Star Sisters

Chapter XXXI: How to Handle a Snake

It was seven forty-five on Wednesday morning, and Charis was hovering just outside the Great Hall, tapping her foot impatiently. The governors were already having breakfast with their escorts. All the governors except Lucius Malfoy, that was. He was nowhere to be seen. Charis huffed. Aristocrat or not, arriving late twice in a row was just plain rude, even for a Malfoy. Surely he was wealthy enough to buy a decent alarm clock, she thought with a flash of irritation.

Charis herself was up at – in her opinion – an ungodly hour, much to her displeasure. She was not what could be described as a morning person, and normally, she couldn’t be spotted in the Great Hall earlier than twenty minutes before her first class. Today, however, she had dragged herself out of bed and into the shower at seven o’clock. And now Malfoy had the audacity to keep her waiting. The cheek! He deserved to have his toast burnt and his coffee taste of Skrewt dung.

Charis stifled a yawn behind her hand, just as the figure of Albus Dumbledore appeared by her side.

‘Good morning, Charis,’ the old man said amiably. ‘I am sorry to let you know that Mr Malfoy will not be inspecting the school today as he had some rather personal business to attend to,’ he began, peering over his half-moon glasses characteristically. ‘Therefore, you are free to attend to breakfast now and return to lessons as normal.’ He gestured his hand towards the door, signalling that Charis was now free to go. ‘I am very sorry that you had to get up unnecessarily early.’

Charis was surprised by this news, but she was also relieved. After the threat she and Jack had received from Malfoy last night, her stomach was tight with the thought of seeing the man again and having to spend the whole day guiding him around and not rising to his inevitable snarky comments.

Dumbledore noticed the girl’s shoulders slump with relief as she thanked him and headed towards the door of the Great Hall. He could understand her reaction well. To entertain the likes of Lucius Malfoy was certainly not a pleasurable task. ‘And Charis?’ he called behind her.

‘Yes, sir?’

‘Thank you for your exemplary behaviour last night. You have done your House proud.’

Charis smiled shyly and thanked the Headmaster once more before entering the hall and joining Jack at the breakfast table.

Jack, of course, was surprised. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be entertaining Bollockchops Malfoy?’ he asked Charis as she slunk on to the bench beside him.

Charis grinned. ‘Apparently, dear Bollockchops had some personal business to attend to and will not be inspecting the school today. So I’m off the hook, thank Merlin,’ she replied, reaching over and helping herself to a couple of fat, greasy sausages and some hash browns.

‘Personal business, eh?’ Jack asked suspiciously as he poured them both some coffee. ‘Looks like it’s got nothing to do with Bollockchops Junior over there,’ he added, his eyes flicking towards the Slytherin table. ‘That one has been cackling away like Babbity Rabbity’s Stump all morning.’

Charis looked over at the Slytherin table and sure enough, she saw that Draco was horsing around with his cronies and sniggering away like he did not have a care in the world. Her eyes narrowed as she watched, and once again she felt a feeling of dread about the possibility of being related to that disagreeable twit. But of course, they would only find out for sure once she and Jack had managed to get hold of the missing birth and marriage certificates.

As if reading her mind, Jack leaned forwards conspiratorially. ‘Shall we meet at break time and send off those owls, then?’ he asked her quietly.

‘Sure,’ Charis replied with a small smile. She did not want to admit to Jack that she was scared of Lucius’ threat, but at the same time she wanted to know one way or the other if she had any Wizarding blood in her.

She chewed on a sausage thoughtfully, wondering how long they would have to wait to get a response from each of the registrars, and her eyes once more fell to the Slytherin table, but this time to the seat that was normally occupied by Morgana, which was this morning unusually empty.

Strange, she thought herself. Even though Morgana had never been too keen on breakfast and had been suffering from morning sickness lately, she always attended breakfast. Then Charis thought of Malfoy’s excuse for not inspecting the school today, and her face fell. What if Malfoy’s personal business had something to do with Morgana’s absence this morning?

The worried look on her face was not missed by Jack. ‘It’s Morgana, isn’t it?’ he asked gently, noticing that Charis was once more looking towards the Slytherin table.

