CHAPTER FIVE
Severus Snape woke the next morning, his mind quite in a befuddlement. All his thoughts and dreams had been plagued with the girl.
His thoughts had been about his dislike for her. He reviled having an assistant, doing his job! He knew that he had been rather harsh on her, but all the memories from his first year teaching at Hogwarts had flooded back to him. Arthur Diamond, the man that made his life hell. Dia Diamond the gawky girl with the huge glasses and silvery ponytale, the greatest potions student he had ever taught in all his years.
Professor McGonagall's words from a few days ago flashed back to him:
Yes, I remember. She was a Gryffindor, in my house. Dratted quiet thing she was. Hid behind big glasses and all her books. Not very good in Transfiguration, but if I remembered right she was rather excellent in Potions.
True, Diamond had been a Gryffindor. And extremely quiet. And she had been excellent in Potions.
When he saw his most hated--well, not as much as Potter--and best Potions student there, all grown up, adrenaline had surged through him. Anger--anger towards her ruddy father. But a feeling of cockiness. He was the professor and she was the assistant. He had to prove to her that he was master. He had been worse than usual, and he admitted it. Perhaps he had been too hard on her, after all, her father and mother were gone--curse her father--and she did have enough stress on her. Perhaps he should be easier on her.
His dreams that night had been much better than the previous day's thoughts. In his dream he was in a great sparkling ballroom, dressed in his finest dress robes. He saw different couples, blurred, though. Then he saw her. He didn't know who she was, but she was beautiful. Her electric blue eyes were a stark contrast against her creamy, smooth skin. Her long, wavy silvery blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her curvacious, perfect body was fitted into a fantastic sparkling silver dress. Their gazes had connected from across the room, and he approached her. He bowed and she cutrsied. A waltz started and he clasp his hand into hers, put his other on her trim waist. She picked up her dress with her other hand, and he led her onto the floor. He spun her around, only staring into her hypnotic ocean-like eyes. He asked her, "Who are you?" She put a finger to her lips and led him out to the yards--away from the music. The coldness had chilled him to the bones. "Who are you?"
he asked her again. She once again put a finger to her lips, then slowly moved closer to him, so that their lips were almost touching. He had wanted to kiss her, but then he woke up.
Snape shook the silly fantasy out of his mind. There was no such thing as a beautiful girl with long slivery blonde hair and electric blue eyes who looked like a veela. Only a potions assistant with a blonde ponytale and thick glasses, who was claimed to be half veela. And he was late for breakfast.
Snape didn't bother to shave the shadow of beard that was creeping up, instead he threw on his black robes, dashed his face with water, and hurried to the hallway, carefully shutting the door behind him.
His footsteps were the only sound in the hallway and he started to whistle a tune.
Snape was taken aback when he saw someone up ahead exit their room, pulling the door shut behind them.
The person smiled. Snape couldn't believe his eyes--it was the girl from his dreams. He stopped whistling and strode over to her. The girl fell into step with him.
"Hello, Professor," she said cheerfully.
Snape stared at her intently. She had the same electric blue eyes and long silvery blonde hair that hung down her back.
"Professor," the girl asked. "Is anything wrong?"
Snape suddenly snapped back to reality. The girl put on her thick glasses that had been resting on her head. And up in the familiar ponytail went her glossy hair. Walking beside him was his assistant--Dia Diamond.
Snape shook his head to clear his head. "Nothing's wrong, Diamond," he snarled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," Dia said quietly, and stopped walking, lettting Snape take a few paces before he sighed loudly and halted.
"Diamond, let's go to breakfast," he gritted.
Dia had to hide her grin as she walked to breakfast with the evilist man in the world--Severus Snape.
*******
After breakfast, Dia followed Snape as they descended into the cold dungeons. She shivered and said cheerfully, "Chilly, isn't it?"
"You get used to it," Snape replied tonelessly.
Dia rolled her eyes behind his back.
When they reached the classroom, Snape went to his desk drawer and pulled out a folder of papers. He handed it to Dia.
"What's this?" asked Dia.
Snape looked at her, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. "You are my assistant, aren't you? You shall assist me today."
He disappeared into the backroom where he kept his private supply of potion ingrediants.
Dia looked cluelessly at the manilla folder. "Um, Professor, what's this?"
"A folder, silly girl," his voice snarled.
Dia threw an onscene gesture she had picked up from the Muggle world in his direction and said, "Yes, Professor, I know it's a folder but what's it for? It just says the recipe for the Sleep Potion using ragsweed and ground tripe bones."
Snape appeared, holding two jars in his hands.
"You are going to make the potion today. Need that spelled out?" Snape sneered, setting the jars on his desk.
