Serpens Amator
A/N: Well, it's been over a year since I've written on this story. Guess I'd better get around to it, no? I went back and edited the first chapter. I realized parts of it sounded kinda dumb and it wasn't clear who Aidan was. Okie dokie, it's fixed now so… here goes.
*
Chapter 2
*
The train came to a screeching halt and Ginger was jolted straight from her seat on the train, it was a rather abrupt awakening. She looked around, most of the other professors were looking at her. The book she had been reading went flying when the train stopped. It appeared to have whacked one man right in the shin. Ginger looked up at him. He was reasonably young but his sallow skin made him look much older. He had shoulder-length black hair and a hook nose. He was sneering at her most unpleasantly.
"I-I'm sorry." She winced, waiting to get scolded. "I must have dozed…" She retrieved her book and turned to pick up her shoulder-bag.
"I feel sorry for the people who get stuck with you… You'll probably knock something over and kill them all."
Ginger was outraged. "Hey!" She turned to see the sneering man. "That was un-called-for! It was an accident, not to mention it wasn't my fault. You want to blame someone, blame the person driving the train."
The man shrugged. "You the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"No… I'm supposed to be assisting the Potions professor."
The man looked shocked then groaned. "Longbottom and now this, Dumbledore's trying to kill me."
It all clicked. "YOU'RE THE POTIONS MASTER?!" ~Oh, dear.~ she thought. ~I've done it this time.~
"Yes… I am." His sneer grew even more unpleasant. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go before you maim me." With that, he left, his black cloak and robes flying like bat's wings.
"Erg…. He is certainly an unhappy man." She shuddered at the thought of having to work with him for the entire year. Ginger gathered her things then stepped off the train. So much for a good opportunity.
*
"Your room is down in the dungeons, I hope you don't mind. Since the Professor Snape is head of Slytherin house, we thought it best if we put you down where he could contact you easily."
Ginger groaned inwardly but forced a smile. "Yes, that does make sense."
"Here we are."
The woman speaking was very pleasant. She was an older woman with a tight graying bun. She wore glasses and green robes. Ginger couldn't remember her name but she knew it was Mc-something.
The other woman opened the door to the rooms and Ginger stepped inside. Stepped inside and stopped dead in her tracks. She never imagined it would be like this.
The rooms were very large and were decorated in purple, white and silver. Comfy armchairs and stuffed bookshelves flanked the stone fireplace. A desk made of dark wood stood against the far wall. But the bed was the most amazing part. It was hue and fluffy, covered in pillows. It was a four-poster and was draped in filmy, silver fabrics that danced and shimmered in the firelight, casting little silver flecks around the room. It was a sight to see.
"The desk is fully supplied with ink, parchment… the usual. The adjoining bathroom is through that door." The woman pointed to a door across the room. "I'm sure you want to get settled, so I'll take me leave." With that she walked out and closed the door.
Ginger looked mischievously around. Dropping her bags she ran across the room and dived onto the bed. Sinking into the soft feather-mattress, she sighed. "Ah… this is the life." Grinning, she bounced off the bed and spotted her trunks. "Wow… good service."
Ginger set about unpacking. By the time she was done, she was so exhausted that it was all she could do to drag herself off to bed.
*
A loud rapping awoke her the next morning. Groggily, Ginger lifted her head. "What the…" The rapping continued, louder this time. She realized that it was someone knocking on her door. "Hold on, hold on. I'm coming." She shouted, unhappy about being woken up. "Geez…" she grumbled. "I am not a morning person." She opened the door, trying to focus on who it was.
"Well… That's a nice outfit you've got on there." The person was none other that Professor I'm-a-grumpy pants Snape.
"Wha…" Ginger looked down that back up, eyes wide and face red with embarrassment. She had forgotten that she was wearing just her panties and a tank top. "Oh!" She quickly reached to grab her silk robe that she had hung next to the door. Slipping into it she asked "What do you want?"
"We need to… uh… do lesson plans for the coming school year." He was obviously embarrassed by the situation as well.
