▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

with 'following the spiders' was precisely what Harry alluded towards it being. For, there was a notable lack of spiders to follow. Saffron wasn't entirely sure if it was because they were looking carefully for them now or because of the weather or some other reason that they couldn't seem to find any.

To make matters worse, with each and every passing day, it seemed as though security and safety measures were getting tighter in Hogwarts. They were practically shepherded to each and every class by a teacher, to the point that the only free time they had to themselves was in the common room. It was exhausting as there was no space to speak or do anything freely without the fear of a teacher overhearing you or catching you.

Classes were tenser than ever. The teachers continued to go on about exams but at this point, with the rumours of an even worse attack occurring soon circulating around the school, Saffron wasn't entirely sure the exams would even go forward. What made them the tensest, however, was how Draco seemed to want to belittle everybody around him to an even more obnoxious level than ever before.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he remarked during potions, a fortnight after their search for the spiders began. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in..."

"I want to send a Ventus at my cauldron and hope the wind carries it all the way over to him to burn his mouth off," Saffron said to Ron, glaring at Draco with pure venom.

Ron chuckled. "You'd be doing us all a favour, the only way to get him to shut up is to literally rip his mouth off so maybe that's the trick,"

"Sir," Draco continued. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," smiled Snape, as Lavender did an impersonation of vomiting into her cauldron in Saffron's direction, Saffron smirked and saw that Seamus was doing likewise. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," Draco said "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job - I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir--" Snape walked off but Draco didn't stop. Saffron got off her stool to go and get some fresh knotgrass. "I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now, "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger--"

The second that Hermione's name was mentioned, Saffron snapped. She dropped the box of knotgrass on the floor right as the bell rung out signalling the end of class. But that didn't stop her from heading right over to Draco, slipping her wand out of the pocket of her robes and pointing him at him, just as he got off his stool to pack his supplies away.

"You have the biggest mouth here, so learn to shut it or I'll shut it for you," Saffron sniped at him, garnering attention from around the school, but not yet from Professor Snape.

"What are you going to do, Mitchell?" Draco raised an eyebrow at her, trying to play it off as though he were not scared of the wand pointed in front of him, to the Slytherins who were all watching with interest. He attempted to swipe the wand out of Saffron's hand but she held it back just in time.

"You don't want to know," Saffron gave that answered as she wasn't entirely sure what she would do to Draco. It was an easy cop-out. "But if I hear Hermione's name or any Muggleborns name come out of your mouth like that again, I'll let you know, and you'll regret it, trust that,"

"Miss Mitchell put your wand down this instant, you foolish girl," Saffron froze when Professor Snape noticed what she was doing. She didn't take her wand down but merely stood still, unable to move or think clearly. "Fifty points from Gryffindor, a hundred if you don't do it this instant,"

Finally, Saffron was able to put it down, looking determinedly away from Draco, who had a smirk splitting his face. Similarly, she kept her gaze away from what she expected to be the cold glaring that Snape would be doing. She would have just stood there if not for Lavender.

"Come on," Lavender already had Saffron's bag swung over her own back and gripped onto Saffron's hand just as Snape opened his mouth to announce what was bound to be further punishment.

"Miss Mitchell, get back here, now," snapped Snape, but Saffron didn't listen. She merely followed Lavender out of the dungeons, not daring to look back. The last thing she heard was. "Fifty more points from Gryffindor!"

Saffron didn't even feel bad. As selfish as that seemed, she knew that at the end of the day it didn't matter. First of all, to the standings, as Gryffindor were very clearly in last place. More importantly, there were more paramount issues in the school than a stupid trophy and if she even made the slightest of statements to the Slytherins, that was far more meaningful than.

"Saffron?" Parvati had caught up with Lavender and Saffron who had raced up four flights of stairs to evade Snape and his potential wrath. "Are you okay?"

Saffron panted. With a nod, she said:

"That felt great,"