Author: Lucinda
rating: pg/pg 13
sequel to Mix Sorrow, Loss, and Hope
pairing: Willow/Snape QPC#31
the QPC site: http://quickie.moonlightpaths.com
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from BtVS or Harry Potter.
distribution: WLS, NHA, Bite Me, Twisting the Hellmouth, Quickie Challenge, anyone else ask first. If It got sent to your list, you may archive it.
note: post somewhat AU S6 for BtVS, start of book 5 (AU because I have no idea where it's going)
dedicated to Rose and every other Snape-Alan Rickman fan out there.
Willow didn't know how she'd manage without Severus. Since the metaphorical ice had been broken by throwing out Glory's name, they'd talked more, about the school, about lessons, and gradually touching on their pasts. Sometimes, those evening chats were the only thing that helped her keep from slipping back into the violent rage that had led her to kill Rack and Warren. Especially after watching some of the students... there were a few very bad apples in the Slythrins, and a couple British Cordelia-clones, and ohh, she'd never suspected that there could be so many ways that students could grate on her nerves! Top annoyance was a tie between the rule breaking Harry Potter who reminded her a bit of Buffy, and Draco Malfoy, someone who obviously wasn't challenged enough in his classes and felt the need to make trouble out of boredom.
Severus had laughed at that description, concluding that there was a good chance that she was right about Draco. Which was why, every time Draco Malfoy did something that would normally cost his House points, she assigned him some sort of research to do. It still made it clear that he was being punished, and kept him occupied far more usefully than a simple detention would have. It was a policy that she'd started using on a few other students as well, mainly the ones that she felt truly needed the extra study time.
Overall, she was not the most popular teacher in the school. One thing that was appreciated was her firm belief in 'hands on learning', which had lead to bringing in minor and nearly harmless nuisance creatures into class for her students to deal with, and the creation of illusions as a substitute for slides when lecturing over more dangerous things. She still hadn't figured out why that seemed such a surprise to them. Honestly, you'd think nobody else put up three dimensional illusions of the lecture subject the way some of them stared. Either that or none of the previous teachers had covered Hellhounds, chaos demons, and vampires complete with illusions, before. Her class was the second most dreaded for difficulty among the Gryffindors, and the most dreaded by the Slytherins.
But some of the faculty had noticed small changes in her from the first few days. She seemed a bit less withdrawn, more willing to mingle among people instead of just watching. She laughed and smiled occasionally. She'd also attended the last Quidditch game, Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor, and had even seemed interested in the event. Some of the more observant had noticed that she'd sat talking with Snape through the game, and that they seemed to talk quite a bit. Perhaps only Dumbledore had noticed that Severus Snape seemed a bit less glowery, a bit less guilty. Poppy and Minerva were the only ones that had noticed the change in his hair. While it still hung in dark locks around his face, casting ominous shadows, it was clean, almost shiny, and had they been close enough, they would have detected a faint scent of cedar.
Willow and Severus were spending a lot of time talking, not just about the classes, although Willow did ask him how he coped with some of the annoyances the students caused. His answer, that he'd become the most feared teacher on the staff in part to prevent those petty pranks and annoyances, made quite a bit of sense... But she knew that Willow-the-Mostly-Sane wouldn't scare these kids. Maybe Vamp-Willow, or Evil-Wicked-Witch Willow, but... she would far rather leave those two particular images far behind.
"Something bothering you, Willow?" Severus' voice slid over her like warm chocolate syrup.
For a moment, she fought back unexpectedly sensual images of Severus. "Thinking about student reactions. Do you think they would be ready to try testing some of the higher skills? Not with real demons or vampires, but.. maybe illusions with oomph? Tangible ones, I mean?"
He frowned a bit, the expression making him look like the ominous villain of a theatrical production. "Some of the older ones, possibly. Much as it pains me to admit, Granger would be, and most likely Weasley and Potter as well. Malfoy should be if he actually paid any attention to any of the extra work you've been assigning him. As for some of the others... hmm... it would be best to make certain your illusions aren't tangible enough to do damage. I wouldn't suggest vampires for any of the classes below fifth year, not for an actual practice instead of a demonstration. There are also a good number of capable, practical Ravenclaws that should be capable of dealing with a vampire-illusion, I would expect most of the Hufflepuffs to be to busy being afraid."
