The Sunrise of My Heart

The next morning, I got my schedule all made up and was pleased to see how many free periods I had. I was taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Herbology, and Transfiguration, which gave me four free periods to work on homework and pretty much be very lazy.
When I saw Ron and Harry leaving the Great Hall together with their schedules, I joined them, smiling. "Hey. What lessons have you guys got?" We compared schedules and I was unsurprised to see that we had the same classes. Unfortunately, since we were in different houses, we wouldn't get to spend all of them together, but our free periods thankfully fell at the same time. Starting off the day with a free period was heavenly.
I followed them back to the Gryffindor common room, refusing to spend any more time with my fellow Slytherins than was absolutely necessary. Once we got in, Harry started talking to Katie Bell, a member of the Quidditch team, about upcoming trials since Harry was the new Captain. Ron, I noticed, looked a bit uncomfortable. I was sure he was feeling insecure about his standing on the team since he had no faith in his abilities. To distract him for awhile, I picked a topic at random to talk about.
"So... Did Harry ever tell you what really happened at the end of last year when I spent the night in his bed?"
"He was pretty evasive about it," Ron mumbled, his ears turning pink at the memory.
I chuckled softly. "That's because we were messing with your head. You seemed so convinced something had happened that we played along and pretended something had. But nothing did. I assure you."
"Oh," he said, blushing now about his folly.
"We'd tell you if something came up between us, you know. You're his best friend, of course he'd tell you. Maybe not all the details," I winked playfully to hint at my meaning in 'details', "but he'd at least tell you that we were hooking up or whatever."
"That's true," he answered. He was silent for awhile before randomly bursting out with a question. "Am I like any of the Marauders?"
"Hmm..." I said. "That's kind of difficult. No one's exactly like them, they're too individual. But, yes, I see some of them in you. It's part of why I like your company."
He smiled, seeming pleased by this. Before we could say much else, we realized that our hour had passed by painfully quickly. Grudgingly, the three of us headed to the Defense room. At least we had the class together. Still, I was sure Snape would be unbearable now that he had gotten what he wanted. I didn't dislike him like some of my classmates did, but I knew from personal experience just how awful he could be.
When we got in the room, I was disappointed to see the only empty chair was the one next to Draco. For some reason, he wasn't sitting beside one of his followers. Not bothering to hide my groan of annoyance, I made my way to the seat, sitting down without even casting him a sideways glance.
Snape was talking about how the Dark Arts were dangerous and ever changing, like a many-headed monster. With a tiny smile, I began thinking about Greek Mythology and the hydra that grew more heads every time you chopped one off. I loved Greek Mythology, it was just cool to learn all these ancient theories on how certain things happened, like the seasons and chaos and hope.
"You will now divide into pairs," Snape was saying. "One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."
Finally, I turned to look at Draco, giving him a devious smirk. "So, would you like to try and jinx first, or should I?"
"You can already do it, can't you?" he asked, glancing at my wand for a moment before returning his gaze to my face.
"Yup. Quite well. So I'll let you go first. I'm guessing you'll need the practice before I hex-- I mean jinx you."
He gave me an icy look before we began. He aimed his wand at me, his eyes narrowed in concentration. With his look, I honestly half expected his jinx to work. But nothing happened. I glanced around while he tried to jinx me in some way. No one else seemed to be getting anywhere either. I watched Hermione with interest, guessing she'd have success before long. Never one to disappoint, Hermione had turned Neville's legs to jelly within ten minutes of trying. Snape, of course, chose to conveniently not notice.
"You're concentrating too hard," I said after awhile, turning back to Draco. "Stop thinking about not speaking, and focus on simply letting the magic flow through your wand and not your mouth. Ha, that sounded dirty."
"You have the brain of a mentally challenged toddler," he muttered.
"Well if you're gonna be so rude, you can stop trying to jinx me and let me show you how it's done," I answered.
"Go for it," he answered waspishly. Was it just me or was he more pissy than usual this year?
I aimed my wand at him, thought about the body-binding curse, and gave a little flick. Instantly, his body froze up and he fell over, unable to stop himself. I smiled triumphantly at his frozen form.
