Shadows || A Severus Snape Fanfiction

Chapter 17 - To Trust, Or Not To Trust

The late afternoon sun was low on the horizon and a light autumn mist was swirling over the Hogwarts grounds. Having just finished an exhilarating training session with Cedric, Asha was in no mood to return to the Hufflepuff common room to have Alisha and Maive start lecturing her about the homework she needed to do. Instead, she was strolling through the dewy grass, feeling the crisp, icy air on her cheeks. She could've cast a warming charm, but she liked the sharp feeling of the cold; what was it to be human if not to feel?

She was in the mood for a change of scenery and headed around the side of the castle towards the Quidditch pitch, rather than to the Black Lake and Forbidden Forest.

Asha wasn't a huge fan of Quidditch, but she loved flying. She and Cole had always dreamt of being able to fly. Her first time on a broom was a mixture of absolute joy and heart-wrenching grief for what her brother never got to experience. She didn't own her own broom, but every now and then she would break into the school broom cupboard and borrow a Cleansweep. With the aid of a disillusionment charm, she could swerve between the castle towers and zoom across the lake, dragging her fingertips through the water.

No teams were practising this afternoon and the pitch was deserted. Asha weaved beneath the stands, trying to avoid thinking about how much Cole would've loved Quidditch. Suddenly she heard a shout of laughter, followed by a chorus of 'Ssshhhh!' and 'Shut up, Hamish!'.

There was a distinct smell of smoke wafting between the wooden framing beneath the stands. Asha cast a silencing spell on her shoes and followed the noise around the curve of the stands.

Standing around a waist-high, horizontal support beam was a group of boys Asha immediately recognised.

"Oi!" one of them yelled, having spotted her. The other four spun around.

"Who are you?" demanded a tall, black-hair boy at the front of the pack.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" snarled another. Asha watched in amusement as they all fumbled for their wands. She raised her arms in surrender.

"Woah, chill out," she said, taking a few steps closer, curious to see what they were doing. They pointed their wands threateningly, though none of them fired.

"Stay back! I'm warning you," barked the first boy.

"Calm down," Asha laughed, "I'm not a snitch - no pun intended. You guys are Cedric's friends, right? Is one of you Brad?"

The boys looked at each other, uncertain, then slowly lowered their wands.

"I'm Brad," said the black-hair boy warily, "How do you know Cedric?"

"Family friend," she lied, taking the opportunity to move close enough to see what the group were clearly trying to hide. Asha grinned in amusement at what she saw. "Is that weed? How did you manage to get that into the castle?"

Sitting on the wooden beam was a small tin containing ground cannabis, rolling papers, and a few filters. Next to it was a crumpled, failed attempt at a joint. The beam was speckled with scorch marks.

"I got my Muggle cousin to send it to me by owl. He's got business selling them at his school and asked if I wanted to distribute at Hogwarts. I said I would need to sample it before I agreed to anything," said Brad. Realising Asha wasn't a threat, the other boys had relaxed and put away their wands.

"Move over," Asha smirked. She grabbed a fresh piece of paper out of the tin, creased it, placed a filter at the end and filled the joint. She deftly pinched the paper together and rolled it before licking the top edge and sealing the roll. Without thinking, she poked the aglet of her hoodie drawstring into the open end of the roll before twisting the tip shut. She held the joint between her fingers, lit it with her wand, and passed it to Brad. The five boys were all looking half impressed, half embarrassed.