"At…" she looked at the clock on the wall. "7 in the morning?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"What the hell? That makes no sense."
"Alright, I'll spell it out for you American mind to comprehend. Better to work out all kinks now than to discover problems once the school year starts."
"We have two months to do this and your waking me up at a god awful hour to do LESSON PLANS!"
"Yes."
"Whatever. Let me get dressed."
*
The days went on like that, through June into July and finally to August. Ginger would be woken up early by Snape, she would get angry and then she would avoid him until the next morning. It was quite a tiresome cycle.
"Can I go? I really don't give a rat's ass about this."
"Too bad. Now, for Veritaserum…"
Ginger sighed. "Buh-bye." She picked up her things and left.
"Of all the nerve…" Snape was really hacked off. "Can't even spend two hours doing this." He ran a hand through his hair and put down the lesson plan. Why did Dumbledore always have to do this to him? Why? He'd been a good teacher these past years? Hadn't he? He'd helped the order, too. He didn't deserve to have to put up with such an upstart. Although… There was something about her that was very familiar. He felt like he'd met her before. Somewhere…. She even looked familiar, with her red hair and green eyes… Those eyes… They were just like…. Hers…..
Snape snapped himself out of it. "No, can't be." He gathered up his appears and headed off to his office.
*
The school year finally started in September. Ginger was immensely relieved that it wouldn't just be her and dear Snapey all the time. She shook her head and donned her favorite dress robes. They were cream colored and rather unconventional. They were fitted at the waist with a pearl-studded bodice. The sleeves were off-the-shoulder while the skirt was rather full. It made swishy noises when Ginger moved, that was why she liked it so much. "Swishy, swishy, swishy…." Ginger giggled. "Swishy!" More giggles. "Ginger Amaryllis Evans… You go and knock their socks off. Especially old Snape." She blew a kiss to herself and headed out the door with her matching hat.
When she arrived in the Great Hall, the older students were already starting to file in to sit at their house tables. From her perch next to Snape at the Head Table, she could see them reasonably well. She kept her eyes peeled for the nephew that had no idea she existed. She knew that he looked like James, her late brother-in-law, he probably wouldn't be hard to spot. Dumbledore had told her a lot about him and what he had done these past years at school. Looked like James but had eyes just like Lily, the eyes that Ginger also possessed. Big, bright and clear green.
She sighed, Dumbledore had asked her to wait until she had him in class to approach him. Ginger wished so much to run up to him the minute she spotted him, hug him to death and tell him that she wouldn't let anything happen to her big sister's little boy. Well, maybe not little boy, he was 16 after all.
She knew the minute he walked in. Harry was with two people, a girl with lots of bushy brown hair and a tall red-headed boy. She could only guess that these were Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore had told her about them too.
By the gods… he did look like James. Exactly, he even moved like him. He had that same I-think-I'm-invincible aura around him. Harry was definitely James' son.
"I see you've found him." Snape said to her.
"What are you talking about?" She was confused.
"Our little superstar, Mr. Potter." he said snidely. It made Ginger want to smack him.
"Yeah, whatever." She ignored him.
"Watch our for him, he thinks the rules don't apply to him."
"And who the hell are you to judge him? What, you have a school-boy grudge against his father or something?" she whispered scathingly. Ginger didn't realize how well she had hit the nail on the head.
Snape didn't say another word, and turned away from her.
"Thank God." she mumbled under her breath.
The Sorting went on uneventfully, except on boy didn't get into the house he wanted and burst out crying. ~Does it really matter that much?~ Ginger wondered.
Dumbledore got up, made a speech and then the tables filled with food. Such food… ~Yummy!~ Ginger dug in and ate with relish. She'd been starving all day.
*
"Hey, did you notice we have two new teachers this year?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Do we?" Harry looked up at the Head table and sure enough, in addition to all the normal teachers, there were two more. A man and a woman. The woman looked oddly… familiar. She was very pretty, not gorgeous, but still pretty. She had the longest hair Harry had ever seen. It was red, a couple shades darker than Ron's, and fell in little ringlets that spilled all around out from under her pointed hat. She was dressed in cream dress robes, they looked very nice on her. Harry smiled.
