Blackeyed Girl

@MaryJane: I had no idea you had posted so many reviews! That’s so much! I had thought you might have lost interest in the story and was nervous reading them. But it was great and very useful to read! In fact your feedback made me go back over a couple of chapters I had already written but not published yet because I felt I had lost some little things out of sight that I realised as more important after reading your reviews. It was great inspiration, thank you!

Yeah, the song was not want I had in mind when I came up with the title, however there is another song called “school house” which my friend wrote and it was a huge inspiration for this story.
It was interesting to read how you compared Eleanor with Kirsty (from my other story). Yes they are very different. Kirsty was proud to be the oddball. Eleanor is terrified of it. Eleanor is generally a lot harder to write because she is kind a passive, she wants to be so proper. :)
About Lucius (btw in this story he is not in prison), but yeah you are right, if he and Snape are really friends here he can not really abuse Eleanor in the way I would love, hehe… you’ll just have to wait and see what will happen and what won’t. (I have written Lucius 1st chapter already and he is mad with glee that he can go crazy in my dirty mind again. hehe).
About the vampire, I saw a picture of Sanguini from the 6th film and found him really cute and I always liked his little moment in the books at Slughorn’s party. So I wanted to write him in.



Hope you keep enjoying this story and anyone else reading this. Would be great to hear from you. This chapter is also not betaed. Anyone interested?

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Chapter 9

Catching Condition



It was for the second time that Ginny and Luna knocked on the door of Snape's private laboratory. They had been there the evening before, one day after the accident but Snape had send them away, telling them that Eleanor was in no state to see visitors. They had not argued but announced that they would be back. And here they were again, 24 hours later. Snape opened, looking down at them as though he was waiting for the unnecessary explanation why they were there.



“How is Eleanor? Can we see her?” asked Ginny. Snape frowned but stepped aside to let them in. As they entered they saw Eleanor in her hospital bed near the window. Luna skipped towards her and pulled the kitten Molly from under her cloak.



“See who I broad!”



“The cat”, answered Snape dryly from his position at a lab table where he was carefully mixing some liquids together, his eyes shifting distrustfully to the girls again and again, “What a plesant surprise”, he added sarcastically and gave one last disapproving look at them before turning his attention back to his work.



“Molly”, Eleanor exclaimed in a joyful whisper, taking the cat from Luna and pulling it to her chest. Molly struggled free immediately, not caring much about her reunion with her owner. Exited about the undiscovered new territory the kitten slipped out of her arm and vanished under the blanked.



“Forgive me”, said Ginny with a dramatically apologetic expression and handed over two books, “Transfiguration and History of Magic homework.”



Eleanor merely smiled. She was touched. This was what she had desperately missed and not only since the accident. It was probably the first time that she really felt that she had friends.



Luna's eyes widened as she asked: “What was it like? Did your life run past before your eyes? Did your blood turn green?” Eleanor shook her head silently. What had it been like? She couldn't tell and even if she could wouldn't have.



“Was it all mysterious?” asked Ginny and her face turned a little devious and she added in a whisper, “Did you enjoy it a little bit?”



Eleanor shook her head again, her expression neutral, which sobered Ginny instantly: “Well, how are you feeling. You’re coming back to class soon?”



“I'm okay but Professor Snape says I should stay in bed till tomorrow. Might come back the day after tomorrow.”



“That's good news. The others are asking about you, you know.”



“What others?”



“Well”, Ginny shot a quick glance at Snape, “your friends, Ellie.” she raised an eyebrow to make Eleanor understand.



“Oh”, Eleanor went.



“They are very sorry that they upset you”, she continued emphasizing the THEY unnaturally.



“Oh”, Eleanor repeated, “It's okay.”



“You can tell him yourself when he apologises to you”, she paused, “I'm sorry as well... that we didn't go look for you sooner.”



“It was my fault, wasn't it”, said Eleanor.



“Well, he was kind of a hunk... in a weird way”, Ginny smiled wickedly and Eleanor felt a weight lift of her chest. Maybe she was not quite so rotten for falling for the vampire after all.



“It is getting late, don't you have some detention to go to, Miss Weasley?” Snape called from across the room. Ginny slowly turned her face to him, her expression suddenly dark.



“It is not Saturday, Sir.”



“In any case, it is time you leave. And take the cat with you.”



“Can Molly please stay”, Eleanor called out.



“Of course, if you insist for her to poison herself. This is a laboratory with 47 deadly poisons accessible for a kitten.”



Wordlessly Eleanor shoved Molly back in Luna's arm.



Snape followed the two girls to the door but before they could walk away Snape called Ginny back.



“Miss Weasley. I would like you to deliver a message.”



Ginny turned around waiting.



“You can give Mr Potter my thanks for rescuing Miss Prince”, he said somewhat awkwardly. Ginny raised a surprised eyebrow. Snape continued, “You can also tell him that he can except a great deal of trouble for himself if he ever interferes with her life again in any way.”



“Well”, said Ginny, crossing her arms in front of her, “I don't think I could deliver this message with quite so much gratitude. You better tell him yourself, Sir.” She emphasized the last word.



