Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

Paying the Price

"Oh, god..." complained Aurora, over breakfast in the Great Hall.

"What?" asked Lucinda.

"The first day lessons start and I've got double Potions after lunch! I swear..."

Lucinda looked at her own schedule, as she shoveled eggs on top of her toast. She had double Potions too. Great, thought Lucinda. The one teacher that hates me and I've got to deal with him for nearly two hours!

There weren't many students in the Great Hall when they first arrived, but now more continued to file in (they all looked alert and ready to start lessons and Lucinda only wished she felt the same). Gabe and Clover showed up at the Gryffindor table after breakfast was practically over.

"Where have you two been?" Aurora questioned when they sat down.

"Overslept," Clover mumbled through a bite of bacon.

"Kept me up half the night, talking, actually..." Gabe said, rubbing his face.

"Oh, whatever, Gabby. You were talking just as much as I was..."

"Yes, but not as enthusiastically," he said bluntly. "So," he continued. "Double Potions, first thing after lunch." He was looking at his own schedule now.

"Yeah..." Lucinda said, reluctantly.

"Well," said Aurora, reassuringly. "At least you're good at Potions. If Snape is a complete asshole, you can always rely on your talents in his class."

Lucinda sighed miserably. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy.

x-x-x

When Lucinda, Aurora, Clover, and Gabe all came out of Transfiguration, right before lunch, they headed straight for the Library. They walked side-by-side down the stone halls, each of them looking like something important, when, in reality, they were mere students in their final year at Hogwarts. Lucinda was on the very right of the lot, striding beside Aurora, who was beside Clover, and Gabe was after that. Having Clover and Aurora in the same place at once caused many heads to turn. No one in the whole school had faces like them. So much beauty was blinding...

"Why are we coming here, again?" Aurora asked as they reached the Library doors.

"Because," said Clover. "I need to look something up."

"Since when do you read?"

"I read!" Clover answered, looking shocked.

Gabe rolled his eyes as they each took a seat at the table, near a large window.

"He's here, because Professor McGonagall told him to come," he said and Clovers cheeks went slightly rosier. "She said he needed to study up on his Transfiguration, since he clearly didn't during the summer."

Clover shrugged and said, "Oh, well. I was busy with other things over the sum- That book is monstrous!"

Gabe had laid a very, large, leather-bound book on the table. It said "Tips to Terrific Transfiguration" on the cover. He patted Clover's cheek and said quietly, "Start reading."

Lucinda walked to the big, glass window to the right of their table. Some students were walking on the grounds, enjoying the nice weather and what was left of summer. Lucinda didn't want to be in the Library. She wanted to go down to the Great Hall and have lunch. Her stomach was growling (probably, because she hadn't eaten much of anything for breakfast) and her hands were shaking slightly. It wasn't anything too serious, but it could develop into an unfortunate situation.