Author's Note: Ooooh, I soooo love this chapter. Wish I was at Hogwarts
this year! -and the next- This is where a certain person enters the story.
(
Chapter 11: Dark Teachers
Severus Snape had a student in detention that night. She had nearly blown up the whole goddamned classroom! Idiotic, blasted, students, not giving a damn about the great arts of potion-making!!! He looked at his watch and thought it was time to let her go. He walked to her said:
"Enough for today"
She jumped and dropped the rag with which she was just cleaning a jar. Dumb students, getting scared of everything! She picked the rag up and stood up at merely half a meter from him. Too close. Idiotic girl, why wouldn't she make a step behind? He sure as hell wouldn't. Then, suddenly, she moved a step towards him and just as he was about to ask her what the hell was she doing, she kissed him. Her warm lips pressed against his cold ones.
His mind stopped thinking. Surprise took over his senses. After she got off him, all he could say was that she should go to bed before he took any house points. Darn, was there anything more idiotic he could say?!
As the girl left the dungeon, he went to his room and let himself fall on the bed. Surprise was still in control and all he could do was try to calm down. Damn, he hadn't been this surprised since his former master had fallen because of a baby. As he started to calmed down his mind started working again. Why on Earth did she kiss him? Did she like him? No, she couldn't, could she? Maybe she could. No! Of course not! Could she? Probably, after all, she did kiss him. For that, he'd curse her into oblivion tomorrow. Damned girl!
But did he really want to curse her into oblivion? Yes, the girl kissed him, how dared she? Maybe she was making fun of it now with Potter. No, no student could go that far with him. Damn, how he hated this.
Maybe he should accept it and never ever get too close to her. By no possible means! Ever! Was he afraid of her? No, but he didn't want a weird girl following him around and daring to kiss him. If she was a woman who made it clear that she loved him, maybe, maybe, maybe he'd see if she's alright. Yeah, a beautiful woman who liked potions and could understand what he told her. A smart woman with a bit of courage. Letting him take complete control over her and everything. No stupid scenes like women usually made. She'd have to be kind and good, but not faint when she saw his potion ingredients. She'd have to not be afraid of him.
He looked around his room. The cauldrons and potions were his companions in life. How he loved them and the sound they made and the way the potions hissed and changed! But sometimes he was getting lonely. And this was one of those sometimes.
"Damn it!" he said and shook his head. He was the Potion Master, he wasn't lonely. Ever. He never needed anybody. Not a stupid student, not a beautiful, smart, kind, loving, wonderful woman! Damned student who blew up the classroom, couldn't even put a few ingredients right and making him think of. Wait. Something was wrong in the scene. What? Nothing. She had blown up the room and couldn't make one potion right! Not one! But. But.
His mind stopped a little. But she usually did get potions right! So, she. she must have had it planned! She wanted to prove him that she liked him and she did it, by any means! How Slytherin of her! And in the same time, how Gryffindor! But what to do? What to do? Kill her? No, Azkaban. Hex her into oblivion? No, then everybody would know what had happened and letting the whole school know that he had been kissed and couldn't react at the time was not on his to-do list. Let it be? Yes, but never, ever, letting her close to him again. That would be it. And take as many points as possible off her house for punishment. And then hand her over to Filch after she had finished cleaning up the classroom.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next morning, Amala woke up feeling quite weird. What would Snape do? Did she do the right thing? Probably not. But, then again, was there any right thing she could do?
She got dressed up and woke Hermione.
"Get up, get up, it's time to go to breakfast!" she said and sighed.
The two girls went down to the Great Hall and stood in front of Ron and Harry who were already there. They took some food and started eating. Amala was wondering when she should tell them about kissing Snape -last night they were asleep when she came back, she had walked a bit through the castle after the detention- when Dumbledore stood up and said:
"I am sorry to say that Mrs. Rose has had some problems at home and she has left for a while. The ones there told her that her friend is terribly sick and she thought she could help. She also said that she will take a short vacation since some of her business is not done yet. Professor Snape will take her classes until we find a replacement."
"Oh, no! Two classes with the git!" said Ron desperately.
"Talking about whom, how was your detention last night?" asked Harry.
"I'll tell you later", she answered, concentrating on her food. Would Snape hate her? God, what if she was wrong kissing him?!
They finished their breakfast and headed towards the Defence room. Instead of the cheering-up Rose, they found the usually depressing Snape.
"Sit down class", he said in his usual tone. "Today we'll study a new type of shield spell."
Well, the class wasn't as bad as Amala thought it would be. The Potion Master did not even stare at her. He was acting as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was a good sign. O.K., he did take twenty points from Gryffindor because of her, but that happened a lot, even before.