His face darkened: “Still not learned to keep that insolence out of your voice? I will have to complain to Flich for going too easy on you.”



Ginny rolled her eyes and turned around to leave.

The next day Eleanor paced around the large table in the middle of the lab, her long fingers tracing the edge tentatively. Her big black eyes were fixed on the cauldron in the middle. And she circled it like a tiger its pray.



“So”, said Snape and turned towards her and the table after he had selected the last ingredient he needed from his store cupboard, “would you mind cutting these roots for me?”



He put them on the tabletop.



Eleanor looked up at him, her eyes in wonder: ”Are you really showing me how to make veritaserum?”



“I'm not showing you. You're going to make it yourself.” he said and shoved the roots closer to her. She stared down at them as though they were a gift from some kind of God, “if you please.” Snape added waiting for her to get started and becoming almost fidgety at her passivity.



Eleanor took the knife in front of her and started cutting. Snape observed her.



“Thinner”, he instructed almost in a whisper as though he did not want the room around them to notice he was helping her. Eleanor did her best to cut the roots as thin as she could, concentrating hard. He started prepared other ingredients while she continued cutting the roots, but his eyes were almost constantly on her, observing how she was doing and sometimes, ever so quietly, directing an instruction or criticism at her. He did not fail to see the spark in Eleanor's eyes. It was clear, she was fascinated purely by cutting up roots in the prospect of making veritaserum, a highly advanced and powerful potion only taught on NEWT level.



And he could not help but be pleased that she was so interested in the same things he valued. It made him feel better made him push his disappointment a little to the back of his mind.



Eleanor was entirely focused on her work and yet she recognised the one or other thought crossing her mind once in a while, which was unrelated to the potion, but very much related to the man across from her. She had almost exclusively been with him the last view days. He had been angry with her and rightly so, but he had taken care of her. He had not dismissed her to the hospital wing. He had cared for her personally, made sure she got better. And now he taught her how to make veritaserum. She knew he did not need her help. In fact she was sure he would have been a lot faster doing it himself. She felt deep gratitude and trust towards him because of all this. But there was this other thing; her friends had talked about before her accident. There was so much to him that seemed inscrutable. Who was he? Without looking up she only saw a blurred, dark outline of the man working next to her. He used to be a Deatheater, a supporter of You-Know-Who, a criminal... killer... and Harry thought he still might be. Did Professor Snape know what Harry Potter thought of him? Was this why he hated Harry so much and wanted her to stay away from him so desperately? Did he think she would not find out what students thought of him if she stayed away from Harry? Or did he hate Harry because it was true and he was working for Harry's and the world’s greatest enemy? Somehow she did not believe it. She remembered what Hermione had said. Maybe it really only was in Harry’s mind. But even if he was with Dumbledore now, he had done all these horrible things in the past? She tried not to care about any of it, but she could not prevent it from popping up in the far back of her mind.

And every time she looked at him, she remembered what she had seen him do with that girl from the village. She still could not make sense of it. But she was far from asking him questions. Deatheater or not, non of it was her business.



“Stop”, Snape suddenly said and stepped over to her. Eleanor looked up at him in surprise and then looked down at her chopped mereal grass.

He stepped closer to her, took the knife out of her hand.



“I told you it is important that you cut at a 180 degree angle so you release the right fluids from the grass. This is important. Like this, see”, he cut the grass for her, his shoulder brushing hers. He still spoke quietly and softly. There was no sarcasm or critic in his tone of voice. She had noticed that he used a very different tone when other students were present.



Suddenly it knocked on the door. They both looked up. After a moment of hesitation Snape went for the door and opened. Eleanor looked up, her mouth opening in surprise. It was the girl from the village, cloaked and hooded as last time when she first saw her in the streets where Snape had approached her.



Snape seemed to hesitate again as he only stood in the open door, apparently staring at her. She looked up at him sweetly with her doll-like eyes.



“What are you...”, Eleanor, who was trying not to pay too much attention, heard him say.



The girl interrupted him, speaking so quiet, Eleanor could hardly hear, “I thought I come by and say hi.... and let you know it's on the house tonight if you play nice...who is that?”, she looked past him and spotted Eleanor. Snape grabbed her and shoved her out the door. The door fell shut behind them.



Only minutes later Snape came back into the room looking slightly flustered. He came back to the table and started cutting his own mereal grass rather aggressively. Eleanor looked up at him shyly. She did not intend to say or ask anything but Snape caught her looking at him and snapped: “What?”



Eleanor looked down, not responding and continued to cut her grass. Snape did not pay any attention to her until they finished for the day, letting the potion stew. Eleanor went to bed in her hospital bed over in the corner and Snape disappeared through the back door, which lead to his private champers.



