Hagrid, Sinistra, Pomfrey, Flitwick, Cheech, McGonagall, Alex repeated, scanning the head table, trying to remember everyone she had been introduced to. No, not Cheech, Hooch. Professor Snape had not yet made an appearance. On the other side of Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall had murmured something about Snape's absence, giving the headmaster a worried look. "He is quite alright, Minerva," the old wizard replied quietly.
Breakfast seemed to consist entirely of fried items. Fried eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, mushrooms, sausage - good gods, fried tomatoes ? What wasn't fried was totally unfamiliar. Alex bit into something that looked a bit like an apple turnover. Definitely not apple. Spicy. "This is good, what is it ?" she asked Dumbledore.
"That, my dear, is a pumpkin pastie," he replied, blue eyes twinkling. Alex giggled. He gave her an inquiring look.
"Oh, I'm sorry. That word just has a totally different meaning in the States," she explained. "Um, it's a rather specialized item of clothing, not a food." Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"Two nations divided by a common language," he quoted. Alex grinned, liking the headmaster more every minute. Just then, another wizard entered the great hall. He strode to the head table, black robes swirling around his legs. "Ah. Professor Snape, glad you could join us," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "May I introduce Miss Alex Rose."
Alex reached across the table to shake the hand of her new boss. Professor Snape stared at her for a long moment before accepting her hand. His grip was cold, impersonal. "Miss Rose," he murmured. His eyes, looking into hers, were so dark they appeared black. Abruptly, he turned away and took his seat. "I suppose that I am the only one who expected Alex Rose to be a mister, not a miss ?" he queried with a sneer.
"Oh, did I not mention that, Severus ?" said Dumbledore innocently. Alex gave the headmaster a look of mild reproach. You're not fooling anyone, she thought. He smiled at her and took another bite of toast. Snape stabbed the yolk of his fried egg and sat in stony silence, barely eating, pushing the food around on his plate with his fork. Alex observed him as she wrestled with an uncooperative sausage link. The man looks like five miles of bad road. Snape's sallow complexion was pale, accenting the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was greasy. Alex remembered Madame Pomfrey's comment about dark times. Apparently some of the Hogwarts staff were caught up in the troubles with You-Know-Who."
Breakfast dragged on. Finally Dumbledore pushed his chair back from the table. "Miss Rose, Severus, I'm sure you have a great deal of planning to do. I just know that having Miss Rose on staff will be a great benefit to our potions program here at Hogwarts," he added, with a mild glance at Snape. His words seemed to be a signal to the rest of the staff, who began to leave the table and go about their business.
Professor Snape stood up. "Allow me to show you the potions lab," he said. Alex didn't take the sneer personally. It seemed to be permanently engraved on his face. She rose from her seat and followed him from the hall. As soon as they were out of Dumbledore's sight, Snape quickened his pace. Alex rolled her eyes. Childish. She seemed destined to spend her days at Hogwarts jogging after tall, bitter men. She tried hard to pay attention to her surroundings, determined to learn her way around the castle as quickly as possible.
They reached a flight of steps. Snape swooped down them, robes swirling dramatically. Alex hesitated, then gripped the railing before taking the first step onto the top tread. She hesitated again at the bottom of the flight before carefully stepping off. By the time they reached the dungeons, she had perfected her new method of coping with the unpredictable Hogwarts stairs.
The dungeons, as their name implied, were dank, dark, and dreary. The potions lab was a huge torch-lit room with a vaulted stone ceiling. Snape's desk stood in one corner at the front. He indicated a second desk, half of the top still littered with papers, books, and scrolls. "You may use that desk while you're here," he said. Rummaging on his own desk, he produced a battered black tome and handed it to her. "You are to assist me with the first-year Hufflepuffs and the fourth-year remedial potions class. Here are the lesson plans you will follow. Read over them and let me know if you have any questions," he said curtly.
"Thank you, professor," said Alex quietly. She was determined to get along with him; after all, her job depended on it. She sat at the spare desk and began to scan the lesson plans. Five minutes later, she had finished. Alex sighed. Snape had obviously planned for his new teaching assistant to be a complete idiot. Each lesson had been written out in exhaustive detail with nothing left to her discretion. She flipped the book closed and went to stand meekly in front of Snape's desk.
He looked up from a scroll he had been reading. "Are my instructions clear ? Any problems ?"
"These are fine. I think I'll be able to manage," she replied dryly. "I would like to see where you store the ingredients, get familiar with your inventory. I wouldn't want to mess up your system." She smiled disarmingly at him.
If anything, Snape's frown deepened. He dropped the scroll carelessly and stood up, leading her to a storage closet back behind the desk. It was a narrow room with jars, boxes, and bundles arranged on wooden shelves that reached from floor to ceiling. More boxes stood on the floor, leaving only a narrow space to walk in. "These are alphabetized," Snape indicated. "The boxes contain the most common ingredients; potion bases, buffers, and the like. You can see I don't have a great deal of space. I just don't bother to put them away. They get used up quickly and more boxes get brought in." He glowered at her, as though the lack of storage space was personally her fault. "Back here on the higher shelves are the poisonous ingredients, also alphabetized. Down here are the volatile ones, and over here," he gestured to a locked wooden cabinet, "are the rare, costly items. You shouldn't have any need for those, but if you do, I will dispense them."
Alex nodded. "Seems simple enough. Now, let's talk about the research."
Snape loomed over her, glaring. "Research ?" he said coldly. "I think it's a bit premature to talk about your...research."
Oh you do, do you ? Alex put her hands on her hips. "Potions research is the primary reason I'm here, Professor Snape," she said firmly. "And since you've very kindly made my teaching workload so light, I see no reason not to get right to work. You have looked over my proposals, at least, haven't you ?" she asked.
"No, Miss Rose, I have not. As it was explained to me, your primary reason for being here is to lighten my workload. Which will not happen if you turn out to be incompetent. I do not intend to leave my students in the hands of an unproven teacher," he said pompously. "I will be observing you closely for the first two weeks of the term. I will evaluate your performance at the end of that time. If your teaching abilities prove satisfactory, then, and only then, will we discuss your research proposals."
Snape leaned down, putting his face inches from hers. "If, as I suspect, you are not up to the high standards of this school, Miss Rose, then I will make my recommendation to Professor Dumbledore that your position be terminated. And believe me, my opinion carries a good deal of weight with the headmaster," he concluded triumphantly.
Alex blinked up at him. Are his eyes dark blue, or dark brown, she wondered absently. They really do look black. With an effort, she collected her thoughts. "You know, professor, that English accent of yours just makes everything you say sound so...sweet," she said cheerfully. She turned and slipped past him out of the little room, hiding a grin at the look on his face.