I wandered through the numerous carriages of the Hogwarts train, passing through the students without even a second glance. A smile found its way across my face. This was it. I'm finally going to teach at Hogwarts. As I passed through, some of the boys turned their heads and I had to fight to hold my laughter in. There wasn't a dress code for Professors so I had chosen to just wear anything black.
Today I'd pick a black, fitted long sleeve dress that reached the floor. It had a lace bodice that went in at my waist, showing off my curves. The sleeves were lace as well and to finish it off it had an A-line skirt. I'd paired this with black converse shoes that were hiding underneath and a small gold pendant in the shape of a diamond, with an emerald in the middle to compliment my brown eyes. The pendant settled over the gap between my clavicles that stuck out underneath my tan skin.
I'll have to find someone and ask where the Professors' compartments were but everyone was either stunned or glaring at me. My black hair had tumbled out of the braid I had it in earlier so now waves cascaded down my back. Eventually I found a carriage with people who seemed nice and well, a lot more down to Earth than everyone else. Okay, I can do this. I've looked Death in the eyes more times than I can count so asking a bunch of students for directions is nothing.
Bringing my hand up to knock I took in a deep breath. I knocked twice and poked my head through the door.
"Are you an apprentice?" asked a girl with bushy, brown curls who I assumed was the infamous Hermione Granger as I recognised Harry Potter in the corner with Ronald Weasley. They were all wearing muggle clothes seeing as the train ride had only just begun.
I blushed at her comment. She can't be serious.
"No, actually I'm not. I'm the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."
I walked in and closed the door behind me.
"Oh!" exclaimed a surprised Hermione, the embarrassment was starting to show. Harry must have overheard our brief exchange as he stopped his conversation with Ronald and came over to introduce himself.
"It's nice to meet you Professor. " He held out his hand to shake which I gladly took.
"Likewise. Save the introductions, I know who you are and you'll find out about me soon enough. Could you three by any chance tell me where the Professors' carriages are at? Hagrid's directions got me a little confused."
"Right. Well as far as I know, they're the end compartments closest to the front of the train." Harry moved out of the door and pointed at another compartment ahead.
"The one over there is where we've seen Professor Snape and a couple of other Professors go into but we haven't seen any of them this morning."
At this point Ronald decided to speak up.
"But you might not want to be in the same carriage as him."
"Ron!" scolded Hermione as she gave him a good whack with her Potions book.
"Hermione!"
"I was just warning her." Ronald muttered whilst rubbing his arm.
"What's there to warn me about?" I inquired. Sure, I've heard a few things about him already but to be honest I was excited to meet him. He's a master in both spell and potion making. It'd be an honour to work alongside him regardless of the many insults he was known to give. Especially since our paths never crossed back when we were students, he was four years ahead of me and mostly kept to himself so I never had the chance.
"Just ignore him. He's a good Professor, we've learnt a lot from him" answered Hermione.
"No, there's more to it than that. You don't have to keep things from me. I've already heard a few things. I just wondered whether your opinions would differ from theirs."
Harry manoeuvred back into the compartment and the three of them shared a look of uncertainty as I stood impatiently by the door.
"He's just a bit cold and…"Harry's voice trailed off at the end unsure of how to continue.
"Harsh?"
"Yes, among other things" replied Hermione.
"You forgot he's a heartless greasy old git" mumbled Ronald but I doubt anyone heard him except for me.
"You mean how he has this 'thing' against Mr Potter?" I asked, choosing to keep what Ronald said to myself.
"That and he gives me the creeps. He's like Dracula or Death itself" said Ronald.
"Really?" I feigned interest, this was nothing new. I heard worse at Hogsmeade.
"Yeah, and he's always wearing the same clothes. He's probably lives in a cave somewhere and sleeps upside down like a bat with his weird nose."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Why does that matter? You've come a long way from your first year in his class. Stop being so judgemental."
I laughed at them. This was going to be a good year.
"If that's all then I'd best get going now. It was nice to meet you all."
"Wait, Professor."
"Yes, Miss Granger."
"Is there any chance you would tell us what we're going to be learning this year?"
