Eshu's Daughter

Ch. 14 - To Snape, With Love

Revenge was something to be carefully contemplated. To be savored and enjoyed, planned to the tiniest delicious detail. It took Kit a week to decide on Orva's punishment for cheating during the snow duel; and Lockhart was to thank for it. Kit was staring idly out one of the large windows in the Defense classroom when Lockhart's voice snagged her attention and dragged it back to his beaming face.

"- and as the Chimera advanced on me, I whipped out my wand and vanished the very cliff edge from beneath it, plummeting the monster to its doom -"

A Vanishing Charm. The words danced in Kit's mind. Like the vanishing powder she'd given Verity … suddenly everything clicked into place and an evil grin spread across her face. It was perfect and so simple she should have thought of it days ago.

Ellie glanced over with sigh. "Isn't he brilliant?"

"Brilliant," Kit agreed with a happy chortle. "Absolutely brilliant."

Ellie's mouth rounded in an 'oh' of surprise but before she could say anything the bell signaling the end of class rang.

Kit tracked Verity down at dinner that night, catching her just before she entered the Great Hall.

"Do you still have that bottle of Dr. Dissolvo's I gave you?" Kit asked without preamble.

Verity smiled. "Only half. I've been using it to make Vanessa's homework disappear. It's driving her mad. She's no idea it's me either. She blames the house elves but they're never around for her to scream at so instead she screams at Evilyn for not keeping track of her papers."

"Can I borrow some?" Kit interrupted.

Verity frowned and tugged at the sleeve of her robe, but her head jerked forward in a nod after only a moment. "Of course. You did give it to me, after all. Of course I'll let you borrow some."

Kit yanked Verity into a quick hug. "Great! Could I get it from you tonight? I need it for tomorrow."

Verity glanced at the already laden house tables and reluctantly dragged herself toward the stairs leading down to the kitchens. Verity had barely disappeared when Ellie finally burst out with the question she'd clearly been choking on for several minutes.

"What do you need vanishing powder for?"

"Orva," Kit said with relish.

"Are you going to vanish her homework as well?"

"Better," Kit said with a malevolent glare at the Gryffindor table. "Much, much better."

***

The next morning at breakfast Kit walked purposefully toward where Spencer sat just two places down from Orva's usual spot. Dropping onto the seat beside him she gave a cheerful smile and surreptitiously removed the bottle of Dr. Dissolvo's from her robe pocket. With a quick flick of her index finger the glass stopper came free and fell back in her pocket.

"What's the matter?" Spencer asked, looking concerned.

"Just wanted to say hi," Kit offered, stretching her hand out and tipping the bottle over Orva's usual seat. With a gentle tap, tap, the plan was accomplished. Kit hurriedly returned the bottle to her pocket and maneuvered the stopper back in place. Glancing down she saw a tiny hole on the outside of her robes where the tip of the stopper had rested in her pocket and an amused chuckle slipped past her lips.

Spencer's look turned wary. "You're up to something."

Kit tried to look innocent. "Me? Never. I'm just trying to be friendly and here you are accusing me of devious plots."

Spencer's lips drew down in a frown. "Devious plots? Now I know you're up to something."

Kit pouted, getting to her feet. "Fine, I'll leave you to your breakfast then. Only take your time. It'll be worth the wait."

"You've done something to the food, haven't you?" Spencer demanded.

Kit laughed. "So suspicious!" She tapped the top of his head lightly with her wand. "Ellie sends her love."

Spencer scowled and watched her with mistrustful eyes until she'd returned to the Hufflepuff table. He turned back to poke tentatively at his food and Kit giggled.

"Your brother doesn't trust us at all," Kit said, selecting a fat sausage from her plate.

Ellie threw a look at Spencer before turning back to Kit. "Guess I didn't get all the brains in the family."

Spencer was still examining his plate disconsolately when Orva sidled into the room and sat in her usual seat. She didn't even glance down before sitting. Kit couldn't resist a tiny crow of delight.

Breakfast snailed by after that. Finally, the bell for classes rang and everyone began gathering books and shoving away plates. Kit never took her eyes off the Gryffindor table, and put out a restraining hand to keep Ellie from rising as well.

"You don't want to miss this," Kit said.

