Ooh a new reader Glad that you are enjoying it Jesse!
And as usual, thanks for all of your lovely compliments Connie. They mean a lot!

The rest of the detention went forever, and after what seemed like the hundredth jar of gunk I was ready to be done. I still had about a hundred more to go and I refused to come back again tomorrow...my nose was finally starting to block out the horrendous smell that was coming from the various jars.

"Are you ready to be done for the evening?" Professor Snape asked, eyeing the clock on the wall. He kept it positioned in such a way that none of the students in class could see what time it was without physically turning around, making it difficult for the students to sneak a peek at the time without him noticing.

"I'm going to finish tonight," I said, plopping the newly cleaned jar into the appropriate bucket.

Snape raised his eyebrows at me. "Very well. I will be in my office if there is any issues."

I merely nodded my head in acknowledgement of his words and he swiftly went into his office, his cloak the last thing I saw before the door closed. Oh how I wished I could just use scourgify to hurry this whole process up, but that would be cheating.

About another hour and half later I only had a couple of jars done. I quickly cleaned them all off and let out a sigh. Oh thank heavens I was done. I looked at the clock and saw that I had been there for four hours. Snape really did need to learn to stay on top of these things...or perhaps he did it solely for the purpose of using it as a form of detention for bad students.

I got up, my back cracking in protest of straightening out after being hunched over for so long, and knocked on Snape's door.

"Yes?" he called out.

I pushed it open far enough so that he could see me. "I am done with the jars professor," I said, barely able to see him because the room was so dark. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that shall be all Miss Carson. You may leave."

I nodded and pulled the door closed before practically sprinting out of the room. His thoughts had been unsettling, as they usually were, but the fact was he had spent the entire four hours trying to figure out how to penetrate my mind. It was kind of scary to think how determined he was to try and get inside my head. To be honest, there really wasn't much in there...other than what he could get from penetrating the minds of the students around me.

I figured he was mostly determined to figure out what I had been discussing with Dumbledore, but the funny thing was I assumed he already knew. Or did Dumbledore keep that information from him? I knew how wholeheartedly Dumbledore trusted Snape, but he had never seen what I had. He didn't know that Snape would be responsible for his demise.

I was still trying to figure out the circumstances that led up to his death, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find out any more information on the vision. How annoying my gift could be.

By the time I made it back to the common room my head was about ready to hit the pillow, but of course I knew Ron, Harry, and Hermione would want to discuss the day's happenings further. Lucky me.

"Abby, you look exhausted," said Hermione, looking up from what appeared to be a coin and eyeing me sympathetically.

"It has been a long day," I said, laying my head down on the table. "What are you working on?" I asked, my voice mumbled from my arm slightly covering my mouth.

Hermione cleared her voice before leaning in a bit. I lifted my head up far enough so that my eyes were looking out over my arm. "This is going to be our device to let the members of our DADA group know when our meetings are." Hermione had that look of proudness about her that she always got when she made some great feat.

"Excellent Hermione," I said with a smile. "When is our first meeting going to be?"

"Tomorrow evening. We figure during the day is too risky. Besides there's another trip to Hogsmeade this weekend, so we figure most students will be going there."

"Less of a chance of them being on the seventh floor. That's good Hermione."

Hermione nodded. "We better get you up to bed. You look like you could sleep for a lifetime."

"Believe me Hermione...I could."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slept most of the day away, which was fine because after all, it was a weekend. I moved about my process of getting ready for the day (or evening really I should say) at my own leisurely pace, not being pestered or bothered by Hermione or anyone to move quicker. I supposed this was probably how life should be...unfortunately for me, it was not the case.

I looked at the clock, my stomach grumbling at the lack of food. No wonder...it was three o'clock already. I headed down the steps and into the common room, where Seamus with sitting and reading a book for Ancient Runes. He looked up upon my arrival.

"Abby, where have you been? It's been ages it seems like," Seamus said with a laugh.

I sat down in the chair next to him. "Sleeping mostly. I was exhausted," I said with a small smile.

"I heard about all the stuff that happened with Umbridge. You're not going to get expelled, are you?"

"No, I don't think Dumbledore is going to let that happen. It was an accident after all."

"Well, no one blames you for doing it. She's an evil witch that woman. Everyone agrees...in fact you've earned yourself a little fan club." Seamus tilted his head towards a group of first years who were eyeing me with awe.

"Oh...great," I said, not so sure how I felt about having a following. "Are you excited for the first...you know tonight?"

"Definitely," said Seamus, closing his Ancient Runes book. "It's going to be great. I imagine Harry will be great at leading this whole thing. After all he does have the most experience against the dark arts."

I nodded. "That he does."

We were both quiet for a moment, me looking out at the snow covered grounds and smiling. I wished I could just stay in that moment, where everything was simple and uncomplicated, but I knew I couldn't. Generally in life we rarely get what we really desire...we usually get the opposite.

Seamus was kind enough to go and get something to eat with me in the Great Hall, before walking around outside the grounds with me to enjoy the snow and the general atmosphere of Hogwarts in this weather. The time went by quickly before we headed back up to the castle and headed towards the seventh floor corridor.

We were careful to make sure no one followed us before doing what we needed to do to get into the Room of Requirements. The room was practically full with everyone already. Hermione was taping the list of members to a small mirror that had been set up in the corner of the room, and Harry was talking to Cho Chang, whose nervousness I could feel all the way over here.

Ron was hanging out with Fred and George, who were showing them one of their new products.

"Oh good, you're here!" Hermione said, spotting Seamus and me. "I think we're just about ready to start. I am so excited!"

I smiled at Hermione before looking at Harry who rolled his eyes. We both laughed quietly.

"Alright everyone, let's get started," said Harry, and everyone in the room fell silent.