"As eager as always I see. How about this, I'll give you a hint. This year we'll be learning about a very difficult, yet effective charm." I gave a small smile and carried on to the carriage Harry had pointed out.
Brushing some dust off my dress I opened the door and was surprised to find it empty. Hmm, alright I can work with that. I sat in the right hand side corner next to the window and held out my hand after I retrieved my wand from my waist, where I had secured it with a thin belt.
"Accio Art folder"
A black Art folder appeared in my hands, I unzipped it to find my various sketch pads along with numerous art supplies. I'd enchanted it so I could fit pretty much everything in it. I pulled out my A3 sketch pad and a 4B pencil before muttering a charm to return my Art folder back inside my trunk.
I twirled my pencil in my hand and stared at the blank page, wondering what to draw. Resting my pencil and sketch pad on my lap I swept my hair over my right shoulder, leaving my face visible to anyone as soon as they opened the door. I tried looking out the window for inspiration but it didn't work. Everything was moving at a pace too fast to capture more than half an outline. My shoulders heaved as I sighed and I began to aimlessly draw a raven.
Actually this isn't too bad. I had nearly finished the entire outline so the only thing missing now was tone. Why don't I just draw all of them? A Raven for Ravenclaw, a lion for my own house Gryffindor, a badger for Hugglepuff and a snake for Slytherin. Luckily I had drawn the raven in one of the corners so I went ahead with drawing the rest of the houses in a corner each, leaving no room for anything in the middle.
I don't know how much time passed. I did hear the door open a couple of times but no one actually came in. Whenever I get into anything, I don't notice a lot about my surroundings. At some point my neck started to hurt so I used Accio to summon one of those Graphics tables where you could adjust the table surface, so that you could draw without having your neck bent over. I heard the sliding of the door once more as I was adding the finishing touches to the badger before moving on to do the tone for the snake.
A tall man dressed in black from head to toe with oily, black hair that went just past his chin but didn't quite reach his shoulders, entered the compartment. He wore a stiff, buttoned coat with sleeves that opened up at the end, a cloak and a pair of dress pants. There was something familiar about his nightshade eyes but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
"What do you think you're doing here? This is out of bounds for students." He sneered. The stranger spoke slowly, pausing about a nanosecond between each word. His cold, lifeless voice filled the room. If you looked up the definition of authority, you'd find him. His voice had a strange ability to effortlessly command attention. Somehow – regardless of whether you're speaking the same language as him, you know you should listen.
I calmly put down my pencil and raised my eyebrow at him.
"Well, don't just stare at me you insolent girl! Answer!"
"I'm not a student but even if I was that is no way to talk to someone. Who knows maybe if you're man enough to calm down I'll tell you who I am."
He narrowed his eyes at me, clearly annoyed he had to even share the air he breathed with the likes of me. His frown lines deepened as he just about stormed to the seat opposite me and sat down with a whoosh of his cloak. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, I had started shading the snake while he had taken the time to glared at me with a scowl that never seemed to leave his face.
I sighed in defeat and once again put down my pencil but this time I sent the Graphics table away and put my things on my lap.
"My name is Allyce Somerhalder. I'm the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and you are?"
I looked up from my sketch into his eyes. I don't know what happened in those last couple of minutes. He was still clearly annoyed with me but somehow I found myself feeling attracted to him. No, maybe 'attracted' isn't the right word. There's just something about him that I haven't seen before. He's interesting. He's intriguing. His eyes were enticing black orbs that showed wisdom beyond his years. I saw an overwhelming amount of grief and suffering shine through that made me feel glad I hadn't seen the same things he had.
"Severus Snape. Potions Master."
I brightened up a little at the mention of his name but he was still a bit of a jerk to me so I didn't let it show. No wonder his hair looks so oily, he's exposed to potion fumes more than anyone else here. I can't believe I didn't recognise him, he hasn't changed one bit. Although to be fair, I only ever saw him at a distance back when I was a student. As lifeless as I thought his voice was in the beginning, I couldn't help the thoughts that ran through my head. His voice was so silky and well, it was extremely sexy. I've never heard anything like it before. If velvet could speak, it would sound like Severus.
