AN: So-ho-ho... to anyone who's following my story, Remembering, I apologize for not having updated in a long while. I still intend to continue the story, I've just sort of hit a brick wall on how to get from where the story is now, to where I want it to go. And also I've been working like mad on a Doctor Who story that I'll be publishing soon as well. ...and then suddenly this little thing wormed it's way into my mind as well, and the only way to get it out is by writing it down. So.. here's a Snape/OC story for you!
The title was inspired by the song "King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men, because I, yet again, find myself unable to come up with an amazing title.
Anyway.. this first 'chapter' is merely the prologue. The story itself will NOT take place in the 70's, like the prologue, but in the 90's, with flashbacks to the 70's and 80's =) ...so without further ado - here's the story:
~ PROLOGUE ~
First Encounter
Friday, September 3rd, 1976
Two days into the new school year, the sixth years had their first NEWT-level Potions class. Due to the danger of wrongly prepared potions, the Potions Master, Professor Slughorn, only allowed students to take the class, who had obtained an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding in their OWL-exam. This meant a good 28 students – from all four houses – in the class.
Currently Professor Slughorn was explaining the importance of being able to work in a group when brewing potions, because not all potions could be made with the use of only two hands – not even when in possession of a wand. Without any further ado he asked the class to team up in groups of two people.
At that request Severus Snape's eyes left his copy of Advanced Potion Making for the first time. He had not been expecting that they would be working in groups – after all they never had in this class; standing at the same tables, yes, but never having to do any actual cooperation with each other. Severus pushed his long black hair out of his face to look around at his classmates – he didn't know who he'd end up with; there were only two other Slytherin students in the class, both girls, and both standing next to each other giggling away at something that he himself would most likely not find amusing at all. Then he turned his gaze to his former best friend, Lily Evans – for a moment he had desperately hoped that she would be his partner in this, but she hadn't even spared him a glance, before she turned and walked over to join one of the Marauders, Remus Lupin – needless to say that the other two Marauders in this class, James Potter and Sirius Black, had teamed up; the two were practically joined at the hip – and Peter Pettigrew had only managed an Average in the subject, thereby leaving Lupin as a third wheel, however clearly Lily had preferred his company to that of Severus.
"Excuse me?" A female voice broke his train of thought, and he turned to look at the female standing in front of him.
"Yes?" He inquired of the ash blonde Ravenclaw girl.
"I asked if you'd already found a partner?" She repeated herself, though Severus had apparently been too far gone in his thoughts the first time she'd asked.
"No." He replied curtly.
"So.. would you like to team up with me, perhaps?" She asked.
Severus turned his head and looked behind him, seeing several Ravenclaw-students, who didn't seem to have found a partner yet. He turned his face back towards the blonde and gave her a slightly suspicious look; "why would you want to be my partner?"
The Ravenclaw girl looked slightly bemused; "why wouldn't I want to be your partner?" She asked back, raising an eyebrow at him.
"For starters; there's still several of your house mates left." Severus told her.
She looked over at the other Ravenclaw-students for a moment, before turning her attention back to the dark haired boy in front of her; "true. However non of them are as good as Potions as you are." She told him matter-of-factly.
At that Severus raised an eyebrow at her; "is that so?" He inquired.
The blonde gave a quick snort of amusement before replying; "oh, come on! You know very well that you're the best in the class at Potions."
"So that's why you want to partner with me, is it?" He asked her.
She looked at him in earnest for a moment; "it's one of the reasons." She answered cryptically.
"There are more than one?" He actually looked confused at this.
"Yes." She said and gave him a shy smile.
To the girl's surprise in stead of saying anything to her, Severus gestured to the chair next to him. She smiled brightly at him and moved to sit down, putting her bag on the desk in the process; managing to accidentally knock a few of Severus' belongings to the floor.
"Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed as soon as she realised what she'd done. She quickly bend down to pick up his book and notes, before Severus could even try to do it himself. I'm such a dolt, she scolded herself mentally, before she stood back up and handed the retrieved items to Severus.
