Chapter 3: Settling In
Authors Note: Sorry for not getting this chapter out sooner. Blame my computer. I always do. *grin*
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Seona's first week at Hogwarts went by in dazed sort of blur. Most of her time, both in and out of classes, was spent with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The four were rapidly becoming an established 'set' and it was soon considered odd to see any of them wandering around without the company of the other three.
One of her favourite classes was going to be Care of Magical Creatures, she decided. The teacher, an enormous man named Hagrid, was both pleasant and amusing and clearly cared deeply for the creatures he taught them about. Her interest increased when her friends told her about the stranger than usual animals Hagrid had been known to take in a try to either rear or teach them about. She was also delighted with his huge hound, Fang, who wondered over during one of their lessons and sat beside her. Slightly taken aback by the presence of a dog that was over half her height and easily three or four times her bulk, she reached out and scratched him behind the ears. By the end of the lesson she was sitting with her arm around his neck and hoping that he wouldn't slobber on her robes too much.
Charms and Transfiguration both gave her some trouble, since she had learned a completely different set of rules and skills at her old school to those taught at Hogwarts. Hermione, top of the class in both subjects, had already announced her intention to help. Seona smiled inwardly as she thought of it. She was willing to bet a handful of Galleons that 'Mione would grow up to become a teacher.
Then, of course, there was Potions. Her inner smile found its way onto her lips as she thought of what would definitely be her favourite subject. It was clear that none of her housemates were keen on either the subject or its professor... or maybe they weren't keen on the subject because of its professor? Yes, that was most likely. Certainly, Professor Snape was not likely to endear himself to Gryffindors with his evident dislike for them. But he hadn't seemed to extend that dislike to her when she had approached him for help. Not after she had stood up to his challenge. In fact, she felt that he'd been almost impressed, both with the work she had done and the fact that she had stood up to him.
"What are you thinking about, Seona?" Harry's voice brought her out of her musings and back to Gryffindor common room where she was sitting in front of the fireplace with her friends.
Smiling, she replied calmly, "I think I'm going to enjoy being at Hogwarts. There's a lot of very interesting people here." She blinked a few times, then gave herself a mental shake. There was no way she was prepared to share her thoughts on Snape with any of her friends, not by a long shot. Glancing at the boy sitting on the other side of her, she asked brightly, "Chess, Ron?"
Ron looked up with a grin. "Sure. We playing for stakes?" He reached over to pull the side table around in front of the chairs they sat on and began to set up the chess board that lived in the tables drawer.
Seona snorted in disgust. "Not on your life, boyo. I still owe you too much from the last game." She received a good natured grin in reply and they settled in for an evening of wizard chess.
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It was almost a month before Seona decided to approach Snape again. He hadn't been particularly different in class, although sometimes she thought she caught a hint of approval in his attitude when he inspected her work. Certainly, he didn't seem to be as quick to take points from her as from other members of her house. Her friends had noticed and commented on it, but she just laughed and joked that he was probably storing up all his ire to take out on her in a really spectacular way at an inconvenient time, like just before exams.
Now, she was presented with the perfect opportunity: some of their work had been handed back and one of her assignments was graded rather lower than the others. Admittedly, she had thrown it together in about fifteen minutes and so wasn't especially surprised, but she whispered to her friends as the lesson drew to a close that she wanted to question the Potions Master about it. Fearfully, they first tried to dissuade her and then offered to stay with her as moral support, but she shook her head.
"No, this is something I have to deal with," she told them. "I'll meet you back in the common room." With resigned sighs and quiet good luck wishes, they agreed and gathered their things and left.
Professor Snape had returned to his desk by this time and had pulled a stack of parchment towards him, but he looked up and raised an eyebrow in a silent question as she rose and headed over to him. "Have you come about that essay on the uses of bats fur?" he asked quietly when she reached him.
Blushing slightly, she shook her head. "No Professor, although I admit that it wasn't a good piece of work. I'm afraid I left it until the absolute last minute, and just put down what I could recall from memory." He frowned, his dark eyes watching her intently, and suddenly she wondered if she would have the nerve to ask him anything when he was obviously displeased with her.
What have you got to lose? she scolded herself. You can't do this without his help anyway. Steeling herself, she met his gaze steadily. "I actually came to ask if you had time to discuss a project I had in mind." He merely sat and watched her, revealing nothing. Nervous, and embarrassed by her nervousness, she dropped her eyes to the desk. His hands were folded on top of the papers he had been preparing to mark. Long, slender hands, she noted. Perfectly suited to the manipulation of the delicate ingredients that went into his potions.
Then it hit her that they were also relaxed. She called to mind the times she had noticed his hands in class, and remembered that the tendons had always stood out sharply under his skin. Come to think of it, he always held himself taught. Probably in at least a token effort to bottle his anger, she thought, then banished the uncharitable thought quickly. The important thing was that now he was relaxed and attentive. Maybe this would work after all.