Ellie followed Kit's eyes to the Gryffindors, perplexed. "Miss wh-" Ellie choked on a laugh. "Oh, Kit!"

Orva had just stood up and there was a large hole in the back of her robes displaying -

"Cadbury Crup?" Someone gasped out, "She's wearing Cadbury Crup knickers!"

Laughter rippled up and down the hall as students began to notice the unusual state of Orva's robes. Kit stared at the little dogs gamboling across Orva's underwear and tried very hard to remember to breathe, her lungs were seizing up with laughter.

Spencer glanced at Orva and froze. Slowly, a delighted smile lit up his face and his eyes met Kit's for a moment. They shared a silent laugh.

"Hey Orva," Spencer called. "Nice knickers. Did your mummy buy them for you?"

Orva glared at him, confused and turning bright red as the laughter in the hall began to gain in volume. She glanced at the front of her robes and then twisted awkwardly to try to see behind her. With a horrified gasp Orva dropped her schoolbag and clamped both hands over her bottom, but the hole was too big. Abandoning her fruitless efforts, Orva snatched her bag and ran from the room chased by various jeers and continued snickers.

Spencer made his way to the Hufflepuff table and clapped Kit's shoulder approvingly.

"That was bloody inspired! But you could have told me what you were up to."

Kit shook her head. "And missed watching you squirm through breakfast? Not a chance."

Ellie beamed. "Go on and say it Spence, you know you want to."

Spencer scowled at his sister. "Bloody Hufflepuffs," he muttered. But there was admiration behind the words and Kit and Ellie laughed as Spencer walked away.

"I love that phrase," Ellie sighed. "It has such a ring to it."

Orva didn't take long to retaliate. Unfortunately, she was under the mistaken impression that Spencer was responsible for her morning exhibition. He was only too happy to curse her back, however, when she flung a Flaming Shoe Hex at him in the halls and Kit decided to let Spencer have his fun. She didn't mind Spencer receiving credit for her prank. Seeing Orva humiliated had been enough of a coup and watching her scurry away from Spencer with tentacles trailing was just an added bonus.

***

January melted away with the last of the icicles decorating the courtyard arches. Before Kit quite realized it, February had arrived with its chill breath and rainy afternoons. The days rushed past untroubled by Slytherin's monster and if it hadn't been for the continued absence of Justin and Colin, Kit might have forgotten the monster completely. The entire school seemed to be slowly relaxing into the new year as day after day passed with no new attacks.

Late one night, Kit stared pensively into the tiny pool in the grotto room. A fat orange goldfish bobbed to the surface and seemed to smirk at her before sinking back to play with his fishy friends. She tapped the water with a finger and considered letting Puck out to tease the wretched little fish. They were fast enough to evade him, but with Puck chasing them they'd certainly be too busy to smirk at her. And all because tomorrow was Valentine's Day. Not that that was important. No, tomorrow would be just another day. Nothing special about it at all. It wasn't as if she was hoping for anything.

Not even in the very back of her mind. Or in a tiny traitorous corner of her heart. Boys were stupid. Why would she want some silly card from one of them? Kit sighed and flipped onto her back beside the pool, pulling Puck from his pouch. She let him rest in her hands above her, his little face peering down curiously.

"We don't like boys," Kit said firmly.

Puck blinked but he gave an answering growl nonetheless. Kit smiled at him. "That's right. I bet they don't even celebrate stupid old Valentine's Day in the magical world. Snape certainly wouldn't let us decorate shoeboxes and make glitter valentines. And I don't think Professor McGonagall will be passing out cupcakes." The very thought made Kit shake with laughter.

"And nobody else will be getting any valentines either, so it doesn't matter. It's not like I really wanted one…"

Puck twisted his head to the side with a confused murmur. He lost interest in her quickly however and scrambled to be let down. Kit shrugged and plopped him down beside her.

"Try not to get too wet," she said with a sigh. "I still have homework to finish up."

It was already too late; with a small splash Puck launched himself at the goldfish. Kit shook her head and pulled him out of the water before heading back to the dorm.

***

The next morning, Kit glowered as she picked heart-shaped confetti out of her porridge. The pink shapes stuck stubbornly, seeming to meld with the goopy lumps.

"This is the worst holiday," Kit muttered. She threw an angry glare toward the head table, "And pink is not Lockhart's color."