"Thanks." He muttered just above a whisper. He watched in silence as the girl unpacked her own copy of Advanced Potion Making as well as her quill, ink and parchment, before putting her bag beneath the desk. She started looking through her book, seemingly looking for something in particular, and Severus took a few moments to gaze at her; even though they'd been in several classes together for the past 5 years, he couldn't remember what her name was. His stubborn Slytherin pride had kept him from making the inquiry so far, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to swallow said pride and ask her. After all he couldn't just call her 'ash blonde Ravenclaw girl'.
"You're staring." The words startled Severus; her gaze hadn't left the pages of her book before or during her statement – Severus quickly looked away from her, trying to fight off the blush that seemed to be crawling up his neck towards his cheeks. "Half-Blood Prince." She suddenly spoke up again, her gaze still firmly planted deep within the book. "Interesting title; did you come up with that yourself or is it some kind of nickname like the Marauders?" She asked, drawling out the Gryffindors' title, before her eyes moved and regarded Severus.
Severus was taken aback for a moment, confused as to how she would know of his self-invented title, before realising that his Potions book must have landed open on the page where he'd written it, when it had fallen to the floor a few moments ago. "No.." he said in a low voice, "it's not a nickname."
"Shame." She stated before looking back on the page open in front of her, "I kind of like it."
He couldn't decide what to think of her statement; was it a compliment of some sort? Or was she merely mocking him? Had it been anyone else, he would have assumed that it was mockery, however she seemed so genuine in her statement, that Severus couldn't help but assume it was a compliment.
Once more Severus found his gaze lingering on her. He wondered why he'd never paid her enough attention to at least memorize her name – but then again aside from his house mates, Lily and those Marauders, he'd never paid much attention to the student body. And as for girls; to him Lily Evans had always embodied the perfect girl, so why would he bother looking at anyone else?
Severus gaze lowered and it wasn't until now he noticed the blue and bronze badge that rested on the left side of her robes. She was also a Prefect, then?
"You know, Severus.." Her voice caught him off guard once more as he quickly shifted his gaze back to her face, "I won't be insulted by the fact that you seem to not remember my name." She told him and stopped talking for a moment, probably giving him time to interject, which he didn't, "but I will be annoyed if you don't stop looking at me the entire time, most likely trying to recall some incident or little detail that will set off your memory – it's easier If you just ask me in stead."
Severus could feel the burning in his cheeks and there was no doubt in his mind, that his embarrassment was definitely showing on his face now – which left him thankful for not having chosen a seat in the back of the room, which would have allowed everyone, including the Marauders and Lily, to see his red cheeks.
"Fine." He muttered under his breath, before taking a somewhat deep breath and looking at the girl again. "I seem to have forgotten your name, Miss...?"
The girl smiled at him, clearly enjoying her small victory. "Alisdair." She said simply, before supplying her first name as well; "Penelope Alisdair."
"Miss Alisdair." Severus said quietly. Though the thought 'right, yes, of course, Penelope Alisdair!' didn't appear in his mind, he knew the name definitely rang a bell.
For the next two hours they worked on their assignment, during the time they didn't exchange many words, mostly because they seemed to have a shared understanding of how the potions they were working on were suppose to be handled.
After the class was over, Penelope thanked Severus; claiming that she had enjoyed working with him. Once more Severus found himself unable to doubt her genuineness. As she turned to leave the classroom, Severus found that he couldn't stop himself from asking a question that had been nagging him for the past two hours:
"What was the other reason?"
Penelope stopped and turned back towards him, "for me wanting to be your partner, you mean?" He nodded at her inquiry. She looked at him for a moment before giving him a cheeky smile, "if your lucky, perhaps I'll tell you one day." She answered cryptically before turning and waltzing out of the door.
Severus stood rooted in his spot for a few moments after that, considering her statement. He didn't know what to make of it – however there was now one thing he was sure of; Lily Evans was no longer the only girl on Hogwarts he found fascinating.
AN: Hopefully this wasn't too horrid to read; let me know if it was.
I'd love to have a beta-reader - if anyone's interested, send me a PM ;)
Until the next one...
x Karina