Much later that night Eleanor suddenly woke out of a light sleep. She thought she had just dosed off when she heard a door. It wasn't any of the doors to the lab, but somewhere near by. She heard muffled voices. She got up, finding her way to the door to Snape's chambers in the dark and ever so slowly opened it slightly. She saw Snapes outline slowly stepping backwards from the main door towards the middle of the room. Light from the torches in the hallway threw flashing shadows into the room, the shadow of a woman. Eleanor tried to look to the main door without opening her own door too much. There was the girl again. She stood before Snape now with the same attentive and slightly tense look in her eyes as she stared back at him. Eventually Snape walked towards her slowly. He started unbuttoning her cloak just as slowly. She girl remain entirely passive. Eleanor's eyes widened, the woman was naked under her cloak. She had large breasts and rich hips; her skin was of a warm, fleshy colour in the light of the fire, her eyes pools of warm hazelnut brown. Snape’s hand brushed slowly down her naked breast. Eleanor thought for a moment she was smiling, but she seemed sad at the same time: “Please”, the girl mouthed and hardly spoke the word as she, tentatively started to fidget with the hem of his shirt as thought she was not sure what to do with it and she mouthed again almost without a sound escaping her: “please, Severus...just once...just once.”

Snape removed his hand from her and said only little louder: “ I don’t want alms.”



She shrugged softly and lowered her face to the ground: “Fine. But… I do… please…”



Snape didn’t reply. She looked up at him again pleading and hopeful. She reached out a small, plum hand and traced the buttons on his jacket. Finally he said:



”I don’t pay for love.”



The girl sighed tiredly in frustration, balled her hand into a fist and in a powerlessly defeated motion brought it against his chest where it rested and she lay her head against his chest as though she wanted to cuddle.



Snape hesitated then he took her wrists and carefully but firmly removed the girl from him. Once she was an arm length away he let go of her.



The girl held her wrist and looked back at him: “I’m not talking about love. But aren't I asking only a tiny little thing of you in comparison to what I give you all the time?”



Snape backhanded her. Eleanor had to control herself for not pulling her door shut loudly in surprise.



“If I am asking too much of you get lost and find someone else less demanding”, he said.



The girl had her face turned to the side. She did not move her head from where his slap had directed it.



“And what will you do then, hm?” she answered and slowly straightened and turned her face back to look at him, “leave things to your imagination again? Go out find some other whore? Listen to all the complains and the whining…”



“I am getting a great deal of that from you.”



“But I still let you do it all, don’t I? You need me because I can take it, no matter what it is. You need me for all those dirty and mean, perverted games…”



He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her roughly closer to his face. She had to jump to her toes to meet his demand. Then he whispered angrily: “I’m not so sure anymore. Shell we test that?”



The girl hesitated in his painful grip then she said: “If we must…”

She managed to look into his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment then Snape hissed:



“Here is the situation: I don't need you. I don't want you. I only have you because you are there.”



“That’s not true. I have no idea how you manage to fool everyone. You are such a bad liar.” she replied. He released her. She stumbled a few steps away from him.



“I don't care what you think.”



“I know.



She straightening up and pulled the cloak off her shoulders to stand completely naked in front of him, except for her high boots. She looked back at him and waited.



Snape walked towards her and once again stroke with his hand over her naked skin. She closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying the rare soft touch.



Eleanor could see Snape pulling his wand from the inside of his cloak. He pointed it at her private place and muttered a spell that he hardly had to speak out loud.



The girl tensed and her face screwed up in discomfort or pain. She started whimpering but fought to suppress most of it. Snape’s left hand grabbed her neck to hold her in place even though she did not attempt to step away. Eleanor felt sickness overcoming her.



He continued the spell but now apparently nonverbal as he started kissing and sucking on her neck and shoulder. The girl started crying quietly. He stopped the spell eventually and pushed her over to another door. They disappeared inside, the girl’s sad face hidden on his shoulder.



Eleanor silently closed her door and walked back through the darkness to her bed. She sat down on the side of the bed and looked out the window. It was dark and raining outside. But in the dark she could still see the hills far away against the dark sky. She suddenly felt so alone. And there was something else too. What she had seen was different from the last time. She felt so strange. It almost seemed to her as though she had caught some kind of infection of the girl. She felt sad and fearful and yet longing, and she did not know what about. She did not know what the girl was talking about, what she was seeking. Why did she come to Snape freely and let him treat her like this, even offering to do it for free? She did not seem to have enjoyed it the last time. It had seemed clear that the money he gave her was all she got out of the encounter. And now she had come to him begging for something, perhaps just tenderness? If that was so, why did it not bother her at all when he hit her? Eleanor didn’t understand the logic behind any of it but she somehow recognised what the girl was feeling, and it was an emotion she had not felt in a long time and never like this. She had pushed anything that felt remotely like it to the far back of her conscious and now she was facing it. She hugged herself and wished desperately that at leased Molly was there with her. She could sneak back to the Ravenclaw dormitories. She was not supposed to go back until two days from now but she felt fine and what difference did it make? She had enjoyed spending time with Snape and working with him, but at night she was all-alone again and every night became harder. And she didn’t really want to be in her dorm, everyone around her would be sleeping anyway. She just desperately wanted to be with someone, someone close, and someone who wanted to be with her.