How good he looked, how she wished he wasn't mad at her! As he walked around the classroom, criticizing everything between heaven and earth, she dreamed on and on. What if he was mad at her? Because she kissed him? Oh, yes. A kiss. Gods, why did she do it? But was it for the best? Or for the worst? As he got close to her, she looked at her peace of parchment and gaped. She had written neatly a lot of things that she shouldn't have. Definitely not!
'This shield is incredibly hard to do. The wrist movement mad at me. Because I kissed him. Some might find that hard. How can you say that, Longbottom? Flick and kiss. Incantation five points from Gryffindor.'
She opened her eyes in horror and hid the piece of parchment in her pocket. Then she took a new piece of parchment and copied everything from Hermione who was next to her, staring at her. Severus came and looked at her parchment.
"Yes, it is correct, Ms. Wright. Ten points from Gryffindor for copying this from Ms. Granger. Yes, I saw that!"
Amala let go of the breath she hadn't known she was holding as he moved away. Thank God he hadn't acted weird!
After this class, she took Harry, Ron and Hermione a bit apart from the other students and started:
"I like Snape."
"Yeah, we know that" said Ron looking at her weird. "You don't have to repeat it every hour, you know!"
Harry looked around. He had the feeling something brushed by him. Nah, it was nothing.
"And yesterday I did something."
Harry's eyes widened.
"What?" he asked.
"I. I kissed him."
The others stared at her. Ron's face was both surprised and disgusted. Hermione was shocked. Actually, so was Harry.
"You. Kissed. Snape." Said Ron
"Yeah, I did." she said in nearly a whisper.
"And what did he do?" asked Hermione after getting a bit out of shock.
"Nothing" she replied truthfully. "He stood there, surprised. And then he told me to go of to bed before he takes any house points."
"That's Snape. Wouldn't recognize love if it hit him in the head. Or kissed him" said Ron matter-of-factly. Oh, well, ate least he was starting to accept the idea.
They set of for their next class. Harry was wondering what Snape would do next. Why didn't he blast her to the next Ice Age? Maybe because he was surprised. Yeah, that was probably it. Man, Amala had courage!
/*-/*-/*-
That night, Snape stood in his chair. Would he do anything about the Gryffindor girl? Maybe. Hex her into oblivion? Nah.The door of the dungeon opened and he stared at her. She looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes, then took the rag and started cleaning up like she had done for two detentions now. He looked at her, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
He got of the chair and started walking through the dungeon as if he were thinking. Actually, he noted, that was exactly what he was doing. No, he wouldn't do anything. Damn the schoolgirl's crush! He was the Potion Master, the cold as ice Slytherin and he would not give up to his wish and hex her. Or blast her to the next Ice Age.
After a long while, he looked at his watch. It was time to let her go.
"You may go to the Gryffindor Common Room" he said and she got up, ready to leave. Suddenly, he did the most idiotic thing he had ever done in his life. "Oh, Mrs. Wright!" he said walking towards her.
"Yes?" she said turning towards him.
He just went to her and kissed her. Her eyes opened in surprise and she replied.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Amala was running on the corridors, hoping to not run into Filch. She went through the Fat Lady's portrait and jumped on a chair at the table Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing their Herbology homework.
"What's up?" asked Harry looking curiously at her. Maybe because she looked like a sprint runner.
"Snape kissed me!" she whispered.
"What? The slime ball has a heart?!" said Ron, surprised, shocked and disgusted.
"Whoa!" was all Harry could say.
"Are you sure?" asked Ron.
"Yes I'm sure!" said Amala. "How can you not be sure about someone kissing you or not?!"
"Snape. Kissed. You" said Ron. "What did you do to him? Are you sure it was him and not someone with Polyjuice that looked like him?!"
"Yes!" she said again, glaring murderously at him.
"Disgusting!" said Ron. "You know you're crazy, right?"
"How was it?" asked Hermione.
"Weird. I wasn't expecting it. And I don't think that even he had planned it. Definitely weird"
"You know, since you came here, you saved Sirius, you made Snape fall in love with you. You're weird!" said Ron. "But in the good way!' he added when Hermione and Amala both glared at him. "And you did one impossible thing that I don't think anybody else ever done before or could have."
"Well, I guess saving Sirius was special, but this is not the point here. The point is Snape kissing me."
"I wasn't talking about Sirius coming back"
"I don't know." she answered. "With Sirius it was weird, I felt as if I was helped through the whole thing. And I probably was. And with Snape. I'm not sure he's in love."
"Why else would he, eh., kiss you?" asked Harry.
"Dunno. I'm curious what'll happen next." She said.
Harry made up his mind: the girl was weird, just like Ron had said. What else would she do? Make Voldemort come to the right side? Maybe it was easier than making Snape kiss someone because he wanted to.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next day in detention, Amala got through the door of the dungeon. Snape was there, looking at her from behind his desk.
