A Snake's Crutch Book 1

Part 25: They Never Learn

Y/N sat straight up in bed, waking to all her friends surrounding her four-poster, looks of concern on their faces. She was shimmering with sweat and the voice of that creature kept bouncing around her head. 

"Y/N, are you okay?" Daphne asked. 

"You were yelling." Lillith spoke, looking frightened. 

Suddenly, Pansy burst into the room dragging Charity Nightenger, the Slytherin Head Girl, behind her. Not far behind them were the boys, about to run into the girls dormitory, wondering what the fuss was about. Sarah ran and slammed the door in their faces.

"Pansy. Pansy! Let go!" Charity took her arm away from Pansy, giving her a look that said 'never do that again.' "Everyone calm down. It was just a nightmare, wasn't it y/n?"

Y/N nodded quickly, still trying to shake that awful voice out of her ears, only half listening. 

"See? Everything is fine. Now all of you need to get dressed and get to breakfast. Hurry!" Charity left the room a bit annoyed, probably hangry, and headed towards the great hall with some older Slytherins. 

Everyone sat there for a moment watching y/n. Once the voice was gone, she got up first and started getting dresses, bringing the rest to reluctantly follow suit. When everyone was dressed, the girls followed y/n out of their dormitory into the common room. The boys, eagerly waiting for them, jumped up from their plush armchairs to join the girls. All the way to the Great Hall, everyone watched y/n, as if worried she might start yelling again. Even the boys whom Pansy promptly told everything. 

After a few minutes of eating in watched silence, y/n stood up abruptly.

"I'm going for a walk." When some of the girls stood up to join her, y/n added, "Alone."

Leaving the Great Hall, y/n could feel the stares of her friends trailing behind her, and let out a relieved sigh when she was out of view. When y/n reached the open air, she found a light rain falling to the earth. She took a deep breath and just stood there, ignoring all the noisy thoughts buzzing in her head. After a few minutes, y/n found a tree to sit under and began ignoring the world again. That is, until somebody interrupted her. 

"What are you doing outside on a day like this?" Professor Snape was standing over her, his brow raised. 

"I...I just needed some fresh air. I didn't sleep well," y/n said, looking at her hands, nervous for some reason. 

"Why is that?"

Y/N was really hoping Snape wouldn't ask. "I had a nightmare...I...I was in the Forbidden Forest and I ran into someone drinking a unicorn's blood. When they saw me, they stood up straight and removed their hood. It was Professor Quirrell. He said something I couldn't hear, then turned around and took off his turban. There...there was a face. It told me to help it live again." A shiver ran down y/n's spine that she knew wasn't from the rain. 

Snape's eyes narrowed and he turned to stare back at the castle for a moment as if he could see Quirrell through the thick brick walls of the school. "I don't think I need to remind you that the Dark Forest is forbidden to students." When y/n nodded, Snape's feature softened a bit. "I'm sure the dream was nothing. But if you are truly worried, I can take you to see Professor Trelawney. She teaches divination and I'm sure she would be pleased to interpret your dream for you." The tone in Snape's voice made it sound like he didn't much like this teacher. 

After a moment of thinking, y/n decided that Professor Snape was right. It was nothing. And the dream couldn't come true as long as she didn't go into the forbidden forest. 

"No thank you Professor. It's nothing," y/n said, standing up. The rain had stopped and the sun had made an appearance over the castle, making everything look more cheerful.