By: PepperjackCandy
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: You recognize it? It's J.K. Rowling's. All I own is Alex Farrell.
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After Dumbledore had filled Alex in on her duties and responsibilities as a member of the Hogwarts staff, he led her down the staircase outside his office, then through a maze of hallways to the stairs that led down to the dungeons.
"I hope I can find my way around." Alex said as they started down the stairs.
"Don't worry. We've got seventh year students who get lost occasionally." Dumbledore assured her, his voice bouncing from the walls of the dungeon. "And I'm sure you'll do fine."
It was then they heard Snape's laughter.
Snape sat at his desk, leafing through an old tome on potions. Sleeping draughts, he thought, turning page after page. He passed by love potions, out-of-love potions, health elixirs. An eternal life potion caught his eye. He skimmed it. "Eternal life! This turns you into a rock!" He laughed uproariously, but stopped when he heard Dumbledore clearing his throat.
"Oh. I wasn't expecting you so soon." Snape hoped he wasn't blushing, but he had the awful, humiliating feeling that he was.
"Apparently not." Snape could tell that Dumbledore was trying to contain his own amusement.
He looked over at Alex, who was still standing in the doorway, no recognizable emotion showing on her face. Snape felt a sudden rush of gratitude to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for not making a big deal out of his show of, to his mind, weakness. It was all right for his best friend to see him laughing, but for a complete stranger . . . it was simply unacceptable.
"Are you available to show Professor Farrell around?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes."
"You might want to show her her office and apartments, as well. Her baggage has already been taken up there."
"Anything else?" Snape asked in a irritated tone.
"Oh. And if you have time before supper, you might cover some of the grounds outside. The stables, the lake, things like that."
Snape sighed. "All right."
"Have a nice afternoon," Dumbledore smiled at Alex as he left the room.
"Look," Alex said. "You don't have to give me a tour. Just tell me how to find my apartments, and how to get back down for supper, and I'll leave you to your . . ." She gestured vaguely in the direction of the book that Snape had been reading.
"Nonsense." Snape assured her. "Albus has entrusted you to me for the afternoon, and I will fulfill that responsibility."
Alex wondered if he seriously was that pompous, or if he had a stilted manner for another reason. Nervousness, perhaps? "Well, if you're sure . . ."
"Yes, I am sure. Now, if you'll accompany me. . ." Snape stood and led Alex out into the hallway.
They stepped into the hallway and Snape indicated a bend farther down the corridor. "That way leads to my apartments. My classroom is over here." He indicated with a nod of his head as they walked towards the stairs that led back up to the main floor.
He led her through the main hallway, pointing out the Great Hall as they passed it. "This is where we eat our meals."
Alex stuck her head in, but barely got a chance to look around before Snape had mounted the steps leading up to the second floor.
He led her up another flight of stairs, then down a long corridor lined with paintings. They stopped at one of a woman in a red dress holding a pair of spectacles on a long stick. "Your apartments are behind this portrait." He informed her.
"*Behind* it?"
"Yes. You say the password to the portrait, and she'll let you through."
"Hello." Alex said to the woman in the portrait.
"You're the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, then?" The portrait responded.
"Yes. Alex Farrell."
"Welcome to Hogwarts, dear."
"Thank you."
"The password is 'everlasting gobstoppers.'" At Alex's expression of surprise, he said, "One of Albus's passwords. In order to change it, you say the password, then give your name, then the new password - twice."
Alex walked through the steps in her head. "Do I give my name as Alex Farrell or Alexandra Farrell?"
"Since you introduced yourself to me as Alex Farrell, Alex will suffice." The portrait told her.
"Oh. Thank you again."
"Would you like to see your apartments?" Snape asked.
Alex shook her head. "No. I suspect I'll have plenty of time to spend in there over the next year. I'd much rather continue the tour."
As they continued down the hallway, Alex said, "I probably should get into Hogsmeade again tomorrow to see if I can find some yarn or a compass or something to help me find my way around here."
