Rabidity

Adrienne kept to herself for the rest of the evening. She wanted to know exactly why Snape would do something selfless; An unbreakable vow for someone as careless as a teenage wizard. He had to had a bit of heart hidden somewhere deep inside.

She quite liked the silence. Although she could swear that he read her mind. Whenever her mind seemed to stray he’d remind her to “focus!” She ws dumbfounded that he had resisted her… “charm.” She was always able to get what she wanted due to her unique gifts.

Afluenca was the bit of magic she could perform at the drop of a hat – she always had been able to ever since she was born. She could stare into someone’s eyes and they’d follow her every move and listen to every word, and usually she got what she was looking for – until just now with professor Snape. It irked her that he had seen through her and called her on it. He was one talented wizard.

She grew tired of reading, and now that Snape held her for every subject she realized he couldn’t spend the whole time reading. He was deep into a pile of essays and she began to daydream a way that she could meet the infamous Voldemort. She had no idea how to even find him… let alone convince him of who she was. Tom Riddle after all had murdered Daygona, he knew that she was dead. And since Voldemort had last seen Daygona, Adrienne imagined she must’ve been much older than she – so there were bound to be differences.

“Told you it wouldn’t work.” Snape said.

“What woul- YOU LITTLE BASTARD!”

“Detention, Ms. Knox. For insulting a teacher.”

“You can’t give me detention! I’m not a real student!”

“Under the Ministry of Magics boarding and young wizards law, Albus Dumbledore-“

“-Yeah yeah yeah. So fine “detain” me.”

“Why are you even filling you thoughts with nonsense?”

“Why are you in my thoughts professor?”

“I have no idea, you should probably not be thinking of a teacher that way.”

“You KNOW what I mean.” She swore she saw a smirk spread across his lips, and as soon as it had appeared it was gone. She flipped the book so it was standing on the desk as an attempt to hide herself from her professor.

“She was much older then.”

“Who?”

“Ms. Black. She may have looked exactly like you while in school, but when Voldemort last saw her, she looked very different from you now.”

“How do you mean?”

“The eyes on her frail body were sunken and dark, her hair was frayed and greasy. The things he made her watch, the things he made her do caused her to spiral downwards into nothing. Her face wrinkled, her smile seemed to turn into a permanent frown. I would dare say that if he saw you, he may not recognize you as her.”

“I doubt that.”

“Do you honestly think that you can walk in there and influence the man with your charm? Think you can hide away Harry?” Snape now stood from his desk, their eyes locked as he strode over to her desk and leaned forward, she could feel his breath as he spoke: “Sure he might be distractible… if you happen to be scantily clad before him every night and maybe find a few meaningless enimies. But things for you would get worse, he would want an heir – and he would want no one else but his precious Daygona to give it to him.”

“And if I refuse your advice, and do it anyway?”

“You will not!” he said his fists slamming on the desk. Adrienne startled at first, regained her composure and leaned into the professors space.

“How do you know so much professor? Why did you choose to help that boy… the one everyone suspects to have followed in his own fathers footsteps?” she said referring to the Draco boy she’d seen earlier today. “I can assure you I’ve already guessed but I’d like to hear it from the horses mouth.”

“Then luckily I am not a horse. Now you may go.”

Adrienne slowly gathered her things, and Snape watched her until she was finished, he knew she had something left to say – he was just waiting for her to say it.

“Just avoiding the question makes you seem all the more guilty professor.”
_____________________________________________________

Severus held his head in his hands. With an empty bottle of firewhiskey at his side he thought: These dark days were numbered for him, his sorrow only needed to be drowned temporarily. He half had the mind to demand that Dumbledore release this girl from her studies with him. But Severus somehow didn’t let himself. There were a number of things her liked about her: her cunning wit, her mastery of potions, her secretive abilities, and her mysterious past. He slapped himself for realizing few of those qualities apply to someone who is just a “student.”

He remembered long ago how Daygona looked. He had only seen her once – it was when Voldemort gave him his assignment to become closer to Dumbledore she was there when he gave the order, just months before Voldemort visited the Potter household. Snape had it in his mind that had been the very night Voldemort had killed her. She had been missing for months, and suddenly turning up made everyone curious as to what the Dark Lord would do– they all had suspicions when she never came back from where ever they had gone. He remembered her tired face, it was beaten, dark, and sunken, he didn’t want to see Adrienne become that way.

He realized it would be a shame to ruin the flawless features she had. Her pale skin, her bright blue eyes, her soft skin – Severus literally slapped himself thinking these thoughts. Students didn’t have soft skin or any of the other things he was thinking. His mind played back to the joke he had made about how she shouldn’t think of a teacher like that. Now he was the butt of his own joke.
________________________________________________________

The next day Adrienne felt immense frustration. She had never been treated like a five year old. She was going to do as she pleased and no one would stop her. She had arrived for the next day’s classes and found her professor missing, and another stack of books. Professor Snape knew that she would know what was expected of her. Her frustration grew, but quickly subsided when she saw a small vial and a bit of parchment.

Although I am absent, this is my last attempt to convince you to change your mind. Think about it. These are only a few memories that have stuck with me over the years.
–S. Snape

Deludico potion would give her the insight to what she truly wanted. He had left it for her to prove a point? She had already decided what she wanted to do – she was rather insulted. But she decided to follow the professor’s trail of breadcrumbs. Perhaps he had some point. She tipped the vial to her lips and swallowed the liquid, the nasty taste slithered down her throat and then she felt it.

Her mind folded over, she saw colors and felt flames. But it was all comforting and safe, she could feel the solid wood of the chair underneath her. The potion opened up her mind, and slowly enveloped itself inside. They were flashes of memories, the potion seemed to render her cripple, she could no longer move and she felt herself fall foreward onto the floor, the cold stone felt cool against her cheek. The memories flashed in front of her, she could see Snape, and a man, a dark man, skin that looked like death, eyes that were hollow and nostrils that were only slits.
The muggles she saw were all dead, soaked in blood, wizards and witches had met the same fate. She saw the looks on their faces as he tortured them before killing them. He didn’t just kill he brutally murdered.

She was a strong girl – he wasn’t even afraid of death. But she could now see that she in fact feared Voldemort and the torture he might bestow upon her. She saw that aiding the order by infiltrating Voldemort’s summons did in fact scare her. It would be torture, not simple death – she could only feel pain, not sweet death. Her assumptions were wrong and if she took the chance it would be a long torturous road until she would finally find peace.

The potion actually lasted hours, yet Adrienne only felt like she had been on the floor for several minutes. She only came out of the confining trance because professor Snape had rolled her over. The look on his face was worry.

“It wasn’t supposed to affect you like this.”

“I’m different.” Was all she could say. She still felt paralyzed, she could move little Snape had to hoist her body against the stone wall of the castle so she could stay upright, and slowly she began to feel function of her body return.

His face stayed concerned. “It was meant to show you a few memories, to help convince you not to do it.”

“Yeah, well you win.” She mustered.

“I’m sorry if you experienced any pain –“

“-No I only saw it. But I guess you’re right. It’s not what I thought.”

“I’m so sorry,” was all he said. Adrienne’s breathing was still erratic and her professor sat with her until it became normal once more. He used his wand and muttered a spell under his breath, one that instantly cooled her neck and made it a little easier to breathe. She notice that the black eyes everyone deemed so cold were actually quite warm. His eyes must be a reflection of who he actually was. He was perceived as a dark, cold man, but the light flecks of gold and amber told Adrienne that he perhaps cared for more than he let on in his life.