Don't Save Me

Chapter 48: Daily Prophet

The morning passed in a blur of stares and whispers. Severus was by my side through it all, sending glares to anyone who dared to even look at me for two long. When lunchtime finally arrived, a pit grew in my stomach as I knew I would have to face the Great Hall and my friends. I walked through the doors to the Great Hall and Severus instantly stood up from the Slytherin table, making his way toward me, but stopped when he saw James Potter doing the same thing. The two boys stood several feet away from me, glaring at each other.

"Y/n?" Severus asked, softly.

"Y/n?" James asked, as his eyes flicked to mine before glaring at Severus again. James started to slowly move toward me but I backed away and he paused. I could feel several pairs of eyes on me as the two boys waited for me to join them, to make a decision. I looked toward the Slytherin table, seeing Regulus and Rodolphus looking at me, their eyes wide as they held a copy of the Daily Prophet, though there was no pity in them. I looked toward the Gryffindor table, noticing how my friends also held a copy of the Daily Prophet. Lily had tears in her eyes, as did Remus and Sirius, though theirs were less noticeable. They looked up at me and I could see the pity in their eyes as they looked at me, watching the interaction. I wanted to run. I wanted to run away and never look back. I wanted to never see the looks of pity in their eyes again. I looked toward Severus and he eyed me, curiously, trying to determine what was going through my head. I turned toward James and a smile spread across his face as he began to walk toward me, but abruptly stopped when I turned and walked toward Severus. He placed his hand on my back, guiding me toward the Slytherin table as we took a seat across from Regulus and Rodolphus. I could see my uncle spitting at the camera from the Daily Prophet in their hands.

Regulus followed my eyes and noticed where I was looking. He instantly took out his wand, placed the Daily Prophet on the table, and muttered "Incendio." Flames shot from his wand and engulfed the Daily Prophet. Cheers could be heard from the Slytherin table as the parchment disintegrated and my uncle's face melted away.

"Thanks, Reggie," I said, laughing as I watched my uncle's face turn to dust.

"Anytime, love. If you ever want me to pay a visit to Azkaban to do that in person, let me know," he replied, cracking his knuckles.

"I'll keep that in mind," I laughed. "Though I think the dementors will do a pretty good job of keeping him in line." I smirked as I thought of my uncle spending the rest of his days surrounded by soul-sucking dementors and criminals.

"My my... I'm beginning to see why the hat took so long to sort you," Rodolphus said, laughing. "You're becoming a real Slytherin." I smirked at his words, grabbing a sandwich from the middle of the table and placing it on my plate.

"Yeah?" I reply, taking a bite. He nods and at that moment an owl swoops into the Great Hall and drops a letter into my hands. The matte black envelope with green detailing is instantly recognizable as Malfoy stationary. I didn't know whether to be happy or nervous that they had sent me a letter. Had they seen the Daily Prophet? What would they think? Why was this envelope thicker than letters they had sent in the past?  Severus placed his hand on my back, sensing my hesitation. I looked up at him and his eyes searched mine.

"Are you alright, Y/n?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... Everyone's probably seen the Daily Prophet and... I don't know, I guess I'm kind of nervous about what they have to say."

"They care a lot about you, Y/n... and even if they didn't... What happened to you was not your fault. No one should be saying anything bad anyway," he hissed, looking up and glaring in the direction of a few Ravenclaws who he caught whispering about me earlier.

"He's right, Y/n. If anything, It's kinda badass," Rodolphus said. "How the hell you managed to survive the Cruciatus curse every day without going insane... it's pretty awesome." I laughed and looked away.