**YAY!! Another chapter…isn't it incredible? I managed to update TWO WEEKS
IN A ROW!!! WHOO!!! That makes me happy! And I am sure that it makes you
happy as well. I am proud because I have stuck with this fic, even though I
have had many muses come and tempt me with other story ideas. Gotta love
those muses! Well, as always, I own nothing, not even the
titles..hehehe…The title to this chapter is one of my favorite Beatles
songs. It's a kind of lullaby, so I thought it appropriate for this
chapter. Well, onward with the story! Please r/r!!**
The rest of Katerina's classes went smoothly, all of the students seemed to enjoy her class. When suppertime came, Katerina found that Severus wasn't present. This worried her tremendously, but she was too afraid to go and check on him.
"That might be a little obvious," She told herself. Minerva kept Katerina occupied by chatting endlessly about everything from the students to the ghosts present in the room, trying to give Katerina the advantage by knowing a little about her students before they even came to class.
After dinner, Katerina went up to her personal chambers near the Ravenclaw Tower. It had been a tiring, but wonderful day. She took a long, hot, soothing bath and then lay down to read a book. She often read when she couldn't sleep, and tonight was no exception. Suddenly, there was a short tap on her door. Katerina rose and put on her robe to cover up her nightdress. She opened the door to find Severus. She immediately smiled.
"Hello Professor, please, do come in," She said, opening the door to allow Severus passage.
"Did I disturb you?" Severus asked, eyeing her robe uneasily.
"No, of course not. I was merely reading to pass the time," She answered, closing the door behind him as he entered. Severus nodded and looked around the room. It was rather bare, a four-poster bed stood at one end, with a dresser nearby. There was a small fireplace, with two chairs and a small table sat in front of it. There was a door that lead to the bathroom and another that he assumed was a closet. The thing that surprised him the most about the room was that mostly everything in it was medium shade of green. It wasn't as dark as the green the Slytherin house used, but reminded him of his own chambers, where everything was in green and silver. The wood floor was bare and nothing hung on the walls. This surprised Severus, he expected her room to be more…personal…than it was. He thought women had pictures and rugs.
"It isn't much, I haven't much to decorate it with. This is my first real good paying job, Professor, I hope to buy some more things for my room when I have more money." Katerina said, a little embarrassed. Severus nodded. She sat down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace and offered Severus one.
"Although, I am curious as to why your room is done is green, were you not a Ravenclaw?" Severus asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him. Professor Alberthane laughed.
"Well, I was in Ravenclaw, but I must confess, green is my favorite color. I love my house very much, but it doesn't rule over my life completely." Katerina said, hoping he wouldn't take offense to her words.
"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw…I am afraid it is expected of Slytherins to let the house rule over their lives, something I once tried to banish…" Severus said smoothly. He was surprised at himself for saying that, he shouldn't let it known that he didn't always like the actions of his house. Katerina sensed his discomfort and left the subject.
"So, do you have a potion for me?" Katerina asked. Severus semi- laughed.
"I had almost forgotten about it!" He said and flashed a quick smile. He reached into his pocket and brought out a medium sized bottle. He handed it to Katerina and she noticed that the label read, "S.S.S. Sleeping Potion" in an untidy scrawl. "This is my own brand of sleeping potion. It is quite strong, but I don't think that you should have any trouble in waking up in the morning. It has a spell on it to stop working when you want it to. But, just in case you don't want it to stop working and don't wake up in the morning, if you aren't at breakfast tomorrow morning, I shall come for you and make sure that everything is alright." Severus said, sounding very professional. Katerina nodded.
"I can't thank you enough, Professor, I'm sure this will help me." Katerina said, they stared at one another in silence for a moment. "Oh! Forgive me! I didn't even offer you anything. Would you like some tea perhaps? And what do I owe you for the potion, Professor?" Katerina asked. Severus shook his head.
"I really need to be going and getting some sleep of my own. You don't owe me a thing, I had to make some of it anyway," Severus said, getting up. Katerina rose and walked him to the door.
"I can't thank you enough, Professor, you have been so kind to me since I have came here…" Katerina said, opening the door. Severus stepped outside.
"It is my duty, Professor Alberthane," Severus said and began to walk away.
"Please, call me Katerina," Professor Alberthane said before he could walk away. He turned and looked at her in shock for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. He nodded and said with a small smile,
"Goodnight then, Katerina," He said, then turned sharply and walked away. Katerina closed the door and sighed deeply. She was secretly hoping that he would allow her to call him by his first name, but obviously, he didn't feel that their relationship had progressed that far. Katerina looked at the bottle in her hand; the liquid was a dark green, so dark, that it could have been confused for black. She stared at it a few minutes, thinking about several things, then unscrewed the cap from the bottle. She held it under her nose to sniff and cringed at its horrid odor.
"Oh well, bottoms up!" She said and took a small swig. She grimaced and was tempted to take a drink of water to rid the awful taste from her mouth. "All good potions taste badly, I suppose…" She said aloud and removed her robe that she put on when Severus came and laid down. She stared at the ceiling as she did every night, but she felt something that she hadn't it a while: her eyelids began to feel dreadfully heavy. Soon, she was sleeping dreamlessly.
