reputation - (h.p.)

1.9 . i must remember my place

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

"MISS LESTRANGE, PLEASE SEE ME now."

       Gaia was sitting next to Hermione at the start of Potions the next day when Snape's drawling voice caught her in the middle of unpacking her books. She stood up with a suppressed sigh and dragged her feet to the professor's desk.

       "Yes sir?" she muttered nonchalantly, the previous day's encounter still fresh in her mind.

       "Don't take that tone with me Lestrange, or I'll write your uncle that you're being disrespectful to a superior." Snape's lips curled ever so slightly as he relished in his control. Gaia's hand became a fist that she squeezed tightly at her side to keep from rolling her eyes in the man's face. Still, she noticed that his words indicated he hadn't already written to Lucius for her outburst the day before. 

       "Yes sir?" she repeated with less attitude.

       "It appears you missed our detention yesterday."

       Gaia's heart stopped. He was right. She had become so caught up in Hermione's distress, her essay, and Adrian and Ben's quarrel that the detention had slipped her mind completely. She didn't want to give Snape the satisfaction he was looking for, but her expression must have betrayed her and revealed her surprise as the smirk grew wider on his face.

       "So I think it'll be six to nine every evening for the rest of the week to make up for your... irresponsibility."

       Gaia's blood boiled, but she knew there was nothing she could do. And of course, it was technically her fault to begin with.

       She muttered a forced, "Yes sir," through gritted teeth and made her way back to her own seat, where Hermione was waiting for her, books and quills neatly arranged around her.

       "What did he want?" she asked as she picked up on her desk partner's dampened mood.

       "I missed my detention with him yesterday so the slimy git gave me three hours a night for the next four days," Gaia answered as she roughly opened her textbook and tore through the pages until she landed on 196, as written on the board.

       Hermione opened her mouth, ready to ask what she had gotten a detention for, when the answer struck her heart like an arrow. Though the thought of Gaia standing up for her made her immensely happy, she suddenly felt guilty for being the cause of her detentions.

       Sensing her guilt, Gaia's mood turned quickly. "Oh, don't worry," she assured, "It's not your fault at all. I'm the one who opened my big mouth."

       Still, Hermione averted her eyes and buried her head into her book, reading over the page in preparation for the class, like she always did. Gaia chuckled to herself and returned to work as well. 

       The period, and the rest of the day, for that matter, passed painfully slowly. Gaia pretended as if she didn't notice Snape's repeated glares in her direction throughout the lesson, even though she didn't open her mouth once. To make matters worse, Potions was immediately followed by Double Herbology with the Slytherins. She loved Professor Sprout, but was dreadfully poor when it came to her class. And Draco and his gang had not gotten rid of their enchanted pins, which they continued to proudly show off on their puffed out chests. 

       And when her classes were finally over, Gaia couldn't even sit down with her friends to enjoy dinner, since Snape had so conveniently scheduled her detention for that time.