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Part 3
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Neville knew he was in very big trouble as Professor Sinistra led him into Professor Dumbledore's office but he didn't know what he'd done. He'd been copying star charts in Professor Sinistra's class, using a 'mind's eye' drawing spell the Professor had taught the class. He thought he'd been doing it properly until the Professor had come to check his work.
The Professor had picked his picture and looked at it.
"This is exactly as you see it?" she had asked. Neville assumed he'd made a mistake and had looked carefully at the picture and the original.
"Yes, Professor."
Professor Sinistra had looked surprised. Then she'd grabbed Hermoine's picture, which was finished before anyone else's, and asked him to compare the two. Aside being only half finished his picture looked exactly like Hermione's and he'd told the Professor so.
The next thing he knew he was asked to stay after class and was on his way to the Headmaster's office.
If Neville had thought it was bad coming to Professor Dumbledore office was bad enough, discovering Professor Snape was there too was worse. Neville would have run back out the office door if Professor Sinistra hadn't been standing behind him.
The Astronomy Professor gently pushed Neville into the room.
"I thought you should see this, Professor?" She showed the pictures to Professor Dumbledore.
"What is so exciting about star charts? They're boring at the best of times," snarled Professor Snape. Neville thought that Snape sounded tired rather than angry.
The boy watched Professor Sinistra glare at Professor Snape and wondered if she'd get into trouble, after all Snape was her boss in Slytherin House.
While Neville watched Snape and Sinistra glare at each other, Professor Dumbledore had compared Neville's picture with Hermoine's picture, which Sinistra had brought with her.
"Neville, I believe you sometimes have problems finding things including your pet toad?" Professor Dumbledore said kindly.
"Yes, Professor," Neville's eyes were brimming with tears. Whatever he'd done now must have got Professor Sinistra really angry because she was making a clicking noise with her tongue and she only did that when she was very angry.
"Will you stop making that sound," snapped Snape. "I have a headache."
"Well, we have a student who is behind in his classes from no fault of his own!" snapped Sinistra back at Snape.
"The boy can't make potions! He always adds the ingredients at the wrong time," snarled Snape loudly and angrily.
"I'm not bloody surprised!" Sinistra roared back.
"Enough!" Dumbledore said firmly. "I will not have you behaving like this in front of a student."
Neville almost giggled hysterically when Snape and Sinistra both looked guilty and flinched under Dumbledore's angry gaze.
"Thank you for your assistance Professors. I think it may be best if you left Neville and I to sort this out, quietly." The Headmaster said firmly. He waited until Snape and Sinistra left the room, then he sighed and said in a calm tone, "Please sit down, Neville. Would you like a cup of tea?"
Neville was so nervous that he felt like he'd swallowed Trevor and the toad was jumping up and down in his stomach. He stumbled to the chair and sat down. "What did I do wrong, sir? Professor Sinistra wouldn't tell me."
"You have done nothing wrong, Neville. If anything it is the school and your family who have made the error by not realising why you were having trouble before now."
"Then - then I'm not in trouble, Professor?" Neville whispered.
"No, Neville, you are not in any trouble." Dumbledore smiled sadly, "I would however like to give you a small test."
Not a test! thought Neville, horrified. He was really bad at tests. He'd mess it up and the Professor would make him leave Hogwarts.
The Headmaster must have known what Neville was thinking because he said, "Don't worry, the test will be neither painful nor related to your scores. I just wish to discover the extent of your problem."
"Am I sick, Professor?"
"Oh, no. Forgive me for not explaining." Dumbledore smiled, "You are merely colour-blind Neville, to red and green at least."
--------------------------------
"You just had to show me up, didn't you!" Snape snarled at Sinistra as he strode up the stairs.
"Oh really Severus. I was not trying to show you up, however," Sinistra turned and looked back down the staircase at Snape, "if you ever belittle my life's work like that again I won't be responsible for my behaviour."
"And I suppose that yelling at your House Master in front of the Headmaster and a student is appropriate behaviour?"
"No." Aurora sighed, "I apologise, it was unprofessional of me."
"Thank you." Snape smirked and climbed two more stairs until he was looking into her eyes, "If I had known an apology would be so easy to extract I would have made you suffer more."
"I am not a beetle, Severus. You can't pull off my legs and torture me." Aurora winked, "I'd make too much noise."
"Your hobbies are none of my business." Severus smirked.
"In your dreams, Snake-man." Aurora grinned and laughed. Snape winced at the noise. "Have you taken something for that headache?"
