So far during Finley's third year in Hogwarts, she was threatened to change schools, lacked of proper sleep, tired of quidditch practice, and yearned talking to her lion friends. To top it all off, Snape was always on her case about really cutting off all connections of any lion in the premise of the school. She was thankful that the man didn't think of having the whole quidditch team involved with keeping her away from Gryffindors. Even with first years she was still not allowed to get near any of them, it was taking a large toll on her. And yet here she was sitting in Snape's office in free period after learning that Harry Potter spoke to her a few weeks back. In all honesty, she thought the man was rather slow in learning her little to no interactions with lions. She over estimated Snape's ability to find answers that she thought she was getting into trouble that day but no. It had been a full month since she spoke to Harry, well cried to Harry.
"Are you really going to keep me here Professor?" She restrained her voice from turning into a whining tone. The Professor thought it was a good idea to keep her in his dungeons classroom before she was to go to her next class. Since her best friends can't accompany her at the moment seeing as they both had Divination, and she being the controlled little snake she was, she dropped the subject because she was asked to.
"Yes, until either Zabini, Nott, or Malfoy can come in an collect you," The Professor said, his eyes not leaving the black board where he was writing a new potion for his next class.
She refrained from rolling her eyes at the idea of Draco Malfoy taking her to her next class, she could never forget how he got the Hippogriff Buckbeak sentenced to death for his stupidity. She was also upset with the bloke bragging that he was going to keep Buckbeak's head and use it as decoration. To this day her friends remain on high alert whenever the blond boy was around in fear that she would give him an almost permanent hex.
The chalk taping on the black board irritated her, she could be using this time in the library or in the common to get a few minutes of napping. She could be in her room finishing a book, or learning a new latin curse of sorts, or catching up on three months worth of sleep. But no, the Professor had to keep her in his classroom to keep her away from lions.
"I haven't even talked to Harry or the other Gryffindors, why am I here?"
"Perhaps you forgot that conversation you had with Potter?"
She scoffed. 'It's not like I snogged him in the broom closet' she thought in her head. But of course she held her tongue, it would get her in an ever deeper hole if she was becoming a smart ass.
Silence filled the dungeon classroom once again, only the chalk against the blasted black board was heard. She never thought of destroying the black board before, and during this excruciating waiting game for someone to come and whisk her off her feet, she never felt more inclined to do so.
"Lizard's heart not tongue," she said staring at the blackboard with a lazy expression. She kept reading the words on the black board and surely the professor was planning to fail OWLs taking students by purposely listing the wrong ingredients.
"I know what I'm doing Evans—"
"Pardon me professor, but are you purposely listing the wrong things to fail students?"
She knew she caught on, but it didn't mean that she didn't get into trouble, because right now the professor was glowing red. Red enough to rival the rubies in the Gryffindors' points glass.
"Finley!"
"Out!"
She smirked, the Professor was done with her. She very happy to see who it was that called her that she almost jumped up from the stool she sat on and sped off to the exit. "You need to change that Professor—"
"I said out Evans!"
"Bye!"
Finley again, found herself in the common room's emerald couch wrapped in a quilt that Mrs Weasley gave her last Christmas. Her hair in a messy ponytail, clothes mismatched all while the bags on her eyes are in an even deeper shade of dark. Blaise sat on the edge of the couch with a book in hand, her black knee socked feet resting on his lap.
Her Slytherin sweater (that she certainly didn't steal from Blaise) almost hid her shorts, not that anyone would notice she was under her large Weasley quilt blanket.
"Blaise!" She whined. Her friend merely hummed in response, flipping the book's page while doing so. She pouted, her friend wasn't listening at the moment that she used her foot to tap on the book in his hand.
"Blaisie waisie!" She pouted. The boy glanced at her, his book still open meaning his attention was partly with Finley at the moment. "Yes Finney Bear?"
Finely sat up, nose wrinkled, her lower lip sticking out.
'She's hungry' Blaise thought. Why else would she bother him aside from her constant need of annoying Blaise when he's trying to do anything productive. Not that he really was productive, he was pretending to read as he wasn't used to this version of his best friend who looked like an inferious.
"What do you want to eat then?" He asked now completely closing his book, tucking it beside Finley, his hands now landing on Finley's curled knees.
Finley thought long and hard, it would've been easier to think of something if Theo was here. But no, Theo was in detention for making an attempt to flirt with Pomona Sprout to get away with not taking care of a plant for an assignment.
She looks up at Blaise who was waiting for her answer, they were the only two who were left in the common room. Everyone else was asleep, not it actually mattered they were used to being the only ones in the common room after hours if one of them had detention. "I reckon we go and ask your Hufflepuff boyfriend then?"
"Cedric isn't my boyfriend," she scolded.
"The yellow carnations in your room says otherwise," Blaise rolled his eyes as he gently pushed her legs off his lap.
"You were there when he said they were from someone else," she pointed out, wrapping the quilt around her shoulders, slipping her socked feet in her black fluffy slippers. Blaise looked down at her feet then up to her face with an unamused look.
"Care to change at least?"
"And waste time picking out a promising kitchen raid for an outfit?" She gasped. "I don't think so."
