The Pains of Becoming

So here is chapter 3, no worries for those who are waiting for Lucius-action, we are getting closer….
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Chapter 3
A Comb
Kirsty sat on the sofa opposite the fireplace again. She was alone in the common room and was busying herself with homework. Suddenly she felt someone behind her. It was Draco; he bent over the back of the couch down to her and held a comb under her nose.

“Here.” He said.

“I have a comb, thank you.”

He sighed: “It’s not a comb. This is what you asked me for, remember? Listen”, he said and came around to sit next to her, still holding up the comb, “This is a portkey to a secret location where the deatheaters meet regularly at the moment. Don’t ask me where I got it and if you get found out... never mention me, or else!” He hissed, “It will activate itself at a specific time when the meetings are held. I am fairly confident the portkey will not be missed. I believe nobody actually uses the portkeys to get to this location anymore. They just apparate there. As far as I am aware, this location is not used for meetings by the Dark Lord. It is a deatheaters internal meeting point. It is the dark mark that summons them to different locations for the really important meetings. But, that’s all I know. And I have to add, I don’t think it is smart to show up there unannounced… you must have a really good reason for this…”

“I do, don’t you worry.” Kirsty said and took the portkey.

“I am not worried about you.” He stated, “But I am worried about your side of our deal. When is that going to happen?” She turned to him and kissed him,
“As far as I know, this is a comb… I will pay up when I know you’ve told me the truth,” She got up and walked away towards the girl’s dormitories.

“Well, now I am worried about you! Good chance you don’t come back alive, you know!”

She ignored him. In her room she sat down and stared at the comb. Now all she had to do was wait for it to activate, it might take some time though, she would have to touch it at least once an hour, to check, although not during class, or when everyone else was around her. She would have to find a deserted place once an hour to try the portkey. It would be rather stressful, but it was going to be worth it. Though, now she was starting to become a little anxious. She would have to be prepared, all the time. She should be wearing traditional wizarding clothes, if she wanted to be taken seriously, she had to prepare mentally as well, she could expect to appear before a lot of deatheaters, she would have to be ready to quickly convince them she was on their side. Would they even care? She hoped so, why wouldn’t they? These days they surely needed every new recruit they could get.

So she prepared. In the next days people noticed a change in her style, she used to wear muggle clothes apart from her school robes, but now she went for black velvet dresses and cloaks with hoods. Draco actually commented to her now and then, about her outfits, and telling her what was going on in his pants when he looked at her, she found herself rapidly becoming rather bored with him.
She was actually annoyed with herself for not being able to find anything interesting about Draco anymore. He had been sort of exiting when she didn’t know if he would respond to her. But now, he was nothing more than a little twat; panting after her in hopes of a shag. Something that she had already decided she would never allow him. When she was in with the death eaters and had powerful people behind her, Draco would have to stay away from her. He was no real threat anyway, being two years beneath her, she would win any fight with him, she was sure.
But it wasn’t only her new style that got attention, the fact that she regularly disappeared, after every lesson, was something her fellow students had started to picked up on. But nobody cared too much, certainly not enough to attempt to find out what was going on.
However, when she tried to leave for the second time during a double potions lesson Professor Snape simply denied her excuse.

“But I….” she stopped, how could he not let her go if she insisted she needed the bathroom?
She had to go; what if it was during this stupid lesson a meeting was held?! Snape looked up at her again and then walked over to her, with his hands crossed behind his back.

“It is really important, is it?” he asked rather rhetorically.

“Well…”

“Then go, but you will have to come back after dinner tonight and make your potion again. This one will go to waste now.”

”But I will be back in only…”

“Do not bother. I will not have your... commotion, disrupting this class twice. Now collect your things and leave.”

She hesitated a moment, but then she took her bag and left quickly. She didn’t like this at all. She didn’t want to be alone with him tonight to rebrew her potion. But she had no choice.
She ran out into the corridor and into the next hidden corner. She touched the comb ….. and nothing happened.
“Dam it!” She stomped her foot. It had been only three days… but so many hours, she didn’t even sleep properly anymore, getting up as she was, once an hour. If Draco could have only given her the time of the next meeting as well. …or maybe he was fooling her after all, to get back on her because she backed out of their deal?
She put the comb back into her pocket. It was no good. She had gotten into trouble with Snape, for nothing.

