::red curtains open::
::Asian girl steps out and clears her throat::
::in a husky deep voice:: Hello, my dear loyal readers…All of whom I'd love to thank individually through this little blurb…But it'd take bloody forever…As well as half the bloody page…
::humongo-grin:: I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
::with arms full of Girl Scout cookies:: All of you deserve a cookie!!!
::pout-smirk:: Unfortunately, 'tis rather difficult to send you guys some via the Internet…I'll just have to eat them for you…
Hehehe ok, kidding aside…
Before I once again write this chapter without any idea whatsoever what I'm going to be writing about…I really must stop doing that…I'll just clarify a couple things that Lia brought up: (Speaking of which, THANK YOU for those questions!!)
-Muggle Studies IS going to be a required class…Mainly because it'll be easier to squeeze all the HP kids in…Gotta lessen the plot holes a little bit, don't you think?
-YES, Oz dies instead of Tara. I'm hoping I'll remember enough to fit in a couple flashbacks throughout the fic…It could help if you guys remind me…::hint hint::
-AND YES, the Hellmouth has always been its evil self in screwing up magic…Plus, Giles does not want to bring up the fact that he's an honest-to-Merlin wizard…He DOES have a rough past, after all…::another hint hint::
And I think that's enough information for now…I don't want to spoil the rest…Well, actually, I'm just as clueless as to how this fic is going to go as you guys…:) Eh, I think it allows for spontaneity…And isn't that a good thing?
::notices man waving sign saying, "JUST GET WITH THE DAMN FIC ALREADY!!!":: …Well…I guess this'll be my cue to start Ch. 3…
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CHAPTER THREE
Willow walked dazedly out of the Headmaster's office, barely hearing Hagrid and Giles chattering happily with said Headmaster behind the door.
'A teacher…I'm going to be a teacher…At a magical school…Surrounded by wizards and witches…Who are probably going to wonder what in blazes a red-headed Apocalypse-bringing amateur witch is doing in Hogwarts…'
'Eep,' Willow thought.
This particular 'Eep' could be interpreted in two ways…One, the thought of teaching magical kids anything—even if the subject had nothing to DO with magic—was downright wiggins-worthy…
And two…The man staring down at her. A foot away.
'He's…tall…'
'And dark…'
'And kinda handsome…'
'But what's with the scowl on his face??!!'
"Er…Hello," Willow squeaked.
"You must be the new Muggle Studies Professor," said the man, scowling down at her.
And what a voice. Baritone velvet.
'And commence the swooning---'
Unfortunately, that velvet could rub a person raw.
'On second thought…Stop the swooning…' Willow thought.
She winced at the contempt lurking behind the man's purr. Then she realized something.
'This could be a Professor…He IS trying to intimidate me…Just like a teacher would…' She smirked. The man showed mild surprise. 'Ah…You're not used to having your authority squashed…Might as well have some fun with you…' she thought.
She spoke coolly. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Why do you care, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Glowery?" She smiled impishly.
His scowl, if possible, turned deeper. But…his eyes…
Black voids. Onyx marbles. Whatever you want to call them.
Before, they were penetrating her. Examining her like a lab scientist would a lab rat. Cold, dead eyes.
Now? They were almost…glittering…
"Are you trying to laugh at me, sir?" Willow asked incredulously. Then she paused. "Wait, scratch that…I don't think you're capable of laughing…Am I right?"
"That's none of your business," he snapped.
"AHA! I saw that twitching of your lips!!! Come on, Scowl-Boy, bet you $100 you can't smile, either!!!"
"I can TOO smile—"
"Cannot."
"Can too."
"Cannot."
"Can too."
"Cannot."
"Can t—WHY AM I FIGHTING WITH YOU??!! You foolish girl—"
And all the playful bantering quickly died out. Willow, who was going to let the poor man off the hook, was pissed. And Apocalypse-Willow came out to play. Good-girl Willow tried to warn A-W to stop, but sadly, that was in vain.
Poor Scowl-Boy.
Willow's voice grew deeper, almost in a rasp. Her eyes turned black, even darker than the man's. Hair that was once a flaming red was slowly bleeding raven. As she began to talk, she slowly advanced on him, causing him to back into one of the stone walls. "'Foolish girl'? I'll have you know, Mr., that I can turn your skin inside out…I can light you on fire with merely a thought…I can break every single bone in your body, make them heal piece by agonizing piece, and break them all over again…Without breaking a sweat…I can—"
"Awfully sorry to intrude on such a lovely conversation…But is Albus busy at the moment?" The deep, softly accented voice sounded amused.
