CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
silvertongue — young the giant
( 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝟏𝟓 )
"Let's say I would rather not have career advice from Snape. Could I, for example, go hide in the Forbidden Forest for the rest of the year?"
Meredith Darling was stressed beyond belief as May brought in warmer weather and bees.
No, not about the bees, but the fact that they were to have a career advice session with their respective heads of houses. Namely, a session that would definitely end in disaster.
Meredith didn't know why Career Advice was mandatory for all the fifth years. After all, she knew exactly what she wanted to do when she graduated no matter what subjects she took next year. Although, Meredith would admit that she wouldn't have minded it if it were from Professor Mcgonagall per say ( she absolutely adored the woman and her funny hat ) but she knew that she would truly loathe having the session with the greasy, sour, utterly rude, Snape ( she often dropped the use of 'professor' when referring to the awful man, finding him not deserving of that respectable title ).
"That would just make him elated; one less student to have to deal with. We might actually see the man smile if he hears that one of the loudest—don't give me that look—students in our year has mysteriously disappeared into the forest. So, no, you will sit here patiently and just screw with him during the session, or something." Her tone was chastising, but playful at the same time. Despite her misgivings about the imminent and quite horrible future, Meredith couldn't contain flashing a smile at the blonde beside her.
It wasn't like she had disliked Daphne Greengrass. They had first met in the common room, Meredith being rather lost because she obviously was not about to follow the first years to their dormitory ( where was the tour for the new fifth year when you needed one? ). Daphne, looking a little annoyed, had pointed her to the dormitory. It wasn't a bad impression per say but it definitely was not a great one. They shared a dormitory ( along with three other girls who were rather loud, especially Tracey Davis who liked to only go to bed at roughly two in the morning and unfortunately had no sense of stealth at all ), but they rarely ever spoke. Meredith could only recall the one occasion where the blonde had asked to borrow her rubber band and never returned it. But as it turns out, despite her lineage and upbringing , she was jolly good fun to be around ( at least she had been, in the past ten minutes ).
Their meeting had actually been thanks to Snape and his distrust of Meredith's general loud and chirpy personality. It likely went against everything he believed in which probably comprised of bitterness, bullying children, and a rather sinister vibe. Meredith was quite certain that the man vehemently loathed her but that made her all the more delighted. Daphne had gone right before her, but when she exited the room and Meredith was preparing to brace herself for the worst verbal abuse she would probably ever receive, Snape, in his low and gravelly voice, interrupted her, "I need to attend to other matters for a short while...Ms. Greengrass, stay with Ms. Darling. Make sure she sits down and doesn't move. Ms. Darling has a penchant for causing trouble and running her mouth, it seems."
"That's not—" Meredith was about to indignantly protest against his rather rude comment, but Daphne gave her a small but gentle kick to her shin, and smoothly cut right across, "Of course, I'll take right good care of her professor. Won't even cause a slight problem." Snape stared at her, eyes hollow, his expression almost impossible to read, but he made no comment and turned away, his black robes swishing behind him dramatically.
"Look's like I'm on babysitting duty." Daphne grinned, mussing with her blonde locks, dropping down onto the ledge; Meredith cautiously joined her, trying to get a read on where she was intending to go with this, "So, Greengrass, how was it? While we're with this whole 'babysitting' and all."
"Oh," She quirked up, "Absolutely useless." Meredith snorted in response, "As expected of the esteemed Professor himself. I can't believe I'm missing Herbology for this. One of my absolute worst subjects and Snape decides to have the Career Advice session now."
And they talked; and talked and talked for as long as time allowed them to. About how awful Snape was as a person, about how loudly Pansy Parkinson snored, about Tracey Davis' evident nail polish problem. Jokes and laughter filled up the minutes easily as if they were old friends instead of distant acquaintances. To Meredith, meeting Daphne was like mysteriously finding a new crayon colour in her box of a hundred. Unexpected but appreciated. A new hue to add a shade of vibrancy to her life.
Meredith had always been good at talking to just about everyone, knowing exactly what to say and how to smile to charm them right off the bat, but it had been a while since she found someone that she had actually wanted to connect with. Meeting someone new is always a divine pleasure. Regardless of how things would eventually turn out ( she was quite rubbish at Divination anyways ), she loved the dance that begins. The most important idea was to be able to get a true feeling for who they were over a few weeks and months without ever forming an opinion on them. An opinion, whether it be good or bad, usually caused the downfalls of lasting friendships. One should let them develop as a old polaroid photograph, nice and slow, to slowly uncover the mystery that was every new person.
"It seems that Ms. Darling has managed to keep herself out of trouble for ten minutes." Snape seemed to manifest from thin air, black robes stark against the dim yellow light, "You may return to class now, Ms. Greengrass." Daphne mouthed a "good luck." before heading off hurriedly, the two watching her figure disappear in the darkness before Meredith quipped chirpily, a wide smile plastered on her face, "After you, Professor."
His office was rather dark and dingy, a nasty green tinting the black stone walls that lined the room. An assortment of strange looking substances and...things filled the tall jars that lined the walls on sturdy wooden shelves. She spotted the door which led to Snape's private store of potions ingredients. Meredith took a seat in the green armchair opposite Snape, who pulled out her file from a thick stack. She wondered what it said on it.
"So, Ms. Darling." His voice was nasally and low, generally quite unpleasant already, but all the more when he said her name, "It seems like you have been doing astonishingly mediocre this semester. Expected, of course, of a transfer which in its own is quite unconventional, but leave it to Dumbledore to accept a fifth year with no prerequisite accomplishments." What a git.