Taking a deep breath, she continued, "You've seen both my records and my work. You know that this is a subject I'm good at. Even when I throw together an assignment at the last minute, I still do passably well." She risked a look at his face and saw the barest flicker of acknowledgment, although whether it was for her ability or her attempt at humour she wasn't sure. "In case you hadn't noticed though, it's also a subject that I have a great deal of interest in. So I wondered..." She hesitated, then finished in a rush: "I wondered if you would consider an informal apprenticeship of sorts. I could help you with your own research and learn more than we cover in class, and you could help me perfect my techniques." She dropped her gaze again, feeling her face flush now that she had finally said it.
Of course, this meant that she was watching his hands again. They were very still on the desk, and now they had resumed their usual tautness. Seona's heart plummeted. He would say no. He would be scornful, and rightly so. Why would he want the help of a mere slip of a girl, and one not even in his own house at that? She didn't notice as his hands relaxed again and spread themselves flat on the desks.
"What I am working on at the moment is beyond even your capabilities, Miss MacGinty, which I do admit are considerable." His voice was soft and, if not warm, at least it didn't hold the mocking derision she had expected. She looked up at him, but his face was as unreadable as always. "Perhaps a compromise? A time, once a week, say, for some extra work? I'm sure in your private research you have come across some things you would like to try."
It was all Seona could do not to throw her arms around him, but even in her excitement there was a niggling voice at the back of her mind that suggested this would be a bad move. Instead she settled for grinning broadly at him. "Thank you so much, Professor! I thought that the apprenticeship thing was a bit much to hope for, but I figured that if I didn't aim high I'd always wonder what would have happened if I'd had the nerve to ask."
Now there was the faintest glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Indeed. Perhaps Saturday evening to start with? That will give you a few days to decide what you want to try first, and give me a chance to blast-proof this room."
The words were delivered in such a bland tone that she would have been trying to search them for a hidden meaning if she hadn't seen that slight softening of his gaze. As it was, she merely chuckled. "That one will haunt me for the rest of my days, won't it Professor? Ah, well, my own fault I guess." With a happy sigh, she gathered her things together. "Thank you again, Professor Snape. I'll leave you to get on with your grading now." With a final smile, she left the classroom and began heading back up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower.
Now she just had to find some way to tell her friends how she planned to spend Saturday evening...
Authors Note: Sorry for not getting this chapter out sooner. Blame my computer. I always do. *grin*
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Seona's first week at Hogwarts went by in dazed sort of blur. Most of her time, both in and out of classes, was spent with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The four were rapidly becoming an established 'set' and it was soon considered odd to see any of them wandering around without the company of the other three.
One of her favourite classes was going to be Care of Magical Creatures, she decided. The teacher, an enormous man named Hagrid, was both pleasant and amusing and clearly cared deeply for the creatures he taught them about. Her interest increased when her friends told her about the stranger than usual animals Hagrid had been known to take in a try to either rear or teach them about. She was also delighted with his huge hound, Fang, who wondered over during one of their lessons and sat beside her. Slightly taken aback by the presence of a dog that was over half her height and easily three or four times her bulk, she reached out and scratched him behind the ears. By the end of the lesson she was sitting with her arm around his neck and hoping that he wouldn't slobber on her robes too much.
Charms and Transfiguration both gave her some trouble, since she had learned a completely different set of rules and skills at her old school to those taught at Hogwarts. Hermione, top of the class in both subjects, had already announced her intention to help. Seona smiled inwardly as she thought of it. She was willing to bet a handful of Galleons that 'Mione would grow up to become a teacher.
Then, of course, there was Potions. Her inner smile found its way onto her lips as she thought of what would definitely be her favourite subject. It was clear that none of her housemates were keen on either the subject or its professor... or maybe they weren't keen on the subject because of its professor? Yes, that was most likely. Certainly, Professor Snape was not likely to endear himself to Gryffindors with his evident dislike for them. But he hadn't seemed to extend that dislike to her when she had approached him for help. Not after she had stood up to his challenge. In fact, she felt that he'd been almost impressed, both with the work she had done and the fact that she had stood up to him.
"What are you thinking about, Seona?" Harry's voice brought her out of her musings and back to Gryffindor common room where she was sitting in front of the fireplace with her friends.
Smiling, she replied calmly, "I think I'm going to enjoy being at Hogwarts. There's a lot of very interesting people here." She blinked a few times, then gave herself a mental shake. There was no way she was prepared to share her thoughts on Snape with any of her friends, not by a long shot. Glancing at the boy sitting on the other side of her, she asked brightly, "Chess, Ron?"
Ron looked up with a grin. "Sure. We playing for stakes?" He reached over to pull the side table around in front of the chairs they sat on and began to set up the chess board that lived in the tables drawer.
