Chapter Fifteen: The Secret Lesson

Evelyn

...

   On Saturday was the first Quidditch match, between Slytherin and Gryffindor, which I was forced to watch, because Mattheo was extremely determined to see me there.

   The entire week was like hell, for Mattheo was in a very dangerous mood from his earlier fight with Draco, and would instantly flame up only with a tiny spark. However, he was whelming himself in his Quidditch practices, so I was not really seeing him other than in classes or at the feasts.

   Even though I could not stand his huffy mood, and a part of me was relieved that he was not tailing me around anymore, I admit that it was not a victory for me. I was intent on breaking that monster down and reach the boy inside, so I could gain his trust and make him tell me everything I needed to know. Everything I was not supposed to know, about his father with his plans. But he was avoiding me this time, pulling all his anger out in Quidditch.

   They were having Quidditch practices absolutely as much and whenever they could. Except Draco, who would rarely even show up at the feasts. He was completely invisible, and busy, I assumed, with mending the thing I did not know what. But I thought he was a bit scared too, to face Mattheo after what had just happened. And of course, because of Katie's accident.

   Katie was still in a coma at St. Mungo's, with Snape trying to figure out how to wake her. They were saying she would wake by the time, but the way they were saying it made it highly unbelievable, at least to me.

   I do not think the Slytherins, including myself, were really thinking, or concerned about Katie's situation. But the other houses, Gryffindor with a very higher level, were being absolutely out of control. I had never seen Gryffindors look this much Slytherin.

   "Wish us luck," Theo said when they were separating from us, leaving me and Pansy in the Great Hall to head for the locker rooms.

   "Good luck," Pansy said nervously.

   "Luck alone is not going to help," I said.

   "Yeah, because we've already won the game with this shitty team they have." Theo smirked haughtily.

   I think he was the only one being a little cheerful.

   "Weasley is our king! Weasley is our king!" he shouted when he, Mattheo, Lorenzo and Blaize left the table, confidently walking out of the Great Hall.

   Slytherins' laughters and Gryffindors' side-eyed glances filled the Hall.

   "Shall we leave too?" Pansy asked.

   I hesitated. I personally did not want to go, but I had to. So I stood up, hanging my bag over my shoulder. "Not that I have any other choices."

   We sat between the bustling crowd far above the green pitch, who were cheering, screaming and doing weird things for their teams. When the match started with a whistle, my mind floated away.

   I was so bored and uninterested that my mind escaped from here, flying far away until I could not make anything out about the game anymore. Though, Pansy was watching the game __ or, more correctly, watching Theodore, very enthusiastically.

   If Slytherin won, Mattheo had already insisted he would take me out on yet another official date. Which, for the first time, was not a nightmare to me; I was quite caught up in the mission and being his supposed girlfriend. But if Slytherin lost, it would be a nightmare, leading to him getting even more sullen, and to Pansy and Theo wanting to tear each other off. I think it would be the first time I was rooting for our Quidditch team to win.

   "And... Ooooo.... Nott catches the Snitch! Slytherin wins the match! Poor Gryffindors," the commentator yelled through the megaphone.

   The Slytherins' loud cheering screams and applauses filled the pitch, drowning the sound of the whistle coming from the referee, and making me wince.

   "We won! We won!" Pansy exclaimed manically. "Let's go!" She jumped up to her feet, bouncing like a child.

   I took a last look at the drawing I did

   "Weasley is our king! Weasley is our king!" The Slytherins' shoutings increased.

...

   "Did you see how he caught the Snitch? It was brilliant! They almost knocked each other off!" Pansy said with a laugh when we were walking in the corridors, back towards the common room, with Theodore, Mattheo, Lorenzo, and Blaise.

   "Guess your boyfriend's got some talents," Theodore said with a smirk, putting his arm around Pansy's shoulders.

   "Poor Potty..." Pansy said with a mock pitying expression. "He looked like he wanted to cry when he lost the Snitch... The look on his face was hilarious!" She chuckled.

   "If he didn't cry at any point, I'm willing to punch him in the face until he cries his eyes out into his mommy's chest." Mattheo smirked humorously.

   It was the first time I saw Mattheo grinning heartedly and being so cheered up after his fight with Draco.

   Lorenzo chuckled. "Wait," he said, "we gotta un-die his mommy first."

   Blaise smirked.

   "Aw... Poor boy. Doesn't even have a mommy..." Pansy mimicked.

   Their laughters blended together.

   "You're coming to the party, right?" Pansy asked me, trying to gaslight me into saying yes.

   I was stunned for a second, before speaking, "No."

   Her excited face fell into a stern one. "Are you serious?" she cried. "Come on! It's gonna be fun!"

   "It's gonna be very fun," Mattheo repeated with a grin.

   "Very fun," Theo repeated after him.

   "And very drunk," I added, raising my eyebrows. "No. I am not coming"

   I was not going; firstly Because I did not want to, and then because I had a secret lesson with Snape; my, I think, last Occlumency lesson. At the end of one of our Defense against the Dark Arts classes, he cornered me and declared that Dumbledore was busy, so I would be having my last lesson with him instead.

   If I wanted to be honest, having Snape reading my thoughts was way more acceptable than Dumbledore doing so. Plus that, Snape was the head of my house, and he was the one who taught me my favorite subject: potions. So, he was definitely one of the few people I did not dislike.

   But he, too, did not like me. I did not like him either; he was always on my nerves, after all.

