dear draco,

twenty-six

"Right there!"

Alecto pushes my back, so hard that I stumble forwards. I use Snape's desk to steady myself. "Yeah, well-"

"She was right there under your nose, Severus," interrupts Alecto, pointing at Snape's door. "And she would have gotten away with it, the sneaky little thing, were it not for Longbottom-"

"Longbottom does have a tendency of saving the day recently," says Snape sarcastically; his tone so impassive that it almost seems he already knew of my involvement.

"I'm right here," mutters Neville beside me.

"That's right, and the little brat was trying to show off about it all too, when he accidently slipped in Young here's name-"

"Right," says Snape, not even glancing at Alecto.

"Anyway, in terms of punishment, I really don't think expulsion is the best option, because they'd probably love to be expelled, and with the new decrees-"

"Not to mention you would lose your favourite students," I say, smiling sweetly at Alecto.

"And your finest source of entertainment," adds Neville.

Alecto glares at us. "This, Severus," she says, "is only a taste of the audacity these two show me in class. The Cruciatus curse might straighten them up a bit-"

"I thank you for your wholesome advice, Alecto," says Snape, his every word dripping with sarcasm. I almost laugh before I remember I hate him. "But this incident is entirely between the culprits and so, I will decide on their punishment. You may leave."

Alecto stares at Snape open-mouthed, making a noise that sounds as if she just choked on her own spit. "But I'll do it," she says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Let me take them off your hands, less work for you-"

"No," says Snape impatiently. "Young will join Hagrid and the other three in the forest tonight."

"What kind of punishment is that?" says Alecto. "Severus, they're friends with Hagrid, didn't you know? Anyway, four is too many. That's practically a party."

"Fine," says Snape. I narrow my eyes at him, wondering why he won't just let Alecto organise a detention for me. "I'll have Filch organize something for the girl. I'm sure there's plenty of cleaning to be done. Now leave."

"Fine," snarls Alecto. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "So they can just run along, and barely even be punished for breaking in, for lying, for giving cheek to a teacher. Next time, I'll think twice before bringing them to you!"

With a final furious glare at Neville and I, Alecto stomps out of the office, slamming the door behind her. Snape sighs and start to write something on a piece of parchment. "You'll have detention with Filch for an hour at eight tonight," he says, shoving the parchment towards me. "Now leave, and take Longbottom with you."

-

When I get to Filch's office later, he is possibly in an even worse mood than usual. His office smells old and dusty. "Sit there," he grumbles, pointing at a worn-out looking desk in the corner. "You're going to organise some detention slips. From irritating trouble-makers like you."

The wooden chair is uncomfortable and squeaks loudly as I sit into it. Filch glares at me as if the noise was my fault.

There's a window in the other corner of the office, near Filch. It's nearly dark; the sky has become a deep navy; but I can just make out silhouettes of trees scattered across the grounds, and a line of darkness where the beginning of the forbidden forest meets them. I turn to the clock and watch the time tick by. Its brass hands move so slowly that they may as well not move at all.