Charis nodded, looking at him with sad eyes. ‘It’s not like her to miss breakfast,’ she pointed out. She did not, however, mention the strange dream she’d had last night. She had dreamt of the necklaces she and Morgana had once been wearing. And one of the stars had been glowing crimson.

‘You miss her, don’t you, kitten?’ Jack asked, placing his hand lightly on her back.

‘Very much,’ she replied quietly, looking down. And she wondered if Morgana missed her, too. Somehow, she doubted it. Probably, Morgana was out having breakfast with Malfoy, celebrating the pureblood baby they were about to have. Why would she even spare a thought for the little Ravenclaw Mudblood that had once been her friend?

* * *

Snape was just about to close the classroom door after the last NEWT student when he heard hurried footsteps from the far end of the corridor. He paused. Who would be running along the dungeon corridor at this time of the morning? All the students had classes to attend, and his NEWT class was complete. Well, complete apart from one particular student. But after last night’s events, Snape severely doubted that Morgana would show up, despite her comment about wanting to return to her favourite class. Hopefully, his Sleeping Potion was working and the girl was sound asleep in the hospital wing.

But Morgana wasn’t in the hospital. She was hurrying down the corridor that led to the Potions classroom with her school robes billowing around her and her heels clicking against the stone floor. She had planned to sneak out of the ward while Poppy was at breakfast, but the mediwitch had returned early, and it had taken Morgana about fifteen minutes to persuade her that she was fine and ready to attend classes. Hence, she was running late.

Snape frowned as he caught sight of the girl. She was carrying herself tall, and the only things that suggested that anything was out of order were her pale face and her red-rimmed eyes. But then again, she had looked unhealthy for days. It was unlikely that anyone would notice a difference today.

When Morgana came closer, Snape raised a questioning eyebrow at her. He had a good mind to send her back to Poppy or at least to her dormitory. But he doubted that his – by any means well-meant – advice would be well received. The girl was stubborn, to say the least, and proud. She would not want him to patronise her.

Carefully, he reached out for her, but while her mind had been wide open the night before, it was now firmly closed. And Snape withdrew. He could sympathise with her need for privacy. He had seen her at her worst last night, and that experience had been painful enough – for both of them.

Dark eyes met blue ones for a moment, and Snape contemplated what he should say. To ask the girl about how she was doing seemed absurd. And as abysmal as she was feeling, Snape knew that she would not tell him, not in the corridor outside the Potions classroom for anyone to hear. His asking would only force her to lie. So he did not ask.

Morgana did not know what to say either. She had no words to express her gratitude, no words to tell her teacher how much it had meant to her that he had been by her side last night. And what would Severus Snape reply if she said something as trivial as thank you? He would probably just sneer at her and tell her to hurry up so he could get his lesson started.

And so Morgana opted for a shy smile, hoping that he would understand, and Snape nodded at her before welcoming her into his classroom with a sweeping gesture of his arm.

Morgana slunk inside the classroom, and as Snape closed the door behind her, he noticed the girl hesitating. The reason for it was obvious: the only free seat was the one right in front of the teacher’s desk, the seat Morgana had occupied since her very first lesson, the seat next to Charis Byrne.

For a moment, Morgana considered leaving again and cursed her stubbornness. What had she been thinking? Why had she not listened to Poppy’s advice and stayed in bed? Why had she insisted on attending Potions? But it was too late to turn around now. Snape had closed the door, and if she left now, everyone would notice. So she walked to the front of the classroom with Snape right behind her and took her old seat beside the blonde Ravenclaw who had once been her best friend and whom she now barely dared to look at. She had not been fair to Charis the last time they had spoken. She had been the one to return the necklace, the symbol of their friendship. And she had been sorry ever since. But Slytherins were not known to apologise.

Charis watched as her former best friend slipped onto the stool beside her and noticed that Morgana was resolutely avoiding her gaze. She looked tired and sad, so incredibly sad. And for the second time that morning, Charis couldn’t help but wonder if Morgana missed her as much as she missed Morgana.

