Ten Questions (Harry x Slytherin reader)

Chapter 3

I don't fall asleep.

After approximately five hours and thirty six minutes of tossing and turning and frantically pacing around the Slytherin common room, reading school textbooks, contemplating waking Daphne up, and humming random lullabies to myself, I decide that there is no possible way I can fall asleep tonight.

I shift in my bed and bury my face against the pillow. I feel like screaming. I think about it for a moment before I turn around and face the ceiling, the only sounds comforting me are the sounds of the black lake against the cold glass on the walls.

I settle for a small groan, and the same question I've been wondering for the past five hours wanders into my brain again:

Why can't I fall asleep?

I glance at Daphne and contemplate waking her up for about the one hundredth time that night. She looks beautiful in sleep. Her blonde curls dangling down her neck, her lips curled into a permanent smile- dreaming about Theodore Nott, no doubt. I shake my head, deciding I should probably let her rest as I slip out of bed, careful not to wake up any of the girls in the dormitory as I quietly tip-toe my way out of the girls dormitory and into the Slytherin common room. I half expect to see Malfoy sprawled onto the couches like he usually is whenever I try to sneak out, but tonight, the common room is empty. The only sounds I can hear is the crackling of the fireplace. It feels nice. Peaceful almost, as I walk through the common room, not daring to make any noise. I had never been caught sneaking out and I hoped this time wouldn't be any different.

When I exit the common room, I let out a sigh of relief as I head up the spiral staircase away from the dungeons, wondering where I should go to next. I had always thought the dungeons were depressing, the way there was almost no light and mostly darkness, the way it had an eerie look to it. Even the common room was a bit off-putting with its green lights and lanterns, and the giant squid looming around in the common room from time to time. Most Slytherins didn't seem to mind, and most of the time, I didn't, either. But it was times like these where I wish I had the warm glow of the Gryffindor common room to keep me cozy at night. I wish I was brave enough to sit in the common room alone in the middle of the night, not having to wonder wether someone would jump out from behind the couches and murder me on the spot, which wasn't that unlikely given that Pansy Parkinson shared a dormitory with me.

After about five minutes of wandering around the castle, I'm already on the third floor. I pass by the forbidden corridor, smiling to myself as memories from my first year come flooding back to me. Memories of Blaise, Daphne and I sneaking out of the common room in the middle of the night to see what was inside- only to reveal a large three headed dog had been guarding the doorway. We hadn't visited it since, and we didn't need to, since Harry Potter and his friends had already found out what was inside. Some days, I'd find myself wondering what they had found, if it was anything of importance. It must've been, since Harry Potter was found unconscious the day after. Nobody knew what for, and still, even three years later, nobody knew but Dumbledore and possibly a few other Gryffindors.

As I walk through the castle, I hear the portraits muttering amongst themselves, shaking their heads in disapproval and pointing me out. I don't hear what they say, and quite frankly, I don't care.

It's not until I'm about fifteen minutes in when I hear the sound I had hoped to avoid the most- the sound of footsteps. My heart skips a beat as I quickly turn the opposite way, and I can hear the footsteps quickening as I quicken my pace, going in random directions.