Gumby

Chapter 49: About Samara And Slytherins

The following couple of days were the same. Samara spent most of Sunday after breakfast with the Head Boy and Prefects discussing who would be doing what. He didn't have much of an opportunity to see her until just before lunch. She aided him with some of his grading to get him caught up before they both separated and went their separate ways to eat lunch. He didn't see her once more until dinner.

Monday and Tuesday had both passed in much the same way. He didn't see Samara all day, except when he looked out at her during meals while speaking to Professor Cross. After dinner both he and Samara would head to their duties and would probably see each other around eight, after she had done some patrolling and finished all her homework and he had gotten through with any grading and any unwanted detentions that he might have.

However, today he would see her after Potions class had come to a conclusion and he probably would not be able to see her that evening as she was going to be helping out in the Hospital wing that evening. He was thankful in the past couple days that the topic of Lily had been completely dropped and that they hadn't gotten into another argument. However, he supposed that they would come, and was simply trying his best to enjoy her company and good graces until he accidentally messed that up. For, from what he'd noticed so far, most of the time it was his fault, not that he would really admit to it.

After breakfast, he made his way of the Great Hall, intending to head down to the Dungeons to mentally prepare for the second year Slytherin and Gryffindors that he had first thing in the morning. However, as he exited the hall he felt something bounce into him. He glared down at the second year Hufflepuff that he didn't quite recognized yet to be Nymphadora Tonks, for her nose was slightly different and her hair was a deep shade of black. However, that soon changed as it started to turn red at the roots as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Five points from Hufflepuff for running in the hall," Severus said in his silkiest tone as he stared down his nose at her. Tonks was still backing away from him, when she suddenly bumped into whoever had been chasing her. "And that will be another five points from Gryffindor," he said as he glared over at Charlie Weasley, who was now standing next to his now red haired friend. Severus glared down at the natural red head. Charlie was several inches taller than Tonks and was now frowning.

Charlie couldn't help but notice that Snape was being particularly nasty with him and from what he'd heard from Bill, he wasn't the only Weasley that was getting into more trouble than what was usual. Snape was taking points from them at the smallest infractions. "Yes, sir," Tonks and Charlie both said as they looked at the Potion's Master. Neither one of them wanted to hard press their luck; at least they were not getting Detention.

"Good morning Professor Snape," Bill said as he walked up behind his sibling. Severus turned his gaze from one dark eyed Weasley to the other. Severus merely gave the boy a scathing look. However, Bill wasn't paying attention as he was now steering his younger brother and Tonks towards the Great Hall. "See you next lesson," he said as politely as he could muster as he made his way around him.

"What was that about?" Severus turned around and watched as Samara approached from another direction, just barely missing the two Gryffindors and Hufflepuff as they entered the Great Hall. Severus merely shook his head in response as he turned to face Samara while she approached slowly, her movements very languid. She had her school bag hanging from her shoulder and her hair tied up in a very tight bun, as apposed to the lazy, sloppy bun. She was holding her hands behind her back as she walked in a way that reminded him very much of the Headmaster and her eyes were gleaming with an amused twinkle.

"You should polish the badge," Severus said as he noted the badge seemed to have a smudge mark. Samara looked down at it and furrowed her brow. She sighed as she removed the badge and polished it before replacing it on her chest. She then smiled up at him.

"Better?" she asked as she looked at him. He merely shrugged, causing her to laugh lightly while shaking her head at him. However, as she looked up, Professor Cross suddenly appeared on Severus' right and she had to smile over at the strawberry blond everyone she knew made a commotion about. Usually Samara had to stop Nate and Ethan from saying nasty, hormonal comments about their new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. "Good morning Professor Cross," Samara said, smiling politely as she looked at the person whom had just interrupted them.

"Good morning Samara, Professor Snape," Cross said with that smile of hers as she looked down at Samara and over at Severus who was now staring at her with a raised brow. It was that same smile that had all the boys of Hogwarts drooling like morons. It was an enigmatic, sensuous smile that Samara could never muster and it bothered her that it was the only one that Professor Cross seemed to have and the whole world was topsy-turvy for it. Not that she had anything against Cross, she was a fairly good Professor though she gave many essays, though she supposed it was not anymore than any of the other teachers. "How are you this morning Samara?"