The man was feeling weird. What should he do now? He asked her to sit on a chair at his desk and she smiled widely and sat down. Why, why did he kiss her back? He hated relationships! But, maybe, it would turn out alright. She then said something about being sorry about the potion that she exploded. He was a bit taken aback, but he answered it was nothing and she said something about hearing about the explosion-thingy at her school and soon the started talking about potions. He relaxed a little. She was talking and, thank God, didn't expect him to say anything.
By the end of the detention, he had even managed to smile a few times. The girl had humor. And she was somehow Slytherin-ish.
He retreated behind his desk. Maybe he could get used to this. The girl made him smile a little. She was alright. And she knew Potions. He sighed and started correcting papers.
/*-/*-/*-
Amala was meeting Snape every detention and she always armed herself with patience. The man was like a block of ice. He smiled at things the others laughed their heads off and nearly al the time he looked suspiciously at her. But maybe she could soften him a little in time, gain his trust.
Right now, she was heading with Harry, Ron and Hermione towards the Defence classroom. They entered and Snape wasn't there yet. They sat down and started chatting.
When everybody was inside, a young man -about 25- entered the room and closed the door with a bang.
"Hello, I am your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher", he said and Amala's eyes widened.
"My name is Jack Towers", he said and Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him in surprise. He was the guy who popped around in the stories Mr. Weasley said!
Amala recognized him right away: he was the guy that had told her to go and save Sirius. The one that Death herself called Multa Nomina.
But nobody else seemed to notice their surprise and, the way he was looking there, like a not very powerful person, the Slytherins started sneering.
"Quiet, there!" he said looking towards the Slytherins.
But just then, Draco looked straight at him and said loud enough for everybody to hear:
"And this young guy is supposed to teach us Defence."
Towers' eyes narrowed dangerously and he asked Draco with a fake smile:
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, yeah", Draco said looking down at him. He didn't know why, but he had an urge to act badly towards the man. Oh, yeah, he looked like nothing more than a mere small person, not knowing anything. "You probably don't know anything about Dark Arts."
The Professor said in a dangerous whisper:
"And what do you know about Defence Against the Dark Arts, Mr. Malfoy?"
"More than you think", Draco sneered.
Just then it occurred to everybody in the room that Draco had done a mistake. A huge one. The man no longer looked powerless, but a dark feeling seemed to come from him and danger tensioned the room.
"Well, then, Mr. Malfoy, if you think you know so much about Defence", he said getting slowly closer to Draco, "why don't you show us your great skills?"
The classroom was getting cooler and cooler and Harry thought that the man felt a bit like a Dementor.
Draco got a bit paler and said:
"Duel you?"
Towers moved slowly closer and said, with his voice lower and darker:
"Can you? You can't even draw your wand, can you?"
His eyes were glowing and Draco couldn't move his away from the man's and he started shaking.
"You are in my power, Draco Malfoy and there is nothing you can do about it and you know it."
The Dementor feeling was getting greater and greater. Harry felt that everything was cold and he could think of nothing happy. He just stood there, like the rest of the class, staring at Towers.
"I know more about Dark Arts than you do, Draco. And I have many gifts that dark wizards have."
The whisper of his voice was freezing their blood inside their veins and Draco was shivering badly.
"Now, I will take you as my slave, Draco Malfoy, and you shall serve me for as long as I wish. For eternity."
The words were rare and whispered. Shadows were moving around the classroom and Towers looked like a demon, his eyes glowing and darkness surrounding him from all sides.
Draco was shivering worse then ever and as Towers was getting closer and closer, he started screaming of fear.
"No! No! Please, please. Let me go! Let me go! No!" The boy's eyes were wide opened and full of fear and Harry felt his heart sink. He couldn't let Draco be enslaved, no matter that he was his enemy.
Towers got closer to Draco, who seemed to be fainting and as the Professor was just about half a meter to Draco, he jumped up and yelled
"NO!"
Suddenly, Towers' eyes turned towards him and he was blinded with pain from his scar. It was just like when Voldemort touched him. He screamed in pain, but in a few seconds the pain was gone and so where the shadows and the dark aura that seemed to surround the Professor.
Towers was standing now in front of him.
"Are you alright, Potter?" he asked worryingly.
Harry stared at him. Why was he worried? Why wasn't Draco dead yet? The blond boy was still shivering, but was calming down.
"I'm sorry, Potter", Towers said. "I wasn't expecting anyone to interrupt and I was so surprised that I left my magic surround you too. That's why your scar hurt. Calm down, Harry."
He went to the front of the class.