Sure, she had Jack to study with, and he was great fun and had been a complete rock for her. But she missed the near-telepathy she had shared with her Star Sister, and sometimes there were things she needed to share which she could only tell a girl. She had not, for instance, been able to tell Jack anything about the situation with Snape, and the only way she could release those feelings was to sob gently by herself in her dorm at night. She needed her Star Sister. But did her Star Sister need her anymore?

‘What are you doing here?’ Charis whispered. She was genuinely surprised. Morgana had not attended any Potions lessons since the start of her pregnancy. It was too dangerous for the baby. By Merlin, did that mean ...? ‘Are you alright?’

Morgana raised her head so fast that Charis was afraid the Slytherin would snap at her. But the expression on Morgana’s face was soft, and when she spoke, her voice was trembling slightly. ‘The baby’s gone,’ she whispered so no one but Charis would hear.

‘What? What do you mean, gone?’ Charis looked puzzled for a moment, but then her Ravenclaw brain put two and two together. She had not been the only one to see that Morgana had looked like owl droppings for weeks. Even some of her House mates had pointed out that the Slytherin seemed ill. And now she said that the baby was gone. Had she miscarried? Merlin, that would be so dreadful!

All Charis wanted to do at that moment was to offer an embrace to her friend. Yes, her friend. They might have had a terrible fight, and they might both have said things they regretted and then not spoken for weeks. But the tremble in Morgana’s voice and her puffy, red eyes suggested that she was suffering. And fight or no fight, Charis’ heart went out to Morgana.

‘Sweetie ...’

Charis extended her hand to lend her friend comfort, but the Slytherin flinched away.

‘Don’t touch me!’

Morgana’s words made Charis withdraw her hand as if she had been hit with a whip. Any trace of softness had disappeared from Morgana’s voice, and the iciness of her tone was only matched by the cold look in her eyes.

‘You will be brewing an antidote today. An antidote to snake venom, to be precise.’ Snape’s commanding tone made the two girls break eye contact, and they directed their attention to their teacher.

‘As you hopefully know by now, most antidotes contain a small amount of the venom they are supposed to counteract,’ Snape went on. ‘This is why you need to learn how to milk snakes.’ He lazily flicked his wand, and on every desk appeared a glass container, each enclosing a snake: vipers, rattlesnakes, adders; a collection of some of the most dangerous snakes in the world.

‘These snakes are no pets,’ Snape warned. ‘One bite will suffice to send you to the hospital wing. If you are lucky.’

He opened the container on his desk, and the whole class flinched as the bluish-black Krait bared its fangs and hissed menacingly.

‘To milk the snake, you will – naturally – need to pick it up. For that, you must get a firm grip around the snake’s head, preferably without being bitten.’ He sneered and let his gaze wander around the classroom. ‘Watch closely as I demonstrate how to do this, since I will only show it once.’

He calmly studied the snake for a few moments, then – without warning – his hand shot into the glass container as fast as lightning, and he picked up the snake as nonchalantly as if it were a Pygmy Puff. ‘Whatever you do, do not let go of the snake. If you drop it, it will strike.’

He picked up a little vial with his free hand and held it towards the snake’s nose. ‘As you can see, there is a membrane stretched over the receptacle. The firmness of your grip behind the snake’s head will bring its fangs to the fore as thus.’ Promptly, the Krait opened its mouth, revealing a pair of deadly fangs. Snape didn’t bat an eyelash.

‘Bring the snake’s head close to the edge of the receptacle, and it will bite instinctively,’ he went on, as he brought vial and snake closer together. ‘Pressure will be applied to the venom glands, and the venom will collect in the receptacle. Simple.’

The snake latched on, and the yellow coloured venom trickled slowly down the inside of the vial.

‘I will supervise each student separately when you are milking your snake,’ Snape explained as he removed the vial from the snake’s mouth and put the animal back into its container. ‘Once you have collected enough venom, I will help you release your snake and put it back where it belongs.’ He fixed the class with a serious look. ‘Do not be fooled. Just because your snake has just released a massive amount of its venom into a vial, does not mean that its supplies are exhausted. If you are bitten, you might die.’