Ellie tipped her head to the side and considered the matter seriously. "No, it really isn't. His face looks much too red. And he usually has such good taste in robes," she added with a little purse of her lips.

Kit rolled her eyes and gave up on the porridge. It was a lost cause. For every bit of confetti she managed to remove, five more wafted gently into the bowl. Stupid Lockhart. The jerk had managed to take a miserable holiday and make it a million times worse. Giggles punctuated the conversations all around Kit, making her want to gag. But Lockhart wasn't content to poison them all with his damned confetti; he'd hired dwarves (dwarves mind you!) in sashes and gold wings to deliver valentines all over the school. It was a horror beyond imagining.

When the bell rang for their first class Kit sprinted from the room, dragging Ellie behind her. In the hall, she stumbled to a halt as Spencer materialized in front of them.

"What do you think of the doings?" Spencer beamed.

Kit scowled. "Don't tell me you're enjoying all this?"

"It has its uses," Spencer said with a grin. "Just make sure you don't skive off classes today."

"As if we ever," Kit snapped. Her mood was going from bad to worse. If Spencer was so happy it could only mean trouble. Great, the day was really looking up now.

Spencer shrugged and ambled off with an offhand smile. Ellie stared after him suspiciously.

"That can't be good."

"My thoughts exactly," Kit sighed. "But there's no telling what he'll do so I suppose we should just get moving."

Ellie nodded and the two headed for classes, dodging a surly dwarf or two on the way. All morning it was the same, dwarves popping up in the halls, tripping people and tackling their unsuspecting victims. By the time they reached Charms just before lunch, Kit was almost used to the interruptions. It had certainly been something to see Professor McGonagall cowed by a particularly grumpy dwarf with a delivery for one of her students. Annemette had been the recipient and Kit was still trying to figure out who in their right mind would send her a valentine.

Professor Flitwick was vigorously defending his character after Padrig had the gall to ask him about Entrancing Enchantments, when yet another dwarf barged into their classroom and glanced around with a harassed look. Flitwick stumbled to a halt and just stared at the dwarf.

His eyes fixing on Ellie, the dwarf charged forward, shoving his way past Padrig and Selwyn, right past a disappointed Annemette and a wistful Merrilee. He ground to a halt and drew a piece of paper from a red velvet pouch at his waist. Kit took a moment to stare at the pouch, wondering if it had any of the magical containment qualities Puck's pouch seemed to have in such abundance.

Her attention moved back to the dwarf when he cleared his voice importantly and began, "An ode to the most fair Hufflepuff my eyes have ever seen, from your secret admirer." Kit choked and threw a wild glance at Ellie whose eyes were the size of dinner plates. An embarrassed red was creeping up Ellie's neck and edging across her cheeks. It only made her look prettier.

Trying hard not to laugh, Kit listened intently as the dwarf recited his brief and quite awful poem:

"Her golden hair is a radiant crown,
Her eyes like shining seas,
If I could only call her mine,
There'd be no one luckier than me."

With a tiny flourish the dwarf swept the paper showily through the air and presented it to Ellie. Kit glanced over her shoulder to see the splotched and ink stained lines, no help there in figuring out who'd sent it. Without waiting for Ellie to say anything, the dwarf spun around on his heel and barreled as quickly from the room as he'd first entered it.

"Well now, let's have some order," Professor Flitwick said in his squeaky voice, rapping on the desk with his wand so that tiny sparks shot from it. "We're supposed to be learning Spinning Charms, so please get out your tops and let's get to it. No more gabbling now."

Ellie was still looking at the paper in her hand. "Do you think Spencer did it?" she asked.

"I suppose he could have," Kit began slowly, "but doesn't it seem a bit - uh - tame for him?"

Ellie nodded, smoothing a hand over the paper. "Yes, not funny at all really. Though I was horribly embarrassed and that'd be enough for Spencer."

"Well if it was him, you should slip frog spawn in his marmalade tomorrow," Kit said. She tapped her spinning top with her wand and watched it slowly revolve in place before it toppled over.

Ellie's eyes lit up with pleasure. "Do you know where we can get some?"

"It's Potions after lunch and there's always some extra in the student cupboard." Kit tapped her top again and it began to spin madly, moving up off the table for a brief moment. With a satisfied smile she turned to Ellie. "You should do it even if he didn't. I'd love to see the look on his face when he takes a bite of his muffin."

