Sandy Claws by Silverdoe

Sandy Claws by Silverdoe

Thanks to Kyria, who helped make this readable, and beaweasley2 for putting this all together.

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Sally was nervous. She had been trying for a few days to figure out how to perform her task. She could put it off no longer; her card had started to glow yellow just that morning to inform her it was her turn. She decided to set herself a deadline; this had always worked in the past when facing difficult tasks. By end of classes today, she would have either performed her task or suffer the consequences the twins had in store for her. A quick peek at the card sent shivers down her back as she reread what would happen to her if she failed.

She began to work out a plan. First, she would need to find out if he was even familiar with the American movie director. If he wasn’t, well… maybe it would be best if he hadn’t heard of Tim Burton before, then she could at least live to see graduation. She could only hope that he wouldn’t be too upset with her. After all, her prank was relatively minor compared to some of the ones the other girls had done.

She had heard rumors that he was a half blood. It was possible then, that he would at least know what a movie was. A smile spread across her face as she finally realized the perfect way to work on her plan. It was even more perfect in the way that it was almost Slytherin.

Feeling better, she began to eat her breakfast while keeping an eye on the professor. She would need to be near him as much as possible, if this was going to work.

She glanced up and realized he was preparing to leave. She took a final sip of her pumpkin juice before gathering her books. As she fell into step directly behind him, she noticed the encouraging smiles on the faces of her friends. All the girls knew that it was her turn.

When they reached the doors to the great hall, she softly began to hum. After a few bars, her Gryffindor bravery kicked in and she began to sing the words quietly to herself as she followed behind the man.

Jack said we should work together.

Now and forever.

“Miss Locke, stop the infernal singing. You are disturbing the peace with your warbling, and get to class. What are you doing down here? I seem to recall that your Potions class isn’t until this afternoon.”

The man seemed to be becoming increasingly paranoid since the game started. Students were absolutely forbidden to be in the dungeons unless going to or coming from class.

“Oops, silly me,” she said, glancing around the dungeon corridor she was in. “This isn’t the way to Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Five points from Gryffindor, for your stupidity,” the professor sneered. “If I see you down here again, it will be a week’s worth of detention with Mr. Filch, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

She turned and headed back up the stairs. When she was sure she was out of sight, she pulled her card from her pocket, curious to see what would happen to her if she failed to complete her task. She was starting to think that facing the consequences was preferable to facing the wrath of that man. He was positively radiating anger the last few weeks. Of course, it was probably the fault of all the pranks played on him.

She looked at the card.

Failure to complete: You will only be able to speak in iambic pentameter for a period of three days.

Sally glared at the card in her hand, trying to decide which was worse, a week of detention or reliving that horrid summer when her mother insisted she learn Shakespeare. The shiver that crept down her spine at the mere thought of Shakespeare was enough to force her focus back on the task at hand.

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Lunch time could not come soon enough. Sally was becoming increasingly more nervous as the day wore on. She was beginning to think the Sorting Hat had been wrong when it placed her in Gryffindor. There was just no way she had the courage to perform her prank. Bernise had offered to get her a calming potion. After a pep talk from her fellow conspirators during charms, Sally had declined. She was going to get through this.

She forced herself to eat a few bites of a sandwich at lunch, glancing every so often at Professor Snape. Snape seemed to be in better mood today than he had been for the last few weeks. At least he was eating again instead of glaring at the student body over a cup of tea.

It was then she realized just how silly she was acting. If the other girls could perform their pranks with minimal harm, there was no way Professor Snape was going to chop her up and use her as potion ingredients over hers.

It was time to get her plan back on track. Following him around should be the best way to accomplish this. She waited for him to finish his lunch and moved to follow him out of the hall once again. Perfect. He was heading towards the library. He couldn’t take off points if she was also going in the same direction.

What’s this?

Oh, could it be I got my wish?

“Miss Locke, is there some reason you insist on following me, singing silly little songs?”

“No, sir,” she answered.

“No. So you are just trying to find yourself in the detention for the rest of the semester.”

It didn’t sound like he expected an answer, but she was not about to let him trick her into revealing her purpose.

“No, I am not following you. I had some essays to write, and I thought I would use my free period to research them. I am sorry if my singing has disturbed you. Lately, I cannot seem to get these songs out of my head.”

“I am aware of the little game you and your year mates are playing, Miss Locke. I am not stupid. This childish behavior needs to stop. I will warn you now; you may want to think carefully about your actions before you attempt anything. Do I make myself clear?”

He obviously did not expect an answer because he turned around quickly and began stalking away. Watching him walk away must have woken the Gryffindor in her. Before she could stop herself she blurted out, “You are absolutely right, sir. It was wrong of us to try to make fun of you.” Shaking her head, she glanced back up at him. “You really are Tim Burton’s idea of the perfect Santa Claus. I guess that’s why we love you so much.”

Without even waiting for him to respond, she turned and headed in the direction of her common room, singing as loudly as she could.

You're jokin', you're jokin'

If I don't die laughing first…

Her sudden outburst and departure must have stunned the man. She noticed he didn’t follow her to take points or assign detentions. When she got back to her common room, she pulled her card from her bag, happy to see the words were glowing green. It was only then she realized what she did and laughed at herself. She somehow managed to complete her dare and get away with it. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls about it later. It was such a relief to be done. Maybe life would go back to normal. Well, as normal as life was at Hogwarts.

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And the fun continues…

Author’s notes:

The original prompt is: ‘Tell him you love him even though he is Tim Burton’s idea of the perfect Santa Claus.’

The song lyrics used in this chapter are all from Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ (Kidnap the Sandy Claws, What’s This, and Oogie Boogie’s song).