star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"I have been teaching each of you for six and seven years," Snape lectured, leaning over his desk and sneering at the four of them. "I have been around for every single one of your infractions. Why you thought I wouldn't know you were up to something when none of you showed up to dinner is beyond me."

"To be honest, we were hoping you wouldn't notice," Arabella blurted out.

"Silence!" Snape roared as Ginny shot her sister an exasperated look in an attempt to let her know this wasn't the time for smart comments. "You four have broken into my office and attempted to steal school property. On top of that, I have a sneaking suspicion that it also you four behind the graffiti that keeps mysteriously appearing in the corridors overnight. I should have you all expelled, but I think spending a night in the Forbidden Forest and losing the privilege to go into Hogsmeade with your peers should teach you a lesson. If I am wrong - that is to say, if I catch you undermining my authority one more time - I will not hesitate to expel you immediately. Do I make myself clear?" The teens remained silent, so Snape repeated his last sentence, which prompted the students to grumble that they understood. "Good. You will receive more details of your detention tomorrow morning. Now get out of my sight and go straight to your dormitories before I change my mind."

Neville, Luna, Arabella, and Ginny began to leave, looking around at each other with confused expressions, wondering if that was really all of the punishment they were going to receive for something so serious. Of course, they were grateful, but they couldn't understand why Snape wasn't handing them off to the Carrows to be punished like he had instructed all of the other teachers to do when a student got in trouble.

Unable to keep herself from doing so, before she could exit the office, Arabella turned around and said, "Might I suggest making your passwords a bit harder to guess?"

"Out!" Snape shouted, and Arabella hurried to leave, following the other three.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ginny questioned Arabella, wondering why she would risk getting a harsher punishment just to make a snarky comment towards Snape.

"Oh, please," Arabella scoffed. "Snape's not going to kill me, or any of us for that matter, nor is he going to allow us to be killed."

"Bella, he's sending us into the Forbidden Forest!" Neville pointed out.

"Exactly! He could've easily thrown us out of this place and allowed the Ministry to decide what happens to us, which probably would've gotten us put in Azkaban. Or he could've assigned us detention in the dungeons like he does with everyone else. But he didn't. The Carrows don't hold detentions in the Forbidden Forest, but do you know who does? Hagrid. This detention isn't going to be a punishment at all. If anything, it's going to be fun. It's strictly performative."

"Fun? In the Forest?"

"I like the Forest," Luna said. "I think it's quite beautiful."

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say that," Arabella said, remembering all too well the detention she had served back in her first year, "but it's a lot better than being tortured by Death Eaters in a cold dungeon."

"So, what? You're saying Snape is protecting us?" Ginny asked.

"Well... I know it sounds mad-"

"More than mad."

.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡.

It was confirmed the next morning that the group of four that had sneaked into the headmaster's office to steal the sword of Gryffindor were to serve detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid that night. Arabella was a bit annoyed that she would have to be awake for most of the night and would then be expected to get up and attend classes the next day, but she kept reminding herself that it was much better than being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse.

Word of their detention spread quickly, and during breakfast, they found themselves being confronted by their friends in Dumbledore's Army, and their Heads of House, asking what had happened and, in Flitwick's and McGonagall's cases, what they were thinking. Everyone's nerves seemed to be calmed once they were informed that the detention would be with Hagrid and not the Carrows. After hearing that, Seamus and Dean were mostly upset about the fact that Arabella could no longer join them in Hogsmeade.

There was one person, though, that was particularly concerned when he heard that Arabella had earned herself a detention, but couldn't simply walk up to her in the Great Hall and ask her about it. So he waited until after breakfast to literally pull her aside, discreetly pulling her from the crowd of students flowing from the Great Hall and around a corner, hiding from view.

"You've gotten detention?" Draco asked her, keeping his voice down.

"Yes," Arabella answered simply, keeping an unreadable expression. "What's it to you?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Don't be like that."

Arabella sighed, letting the hard demeanor fall away. "Sorry. Yeah, I have detention, but it's okay. It's just with Hagrid in the Forest."

"Oh." If this were any other year, hearing that Arabella had to go into the Forbidden Forest would have worried Draco, especially knowing about the other experiences she had had in there, but this wasn't a normal year. "Wait, you broke into Snape's office and all he did was give you detention and it's not even with the Carrows?"

"We didn't break in. I just happened to guess the password correctly the first time and we were let in."

"Of course you did. But why'd you even do it?"

Arabella hesitated. "I can't tell you that." Draco gave her a look. "I'm serious, Draco. We're on opposite sides of this war, you know that. I can't tell you anything, just like you couldn't tell me anything last year and you still can't. In fact, we shouldn't even be speaking to one another, so... I'll see you around."

[word count: 1025]
[written: 2/21/21]
[published: 2/21/21]
i think my hiatus was too long and i've lost my readership :/ if you're still here can you interact pls