Snape's Criminal Daughter

Chapter 18

The shower had left her feeling fresh, renewed. Her hair was still damp, as she had dried it with a towel. She had combed her hair again, taking care in every strand. Setting the hairbrush down, she, once again, glanced at herself in the mirror. She looked normal, the only thing that she saw was different was her torso. It seemed to be... less skinny. It seemed as though the rich food she had eaten had taken a toll on her. She had never had rich food before, the closest thing she had was a strip of meat she had bought on her fifteenth birthday as a treat. It had cost her quite a bit, but it had been worth it. 

Walking back out into the main room, she came to sit at the foot of her bed. Opening her trunk, she picked up the mask that rested on the top. She held it in front of her, gazing at its smooth, gray surface. The ghastly grin and empty eye sockets were enough to make the average person shudder. But to her, it simply made her smile. 

She wished, more than anything, that she was back out on the streets, wreaking havoc, as she did on a daily basis. The skull mask she held now was her signature image, it was the only thing people ever grasped about her appearance. There were a number of times where they reporters claimed she was a twenty-year-old man, with salty blond hair. She had laughed herself silly the whole day, and after showing it to Em, she had laughed too. 

Setting it gently back into the truck, she stood up and strode over to the door. Then suddenly, remembering the looks she had drawn from the students, she pried lose, a set of black robes, with the crest of a snake on the front. What she assumed to be the mark of a Slytherin. Pulling them over her head, she set out from the room, hoping to find something of interest. 

There was a certain kind of pleasure, feeling the robes billowing behind you, she decided. And it was kind of a nice pleasure, one that made you feel as though belong somewhere. Thc corridors were relatively empty. She only met a handful of students, ones that were too deep in conversation with each other to pay attention to her. She liked it better that way. Stopping in the middle of the corridor, she heard voices, and from what it sounded like, there was two of them. Pressing her body against the cool stone wall, she peered around the corner. 

Two boys, both with fiery orange hair, seemed to be arguing over something. Brothers, she thought, no else looked that much alike. 

"Cm'on Fred, I for one, don't find pleasure standing in the middle of the corridor bickering."

"Belive it or not, neither do I, Dissendium. You comin'?" At the word, Dissendium, the stone witch behind them had stepped aside, revealing a small, dusty passageway. Her mouth had dropped open in shock. Secret passageways? This castle kept getting better and better. 

The one called Fred had already climbed through the hole, while the later, had removed a withering piece of parchment from the pocket in his robes. 

" I solemnly swear, I am up to no good." He whispered. Like a spider web, lines appeared on the parchment's surface, crawling across the surface. Even she could see from where she stood, that it was a map of the castle. Little dots crawled across the surface, almost like people. People. It mapped where everyone stood. The realization of it hit her like a hammer. 

She could hear the boy muttering under his breath, any minute now, he would turn his head to find her standing there. 

"Mischief managed." He whispered; the lines on the parchment vanished. Folding it up once more, he hoped through the hole after his brother. Eileen released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Why, she thought, did they, not see her standing, here, she was a mere twenty feet from them, and they should have seen her on their map. 

Pushing the concern from her mind, she crept toward the hunched over, statue of the which. From the outside, it looked normal enough to her, but she knew better.