Ch.10 Distractions
DADA classes were going fine. Better actually. In fact, they promised to get even better, atleast for the third years and upwards. The Dueling Club had been re-instated with mandatory membership of all students third year and upwards because Prof. Blizzard intended to fit their theory lessons around their practicals. She was adamant about the practical part of the subject. The younger students would have their practicals too but not as intensive as the others. The Dueling Club provided everybody the perfect opportunity to hone their skills against a wide variety of opponents.
The Prof. in question was at the moment distributing the notices proclaiming the re-instatement of the Dueling Club to the house elves so that they could pin them to the individual house notice boards. Her meeting with the headmaster regarding the matter was still fresh in her mind, having come out of it no more than half an hour ago.
But convincing Dumbledore of the necessity of the Dueling club was the easy part. Now came the hard part. 'Atleast I don't expect it to be easy', she thought, as she knocked on the Potion Master's office door. She prayed Severus was in a good mood.
"Enter."
She creaked open the door slowly to give herself time to take a few deep breaths. She found Severus engaged in the perusal of a slim leather backed book. He put it down as she advanced towards the desk which carried neat piles of marked papers, obviously students' assignments.
"Any howlers?" she asked indicating the neatly stacked piles of paper.
He could tell she was stalling. He leaned his elbows on the desk after inviting her to take one of the two chairs facing the desk with a gesture of his hand .
"I doubt you came all the way to the dungeons to ask me about any 'howlers' in the students' work or to see if any of the dungeon walls had caved in .or to see me socially." he said ticking off the reasons she could give for her unexpected visit and raising his eyebrow as if in question at the last part.
She should have known beating around the bush would never work with Severus. So, discarding all the little mental notes she had made to steer the conversation subtly towards her purpose she came straight to the point.
" I've asked Dumbledore for permission to re-instate the Dueling Club. I talked it over with Minerva last night and she approved of the idea. Now, I need ..."
" You need me?" Severus cut in, laying an emphasis on 'need', the shadow of a nasty grin playing on his features.
" I want you to assist me in the demonstrations," she rephrased, looking directly at him through narrowed eyes. He wasn't going to make this easy. The insufferable git.
"Assist?" he asked in his silky voice. He was really beginning to enjoy himself. It was rare for the self-assured witch seated in front of him to 'ask' for assistance. He sure as hell was in a good mood.
"That's right" she replied trying to keep her expression passive and not show her irritation. It was a pity Severus knew just what buttons to push to get her riled. And this would be the perfect opportunity to do so if she let him get under her skin.
" Are you sure the students will be able to 'handle' it?" he asked nonchalantly studying his fingers. " You realize we do tend to get a bit..carried away?" Score one to Severus! The red button had been pushed.
He was referring to a certain incident when they had gotten into a verbal disagreement that turned physical. At her place. In her bedroom. They had been discovered there at one in the morning, by Moody himself, in what would seem to be most compromising circumstances; i.e. both were sprawled across the bed and looked most disheveled; what with their clothes in tatters so much so that their state bordered on half-naked.
The room itself was like a disaster area that had been hit by a tornado. Moody had stood a good two minutes in the doorway just staring in mute shock before he could let them know of his presence. Even then it took them another minute to stir and just sit up. They had completely exhausted themselves trying to get at each other.
The fight had started with wands which accounted for the state the room was in and had progressed to bare hands as they found it a more effective way of doing some damage. With wands they were too distanced...and able to shield themselves a little too well.
The both of them never really remembered what had started the fight although neither would admit as much to the other. Both thought what everyone else did..that they had finally succeeded in driving each other up the wall and had taken out (or tried to) their frustrations on each other.
Yet, Myra would never forget her relief when she became aware of Moody's presence. She had no doubts they would not go as far as causing each other serious bodily harm; no, what she feared was that they would do much worse to each other by losing control. And that was what the fight had really been all about, she now realized as she looked at him with a death-glare across the desk, control. The need to keep a grip on themselves.
She still recalled the lick of real fear when they had lain on the bed, completely exhausted by the duel; not of whether Severus would really hurt her when she was so weak that she could barely move, but the fear that he would do the exact opposite. At the time she did not want to think of the consequences such an action would have manifested, but she did, and she was tormented by visions of herself and Severus in bed, indulging in a pleasure she could not help but think as mortifying, until Moody showed up and they were saved from...themselves.
It had been business after all, and she could not afford the distraction. 'And neither could he' she now thought to herself. It flattered her, she realized, to think of herself as a distraction to him. Her mouth inadvertently quirked itself into a half-smile at the thought.
Meanwhile, the thoughts running in Severus's own mind were not far from hers; in fact, neither knew that they were thinking almost the exact same thing and drawing the same conclusions.
The appearance of the half-smile on her face disturbed him somewhat, though he didn't show it. He wondered what on earth she found funny about the incident he knew had been replaying in her head just as in his. He wondered if the cause was the priceless expression on Moody's face. That thought caused him to crack a rare, genuine grin of his own.
"It did feel good while it lasted didn't it?" he asked, suddenly breaking the silence between them.
She would never have admitted it then, but now, reflecting on it as the past, she realized in some twisted way she had enjoyed the raw brutality. Besides, it was safer than what she had fearfully envisioned as an outlet to their pent up frustrations.
" I have to agree. I enjoyed kicking your butt immensely." Score one, to Myra!
" Kick my butt?" he asked the grin still in place, eyebrow cocked in mock disbelief. " In the metaphorical sense or the literal one?" Score two to Severus!
" Come on Severus, you and I both know we were evenly matched," she said, declaring a truce. She didn't like the turn the conversation was beginning to take. It was too close to the heart of the matter.
He recognized her truce, though he would love to think of it as a surrender. But no, surrender would mean admitting there had been an attraction of the physical kind between them. And, he knew that wouldn't be forthcoming. Even he would never admit it.
" Which is why you're here. Asking for my 'assistance'." Ah, how soothing it was to his ego indeed. " Well, since you ask so nicely,..."he began again and was 'politely' interrupted by her.
" In that case, Severus, I thank you very much for your gracious acceptance of my invitation. You'll have the schedules on your office desk tomorrow afternoon," she said rising.
He watched as she rose gracefully from the chair and moved to the door. He was dimly aware that he had somehow not really emerged victorious in this little battle of wits, as every conversation of theirs was wont to be, for she had gotten what she wanted hadn't she?
But she knew better. She never got anything from him this easily (and it had been easier than anticipated) unless he wanted it too. He was afterall, interested in teaching DADA and she had been counting on this interest to help her cause.
'It worked alright' she mused to herself as she walked through the gently sloping dungeon pathways to the ground level. She loved walking here, the cool atmosphere of the place.
In the office she had just exited, Severus picked up his book again. And heard a familiar voice in his head.
" I enjoyed kicking your butt immensely."
Severus put his book down again and stared blankly at the chair Myra had recently vacated.
'The wicked witch. That's what she is, a bloody distraction' he thought sourly.
However , he had to admit it had been this very fact that had proved to be her strong point and made her such an asset to the Order.
That still didn't mean he had to like it. But he did. And didn't.
"Women. Bloody distractions." He repeated to himself, thinking of only one.
[A/n: ok so maybe this story will incorporate some aspects of the 5th Harry Potter book, but rest assured, Sirius is NOT dead! Atleast not here. I'm sorry I'm still not over it. As for reviews...i'm waiting!
I know this chapter will seem a little out of context with the last but this chapter ran away with me and I just had to get it out of the way. Next chapter should see the fuller explanation of Yana Giovanni's presence.]