One of the Hufflepuff girls in the back row gave a little squeaking noise, but if Snape had heard it, he had the good grace to ignore it. ‘Those of you who are waiting to be supervised,’ he instructed, ‘will occupy themselves by studying the chapter on antidotes starting on page three hundred and ninety four. And keep your mouths shut for a change.’

Once all the students had opened their books, silence settled over the classroom, only disrupted by the occasional hissing of a snake and Snape’s hushed instructions. He kept a close eye on his students. So far, he had never had to send anyone to the hospital wing due to a snake bite. He had an antidote in his pocket and his wand ready to Stun any snake that seemed too aggressive. And besides, he had not distributed the snakes randomly. He knew his students and his snakes. Those students who had been given a highly poisonous or aggressive snake would undoubtedly be able to handle it.

Morgana kept her eyes firmly on her book, but she did not take in a single word. She could not concentrate. Why? Why had she not stayed in the hospital wing? She should have known that Charis would wonder why she had returned to Potions. She should have known that Charis would understand that something had happened to the baby. And she should also have known that Charis would care enough to ask how she was doing.

Sweet, kind Charis. Morgana could feel the Ravenclaw look at her from the other side of the table, but she did not dare look up and meet her green eyes. She knew that those green eyes would be filled with kindness and understanding, and she did not know how to handle it. She wasn’t worthy of it, Morgana was very certain of that. She had agreed to sell her soul to the devil, and her actions had cost an innocent life. Someone like her did not deserve any kindness.

‘Miss Byrne, your turn.’

Charis hastily put her book aside and looked up at Snape, who was towering in front of her. She had heard him tell off the student behind her, and the look on his face made it very clear that he would not like it if she confessed that she was scared to death of the snake. But her hands were shaking when she opened the container, and when the lid clinked against the edge of the glass, the rattlesnake hissed and struck. Charis jumped and almost dropped the lid.

‘Steady, Miss Byrne,’ Snape said in a low voice. ‘You startled the snake. Now it is frightened. It does not understand what is going on and therefore strikes out in order to defend itself.’ He took the lid from Charis and placed it back on the container. ‘You need to be patient. Once the snake has calmed down, you will be able to handle it.’

Snape’s eyes darted towards Morgana just to lock onto Charis’ moments later. He wasn’t deaf. He had heard the murmured conversation between the girls at the beginning of the lesson. And he had heard Morgana hiss at her friend. Just like the snake in the glass container, the girl was scared and trying to defend herself. And as any Slytherin, she defended herself by hissing and baring her fangs.

The symbol of Slytherin House wasn’t a serpent just because Salazar Slytherin had been a Parselmouth. It was a serpent because that animal best represented the members of Slytherin House.

‘I recommend slow, temperate movements, Miss Byrne,’ Snape continued. ‘Be patient.’ Hopefully, the Ravenclaw would understand that he was not just talking about the snake but also the red-haired girl who was hiding behind her Potions book with her jaw clenched and her shaking hands buried in the folds of her robes. Hopefully, Charis would have the patience to wait until Morgana had calmed down enough to accept any kind of help.

‘Miss Belakane, your turn.’

Morgana closed her book and observed the snake in the container in front of her: a beautiful, olive green Tiger Snake with a highly potent neurotoxic venom that would certainly guarantee a trip to St. Mungo’s if she were bitten. And if she were bitten on a sensitive spot, at the wrist maybe, right into the artery ...

‘Do not get any stupid ideas now, Miss Belakane.’

Snape’s voice had not been much more than a whisper, and still it made Morgana jump. Was he using Legilimency on her? Was that how he knew what she had been thinking? And where had those dark thoughts come from anyway?

She blinked and then removed the lid from the container with a steady hand. The snake did not even move. It was easy to pick it up, and had it not so willingly latched on to the glass vial, Morgana would have suspected that Snape had put a Calming Spell on the animal to keep her from hurting herself.

‘Well done, Miss Belakane,’ Snape murmured and took the snake from the girl, relaxing his grip around his wand. He had indeed been prepared to keep her from doing anything irrational. There was a dark cloud hanging over the girl and evil demons were tugging at her mind. He could sense that clearly, no matter how much she was trying to shield off her mind from him. And he could not blame her for her thoughts. He had been in that dark place himself many, many times. He knew how lonely a place it was and how desperate one was to get away from there at any cost.