Willow turned around. And promptly blushed.
'Gee, and I thought Tall-and-Dark over there was kinda handsome…' As her blush slowly turned deeper, her eyes faded back to emerald-green, and her hair went back to its fire-engine red.
The man interrupting them looked fairly young. Late 30's at the most. His large grin—'And it almost looks somewhat…wolfish…'—gave him a rather boyish look. Light brown hair—'Chestnut…No, too dark…'—was smattered with gray, making him look slightly distinguished. Older, but in a good way. 'A VERY good way…'
He looked pretty tall, maybe an inch or two shorter than Scowl-Boy. Lean, too. 'Probably not an ounce of fat there…And good GOD, what the heck am I thinking???!!'
Willow chose now to finally speak, stepping away from Glowery-Man, and walked towards this stranger. "Oh, you mean Dumbledore? He's only talking to Hagrid and Giles right now…They oh-so-subtly threw me out…They're catching up on old times…Although I don't know WHAT old times they'd need to talk about, considering how Giles probably wouldn't know what Hagrid and Albus are talking about…But yet Giles said he was in Slytherin, and Dumbledore was mentioning something about houses, and I think this Slytherin thing is a house, so that must mean Giles went to Hogwarts, which is impossible because Giles once said he had been training to be a Watcher since he was born, so there couldn't have been any time to go to a magical school…" And Willow finally drew a breath, pausing to look at the two men in front of her.
Both looked about ready to laugh, but Scowl-Boy looked like he was trying to hide it. The other man's grin looked about ready to split his face.
"I must wonder," said Tall-and-Dark, "how on earth you managed to say all that without passing out."
The other man laughed. "For once, Severus, I'm inclined to agree with you."
'Ah…So Scowl-Boy must be Severus…Poor man…What a name…'
The cute man seemed to notice that Willow hadn't a clue who they were. Before Severus replied—and it looked like it was going to be an insult—the other man cut him off. "Oh, I apologize. How rude that we didn't introduce ourselves. That man glaring daggers into me is Professor Severus Snape."
Severus looked down at Willow. "I am the Potions master here at Hogwarts, but I'm sure you have no idea what that title means."
Willow glared, ready to retort. Then she seemed to change her mind as she smirked. "Well, of course I do! You must know how to mix up stuff! Like baking! Or cooking! Ooh, is 'Potions master' a nice way to say 'cook'?"
Severus sputtered, his sallow face turning red. The other man snickered.
"I do believe you've rendered our…Potions master…speechless. I must congratulate you. This is probably the first time he's ever NOT managed to bite out a comeback."
Willow smiled. "Really now? Then I must do it more often…" Then she looked down at her feet, her blush slowly starting to creep on back. "But I still don't know who you are, Mr…?"
"Lupin. Remus Lupin. I've been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the past 2 years in a row. I'm proud to say that it's a record."
Willow giggled. "I'm sure it's your crowning achievement."
Remus smiled. "And you are…?"
"Professor Willow Rosenberg. I've just been roped into teaching Muggle Studies."
Remus stared at her in shock. Severus, who had been muttering various curses in many different languages, stopped and also gawked at her. While trying hard not to look like it.
Willow grew uncomfortable over all the staring. 'Why are they looking at me like that?' she thought. 'Did I say something I wasn't supposed to say?'
"…What?" she asked fearfully.
Remus opened his mouth to reply. But he was cut short from speaking.
Severus, as ever, bluntly replied, "Ah, so you're the one who tried to destroy the world…And all because of some mutt."
Willow blinked.
Remus looked ready to strangle Severus.
Severus, for a fleeting moment, realized that what he just said was probably a bad thing. But he quickly hid his revelation behind that stony mask. And prepared to face the music, so to speak.
But before all hell broke loose, his brain processed one thought.
'Merlin, I'm doomed.'
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Hehehe I wanted to make this longer, but the HW Hell Gods are demanding I sacrifice my time to them.::sigh:: I'm sorry…
BUT, hopefully I'll be able to make the next chapter a bit more…fun…
::smirk::
Hope you enjoyed this little tidbit…
And I DO hope no one's really THAT disappointed in who I'm pairing Willow up with…
::smirk:: Aww…Who cares? It's MY fic!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
::HW Hell Gods pull her away from computer::
Eep.