"Wow, look at the lady next to Snape!" Seamus exclaimed. "I wonder who she is."
"I don't know. Maybe she's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…" Hermione speculated.
"Why do we have an extra teacher?" Neville asked nervously. "We aren't going to have to take another class are we?" He sounded panicked.
"We don't know, Neville. I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Ron was still staring at her.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Ron." Hermione said, laughing.
"What… oh…" Ron blushed and took his eyes off the new teacher.
Harry laughed at him and looked back up at the woman. So familiar…. He couldn't place who she looked like. But he knew he'd seen her somewhere before. Somewhere….
*
Ginger stood in the font of the class, writing the Potions instructions on the board in her swirly handwriting. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, flipping through some papers.
"Plotting revenge on the students already are you?" Ginger asked playfully.
"Of course. It's my purpose, what I live for."
Ginger turned and gave him a strange look. "That's kind of sad…"
"They make my life hell. It's the least I can do to return the favor."
Something inside her went out to him, he must have had a hard life to be so bitter. She finished her writing and sat on the edge of the desk. "What happened to you?"
Snape looked up at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that no one is that cynical all on their own."
"Sure they are. I am…"
"Whatever you say Professor."
Snape opened his mouth to say something but in that same moment the bell rang and the students started filing in. It was, coincidentally, Harry's class, the 6th year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Snape just shook his head and got up from his desk. He stood in the front of the class, looking like some kind of ghost or something, glaring darkly at everyone except Draco Malfoy.
~This is going to be wonderful.~ Ginger thought. ~Peachy-freaking-keen.~
"Well…" Snape started. "This is Professor Evans. She will be assisting in Potions classes this year."
Ginger stepped forward and waved. "Hello." she said quietly.
Snape continued. "Today we will be making…."
Ginger didn't hear anything he said after that, she was watching Harry without realizing it. He was whispering to the red-haired boy she had seen last night. The two obviously had a great dislike for the Potions master. Ginger smiled a little, that was one thing they had in common.
*
Ron started whispering to Harry the moment they walked in and saw the pretty red-haired woman in the Potions class.
"What is she doing helping Snape?"
"How do I know?"
"Wow… Lucky Snape."
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I said, Lucky Snape. He gets to hang around with her all day."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."
"Hey! Remember Lockhart?" Hermione turned red. "Yeah, you have no room to talk."
"He got you there, Herm." Harry said, laughing
Hermione mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that, Moine?" Ron asked sweetly.
"Oh nothing, Ronniekins." Hermione replied just as sweetly.
Harry chuckled. His two friends were always at it lately. Their conversation was interrupted when the teacher in question walked up to them.
"Did you hear the instructions?"
Harry looked up and stopped short. He was looking into his own eyes, except they belonged to another. She had the same bright green eyes he saw every time he looked in the mirror.
Ginger was shocked as well. When they said he had Lily's eyes, she thought they meant they were green. But looking into them was like looking at Lily again. Ginger felt a wave of sadness pass over her. Harry had the exact same eyes as her beloved older sister, exactly.
Harry was the first to recover. "You… you look like…"
Ginger stopped him short, forcing cheeriness into her voice. "The directions are on the board, I'd make sure to do it properly. I think Professor Snape has something particularly nasty planned for you all." With that, she walked away.
"What the bloody hell was that all about, Harry?" Ron asked, curious.
"She… Her…. Her eyes… They…."
"Yes?"
"They're mine."
"What?!"
"They're exactly the same as mine."
"Okay…"
"They are! I've never seen anyone with those eyes besides me… and my mother." Harry was confused and shocked.
"C'mon Harry. Let's just make our stupid potion."
*
A/N: Likie, no likie? GIVE ME FEEDBACK, DARNIT! Lol, kidding. Reviews would be very nice! C'mon people. How much energy does it take to write a couple words?
BE A RESPONSIBLE READER AND REVIEW!