"I do believe Professor Rose told you about the ways you can protect yourselves against the Dark Arts, right? Well, I'm the one wizard she knows that is dark and yet white. I wanted to make a point with Mr. Malfoy, whom I'd like to thank for volunteering to have Dark Magic put on him for a demonstration to the class", he sad with a devious smile. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, I wouldn't have hurt you anyway, maybe convince you to do anything under the power of fear. As many of you might have felt, I have the gift of the Dementors: I can make people relive their worst memories. Maybe Mr. Potter would have cast a Patronus spell on me if I'd have done that to him. And it would have worked. Or, you could have used the Green Flame Torch."
The Green Flame Torch! Again, the same thing. What was up with this?
"I-if you have a Dem-Dementor's gift can. can you give the Dementors' kiss?" Hermione asked shakingly.
Towers looked at her weird and answered in a slow, sad voice:
"Yes, I can."
Half of the classroom shivered.
"I have never done it, though, and I wouldn't do it to anybody at all, no matter whom. And I don't intend to do it now."
This was weird. A man with Dementor powers. Not good. Yet, now he stood in front of them, peacefully, though sad for one reason or another.
"Ask your questions, students" he said and looked around the class. "I know you have questions."
"How did you get the power?" asked Harry, gathering all his Gryffindor courage.
"That, Harry, is between me and my Master" he answered and looked around. "Yes, Neville."
The boy looked surprised that the Professor knew his name, but said in a frightened voice:
"How. how powerful are you?"
"Very powerful, Neville. But I cannot do things that many great wizards put together cannot. But my Master can. He can do anything he likes."
"And who. who is your Master?" asked the boy, shakingly.
"I cannot give you his name, he'd have my head for it. But I will tell him that you asked and maybe he'll tell you."
Neville looked terrified. He didn't want some weird, powerful wizard to come tell him anything. He just asked! For his parents!
"My Master is great, indeed, and more powerful than many expect. He is one weird character. He is white in soul and dark in powers. If he is in a dark mood there seems to be no difference between him and Voldemort." Half the classroom shivered. "But there is. And he treats us like kings" he said and smiled. "Us, his adepts, I mean. Never has he put a Cruciatus on any of us, never has he killed us for a mistake, never has his anger flown upon us like a dark cloud for no reason. We are a group of people more different than any could imagine."
"How did you end up as his servant?" asked Zabini Blaise.
Towers smiled.
"He chooses us, never do we choose him. I met him in a forest where I had retreated for a while. His eyes were glowing with power and I knew he was my Master. For all living creatures have a Master, even if they know of him or not. Since then have I served him and being his servant I am more my master than ever. And being his slave I am freer than I had ever been."
Harry looked at him questioningly. What did he mean? And did he, Harry, also have a Master. And if yes, who was he?
"Does he control you?" asked Neville. "I mean, does he use you as slaves?"
"Yes and no. Do you think I'd praise a man that would enslave me? But, we are much alike, although his power is way greater than mine. I trust his judgment and I know that he has never failed me. He has let me do whatever I wanted, but always told me his opinion. He is great and wise, but not a dictator, by no means! He might destroy his enemies cold-blooded, but to us he is like a father. And he tells us what is right and what is wrong, and what is the best way to go. But not always, he lets us think on our own, he lets us develop our power and helps us when we are in real need. It is he who guided me to this job as teacher. He told me that since I have nothing better to do, I could take it. I agreed and here I am!"
The class stared at him.
"Does each of us have a Master?" asked Harry.
"Yes, even if you do not know it." Towers replied.
"But who's mine?"
"It could be anybody, Harry." The man replied. "And the Master you have now might not be the Master you will have after a year. You see, the Master is the person who guides you on your way. And if you change enough, your old Master won't suit you and you will have another. But he will always be there for you. And remember, every Master has another Master, until you get to the Master of all Masters who is directly or indirectly yours too."
"And who is he?"
Towers looked at him with a weird expression on his face.
"I won't answer that question, Harry, for it cannot be. But I will tell you this: my Master is just under this Master of all Masters. And in death they shall become one as so will I through my death."
"So, through death you unite with your Master?" concluded Hermione.
"Yes, but we're not talking about physical death, although in my case that is exactly it. We're talking about another death. It might be hard for you to understand, children."
"What kind of death?" asked Harry. What other kind of death was there?
"That is not a question I will answer now." Towers said with a tone of finality. "Because this is totally another subject and it has nothing to do with magic. Or it rather has everything to do with magic, it is the core of magic. So, it has nothing to do with spells and other things you learn here."
He paused and looked dreamily out the window.
"But why am I telling you all this?" He asked, suddenly turning towards them. "Oh, well. Let's go to our Defence business, shall we?"
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
He, he! Towers entered the story, hurray! I've been waiting to do this for a looong time. Well, since my first chapter, actually. Well, go ahead, review, tell me what you think!!! About Snape's little kiss, about Towers' first class. Oh yeah, life is great!!!