"Professor, If I may." She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter, meeting the slimy man dead in the eyes, "I have not being doing 'astonishingly mediocre' this semester, as you have put it. You have only given me Os and Es the entire semester and I have been receiving similar feedback from my other classes. If that is 'astonishingly mediocre', I should think you'd think more highly of the other students in my year. But you don't." She did not break his steely gaze, challenging him. She swore that his eye twitched slightly.
"Then, let's move on." He finally backed down after a prolonged staring contest, glancing back down at her file, "Do you have any idea what you would like to accomplish with your not 'astonishingly mediocre' grades? Or are you about to tell me like the rest of the bumbling idiots in your year: I have no idea."
She smiled again, lacing her fingers together over her lap, "Well then, you're in luck, Professor. Once I graduate, I intend to work my way up in the department of International Magical Cooperation and eventually become Minister. Hopefully before I lose my youthful charm like you have." His other eye began to twitch. Meredith flashed him her perfectly white row of teeth.
"Aiming a little high are we?" The corners of his mouth curled in contempt, shutting her file promptly. Although Meredith would very much have liked to hex him and do the whole school a favour, she gritted her teeth and simpered, "Not unless you will be celebrating your hundredth tomorrow? How old are you again? Sixty? Seventy? I have to say, Professor, you do look rather spry for a seventy year old man." Meredith, at this moment, was quite certain that she was the student that Snape loathed the most, which was quite an honour as the man despised the whole lot of them.
"I would have thought that with all that exceedingly charming wit you have, you'd like to become another loud mouthed auror." He sneered down at Meredith but she merely shrugged nonchalantly and replied smoothly, "Never wanted to be an auror. Although, I have considered coming back here and becoming Potions professor. Assuming you would like to retire to your dark cave a little earlier than anticipated. Since I'm full of exceedingly charming wit."
"Watch your mouth." He snapped, "You'll learn to when it gets you in trouble one day. It always does." What a sad, bitter man, Meredith thought to herself as she smiled condescendingly up at him in return, "That's all I intend to do, Professor."
Needless to say, Snape had dismissed her shortly after another few rounds of backhanded insults and verbal sparring ( she was surprised that he even lasted that long but she supposed he was the master of snide comments ), muttering under his breath about being needed elsewhere. Meredith could have cared less and promptly left the sinister and dark room that reeked of the possibility that someone had been murdered there. Herbology was most likely over by now so she decided to head back to the dormitories before dinner.
"Did he tell you to sod off as well?" She heard familiar laughter as she exited the office. She scrunched up her face and lazily replied, "I am rather grateful for that, actually. I was very tempted to just hex him and do the entire school a favour." Draco sent her a look and jabbed at his prefect badge which was pinned below his shiny 'I' but said nothing. Meredith took it as a cue to pry more into his session. After all, she was quite curious as to what Draco Malfoy wanted to be after Hogwarts. With his obsession with grades and reputation, his career choice was either about to be extremely rudimentary or some obscure niche that Meredith would never have anticipated of him.
"So, what did you and Snape discuss? Did you threaten to take his job as well?" Draco sent her an incredulous look ( likely at the fact that Meredith had just admitted to threatening Snape and the only worthwhile thing in his entire miserable life ), but answered curtly, "He thinks that I won't even bother to work after Hogwarts. Ride on my family's name for the rest of my life." His voice is tinged with bitterness and resignation.
"Now, let's say you defy all odds, which I am very sure you will, have you any idea what you might do?" When he didn't reply after a moment of silence, she added on, "C'mon, Malfoy. I'm sure you've got some sort of ridiculous fantasy. Some ludicrous dream—"
"Alright!" He snapped impatiently, but there was not a hint of malice, "I'll answer, you nosy prick. I've always thought about...researching dark artefacts—Don't look at me like that—I don't intend to use them, but dark magic is an entire whole world that we haven't explored at all in fear of it. I find it hard to believe that all of it is bad. We're just terrified of it being labelled 'dark magic' and that limits us, doesn't it?" She fell silent for a moment, pondering over his words, but he cut in with, "Answered your question, Darling?"
Meredith had the utmost faith in Draco doing something incredible with his life no matter how he did in school. How could he not? With his intelligence and family connections, he could do anything he properly set his mind to. He was the perfect embodiment of a real Slytherin for a good reason. So she slung her arm around his shoulder, looking up to meet his eyes and grinning, "It does, Draco. Now, aren't you going to be a good friend and asked me what we talked about?"
"We're friends?" He smartly quipped in response, earning himself a jab in the side as retribution, "I mean, I do know that you would've said something completely rude to him and he would give you that look and bully you back. Isn't there all there is? You, your big dreams and mouth, and Snape's lack of a will to live." Meredith wanted to retort back but stopped herself when she realised that was exactly what had happened, so she pouted and jabbed him in the side again ( "Oi! Stop doing that, you git!" ), "Alright, you win this round, Malfoy—"
"Just this round? Don't I always win—"
"I will deck you—"
The golden sun that brought a glow to everything around it mirrored what Meredith felt in her heart as they ran ahead, laughing and breathless, Meredith swinging her fist in the air threateningly while the taller boy darted about, avoiding her playful punches. Everything felt good and happy, like their exams, their careers, their futures and all other struggles were just about a million miles away now. If this was what fifteen was supposed to feel like;
Meredith never wanted it to end.
i rewrote this chapter a good four times in full but it still turned out like this 😪😪✌🏼but oh well we gotta get mOooving to the good parts. also, at this point, i would really like to thank everyone for their endless support for "hello, darling"!!! i never would've thought that we'd get this far esp since i literally just joined wattpad a few months ago for the first time 😭😭 i love you guys sm💗