**Well, Katerina is finally able to sleep, thanks to dearest Severus! I'm sure that when she asked him for help, she was really thinking about him staying the night and holding her in his arms and making her feel all safe and warm…oops…wait, maybe that is me! O: -) I shall try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, it needs a little work done on it before it is ready to be posted!!**
The rest of Katerina's classes went smoothly, all of the students seemed to enjoy her class. When suppertime came, Katerina found that Severus wasn't present. This worried her tremendously, but she was too afraid to go and check on him.
"That might be a little obvious," She told herself. Minerva kept Katerina occupied by chatting endlessly about everything from the students to the ghosts present in the room, trying to give Katerina the advantage by knowing a little about her students before they even came to class.
After dinner, Katerina went up to her personal chambers near the Ravenclaw Tower. It had been a tiring, but wonderful day. She took a long, hot, soothing bath and then lay down to read a book. She often read when she couldn't sleep, and tonight was no exception. Suddenly, there was a short tap on her door. Katerina rose and put on her robe to cover up her nightdress. She opened the door to find Severus. She immediately smiled.
"Hello Professor, please, do come in," She said, opening the door to allow Severus passage.
"Did I disturb you?" Severus asked, eyeing her robe uneasily.
"No, of course not. I was merely reading to pass the time," She answered, closing the door behind him as he entered. Severus nodded and looked around the room. It was rather bare, a four-poster bed stood at one end, with a dresser nearby. There was a small fireplace, with two chairs and a small table sat in front of it. There was a door that lead to the bathroom and another that he assumed was a closet. The thing that surprised him the most about the room was that mostly everything in it was medium shade of green. It wasn't as dark as the green the Slytherin house used, but reminded him of his own chambers, where everything was in green and silver. The wood floor was bare and nothing hung on the walls. This surprised Severus, he expected her room to be more…personal…than it was. He thought women had pictures and rugs.
"It isn't much, I haven't much to decorate it with. This is my first real good paying job, Professor, I hope to buy some more things for my room when I have more money." Katerina said, a little embarrassed. Severus nodded. She sat down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace and offered Severus one.
"Although, I am curious as to why your room is done is green, were you not a Ravenclaw?" Severus asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him. Professor Alberthane laughed.
"Well, I was in Ravenclaw, but I must confess, green is my favorite color. I love my house very much, but it doesn't rule over my life completely." Katerina said, hoping he wouldn't take offense to her words.
"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw…I am afraid it is expected of Slytherins to let the house rule over their lives, something I once tried to banish…" Severus said smoothly. He was surprised at himself for saying that, he shouldn't let it known that he didn't always like the actions of his house. Katerina sensed his discomfort and left the subject.
"So, do you have a potion for me?" Katerina asked. Severus semi- laughed.
"I had almost forgotten about it!" He said and flashed a quick smile. He reached into his pocket and brought out a medium sized bottle. He handed it to Katerina and she noticed that the label read, "S.S.S. Sleeping Potion" in an untidy scrawl. "This is my own brand of sleeping potion. It is quite strong, but I don't think that you should have any trouble in waking up in the morning. It has a spell on it to stop working when you want it to. But, just in case you don't want it to stop working and don't wake up in the morning, if you aren't at breakfast tomorrow morning, I shall come for you and make sure that everything is alright." Severus said, sounding very professional. Katerina nodded.
"I can't thank you enough, Professor, I'm sure this will help me." Katerina said, they stared at one another in silence for a moment. "Oh! Forgive me! I didn't even offer you anything. Would you like some tea perhaps? And what do I owe you for the potion, Professor?" Katerina asked. Severus shook his head.
"I really need to be going and getting some sleep of my own. You don't owe me a thing, I had to make some of it anyway," Severus said, getting up. Katerina rose and walked him to the door.
"I can't thank you enough, Professor, you have been so kind to me since I have came here…" Katerina said, opening the door. Severus stepped outside.
"It is my duty, Professor Alberthane," Severus said and began to walk away.
"Please, call me Katerina," Professor Alberthane said before he could walk away. He turned and looked at her in shock for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. He nodded and said with a small smile,
"Goodnight then, Katerina," He said, then turned sharply and walked away. Katerina closed the door and sighed deeply. She was secretly hoping that he would allow her to call him by his first name, but obviously, he didn't feel that their relationship had progressed that far. Katerina looked at the bottle in her hand; the liquid was a dark green, so dark, that it could have been confused for black. She stared at it a few minutes, thinking about several things, then unscrewed the cap from the bottle. She held it under her nose to sniff and cringed at its horrid odor.
"Oh well, bottoms up!" She said and took a small swig. She grimaced and was tempted to take a drink of water to rid the awful taste from her mouth. "All good potions taste badly, I suppose…" She said aloud and removed her robe that she put on when Severus came and laid down. She stared at the ceiling as she did every night, but she felt something that she hadn't it a while: her eyelids began to feel dreadfully heavy. Soon, she was sleeping dreamlessly.
**Well, Katerina is finally able to sleep, thanks to dearest Severus! I'm sure that when she asked him for help, she was really thinking about him staying the night and holding her in his arms and making her feel all safe and warm…oops…wait, maybe that is me! O: -) I shall try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, it needs a little work done on it before it is ready to be posted!!**