Secrets Only Trouble Knows - George Weasley

34 - I Want to Hold Your Hand

{ A/N: The pic I linked for this chapter is how I'm currently imagining in my head the way George looks while I'm writing & also Oliver is a cutie in it so I'm sharing it with you all lol }

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Later that day, after being kicked out of the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey, showering, and changing into warm clothes, George and I watched the clock count down to our deaths together with dread. When it finally hit 8:45 in the evening, it was time for us to leave the sanctuary of Gryffindor Tower and head to the dungeons for our first of many detentions with Snape.

We departed from the common room where our friends had stayed up with us to wish us good luck and made it to the cold passage underneath the castle that Snape's classroom was located in. We arrived just as our watched hit 9:00. We took a moment to prepare ourselves for Snape's inevitable animosity towards us, then hesitantly knocked on the door. It immediately swung open to reveal our oh-so-joyful professor sitting behind his desk, surrounded by lots of paperwork. With a quick glance at one another, George and I walked in.

"Miss Pierce, Mr. Weasley," Snape greeted us blandly, giving us the tiniest head nod in recognition of our presence. "Take a seat. I'll get you the materials you need for tonight's task."

He gestured to the two-person table located directly in front of his desk, then stood up and disappeared into the dusty supplies closet that resided in the back of his classroom, his black cloak flapping behind him.

The chairs scraped unpleasantly against the floor, disturbing the eerie silence throughout the room, as George and I pulled them out from underneath the table and sat down.

"I hope whatever we have to do won't be anything gross..." I mumbled to George.

"I'm not getting my hopes up," he muttered back.

Finally Snape returned, setting down everything he'd collected on the table before us. I instantly shuddered: he'd retrieved a bag full of big, dead, slimy snakes, multiple glass jars, two pairs of tongs, and two tweezers. I gulped, glancing up with wide eyes at Snape who loomed over me. His thin, pale lips were curled slightly into what could only be his version of an evil, delighted smile.

"I know how much you despise snakes, Miss Pierce, so I figured what better way to teach you a lesson and remind you to behave yourself in the future than having you work with them so closely tonight?" he sneered, looking all too pleased with himself. "With that being said, you and Mr. Weasley are going to spend this glorious evening with me by dissecting different parts of these snakes so they can all be used in a variety of potions. I will need the eyeballs, hearts, fangs, and tongues from every one. Place each in their own separate jars," he said. He turned, about to leave us be, but then halted like he'd remembered something important. "Oh, and no magic will be tolerated. Use the tongs and tweezers only to complete the task. Or, better yet, your hands."

With a taunting jump of his eyebrows, he spun on his heel and retreated behind his desk, taking his seat and returning to his piles of paperwork.

For several moments, I sat frozen in my seat, speechless, unable to do anything but stare with utter disgust and total dread at the bag of dead snakes on the table.

This wasn't the first time I'd had to work with snakes. There'd, unfortunately, been multiple Potions lessons involving them over the years that I'd had to endure, and throughout each one I'd come extremely close to throwing up all over the floor. They were just such vile creatures and the thought of how they slither around gave me the creeps. Just looking at them made all the hair on the back of my neck stand up.