Thanks: to bogdan_ag, the Red Dragons Order - Yes, she kissed Snape.-
Chapter 11: Dark Teachers
Severus Snape had a student in detention that night. She had nearly blown up the whole goddamned classroom! Idiotic, blasted, students, not giving a damn about the great arts of potion-making!!! He looked at his watch and thought it was time to let her go. He walked to her said:
"Enough for today"
She jumped and dropped the rag with which she was just cleaning a jar. Dumb students, getting scared of everything! She picked the rag up and stood up at merely half a meter from him. Too close. Idiotic girl, why wouldn't she make a step behind? He sure as hell wouldn't. Then, suddenly, she moved a step towards him and just as he was about to ask her what the hell was she doing, she kissed him. Her warm lips pressed against his cold ones.
His mind stopped thinking. Surprise took over his senses. After she got off him, all he could say was that she should go to bed before he took any house points. Darn, was there anything more idiotic he could say?!
As the girl left the dungeon, he went to his room and let himself fall on the bed. Surprise was still in control and all he could do was try to calm down. Damn, he hadn't been this surprised since his former master had fallen because of a baby. As he started to calmed down his mind started working again. Why on Earth did she kiss him? Did she like him? No, she couldn't, could she? Maybe she could. No! Of course not! Could she? Probably, after all, she did kiss him. For that, he'd curse her into oblivion tomorrow. Damned girl!
But did he really want to curse her into oblivion? Yes, the girl kissed him, how dared she? Maybe she was making fun of it now with Potter. No, no student could go that far with him. Damn, how he hated this.
Maybe he should accept it and never ever get too close to her. By no possible means! Ever! Was he afraid of her? No, but he didn't want a weird girl following him around and daring to kiss him. If she was a woman who made it clear that she loved him, maybe, maybe, maybe he'd see if she's alright. Yeah, a beautiful woman who liked potions and could understand what he told her. A smart woman with a bit of courage. Letting him take complete control over her and everything. No stupid scenes like women usually made. She'd have to be kind and good, but not faint when she saw his potion ingredients. She'd have to not be afraid of him.
He looked around his room. The cauldrons and potions were his companions in life. How he loved them and the sound they made and the way the potions hissed and changed! But sometimes he was getting lonely. And this was one of those sometimes.
"Damn it!" he said and shook his head. He was the Potion Master, he wasn't lonely. Ever. He never needed anybody. Not a stupid student, not a beautiful, smart, kind, loving, wonderful woman! Damned student who blew up the classroom, couldn't even put a few ingredients right and making him think of. Wait. Something was wrong in the scene. What? Nothing. She had blown up the room and couldn't make one potion right! Not one! But. But.
His mind stopped a little. But she usually did get potions right! So, she. she must have had it planned! She wanted to prove him that she liked him and she did it, by any means! How Slytherin of her! And in the same time, how Gryffindor! But what to do? What to do? Kill her? No, Azkaban. Hex her into oblivion? No, then everybody would know what had happened and letting the whole school know that he had been kissed and couldn't react at the time was not on his to-do list. Let it be? Yes, but never, ever, letting her close to him again. That would be it. And take as many points as possible off her house for punishment. And then hand her over to Filch after she had finished cleaning up the classroom.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next morning, Amala woke up feeling quite weird. What would Snape do? Did she do the right thing? Probably not. But, then again, was there any right thing she could do?
She got dressed up and woke Hermione.
"Get up, get up, it's time to go to breakfast!" she said and sighed.
The two girls went down to the Great Hall and stood in front of Ron and Harry who were already there. They took some food and started eating. Amala was wondering when she should tell them about kissing Snape -last night they were asleep when she came back, she had walked a bit through the castle after the detention- when Dumbledore stood up and said:
"I am sorry to say that Mrs. Rose has had some problems at home and she has left for a while. The ones there told her that her friend is terribly sick and she thought she could help. She also said that she will take a short vacation since some of her business is not done yet. Professor Snape will take her classes until we find a replacement."
"Oh, no! Two classes with the git!" said Ron desperately.
"Talking about whom, how was your detention last night?" asked Harry.
"I'll tell you later", she answered, concentrating on her food. Would Snape hate her? God, what if she was wrong kissing him?!
They finished their breakfast and headed towards the Defence room. Instead of the cheering-up Rose, they found the usually depressing Snape.
"Sit down class", he said in his usual tone. "Today we'll study a new type of shield spell."
Well, the class wasn't as bad as Amala thought it would be. The Potion Master did not even stare at her. He was acting as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was a good sign. O.K., he did take twenty points from Gryffindor because of her, but that happened a lot, even before.