"In that case, it's a pleasure to meet you Severus." I replied whilst smiling which I'm sure just pissed him off but whatever. I'm genuinely happy to have met him and I don't see any reason to lie.
"You don't mean that. I don't need your kindness." He growled.
I blushed not knowing how he would take my reply and diverted my gaze back to my sketch.
"Actually I do. I've heard a lot about you and although most of it was what is perceived as 'bad', there were just as many good things."
Severus had gone silent, not quite believing what he was hearing. I lifted my gaze to meet his before I continued.
"Severus, I'm not being kind because I feel sorry for you. I'm being kind because that's how I treat everyone else and I don't see why I have to treat you differently. You say you don't need my kindness and that you don't want it but whether you like it or not you have it." I paused.
"Along with my friendship." I whispered softly with my head down, silently wondering if he heard the last part.
When I saw his eyes soften and a twitch on the corner of his lips, I knew that that he did. He didn't say a word to me for the majority of the ride instead he read The Daily Prophet. Only occasionally did I get the feeling he was watching me and even though I probably imagined it, I like to think that he was stealing glances.
It can't be that much further, I didn't remember it being such a long journey but maybe my mind just shortened it or time flew in good company. We were expected to get there sometime after nightfall. I was to say the least surprised when I looked out the window. It was nowhere near nightfall, there were still a few more hours of daylight left.
To my surprise the door slid open and in walked an older looking witch that used to be my Professor. She had insisted I call her Minerva now that we were colleagues but I was still slipping up. She was wearing her usual attire that consisted of a long sleeve robe that was secured with two buttons just above her waist and dark clothes underneath, along with her witch hat. I saw her eyes flick back and forth between Severus and I.
"I see you've met Severus, Allyce."
"Yes." I continued with my drawing not wanting to leave it unfinished.
"I trust he is treating you well?"
"He's been most polite, I look forward to working with him."
Minerva was slightly taken back with my answer and although Severus hadn't look up from his paper and still wore the same emotionless expression, it was obvious he heard every word.
"Is there a particular reas-"
"There you are! We've been looking all over for you, have you found them yet?"
A plump woman with curly grey hair and a kind face that didn't have the severity Minerva had stormed her way in, much to my discomfort. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that had a strange suspicion they would be doing a lot of meddling. She wore the same attire as Minerva only her clothes were of various shades of brown and she had adorned a pair of leather gloves. As she took in her surroundings, Severus and I shared a look. Clearly I wasn't the only one suspicious.
I turned my attention back to her just as she made her way over to me.
"Oh dear, how rude of me. You just be the new Professor, I'm Pomona Sprout. I teach Herbology."
"Um.." I flipped over my sketch pad.
"I'm Allyce Somerhalder." I replied.
"It's very nice to meet you Allyce."
"Thanks?" I shot Severus a nervous glance but he had already turned his attention back to The Daily Prophet.
Just as I was recovering from this sudden visit someone else came in. Her hair was mostly grey but you could tell she used to be blonde. She wore a red, long sleeve dress and a white nursing apron along with a white cap that had a little veil at the back.
"Oh, hello dearie. You must be Allyce. We've heard so much about you."
"All good I hope. You must be Poppy."
"Indeed I am."
"Why don't you be a darling and sit next to Severus so the girls and I can sit here and talk about stuff you wouldn't be interested in?" asked Sprout.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There's something fishy about them.
"Alright…"
I took my things and sat next to Severus, his body stiffened when I sat down but I supposed that's because I was sitting unusually close to him. There was probably only a couple of centimetres worth of space between us.
"Thank you so much!" said Sprout. Minerva and Poppy followed suit and sat down next to Sprout.
Minerva cast Muffliato over Severus and I so we wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. It wasn't long before the three of them were losing themselves in conversation whilst occasionally glancing over at us. They're probably going to meddle. Funny, when I was a student here and had Minerva as my teacher I'd never imagined she was the meddling type. Turning my sketch pad over again I thought intently for a moment. There's something not quite right about that snake. I've finished all the shading needed and done the finishing touches as well but I felt like it was lacking something.
I pursed my lips in concentration. Maybe if I hold it away from me I'll be able to figure it out.
"Wingardium leviosa."
