CHAPTER 1

Dessert Before Dinner

''I'm Gentleman Death in silk and lace, come to put out the candles…'' Lestat de Lioncourt

The Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle was buzzing with students all bustling about, greeting and giving each other the latest updates. Excitement about once again being united but not about starting a new school year filled the air.
Aside from the excitement, there was the smell of food in the air, not just your average smell, but the kind of smell that food gives off when you're starving and your mouth begins to water, the smell of your favourite food and you know it's your favourite, even though you don't know what it is exactly.

Most of the Griffyndors were seated at their table already, sniffing the air, anxiously awaiting for their plates to be filled, when Luna Lovegood left the Ravenclaw table to join Harry Potter and the rest of her Griffyndor friends.

"May I sit for a while?" she sat down without waiting for an answer, bringing the latest edition of the 'Quibbler' with her.

'Anything interesting?' Harry asked, to Ron's dismay, pointing at the 'Quibbler'.

"Why yes of course!" she replied excitedly only to immediately close her mouth again, not say anything else and merely stare off into the distance.

Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to tell us about the search for some Crumpet Horned Snorecake?" he was particularly susceptible to the temptation of food.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and no. I have a headache, I think I feel a Wrackspurt somewhere" she rubbed her forehead in an attempt to relieve the hazy feeling that began to fill her neurons.

Laenaya Darkstrom entered the gigantic hall and began her slow procession towards the staff table, taking everything in around her.
She was aware of the smell that so easily excited the students, but unlike to them, to her it was merely a pungent smell.
Though it caused a feeling of nostalgia for her, it was nothing like the nostalgia the students felt when they smelt it; for while theirs was a nostalgia that made them feel at home and warm inside, hers was a nostalgia that reminded her of a distant past that she simply could not recall, memories slowly decaying in her mind.

She tried to look at each student that she passed and remember their faces, imagining how their personalities would be and tried to envision teaching them and caring about them.
'This will definitely not be easy…' she thought as the realization of the magnitude of the task ahead crept up on her.

One might wonder, what magnitude of a task? Teaching students is not all that difficult, though possibly annoying, it could hardly be described as insurmountable, right?
Well, to Laenaya the task was more than insurmountable, it was as bad as facing a Boggart for the first time, and a Boggart which smelled the way that the Great Hall currently smelled at that.

She stopped and looked around 'at least they're magical' some of them looked nice enough, although that was never the issue.

Before continuing, she looked at Harry Potter and told herself that it could not be so bad if the wizard who'd brought about Voldemort's downfall was there. An achievement so grand that not even the most powerful of races had achieved it, but Harry Potter had. If all else failed she could at least have some fun with him.

"Over here dear."
At the elevated staff table she looked up and saw that an older looking woman, who was smiling warmly and wearing elegant robes and a pointed hat was gesturing for Laenaya to sit in the unoccupied chair beside her.

Severus Snape was seated at the staff table in the Great Hall waiting for the insufferably boring welcoming ceremony to start, which has only been the same since he first came to Hogwarts and probably before that as well.
He was not looking forward to another year around Potter and the other dunderheads. The only one of the lot who displayed any potential was Granger, and she was simply irritating by nature.
He shifted in his seat when he abruptly felt a chill. Knowing where it was coming from, his gaze flowed over the staff table and over the student's heads to the entrance of the Great Hall.
'Well at least this should prove to be interesting' his thoughts whispered to himself while he watched the newcomer enter hesitantly.

She had a strong aura that, full of enchantment and energy appeared to emanate from her towards the entire vicinity, although none of the students seemed to notice she was there. Not that that was surprising, in fact it's a common attribute.

He rolled his eyes; the less experienced teachers were probably falling for the oh so obvious trick right now.

She was wearing long deep black robes, which apparently flowed as she moved, much like his own. It gave him the impression of liquid shadows.
As she stopped for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the clothes concealed under her robes.

