Haunted, parts 10-12
Title: Haunted
Team Name: Spy for the Order
Word Count: 3x100
Rating: G
Challenge: Haunted House challenge
Characters: Hermione, Severus
A/N: Post-DH. Previous sets can be found here (1-3), here (4-6) and here (7-9).
He stopped abruptly, as if he’d realised he had already said more than he had intended.
‘In any case, it doesn’t seem to have done much good. By the time I returned, in this form, the battle was long over. My assistance was certainly not needed here any more.’
‘Have you been here all this time?’ asked Hermione curiously. ‘Why did no one know about it?’
‘Not many people come here.’
‘But surely you could have moved to Hogwarts? Why stay here?’
There was that familiar sneer again. ‘Really, Miss Granger. Surely you don't believe I would be welcome there?’
* * *
‘You are a hero, you know. Everyone knows that! Harry made sure of it.’
He drifted towards the window, not looking at Hermione.
‘I know what Potter told people. After I returned, I… spent some time outside the castle. Watching. Listening. Studying. It does not change the fact - and it is a fact, Miss Granger, do not try to argue! - that I was not liked when I was alive. Why should it be any different now?’
‘But-’
‘Do not argue, I said!’
The look on his face, paler now than ever, was feral, making Hermione take an involuntary step back.
* * *
‘Can you honestly say, Miss Granger, that there is even one person in the castle who would want me there? Not as a curiosity item, not so that they may whisper about me, pointing fingers when they think I am not looking, but because they would welcome my company?’
His bitterness should not have surprised Hermione, and yet it did.
‘I do not want to become the next Bloody Baron,’ he continued, his voice so quiet that Hermione had to strain to hear the words. ‘Disliked - hated - by everyone, doomed to spend the eternity facing the reason for his guilt.’
---
On to parts 13-15.
Team Name: Spy for the Order
Word Count: 3x100
Rating: G
Challenge: Haunted House challenge
Characters: Hermione, Severus
A/N: Post-DH. Previous sets can be found here (1-3), here (4-6) and here (7-9).
He stopped abruptly, as if he’d realised he had already said more than he had intended.
‘In any case, it doesn’t seem to have done much good. By the time I returned, in this form, the battle was long over. My assistance was certainly not needed here any more.’
‘Have you been here all this time?’ asked Hermione curiously. ‘Why did no one know about it?’
‘Not many people come here.’
‘But surely you could have moved to Hogwarts? Why stay here?’
There was that familiar sneer again. ‘Really, Miss Granger. Surely you don't believe I would be welcome there?’
* * *
‘You are a hero, you know. Everyone knows that! Harry made sure of it.’
He drifted towards the window, not looking at Hermione.
‘I know what Potter told people. After I returned, I… spent some time outside the castle. Watching. Listening. Studying. It does not change the fact - and it is a fact, Miss Granger, do not try to argue! - that I was not liked when I was alive. Why should it be any different now?’
‘But-’
‘Do not argue, I said!’
The look on his face, paler now than ever, was feral, making Hermione take an involuntary step back.
* * *
‘Can you honestly say, Miss Granger, that there is even one person in the castle who would want me there? Not as a curiosity item, not so that they may whisper about me, pointing fingers when they think I am not looking, but because they would welcome my company?’
His bitterness should not have surprised Hermione, and yet it did.
‘I do not want to become the next Bloody Baron,’ he continued, his voice so quiet that Hermione had to strain to hear the words. ‘Disliked - hated - by everyone, doomed to spend the eternity facing the reason for his guilt.’
---
On to parts 13-15.