Dia sighed and pulled her ponytale out, shaking her long hair about, causing Snape to do a double take on her. Dia caught this, but Snape once again drew his attention to the jars.
After she had redone her ponytale she asked, "I am going to make the potion?"
Snape spun around, his dark eyes flashing. "Am I Dia Diamond? I think not. Use your brain. You're smarter than that."
Once he had turned his back to her again, Dia rolled her eyes at him.
Dia joined him at his desk. "Is this the ragsweed and tripe bones?"
Snape nodded. "I'll introduce the potion, you perform it."
Dia nodded and collapsed into a chair next to Snape's desk.
There was silence until a few minutes later when the loud voices of the Gryffindor-Slytherin fifth years came echoing through the dungeon.
The students entered and soon the whole classroom was filled. Some Gryffindor boys were shouting and Snape looked up from The Daily Prophet he was reading to give them a death look. They (actually the whole class) quieted down.
Dia now began to feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was going to be in front of these students soon--teaching them the beautiful art of potions. What would they think of it?
Snape sat down the paper on his desk and stood up. He walked in front of the first row of desks.
"The Acretia Sleeping Potion," he began in a deep voice that cut through the quietness in the class. "like Mr. Malfoy answered for us a few days prior," he cast a razor sharp look at Harry Potter. "is concocted using the ground bones of tripe and the stem of ragsweed. The Acretia Sleeping Potions is used for many different reasons--to quiet a person, to quiet a person and then kill a person, and so on and so forth. Today we will be making it. You will pair up and brew the potion. Then one partner will drink it. If you have done it successfully, the other partner will be shown how to concoct the antidote for the Acretia Sleeping Potion. If they fail, then you will sleep until they learn it. So, I am advising you not to rely on Mr. Longbottom to solve the antidote. If there are no questions, Miss Diamond will show you how to brew it."
Not a single hand was raised, not even by Hermione Granger.
"Very well," Snape said. "Miss Diamond?"
Snape retired to his desk, all the while watching Dia with his sharp, cold eyes.
Dia slowly stood and moved to the front of the class.
"Hello, I am Miss Diamond. I will be Professor Snape's assistant in Potions for a while. You got to help me out, I am feeling quite nervous," Dia admitted.
That cause sympathetic giggles from the Gryffindors, but the Slytherins remained surly.
Dia could feel Snape's angry stare burrowing into the back of her head, so she cleared her throat and continued. "Now, as Professor Snape said, the Acretia Sleep Potion is used to put its victims in a deep sleep. I will give a demonstration. First, you take the stem of the ragsweed and cut it up into 6 about 1/2 inch strips, then after carefully grinding the bones of tripe into a fine powder, place the ragsweed in the cauldron and let it simmer until you see green smoke rise. Then, little by little, add the tripes bone, there, you see the red smoke? That means that the potion was done right. We let it simmer.....alright. Take the vial, dip in the caldron and you have it. The Acretia Sleeping Potion."
Dia held up the vial full of the swirling purple mixture. "There, now. Are there any questions?"
A boy sitting in the front row with slicked back bleached blonde hair raised his hand.
"Yes?" Dia asked pointing to him.
"How do we know it'll work?" he aske,d in a drawling voice.
Dia was taken aback. "Because, I've done everything right..."
The blonde opened his mouth to say something when Snape made Dia nearly jump out of her skin and almost spill the potion my saying, "Miss Diamond, I think Draco is right. We need a demonstration. He got up from his desk and stood near Dia.
"What do you mean, Professor?" Dia asked, scanning his dark eyes.
"Why, a demonstration, Miss Diamond," Snape said, causing Dia to swear she saw a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Here," he said. Snape stood behind Dia, taking the vile from her. She felt his palm pushing against the small of her back. "This, class is the effects of the Acretia Sleeping potion."
"What?" Dia stammered, but Snape had already tilted back her head and opened her mouth. Dia felt the contents of the vile slide down her throat. Suddenly, she felt very lightheaded.
"Why do I feel so tired?" she murmured, before her concious gave out and she fell into Snape.
The class looked on in amazement as placed his arms under Dia's knees and back and carried her to his chair. He sat he down and her head lolled to one side.
"That is the effect of the Acretia Sleeping Potion," he said silkily, then added in a snarl, "Now get to work!"
The class immediatly busied themselves with ragsweed and ground tripes bone.
Snape went to his private storage of ingrediants and found the antidote to the sleeping potion--toads leg and horse hair.
He boiled the mixture while cauldrons erupted in red and green smoke (Neville Longbottom's was or course blue). He took the concoction and forced it down Dia Diamond's throat.
Dia woke up as the majority of the class fell asleep under the effects of the potion.
Her eyes fluttered open, and focused on Snape.
"Nice nap?" he muttered.
"Yes, indeed," Dia yawned.
