As Snape slowed down from his walk up the corrridor, as he had been heading to Dumbledore's office, he watched as a frantic Miss Tsuraya came running down the corridor towards him. He opened his mouth to start deducting points, when she ducked behind him, hiding between his robes and the wall. He was so astonished at her behavior that he didn't say anything for a second, wondering what the hell she was doing.
Lockhart came striding by moments later, his stupid curly hair bouncing and his white teeth flashing as he smiled hugely, calling, "Oh Miss Tsuraya! Come! Please take a picture with me!" Snape raised a brow as he continued past, completely oblivious to the girl shaking behind him. Unconsciously, he had swept his robes slightly back to make sure that she wouldn't be seen. Chalk it up to his duty as a teacher, and that he would hide from Lockhart as well, given the chance.
"Is he gone?" Came her small whisper from behind him.
"Yes." He whispered back, his deep baritone making it more quiet than normal. He watched as she stepped out from behind him, her blue eyes wide and more than a little on edge. She swept a hand through her hair and adjusted her robes, looking up at him.
"I'm sorry about that. He has kept chasing me around with photo this and photo that. Come on! Let's take a picture together and then I'll give you my autograph that I don't want!" She said, her eyes brimming with sarcastic amusement. Snape found that he had to resist a serious urge to laugh.
"10 points to Slytherin for that adept impersonation." He smirked at her, as close to a smile as she would ever get to see. The corridors were now empty, as the students were now at lunch.
She grinned slightly at him, her dark blue eyes still alight with sarcasm.
"Thank you Professor." she turned and walked off to lunch, making sure that Lockhart wasn't around.
He grinned slightly to himself and shook his head.
Needless to say, when she came running down the corridor again, less than a week later, she made a beeline for him. Snape strode forward, his robes billowing around him, and saw that she looked more irritated than anything. He noticed that Lockhart was hot on her trail, so when she ducked behind him, and into the alcove he was standing in front of, he made it a point to stop and maliciously glare at some gossiping girls who needed to get to class. They ran off, and Lockhart came up to him.
"You didn't happen to see which way Miss Tsuraya went, have you Professor Snape?" His white teeth were going to blind someone one day.
He raised a brow and pointed down the hallway towards the Slytherin common room, giving him a malicious sneer. He was more than aware that she had been heading to his potions class. Lockhart beamed at him, and stupidly headed off down the corridor.
She stepped out from behind him silently, and he gave her a nod, and they strode off down the corridor toward the dungeons.
2 days later, as he was grading the last few 1st year essays on the uses of the bezoar, he heard a quiet and polite knock on his office door.
"Enter." He barked, putting on his usual steely mask. To his surprise, Miss Tsuraya stepped in, looking more than a little pissed off. She strode up to his desk, and spoke in a steely tone.
"Sir, if I have to continue to deal with Professor Lockhart for another day, I will pack my things and leave. He is harassing me constantly, and I cannot accomplish any of my studies."
He sat back and raised a brow at her, setting his red quill down.
"Miss Tsuraya, how long has this been going on?" His tone was significantly less sharp than the one he normally used.
"Since the start of term Professor." She looked down at the wood of his desk, now uncertain as to whether or not he would do something about it. She heard him sigh, and she raised incredulous blue eyes.
"I'll handle it. Go back to your common room." He was sneering in his usual manner. Good.
"Thank you Professor." She says, turning and leaving quietly, making sure that the door shut behind her. After a few minutes, he stood and exited after her, heading to Lockhart's office.
The next morning, as he sat at the professor's dais and calmly ate his breakfast, he noticed that Lockhart hurried in and refused to make eye contact with him. He looked slightly disheveled this morning, his normally perfect robes wrinkled and his hair slightly out of place. Snape had to work to hide a self-satisfied smirk. He looks to where Amaki is sitting, and she is smiling quietly, eating breakfast as well.
When he reaches his classroom the next day, after hearing a full report that Lockhart had refused to speak to her or even look at her, he finds a small package on his desk. He opens it tentatively, and finds several small bundles of rare herbs and potion ingredients for use in particularly nasty brews. He runs his fingers over the carefully dried leaves and small bottles, and notices a note amongst the dried Tsubaki roots, a very difficult ingredient to find in the apothecary.
"Professor Snape,
Thank you for helping me with Lockhart. I figured that you would find these useful.
Amaki Tsuraya."
He raised a brow at the note, but looked at the potion ingredients and smiled, a genuine smile. She never failed to surprise him.