November Snow

s i x

"Oh my God, November!"

A friend of mine from Gryffindor, Parker, literally threw herself at me the moment she saw me walking into the Transfiguration classroom, earning disgusted glares from some Slytherins. My Gryffindor friends walked up to me, putting a hand on my shoulders, patting my back or pulling me into a hug, asking if I was okay. Professor McGonagall asked the same thing, to which I told them all I felt perfectly fine.

"That was the exact same thing Juliette said yesterday." I patted her on the back.

"Yesterday?" She asked "And you didn't come for us?"

"We were told to get back to the dormitories, remember?" I told her.

"Now, students, settle down." Professor McGonagall said.

And the lesson began.

••••• (Time skip brought to you by bored me in Divination)

I didn't have lunch. I didn't have the appetite for lunch, knowing that someone was taken away by the Basilisk. I couldn't find Harry all morning, Ron was being weird, Hermione, well, she was still petrified, and the rest of the students were useless. No offense but it was true, they didn't have a clue of what was going on.

So, instead of staying in the Great Hall to catch up with whatever I had missed during my coma, I took a walk around the school. I avoided being around Hufflepuffs as much as I could, though they were pretty much everywhere in the school. I was glad I didn't have classes with them, it would be worse than stuck in one room with Malfoy or Parkinson.

Speaking of the devil, I turned at a corner and met Malfoy and his friends walking to the Great Hall for sandwiches for lunch. Half of me wanted to turned around and walked away, and the other half just yelled at me to walk past them casually. I listened to the other half, though I knew I wouldn't be able to walk by without them saying something, trying to get under my skin.

"Going somewhere, blood traitor?" Parkinson said.

She was always the one starting the fight and I was always the one not backing down from a fight. We would made the great couple of the century if we were different in sexuality.

"That's all you've got, Parkinson?" I snickered "I swear, the problem is you lacking the power of conversation, not the power of speech."

"I'd slap you." She sneered "But I don't want to get slut on my hand."

"Why not?" I said "You already have it all over your outfit."

"You..." She looked like the ugly version of Hogwarts Express with steam blowing out of her ears "At least I'm not in the hit list!"

"Sorry, I'm busy. Can I ignore you later?"

While she was speechless, I waved and walked right through the middle of the group, making my way down the corridor. But what Parkinson said had me thinking. Why didn't I die?

That question kept troubling me as I wandered around aimlessly, and when I noticed where I was, I was already in front of Snape's office. Hesitantly, I knocked three times, and the door opened to reveal the Potion Professor sitting behind his desk, reading his books. He looked up and nodded at me, motioning to the chair in front of him. I closed the door and walked to the seat, then I sat down.

"What is it, November?" He asked, closing his book.

"Why didn't I die?" It just came out of my mouth, and he froze as I continued "The Basilisk. I was supposed to be dead, I looked at it straight in the eyes, yet I was in a coma for more than a month and that's all? Myrtle died because of the same thing, but why didn't I? Don't you think it's strange, Severus?"

"I can't give you the answer." He said "There are things even Dumbledore doesn't know, let alone me."

"It's just... I felt strange. Hermione and many students were petrified, and I'm here, totally fine." I looked down to my hands "I don't know who or what I am."

"You are a wizard, a talented young one." He continued "Don't bother yourself too much, and if I recall correctly, you have my class next and you shouldn't be late."

"Of course, at least not for Potions."

That night, I didn't even bother eating dinner. I knew it would do me no good skipping two meals in a row, but I really didn't have the appetite. I wanted to go somewhere, but apparently there was no where to go. So after debating with myself, I went to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was in the Great Hall, so there were only her and the petrified students. I sat down by Hermione.

"So you're here?"

Fred and George went in and approached me, their big hands placed on my shoulders. I didn't look up, but I knew it was them.

"You know, we have new pranks if you're still up for using it on Malfoy." George said.

"Believe me, I'd love to, but not now." I chuckled "It's a little chaotic these days."

We talked for a while about pranks they had pulled on other students, and I could see their effort in making me forget about the resent events though it didn't help much. Later, I left them behind with Hermione and went looking for Professor Dumbledore. I reckoned that he must know something Snape didn't.

"Sherbet lemon." Thank God Harry spilled me the password.

I stood outside of his office, not knowing whether to knock or not. Then, I heard him talking to someone. Snape.

"She's already begun to question herself, Headmaster." Snape said "I'm afraid the secret is getting harder to keep hidden."

"She's a smart girl, Severus." The Headmaster said "She will eventually find out. But until then, we must keep her in the dark. If her father knows, she will be in great danger."

"He already knows she exists." Snape said.

"That is one thing. If she knows, the battle will begin." Professor Dumbledore said "But now we have a bigger problem, as Ginny Weasley is taken by the monster."

I didn't want to hear anymore of that. Quickly, I ran down the flight of stairs and stood at the corner, catching my breath, my heart bumping against my chest.

So, the fact that I survived wasn't a miracle, it was because I was related to someone. And it would be dangerous if I knew who I was related to. Not to mention my friend, Ginny Weasley, was taken by that Basilisk.

What was I getting tangled in?

I turned at the corner only to bump into Ron, which made us both stumble back a bit and look irritated until we noticed who we just bumped into. I looked over his shoulder to see Lockhart and Harry, with Harry pointing his wand at Lockhart.

"Good evening, Miss Avery." Lockhart said.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Apparently he is a fraud." Ron said "And we're going to the Chamber of Secrets."

"You know where it is?"

"We're going to ask Myrtle." Harry said "You should come with us. We can use a little help."

I thought for a second.

"Sure, let's go."