Disclaimer: Don't own this. Enjoy!
And I knew that the lights of the city were too heavy for me....
"Arianna can you stay behind for a moment? I'd like to have a word with you," drawled Professor Snape, the potions master's voice.
Arianna's head snapped up from the cauldron she had been working over. "Um…okay…" She stuttered nervously, pouring a few drops of her draught of the living dead into a beaker. She packed up her supplied, letting the other kids file out of the room.
'I've probably failed,' she thought miserably. 'I've probably not even managed a 'P', and he's telling me I've failed and I'll never amount to anything and father will hate me…I'll have to work at a burger joint and all the other wizards will know what a loser I am, I'm such a loser I can't even manage a P in potions, I mean everyone else probably did but me, I'm crap at Ravenclaw-'
"Miss Acton, are you listening to me?"
Arianna met Snape's gaze to find him giving her a very annoyed look.
"Um…yes…I mean…no..What I mean is no. Oh. Um…I'm sorry sir." She stared down at her shoes.
Snape rolled his eyes deeply. "I was saying, Miss Acton, is that you have had the highest potions grade for the past seven years running. Quite unusual, yet a tad impressive. I was curious, what were your aspirations after Hogwarts?"
"I had been thinking, um, of curse breaking, like my mom. I could be good at it, I think."
Snapes eyes searched her face for a second, though he kept his own motionless.
"Yes. Quite a difficult profession. Should you need a recommendation, I would provide it."
Arianna looked up at him, blinked, and then blurted, "You don't hate me?"
Snape sighed and rubbed his eyes. "No Miss Acton, I do not, though your mere presence is giving me a headache."
"Oh. Right. Well…um…thanks, sir."
Snape motioned for her to leave, and she quickly jumped up, tripping over her bag as she made her way out the door…
Present Time-
Ten years had passed since Arianna had graduated, seven since Voldermort had been defeated, and eight since she had become a curse breaker for Gringotts.
Presently she found herself tangled up in crisp, white sheets in Albania where she had just spent two weeks trying to break a curse on a particular pair of shoes. Arianna had been excited when, upon lifting the curse, had been presented with an identical pair of glass heels, just like Cinderella's had been, if she were real.
However, now Arianna slept, her red hair curling around her fingers, blissfully unaware of the owl outside her window.
The owl, tawny with amber eyes, had been rapping on the window for the better part of an hour, and was now entertaining the thought of launching itself through the actual glass.
Just as it seemed this could be only way to wake her, Arianna miraculously woke up, and let the owl in.
"Hope you weren't out there long mate," she greeted cheerfully, offering it a biscuit.
"Hm," she skimmed the letter, flipped it over, and wrote three words: "Sure, why not?"
The letter was from Minerva McGonagal, asking if she would take up the potions post as Hogwarts. Arianna was fond of potions, not to mention talented at it, though her days at Hogwarts still plagued her. She had been awkward, physically and socially, never fitting in with anyone while there.
"I agreed to take the potions post," she told the owl as she pulled her hair into a messy pony tail. "What do you think? Teaching snotty kids all day long, seems dangerous. More dangerous than curse breaking, and that's saying something, I've almost died twice!"
The owl chewed its biscuit, but she didn't really expect it to say much back, being an owl and all.
"I remember what the kids there were like, too. I wasn't too bad, but I didn't really talk nor have a personality either. Didn't come out of my shell until I started breaking these curses you know. Got start being a bit more forceful, if you know what I mean? People will curse you to pieces if you stand there for too long not saying anything."
The owl continued to stare.
"At any rate, I'm twenty seven, and it seems like I should have a proper career, not a job that could kill me, though I do fancy the traveling quite a bit. Actually, more than just a bit, I love it."
She sighed and flopped down on the bed.
"It'll make my parents happy. I don't think there's any danger at Hogwarts, not anymore. And if I get homesick for the road and adventure, I can always resume curse breaking. I'm not the only talented witch with a cauldron."
She tied the letter back the owl, which promptly flew off.
"Oh bugger," she said before promptly flopping back on the bed.
