The Third Floor Coriddor

A Boggort has been reported deep in the third floor coriddor. Will you go down and face your worsed fear to be rid of it?

Professor DeLanquar had finished grading her essays that afternoon and after a quick bite to eat from the Great Hall, morphed into her animagus form to explore Hogwarts.

She had been in all of the classrooms, thanks to detentions and other various problems, but there were some places she had not been.

In her animagus form the pain in her legs and side were less pronounced, although still present and she often viewed slipping into her cat form as a freedom of sorts. Stopping before turning a corner, Eglantine glanced around her be certain there were no students and then slipped into the empty hallway.

There did not seem to be anything of interest on the third floor, but she looked around anyway. Suddenly as she walked along, she heard a low growl. Stiffening by natural instinct, Eglantine felt her fur bristle as she turned her ears to hear where the sound had come from.

She could smell it as well as see it now. A big brown dog, only three of four meters from where she was standing. Her heart almost burst in fear and she backed into the corner, snarling and hissing. Her worst fear had apparently found her.

Viper paced through the corrider in a drowsy haze. She had been up the past few nights doing extensive research and was in desperate need of coffee. Unfortunately, due to her irritability from her lack of sleep, she had snapped at her houseeelf Tibby telling her to go away. A command Tibby seemed to have taken to heart.

As she passed the corner, she came upon the oddest sight: a cat being cornered by a dog. The corners of her mouth twitched at the sight, until the dog morphed into someone who was all too familiar to Viper: her father Lucifer Viper.

Lucifer snarled at Viper, approaching her. "Well look here," he hissed. "If it isn't a whore! A good for nothing whore! Lie on your back already, harlot, that's all you're ever good for!"

Memories flashed through Viper's mind of her abusive father: the curses he'd bestow unto her brother and all the scars the hot blade of his mouth would leave.

"R-Ridikulus!" Viper stammered, backing away slowly.

Lucifer scoffed. "Stupid b****, can't even cast a simple charm." he spat on her. "You're nothing, do you hear me? You're an embarassment to the Viper family! You're the filth of the bloodline! You're sister , the blood traitor is cleaner than you!"

Over and over again, various phrases degrading Viper were shouted by various members of her family, leaving Viper to clutch her head, screaming to make it stop.

Eglantine morphed back into her human form and pulled her wand out.

"Riddikulus." she said, hands shaking violently. The boggart returned to its normal form and fell to the floor.
"Are you alright, Professor Viper?" Eglantine asked, making her way to stand by Viper.

Viper immediately jumped up, instictively straightning herself and sorting herself out, breathing erraticly.

"You saw nothing." she breathed out, her eyes showing her fear that the other Professor would think her weak.

"As you wish." Eglantine nodded. She had her shaking hand over her heart, trying to calm it.

Attempting to lighten the conversation and put both of them at ease, Viper hastily changed the subject. "I didn't know you were an animagus..."

She mentally stored this interesting bit of information for later.

"You didn't?" Eglantine raised an eyebrow, embarrassment paling her cheeks. "Well I suppose you do now. At least you feared something worth fearing. Mine was a bloody dog."

Viper scoffed. "Worth fearing? I fear my memories of dead people!" she conjured 2 goblets, handing one to Eglantine and sipping one herself as she leaned against the wall. "At least your fear is understandable. Mine is just stupid..." she said as she lost herself in her beverage.

"Memories are not stupid." Eglantine muttered, looking down into the goblet. She didn't want to drink it; but took a tentative sip anyway.

Viper didn't even have to look up to know that Eglantine wasn't too thrilled with the beverage choice. "The goblet is charmed to change beverages at your will." she said softly, taking another sip. "And no, memories are not stupid. But the emotions they invoke and the power they still maintain are..."

"Unfortunately, I must agree." She took another sip, the firewhiskey burning her throat, but helping her regain control of her heart and breathing.

Viper bit her lip nervously, wondering if she should ask the question that has always haunted her ming but she never dared ask. Deciding that this was probably the best moment, she decided to just jump the bullet and ask.

"Professor, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course." Wondering what in the world Viper could want to ask, Eglantine lowered the cup and raised an eyebrow.

"If you were able to go back to the moment you met your husband and knew then what you knew now: the risks, the happiness, and the heartache, would you still have carried on your relationship with him?" Viper inquired curiously, but gently. She bit her lip nervously, hoping she hadn't offended the other Professor. She wasn't asking to be nosy or anything like that. It was just something she was genuinely curious about.

Eglantine just stared at the younger woman.
"Yes, I would." she whispered, a sad smile forming on her lips.

Viper's eyebrows raised in suprise before she snapped back into control, aware of the emotion she was drawing. "I-I'm sorry, Professor. Please, forgive me. It was too personal of a question..." she muttered before engrossing herself in her goblet.

Eglantine sighed and blinked her eyes as if warding back tears. "There is no need to be sorry. May I ask you a question?"

Viper nodded, unnerved by the fact that Eglantine appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Of course, Professor." she answered softly.

"Why did you ask me that?" It was more of a plea than a question.

Viper stammered for a moment, afraid that the other Professor interpreted her question as an attempt to hurt her. "I-I'm sorry, Professor. Please don't think I asked you this to hurt you. I know I've said many nasty things in the past with the intent to hurt you, and for that I'm sorry, but I promise, that was not the case this time around. It's just..." Viper broke off awkwardly, not really knowing how to say what was on her mind.

"Just what?" Eglantine wiped away a tear that was dripping down her cheek. "I did not think you were attempting to hurt me. It is just an odd question."

"I just don't understand how you can love someone that much!" she blurted out. "Or love someone in the first place." she added softly, her cheeks turning a light pink.

Feeling a bit flustered and embarassed at how she lost composure, she deicded to forgo the goblet and go for the gold: a neverending bottle complete with a straw. She attacked it instantly, as though drinking it would solve everything. Although, in a way it did...

Eglantine watched as Viper began drinking from the bottle. The woman had already proven that she had almost a duel personality; one that was vulnerable and the other that was a result of that vulnerability.

"Neither do I." She finally said. Love was such a complexly simple emotion that in truth she could not understand it. "But you do not have to understand it in order to have it. With my husband I never doubted I loved him or that he loved me; because he never let me doubt it. To love someone is to give yourself completely to them, knowing they will protect you and give themselves in return."

Viper nodded slowly and silently, her green eyes misty from Eglantine's declaration. "Maybe you don't have to understand it to have it, but perhaps you may have to understand it a little in order to appreciate it." she paused a moment, deep in thought. "Maybe that's where my family went wrong, where I went wrong, and still go wrong." she laughed softly to herself. "My grandfather used to laugh about Dumbledore's ideas of love, mock him, call him a fool for beliving that a small thing, a nuisance like love would make such an impact. And for a while I agreed with him. But now..." Viper paused and bit her lip as a few tears cascaded down her face. "Now, I see how it is with Odessa and her husband, and how it was with you and your's and now." her voice chocked with emotion as she faced Eglantine, tears still streaming, the bottle long forgotten. "Now, I think we're the fools...."