294A.N. So far, the only pairings are Usagi/Draco. There is NO Snape/Granger, no Draco/Luna and so far no Pansy/Ron. I only read stories with those pairings and decided to have them interact. Also, I was going over this story in my head, and I've decided I may or may not deal with HBP. Also, sorry for the shortness. School is taking up my time.
Chapter 12: The Ultimate Question
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"Granger's in love with you."
Snape paused for a moment before going back to whatever he was writing. "Is that all?"
Usagi was filled with shock and anger. "What is wrong with you? I just told you Granger was in love with you!"
"I heard."
"What do you have to say?"
Snape put his quill down. "Will you never leave?"
"Nope." Usagi shook her head. "Not until you share."
"Share?" He asked, eyebrow arched.
"Your thoughts and your feelings."
"You are…infuriating."
"…"
Snape put his quill down and glared at her. "Every year or so, some brainless idiot manages to convince herself that I am lonesome and in need of saving. They imagine themselves as the one to rescue me from the cold, dark dungeons. It is merely some schoolgirl's misplaced crush, and I do not care for Miss Granger's supposed feelings." He returned to his work.
"Supposed!" She cried. "Granger isn't some brainless idiot! She is in love with you!"
"Did she tell you so herself?" He was getting impatient. "Or did you assume? Miss Granger is hardly the type to announce her feelings to anyone, least of all you."
"I did not assume!" Usagi exclaimed angrily. "It was obvious! She was crying her eyes out, convinced you hate her-"
That little statement sparked the Potions Master's interest. "So the truth comes out."
"What do you mean the truth?" Usagi protested. "I wasn't lying."
"Miss Granger is not in love with me, as you so casually put it. She merely desires my admiration, my acceptance."
"Your admiration?"
"I'm sure Miss Granger is quite aware of the fact that she has all of the Hogwarts professors eating out of the palm of her hand. That is…except me. So she managed to convince herself and now you, that I have it in for her. That I loathe her with all of my being. But in reality, I couldn't care less for the little show-off. Miss Granger is extremely arrogant to think that I spend my valuable time plotting new ways to make her suffer. I have much better things to do with myself and my time." He stared at Usagi with contempt. "Are you satisfied now, girl?"
"Yes." She mumbled in defeat. "I guess so. "
"Good."
"Would it be so bad to show her a little appreciation."
"Ask me again when she's gone."He smirked malevolently. "Now take a seat."
"For what."
"To start on the veritaserum."
"But you said we wouldn't start that until next time!" Usagi protested.
"Since you decided to show up earlier than expected, it must mean you are confident you will be successful."
"But I'm not!"
"Then what are you doing here?" He found this quite amusing, she realized. Somewhere in his twisted mind, this was fun.
"I came to talk you."
"Maybe you aren't aware of it, but I am not your therapist."
"I-I-" Usagi stammered like an idiot.
"I suggest you gather the needed ingredients."
Usagi placed her things on a nearby desk. "Yes sir." She agreed halfheartedly.
X
Three hours later, Usagi was finally able to leave. Needless to say, she had failed. 'Maybe if he would give me the directions, I would have been able to do it.' She thought angrily. But no. She was supposed to have memorized the ingredients and the directions in the few days since the last lesson. She gathered her things, mumbling about evil professors who needed to be taught a lesson. An idea popped into her head.
"Professor," She started sweetly, "if you don't think Granger's in love with you, and you don't care about her," She paused dramatically, "why did you sleep with her?"
Snape didn't even bother to stop writing. He stayed silent, as if he was just waiting for her to leave. His eyes stayed focus on what he was doing, and Usagi felt invisible. She left the dungeons screaming in anger.
X
Pansy stared at the envelope in her hand. She just had to say the words. But she couldn't. None would be so willing to go to their death. It was 11:58. How sad it was to know she only had two more minutes to live. Pansy took another deep breath. She couldn't be late. She knew that. She must leave at exactly 12 a.m. She looked around. She would miss this place. It held her fondest memories.
Honeydukes Sweetshop was usually the first place they headed. Draco loved chocolate and could not visit the village without immediately heading there.
And there was the time Vincent, Gregory, Draco, Blaise and Nicolo had the manliest man contest at the Hog's Head. It was really nothing more than a drinking contest. At first Blaise had protested, calling it stupid. But after many harsh words, the others convinced to convince him to join the fun. Pansy had been cheering for Draco of course; Millie was secretly cheering for Blaise, and to Millie's horror, so was Daphne. To everyone's chagrin Vincent had won and that day, he became 12 galleons richer.