"You are nagging me, Professor," Snape whispered coldly.
"No, I am not, Professor." Sinistra replied equally coldly.
"I do not respond to nagging." He climbed a step.
"Oh, that's why you sent those rude letters to my uncle."
"I detest nagging." He climbed another step, the same step that Sinistra stood on.
"You should have seen the size of the howler I sent him." Sinistra added.
"I abhor nagging. Am I understood?" Snape glowered at her.
"Certainly." Sinistra stared up at the man who towered above her. "You are speaking perfect English. You detest nagging. I, on the other hand, detest unpunctuality and if I don't go now I'll be late for my evening class." She smiled and jogged up the staircase and leapt agilely onto the landing as the staircase began to move.
"It's just as well I wasn't nagging." She called back as she ran up the next staircase. A few moments later she called down from the next landing, "And don't forget to take something for that headache."
"Nag!" Snape yelled after her.
--------------------------------
Over the next few weeks, Neville was very nice to Professor Sinistra. He knew the Astronomy Professor was a prickly sort of person and a Slytherin but she'd worked out his problem. Besides, she'd yelled at Professor Snape; a memory Neville treasured, especially during Potions lessons.
His studies were going better now too, thanks to Professor Flintwick. The little Professor had been teaching Neville charms to recognise different colours - charms that made green things glow silver and red things different shades of sparkling yellow. The only problem with the charms was that they made the Gryffindor colours yellow and sparkling yellow and the Sytherin colours silver and glowing silver. Still Neville knew he could survive a little problem like that.
One thing was worrying Neville. For some reason both Professors Snape and Sinistra were being nice to him. He could understand Professor Sinistra being nice but Professor Snape being nice was scary.
At first Neville thought he'd been imagining it but after Snape had offered to tutor him in Potions Neville realised it was true. What was really strange was that it was almost like some sort of competition. If Professor Sinistra did one nice thing in her lesson then Snape did two and so on. It was getting so bad that all the other students had noticed too.
"I'm glad it's Christmas soon," Neville told Trevor late one night. "I don't think I can take much more Slytherin niceness."
To be continued
Author's note: thank you for your patience and your comments, they're appreciated. The next part will be up a lot faster than this one was. K
Part 3
--------------------------------
Neville knew he was in very big trouble as Professor Sinistra led him into Professor Dumbledore's office but he didn't know what he'd done. He'd been copying star charts in Professor Sinistra's class, using a 'mind's eye' drawing spell the Professor had taught the class. He thought he'd been doing it properly until the Professor had come to check his work.
The Professor had picked his picture and looked at it.
"This is exactly as you see it?" she had asked. Neville assumed he'd made a mistake and had looked carefully at the picture and the original.
"Yes, Professor."
Professor Sinistra had looked surprised. Then she'd grabbed Hermoine's picture, which was finished before anyone else's, and asked him to compare the two. Aside being only half finished his picture looked exactly like Hermione's and he'd told the Professor so.
The next thing he knew he was asked to stay after class and was on his way to the Headmaster's office.
If Neville had thought it was bad coming to Professor Dumbledore office was bad enough, discovering Professor Snape was there too was worse. Neville would have run back out the office door if Professor Sinistra hadn't been standing behind him.
The Astronomy Professor gently pushed Neville into the room.
"I thought you should see this, Professor?" She showed the pictures to Professor Dumbledore.
"What is so exciting about star charts? They're boring at the best of times," snarled Professor Snape. Neville thought that Snape sounded tired rather than angry.
The boy watched Professor Sinistra glare at Professor Snape and wondered if she'd get into trouble, after all Snape was her boss in Slytherin House.
While Neville watched Snape and Sinistra glare at each other, Professor Dumbledore had compared Neville's picture with Hermoine's picture, which Sinistra had brought with her.
"Neville, I believe you sometimes have problems finding things including your pet toad?" Professor Dumbledore said kindly.
"Yes, Professor," Neville's eyes were brimming with tears. Whatever he'd done now must have got Professor Sinistra really angry because she was making a clicking noise with her tongue and she only did that when she was very angry.
"Will you stop making that sound," snapped Snape. "I have a headache."
"Well, we have a student who is behind in his classes from no fault of his own!" snapped Sinistra back at Snape.
"The boy can't make potions! He always adds the ingredients at the wrong time," snarled Snape loudly and angrily.
"I'm not bloody surprised!" Sinistra roared back.