"Excellent, Miss Carson," Snape said as he walked past. "Ten points to Slytherin." There were noises of anger from every Gryffindor who had noticed Hermione accurately do it before me. I shot them all apologetic looks, feeling bad for them. After a few moments, I remembered Draco, so I gave my wand another little flick and he was no longer frozen. He stood up, looking royally pissed at having been bested.
"You told me to go for it," I said to his glare of death. "At least I only went with body-binding. My first thought was to stun you. Come on, keep practicing on me, you'll get it sooner or later."
Before he could, I was aware of Snape and Harry talking, so I turned to face them. Snape was about to show Ron how to properly silently jinx someone, using Harry as his guinea pig. Harry had quickly said "Protego" which caused Snape to stumble into a nearby desk. This commotion is what had caught my attention, along with everyone else's. Snape was scowling as he righted himself.
"Do you remember me telling you that we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," Harry answered.
"Yes, sir," Snape corrected.
"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor," Harry said.
I fought back a laugh at that, my eyes wide. Oh, Snape was going to be so pissed about that one.
"Detention, Saturday night, my office," Snape answered. "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter... Not even 'the Chosen One.'" He sneered lightly.
An automatic retort formed itself on my lips, but I shoved it down. Incensing Snape further was not a good idea. For a second, I thought about something Snape had done long ago to cause me to avoid pushing him too far, but I shoved that memory away. Snape was no longer an angry teen, so such rash actions were no longer a problem to worry about when it came to him.
"Carson," Draco snapped behind me, making me turn back to him.
"Huh? Sorry, guess I drifted off into my own mind there."
"Obviously," he answered, his face twisting into a rude sneer.
"You're bitchy today, Draco. What's the matter, angry about being here at Hogwarts instead of back at home, blowing Voldie's cock while your dad's in jail?"
He slapped me, so harshly and suddenly that I stumbled into a desk. It was probably the only thing that kept me from falling to the floor. The room grew silent, everyone staring at us in shock. Even he seemed surprise by what he'd done, his eyes widened slightly.
Without pausing to consider the consequences, I aimed my wand at him and screamed, "Serpensortia!" A black snake burst forth from my wand, hissing at Draco in warning. As if it could sense my rage directed at Draco, it was rearing, looking ready to bite him at any second. I kept my wand steady, using it to control the snake and keeping it from actually attacking Draco.
"I warned you," I said in a low voice. "I told you if you crossed the line and pissed me off, there would be consequences. I am not a person to mess with, Draco. I have years of experience and a ruthlessness that ensured my ending up in Slytherin house. This is your warning. If you ever touch me again, if you even consider hitting me, I will torture you until even your psychotic aunt will be impressed."
When my snake suddenly disappeared, I looked up, finally remembering that we were in a classroom full of people. Snape was aiming his wand at the spot where my snake had previously been. With one last warning glance at Draco, I pocketed my wand.
"Miss Carson," Snape began, his voice filled with anger.
"I know, I know, detention for almost killing a fellow student." A gave him a bold look, daring him to give Draco detention too. I knew, of course, that he never would. Draco was too precious to get a detention form Snape. "Since I know you won't punish Draco, I took matters into my own hands."
"Detention, Friday night, my office," he continued, acting like I hadn't interrupted him.
I shoved down my anger and annoyance, common sense finally showing up and reminding me not to piss off my teacher too much. "Yes, sir," I answered, my voice still snotty but far less petulant than before.
He gave me a pointed look before turning his gaze to Draco and then back to me. Getting the point, I face Draco, crossing my arms. "I'm sorry i tried to kill you just because you slapped the hell out of my face," I muttered. "And for suggesting that you blow Voldemort's cock." I looked back at Snape. "Happy?"
"Ecstatic," he deadpanned, curling his lip at me.
When the class was finally over, people were still staring at me like I was a dangerous ticking bomb. Or a box of hungry blast-ended skrewts. I shrugged off their stares, not caring enough to let them bother me. Some people, of course, were telling me how brilliant I had been, and how Draco had gotten what he deserved. I couldn't help but agree. Of course, I never really would have let the snake attack him, but freaking him out a bit was a good way to get my point across. I knew my statement had been uncalled for, but smacking me, especially as hard as he did, just crossed so many lines. And, yeah, my emotions were already on edge, so I supposed I had snapped. But really, he had it coming.