"Many of the first years purchase a three-dimensional compass to help them out until they get the lay of the land. Very useful. I think you can get them in Hogsmeade."
"I shall have to go into town and get one, then."
"Would you like an escort?"
"No, thank you. I'll be fine."
"Are you certain?" Snape asked. "Some sections of Hogsmeade can be rather . . ."
Her mouth tightened. "Professor Snape, I will be fine. If you'll recall, I was a member of law enforcement before I attended wizarding school. I learned a few things about self-defense in those years."
Snape sighed. "If you insist."
"I do."
They continued walking. "Your classroom will be here." He indicated the room on the right-hand side of the corridor.
Alex illuminated the room as she stepped into it. Other than the usual classroom equipment such as blackboard and desks, the room was empty. "Hmm. It's rather . . . bare. I guess I'll have to get some posters and such. You know, physical and magical weak points on the human body. That sort of thing."
They stepped back into the hallway and Snape turned back the way they had originally come.
"What's that way?" Alex pointed farther into the castle.
Snape shrugged. "Other faculty apartments, more classrooms, the Astronomy Tower . . ."
"Astronomy Tower? I'll bet you can get a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside from up there!" Alex dashed off in that direction, leaving Snape to follow in her wake.
Once she'd reached the top of the Astronomy Tower, Alex finally stopped. "Oh!" She sighed. "You can see Hogsmeade from here!"
She turned and smiled at Snape, who merely pursed his lips and walked to the edge where Alex stood. He looked off into the distance, seeing the village, just as Alex had said. He looked at her and nodded.
Snape's silence made Alex a little nervous, so she started babbling. "I know you probably can't get beautiful views like this all year - it's probably too overcast a lot of the time, but I just *know* I'm going to come up here often, just to get away from it all."
Snape and Alex stood in the top room of the Astronomy Tower for a few minutes, both enjoying the view, even if Snape didn't admit to it aloud. Then, as if by mutual agreement, they both turned and began their descent.
As they left the building, Snape took Alex past the hospital wing, explaining to her that, if she followed in the footsteps of her predecessors, at least one student would end up in the hospital wing through the course of the year. Probably more like one per month, truthfully.
They stepped out onto the front steps of the castle, both squinting after the comparative darkness of the castle.
Snape forcibly kept his commentary to a minimum. Here are the greenhouses where Professor Sprout holds Herbology classes; here are the stables; this is the hut where our gamekeeper Hagrid lives; this is the lake - be careful here, it's deeper than it looks; this is the rose garden.
As they passed the rose garden, one of the ewer-plants ruptured. Alex saw it happen, and grabbed Snape's arm, stopping him from stepping into the stream of corrosive liquid that issued forth from the bowl. The hem of his robe was doused with acid, but he was otherwise unharmed.
"Thank you," he said sincerely as smoke curled from the bottom of his robe. "If I'd been closer to that plant when that happened, it could have been very nasty indeed."
"You're welcome. It looks like you'll need to change your robe before supper. Are you all right otherwise?"
He shook his head dismissively. "I'm fine. And my wardrobe's been through worse. I am Potions Master after all."
"Are you sure? I can take you by the hospital wing if you'd like to get checked out."
"I'm. Fine."
The finality of Snape's tone made Alex take an involuntary step backwards. "All right. I'm sorry."
Snape sniffed and realized that he was giving off a smell of burning wool and the unpleasant aroma of ewer-plant acid. "I suppose I probably should change before supper, though." He admitted. "Let's head back to the castle."
Alex nodded. "I need to get cleaned up before meeting the rest of the staff this evening anyhow. I will admit to being a little nervous about meeting everyone else."
"Don't be." Snape allowed himself a small smile. "They're only human. Well, most of them are . . " He added as an afterthought.
Alex wasn't sure this was a comforting thought.
They walked back to the castle, to the top of the stairs that led to the dungeons.
"Thank you for the tour. See you at supper." She turned to leave.
"Professor Farrell?"
"Yes?"
"You're welcome."