Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize are not mine.
"Just correct the papers and don't give anyone points they don't deserve." That's my boss. The one and only Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts, ex-Death Eater, Spy for the Order of the Phoenix, and snark-extraordinaire.
You may ask why a pureblood witch is working as Severus Snape's assistant. One thing you need to understand is that Severus wasn't the only spy the Order had during the war with Voldemort. My parents both were as well. My mother saved Severus' life once from a stray Killing Curse, and my father was killed when he was discovered. My mother asked Severus and Dumbledore to keep an eye on me and protect me, as she assumed her time would be approaching as well. She was right and I became an orphaned child at the age of thirteen in my third year at Hogwarts.
The Prophet followed my teen years far more closely than most other children affected by the war, due in part to the amount of money left to me, as well as the businesses. Not may thirteen-year-olds are worth over twenty million galleons. Despite the fact that I was a Slytherin, Dumbledore always treated me as if I was his own daughter or niece. He always said it was because I shared the name of his younger sister, Ariana, who died as a child. Personally, I think it has to do with the guilt of the fact that my parents were discovered during a mission he sent them on.
So here I sit, Ariana Sparks, correcting essays written by dunderheads. This isn't my term, but rather Severus' endearment for them. Several of them do seem to have potential, for lack of better term. Throughout childhood, and even now, people choose to compare my 'potential' to all that my parents did to better the wizarding community. It was with this in mind that I sold off all stocks of the corporations my parents owned, in hopes of deterring people from comparing me to my dead mother and father.
It didn't work.
I suppose that's part of my reason for becoming Severus' assistant. Of course, I'm not supposed to refer to him as Severus, at least no in front of the students. He prefers the title 'Professor Snape' or 'Sir'. Once, he joked that 'Master' was perfectly fine as well. At least, I think it was a joke. The corner of his mouth turned up. However, after a few time of having to lecture me about calling him by his given name, he permits me to call him Severus in the lab, away from others. He doesn't seem to mind so much anymore, if the tight line his lips form is any indication. It seems that's the way they are permanently set.
There have only been two instances when I have seen more than a wan smile on his face: first, when I tripped on a stool, causing him to smirk. He hadn't been wearing his teaching robes at the time, just black slacks and a white button-down shirt. It didn't take a Legilimens to realize I was shocked and pleased to see what he looked like without the large robe on. It was during the time that I was lost in my reverie that I tripped on the stool. The second time he actually laughed at a joke I made. I can't even recall what the joke entailed, but it caused me to see him in a different light, if only for a moment. For that instant, he transformed from the snarky, brooding, dark haired professor into a man, a living man capable of feelings and human reactions.
Afterwards, however, he went back to his typical self, though fewer scathing remarks were aimed at myself.
It's now time for fourth year potions. Two Gryffindor girls are waving about a copy of Witch Weekly, headline proclaiming that Severus and I have a secret relationship. Times like these force me to wonder if Severus' term 'dunderheads' truly describes some students. Severus confiscates the paper and, ('Who would have guessed?' I think sarcastically.) I see that it's written by Rita Skeeter. I despise that wretched cow. She's been writing articles suspiciously similar to this one for years now. Even some of the paragraphs look as though they were taken from those previous slandering articles. It started in my fourth year, a truly disgusting person she was. Why would he risk everything, his own integrity included, to have an affair with a student? Whenever the Daily Prophet wasn't willing to pay for the pieces, she'd take it to Witch Weekly or any other tabloid that would take the story.
He once hexed her, you know. Forget the previous count, Severus has smiled three times. She somehow managed to sneak into his classroom and cast a Disillusionment charm. He caught her when she took a picture. She got rather close and the shimmer from the charm made her presence obvious. Needless to say, he was furious, smashing the camera, torching the film inside, and even going so far as to emboss PEST' on her forehead, something she would be sporting for at least a week afterward.
"Thank you," I told him, after she left the school.
"Don't flatter yourself," was the response. "I didn't do it for you, I don't want the dunderheads to be anymore distracted than they already are." Everything was silent for about five minutes. "But you're welcome," he muttered, barely loud enough to hear.
"House Guest" is temporarily postponed until I come up with some more ideas for the next chapter, but I'm currently working on it. What do you think of this story though? Please review.