t e n

(A/N: This chapter includes derogatory terms against the LGBTQ+ community. They have been censored but viewer discretion is advised.)

"You look like hell," Zach chuckled as a very sullen Maeve and he walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Did you have the punch a few ours before the dance ended? I heard one of the sixth years spiked it."

"No." Maeve replied monotonously. "Please, stop talking."

"Woah, what's got you in such a rotten mood? Is it Theodore? Cause if it is, I will not hesitate to hex him even if that means he may kill m-"

"It's not Theodore, Susan." Maeve sighed, flinching a little as the brunette joined them mid-corridor.

"Lizzie's looking for you, by the way." her friend quipped. "I told her I'd make you meet her at breakfast."

Maeve stopped; frozen. "Actually, I'm not in the mood for breakfast." she stuttered. "I um- mid-terms are coming up in a week. And you know how bad I am at Potions. I better get an early start." she turned around. "I'll meet Elizabeth later."

_____

"Kingston?" Severus Snape looked up in half annoyance and half boredom as the Hufflepuff shuffled through the musty classroom doors.

"Good morning, professor." she greeted nervously.

"What are you doing her? Class doesn't start for another hour." he frowned.

"I wanted to get to work early. The mid-terms are near and we both know potions isn't my strongest subject." she answered, slipping into her seat and opened her textbook.

The teacher said nothing, his quill scribbling through the multiple pieces of parchment that sat idly on his table. After a long while of silence, Professor Snape spoke up. 

"Kingston, you're friends with Ms Parkinson, yes?" he asked, placing his ink back into his ink pot.

Maeve's eyes widened as she looked up, completely caught off guard. "I think so... I don't know anymore." she looked down, a little disheartened as she thought back to the previous night. "Why? Is Pansy alright?"

"One of her classmates informed me she was upset when she got back to her dorm last night. Apparently, they heard things breaking in her room." Snape responded, "Proffesor Flitwick informed me you both have been spending a lot of time due to the Frog Choir recently. I was wondering if you an idea as to why she was in such a bad mood."

Maeve opened her mouth to speak when-

"You should've seen the look on his face when I told him I snogged her- Oh, hello professor, what are you doing here?" a very surprised Justin Finch-Fletchley asked, stopping abruptly with some of his Ravenclaw friends behind him.

"Do I need an excuse to be in my own class, Mr Fletchley?" the professor snapped, his lips turning into a deep scowl.

"No, sir." the Hufflepuff replied immediately, looking down. 

That got Maeve wondering. 

What was Professor Snape doing in the classroom that early? He normally chose to make a nice dramatic entrance with his robes flying behind him as he walked. Her dorm had spent countless night trying to imitate the man's walk.

Soon, one by one, people started filtering in. Maeve scowled as Malfoy slipped in next to her. Thankfully, he was to preoccupied with Crabbe and Goyle to notice her furious expression. 

"Hi Maeve." Theodore greeted, with a small wave. "Any idea where Pansy is?"

Maeve blinked, clueless. "No. I haven't seen her since last night... I thought you would've known."

"Well she came back to the dorm early last night. I know because I left half an hour after you went dancing with that prefect." Theodore shrugged. 

"I'm so sorry, I completely forgot about that." Maeve gasped. "Honestly, you can't-"

"Yeah, yeah." Theodore chuckled. "You looked like you were having a good time. Who was I to interfere?" he winked before his face turned serious again. "Anyway, she didn't say much and then Blaise and Pansy came back around ten minutes after her and I told them about Pansy. So we all tried to go to her dorm and well - we're all really worried about her. She disappeared earlier this morning. I was hoping she would've talked to you." he pouted. "But I guess she didn't..."

"I uh-"

That was the moment Professor Snape chose to start the class, announcing that they would be giving a surprise quiz that day which got a mixed reaction from the class. 

"I'll be assigning new seats for this particular class." he said in his ever-so-cheerful voice as he flipped the blackboard around, revealing a list of names. "Please head to your seat."

Maeve searched for her name and was surprised to find it next to Pansy's. She was hoping to talk to the girl anyway. But Pansy was late. And she still hadn't arrived after the quiz had started. 

Maeve could hardly focus on the test as she kept glancing at her wrist, counting the minutes down until class would end. 

Halfway into class, the door creaked open. 

Maeve's head whipped around at once and her shoulders relaxed as Pansy Parkinson appeared in the doorway. She was confused when she saw the class quiet with no potions bursting spontaneously. 

Professor Snape stood up, staring at the girl as the rest of the class watched in curiosity, awaiting his reaction. 

"Please go to your seat, Pansy. Instructions are on the board. You'll be staying back until you complete the quiz." was all he said before sitting back down.

"Of course he'd say that." Maeve heard a Ravenclaw behind her mutter. "Ugh I hate Slytherin."

Maeve however, knew better. She and Snape hadn't had the great bond she shared with most of her other professors but after all her interaction with him, she knew one thing; that Severus Snape cared for his students, no matter how mean he was to them in class. She had seen the flicker of relief in his eyes when he saw Pansy enter the room. 

Her mind had hardly processed the information before Pansy sat down next to her and Maeve remembered they were to sit next to each other. 

With a bright grin making its way onto her face, she turned to the Slytherin with a wide grin. Pansy said nothing as she kept her eyes focused on her sheet, writing down her answers hurriedly. 

Maeve looked back down, slightly hurt.

Forty-five minutes later, class had ended and all the students except Pansy walked out. 

"Aren't you coming to D.A.D.A.?" Hannah Abott asked as she, Susan, Megan and Zach waited for Maeve to join them. "Professor Moody is so weird I think I'm going to need your moral support May."

"I think I forgot my quill in class. You go ahead, I'll be right there." she grinned turning back into the empty dungeon hallways. 

For the next twenty minutes, Maeve stood there, waiting for Pansy to walk through the doors. Professor Flitwick even happened to be passing by but believed her when she said she was waiting for Professor Snape to finish correcting some papers because she had a few doubts in the subject. 

Pansy finally walked out, flinching when she saw Maeve. Regardless, she grabbed her satchel's strap and continued down the hallway. 

"Good morning, Pansy." Maeve grinned, running up to her so that they were walking together. 

"What do you want?" 

Normally, Maeve would have shrugged off the cold response and started some small talk before getting to the actual topic but the anticipation and worry was eating her up inside. 

"Are you feeling better now? I wanted to talk to you about last night." 

*viewer discretion advised*

Pansy stopped as they turned a corner, pushing Maeve into a nearby wall. "Look, you d*ke. I'm not one of you, and I'll never be one of you. F*ggots like you can rot in hell for all I care. You actually thought I wanted to be your friend?" Pansy chuckled darkly. "In your dreams you fucking s*domite. I was upset because Draco left me to snog some older Slytherin last night. How pathetic to think that everything is about you. People like you are disgusting. So stay away from me homo." she scowled bitterly before giving the Hufflepuff one last shove before stalking down the hallway. 

*you can continue from here*

Maeve hadn't known what to expect when she talked to Pansy. But she definitely wasn't expecting that. For the first time since her sixth birthday, Maeve felt limitlessly helpless and broken as she stared down, Pansy's harsh words - each syllable that had come out of her mouth right then had pierced her heart like a hundred daggers carving the conversation onto her body. She hadn't even realized when she'd started crying on the ground, until she heard someone call her name.

"May?" 

Word Count: 1391