Arianna reached Hogwarts several days later, taking a train to London, and then a train to Hogwarts. She wasn't particularly fond of trains, it just happened to be the method available to her. She had settled into her new apartment within the castle on the fourth floor. It seemed that Professor Snape chose to remain in the dungeon, and she was just fine with that. A bit to chilly for her taste down there anyway.
She had been within the castle for approximately a week, loafing around and working on potion lessons in equal amounts, chatting with several teachers, and generally enjoying the end of the summer lazy atmosphere.
The first night she spent with everyone was the night the students arrived and McGonagall introduced her as the new potions master. She remained seated and did not smile, mostly in a hope to scare the students. Snape had been DADA teacher for the past eight years, and she fancied the idea of the children fearing her they way they feared him, although it seemed unlikely once they met her.
Her first day met her nervously, and she had slept poorly the night before.
"I can break curses that could kill me should they go wrong, oh sure, no problem," she said outloud as she prepared for the first group of the day, "But teaching small, sticky children and I'm shaking like a leaf in the fall. Perfect, bloody perfect. Maybe it will go fine. Maybe they will respect me and all do so well that everyone is shocked and impressed-"
"I wouldn't count on it, Miss Acton."
Snapes voice surprised her out of her mini pep talk.
"Severus! Snape? Um…I didn't notice you there!" she fumbled forward, stopping in front of him, suddenly feeling inadequate.
"Severus is just fine. I happened to be walking past when I heard your…little tirade." He arched an eyebrow.
"Oh. Yeah. Um, I guess I talk to myself. It's not crazy unless I start talking back though, right?" she gave a little laugh, one that he did not return.
"Clearly. If you have any need for assistance, I am available." He began to sweep out of the room, but turned quickly back around. "And Miss Acton. Do try and keep the children in line. I would hate to see them turn you into…a door mat."
"Arianna," she said, but he had already swept out, quite gloriously, she noted. It really was a talent the way that man walked in and out of a room like he owned it. "My name is Arianna."
At that point, small second years began to file in. taking seats in the desks. She stood there, waiting for them to all be in, and watching several run in late.
"You're all here then? I'm not going to call roll to be sure you're all here; I think you'll find it unnecessary. I'll know which of you chose to attend by the marks you receive in my class. I can be quite pleasant. Potions truly are an art, one I think all of you would find enjoyable, given the proper amount of studying and attention. I want to make you all masters. You can all achieve great things with potions. Now, I want you to read the instructions of the board and begin with a fairly simple sleeping draught."
The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion, and she found she had a bit of a knack for teaching, though the older kids seemed immune to her, and seemed to find potions a bit boring. The older they got, the smarter their mouths got, and by the end of the night she was about ready to beat one of them with an eraser.
"Bloody stupid kids, always with their comments," she muttered, putting jars back in the cabinets. "Can't just shut it while I'm trying to talk, oh no, have to make a funny remark, got to make their peers just laugh and laugh and laugh…"
"Talking to yourself again, I see," Severus stood in the door way looking unamused.
"You know, you really ought to make more noise when you walk, sneaking up on people like that is a bit creepy," she remarked, looking a trite annoyed.
"I think you would be able to hear me just fine if you weren't talking so loudly."
"Mm, yes, you would, wouldn't you."
"I must ask you why you removed twenty house points from Bartelby today."
She thought for a minute, trying to remember which little bugger he was. "Is the trollish looking one?"
Snape's face remained unwavering.
"Well, if it was, he began throwing lizard livers around the room, and those cost me ten galleons a piece!"
"It seems you lack control in your classroom."
"No, what I lack is fifteen pairs of eyes and six hundred extra hands to smack them all upside the head with! I can't be watching Bartlby when some other bloke is blowing up his neighbor now can I? Honestly you would think they would have a better grasp on potions at this point, not still be singing off their eyebrows!"
Snape cracked a smile. "Indeed you would, Miss Acton."
Before he could sweep back out, Arianna said, "It's Arianna, Severus. I'm not your student anymore; I am your colleague….after all…"
The look he had on his face scared her a bit, though she didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even herself.
"Of course, Arianna. I will try and remember it in the future."
And he swept out of the room.
"Of course. Like a fucking bat that one. Wouldn't be surprised if he grew wings and fangs."