‘Wow, Morgana, that was awesome,’ Charis whispered as Snape had left their table. She was truly impressed. ‘How can you be so calm when handling a snake? Will you teach me one day?’

‘You don’t want me to teach you anything,’ Morgana snapped, wishing that Charis would stop being nice to her. The sweet Ravenclaw should not even be close to a foul being like herself.

Charis had already opened her mouth when Snape interrupted. ‘Since I hope that all of you are able to read, I will not explain the recipe any further. You have your instructions, you have your venom, and you have exactly one hour to brew your antidote. You may begin. Miss Byrne, my office. And bring your snake.’

Charis swallowed drily. This was the first time she had failed to carry out one of Snape’s assignments. All the other students had managed to milk their snakes. Surely, he was going to give her a good telling-off in his office now. With shaking hands, she picked up the container containing her rattlesnake and followed Snape into his office.

‘Put the container on the table over there,’ Snape instructed once he had closed the door and shut out the noises from the classroom. ‘Let us try this again, shall we, Miss Byrne.’

As he took off the lid, the snake rattled its tail, and Charis flinched.

‘The rattling is not a sign of aggression, Miss Byrne,’ Snape explained. ‘The animal is scared. Let it calm down. Be patient.’

Charis looked up at her teacher. He seemed so calm and relaxed, as if the snake were indeed a Pygmy Puff. ‘I’m scared,’ she confessed, hoping Snape would not make fun of her admission.

‘That is only natural,’ Snape pointed out. ‘Be assured, it is not the snake’s intention to hurt you. Now, try.’

The snake lay still now, and Charis quickly reached into the container and grabbed the animal firmly by the neck. It struggled, but Charis did not let go.

‘Good,’ Snape commented and handed Charis a vial. ‘Now let it bite.’

When the snake had released its venom, Snape took it from Charis and put it back into its container. ‘Well done, Miss Byrne.’

‘Still think they’re scary,’ Charis replied, eying the snake suspiciously and drying off her sweaty palms at her robes.

‘Fascinating creatures, snakes,’ Snape mused. ‘Humans fear them like no other animal. They are said to be vicious and insidious, whereas in fact they only bite to defend themselves.’ He took his eyes of the rattlesnake and fixed Charis with a meaningful stare. ‘It is no coincidence that the Slytherin banner carries a snake.’

He pulled up a chair and beckoned Charis to sit while he leant against the table opposite her. His eyes didn’t leave hers for a second.

‘Slytherins, as you may have noticed, have a tough shell. They hide their emotions well. Mainly the positive ones, I am afraid. Slytherins will never cry for help, no matter how hurt or scared they are. Instead, they rattle their tail and bare their fangs, just like this snake.’

Charis shifted on her chair. Snape’s gaze had her transfixed, and she could not look away. Not that she wanted to. She had the feeling that her teacher was going to tell her something very important.

‘A Slytherin cannot ask for help,’ Snape continued. ‘It is against their nature. And when they are in a place of absolute darkness, when they need someone to take care of them, they hiss and strike out and scare people away. And then there is no one to hold on to and they fall. Into the darkness ...’

He knew what he was talking about. He, too, had lashed out against his best friend many, many years ago, in a time when he had needed her the most. He had scared her, and she had turned away. And he had fallen into the darkness, had been consumed by it and made the biggest mistake of his life. He had taken the Dark Mark. He had sold his soul.

He abruptly pushed himself from the table and started pacing the room. Merlin, how those two girls reminded him of himself and Lily. Charis was just as kind as Lily had been. Smart and loyal, a true friend. He had seen her reach out for Morgana today, and he had seen Morgana react like a true Slytherin: she had hissed and lashed out and hurt her friend. Just like he had.

He had observed those girls for almost seven years. They had been thick as thieves for so long, and, suddenly, they had fallen apart, at a time when they couldn’t afford to be alone. Now that Morgana had stepped onto the trail of darkness, she needed her friend more than ever.

