Chapter Two written by:
Lady Livia.
II
Professor Severus Snape.
Severus Snape stalked into his classroom, ordering the fifth year students to their seats. He flicked his swirling black robes back into a more comfortable (and ominous looking) position and took his place at the front of his dungeon classroom. He scowled as a few of the Ravenclaws continued their chit-chatter and snarled a nasty.
"I would have thought by fifth year you would have grasped the concept of silence when you enter my classroom… Ten points from Ravenclaw!"
The Ravenclaws in the class suppressed a groan, and the look on Snape's face could have stopped a clock.
"Well…?" he demanded "Why have you not got your books out?"
It was at that moment that the door to the classroom opened and a red faced Katie Bell stormed in, muttered an apology to the professor and sat at her usual table.
Snape did not even blink. "Miss Bell…" he drawled. "Do you at least have an excuse to be disrupting my class this late into the lesson?" he ignored the fact that the bell had only rang four minutes ago, but he did not care.
Katie muttered something even his sharp ears could not hear, but he thought he caught a few select words like "jerk" "prat" "Wood" and "git." Before she said more loudly,
"No, Professor."
"I see." He replied "Ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."
This time the Gryffindors suppressed a groan.
Snape turned and moved over to his desk.
"I have marked those scraps of rubbish you called essays, and was not in the slightest bit surprised that only a handful of you managed to pass the assignment."
As one, the class seemed to huff and a layer of very expected depression seemed to descend over them.
"As usual Mr. Wentz." He sneered to the closest Hufflepuff boy "A spectacular fail, your essay was so weak I must consider it a practical joke. I hate practical jokes. Five points from Hufflepuff for not taking my class seriously."
He went to move on then stopped and looked back at the Hufflepuff.
"I take solice in the fact that you will not receive an 'outstanding' in the O.W.L.s therefore I will not be seeing you next year."
Snape finally went to move on, leaving the boy looking like he was about to burst into tears.
As he moved around the room, Snape took great pleasure in seeing the looks of disappointment as he handed out failed paper after failed paper. He found amusing the murderous looks of the students from the other houses as they noticed that most of the Slytherins scraped passing marks, as did three Ravenclaws and two Gryffindor students, one of which included the tardy Katie Bell.
"B minus!" Snape said as he placed Katie's essay in front of her on the table. She hardly looked at it and seemed rather preoccupied.
"First you arrive late, now you are not paying attention." He said coldly.
Katie looked up from twisting a strand of her golden hair about her finger.
"I'm listening." She replied.
"Are you answering me back?"
"No."
"I hope not, I have no interest in spending an evening with you in detention…especially when you clearly would so much rather spend it with your dear quidditch captain."
Katie looked up at him, staring. Her face filled with an emotion he could not read. Snape resisted a smile, he had obviously been correct in the assumption that Oliver Wood was the reason behind the girl's mood. What do we have here? He thought A little teenage puppy-love angst?
Snape said nothing further to the girl staring up at him with wide green eyes, but simply moved along, handing out the next paper with a giant "F" on it.
At dinner that evening Severus Snape got to see more of the little epic he had, throughout the day, come to find interesting.
It began as the students slowly flowed into the hall.
He noticed Katie immediately, her blonde hair shining like a beacon amongst the mosaic of the other black and brown headed students. The girl headed to Gryffindor table and sat halfway up it next to Angelina Johnson. Not long later Wood entered the hall and took up a seat across the table from Katie and a few seats up.
Snape watched as the blonde shot him a dirty look. Wood seemed rather irritated by this and opened his mouth as if to say something to her, but Katie immediately and quite purposely turned away beginning a conversation with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet.
Snape smirked, greatly amused and wished he could hear what Oliver Wood was saying as he leaned across the table and said something to Katie. The girl paused, but did not look around at her captain, then a moment later she continued her conversation with her friends. Wood shook his head then apparently gave up for the moment, reaching instead for a bread roll.
"Severus, are you quite alright?" Minerva McGonagall's voice sliced through Snape's thoughts, drawing his attention back up to his own table. He looked around at his colleague who was watching him attentatively.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked her quietly.
"You seem distracted" she replied simply.
"I am merely thinking Minerva." He retorted shortly.
"Nothing too strenuous I hope."
"More for amusement really."
"Oh?"
"A pair of your own students in fact."
"My students?"
"Bell and Wood to be specific."
"What about them?"
"They amuse me."
"They amuse you, how so?"
"Surely you've noticed."
"Noticed what Severus?"
"Their little…unique …relationship."
"I don't know what you mean Severus."
"I think you do."
"No, really Severus, what amuses you about them?"
"Why Minerva, I believe you may be just as blind as they are."
A/N: All links for the authors can be found on the pass.it.on-girls' profile page.
