There wasn’t a soul in Hogwarts that didn’t know something about someone. Gossips were naive Hufflepuffs and insufferable Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws could not be commented on but gossips were neither needed nor required in the Slytherin dungeons. There was only one, that Cuffe girl, who seemed to know everything about everyone. She was just about tolerated. There were too many secrets in the dungeons. Slytherins kept themselves safe before anyone else. It was only after their own safety was confirmed that they extended any kind of protection to someone else. Perhaps the greatest example of that was in the 1940’s when an overly curious Hufflepuff ‘mysteriously’ died. To this very day only a handful know how he met his end and none are willing to divulge how.
It was a secret like that that made Slytherin an important place to know when to keep one’s mouth shut. Audrey was probably a great example of this also, having learned the price of being the object of someone’s affections. She’d paid her debt and had dealt, however poorly, with the loss that her foolishness had incited. She’d made her peace with the devil but she’d been scarred painfully by the punishment she’d endured. Now, to breathe was to be adventurous. Every movement was made with at least a minute or so of thought. Without that she could allow herself to be foolish. Taking that risk was not something Audrey would ever allow herself to do again. Perhaps it was just the frustration of living that made her so bitter, and not the experiences of life. But then, perhaps it was a mixture of both.
With her books hugged painfully close to her chest, Audrey swayed from side to side as she walked through the groups of milling students that were lingering in the corridors. She’d pulled her hair up in a severe bun and had made sure there wasn’t a single crease in her robes that morning. She hadn’t the time to hide the naturally occurring blemishes on her face, not that she cared to do so often. She had been woken many a time by appearance-conscious girls in the past. Admittedly, she’d been one of them in her desperation to impress the Slytherin ‘gentlemen’. Now she saw no need to do so. She had no one to impress anymore and saw no need to do so. She was quite comfortable being the heinous bitch everyone had good reason to despise; it was a label that she seemed to revel in.
It was a drastic improvement from being called naive at every turn by her mother. Now she’d gained a label she’d intended on receiving. It allowed her to have the privacy she craved. No one dared speak to her now, for fear of the cutting remarks she’d made sure she’d quickly become known for at the start of the year. Some would have been hurt by the avoidance, Audrey was grateful for it.
Soon enough, Audrey came upon the double doors of the girl’s bathroom that had been considered ‘Out of Order’ for as long as she could remember. Instead of turning the corner though, Audrey paused and watched the movement of a shadow underneath the door. Her eyes narrowed a little and she looked up from the door. She lifted her eyes from one end of the corridor to the other and once she was content she was by herself, Audrey removed her wand from her pocket. She lifted it carefully and whipped it forwards before drawing it back again. It was a rather large movement for the spell and she watched with a satisfied purse of the lips as the door clicked open.
Stepping forward, Audrey pocketed her wand once more and brought her hand down on the brass doorknob. She reapplied her grip on the cool metal before thrusting it forward. She took a step back, her hand quickly releasing the door, and watched as the room was revealed. The light was muffled somewhat by the dirty windows but the structure inside matched the castle. Toilet stalls were off to the left hand side, and to the right, but what caught Audrey’s eye were the sinks; and more importantly, her reflection.
Forgetting her place, and her head, Audrey bit down on her bottom lip and glided into the bathroom, her eyebrows furrowing as she drew nearer to the mirrors. She pressed her books down on the basin and lifted her eyebrows away from her eyes, smoothing her wrinkled forehead out as she did so. Audrey bit her lip just that little bit harder and reached for the tap. Her fingers slipped and a sharp intake of breath passed her lips at the rough texture that was not consistent with the cloudy yet soft metal that allowed the water to flow. Audrey leaned down and instantly her eyebrows furrowed once more at the sight of a perfectly formed Slytherin snake emblazoned onto the tap.
It was then that Audrey heard a voice and immediately the thoughts she had of the snake disappeared. She rose to her full height and pushed herself away from the sinks, allowing her books to tumble to the ground with a deafening thud. For the second time, her breath punctured the air as she inhaled and she hurried towards the books. Audrey knelt down and scooped them towards her chest, retightening the belt she’d put around them so she wasn’t constantly worrying about them slipping from her grasp.
It was only once she was sure that the books were firmly back in her arms that Audrey began to slowly walk around the side of the sinks. Slowly, a girl perhaps a year or so older than her came into view before one of the sinks. She was rather beautiful in her own right with expressive eyes and long blonde hair. Audrey bit her lip and squared her shoulders before recalling the words the girl had spoken. “Because Ernie slept with Carli not a week after he had Casey.” Audrey finished slowly for the girl. "That's right I believe."
by Piper Handler Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:41 am