How good he looked, how she wished he wasn't mad at her! As he walked around the classroom, criticizing everything between heaven and earth, she dreamed on and on. What if he was mad at her? Because she kissed him? Oh, yes. A kiss. Gods, why did she do it? But was it for the best? Or for the worst? As he got close to her, she looked at her peace of parchment and gaped. She had written neatly a lot of things that she shouldn't have. Definitely not!
'This shield is incredibly hard to do. The wrist movement mad at me. Because I kissed him. Some might find that hard. How can you say that, Longbottom? Flick and kiss. Incantation five points from Gryffindor.'
She opened her eyes in horror and hid the piece of parchment in her pocket. Then she took a new piece of parchment and copied everything from Hermione who was next to her, staring at her. Severus came and looked at her parchment.
"Yes, it is correct, Ms. Wright. Ten points from Gryffindor for copying this from Ms. Granger. Yes, I saw that!"
Amala let go of the breath she hadn't known she was holding as he moved away. Thank God he hadn't acted weird!
After this class, she took Harry, Ron and Hermione a bit apart from the other students and started:
"I like Snape."
"Yeah, we know that" said Ron looking at her weird. "You don't have to repeat it every hour, you know!"
Harry looked around. He had the feeling something brushed by him. Nah, it was nothing.
"And yesterday I did something."
Harry's eyes widened.
"What?" he asked.
"I. I kissed him."
The others stared at her. Ron's face was both surprised and disgusted. Hermione was shocked. Actually, so was Harry.
"You. Kissed. Snape." Said Ron
"Yeah, I did." she said in nearly a whisper.
"And what did he do?" asked Hermione after getting a bit out of shock.
"Nothing" she replied truthfully. "He stood there, surprised. And then he told me to go of to bed before he takes any house points."
"That's Snape. Wouldn't recognize love if it hit him in the head. Or kissed him" said Ron matter-of-factly. Oh, well, ate least he was starting to accept the idea.
They set of for their next class. Harry was wondering what Snape would do next. Why didn't he blast her to the next Ice Age? Maybe because he was surprised. Yeah, that was probably it. Man, Amala had courage!
/*-/*-/*-
That night, Snape stood in his chair. Would he do anything about the Gryffindor girl? Maybe. Hex her into oblivion? Nah.The door of the dungeon opened and he stared at her. She looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes, then took the rag and started cleaning up like she had done for two detentions now. He looked at her, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
He got of the chair and started walking through the dungeon as if he were thinking. Actually, he noted, that was exactly what he was doing. No, he wouldn't do anything. Damn the schoolgirl's crush! He was the Potion Master, the cold as ice Slytherin and he would not give up to his wish and hex her. Or blast her to the next Ice Age.
After a long while, he looked at his watch. It was time to let her go.
"You may go to the Gryffindor Common Room" he said and she got up, ready to leave. Suddenly, he did the most idiotic thing he had ever done in his life. "Oh, Mrs. Wright!" he said walking towards her.
"Yes?" she said turning towards him.
He just went to her and kissed her. Her eyes opened in surprise and she replied.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Amala was running on the corridors, hoping to not run into Filch. She went through the Fat Lady's portrait and jumped on a chair at the table Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing their Herbology homework.
"What's up?" asked Harry looking curiously at her. Maybe because she looked like a sprint runner.
"Snape kissed me!" she whispered.
"What? The slime ball has a heart?!" said Ron, surprised, shocked and disgusted.
"Whoa!" was all Harry could say.
"Are you sure?" asked Ron.
"Yes I'm sure!" said Amala. "How can you not be sure about someone kissing you or not?!"
"Snape. Kissed. You" said Ron. "What did you do to him? Are you sure it was him and not someone with Polyjuice that looked like him?!"
"Yes!" she said again, glaring murderously at him.
"Disgusting!" said Ron. "You know you're crazy, right?"
"How was it?" asked Hermione.
"Weird. I wasn't expecting it. And I don't think that even he had planned it. Definitely weird"
"You know, since you came here, you saved Sirius, you made Snape fall in love with you. You're weird!" said Ron. "But in the good way!' he added when Hermione and Amala both glared at him. "And you did one impossible thing that I don't think anybody else ever done before or could have."
"Well, I guess saving Sirius was special, but this is not the point here. The point is Snape kissing me."
"I wasn't talking about Sirius coming back"
"I don't know." she answered. "With Sirius it was weird, I felt as if I was helped through the whole thing. And I probably was. And with Snape. I'm not sure he's in love."
"Why else would he, eh., kiss you?" asked Harry.
"Dunno. I'm curious what'll happen next." She said.
Harry made up his mind: the girl was weird, just like Ron had said. What else would she do? Make Voldemort come to the right side? Maybe it was easier than making Snape kiss someone because he wanted to.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next day in detention, Amala got through the door of the dungeon. Snape was there, looking at her from behind his desk.