'Is that a corset?' he smiled inwardly 'how stereotypical'

She was moving now again and as she came closer Snape noticed that her body was rather corpulent, one would not consider her to be particularly attractive. Then he looked at her face. Was she beautiful? 'Or part of the trap. The predatory nature I suppose.' he shifted again in his seat.

She had long hair that fell, perfectly straight, down her back, although Snape would only notice this later, when he'd see her from behind; it was just a detail that, for some reason, was so striking about her.
She had her fringe cut in such a way that Snape believed was muggle inspired, she would later describe this as pin-up style; and her whole hair was dark red and yet fiery, 'dyed' he suspected.

"Minerva McGonagall" the gentle woman said as Laenaya sat down.

"Laenaya Darkstrom, it is an honour to meet you professor" she exchanged introductions with the rest of the staff. Flinching slightly due to a tinge of shame, she realized that 'honour' was perhaps a strong word for her to have used. 'What is wrong with me? Get over it.'
She moved to the middle of the staff table and greeted Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, whom she already knew.

"Ah Severus Snape! I would never have imagined to see you here." Laenaya looked at the man seated to her left, she remembered him, and they had met before. How interesting that he would end up being a teacher at Hogwarts.

"Have we met before?" his voice was silky and deep.

Laenaya noted his use of Occlumency, which he had improved since the last time they met, and was not surprised at the fact that his facial attempt to express puzzlement consisted of the slight raising of an eyebrow.
'sexy.' she remarked with amusement. Much more so than she remembered him being.

"Indeed, a few years ago" she replied and just as he was going to inquire further, for he could not remember, Albus Dumbledore stood up to begin his Welcoming Speech.

After the Sorting Hat had sorted all the new students into their houses and the noise died down, Dumbledore got up again.

"Welcome new students, I trust you are going to enjoy your stay here at Hogwarts. I am confident that you will study hard in order to become great Wizards and Witches! I am looking forward to a new school year and of course the traditional festivities such as the upcoming Halloween" Several people clapped and cheered at this.

"Also, I am happy to announce that professor Severus Snape is taking up the Defense against the Dark Arts position and I would like to welcome professor Laenaya Darkstrom, also Potions Mistress who will be taking up the Potions position"

Some students clapped out of respect for their new professor but the majority of students merely moaned at the fact that Snape would now be torturing them above the earth; he was probably scarier in daylight.

"Bugger! I thought he was going to announce that Snape was leaving!" someone exclaimed fearlessly.

"Ron, please don't get a detention before your first day! Besides, you never know if he'll be nicer to us now that he has the job he wanted." Hermione lightly hit Ron on the arm, to which he simply replied,
"Oh right," he snorted "now the bat is coming out of his caves, to spread joy amongst the living!"

Harry said nothing to this, for although he knew that Snape had played a colossal role, probably the biggest, in Voldemort's downfall even if he would still torture him at school.

Laenaya saw the students' reactions and wondered, if the students already thought Snape was a bat, what would they think of her? Of course she didn't have to stay here forever but Dumbledore had made her promise that if she accepted the job and began a year at Hogwarts, she would have to see that year through.
One year to her was usually like the blink of an eye but it still seemed near impossible, at least at this moment. How was she going to make it through having to deal with petty human problems all year, without once being able to…

"Professor Darkstrom, if I am not mistaken, you are as much of a fan of the good things in life as I am so I have taken the liberty to inform the house-elves to keep your favourite in stock." Dumbledore was smiling at her, his eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles. He was obviously delighted that there was someone to share his particular secret pleasure, although it really was no secret that he liked sweets. He ignored the fact that her sweets were slightly different to his.

She turned her head and saw that in front of her, a bowl full of cherry coloured lollipops had appeared and her mood lifted instantly.
"Why thank you professor! How thoughtful!" perhaps it wouldn't be so terrible after all, if she had Dumbledore to keep her in check and keep her away from temptation. She never considered the fact that she wouldn't be alone.

At her side Severus Snape rolled his eyes and smirked in his famous style. 'Lovely,' he thought 'Dessert before Dinner.'