‘Sometimes, Charis, one person’s fate depends on the actions of another,’ Snape continued. He was not looking at Charis now, but he could feel her eyes on him. ‘Sometimes, they need someone who grabs them firmly by the neck and hangs on no matter how much they struggle. It is just like that with snakes.’

He swirled around and saw Charis looking at him with her big, green eyes. She seemed in awe.

‘How much do you know?’

Charis swallowed to make the lump in her throat disappear. ‘I ... I know that something has happened to the baby. She ... Morgana said it is gone.’

Snape nodded slowly. The Ravenclaw had no idea, then, about the true cause of Morgana’s miscarriage. It appeared that Morgana had told her nothing about Dumbledore’s despicable plan or about Malfoy. It seemed as if the girls had drifted even further apart than he had feared.

What had made their friendship shatter, he wondered. The first time he had seen the girls fight had been shortly after New Year, shortly after Morgana had given herself to Lucius for the first time, shortly after he had pushed her away. Was that it? Was he the wedge that had driven them apart?

The realisation hit Snape like a Stunner. In the beginning of the school year, when he had noticed that the two girls were both trying to gain his attention, each in their own, specific way, he had found their competition quite amusing at first. And when Morgana had gained the upper hand he had tried to push Charis into trying harder. But he had lost control and gotten too close. Surely, Charis would have told her friend about the detention and even about the incident in the Room of Requirement. And competitive Slytherin as Morgana was, she would not have taken her defeat well. And Charis ...

Sweet, kind Charis. She was sitting there in front of him now, hanging on his lips and absorbing each and every one of his words like a sponge. Just like she always had. She admired him, looked up to him, loved him even, and he had used her in the most despicable way. At first, simply because he had been able to. Later because he had needed to. He had relished the power he had held over that gentle, innocent girl, and she had let him use her because she loved him. What a vile creature he was. One day, he would have to fall to his knees and beg this girl for forgiveness. But now, he needed to beg for her help. And he desperately hoped that she would listen to him.

‘Losing a baby is a painful experience, both physically and mentally,’ he went on. It was not his place to tell Charis the whole story. Morgana would have to do that herself. When she was ready. ‘At the moment, Morgana is hurt and very, very frightened, Charis. But she is a Slytherin. She will not ask for help. You and I both know that. Instead, she will hiss and struggle and make herself unapproachable. You have already tasted her poison today, have you not?’

Charis nodded silently. She had not understood Morgana’s reaction earlier. To be honest, it had first scared her and then upset her. She had tried to be friendly, and Morgana had thrown it back in her face.

‘I am aware that Morgana is lashing out like an angry viper at the moment. And I am also aware that is hard not to shrink away,’ Snape continued. ‘But she will not be able to keep her barriers up forever. One day, she will break. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but she will break. And what she will do then, I do not know.’

He saw the girl in front of him chew her lip. He could not even imagine how difficult this must be for her to understand. But he hoped that she was strong enough to stand up against Morgana’s insults and that she had the patience to wait until the Slytherin had calmed down.

‘I am begging you, Charis. Do not let Morgana fall. Be patient. Be there. Save her.’

Beetle-black eyes locked onto green eyes, and the green ones filled with tears. Charis had had no idea that Snape cared so much. The way he had treated her lately had made her believe that he truly was the cold-hearted bastard everyone made him out to be. But he was not. By the goddess, he was not. And she could not help but think that he had not only been talking about snakes and Morgana but also about himself. He, too, hissed at people and kept them at bay. Did he, too, do that because he was afraid of letting anyone come too close? Was he hurting, too?

Snape looked into Charis’ tear-filled eyes and carefully brushed her mind with his own. He found she was still open to him; even after all he had put her through. And in her eyes he found not only the pain he had caused her but also admiration and affection. In his surprise, he pulled away. Charis had every right to be angry with him, but she was not. She was hurting, but she held on. She was loyal, indeed. And although Snape was relieved the girl did not hate him, he needed Charis to show her loyalty now to her best friend.

He handed her the vial containing the rattlesnake poison as Charis nodded and wiped off her tears and gave her a moment to compose herself before turning on his heel and back into the classroom. Taking a deep breath, Charis hurried after him with the vial clutched in her hand.