The man was feeling weird. What should he do now? He asked her to sit on a chair at his desk and she smiled widely and sat down. Why, why did he kiss her back? He hated relationships! But, maybe, it would turn out alright. She then said something about being sorry about the potion that she exploded. He was a bit taken aback, but he answered it was nothing and she said something about hearing about the explosion-thingy at her school and soon the started talking about potions. He relaxed a little. She was talking and, thank God, didn't expect him to say anything.
By the end of the detention, he had even managed to smile a few times. The girl had humor. And she was somehow Slytherin-ish.
He retreated behind his desk. Maybe he could get used to this. The girl made him smile a little. She was alright. And she knew Potions. He sighed and started correcting papers.
/*-/*-/*-
Amala was meeting Snape every detention and she always armed herself with patience. The man was like a block of ice. He smiled at things the others laughed their heads off and nearly al the time he looked suspiciously at her. But maybe she could soften him a little in time, gain his trust.
Right now, she was heading with Harry, Ron and Hermione towards the Defence classroom. They entered and Snape wasn't there yet. They sat down and started chatting.
When everybody was inside, a young man -about 25- entered the room and closed the door with a bang.
"Hello, I am your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher", he said and Amala's eyes widened.
"My name is Jack Towers", he said and Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him in surprise. He was the guy who popped around in the stories Mr. Weasley said!
Amala recognized him right away: he was the guy that had told her to go and save Sirius. The one that Death herself called Multa Nomina.
But nobody else seemed to notice their surprise and, the way he was looking there, like a not very powerful person, the Slytherins started sneering.
"Quiet, there!" he said looking towards the Slytherins.
But just then, Draco looked straight at him and said loud enough for everybody to hear:
"And this young guy is supposed to teach us Defence."
Towers' eyes narrowed dangerously and he asked Draco with a fake smile:
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, yeah", Draco said looking down at him. He didn't know why, but he had an urge to act badly towards the man. Oh, yeah, he looked like nothing more than a mere small person, not knowing anything. "You probably don't know anything about Dark Arts."
The Professor said in a dangerous whisper:
"And what do you know about Defence Against the Dark Arts, Mr. Malfoy?"
"More than you think", Draco sneered.
Just then it occurred to everybody in the room that Draco had done a mistake. A huge one. The man no longer looked powerless, but a dark feeling seemed to come from him and danger tensioned the room.
"Well, then, Mr. Malfoy, if you think you know so much about Defence", he said getting slowly closer to Draco, "why don't you show us your great skills?"
The classroom was getting cooler and cooler and Harry thought that the man felt a bit like a Dementor.
Draco got a bit paler and said:
"Duel you?"
Towers moved slowly closer and said, with his voice lower and darker:
"Can you? You can't even draw your wand, can you?"
His eyes were glowing and Draco couldn't move his away from the man's and he started shaking.
"You are in my power, Draco Malfoy and there is nothing you can do about it and you know it."
The Dementor feeling was getting greater and greater. Harry felt that everything was cold and he could think of nothing happy. He just stood there, like the rest of the class, staring at Towers.
"I know more about Dark Arts than you do, Draco. And I have many gifts that dark wizards have."
The whisper of his voice was freezing their blood inside their veins and Draco was shivering badly.
"Now, I will take you as my slave, Draco Malfoy, and you shall serve me for as long as I wish. For eternity."
The words were rare and whispered. Shadows were moving around the classroom and Towers looked like a demon, his eyes glowing and darkness surrounding him from all sides.
Draco was shivering worse then ever and as Towers was getting closer and closer, he started screaming of fear.
"No! No! Please, please. Let me go! Let me go! No!" The boy's eyes were wide opened and full of fear and Harry felt his heart sink. He couldn't let Draco be enslaved, no matter that he was his enemy.
Towers got closer to Draco, who seemed to be fainting and as the Professor was just about half a meter to Draco, he jumped up and yelled
"NO!"
Suddenly, Towers' eyes turned towards him and he was blinded with pain from his scar. It was just like when Voldemort touched him. He screamed in pain, but in a few seconds the pain was gone and so where the shadows and the dark aura that seemed to surround the Professor.
Towers was standing now in front of him.
"Are you alright, Potter?" he asked worryingly.
Harry stared at him. Why was he worried? Why wasn't Draco dead yet? The blond boy was still shivering, but was calming down.
"I'm sorry, Potter", Towers said. "I wasn't expecting anyone to interrupt and I was so surprised that I left my magic surround you too. That's why your scar hurt. Calm down, Harry."
He went to the front of the class.