A/N: Well, it's been over a year since I've written on this story. Guess I'd better get around to it, no? I went back and edited the first chapter. I realized parts of it sounded kinda dumb and it wasn't clear who Aidan was. Okie dokie, it's fixed now so… here goes.
*
Chapter 2
*
The train came to a screeching halt and Ginger was jolted straight from her seat on the train, it was a rather abrupt awakening. She looked around, most of the other professors were looking at her. The book she had been reading went flying when the train stopped. It appeared to have whacked one man right in the shin. Ginger looked up at him. He was reasonably young but his sallow skin made him look much older. He had shoulder-length black hair and a hook nose. He was sneering at her most unpleasantly.
"I-I'm sorry." She winced, waiting to get scolded. "I must have dozed…" She retrieved her book and turned to pick up her shoulder-bag.
"I feel sorry for the people who get stuck with you… You'll probably knock something over and kill them all."
Ginger was outraged. "Hey!" She turned to see the sneering man. "That was un-called-for! It was an accident, not to mention it wasn't my fault. You want to blame someone, blame the person driving the train."
The man shrugged. "You the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"No… I'm supposed to be assisting the Potions professor."
The man looked shocked then groaned. "Longbottom and now this, Dumbledore's trying to kill me."
It all clicked. "YOU'RE THE POTIONS MASTER?!" ~Oh, dear.~ she thought. ~I've done it this time.~
"Yes… I am." His sneer grew even more unpleasant. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go before you maim me." With that, he left, his black cloak and robes flying like bat's wings.
"Erg…. He is certainly an unhappy man." She shuddered at the thought of having to work with him for the entire year. Ginger gathered her things then stepped off the train. So much for a good opportunity.
*
"Your room is down in the dungeons, I hope you don't mind. Since the Professor Snape is head of Slytherin house, we thought it best if we put you down where he could contact you easily."
Ginger groaned inwardly but forced a smile. "Yes, that does make sense."
"Here we are."
The woman speaking was very pleasant. She was an older woman with a tight graying bun. She wore glasses and green robes. Ginger couldn't remember her name but she knew it was Mc-something.
The other woman opened the door to the rooms and Ginger stepped inside. Stepped inside and stopped dead in her tracks. She never imagined it would be like this.
The rooms were very large and were decorated in purple, white and silver. Comfy armchairs and stuffed bookshelves flanked the stone fireplace. A desk made of dark wood stood against the far wall. But the bed was the most amazing part. It was hue and fluffy, covered in pillows. It was a four-poster and was draped in filmy, silver fabrics that danced and shimmered in the firelight, casting little silver flecks around the room. It was a sight to see.
"The desk is fully supplied with ink, parchment… the usual. The adjoining bathroom is through that door." The woman pointed to a door across the room. "I'm sure you want to get settled, so I'll take me leave." With that she walked out and closed the door.
Ginger looked mischievously around. Dropping her bags she ran across the room and dived onto the bed. Sinking into the soft feather-mattress, she sighed. "Ah… this is the life." Grinning, she bounced off the bed and spotted her trunks. "Wow… good service."
Ginger set about unpacking. By the time she was done, she was so exhausted that it was all she could do to drag herself off to bed.
*
A loud rapping awoke her the next morning. Groggily, Ginger lifted her head. "What the…" The rapping continued, louder this time. She realized that it was someone knocking on her door. "Hold on, hold on. I'm coming." She shouted, unhappy about being woken up. "Geez…" she grumbled. "I am not a morning person." She opened the door, trying to focus on who it was.
"Well… That's a nice outfit you've got on there." The person was none other that Professor I'm-a-grumpy pants Snape.
"Wha…" Ginger looked down that back up, eyes wide and face red with embarrassment. She had forgotten that she was wearing just her panties and a tank top. "Oh!" She quickly reached to grab her silk robe that she had hung next to the door. Slipping into it she asked "What do you want?"
"We need to… uh… do lesson plans for the coming school year." He was obviously embarrassed by the situation as well.