Seona snorted in disgust. "Not on your life, boyo. I still owe you too much from the last game." She received a good natured grin in reply and they settled in for an evening of wizard chess.
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It was almost a month before Seona decided to approach Snape again. He hadn't been particularly different in class, although sometimes she thought she caught a hint of approval in his attitude when he inspected her work. Certainly, he didn't seem to be as quick to take points from her as from other members of her house. Her friends had noticed and commented on it, but she just laughed and joked that he was probably storing up all his ire to take out on her in a really spectacular way at an inconvenient time, like just before exams.
Now, she was presented with the perfect opportunity: some of their work had been handed back and one of her assignments was graded rather lower than the others. Admittedly, she had thrown it together in about fifteen minutes and so wasn't especially surprised, but she whispered to her friends as the lesson drew to a close that she wanted to question the Potions Master about it. Fearfully, they first tried to dissuade her and then offered to stay with her as moral support, but she shook her head.
"No, this is something I have to deal with," she told them. "I'll meet you back in the common room." With resigned sighs and quiet good luck wishes, they agreed and gathered their things and left.
Professor Snape had returned to his desk by this time and had pulled a stack of parchment towards him, but he looked up and raised an eyebrow in a silent question as she rose and headed over to him. "Have you come about that essay on the uses of bats fur?" he asked quietly when she reached him.
Blushing slightly, she shook her head. "No Professor, although I admit that it wasn't a good piece of work. I'm afraid I left it until the absolute last minute, and just put down what I could recall from memory." He frowned, his dark eyes watching her intently, and suddenly she wondered if she would have the nerve to ask him anything when he was obviously displeased with her.
What have you got to lose? she scolded herself. You can't do this without his help anyway. Steeling herself, she met his gaze steadily. "I actually came to ask if you had time to discuss a project I had in mind." He merely sat and watched her, revealing nothing. Nervous, and embarrassed by her nervousness, she dropped her eyes to the desk. His hands were folded on top of the papers he had been preparing to mark. Long, slender hands, she noted. Perfectly suited to the manipulation of the delicate ingredients that went into his potions.
Then it hit her that they were also relaxed. She called to mind the times she had noticed his hands in class, and remembered that the tendons had always stood out sharply under his skin. Come to think of it, he always held himself taught. Probably in at least a token effort to bottle his anger, she thought, then banished the uncharitable thought quickly. The important thing was that now he was relaxed and attentive. Maybe this would work after all.
Taking a deep breath, she continued, "You've seen both my records and my work. You know that this is a subject I'm good at. Even when I throw together an assignment at the last minute, I still do passably well." She risked a look at his face and saw the barest flicker of acknowledgment, although whether it was for her ability or her attempt at humour she wasn't sure. "In case you hadn't noticed though, it's also a subject that I have a great deal of interest in. So I wondered..." She hesitated, then finished in a rush: "I wondered if you would consider an informal apprenticeship of sorts. I could help you with your own research and learn more than we cover in class, and you could help me perfect my techniques." She dropped her gaze again, feeling her face flush now that she had finally said it.
Of course, this meant that she was watching his hands again. They were very still on the desk, and now they had resumed their usual tautness. Seona's heart plummeted. He would say no. He would be scornful, and rightly so. Why would he want the help of a mere slip of a girl, and one not even in his own house at that? She didn't notice as his hands relaxed again and spread themselves flat on the desks.
"What I am working on at the moment is beyond even your capabilities, Miss MacGinty, which I do admit are considerable." His voice was soft and, if not warm, at least it didn't hold the mocking derision she had expected. She looked up at him, but his face was as unreadable as always. "Perhaps a compromise? A time, once a week, say, for some extra work? I'm sure in your private research you have come across some things you would like to try."
It was all Seona could do not to throw her arms around him, but even in her excitement there was a niggling voice at the back of her mind that suggested this would be a bad move. Instead she settled for grinning broadly at him. "Thank you so much, Professor! I thought that the apprenticeship thing was a bit much to hope for, but I figured that if I didn't aim high I'd always wonder what would have happened if I'd had the nerve to ask."
Now there was the faintest glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Indeed. Perhaps Saturday evening to start with? That will give you a few days to decide what you want to try first, and give me a chance to blast-proof this room."
The words were delivered in such a bland tone that she would have been trying to search them for a hidden meaning if she hadn't seen that slight softening of his gaze. As it was, she merely chuckled. "That one will haunt me for the rest of my days, won't it Professor? Ah, well, my own fault I guess." With a happy sigh, she gathered her things together. "Thank you again, Professor Snape. I'll leave you to get on with your grading now." With a final smile, she left the classroom and began heading back up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower.
Now she just had to find some way to tell her friends how she planned to spend Saturday evening...