Atropos → george weasley

vii. a slytherin interrogation

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

seven

a slytherin interrogation

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

As Ottilie lay in agony on the ground, she could hear the common room explode in commotion. She heard a prefect demanding to know what was happening, and several other voices mixed together in an attempt to explain the situation.

She heard the prefect say he was off to fetch Snape and she whined pathetically. Snape getting involved was the worse outcome she could think of. Her hands were over her eye, and she could feel blood dripping into her palm.

Even though it was only a minute or two later, she felt as though she'd been laying there for hours in terrible pain by the time she heard the chatter soften as someone entered the common room.

"What's going on?"

It was Snape's voice. It didn't sound nearly as furious as it had after he'd dragged her out of Knockturn Alley, but there was sincere shock behind his words.

"That Mud—er, that Muggle-born girl dueled Malfoy!"

Ottilie heard Snape's footsteps approaching. They stopped and Snape asked, "Malfoy, is this true?"

Obviously, there was no response from Draco and, despite the awful ache pulsating under Ottilie's fingers, this made her laugh. She promptly groaned at the resulting sharp sting.

"Who cast a Silencing Charm on him?" Snape asked after many seconds of silence.

"She did, sir," said the prefect who'd originally retrieved Snape. "The Muggle-born."

Another wave of murmurs swept the room. Ottilie could almost feel Snape looking at her now.

"Miss van der Hoeven, why are you on the ground? Get up," Snape said. She didn't move and heard his footsteps come closer. Someone took her wrist. She was pulled up into a sitting position, her hand torn away from where it was covering her eye. She gasped at the burning air.

Snape's cold eyes surveyed the damage. She could taste something metallic on her tongue as blood from her nose dripped down her face.

"Who hit you?" There was no trace of solicitude in his tone.

She pointed at her assailant who started to back away when Snape turned to him.

Snape studied the three of them with a fierce look on his face. There was something odd in his eyes, Ottilie noticed—something more nuanced than simple anger.

Silently, Snape pointed his wand at Draco, whose soundless mumbling ended as he muttered the word expelled. He stopped talking, realizing his voice was back.

Snape stared down at Draco first, and then the boy who'd punched her. When he looked at Ottilie, she shrunk back. There was an odd intense light in his eyes only when it was her. It reminded her of the way he'd looked after finding her in Knockturn Alley.

"Five points from Slytherin." His gaze swept across the three of them. "Each."

Groans echoed throughout the room. 

"Get up, Malfoy, van der Hoeven. Follow me," Snape said. "You as well, Crabbe."

The boy who'd punched her grumbled indignantly as he shuffled after Snape. Draco had thrown up his hands in protest. Ottilie, knowing she deserved this, only groaned in pain as she got to her feet and then wobbled a bit. Her vision dimmed for a moment.