Willow gave a small smile, remembering some of her friends. "Perhaps you underestimate how they would do under pressure?"
"My dear Willow..." Severus shook his head, practically purring in amusement. "One of the reasons that I run my Potions class the way I do is to teach them to work under pressure. I should have to hope that they would find these vampires considerable less intimidating than I am for your hopes to work."
Willow giggled at that, considering Sunnydale. "Actually... most vampires are less intimidating than you are. Especially minions... you could probably scowl at them and send them running as easily as you do the little first years. I still think you get far too much enjoyment out of that. Oh... wait, I could summon Gaknar as an in-class demonstration!"
He stopped in the middle of the hall, his expression stunned. "Willow! Gaknar... how could you contemplate summoning a Fear demon in the middle of a class of children?"
She waved a hand, making a little noise. "Oh, calm down. It's not like he's any real danger, although he does know how to make a dramatic build up. I really doubt the kids would be afraid once they see him."
"Which illustrations have you been looking at? Apparently not the ones in our library." His sarcasm was nearly tangible.
She smiled at him, amusement in her voice. "Sev, my dear Potion master, we saw Gaknar back in Sunnydale. He's only four inches tall. How scary is that? He looks like a demented punk Smurf. Now, the Judge was scary, and eight feet tall, and blown to little crispy chunks with a rocket launcher. He would terrify the class... and try to incinerate them for having humanity. But this little four inch demon with delusions of scariness and a squeaky voice? Nah..."
All he could do was laugh. "Willow... you honestly mean... four inches? That's it?"
A sudden clatter from around the corner told them both that someone had overheard his comment, and most likely... oh dear, most likely it had been taken entirely the wrong way. Willow wasn't certain that she would want to hear the final version of the rumors that would surely come from this.
Looking over at Severus, she sighed. "Oh dear."
He looked like he couldn't quite decide between offended, appalled, or mused. "Indeed. This should be... interesting."
Smiling, they proceeded to the library, to discuss some of the other encounters in Sunnydale,and the useful or useless trivia that she had learned about all sorts of creatures. Like the fact that Silustra demons smell like cinnamon.
end Simmer until Blended.
rating: pg/pg 13
sequel to Mix Sorrow, Loss, and Hope
pairing: Willow/Snape QPC#31
the QPC site: http://quickie.moonlightpaths.com
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from BtVS or Harry Potter.
distribution: WLS, NHA, Bite Me, Twisting the Hellmouth, Quickie Challenge, anyone else ask first. If It got sent to your list, you may archive it.
note: post somewhat AU S6 for BtVS, start of book 5 (AU because I have no idea where it's going)
dedicated to Rose and every other Snape-Alan Rickman fan out there.
Willow didn't know how she'd manage without Severus. Since the metaphorical ice had been broken by throwing out Glory's name, they'd talked more, about the school, about lessons, and gradually touching on their pasts. Sometimes, those evening chats were the only thing that helped her keep from slipping back into the violent rage that had led her to kill Rack and Warren. Especially after watching some of the students... there were a few very bad apples in the Slythrins, and a couple British Cordelia-clones, and ohh, she'd never suspected that there could be so many ways that students could grate on her nerves! Top annoyance was a tie between the rule breaking Harry Potter who reminded her a bit of Buffy, and Draco Malfoy, someone who obviously wasn't challenged enough in his classes and felt the need to make trouble out of boredom.
Severus had laughed at that description, concluding that there was a good chance that she was right about Draco. Which was why, every time Draco Malfoy did something that would normally cost his House points, she assigned him some sort of research to do. It still made it clear that he was being punished, and kept him occupied far more usefully than a simple detention would have. It was a policy that she'd started using on a few other students as well, mainly the ones that she felt truly needed the extra study time.
Overall, she was not the most popular teacher in the school. One thing that was appreciated was her firm belief in 'hands on learning', which had lead to bringing in minor and nearly harmless nuisance creatures into class for her students to deal with, and the creation of illusions as a substitute for slides when lecturing over more dangerous things. She still hadn't figured out why that seemed such a surprise to them. Honestly, you'd think nobody else put up three dimensional illusions of the lecture subject the way some of them stared. Either that or none of the previous teachers had covered Hellhounds, chaos demons, and vampires complete with illusions, before. Her class was the second most dreaded for difficulty among the Gryffindors, and the most dreaded by the Slytherins.