The boy rolled his eyes at her, and also seemingly pleased that Finley was acting like her usual self unlike the start of the year when she was hiding her possible transferring from them. Slinging an arm around her still covered in a quilt shoulder, walking out the common room with his wand in his hand. "Stay close to me then."
"Aye aye captain!" Finley giggles, wrapping her arm around Blaise's waist as she skipped while Blaise stumbled. The dark halls were pitch black around the illuminated wand, she walked with Blaise warily. She doesn't know what was going to jump in front of them, worst case scenario was that Sirius Black was going to jump out at them yelling surprise.
"While on our way to the kitchens, tell me how your week has been," Finley asked her best friend who looked like he had the world on his shoulders at the moment. "Are you and that Ravenclaw still going on?" Her eye brows were wiggling teasingly at her best friend.
"Well, we broke up."
"What?" She stopped walking as they were on the steps to exit the dungeon halls, Finley stared at her friend who only looked down. "Why?"
She knew Blaise well enough, his lips were in a subtle frown that she wouldn't completely realise was there until she looks straight at him. His eyes looked sad, and it wasn't like last year when he tried to date Millicent Boulstrode and she thought he was too small for her largeness. "It's nothing Finn," Blaise dismissed holding her hand.
Clearly there was something wrong, like completely wrong. Blaise never calls her Finn unless something was wrong, and she wanted to know what. "We should hurry or else a professor might see us," Blaise says pulling Finley towards the other side of the corridor to where the kitchen was.
What went wrong? One moment Finley and Blaise were enjoying their bowl of cookies, the next Finley was inside the DADA classroom with Potter and professor Lupin. Clearly scolding Harry for a stupid map that she thought was cool to track anyone in the castle, but at the same time, why in Salazar's name was she there?
"Do you have any idea of what would happen if someone got a hold of this map?" Lupin scolded. He paced in between the desks where Finley and Harry stood, she didn't like how she was with Harry at the moment. It would be fine if she was alone with the Professor, and Snape couldn't use the 'I am her head of house' card on Lupin.
"I'm sorry professor, it won't happen again—"
'Spare me the bullshit Harry, I know you will do this again!' She wanted to scold Harry, but she doesn't know who had ears around the place.
Apparently so, Finley was making a quick escape with Blaise from the kitchen (as so Cedric did not want to leave his post just yet as he too was enjoying his slice of chocolate cake in the kitchens) and suddenly the ugly ass cat of Argus Filch came and hissed at both of them. Blaise ran away like a thief, Finely froze like a deer seeing headlights that she was caught. To the dismay of her head of house, she was still pulled in with Potter and she will never hear the end of it.
"I know it won't happen again," the professor says, he raised the blank parchment showing them how blank it was. "I will be confiscating this Harry," he said.
"But—"
"Sirius Black is out there mister Potter, and if this falls in to his hands you are good as dead," The Professor continued to lecture. Finley had her thoughts wander into the parchment, what did it contain really to make it so deadly? Why would Sirius Black, the mass murderer want it?
Harry fell silent, the Professor holding the parchment firmly to his side. Finley felt cold in her short and socks, remembering that she was in her fluffy slippers. Why did she have to remember that now?
'Why the bloody hell am I here? I had nothing to do with that rubbish.'
"Professor aside from wandering in the halls after dark, why am I here?" Finley asked now completely done with the fact that she was here and not with Blaise eating their bowl of cookies. The Professor could've just took points from her and maybe gave her detention, she didn't see the need for him to keep her in the classroom.
"I needed to know if you were an accomplice to mister Potter."
'For a bowl of freaking cookies?!'
"But I'm not," she says. Harry's eyes were stationed on to her and she found it very uncomfortable.
"It was a long night," the Professor sighed. Now realising how pale the professor was, he looked more tired than he ever was during their first week of classes. The scar on his face looked to be more prominent at this state of his that caused Finley to sympathised for him.
"Go on to your common rooms, I'll escort you—"
"Are you alright professor Lupin?" Finley found herself asking. Taking the Professor aback at the girl's question, he stared at the girl with great interest and a hint of familiarity. "Yes, I am fine miss Evans."
Somehow Finley wasn't convinced but she had no choice but accept it and ask another time, she turned around and made he way to the door slowly. "Professor I think the map is broken," Harry uttered, which peaked Finley's interest making her turn around.
Lupin looked shocked at what Harry said, why would something like this be broken? It will never break, could it?
"Good night Harry, Finley," was all he said, dismissing the thing Harry spoke of. Leaving Finley with even more questions in her mind regarding the map that he said Harry had in his possession.
"Finley—"
Finley broke into a sprint, she was avoiding confrontations with Harry or any Gryffindors for three months now and she was not breaking that streak any time soon. "Finley!"
Why did Potter have to yell? It was late at night and the whole castle has heard him calling her name. But did she stop running? Nope.
"Merlin! Just stop running! I just want to talk," Harry manages to pant, but to his misfortune Finley ran straight down the dungeons, disappearing from sight.
By the time Finley came back to the common room, she was ready to collapse from all her running. She wanted to dump herself in the common room pool to cool down, maybe eat the cookies she and Blaise collected. But no.
There her friends sat on the expensive carpet in the middle of the common room, bowl of cookies empty and stuffed Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini on the floor. Oh upset was not a word to describe her now.