"At…" she looked at the clock on the wall. "7 in the morning?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"What the hell? That makes no sense."
"Alright, I'll spell it out for you American mind to comprehend. Better to work out all kinks now than to discover problems once the school year starts."
"We have two months to do this and your waking me up at a god awful hour to do LESSON PLANS!"
"Yes."
"Whatever. Let me get dressed."
*
The days went on like that, through June into July and finally to August. Ginger would be woken up early by Snape, she would get angry and then she would avoid him until the next morning. It was quite a tiresome cycle.
"Can I go? I really don't give a rat's ass about this."
"Too bad. Now, for Veritaserum…"
Ginger sighed. "Buh-bye." She picked up her things and left.
"Of all the nerve…" Snape was really hacked off. "Can't even spend two hours doing this." He ran a hand through his hair and put down the lesson plan. Why did Dumbledore always have to do this to him? Why? He'd been a good teacher these past years? Hadn't he? He'd helped the order, too. He didn't deserve to have to put up with such an upstart. Although… There was something about her that was very familiar. He felt like he'd met her before. Somewhere…. She even looked familiar, with her red hair and green eyes… Those eyes… They were just like…. Hers…..
Snape snapped himself out of it. "No, can't be." He gathered up his appears and headed off to his office.
*
The school year finally started in September. Ginger was immensely relieved that it wouldn't just be her and dear Snapey all the time. She shook her head and donned her favorite dress robes. They were cream colored and rather unconventional. They were fitted at the waist with a pearl-studded bodice. The sleeves were off-the-shoulder while the skirt was rather full. It made swishy noises when Ginger moved, that was why she liked it so much. "Swishy, swishy, swishy…." Ginger giggled. "Swishy!" More giggles. "Ginger Amaryllis Evans… You go and knock their socks off. Especially old Snape." She blew a kiss to herself and headed out the door with her matching hat.
When she arrived in the Great Hall, the older students were already starting to file in to sit at their house tables. From her perch next to Snape at the Head Table, she could see them reasonably well. She kept her eyes peeled for the nephew that had no idea she existed. She knew that he looked like James, her late brother-in-law, he probably wouldn't be hard to spot. Dumbledore had told her a lot about him and what he had done these past years at school. Looked like James but had eyes just like Lily, the eyes that Ginger also possessed. Big, bright and clear green.
She sighed, Dumbledore had asked her to wait until she had him in class to approach him. Ginger wished so much to run up to him the minute she spotted him, hug him to death and tell him that she wouldn't let anything happen to her big sister's little boy. Well, maybe not little boy, he was 16 after all.
She knew the minute he walked in. Harry was with two people, a girl with lots of bushy brown hair and a tall red-headed boy. She could only guess that these were Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore had told her about them too.
By the gods… he did look like James. Exactly, he even moved like him. He had that same I-think-I'm-invincible aura around him. Harry was definitely James' son.
"I see you've found him." Snape said to her.
"What are you talking about?" She was confused.
"Our little superstar, Mr. Potter." he said snidely. It made Ginger want to smack him.
"Yeah, whatever." She ignored him.
"Watch our for him, he thinks the rules don't apply to him."
"And who the hell are you to judge him? What, you have a school-boy grudge against his father or something?" she whispered scathingly. Ginger didn't realize how well she had hit the nail on the head.
Snape didn't say another word, and turned away from her.
"Thank God." she mumbled under her breath.
The Sorting went on uneventfully, except on boy didn't get into the house he wanted and burst out crying. ~Does it really matter that much?~ Ginger wondered.
Dumbledore got up, made a speech and then the tables filled with food. Such food… ~Yummy!~ Ginger dug in and ate with relish. She'd been starving all day.
*
"Hey, did you notice we have two new teachers this year?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Do we?" Harry looked up at the Head table and sure enough, in addition to all the normal teachers, there were two more. A man and a woman. The woman looked oddly… familiar. She was very pretty, not gorgeous, but still pretty. She had the longest hair Harry had ever seen. It was red, a couple shades darker than Ron's, and fell in little ringlets that spilled all around out from under her pointed hat. She was dressed in cream dress robes, they looked very nice on her. Harry smiled.