There was the time when she played that horrid prank on Blaire because she was poking fun at Millie, and the time when they had spent me all their money in one day and ended up cornering a first year for few sickles and knuts.
And the time when Greg…
12 o'clock.
'Time to go.' She thought unhappily. Pansy stared at the white envelope. Her finger covered the flower seal and she spokes the words, sentencing herself to her own doom. Her eyes flew shut and she awaited the sensation she knew should come. Nothing happened. Pansy's eyes flew open and she looked around in panic. She was still in the same place.
Over and over, she spoke the necessary words. Tears filled her eyes and she wanted to scream. She couldn't be late. She had to go. Every minute that passed after 12 meant…
She had to go. She had to! She couldn't be late. She had to go…
X
Usagi crashed into the Gryffindor common room. With a loud groan, she threw herself on the couch.
"Get off me!" In the next second, Usagi's face met with the red carpet. She lifted her with a groan.
"What did you that for?" She whined. "Don't you have your own special Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Headgirl couch? You don't-
A peck on the window interrupted her whining. "An owl?" Hermione questioned in surprise.
"Now that you've stated the obvious, could you get it?"
Hermione handed the note to her with an irritated frown. "It's for you."
Usagi took the note half-heartedly. "Oh God!" She groaned. "95 points?" She sunk back to the carpet. "But I thought cleaning the cauldrons was my punishment." She wailed. "That's a little hash."
"What's wrong?"
"I never knew you were this nosy, Granger." Usagi said as she handed the note to the headgirl.
'Before I forget, 95 points off Gryffindor.' She read out loud.
"As if he would forget, the greasy git." Usagi groaned.
"What did you do?"
Usagi looked at her sheepishly. "You promise you won't get mad?"
Hermione glared at her.
"I kinda told Professor Snape you were…in love with him…"
"You did what! Where did you get such a…a ridiculous idea!"
"…and then asked him why he slept with you."
"Why would you do that!" Hermione screamed.
"You were all crying over him, and I thought it would be better if he knew you were in love with him."
"I'm not in love with Snape! And even if I were, how the hell would that be better?"
"I don't know, I thought he would be more considerate…" Usagi stopped at the look on Hermione's face. "Look Granger-"
"No. You look. God Malfoy! I was crying, I was upset, and I confided in you because I thought it would make me feel better. Big mistake there! And you just went and…Harry and Ron were right about you! You're just like all the Malfoys! I don't know why I thought you were different from the rest of them."
"Shut up, Granger." Usagi stopped her with a blank face. "It's not like Professor Snape cares about your stupid love for him."
"I'm not in love with Professor Snape, you dimwit! I'm fed up with him!"
"Whatever…" Usagi answered indifferently. As she left the common room, she could hear Hermione's scream of frustration.
Now, it was around 10:00 and she was stuck outside, because she didn't want to face Granger's wrath, with nowhere else to go. Maybe she could go to the kitchens, and get a snack. But the house elves might be sleeping, she reasoned. Usagi stopped walking as she was faced with the ultimate question.
Did house elves sleep?
She had to get an answer.
X
Pansy Parkinson wiped away all traces of her tears. She took a deep breath before beginning. 'Weasley.' She thought, focusing on his person. 'Weasley, wake up. Weasley!' After doing that for a few minutes, she realized she would have to go to extreme measures.
After removing her outer clothing and making sure her wand was tucked safely in the pockets of her robe, Pansy Parkinson jumped into the lake. The water was colder than she had anticipated, she realized as she moved towards the center of the lake. 'Weasley!' She thought frantically. She knew her magic would be stronger if she was in danger. 'Maybe I have to be in real danger.' She thought unhappily. Pansy's shoulders slumped, and she began to float back to where her wand awaited her. 'Stupid Weasley.' She thought. Even in sleep, the boy was thick.
Deep in thought, Pansy did not feel the something that wrapped around her ankle. It wasn't until she felt herself being pulled down that she realized something was wrong. 'Weasley!' She had wanted real danger.
Pansy struggled to keep her head above the water. Tears ran from her eyes. This wasn't as great an idea as she thought it would be. She hadn't thought about the animals living in the lake, and now she was paying for it.
"Weasley!" As she cried the name, water filled her lungs, and she felt herself go limp. Stupid, Pansy. She gave up fighting. Really, really…stupid.
For a seer, she had a really strange view of the future.