The Tenth Rule

Chapter Seven



It was almost 8 o\'clock Monday evening, and with hearts thumping with dread and trepidation, both Alice and Bethany walked the long cold and dark corridor to Professor Snape\'s office in silence.



Neither girl was inclined to speak. All that could be said, had been said a hundred times over the weekend. Despite Bethany stating they should try and forget about it until they saw Snape, it did not work. Nothing was resolved, the tension around them and even between them was almost palpable. Recrimionsions and counter recriminations were tossed back and forth to each other, even their housemates noticed the strain between them and sympathised that detention with Snape was enough to make anyone a nervous wreck.



Their year and house didn\'t have Potion\'s lesson on Monday\'s, so neither Bethany nor Alice had seen Snape, apart from meal times. He had ignored them completely, as he ignored all the students most of the time; methodically eating his food whilst half listening to whatever ter war was sitting beside him chatting to him animatedly, whilst he chewed, listened, nodded and occasionally made comment.



The weekend had seemed to drag on forever, so that by Monday, both girl\'s tensions were so taut their emotions were as fragile as finest glass. They were pale and their eyes shadowed through lack of sleep. Their concentration in their lessons were poor, and more than once Alice was reprimanded for not paying attention. They had hardly eaten any food since Friday and though both dreaded their next meeting with Snape, they also wishedwas was over and done with as soon as possible, thus knowing exactly what was to happen to them, and end this interminable worry.



\"I feel quite sick,\" muttered Alice mournfully as they arrived outside the large oak door.



\"Me too,\" whispered Bethany, \"but I think that\'s got to do with lack of food as much as being scared stupid!\"



They stood before the large, thick, heavily scarred old oak door, just staring at it. This was possibly the worst part of the whole gargantuan building of Hogwarts, the dungeon classrooms, storerooms and Professor Snape\'s office. Endless passageways of dark, cold stonewalled corridors full of shadows and gloom. What little illumination from the candles or flaming torches on the wall was meagre, and despite the number of years they had been at the school, they still found this part of Hogwarts chillingly creepy, though that had as much to do with the occupant of the room as the surroundings.



\"Oh this is ridiculous,\" muttered Bethany angrily, trying to find strength in her anger at her weakness, \"we mustn\'t let this bastard know he\'s got us in this state!\"



\"Bethany!\" Implored Alice in hushed tones. \"Don\'t aggravate him! You don\'t know, he might just let us off; but if you rile him...\"



\" I won\'t! But I don\'t want him to see us looking and acting so... pathetic...which we are right now!\"



Alice nodded and took a deep breath, a sudden determination flickering in her eyes. \"Oh come on, I can\'t stand this. Let\'s get it over and done with!\"



And with that, Alice suddenly banged on the door with the side of her fist three times. Though her hand stung from the impact the sound was nominal. However they heard the Potion Master\'s voice clear enough, sharp and sudden like a whiplash.



Pushing the heavy door open, they stepped inside, once again daunted by its dark and oppressive atmosphere. Professor Snape was sitting at his large desk; light cast from a single candle illuminated his immediate area. Piles of papers were at his left elbow and an even larger pile of papers was to his right. He paused momentarily from whatever he was writing to glance up at them both with his usual sour demeanour, before returning his attention to the manuscript before him. Refreshing the quill tip in the inkwell, he started to write again, the sound of the quill scratching the surface quickly. Both girls stood before his desk, not knowing whether to say anything or not. They both opted for silence. Finally after completing several sentences he placed the quill into a silver holder and looked up at them.



Alice once again felt that awful sense of vertigo looking down into his midnight eyes, Bethany fear and to her dismay, desire.



Prsor sor Snape regarded each girl in silence and without expression. He noticed they were in full uniform, some form of respect obviously which was in their favour, though it did pinch a little at his conscience. At least in their casual Muggle clothes they could almost pass as young women, here in their uniform they looked exactly what they were, young teenage students; but wasn\'t it that he found the more...exciting?



He had spent much of the weekend deliberating what he should do about them whilst he brewed potions, prepared ingredients, checked supplies, marked essays, and set the coming weeks lessons. Whilst his original idea become more and more tempting the more he thought of it, he weighed it against the crushing ignominy were he discovered. Were they really worth the risk?



With Voldemort and his followers defeated these many years, Professor Snape found himself in a void. Each day was the same, perpetual monotony and soul-destroying tedium. With such emotional, mental and physical stagnation he felt greater resentment then ever teaching unappreciative and totally untalented students who totally lacked any inspired inclination towards the gift of potion making. Despite the fact he had shown his loyalty for the good and assisted in the defeat of the Dark Lord, with of course the famous trio - thank the gods they have long since left though their fame continued to ring through the halls - once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater it seemed, and still to this day Professor Dumbledore denied him the position as teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Perhaps he was right to do so, because Snape had innate dark urges, desires and needs that longed to be satisfied though constantly denied, repressed. But with the recent years of boredom, repetitiveness and routine, he saw years of the same ahead. If breaking some of that monotony was to spice it with a taste of the forbidden now and again, then why not? Surely he was entitled to something? Some... comforts?



