began thumbing through it. "Oh, Severus...there is one more thing," Dumbledore lowered his magazine enough to peer over the top of it. "Stop spying on the Gryffindors."