Slow beginning! I just want the sexiness to happen, but character building is good and important! More soon!
Chapter 4- Testing the Waters
The heels of her shoes echoed behind him a few paces.
"My name is Thena." She hesitated to make the introduction or to start any sort of interaction with him.
"Severus" he said without so much as a swift glance over his shoulder.
"How are you doing…" Thena hesitated again "Severus?"
"Well." They awaited the staircase to change. He peered at her in the corner of his eye. "Thank you." He added…It did not come out too sincere.
The staircase groaned as it moved and they continued on their quest.
Severus let out a long breath and decided to ask, "So you will be counseling the students then…" Barely spitting out the word, "emotionally?"
He didn't understand why this would be an appropriate thing to accomplish at a school.
"Yes and just about anyone who needs someone to talk to."
They wheeled around to another staircase.
"What a peculiar profession." He harshly annunciated.
"Yes, well I'm a half blood." She said it so matter-of-factly, that it made Severus cringed. "My father pulled me out of the magic world when I was young, so I went through muggle schooling. Its actually a pretty respectable and common profession in that world." By the tone of her voice, Severus could tell she was on the fence about his comment. Perhaps she was so use to everyone in that world praising her work, that she was not use to such skepticism.
"You're in the papers a lot." She spoke again as they rounded a hallway. Severus stopped his quick pace and turned around. He simply blinked at her in confusion. "The papers here…About your heroism, dedication, and how you continue to give your life to this school."
He said nothing and started walking again. They were nearly there and he was relieved to be rid of this in-sinuous chatter. They halted right in front of the door.
"So Professor are you really that self-less, I wonder? I think its…peculiar…" She stood in front of him. He saw her eyes now, the flame from the torch on the wall flicking within them. They were a dark gray now. "that you have returned again and continue to give your life to a place that has taken it away."
He clinched his fist. This woman was already intolerable.
"I'm not interested in your psycho-babble…" His teeth grinded "Madam."
"And I'm not into administering small talk." She opened the door. "But one must humor another out of politeness. Thank you for escorting me Professor. Good Night." Severus swiftly started walking again and Thena closed the door behind her.
Thena glanced in a grand mirror she found on her way to the Banquet Hall for breakfast. In it, Thena checked her appearance. Her hair was down and pulled slightly back at both sides. As she pulled down the hem of her pale green dress, students pasting her were whispering to each other. Thena, use to really every kind of attention, didn't even realize it, but noticed her hands were shaking slightly. She knew she was a little nervous for her first day of work at Hogwats, but didn't know it was so evident.
As she walked through the corridor to the Great Hall, Thena took a deep breath and reassured herself. "You are a license professional. People are people not matter what world you are in. And you help people. You know how to help people with or without magic."
Thena entered through the side door and was pleasantly greeted by many of the other professors. She greeted them back sincerely, as they introduced themselves to her. She took the nearest seat next to a younger lady with curly brown hair and glanced around at the front table. Minerva was not there and neither was Severus. Thena was quite disappointed. Minerva gave her a sense of comfort and Severus…interested her entirely. She didn't know if it was his appearance, dark and unkempt, his sneering voice, or what she had heard about him in the papers, but something about Severus was curious to her. And whether that curiosity was negative or positive, she also did not know yet.
Even still, Thena was looking forward to seeing him again and perhaps this time, having a positive interaction.
While Thena was finishing eating, Minerva came through the side door and greeted her.
"I have told Professor Septima Vector, that we may need to give you a crash course in magic and she is willing to give you some lessons after her classes. You do have a wand, don't you?"
"Yes. I've been using my mother's old one." Thena replied and then thought "barely."
"We'll have to have one choose you this weekend at Hogstmead. Until then, that one will do. Are you settling in well? Have you seen your office yet?"
"Yes I looked at it this morning. It will work out exceptionally." Thena smiled nervously, "Thank you Minvera."
"Thank you, Thena. You are the first person that popped in my head when thinking about the student's transitioning into this new time..." She paused "You know, even though you were away, Albus talked very highly of you and your accomplishments."
"My muggle accomplishments." Thena added.
Minerva shook her head at her and lowered her voice, "Your willingness to move on. He called you the "guru" you know? Someone who can take light from all the darkness and just move on with the upmost wisdom."
"Sad to say, sometimes I just think of it as running away. Some use the expression 'ignorance is bliss'?"
The rest of Thena's day was more successful than she could ever hope for. Her first student to come into her office, was a young girl, who was facing her third year at Hogwats. She was hesitant at first to even step into Thena's office, but Thena was well use to this hesitation. Thena started talking to the young girl about every day topics and then little by little, the student revealed why she wanted to talk.
Thena wasn't just about resolution. This was a common misconception with counseling. Thena let the student explain her feelings to her and then repeated them to the student. She offered the girl reassurance of how the girl was allowed to have these concerns and that she wasn't alone in this turmoil after such a traumatic event occurred.
It only took one female student to spread around her acceptance of Thena and soon a trickling of students came in. Some talked about all their feelings and some, mainly two male students, seemed to just want to make small talk. It was as if they were just testing the waters.