Later that afternoon in Potions, Kit couldn't help sending a tiny smirk in Spencer's direction. He caught her at it and was soon looking both wary and confused, which only made Kit smile more. They were making Cough Restoratives and had to gather quite a few supplies from the student cupboard. It was easy to slip an extra measure of frogspawn out of one of the many jars and into a smaller vial.

Halfway through class the door to the dungeons burst open and a grizzled dwarf entered. One of his wings was hanging askew and the scowl on his face so closely resembled Professor Snape's that it was like looking in a tiny distorted mirror. The dwarf swept through the room, not toward any of the students, but right up to the professor's desk.

Snape's face glowed with virulent anger. "How dare you interrupt my class," he spat.

"I got a deliv'ry 'as to be made," the dwarf insisted, jutting his jaw out.

"I will not have my lessons interrupted by this nonsense," Snape stormed. "Who is your blasted delivery for?"

The dwarf just scowled back at him and snapped open a slip of paper smartly. "I got a singin' valentine for Mr. Severus Snape."

Snape gaped at him dumbfounded and, sensing his advantage, the dwarf launched into his valentine before Snape had the presence to stop him.

"Oh Snapey, My Snapey,
Your face is as handsome
As a frog's warty bum.
And you smell just as pleasant
As a rank bundimun.
With your hair just as greasy
As a slime covered stone,
You possess all the charm
Of a dotty old crone-"

The dwarf was cut off as Professor Snape blasted the paper from his hands and then sent another blast at his feet, which had the tiny man dancing.

"Who is responsible for that atrocity?" Snape thundered, sending another blast at the dwarf's feet.

With a squeal the dwarf darted away and sprinted for the door. He was gone before Snape could stop him and, deprived of his prey, Snape turned on the students instead.

"Which if you sent that," Snape screamed at them, spittle catching at the corners of his mouth.

Silence, tense and heavy, filled the room. No one so much as blinked or twitched, afraid the slightest breath might bring a wand blast in their direction.

"If I ever discover who wrote that wretched poem, I will have you expelled. But not before you've had a few hours with Mr. Filch and his irons," Snape hissed at them. "Twenty points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff!"

Despite that last injustice, no one moved and this seemed to incite Snape even more. "Get to your cauldrons," he screamed and as one the students dropped their eyes and began feverishly adding ingredients and stirring.

As Ellie tossed in spoor wood and newt eyes, careless of order or amount, Kit rocked on her feet and tried hard not to laugh. The urge was almost uncontrollable but she had to fight it or Snape would reduce her to a pile of ashes. Throwing a furtive look across the room, Kit's eyes caught on Spencer's. He gave her the smallest grin and in an instant she knew. It had been Spencer. With a wary glance at Snape she looked back at Spencer quickly and he winked. Kit felt her lips tip up imperceptibly.

"Ellie," she whispered. "Add all the frogspawn to the caldron, we won't be needing it after all."

Ellie looked up, confused. "But you said earlier-"

"Just dump it. Trust me. It wasn't Spencer this morning."

"How do you -"

"I'll tell you later," Kit promised, barely breathing the words as Snape swept in their direction. Ellie shrugged and threw the frogspawn into their caldron, making the potion froth and turn a hideous purple-brown color. They were sure to receive bottom marks for the mess, but Kit couldn't seem to care. That lovely poem kept running through her head and for the rest of the lesson nothing else, not even Snape's acid comments and furious scowls, could burst the tiny bubble of pleasure inside her. What a wonderful holiday.

***

After the laughter and fun of Valentine's the days seemed to crawl by with agonizing slowness. But crawl by they did. By the end of March, the entire school was convinced that Slytherin's monster had gone into early retirement. Kit celebrated that general view by walking to the library on her own one Sunday morning. And if she still avoided a certain fifth floor hallway, well that was something to be tackled another day and nothing to do with the monster.

In mid-April, Hufflepuff lost spectacularly to Ravenclaw during their Quidditch match. Kit was forced to hex Spencer for smirking about the loss. He could be such a prat; those stupid Gryffindors were always so full of themselves. Not as bad as the Slytherins, certainly, but still too annoyingly certain of their success. Kit took great pleasure in reminding Spencer and Brennan that Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch cup in eight years. She wasn't as pleased, however, when they reminded her it had been twice that long since Hufflepuff had held the honor.