*

After dinner she knocked on the door to the potions class room, comb in her bag of course. She hoped this would not take too long, she doubted that Snape would excuse her again before she’d finished her potion.
The door flew open just as she tried to knock again and Snape stood there silently, waiting for her to enter.
She walked in without a word and started putting her things on her desk. She was rather tired from her lack of sleep and simply started preparing the potion they had done during class. Snape slowly walked up behind her. She tried to ignore him and just do her thing and get out again. Her caldron started boiling and she added the first ingredients, then started cutting some toad liver. She could hear and feel Snape having walked up right behind her. He had stopped right behind her and apparently looked over her shoulder. She tried not to get too nervous. She knew how to do this potion, she had looked up her notes from class just before she came back here, making sure it would not take her too long. He was silent as he watched over her work, so she must be doing ok, she thought.
After a few minutes however he suddenly spoke:
“So it would appear that you have abandoned muggle clothing?” Since it was past school hours she was wearing a long, simple black dress underneath her open Slytherin robe. She didn’t answer. She did not want to get into a conversation with him that could give anything of her plans away.

“A change of political beliefs perhaps?”

“No, just a change of style.” she answered as casually as she could manage.

“Very traditional… and rather unusual, these days.”

“Not that unusual… after all it seems to be your style, too, Sir.”

“Try to control that cheek of yours.” He stated still calm but increasingly persistent. He was onto her secret, she could tell. It made her nervous; she didn’t know how much he already knew. Had Draco told him?

“Yes Sir. If you don’t mind,sir, I need to concentrate.”

“You are doing rather well so far.” She tried to continue and breathe normally. She knew he would detect any sign of weakness.
“And just what is it, if I may enquire, that you are doing, precisely, once an hour day and night. What is it that causes you to disappear into deserted places?”

“Nothing, its private, Sir.”

“Of course… I hope you are not ill?”

“No, I’m fine… just a bit tired I guess.”

“Obviously…. I have to say I am rapidly becoming rather concerned about you.”

“I’m fine, Sir. No need to worry.”

“It is not that simple, Miss Flame. I am your Head of House, clearly something is not right. And it does affect your health, because you are not sleeping and it does affect your school work. Your other teachers have come to me, in the last days, expressing concern about your lack of concentration.”

“It will go away, Sir, I promise. It’s nothing.” His voice didn’t change, remaining that of seeming... casual disinterest as he spoke
“Turn around.” She didn’t obey and applied a green powder into her potion instead.
“Sorry Sir, but I have to add this now.” Her heart started to beat in her throat again. She could not look at him; he would see that she was hiding something.
“Leave the damn potion and turn around!” he said angrily this time and much more firmly.
She had no choice but to stop what she was doing and turn to him. She looked up at him, trying to conceal any thought or emotion. He looked down on her. Why did he have to be so tall?! He made her feel like a naughty little girl. His voice returned to normal as soon as she obeyed him.

“Why do I have the feeling your… change in apparel and sudden hourly distraction, both have much to do with the conversation we had the other day?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You do, Miss Flame.” She shook her head silently.

“I warn you. Deatheathers are more than mere criminals. They are ruthless murderers. Stay away from them.”

“I am, Sir.”

“Do not lie to me.”

“Professor, I am not lying! Now do you want me to finish this potion or not?” She was a little shaky now, there wasn’t much more of this interrogation she could take. He hesitated. She didn’t wait for a reply and turned back to her work. Her hands where still shaking when she picked up the spoon to stir the thick liquid in her caldron. She felt him leaning into her. Both his hands appeared on either site of her, leaning onto the desk, trapping her in between. She felt his breath on her neck, so close was he to her. When he spoke his voice came from right next to her ear, he spoke quietly but very clearly. She jumped.
“If you get caught, doing anything… you should not be you shall be in very… very big trouble. Keep it in mind, the next time you wander off into a lonely place.” She couldn’t help but feel terribly intimidated and threatened, but she could hardly concentrate on that feeling because it was all mixing up with a terrible excitement, it was uncomfortable of course, and yet so much better than the boredom she felt most of the time. She was utterly confused by the time he moved away from her. She composed herself and forced her arms and brain to continue with the task in front of her. She could not fall apart, it would give her away, she had to act like there was no base to his suspicions. He walked away from her now and sat back at his desk. As he started grading papers once in a while he looked up at her, studying her as though contemplating something, but he did not speak to her again and she had soon finished her potion, bottled it and put it on a shelf in the back where the other ones from the class stood. He let her go with no more attempts to interrogate her.

*

She hurried out of the classroom and ran to the nearby bathroom. No one was there. She pulled out the comb and grabbed it, thinking of getting to bed finally after this and getting an hours sleep. She was torn out of those thoughts when she felt a massive pull at her middle. The, now active, portkey grabbed her from the floor. She felt terribly dizzy and then abruptly she was falling harshly onto another cold stone floor.

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Cliffhanger!
Next chapter will hopefully be thrilling! For now: please review!