Severus Snape woke the next morning, his mind quite in a befuddlement. All his thoughts and dreams had been plagued with the girl.
His thoughts had been about his dislike for her. He reviled having an assistant, doing his job! He knew that he had been rather harsh on her, but all the memories from his first year teaching at Hogwarts had flooded back to him. Arthur Diamond, the man that made his life hell. Dia Diamond the gawky girl with the huge glasses and silvery ponytale, the greatest potions student he had ever taught in all his years.
Professor McGonagall's words from a few days ago flashed back to him:
Yes, I remember. She was a Gryffindor, in my house. Dratted quiet thing she was. Hid behind big glasses and all her books. Not very good in Transfiguration, but if I remembered right she was rather excellent in Potions.
True, Diamond had been a Gryffindor. And extremely quiet. And she had been excellent in Potions.
When he saw his most hated--well, not as much as Potter--and best Potions student there, all grown up, adrenaline had surged through him. Anger--anger towards her ruddy father. But a feeling of cockiness. He was the professor and she was the assistant. He had to prove to her that he was master. He had been worse than usual, and he admitted it. Perhaps he had been too hard on her, after all, her father and mother were gone--curse her father--and she did have enough stress on her. Perhaps he should be easier on her.
His dreams that night had been much better than the previous day's thoughts. In his dream he was in a great sparkling ballroom, dressed in his finest dress robes. He saw different couples, blurred, though. Then he saw her. He didn't know who she was, but she was beautiful. Her electric blue eyes were a stark contrast against her creamy, smooth skin. Her long, wavy silvery blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her curvacious, perfect body was fitted into a fantastic sparkling silver dress. Their gazes had connected from across the room, and he approached her. He bowed and she cutrsied. A waltz started and he clasp his hand into hers, put his other on her trim waist. She picked up her dress with her other hand, and he led her onto the floor. He spun her around, only staring into her hypnotic ocean-like eyes. He asked her, "Who are you?" She put a finger to her lips and led him out to the yards--away from the music. The coldness had chilled him to the bones. "Who are you?"
he asked her again. She once again put a finger to her lips, then slowly moved closer to him, so that their lips were almost touching. He had wanted to kiss her, but then he woke up.
Snape shook the silly fantasy out of his mind. There was no such thing as a beautiful girl with long slivery blonde hair and electric blue eyes who looked like a veela. Only a potions assistant with a blonde ponytale and thick glasses, who was claimed to be half veela. And he was late for breakfast.
Snape didn't bother to shave the shadow of beard that was creeping up, instead he threw on his black robes, dashed his face with water, and hurried to the hallway, carefully shutting the door behind him.
His footsteps were the only sound in the hallway and he started to whistle a tune.
Snape was taken aback when he saw someone up ahead exit their room, pulling the door shut behind them.
The person smiled. Snape couldn't believe his eyes--it was the girl from his dreams. He stopped whistling and strode over to her. The girl fell into step with him.
"Hello, Professor," she said cheerfully.
Snape stared at her intently. She had the same electric blue eyes and long silvery blonde hair that hung down her back.
"Professor," the girl asked. "Is anything wrong?"
Snape suddenly snapped back to reality. The girl put on her thick glasses that had been resting on her head. And up in the familiar ponytail went her glossy hair. Walking beside him was his assistant--Dia Diamond.
Snape shook his head to clear his head. "Nothing's wrong, Diamond," he snarled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," Dia said quietly, and stopped walking, lettting Snape take a few paces before he sighed loudly and halted.
"Diamond, let's go to breakfast," he gritted.
Dia had to hide her grin as she walked to breakfast with the evilist man in the world--Severus Snape.
*******
After breakfast, Dia followed Snape as they descended into the cold dungeons. She shivered and said cheerfully, "Chilly, isn't it?"
"You get used to it," Snape replied tonelessly.
Dia rolled her eyes behind his back.
When they reached the classroom, Snape went to his desk drawer and pulled out a folder of papers. He handed it to Dia.
"What's this?" asked Dia.
Snape looked at her, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. "You are my assistant, aren't you? You shall assist me today."
He disappeared into the backroom where he kept his private supply of potion ingrediants.
Dia looked cluelessly at the manilla folder. "Um, Professor, what's this?"
"A folder, silly girl," his voice snarled.
Dia threw an onscene gesture she had picked up from the Muggle world in his direction and said, "Yes, Professor, I know it's a folder but what's it for? It just says the recipe for the Sleep Potion using ragsweed and ground tripe bones."
Snape appeared, holding two jars in his hands.
"You are going to make the potion today. Need that spelled out?" Snape sneered, setting the jars on his desk.