All of which meant there was an awful lot riding on the upcoming Hufflepuff/Gryffindor match. Hufflepuff just had to win or Kit didn't know how she was going to hold her head up. Stupid Gryffindors. The problem was, she had seen her team play and to be honest they needed a lot of work. Even Kit could see that. Still, she was a Hufflepuff and damned if she was going to concede defeat before the match had even begun. Miracles could happen and if their Seeker could just catch the Snitch right away Hufflepuff might be able to wipe the smirks right off those lions' faces.

By the first week of May, Kit, Ellie, Spencer and Brennan were back to jinxing one another and trading insults in the halls.

"Should I bring a hanky for you tomorrow, Ellie?" Spencer called out one Friday morning.

"Better make it a paper bag to wear over your head when Gryffindor loses," Ellie returned. "It'd improve your looks anyway."

"How about a flying manual for your team, I hear they need it," Brennan jeered.

"Keep it for yourself," Kit smiled, "I've seen you fly after all."

Brennan turned red and scowled at her. With a tiny smirk Kit swept into the Great Hall and tried to pretend there weren't two sets of furious eyes glaring at her all through breakfast. As Ellie buttered her toast, Kit began to plot and by the end of breakfast the smile on her face was wide enough fill the hall.

"I've thought of something special for tomorrow." Kit squeezed Ellie's arm with excitement. "The perfect thing to rattle them a bit."

"Spencer and Brennan?" Ellie asked.

"Who else?" Kit said with a laugh.

"Let me guess," Ellie said with a resigned look, "we'll be spending our free hour in the library."

"All good plans have to start somewhere, and I know just the book to get this spell from. You're going to love it."

***

The sun was shining brightly when students began streaming from the school toward the Quidditch pitch. Kit grabbed Ellie's arm and, laughing, tugged her along.

"It'll be awesome, I promise!" Kit said.

Ellie looked doubtful. "I don't know Kit. You weren't doing so well with that spell last night. They were beavers, not badgers, and they sorta just fizzled out anyway."

Kit waived a hand airily. "No, I've got it now. I'm certain of it. I just wasn't concentrating hard enough last night."

"You were cross-eyed!"

"Don't be dramatic. If it fails, well we can always just throw a Jelly Legs Jinx at them or something. But it's not going to fail, so quit worrying."

Ellie shrugged and followed Kit into the stands. Kit glanced over the numerous students already filling the rows and finally located Spencer and Brennan sitting on the edge of the Gryffindor side near the Hufflepuff area. Perfect, they could all sit together and still technically be with their respective houses. It was a steep climb up to the top row where the boys were perched and Kit and Ellie were out of breath by the time they reached them.

"Here for the wake, ladies?" Spencer laughed.

"Ha, ha. Very witty," Ellie scowled as she shoved passed Spencer.

"Care to wager on the game?" Brennan offered lazily. "I'm getting tired of writing all those essays for Snape and I'm sure you'd do a fair job at it Ellie."

"Careful what you wish for," Ellie said with a sweet smile, "I'd have you dancing in your knickers in the Great Hall if I won the bet."

Spencer had been reclining casually backwards but at Ellie's words he snapped up rigid as a post. "Here now, you're not saying you want to see Brennan in his pants, are you El!"

Ellie looked at Brennan appraisingly and Kit had to laugh as Brennan turned bright red under Ellie's stare. "No," Ellie finally said when Brennan was roughly the color of a beet. "No, I suppose it probably would put me off my breakfast and the house elves do make such lovely coddled eggs."

Kit bent over she was laughing so hard and she could only imagine the look on Brennan's face as he sputtered helplessly. Spencer gave a relieved sigh and flopped back against his seat.

"Great day for a game," Spencer volunteered, apparently anxious to turn the conversation away from his friend's underwear.

"Too bad you'll be losing," Kit said, patting him consolingly.

Whatever Spencer might have said was lost as the stands erupted into a massive cheers and raucous shouts as the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams emerged onto the pitch below.