But some of the faculty had noticed small changes in her from the first few days. She seemed a bit less withdrawn, more willing to mingle among people instead of just watching. She laughed and smiled occasionally. She'd also attended the last Quidditch game, Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor, and had even seemed interested in the event. Some of the more observant had noticed that she'd sat talking with Snape through the game, and that they seemed to talk quite a bit. Perhaps only Dumbledore had noticed that Severus Snape seemed a bit less glowery, a bit less guilty. Poppy and Minerva were the only ones that had noticed the change in his hair. While it still hung in dark locks around his face, casting ominous shadows, it was clean, almost shiny, and had they been close enough, they would have detected a faint scent of cedar.
Willow and Severus were spending a lot of time talking, not just about the classes, although Willow did ask him how he coped with some of the annoyances the students caused. His answer, that he'd become the most feared teacher on the staff in part to prevent those petty pranks and annoyances, made quite a bit of sense... But she knew that Willow-the-Mostly-Sane wouldn't scare these kids. Maybe Vamp-Willow, or Evil-Wicked-Witch Willow, but... she would far rather leave those two particular images far behind.
"Something bothering you, Willow?" Severus' voice slid over her like warm chocolate syrup.
For a moment, she fought back unexpectedly sensual images of Severus. "Thinking about student reactions. Do you think they would be ready to try testing some of the higher skills? Not with real demons or vampires, but.. maybe illusions with oomph? Tangible ones, I mean?"
He frowned a bit, the expression making him look like the ominous villain of a theatrical production. "Some of the older ones, possibly. Much as it pains me to admit, Granger would be, and most likely Weasley and Potter as well. Malfoy should be if he actually paid any attention to any of the extra work you've been assigning him. As for some of the others... hmm... it would be best to make certain your illusions aren't tangible enough to do damage. I wouldn't suggest vampires for any of the classes below fifth year, not for an actual practice instead of a demonstration. There are also a good number of capable, practical Ravenclaws that should be capable of dealing with a vampire-illusion, I would expect most of the Hufflepuffs to be to busy being afraid."
Willow gave a small smile, remembering some of her friends. "Perhaps you underestimate how they would do under pressure?"
"My dear Willow..." Severus shook his head, practically purring in amusement. "One of the reasons that I run my Potions class the way I do is to teach them to work under pressure. I should have to hope that they would find these vampires considerable less intimidating than I am for your hopes to work."
Willow giggled at that, considering Sunnydale. "Actually... most vampires are less intimidating than you are. Especially minions... you could probably scowl at them and send them running as easily as you do the little first years. I still think you get far too much enjoyment out of that. Oh... wait, I could summon Gaknar as an in-class demonstration!"
He stopped in the middle of the hall, his expression stunned. "Willow! Gaknar... how could you contemplate summoning a Fear demon in the middle of a class of children?"
She waved a hand, making a little noise. "Oh, calm down. It's not like he's any real danger, although he does know how to make a dramatic build up. I really doubt the kids would be afraid once they see him."
"Which illustrations have you been looking at? Apparently not the ones in our library." His sarcasm was nearly tangible.
She smiled at him, amusement in her voice. "Sev, my dear Potion master, we saw Gaknar back in Sunnydale. He's only four inches tall. How scary is that? He looks like a demented punk Smurf. Now, the Judge was scary, and eight feet tall, and blown to little crispy chunks with a rocket launcher. He would terrify the class... and try to incinerate them for having humanity. But this little four inch demon with delusions of scariness and a squeaky voice? Nah..."
All he could do was laugh. "Willow... you honestly mean... four inches? That's it?"
A sudden clatter from around the corner told them both that someone had overheard his comment, and most likely... oh dear, most likely it had been taken entirely the wrong way. Willow wasn't certain that she would want to hear the final version of the rumors that would surely come from this.
Looking over at Severus, she sighed. "Oh dear."
He looked like he couldn't quite decide between offended, appalled, or mused. "Indeed. This should be... interesting."
Smiling, they proceeded to the library, to discuss some of the other encounters in Sunnydale,and the useful or useless trivia that she had learned about all sorts of creatures. Like the fact that Silustra demons smell like cinnamon.
end Simmer until Blended.