The NEWT class was still busy brewing their antidotes, everyone except Morgana. She had finished and bottled hers about five minutes ago and had left the carefully labelled vial on her desk. And by the time Charis and Snape had returned to the classroom, she was already lying face down in her bed in the Slytherin dormitory, softly crying into her pillow and wishing that she had let the snake bite her after all.

* * *

Charis returned to her dorm after dinner that day and lay on her four-poster bed, staring at the deep blue canopy above. She had tried to find Morgana the whole day, but after Potions, she had not attended any other classes and had missed lunch as well as dinner. And Charis was increasingly worried for her friend.

Of course, losing the baby was going to be traumatic. And although Charis did not agree with Morgana’s supposed decision to keep the baby, she was not heartless and could see Morgana was genuinely upset, and she wanted to reach out to her and comfort her. But Morgana had pushed her away.

Charis hugged her pillow close to her chest. ‘A Slytherin will never cry for help,’ Snape had said. But dammit, Morgana did not need to cry. She, Charis, had offered her help. And Morgana had flinched away. What was it she was scared about?

Malfoy! The insight came to Charis out of nowhere. If Morgana had lost the baby last night, when Malfoy had been at the castle, then he would know. Was that why he had left? Had he left because he blamed Morgana for losing the baby? Was he angry with her?

Charis turned on to her stomach with a sigh. The last thing Morgana needed was Malfoy giving her a hard time. As incomprehensible as it was to Charis, Morgana seemed deeply in love with Lucius Malfoy. If he pushed her away, who would she have to turn to?

At that thought, Charis became very, very sad. She imagined Morgana all alone and suffering, and it broke her heart. She had to do something! She would not just sit back and watch her friend suffer. She thought back to Snape’s words about Slytherins often pushing people away when they needed them most, and suddenly a plan formed in her mind. She was going to hang on to that snake, even if it struggled and hissed and lashed out.

With renewed energy, Charis leaned forwards and opened her bedside cabinet to pull out a quill, some ink, a piece of parchment and a small box containing the necklaces she had made. Carefully, she opened the box and pulled out the necklaces, holding them up in the light. She gently squeezed one of the stars, thinking of Morgana, and to her surprise, the other star glowed blue.

The charm still works, she thought triumphantly. She hastily put her own necklace on, carefully put the other back inside the box and pulled a piece of parchment towards her.

What to write? she thought, brushing the quill up and down her chin. Where to begin? I’m sorry? I miss you? I’m here for you? None of it seemed to convey what she wanted to say. She fiddled absently with her necklace, looking for inspiration. They were the Star Sisters, born mere minutes apart. And even though they had not spoken for weeks, Charis wanted her friend to know that she was still right here, to support her if she needed it.

Suddenly, a smile appeared on Charis’ face. The shape of the star twinkling in the evening sunlight had given her a flash of inspiration. Dipping her quill into the ink, she wrote one simple line on the parchment and then tucked the note inside the box before calling for Winky.

---

A/N: Snakes mentioned in this chapter:

Adder: Adders are relatively short and robust with large heads and a rounded snout. Although an adder’s venom poses little danger to a healthy adult human, the bite is very painful and requires urgent medical attention.

Krait: Krait is the second most venomous snake in the world, black or bluish-black in colour with white narrow crossbands and a narrow head. Its venom is a powerful neurotoxin that causes respiratory failure.

Rattlesnake: There are approximately thirty species of rattlesnake, with numerous subspecies, varying in colouring and size. Most species of rattlesnakes have hemotoxic venom, destroying tissue, degenerating organs and causing coagulopathy (disrupted blood clotting).

Tiger Snake: Tiger Snake are olive to dark brown in colour above with yellowish or olive belly and crossbands. It has very potent neurotoxic venom that attacks the nervous system.

Viper: The Viperidae are a family of venomous snakes. All have relatively long hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of venom. Viperid venoms typically contain an abundance of protein-degrading enzymes, called proteases, that produce symptoms such as pain, strong local swelling and necrosis, blood loss from cardiovascular damage complicated by coagulopathy, and disruption of the blood clotting system. Death is usually caused by collapse in blood pressure.