The New Life created in the Fall

Chapter Two

Why is she here?
I wasn't sure who I was expecting, but a girl from
RavenClaw wasn't my first choice. It took me a moment to recognize her. She is my ex's friend. We never spoke but I heard stories of her and knew of her. I've never had a class with her either since all Slytherin classes are paired up with Gryffindor. The silence was short lived once the barrier of the door opened, leaving for an awkward atmosphere.
What happened next was so fast that I didn't realize it until afterwards. Her fingernails connected to the skin that's around my patch, clawing harshly. I feel a snap on the back of my head as the band is being tugged on, giving way from the pressure.
In my attempt to quickly cover up, she grabs my hand, holding it away from my face. Her quiet taunts were the only thing I could hear.

"Oh my god. No wonder you keep covered. I couldn't imagine walking around with something like that."
She scoffs, a short laugh following.
"What happened to you anyway? That scar is so ugly."
She continues.
"Why are your eyes two different colors? Yikes."
We're the last words she was able to spit towards me before I removed myself from her grip.

I've never been a violent or aggressive person, but something inside me switched. My hands rested on her torso and shoved her as hard as I possibly could. Her back hits the wall opposite my room with a thud, and I could of swore I heard a crack from where her head came in contact with the stone wall.
She glanced at me, tears in her eyes. That's pathetic. She dropped my now broken eye patch before bolting down the hallway and out of the common room. Thankfully nobody heard the commotion, and I was able to pop out and grab the fabric and slip back into my room.
Once again, I find myself in my bathroom, addressing the new wounds on my face. That girl had some talons on her, a few streaks of blood from different parts begin to fall down my cheek. After wiping and cleaning it all up, I grab an eye bandage, since she caused some tearing to my lid, and placed that securely over my eye. The rest were covered by a gauze pad, being big enough that I didn't have to use multiple different pieces.
Once that was done, I pull one of my trunks out from under my bed, rooting around for my sewing kit. Inside I pull out one of my many extra pieces of elastic banding. I always make sure to have this stocked up for times like this. After removing the old band, I sew on the new piece, trying it on to make sure it fits securely.
After putting everything in there places again, I crawl into bed, placing my patch where it was earlier. The clock now says 10:30pm. I sigh and roll onto my side, looking out into the darkened water that surrounds the entirety of the Slytherin house. Her poison filled taunts replay over and over in my head, until finally I fall asleep.

It's finally Monday.
Another beginning of a school week.
It started as usual, wake up, have breakfast, go to classes, and head to lunch.
I ended up skipping out on the middle of the day meal since I wasn't hungry. I decided on hanging out outside since the weather was nice. Under a tree in the courtyard I watched as the students scrambled to get inside before all the food was eaten.
With this available time, I go over my homework assignments that are due today. Transfiguration was an easy three paragraph short about turning a tortoise to a trumpet.
My final class for the day is Potions. Professor Snape is the only teacher who assigns homework almost every day, and this weekend was no different. It was a question sheet, some required long, and detailed answers, while others required a short sentence or even a one word answer. When the bell chimed, letting us know lunch is now over and there are five minutes to get to your next class, I packed up my belongings and headed to Professor McGonagall's classroom.
The door was propped open, and when I rounded the frame, I saw McGonagall speaking with Professor Snape, up by her desk. I waited patiently for a moment before walking to my seat, waiting for an indication that I wasn't interrupting. A moment later I heard my potions teacher say goodbye and turned on his heel to leave. Our eyes meet as he approached. Something I didn't recognize flashed across his face when he saw my bandages, which I forgot about since I'm so used to having something on my eye. He swiftly left the room, heading back down to the basement level for classes.
At this point, I'm in my chair, and the room is starting to fill up. The student who sits at the double desk beside me, never showed today, he must be skipping again.
The bell rang at the hour, and everybody made way for their final class for the day. I waited until the room was almost empty before I left. I slipped in between elbows, and taller students as I made my way to the basement. Yet again, I waited outside until my Professor opened the door. At the beginning of the each year, he'd remind us not to enter until he opened the door due to last minute detention assigning, or tutoring mentions.
At the end of each day, the cold tile always feels good against my back when I lean against the wall of this floor. A minute before the bell rang, the door opened. The girl who came to my room the other night came out, eyes glossed over, and sniffling. When she saw me, she dropped her head, staring at her feet as she walked away.
The door opened again, Professor Snape on the other side holding it open for his students to come in and take their seats. Inside, I sit at the one empty extra table in the back, while everybody else sits besides their friends and other classmates. Professor Snape rounded the room, taking our latest homework assignment from us.

"I'll need a moment of your time, after class."
He said quietly to me when he rounded my table.
"Yes sir."
I answer back, handing the pieces of parchment over to him.

The final hour passes by rather quickly while we were too focused on the cauldrons in front of us. Working on this weeks potion.
When the final bell rang, everybody bolted, and within two minutes, the room was empty. Apart from myself and him. I gather my books, and make my way up front to his desk.

"Your Headmaster has taken into his hands the punishment for Ms. Montgomery's misdeed from the other night. Now, you must be curious as to how I found out about this little information. I was informed by a fellow Slytherin about what happened. He heard the commotion and happened to witness the whole thing from down the hall."
Professor Snape explains.

I had to stop myself from dropping my books, letting my jaw hang open. I don't recall seeing anybody.

"How is it?" Your eye, I mean."
Questions my Professor.
"Oh. Um, it's fine. It doesn't hurt much anymore."
I reply back honestly. The first night became rather uncomfortable since during my dream filled sleep, my eyelids kept fluttering, causing me to wake every so often. The entire next day was a bit better, the swelling went down which helped get rid of most of the pain. It wasn't until today that the pain subsided to nothing but a dull ache.

"Im glad to hear that. But I'm just sorry you had to go through that in the first place. A woman such as you shouldn't have to tolerate any of it."
He said suddenly, looking down at the papers in front of him.
I couldn't help but glance over his face. His lips turned downwards into a frown, while his eyes looked sorrowful. His eyebrows furrowed, creating a small V in between them.
"I meant it you know. What I said the other day about coming to me whenever this occurs."
Said Professor Snape. His head tilting ever so slightly as he turned to look up at me again.

"I will Sir. It was late and didn't think you'd be up."
I lied.
It's a foreign feeling, this. Knowing that there's somebody who's actually wanting to be helpful. Someone who's actually wanting to be there for me. Not even my own father knows of all this. He'd burn the school down if he knew.

"To be quite honest Rin. I don't sleep much these days."
He replies, running a hand through his long hair. I watched as he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and glancing over at me again.

"Professor?"
I said.
"Yes Rin."
Says Professor Snape.
"May I ask, who saw it? What I mean is, I didn't see anybody in the corridor."
I explain, curious to see who was looking out for me.

"That would be Mr. Malfoy."
He said, taking in the confusion and shock on my face.
"Draco."
His name, nothing but a quick whisper under my breath. I should go speak to him, at least thank him for this.