Dia sighed and pulled her ponytale out, shaking her long hair about, causing Snape to do a double take on her. Dia caught this, but Snape once again drew his attention to the jars.
After she had redone her ponytale she asked, "I am going to make the potion?"
Snape spun around, his dark eyes flashing. "Am I Dia Diamond? I think not. Use your brain. You're smarter than that."
Once he had turned his back to her again, Dia rolled her eyes at him.
Dia joined him at his desk. "Is this the ragsweed and tripe bones?"
Snape nodded. "I'll introduce the potion, you perform it."
Dia nodded and collapsed into a chair next to Snape's desk.
There was silence until a few minutes later when the loud voices of the Gryffindor-Slytherin fifth years came echoing through the dungeon.
The students entered and soon the whole classroom was filled. Some Gryffindor boys were shouting and Snape looked up from The Daily Prophet he was reading to give them a death look. They (actually the whole class) quieted down.
Dia now began to feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was going to be in front of these students soon--teaching them the beautiful art of potions. What would they think of it?
Snape sat down the paper on his desk and stood up. He walked in front of the first row of desks.
"The Acretia Sleeping Potion," he began in a deep voice that cut through the quietness in the class. "like Mr. Malfoy answered for us a few days prior," he cast a razor sharp look at Harry Potter. "is concocted using the ground bones of tripe and the stem of ragsweed. The Acretia Sleeping Potions is used for many different reasons--to quiet a person, to quiet a person and then kill a person, and so on and so forth. Today we will be making it. You will pair up and brew the potion. Then one partner will drink it. If you have done it successfully, the other partner will be shown how to concoct the antidote for the Acretia Sleeping Potion. If they fail, then you will sleep until they learn it. So, I am advising you not to rely on Mr. Longbottom to solve the antidote. If there are no questions, Miss Diamond will show you how to brew it."
Not a single hand was raised, not even by Hermione Granger.
"Very well," Snape said. "Miss Diamond?"
Snape retired to his desk, all the while watching Dia with his sharp, cold eyes.
Dia slowly stood and moved to the front of the class.
"Hello, I am Miss Diamond. I will be Professor Snape's assistant in Potions for a while. You got to help me out, I am feeling quite nervous," Dia admitted.
That cause sympathetic giggles from the Gryffindors, but the Slytherins remained surly.
Dia could feel Snape's angry stare burrowing into the back of her head, so she cleared her throat and continued. "Now, as Professor Snape said, the Acretia Sleep Potion is used to put its victims in a deep sleep. I will give a demonstration. First, you take the stem of the ragsweed and cut it up into 6 about 1/2 inch strips, then after carefully grinding the bones of tripe into a fine powder, place the ragsweed in the cauldron and let it simmer until you see green smoke rise. Then, little by little, add the tripes bone, there, you see the red smoke? That means that the potion was done right. We let it simmer.....alright. Take the vial, dip in the caldron and you have it. The Acretia Sleeping Potion."
Dia held up the vial full of the swirling purple mixture. "There, now. Are there any questions?"
A boy sitting in the front row with slicked back bleached blonde hair raised his hand.
"Yes?" Dia asked pointing to him.
"How do we know it'll work?" he aske,d in a drawling voice.
Dia was taken aback. "Because, I've done everything right..."
The blonde opened his mouth to say something when Snape made Dia nearly jump out of her skin and almost spill the potion my saying, "Miss Diamond, I think Draco is right. We need a demonstration. He got up from his desk and stood near Dia.
"What do you mean, Professor?" Dia asked, scanning his dark eyes.
"Why, a demonstration, Miss Diamond," Snape said, causing Dia to swear she saw a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Here," he said. Snape stood behind Dia, taking the vile from her. She felt his palm pushing against the small of her back. "This, class is the effects of the Acretia Sleeping potion."
"What?" Dia stammered, but Snape had already tilted back her head and opened her mouth. Dia felt the contents of the vile slide down her throat. Suddenly, she felt very lightheaded.
"Why do I feel so tired?" she murmured, before her concious gave out and she fell into Snape.
The class looked on in amazement as placed his arms under Dia's knees and back and carried her to his chair. He sat he down and her head lolled to one side.
"That is the effect of the Acretia Sleeping Potion," he said silkily, then added in a snarl, "Now get to work!"
The class immediatly busied themselves with ragsweed and ground tripes bone.
Snape went to his private storage of ingrediants and found the antidote to the sleeping potion--toads leg and horse hair.
He boiled the mixture while cauldrons erupted in red and green smoke (Neville Longbottom's was or course blue). He took the concoction and forced it down Dia Diamond's throat.
Dia woke up as the majority of the class fell asleep under the effects of the potion.
Her eyes fluttered open, and focused on Snape.
"Nice nap?" he muttered.
"Yes, indeed," Dia yawned.