Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

Midnight Ghosts Are Out

Lucinda made sure she didn't move a muscle. She didn't want to startle the girls (obviously), but honestly, she was too curious to ignore what they were saying. She hadn't witnessed the two of them interacting, save for the very brief moment outside Gryffindor Tower the night Tristin asked her to be his girlfriend. They were always looking for one another, it seemed...

"You're always telling me to stay out of trouble and then you go and do something like this?" One of the girls was saying (and although the girls' voices were nearly identical, there were some very distinguishing factors and it was easy for Lucinda to determine who was speaking).

"This was a very different situation." Nicalia replied calmly.

"How?" Amph audibly scoffed. "You scold me for leaving at all hours of the night and interfering in the lives of others, yet you were doing just that—"

"I absolutely was not," the other replied toneless. "I was doing just the opposite, in fact."

"Seeking their council and prophecies is not interfering?"

"Of course it isn't," Nica scoffed in turn, yet when she did it, there was slight condescension in her voice. "All I did was confirm what we already know, which is nothing that's going on has anything to do with us."

"But something is happening?" Amphetia pressed.

Her sister was silent then for a moment. "We must not interfere," she finally said quietly, but there was still a small part of her voice that sounded unsure of her words. Lucinda heard the inflection and held her breath, trying desperately to listen to anything the girls might give away about their cousin, for that is the only thing she could think that they'd be discussing.

"Nica, we are not part of their herd!" The other girl suddenly hissed in fury. "Stop this! Stop pretending!"

"Just because you have been domesticated, doesn't mean I have or ever will."

If there had been any sleep left in Lucinda's eyes, it now left her. She clung to the cushion beneath her, trying to steady her shaking hands. What was this about a herd? A... A herd?

"If you took the time to go see them, tell me what they said." Amph demanded in a whisper.

"I will not. You can't be trusted."

"I am your sister!" She exclaimed, bewildered. "You act as if you don't care about me!"

"On the contrary, sister," Nicalia said coolly. "It is because I care so deeply for you and my family that I will not disclose a word of their prophecies to you."

"Why?"

"Because you wouldn't be able to help yourself." Nica said in matter-of-fact tones.

Amph didn't reply right away. Lucinda didn't know if it was because she agreed or because she was so appalled at her sister's resistance and blatant honesty. "How can you call yourself a Gryffindor?" She finally asked and Lucinda was surprised to hear hurt in her voice. "You're a coward—"

"I don't call myself a Gryffindor," Nica said in a low and slow voice that shook slightly. "It is this school and the people in it that have labeled me as such. I had no say in the matter."

"Of course you did. You could have chosen to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, for that matter, since you seem to fit right in with Tristin."

Nicalia was silent after that for so long that Lucinda couldn't help but move her head slightly to look over at them better. The two girls stood staring at each other, but Nica had her back to the couch that Lucinda was on. Eventually she spoke, and when she did, her voice came out choked and bitter. "You were sorted first," she said, pointing a finger at her sister. "I would have chosen any House that you were in. To think it had anything to do with my ambitions or personality would be foolish. I am your sister. That is all. And that is all I have to say tonight—" (Then she suddenly turned and walked away from Amphetia) "—I'm going to bed."