"Fine thank you. Yourself?" Samara asked politely. Severus didn't know why, but he didn't like getting stuck between them while these two exchanged pleasantries. He supposed it was only because he had nothing that he wanted to add to their exchange and it made him feel as though he were eavesdropping or something.

"Looking forward to today's lesson," Pandora replied, sounding enthused. Samara merely nodded at this and smiled lightly.

"Well I should get something to eat, I'll see you later Professor," Samara said with a nod of her head before walking away and into the Great Hall. Severus watched as Samara walked away, his heart already missing her. He cursed himself for growing such a deep attachment. Though he supposed it wasn't his fault or something that couldn't have been helped.

"Does Samara ever volunteer to answer questions in your class?" Severus turned to look at Pandora who was asking him the question while watching Samara walk away. Severus stared at the woman who went through a lot of trouble with her appearance. Currently, she had half of her hair in a fancy bun while the rest of it was loose. Her hair waved down past her shoulders and ended in soft tendrils of curls. Pandora, for once was not smiling and looked rather thoughtful as she stared after the Head Girl.

"Never has," he replied simply.

"Oh, good, I just thought that she was like that in my class," Pandora said, sounding slightly relieved. Severus looked over at her, wondered why she was so concerned about it, but couldn't say that he disagreed. If she cared about the way students acted in her classes, it had to mean that she was concerned about their education, which was a slight plus. "She has a lot of friends."

Severus turned and smirked at Pandora. "Slytherins don't have friends, at least, not with each other," Severus said silkily. Pandora's eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "You either know that when you start, or you learn the hard way. Either way, not everyone is cut out for Slytherin."

"No offense Severus, but that makes your house sound awful. So everyone in Slytherin is only out to get something when it comes to friendship?" she asked. Her voice was light and teasing and she kept smiling in that minx-like way of hers. Severus couldn't help but stare deeply into her blue eyes and smirk.

"Unfortunately, that's the way it works. Not everyone does it because they have a predisposition towards it, but you learn that if you want to survive in your own house it's what you have to do. I think being in Slytherin educates you better for the world. You learn that you can't trust those closest to you and how to manipulate people and situations to your advantage without anyone knowing any better," he said as he looked into her eyes.

"That's quite a cynical view of the world you got there," she said coquettishly.

"Quite accurate if you ask me," Severus replied in a drawl as he thought about his years after Hogwarts. Sure a Death Eater he had a biased opinion of the world that probably wasn't completely accurate, however, even Dumbledore, the light and beacon of their world, seemed to exploit things that work to his advantage. After all, had not Dumbledore used his love for Lily as a way to bind him to his service until the Dark Lord finally fell? It wasn't like Dumbledore had not planned to protect the Potters once he'd heard the prophecy and knew that Voldemort was after the Potters. It was something Severus had realized long after the fact that they were dead.

Pandora eyed the Potions Master for a moment, smiling sexily as she thought about how dark and mysterious he was. "So what happens to the students that are not intelligent enough to manipulate?" Pandora asked, changing the subject. Severus eyed the Professor for a moment before responding.

"They become lackeys for stronger students. Slytherin is very hierarchical," Severus replied simply.

"I see, and does that make sweet little Samara manipulative?" Pandora asked. Severus furrowed his brow for a moment, detecting a very subtle tone the way that she mentioned Samara, however, could not quite place what that was. He merely convinced himself that he'd imagined it, as every Professor was quite fond of Samara and by the way that Samara was in classes, it would take Cross a while to get a better read on her character.

Thinking about it, Severus wasn't really sure. However, he thought all women were manipulative, at least they knew very well how to manipulate men, and thinking about the situation with Lucius, he had to assume that Samara did know how to manipulate a man. "I'm not sure, though, is not your whole gender manipulative?" Severus asked, looking into Pandora's eyes. Pandora raised a brow and smirked, wondering if he was trying to tell her something. He smirked at her, "Excuse me; I need to prepare for class."

TBC...

A/N: Please review!