   When I was meeting Dumbledore, if anyone asked why, I could easily say: "Well, he is my guardian." But I had no excuses to make for meeting Snape out of the classes; so, I had to borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak again. But this time, I had to ask him on my own, which was not pleasant for me at all.

   However, seeing the fact that the Slytherin-gang __ Pansy, Theodore, Mattheo, and our other Teen-Eaters __ went gone to prepare their victory party in the common room __ which I was not going to be in __ right then would be the best time for me to find Harry without being questioned pathetically.

   And, luckily, when I was back from the library, I saw Harry and Ron Weasley walking in the corridor. Even though there was an absolute crowd of students hurtled up in the corridor, I thought if I did not ask him right now, I likely would not have the chance again.

   "Hi." I walked up beside Harry, matching their pace.

   Ron's face tensed up unpleasantly. They were both caught off guard, as if it was a flying toad talking to them.

   "I need to borrow your Cloak," I insisted when none of them said anything.

   "Why?" Harry asked, almost huffily, slowing down his pace as I mirrored him, until we were standing motionless in the middle of the corridor.

   "I have a __" I narrowed my eyes, "__meeting. And it is supposed to be a secret," I explained.

   "Well, not a secret anymore. You told us, I mean," Ron blurted moodily, not looking at me.

   "Dumbledore said I could trust you." My eyelids drooped. "And you are wasting the time. I want the Cloak: are you going to give it to me, or not, is what I want to hear."

   Ron winced theatrically. Harry stared at me for a couple seconds, as if considering his choices. "Fine. I mean, yeah, alright," he said finally.

   Ron sneered, looking at Harry as though not believing his eyes. For a moment, I thought it was Draco standing beside Harry.

   "Well?" I only managed.

   "I can't give it to you here. Come on," Harry said, hurrying forward, with Ron beside him. And I followed.

   Yes, it was invisible, so no one could see it. But that was exactly the problem; because, imagine someone was exchanging something you could not see, as though they were exchanging air. It would be very odd, would it not?

   Harry reached into his bag when we left the bustling students behind, stepping into an empty corridor.

   "Here." He handed me the invisible Invisibility Cloak.

   I took the Cloak and stuffed it into my bag without hesitation this time. "I will return it to you after the meeting."

   "Fine," Harry said, nodding.

   "Not going to thank him, are you?" Ron huffed, a sneer similar to Draco's on his face.

   My gaze tensed at him between my lidded eyelids. "It is not for my sake, is it? Tell Dumbledore to thank him." The coldness of my tone flowed into the air.

   Ron shrank in disgust, looking moody.

   I took a glance at Harry, who was looking troubled, then walked away.

...

   I knocked on the door of Snape's office, which was in one of the dungeons, at nine o'clock.

   I had the Invisibility Cloak on while on my way here, but I pulled it off and jammed it back into my bag when I arrived.

   "Enter." Snape's is cold voice carried from inside.

   I pushed the door open and stepped into the dungeon, closing the door behind me before he would say.

   Snape stood off his desk, walking forward, with his icy gaze pinned on me. "Put your bag down and draw your wand."

   I put my messenger bag nearby on the ground. "I do not need my wand."

   He raised his eyebrows, probably not expecting such thing. Even though his expression was cold and passionless, I could still see a spark in his eyes. "Very well," he said, his waspish voice laced with amazement. And then he drew his own wand out of his pocket and pointed it towards me.

   Then he uses his wand.

   "I am sure you know how it works," he said coldly, his expression back to blank. "Do you not, Miss Black?"

   My eyelids drooped. "I do."

   "Close your eyes and do not let me enter."

   At that, I closed my eyes and took a deep, long breath.

   Something sparked in my mind: I could recognize the feeling of my mind being intruded. But I focused on the endless darkness in my head and pushed his force out. I had no idea it would get so effortless for me after some time.

   When he removed his worthless pressure from me, I slowly opened my eyes.

   Snape's dark eyes were staring at me in disbelief under his coldness, his wand lowering slightly. After moments, his expression turned to one with awe. He was impressed. "Interesting," he whispered.

   My nose went into the air.

   His eyes narrowed then. "This time, I want your eyes open, and fixed on mine."

   With that, I stared into his eyes, relaxing my eyelids. Slowly, he slid his wand back into his pocket, his eyes staring coldly into mine as I returned the same gaze. And I saw another spark: a light force; but my focus did not slip.

   His eyes hardened, and after a second, he let my mind free once again. He was looking amazed; he was looking as though he was not believing his own eyes. In awe, he held his head up. "Again I got proved of Slytherin's superiority over Gryffindor," he hissed. "How long have you been practicing for?"

   "A month." I stuck my nose in the air.

   "If Mr. Potter had put the effort you have, paying the least attention to what is necessary over sulking around, perhaps he could have stopped things that were not meant to happen. But I doubt even that." I never thought someone could be any colder than me. Until when he spoke about Harry, it was.

   My brows increased.

   "I assume professor Dumbledore was an excellent teacher for you. Seeing that you are very well studied," he said. "You may leave. And I do not think you need any more lessons. You have learned what you needed to learn."

   I nodded.

   "Have a good night, Miss Black." He gave me a cold, searching glance.

   When I stepped out of the office, closing the door behind me, I took the Invisibility Cloak out of my bag. Pulling it over my head, I made my way through the corridors.

   I was so satisfied, and pleased with myself. And, even better, I no more needed to worry about Mattheo using Legilimensy on me.