"I do believe Professor Rose told you about the ways you can protect yourselves against the Dark Arts, right? Well, I'm the one wizard she knows that is dark and yet white. I wanted to make a point with Mr. Malfoy, whom I'd like to thank for volunteering to have Dark Magic put on him for a demonstration to the class", he sad with a devious smile. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, I wouldn't have hurt you anyway, maybe convince you to do anything under the power of fear. As many of you might have felt, I have the gift of the Dementors: I can make people relive their worst memories. Maybe Mr. Potter would have cast a Patronus spell on me if I'd have done that to him. And it would have worked. Or, you could have used the Green Flame Torch."
The Green Flame Torch! Again, the same thing. What was up with this?
"I-if you have a Dem-Dementor's gift can. can you give the Dementors' kiss?" Hermione asked shakingly.
Towers looked at her weird and answered in a slow, sad voice:
"Yes, I can."
Half of the classroom shivered.
"I have never done it, though, and I wouldn't do it to anybody at all, no matter whom. And I don't intend to do it now."
This was weird. A man with Dementor powers. Not good. Yet, now he stood in front of them, peacefully, though sad for one reason or another.
"Ask your questions, students" he said and looked around the class. "I know you have questions."
"How did you get the power?" asked Harry, gathering all his Gryffindor courage.
"That, Harry, is between me and my Master" he answered and looked around. "Yes, Neville."
The boy looked surprised that the Professor knew his name, but said in a frightened voice:
"How. how powerful are you?"
"Very powerful, Neville. But I cannot do things that many great wizards put together cannot. But my Master can. He can do anything he likes."
"And who. who is your Master?" asked the boy, shakingly.
"I cannot give you his name, he'd have my head for it. But I will tell him that you asked and maybe he'll tell you."
Neville looked terrified. He didn't want some weird, powerful wizard to come tell him anything. He just asked! For his parents!
"My Master is great, indeed, and more powerful than many expect. He is one weird character. He is white in soul and dark in powers. If he is in a dark mood there seems to be no difference between him and Voldemort." Half the classroom shivered. "But there is. And he treats us like kings" he said and smiled. "Us, his adepts, I mean. Never has he put a Cruciatus on any of us, never has he killed us for a mistake, never has his anger flown upon us like a dark cloud for no reason. We are a group of people more different than any could imagine."
"How did you end up as his servant?" asked Zabini Blaise.
Towers smiled.
"He chooses us, never do we choose him. I met him in a forest where I had retreated for a while. His eyes were glowing with power and I knew he was my Master. For all living creatures have a Master, even if they know of him or not. Since then have I served him and being his servant I am more my master than ever. And being his slave I am freer than I had ever been."
Harry looked at him questioningly. What did he mean? And did he, Harry, also have a Master. And if yes, who was he?
"Does he control you?" asked Neville. "I mean, does he use you as slaves?"
"Yes and no. Do you think I'd praise a man that would enslave me? But, we are much alike, although his power is way greater than mine. I trust his judgment and I know that he has never failed me. He has let me do whatever I wanted, but always told me his opinion. He is great and wise, but not a dictator, by no means! He might destroy his enemies cold-blooded, but to us he is like a father. And he tells us what is right and what is wrong, and what is the best way to go. But not always, he lets us think on our own, he lets us develop our power and helps us when we are in real need. It is he who guided me to this job as teacher. He told me that since I have nothing better to do, I could take it. I agreed and here I am!"
The class stared at him.
"Does each of us have a Master?" asked Harry.
"Yes, even if you do not know it." Towers replied.
"But who's mine?"
"It could be anybody, Harry." The man replied. "And the Master you have now might not be the Master you will have after a year. You see, the Master is the person who guides you on your way. And if you change enough, your old Master won't suit you and you will have another. But he will always be there for you. And remember, every Master has another Master, until you get to the Master of all Masters who is directly or indirectly yours too."
"And who is he?"
Towers looked at him with a weird expression on his face.
"I won't answer that question, Harry, for it cannot be. But I will tell you this: my Master is just under this Master of all Masters. And in death they shall become one as so will I through my death."
"So, through death you unite with your Master?" concluded Hermione.
"Yes, but we're not talking about physical death, although in my case that is exactly it. We're talking about another death. It might be hard for you to understand, children."
"What kind of death?" asked Harry. What other kind of death was there?
"That is not a question I will answer now." Towers said with a tone of finality. "Because this is totally another subject and it has nothing to do with magic. Or it rather has everything to do with magic, it is the core of magic. So, it has nothing to do with spells and other things you learn here."
He paused and looked dreamily out the window.
"But why am I telling you all this?" He asked, suddenly turning towards them. "Oh, well. Let's go to our Defence business, shall we?"
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
He, he! Towers entered the story, hurray! I've been waiting to do this for a looong time. Well, since my first chapter, actually. Well, go ahead, review, tell me what you think!!! About Snape's little kiss, about Towers' first class. Oh yeah, life is great!!!
Thanks: to bogdan_ag, the Red Dragons Order - Yes, she kissed Snape.-