My sketch pad hovered over my lap for a second before I pushed it back until it was in the middle of the room. It looked really good from a distance and it probably wasn't that bad up close either. Even from a distance I couldn't tell what was missing. Minerva and co. were looking at me curiously but didn't say anything and Severus…Well, I could have sworn since I sat down next to him he's been reading the same article over and over again.
"Severus?"
He grunted in response. Okay so not the answer I wanted but it was a start.
"Can you help me with something?"
"I'm busy" he grunted.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" he snarled, the hostility clear in his voice.
"I just wanted to know what you thought of my sketch - particularly the snake. I think I will call it James."
I was greeted with silence as Severus refused to co-operate and continued pretending to read. Anger was starting to build up inside me which was just ridiculous because there's nothing to be angry about. He's starting to infuriate me. Hmph, I could alternatively ask Minerva but I wanted his opinion not hers.
I poked his arm while clearing my throat. Nothing happened so I kept it up. It soon became evident, this didn't bother him in fact he looked a little amused. I let out a sigh and brought my sketch back to my lap. However I was never much of a quitter. I put away my wand on my right side and poked him in the ribs. All I want is his opinion, is that too much to ask?
Immediately Severus glared at me. In that moment his eyes showed nothing but anger, he even went as far as to grind his teeth.
"What is it with you? You imbecile! Ask someone else and leave me in peace. I do not wish to be dragged into some fruitless conversation with you." He bellowed.
I swear his voice was bouncing off the walls. Minerva, Sprout and Poppy looked shocked and he probably scared a few of the students outside in the other compartments.
I rolled my eyes at him and folded my arms over my chest.
"You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that. I'm not one of your students, I'm not going to run away in tears. You don't scare me Severus Snape."
Severus was quite for a moment but the anger he held towards me hasn't faded much. I leaned back into my seat.
"All I wanted was your opinion." I muttered under my breath.
Severus' frown deepened as he grabbed my sketch pad out of my hands. I was about to ask him what he was doing but when I looked up he was staring intently at my sketch. The brief amount of contact left tingles that lingered on my fingertips. We sat like that for a few minutes, just me waiting impatiently as he judged my work. I'm always nervous whenever I have to show my work to anyone and with Severus that feeling only intensified. I couldn't explain it. After all I had only just met him so how could he have this effect on me?
I saw him gulp and his fingers tightened their grip on the edges of my sketch pad. He turned his head to look at me. Severus still kept up with his heartless façade but there was something different in his features. Was it distaste? Regret? Admiration? Severus scowled and he jammed my sketch pad back into my hands.
"There's nothing wrong with it." He sneered, clearly annoyed I had wasted his time. His obsidian orbs darkened slightly and his jaw tensed. From what I've seen, he's probably grinding his teeth in annoyance. My mouth fell open as I realised what it was I was missing. It needed a bit of Snape in it. Of course, how did I not realise it before? He was after all the head of Slytherin and although the other animals didn't need it, the snake did.
I quickly began furiously darkening the eyes, giving them more of a range of dark tones. Next I darkened some of the lines around its facial features to make the snake more angular and I even put a slight smirk on it. There, now it's finished. I grinned, happy to have completed it before we reached Hogwarts. Haha, I still remember when I never did anything but draw. It was a miracle I got Outstanding in anything. Those were the days, now I'm lucky to complete two sketches in a month compared to ten or sometimes twenty.
Severus muttered something incoherent but being the curious person I am, I couldn't help but use a little Legilimency. I leaned back in my seat and started twirling my pencil in between my fingers as my sketch pad sat on my lap.
Insolent girl….Doesn't know what she's getting into…Wasting my time with her petty questions…Must she ruin my solitude?
For the second time that afternoon my mouth fell open but I managed to close it before everyone notice. Although I'm sure Severus noticed, even if he looked engrossed in The Daily Prophet. That man does not make it easy to be his friend. I don't know why people thought his cold exterior would make him any less human. His façade hasn't stopped him from judging me like countless others have before him.
I sneaked a glance at him, if he noticed he didn't show it. This year things are going to change. I'm going to make sure of it, starting with a certain Potions Master.