Snake in the Grass

The next morning I woke up confused. Where was I? I tried to recall how last night played out; I was in a strange room, talking with Sev and fell asleep on him. I raise my head and see him asleep in a sitting position. I smile. He looks so, so....at peace. I don’t know what I’m going to do about my crush but I’ll do my best to get over it. I know this won't work out and I can't hurt Lily in the process.
I look for my bag and pull out a slip of parchment and quill. Trying not to wake Sev, I write a note telling him I’ve returned to the Slytherin Commons to shower and change for breakfast. I also add that I didn’t have the heart to wake him because he looked so peaceful and relaxed. I place the note next to him and leave. As I reach the door I turn around and look at him, my heart yearning for someone I will never have.
I reach the common room without incident. It is still quiet since there is about an hour before breakfast is served. I go to my room and have a nice hot shower and get changed into clean clothes. Today I need to go and apologise to Professor Flitwick and Professor Edmunds for missing their classes yesterday. Then I'll go and see if Professor Slughorn has talked to Dumbledore about dropping my classes and taking the role of an assistant. I walk down to the common room and through the stone wall down to the potions classroom. I knock on the door and wait for a reply. After a few minutes the door opens to reveal Professor Slughorn.
“Good morning Professor,” I say, greeting him.
“Ah, Miss Lewis. I suspect you’re here about your classes?” He asks.
“Indeed Professor. Good news I hope?” I query.
“Yes. As of today, you will be assisting me in my potions classes and will be having your own room near the teachers quarters if you desire,” He replied smiling.
“Wonderful Professor, but I would like to stay in my dorm for the time being if that is alright?” Only imagine what more the Marauders would do to me if they knew I had my own private room next to the professors.
“It is perfectly fine Miss Lewis. I hope to see you here after breakfast for my 6th year potions class?”
“See you then Professor,” I say before I turn around and walk to the great hall grinning like a Cheshire cat.

I reach the great hall and sit down at the Slytherin table. I fill my plate with food and dig in. Finished, I look up to see Sev sitting across from me.
“Morning,” I say to him and also filling my mouth with a piece of toast.
“Morning Ava,” He smiles.
“I would have woken you this morning but you looked so relaxed and happy,” I say blushing, talking in a whisper so no one can hear.
“It’s alright. I was worried when I woke up and you weren’t there. Then I found the note,” He shook his head and laughed.
“Yeah, I had to do a few things. What do you have first?” I ask, wondering if Sev will be in Slughorn's class.
“Potions,” He replies.
“Brilliant,” I smile.
He looks at me quizzically, raising an eyebrow as if to ask why.
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Oh will I?”
“Uh huh,” I nod getting up before I walk out of the Great hall and down to the potions classroom to wait for Slughorn.

About 10 minutes later Slughorn arrives and gives me a rundown of the lesson. The 6th years are doing a swelling solution and I will be marking papers. I go and sit at Slughorns desk and pull the pile of papers towards me. I grab and ink well and a quill and get to work. 10 minutes after I start the class arrives. I look up as they walk in, a bunch of older kids, mostly whom I've never seen before. I recognize a few fellow Slytherins but other than that they are all strangers. I smile when Sev and Lily see me and then laugh at the expression on their faces. They looked confused of why I am sitting behind the Professors desk. I shake my head and resume the marking. About half an hour later I finish the marking and stand up and walk over to Slughorn and notify him that I’ve finished. Walking past a table, someone trips me. I look up and see that it is one of the Marauders, the one with the shaggy hair and glasses. I roll my eyes and stand up, brushing dust off my robes. I turn around and start to walk over to where Lily is when I feel something thrown on me and burn through the back of my robes. I claw at my robes, trying to get them off but I can’t. As seconds pass, the burning rises to a blinding pain. I scream in agony and look for Professor Slughorn. He is standing by the door, frozen in shock. I scream again, wanting the pain to go away. The next thing I know, two sets of hands grab my arms and pull me into the corridor. Once the door closes behind us, I hear the ripping of cloth and my robes fall to the ground.
“Shit,” A male voice says.
“Oh no. What do we do?” Another voice says. Female.
“You run and get the healer. I’ll rub this on her back and see if it helps,” The male voice says.
“Ok Sev. Be back as fast as I can,” The female says, running off.
I let out another scream of pain.
“Shhh Ava. Lily will be back soon. You will be alright. I’ll just put a bit of this salve onto your back okay?”
I screamed again, tears running down my face. I could feel Sev rubbing something onto my back. The pain started to ease.
“I’m gonna kill them for what they did to you,” He growled, rubbing more of the salve onto my back.
“Sev...” I groaned through the pain.
“Yeah?” He replied.
“Thank you,” I whispered before darkness took me and I slumped to the floor.