"Huffs, Huffs, Huffs!" Ellie and Kit chanted at the top of their lungs, joining the enthusiastic crowd to their left. The furor died down as the teams moved into position. Kit met Ellie's eyes and gave her a little nod. Whipping her wand out, Kit scrunched her eyes closed and concentrated as fiercely as she could.

"Pario Somnium," Kit muttered. She swirled her wand as though stirring a potion and then peeked one eye open. A thin mist was pouring from her wand tip, and as she watched the mist coalesced and formed itself into a row of tiny badgers, barely a foot high and floating at Spencer's eye level. Kit opened her other eye and grinned triumphantly as the badgers stood up and began a shimmying dance, their tiny furred hips swung to the right and then the left and finally they flipped around and shook their little badger butts in Spencer and Brennan's stunned faces. Laughter spilled from Kit and soon she and Ellie were clinging to one another as the badgers repeated their dance.

"Oh, oh Kit. That's fabulous. The best spell you've ever done, I swear," Ellie gasped out.

Spencer waved a hand at the badgers but it just slid right through them and he couldn't make them stop their taunting little shimmy. Brennan recovered enough to pull out his wand and thrust it threateningly at the phantom creatures. They danced on, oblivious.

Suddenly, a booming voice shook through the stands and snatched the laughter right out from under Kit and Ellie.

"This match has been cancelled," Professor McGonagall's magnified voice said, reaching into the farthest corners of the stadium. Shouts and incoherent yells erupted from all around.

"What!" Spencer yelled, leaping to his feet and finally ignoring the still dancing badgers. "You can't cancel the match!"

Kit and Ellie shared a bewildered look. "Why would they cancel the match?" Ellie asked in a low voice.

"I don't know," Kit said, feeling apprehension creep up her spine and paralyze her in her seat. Half-heartedly, she waved her wand at the badgers and they disappeared.

"All students," Professor McGonagall continued, ignoring the outraged shouts, "are to make their way back to the house common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Kit and Ellie sat motionless for a moment, unable to find the will to move. Spencer had stopped shouting and his face was white as he turned toward them. "Something's happened," he said, "that has to be why they're sending the house heads." Noticing Kit and Ellie's lack of movement he grabbed each of them by the arm and hauled them to their feet. "You heard the professor, get moving. And old rules apply; until we know what's going on, don't go anywhere alone. In fact, Brennan and I will walk you down to the rest of your housemates."

Brennan gave a distracted nod and the four of them slowly made their way down through the stands and back to the castle. All around students jostled and whispered. Kit was caught in a sort of numb haze, not really taking it all in but still all too aware the world was spinning out of control again.

When they reached the castle entryway, Spencer grabbed Ellie's arm again and shook her a little to get her attention. "I mean it El, don't go off alone. Not even for a second."

Ellie nodded mechanically and Spencer pulled her into a brief hug before shoving her toward a group of Hufflepuffs gathering near the lower staircase. "It'll be alright El," Spencer said.

Kit just shook her head and followed after Ellie. Until they knew what new madness was happening his words were empty half-truths and they both knew it. Her eyes met Spencer's and she knew what he needed her to say. "I'll stay with her. I promise."

Spencer nodded and then turned away, joining the Gryffindor students tramping up the stairs toward their common room.

***

Kit shifted uncomfortably and flicked a creeping vine off her shoulder. The common room was packed to overflowing with students and she'd been forced to stand under one of the many planters hanging around the room. As a result, she was draped in a curtain of greenery and her nose was itching terribly. Ellie was pressed close to her side and other students crowded in beside her as well. Kit shifted again and thought once more that crowds were not her favorite thing. The room was hot and close with so many bodies packed into it and all Kit wanted was for Professor Sprout to show up, spread her bad news and then dismiss them so that Kit could retreat to her dorm. Puck growled at her hip as Kit was jostled and she made soothing noises low in her throat to try to calm him.

Finally, Professor Sprout appeared at the foot of the common room stairs and Kit breathed a tiny sigh of relief. At last. The professor twisted her hands together and tutted a few times.

"I don't know quite how to tell you all," Professor Sprout said in her gruff voice, "So I suppose I'll just come right out and say it." Kit's stomach dropped into her shoes. "There's been another double attack. I'm afraid that Miss Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and Miss Penelope Clearwater of Ravenclaw have both been Petrified by the monster. We've taken them up to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey will of course revive them along with the other unfortunate students when the mandrakes are ready. However, something must be done to prevent future attacks, as I'm sure you will all agree. The headmaster, therefore, has instituted new rules that will remain in effect until the person doing this, or the monster itself, is caught."

