A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! As to the question why would Snape prefer Charlie? The theory being if you look in the books Charlie is the more responsible of the two, and as a father Snape's thinking, if she has to pick a Weasley couldn't it be one who doesn't look/act like Bill. Think about it, would your dad want you dating a guy like that? I know mine would've had a heart attack (Back when he had any control over it). This story really starts to pick up speed here. And its only three chapters or so until all will be revealed. Also I just like to state in this chapter that Bill's opinion of Alathea is a little Mary-Sueish, but its just cuz he has a crush, I mean, everyone waxes poetic about the object of their affections right?
A/N 2: "Welcome to the Jungle" is by Guns-N-Roses, and you can blame my Uncle's for my liking it. The joke is that there is a line in the song "Welcome to the jungle my Serpentine"
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Chapter 10: Love at First Sight?
"Harry!" Alathea cried out as she ran into the Great Hall. He looked up and smiled waving her over.
Ron had looked up too and grinned, jumping up on his seat and waving. "Bill!"
Bill waved back to his brother and then he and Alathea sat down with the trio. "Where's Gin?" Bill asked his brother as he scouted the table.
"Ginny's in the library studying for the potions test she has next." Hermione informed him.
"Harry, how hard is my dad in class?" Alathea asked nervously.
Ron immediately started out with horror stories which Harry countered with the assurance that he wasn't likely to do that to his own daughter. Bill tuned them both out as he watched the woman across from him. Her eyes sparkled like the emeralds in King Tut's tomb, widening at all the appropriate moments in Ron's stories. Her hair was blacker than midnight in the Sahara, blacker than the fabled river Styx. Her laugh was like a thousand beautiful, tiny bells ringing in harmony. This was the girl the great poets and songwriters, both muggle and wizard, wrote about.
"Bill…Bill…." She was talking to him, he realized with a start.
"Y...yeah?" Ron chuckled at his side, obviously having older brothers, three of whom were in relationships, clearly meant that Ron knew why Bill was stuttering. Bill kicked him.
"I have to go, my dad wants me to spend the day in potions. 'Working on practical application.'" She rolled her eyes. "I'll see you later today?"
His heart thudded. Was that hope he saw in her endless eyes? "Sure." He tried not to sound too excited, tried to sound cool. "Hey, why don't I come down and grab you before lunch? I'll walk you back up."
She smiled. "I'd like that. Bye Harry, Ron, Hermione." She kissed the top of her little brother's head and ran off. Bill realized after she was gone, that he was suddenly jealous of Harry.
Bill spent the morning trailing along after his little brother. The clock was going far too slow. He stared impatiently at it most of the morning, in between having flash backs to his school days, every time hearing "Mr. Weasley?"
Divination, however, he decided had to be the most boring of all classes the school offered. Bill had never taken it; he'd taken Ancient Runes and Magical Artifacts for his electives. Today he sat on a poof between Harry and Ron, staring down at the white swirling stuff in a crystal ball. "You're telling me that old coot sees more than just a bunch of fog in this damn thing?" He whispered incredulously.
"So she says." Harry offered with a shrug.
"She usually sees the Grim in ours." Ron added. "It's her favorite way of predicting Harry's death."
Bill rolled his eyes. "Riiight. And how much longer are we in this damn class?"
They didn't get the chance to answer him. "And tell me, what do you see in your crystal ball Mr. Weasley?" came the misty voice of Professor Trelawney.
Ron pretended to be staring hard into the crystal ball, but Harry and Bill could both see the mischievous smile that graced his face. "I…see a girl…Professor."
"Indeed, what does she look like?" The bug-like woman asked skeptically.
"Black hair, green eyes….and she's getting married, to my brother!"
Before Trelawney could respond Bill rolled his eyes and pushed his little brother off the poof. "Toad." Bill snorted. He ignored Harry's muffled giggles and leaped off the cushion. "I'm leaving; I'll see you idiots in the Great Hall."
He made his way slowly down to the dungeons, aware that he had plenty of time to kill. He stopped to chat with the portrait of David McGonagall, Professor McGonagall's father. David hung in a long line of portraits of very famous potions masters. Bill had always liked David. He was always sharing tales of little Minnie and the scrapes she'd gotten into.
After a short chat, he made his way farther down and slouched against the wall to Snape's classroom. The class finally let out, and Bill waited until all the students had left before pushing himself off the wall and making his way to the door. Alathea and Snape both looked up from over her cauldron. She smiled and waved. "I'll be right there Bill."
He waited patiently. Two minutes later, she scooped up her bag and her books and ran to the door. Without a thought, Bill took the books out of her hands and began to walk down the hall. "So, Aerosmith?" He questioned as they left the dungeons.
She looked at him quizzically until he pointed down to the writing on her tee-shirt. "Yeah. They're my favorite band."
"I kinda figured you for more of a Guns N Roses fan." He teased.
She raised an eyebrow at him and regarded him coolly. "Welcome to the Jungle?" He shrugged and nodded, grinning sheepishly. "You know, my mother was in Gryffindor, Bill."
"Yeah, but I have a feeling you're your father's daughter."
"Half Vampire and hateful?" She asked bitterly.
"Nooo….All Serpent." She didn't laugh. "Hey, who'd you hear the Vampire comment from?" She didn't answer. He stopped and grabbed her shoulder, turning her to face him. "Who said it Alathea?"
"A couple of Ravenclaw third years." She finally admitted. Her gaze was penetrating the floor; she didn't want him to see how much the comment had hurt her. "I don't know their names."
Bill tipped her chin up and stared at her until she lifted her tear-filled eyes to his. "I've worked with your dad a lot in the last three years Ali, and while we're not the best of friends, I know he's a decent man. Okay? Not everyone thinks like those stupid kids. Harry, Ron and Hermione don't think that about him either. Not really. Okay?"
She nodded and sniffled a bit, but then a little smile crept out and after returning it, he followed her to the Great Hall.