"Enough!" Dumbledore said firmly. "I will not have you behaving like this in front of a student."
Neville almost giggled hysterically when Snape and Sinistra both looked guilty and flinched under Dumbledore's angry gaze.
"Thank you for your assistance Professors. I think it may be best if you left Neville and I to sort this out, quietly." The Headmaster said firmly. He waited until Snape and Sinistra left the room, then he sighed and said in a calm tone, "Please sit down, Neville. Would you like a cup of tea?"
Neville was so nervous that he felt like he'd swallowed Trevor and the toad was jumping up and down in his stomach. He stumbled to the chair and sat down. "What did I do wrong, sir? Professor Sinistra wouldn't tell me."
"You have done nothing wrong, Neville. If anything it is the school and your family who have made the error by not realising why you were having trouble before now."
"Then - then I'm not in trouble, Professor?" Neville whispered.
"No, Neville, you are not in any trouble." Dumbledore smiled sadly, "I would however like to give you a small test."
Not a test! thought Neville, horrified. He was really bad at tests. He'd mess it up and the Professor would make him leave Hogwarts.
The Headmaster must have known what Neville was thinking because he said, "Don't worry, the test will be neither painful nor related to your scores. I just wish to discover the extent of your problem."
"Am I sick, Professor?"
"Oh, no. Forgive me for not explaining." Dumbledore smiled, "You are merely colour-blind Neville, to red and green at least."
--------------------------------
"You just had to show me up, didn't you!" Snape snarled at Sinistra as he strode up the stairs.
"Oh really Severus. I was not trying to show you up, however," Sinistra turned and looked back down the staircase at Snape, "if you ever belittle my life's work like that again I won't be responsible for my behaviour."
"And I suppose that yelling at your House Master in front of the Headmaster and a student is appropriate behaviour?"
"No." Aurora sighed, "I apologise, it was unprofessional of me."
"Thank you." Snape smirked and climbed two more stairs until he was looking into her eyes, "If I had known an apology would be so easy to extract I would have made you suffer more."
"I am not a beetle, Severus. You can't pull off my legs and torture me." Aurora winked, "I'd make too much noise."
"Your hobbies are none of my business." Severus smirked.
"In your dreams, Snake-man." Aurora grinned and laughed. Snape winced at the noise. "Have you taken something for that headache?"
"You are nagging me, Professor," Snape whispered coldly.
"No, I am not, Professor." Sinistra replied equally coldly.
"I do not respond to nagging." He climbed a step.
"Oh, that's why you sent those rude letters to my uncle."
"I detest nagging." He climbed another step, the same step that Sinistra stood on.
"You should have seen the size of the howler I sent him." Sinistra added.
"I abhor nagging. Am I understood?" Snape glowered at her.
"Certainly." Sinistra stared up at the man who towered above her. "You are speaking perfect English. You detest nagging. I, on the other hand, detest unpunctuality and if I don't go now I'll be late for my evening class." She smiled and jogged up the staircase and leapt agilely onto the landing as the staircase began to move.
"It's just as well I wasn't nagging." She called back as she ran up the next staircase. A few moments later she called down from the next landing, "And don't forget to take something for that headache."
"Nag!" Snape yelled after her.
--------------------------------
Over the next few weeks, Neville was very nice to Professor Sinistra. He knew the Astronomy Professor was a prickly sort of person and a Slytherin but she'd worked out his problem. Besides, she'd yelled at Professor Snape; a memory Neville treasured, especially during Potions lessons.
His studies were going better now too, thanks to Professor Flintwick. The little Professor had been teaching Neville charms to recognise different colours - charms that made green things glow silver and red things different shades of sparkling yellow. The only problem with the charms was that they made the Gryffindor colours yellow and sparkling yellow and the Sytherin colours silver and glowing silver. Still Neville knew he could survive a little problem like that.
One thing was worrying Neville. For some reason both Professors Snape and Sinistra were being nice to him. He could understand Professor Sinistra being nice but Professor Snape being nice was scary.
At first Neville thought he'd been imagining it but after Snape had offered to tutor him in Potions Neville realised it was true. What was really strange was that it was almost like some sort of competition. If Professor Sinistra did one nice thing in her lesson then Snape did two and so on. It was getting so bad that all the other students had noticed too.
"I'm glad it's Christmas soon," Neville told Trevor late one night. "I don't think I can take much more Slytherin niceness."
To be continued
Author's note: thank you for your patience and your comments, they're appreciated. The next part will be up a lot faster than this one was. K