Obsidian & Bronze {Fred Weasley}

41. Melting the ice monster

My nimble fingers were cold, my body felt drained of all being, as though no life was coursing through my veins, or at least it didn't want to.

I raised my shaking fist, the deep purple and blue veins had raised along the surface of my hand and wrist, lifting it to the door and knocking harshly before I lost any of the nerve I had spent the past thirteen minutes mustering up.

"Come in" His voice drawled deeply, spilling beneath the crack in the door and out into the empty corridor in which I stood, echoing gently off the walls despite its volume.

I waited a moment, clutching the parchment in my free hand, using the other to turn the knob of the door and let myself inside.

Snape sat at his desk, his usual sinister and deathly expression. Eyebrows drawn tight, lips pursed, eyes dark and heavy and they weighed down his features. His shoulders were hunched over as he almost sunk into himself, an out of character disposition, as he scribbled onto pieces of parchment, dragging the completed ones across his desk and into the pile that stood beside him, before repeating the action again.

I didn't speak as he lifted his head to acknowledge my entrance, just paced towards his desk at an alarming speed, stopping just millimetres before the tops of my thighs came into contact with the edge, and slammed down my parchment in front of him, disrupting his flow of work.

"I got 100%" I stated, barely able to hear myself over the pounding in my chest that was violently travelling through my body, my voice wavering slightly as I fought to hold my composure.

Snape stopped his movements, albeit not of his own accord as my paper was now blocking his previous work, and lifted his head slowly to meet my eye and inhaled deeply, as though my presence was already paining him, which likely it was.

"I'm so awfully glad you are able to read Miss Black, will that be all?" Snape mocked with a tired sigh, pushing the letter I had brought out of his eye-line as he resumed his work.

"I got 100%" I repeated, the anger within me rising rapidly, mounting in every crevice of my chest, spilling through every cavity, heating my blood as it coursed through me. Retrieving my letter, I once again slammed it down in front of him, "Hermione got 97%. I got 3% more than her"

Snape sighed defeatedly, placing down his pen and looking up at me once again, the reminiscence of a sickly grin pulling at his thin, dry lips. "Literacy and numeracy skills, I'm impressed Miss Black"

"I spoke to every other candidate, not only did you not let any other sixth years in, but Hermione and I got the two highest scores, but you rejected me, why?" I huffed, feeling suddenly like a grumpy toddler and quickly gathered up any lasting composure.

"Life isn't always fair Miss Black" Snape scoffed, pulling up his sleeves that had draped slightly over his hands to conceal the base of each of his fingers.

"I'm not here to debate the equity of life Sir, because believe me I am well aware of the injustice, but I want to know why you rejected me, it clearly wasn't my grades" I sighed, resting my palms on the edge of the mahogany wooden desk, my legs suddenly overwhelmed and weak.

"Miss Granger is an exceptional student, one I can tolerate, if anything quite like, she was given the spot because she would benefit from it, she is aware of her excellence although there is room for her to grow. You, Miss Black, are different" Snape's tone was sincere and slow, filtering his words carefully as he spoke.

"How so?" I queried, folding my arms across my chest and lifting my chin, as though, somehow, that exerted power.

"You are not aware of your excellence like Miss Granger, you are just as exceptional, if not more so, yet you refuse to acknowledge your own success when it comes down to it, this makes you a humble character, but also encourages great weakness on your part" Snape admitted, pausing for a moment, choosing his next few words very carefully, "You would not benefit from my advanced class Miss Black, because I have nothing left to teach you"