Professor Sprout seemed to falter and Kit saw her give a tiny shake as though trying to regain her composure. Shoving her hands into her robe pockets the professor fumbled for a moment and then pulled out a creased bit of parchment. Opening it she began to read aloud:

"All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening and no student is to leave the dormitories after that time. Students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed and there will be no more evening activities or clubs." Closing the parchment and returning it to her pocket the professor looked at them with weary eyes. "In addition, I would ask that no student uses any of the Sett exits until this matter is taken care of. If anyone sees anything at all suspicious in the Sett I want to know about it directly. For now, however, you may continue to use the rooms and passages. I want all of you to keep your wits about you. If you see anything odd, in your classes, in the castle, or if you hear anything at all, you are to notify me at once. I know that things seem dire just now, and most certainly they are, but this house and this school have survived much worse. We'll survive this as well. Hufflepuff has always been a defining presence in this school; it's through our hard work and diligence that many trials in the past have been overcome. So don't go looking for trouble, but keep your eyes and ears open." With a pallid smile Professor Sprout eased back in the doorway and her eyes moved to the front of the room.

"Nolan, Emmaline, I'll need both of you to come with me; as Prefects you'll be helping patrol the castle."

Kit tuned out the rest of whatever the professor said. So this was it. The monster was back and now things were worse than ever. Something bumped into Kit and she barely stopped herself from snarling along with Puck. Ellie leaned against her and Kit could feel tiny trembles shaking through Ellie's body.

"Those poor girls," Ellie whispered, her eyes wide and scared. "Those poor girls."

***

Thunder ripped through the grotto room, shaking the walls and making the water in the tiny pond tremble. Kit leaned her head back against the cold stone of the wall and let the pulsing sound ripple through her. In her lap, Puck shifted fretfully and snuggled closer, his tiny quills pricking through her nightgown. It was late. Much too late for her to be out of bed and in the Sett alone.

But the monster wasn't likely to be lurking here; the Hufflepuffs had kept their secret too well for that. But even if the monster did decide to pop by for a chat, Kit didn't give a damn anymore. It had been almost three weeks since the last attacks and a person could only live in fear so long without going slowly mad. Headmaster Dumbledore had been suspended and everyone seemed to agree that was the worst thing yet. But Kit didn't think so. Far worse was living her life under a microscope, watched every second like a rat in a maze. She was tired. Tired of being afraid all the time. Tired of marching to classes in line like Hogwarts had become some sort of military academy. Tired of never having a moment to herself, because heaven forbid a student should be alone for even one second.

Well she was alone now. And it felt glorious. Another growl of thunder shook the room and Kit closed her eyes, trying to imagine the lightning slashing across the sky in a white blaze. She wanted to feel the rain on her face, feel the electricity crackling in the air and the ground shaking beneath her feet. She could understand that storm, it was raw and honest in its violence. So very different from the storm raging inside the castle. Whispers filled the halls. Only whispers. Sometimes Kit thought they came from the walls themselves, but she knew it was the students.

Kit's candle flickered, casting sinister shadows over the Sett walls. It was burning low now and she got to her feet regretfully. She'd rather not fumble back to her room in the dark. Tucking Puck back in his pouch Kit made her way from the room. She'd be back soon enough. It wasn't the storm that had woken her, but the nightmares that seemed to fill her nights more frequently since the attacks. Slytherin's monster had better watch out for her at this point. Between her frustration at always being confined and the lack of sleep she seriously doubted any monster stood a chance against the kind of retribution she'd like to deal out. Something had better happen soon or Kit was afraid she'd just plain snap and start hexing everyone, monster or no.

***

End notes: Cadbury Crup appears courtesy of Yolonda and was snitched from her excellent fic, Will I Wait A Lonely Lifetime. Go read it, you won't be sorry!

A large portion of Professor Sprout's speech in the Hufflepuff common room is taken word for word from Chamber of Secrets. In CoS, Professor McGonagall reads the first portion of her announcement from a parchment and it seems likely that all the house heads would have been given the same announcement.