However, in a last ditch attempt to do what was right by the book and remove the temptation of these two girls, he decided to hand them over and their misdeeds to the headmaster, and let him deal with them, after all any rule breaking, misdemeanours, irregularities regarding the pupils that warranted detention or worse, had to be reported to the headmaster anyway. If Dumbledore did not want to deal with it personally then he could at least select another Professor or even Filch to set and oversee their detention. So he reported the incident of discovering Alice Pearson and Bethany Beddows out after curfew and worse for wear due to alcohol to the headmaster. Professor Dumbledore, with suppressed humour at Professor Snape\'s account of the incident, summoned the two girls report files. Afhalfhalf an hour of reading through them he decided that whilst they had broken two very strict Hogwarts Rules, neither girl had ever been reported for bad behaviour nor received detention before in all their years at Hogwarts, and as to their grades, apart from Potions, they were both above average.



The Professor declined Snape\'s request for having them expelled, but agreed their misdeeds were very serious indeed and decided that indefinite detention under the supervision of Professor Snape was more than sufficient punishment for them. Despite Snape\'s protestations Professor Dumbledore was adamant, stating detention with Snape would underline to the girls the true seriousness of their foolish actions therefore meriting punishment of equal measure.



It was decided then. Professor Dumbledore had put them in his hands. He had made an attempt to be rid of them by having them expelled, or transferred to another professor, sparing them his...attention. He requested Dumbledore to take charge of the situation, and he hadn\'t. They could have had detention with anyone else but didn\'t. Any shreds of guilty conscience towards his plans were now dispelled. He would do as he wished with them.



As Professor Snape had walked away from Dumbledore\'s office however, he knew he had to be very subtle in his plans, and be sure the headmaster did not have even tlighlightest idea of the eventual shift in the kind of detention he had in mind for those two girls.







Alice couldn\'t stand the silence. Though his face was totally expressionless, it was obvious in those eyes as black as pitch that he was thinking, considering, contemplating. Was that a good sign or not, she wondered? She swallowed, hating this waiting, but she kept silent, her small hands at her sides squeezed into tight fists, her nerves stretched to the limit.



Bethany looked back at Snape, fearful of what he was going to announce to them, yet mystified with the fact that whilst their future at Hogwarts hung in the balance right now, she couldn\'t help but admire his hair, black as a ravens wing and just as glossy, those eyes of ebony, the candlelight glinting upon them, the bold shape of his large hooked nose, and the deep lines either sif eaf each slim nostril that led to that firm, masculine mouth. A bitter, cold, mean and spiteful man though he was, she wondered if there was possibly a softer side to him that he kept locked away?



\"Were it left solely to me, I would have had you both expelled,\" Professor Snape announced coldly; \"but after consultation with Professor Dumbledore, and having taken into account your grades and your quality of work, though sadly lacking in potions, are quite surprisingly, above average. Weighed against your misdeeds he has declined expulsion, even temporary exclusion.\"



Professor Snape paused, observing their reaction to his news. Both girls tried their best not to show their excited relief too much at his words but failed miserably; their formally worried eyes cleared and glinted with joy, their posture relaxed immediately, and they glanced quickly at each other before composing themselves and looked back at him, their faces set.



Alice and Bethany were relieved beyond words. They were not going to be expelled! However they knew they were far from clear of trouble. The relief was tainted with shame however, and felt awful that the matter had been addressed to Professor Dumbledore. Apart from being their headmaster, he was a wizard whom both girls admired and respected greatly, and though they had never had direct dealing with the man, his kindness, and wise gentleness reached out and touched all. The last thing anyone would ever want to do is to disappoint him, fail him, let him down, and they knew they must have done just that.



\"The headmaster has assigned your full detention to me in whatever manner I choose appropriate for both of you for an indefinite period, subject to my discretion. As to the little illicit brewery you inadvertently brought to my attention, it is being...dealt with.\"



Both girls\' faces fell. Detention with Snape for an indefinite period might make them wish they had been expelled after all thought Alice despondently. As to his cryptic statement about the alcohol, did that mean Snape knew who it was? Had he not mentioned that part to Dumbledore? Was he dealing with that matter privately?



\"Your detention will commence every evening at eight o\'clock precisely and will continue until you have completed whatever task you have been set. This applies to every evening, yes Miss Beddows that includes weekends, so any plans you may have been looking forward to, going to Hogsmead for example, you can put aside indefinitely.\"



Professor Snape kept the satisfaction from his face as he observed the play of emotions across both girls’ faces as he spoke; relief, elation, shame, horror, panic, dread and now dismay. He pushed his chair back and stood up, his movements bold though fluid. The little candle flame flickered as though cowering.



\"Follow me.\" The dark menace in his velvet voice felt like ice water down the girls\' spines. The first detention was about to begin.