Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1. Own Pyre. That's about it.
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Chapter 2: Happened Upon the Nerve
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"Students, hush. I said HUSH." Pyre Rittin stepped into her second class of the day, a combination of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. "Hello, I am your new Defense Against the Dark Art's professor, Pyre Rittin."
"Can we call you Pyre, ma'am?" A sixth year from Hufflepuff asked. Pyre had to suppress a small smile.
"I'm sorry, but no. I am to be called Professor Rittin, thanks." Pyre stated. "First things first. We have a few rules to get out of the way.
"Rule number one: I don't want to see any obnoxious behavior in my classroom. Don't forget, I did this all not too long ago, and I refuse to tolerate any of it. Rule number two: Pay attention. Trust me, it'll get you wonders. And finally, rule number three: If I hear anybody joke about my age, I will not hesitate to force feed you poison. Got that?"
Most of the class stayed silent, some merely nodded. Pyre sighed to herself.
"Sounds like Snape." A voice whispered from the far right hand corner of the classroom, followed by two laughs.
"Excuse me, Mr.… Weasely, is it?" Pyre scanned the parchment on her desk. "Ronald Weasely. Along with, I presume, the 'oh so infamous' Harry Potter. And where you two go, I can make an educated guess that the quiet young lady next to you is Hermione Granger, yes?"
The trio simply nodded.
"Good. Well, Mr. Weasely, you've just earned detention for the three of you. Report to this room Wednesday night at eight o'clock, sharp. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am." The trio sighed. Hermione and Harry shot dagger looks towards Ron. He mouthed a silent 'I'm sorry." Pyre simply rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand.
"Now, shall we begin?"
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Pyre sat down in her chambers, heaving a heavy sigh of relief; she'd just finished her last class of the way (first year Slytherins) and was quite exhausted. She kicked off her black boots absent mindedly while sipping at a glass of brandy and tossing aside her torn robe. (I'll have to get a house elf up here to fix that… Bloody Longbottom…)
"Ms. Rittin?" A voice called from the fireplace, causing Pyre to jump. She turned around swiftly, an angry glare on her face. She was about to curse when she saw who had spoken.
"Professor Snape?" Pyre asked, confusion marring her face.
"Well, I'm glad you're up on your recognition skills, Rittin." Snape hissed, an eyebrow quirked.
"Oh, sod off, Snape. What do you want?"
Severus merely rolled his eyes at her tone of voice, waiting a moment before responding. Pyre had the sudden urge to reach through the fire and throttle his throat.
"Watch your tone with your superiors, Ms. Rittin… You've been here a day, whilst I've been here long enough to have taught you…" And failed you… Severus thought to himself. "You should show some respect to your elders…
"But that is besides the point. Albus asked me to remind you of the teachers' meeting tonight, to discuss plans for this school year."
It sounded as if Severus had tried everything to avoid having to talk to the young teacher, and Pyre wanted desperately to take advantage of his discomfort of speaking to a former teacher as a near 'equal.'
"Of course, Snape. I didn't forget." Pyre said, taking a sip of her drink, a slight smirk on her face.
"You'd best be there. I don't fancy getting chewed out by Albus because his little pet doesn't show up for a meeting." Snape scowled.
"Pet?" Pyre asked, setting her glass down harshly. "What the blazes do you mean, pet?"
"Figure it out, Rittin." Snape said, waving a hand, dismissing the question. "You'd best show up for the meeting tonight."
And with that, Snape disappeared from the fire.
"Blasted man." Pyre whispered to herself, picking up her wine glass and throwing it into the fire, where Snape's head had been. "He's going to drive me insane…"