"Wow, look at the lady next to Snape!" Seamus exclaimed. "I wonder who she is."
"I don't know. Maybe she's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…" Hermione speculated.
"Why do we have an extra teacher?" Neville asked nervously. "We aren't going to have to take another class are we?" He sounded panicked.
"We don't know, Neville. I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Ron was still staring at her.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Ron." Hermione said, laughing.
"What… oh…" Ron blushed and took his eyes off the new teacher.
Harry laughed at him and looked back up at the woman. So familiar…. He couldn't place who she looked like. But he knew he'd seen her somewhere before. Somewhere….
*
Ginger stood in the font of the class, writing the Potions instructions on the board in her swirly handwriting. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, flipping through some papers.
"Plotting revenge on the students already are you?" Ginger asked playfully.
"Of course. It's my purpose, what I live for."
Ginger turned and gave him a strange look. "That's kind of sad…"
"They make my life hell. It's the least I can do to return the favor."
Something inside her went out to him, he must have had a hard life to be so bitter. She finished her writing and sat on the edge of the desk. "What happened to you?"
Snape looked up at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that no one is that cynical all on their own."
"Sure they are. I am…"
"Whatever you say Professor."
Snape opened his mouth to say something but in that same moment the bell rang and the students started filing in. It was, coincidentally, Harry's class, the 6th year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Snape just shook his head and got up from his desk. He stood in the front of the class, looking like some kind of ghost or something, glaring darkly at everyone except Draco Malfoy.
~This is going to be wonderful.~ Ginger thought. ~Peachy-freaking-keen.~
"Well…" Snape started. "This is Professor Evans. She will be assisting in Potions classes this year."
Ginger stepped forward and waved. "Hello." she said quietly.
Snape continued. "Today we will be making…."
Ginger didn't hear anything he said after that, she was watching Harry without realizing it. He was whispering to the red-haired boy she had seen last night. The two obviously had a great dislike for the Potions master. Ginger smiled a little, that was one thing they had in common.
*
Ron started whispering to Harry the moment they walked in and saw the pretty red-haired woman in the Potions class.
"What is she doing helping Snape?"
"How do I know?"
"Wow… Lucky Snape."
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I said, Lucky Snape. He gets to hang around with her all day."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."
"Hey! Remember Lockhart?" Hermione turned red. "Yeah, you have no room to talk."
"He got you there, Herm." Harry said, laughing
Hermione mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that, Moine?" Ron asked sweetly.
"Oh nothing, Ronniekins." Hermione replied just as sweetly.
Harry chuckled. His two friends were always at it lately. Their conversation was interrupted when the teacher in question walked up to them.
"Did you hear the instructions?"
Harry looked up and stopped short. He was looking into his own eyes, except they belonged to another. She had the same bright green eyes he saw every time he looked in the mirror.
Ginger was shocked as well. When they said he had Lily's eyes, she thought they meant they were green. But looking into them was like looking at Lily again. Ginger felt a wave of sadness pass over her. Harry had the exact same eyes as her beloved older sister, exactly.
Harry was the first to recover. "You… you look like…"
Ginger stopped him short, forcing cheeriness into her voice. "The directions are on the board, I'd make sure to do it properly. I think Professor Snape has something particularly nasty planned for you all." With that, she walked away.
"What the bloody hell was that all about, Harry?" Ron asked, curious.
"She… Her…. Her eyes… They…."
"Yes?"
"They're mine."
"What?!"
"They're exactly the same as mine."
"Okay…"
"They are! I've never seen anyone with those eyes besides me… and my mother." Harry was confused and shocked.
"C'mon Harry. Let's just make our stupid potion."
*
A/N: Likie, no likie? GIVE ME FEEDBACK, DARNIT! Lol, kidding. Reviews would be very nice! C'mon people. How much energy does it take to write a couple words?
BE A RESPONSIBLE READER AND REVIEW!