Year Ago Today

Lyssa somehow managed to give Cassie a look that equaled a shrug. They had no choice in the matter.

Cassie gave Lyssa a look that showed she knew. She then turned back to glower at the Carrow. Laurie nearly made her lip bleed from chewing on it as she watched the front of the room. "I," Severus snarled through clenched teeth. "Am going to throw something soon." "Don't hit anyone." "Sis, that would be the point."

Nic watched anxiously, hoping some miracle would happen to stop this. She would do something herself, but she wasn't nearly as brave as her mum. She was more the secretive type, which is probably why she was in Slytherin. But, Nic also had her moments. "Oi!" she said quite suddenly. "You can obviously see neither want this to happen, so why don't you bloody lay off and have someone cast it on you, you bloody cowardly snake!"

The Carrow smirked slightly, though Cassie could tell it with angry. "Why don't I cast it on you then Miss Malfoy?" It asked eyebrow raised, it looked at Lyssa pointedly giving the message that Nic was going to get the brunt of it's spell unless she hexed Cassie.

"I would really rather you didn't," Nic muttered, eye flickering over to where her mum had stopped. She bit her lip, wishing for her mum to do something, get out her wand, speak, anything but just stand there.

Cassie looked at Lyssa, who wasn't doing anything. What the hell was going on. "Suit yourself," The Carrow said taking out it's wand. "Leave Nicole alone," Severus said weaving around tables to the other side of the room where he stood next to the girl. Cassie had been about to say that but Sev got too it first. Severus looked at the Death Eater, standing slightly in front of Nicole half protectivly. He had no idea what was going on, but, he wasn't going to just sit there.

"Severus," Nicole hissed. "What the hell are you doing? You're going to get yourself hurt you stupid idiot. Move."

"No," Severus said, not moving. "And I'm making sure you don't get hurt because your m-cousin, doesn't seem to be doing much of a job of it."

"Sev, please? You can be a hero later, for people who matter more," Nic said.

"a) Im not being a hero and even if I was. What is the point of being a hero if you're not doing it to help protect your freinds."

"Mr. Evans," the Carrow said, intervening, "I suggest you move before you find yourself joining her in the weeks worth of detention she's bought herself already."

Severus looked at him. "And I suggest you shut the hell up before I see if I really can throw a chair across the room and hit you in the face." Severus crossed his arms.

"You could always magic it if you can't," Nic whispered to him as the Carrow said, "Very well, consider yourself joining her."

Severus' mouth quirked up in a smile at Nicole before during back to a glower at the Carrow. "I shouldn't even be in this stupid class," he muttered to himself grumpily sitting down on a random chair. "I shouldn't even know what the hell is going on right now. I should be," He looked at his watch. "Well technacly not alive, but in my time, I should be watching playschool or something. Maybe that car show. The ones that y'know talk? annnnnd I am going to shutup now."

The class proceeded, and nothing else major happened except Nic and Sev being told when and where they had to report for detention. Then the lesson let out for a free period. Before anyone else was out the door Nic was out and gone from sight.

Laurie frowned walking over to her brother. "Ridiculous," She murmered. Sev nodded.

Cassie frowned walking over to Lyssa. "Hey," She said her voice quiet.

Nicole walked down the stairs and out onto the grounds. She was upset and being outside always cleared her head.

Lyssa looked over at Cassie. "Hey," she replied, just as quiet. "I feel so fucking terrible right...but I just froze up, couldn't move, couldn't do anything, and now....I don't know."

"Think we should go find Nic?" Severus asked with a frown. "She seemed pretty upset." "Maybe," Laurie said. "She might want to be alone though."

Cassie frowned hugging her freind, which was awkward as she was sitting down. She had no idea what to say. "This year has just been crap," She said running her hand through her hair.

Nic actually really wanted to be found at the moment. She needed the company, but at the same time felt that if she were around people she would feel worse. Unless they came to her, because then it was of their own freewill.

Lyssa shook her head. "Life has been crap that last three years, ever since HE came back."

"Well I'm going to see if I can find her," Severus said with a shrug walking out of the room. "Cause she might want to be found, and if she wants to be alone then she can tell us if we find her so." He shrugged again. "Guess so." Laurie said.

Cassie nodded as the two headed out of the room. "Yeah, it has. Just, I dunno," She sighed running a hand through her hair.

Nicole finally stopped walking when she reached the greenhouses and sat on the ground behind one, just out of sight from people, pulling her knees up to her chest. She had decided she definitely didn't like the past and she just wanted to go back home. Nic gave a small sob at the thought of home, where her mum was her mum and not some teenager, where there wasn't a psycho trying to take over the world. She wanted it all back.

Severus found the girl by the greenhouses. "Hey," he said softly sitting down next to her. Having no idea what to say because asking her how she was was a stupid question he picked a leaf off the ground and held it in his hand. "Nicole," He said, his tone serious. "What do you think of this leaf?"

Nicole lifted head off her knees, hearing Severus. She ran a head across both of her eyes, getting rid of the moisture there before looking at him. "Hey," she said weakly. "It's a very nice leaf."

"Do you think so?" Severus held the leaf up to the light looking at it closely. "I don't like it, see there." He ran his hand across a line in it. "That line is backwards, yes backwards, no I'm not weird," He shrugged. Twirling the leaf around his fingers. "It just is."

"No, it's not. You're just very weird. Because you see," Nic said reaching and twisting the leaf's stem, "now it's going the right way. You were holding it backwards is all."