For once, Snape felt the walls of the dungeon close in on him. The day had begun and ended on the same lousy note. First period had brought not one, but two melted cauldrons, all while making a simple Forgetfulness Potion. As far as Snape was concerned, teaching First Years, especially Hufflepuff First Years, was the Fates' way of punishing him for past sins committed – his own private purgatory.
Last of the day had been a combined Gryffindor and Slytherin double Potions class. Why Dumbledore insisted on having those two Houses combined for as tricky and attention-demanding a class as Potions, he would never know. Of course, a fight had broken out, resulting in a broken jar of eye-of-newt, an even-worse-tempered-than-usual Potions master, and a week's worth of detention for all involved – even the Slytherins, a certain sign of how sorely his patience had been tested.
The result of all this was that after the last of the student had left, Severus Snape sat at his desk for a while with his eyes closed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. With an air of finality, he shoved the parchments he should have been grading to the side of the desk, and got up. He needed some fresh air.
Wandering the grounds somewhat aimlessly, he found himself near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him – could he find the place where the WinterStar had grown? He wondered if any of the plant remained throughout the year, or if it died off completely during the summer. At least this would provide some sort of a destination for his amble.
Checking the bramble along the side of the forest for landmarks, he thought that he must be getting close to the small clearing next to which the plant had grown, close to the ancient oak.
All of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks. There were noises ahead – what, he could not quite make out yet. Stealthily moving forward, he thought he could make out a voice, sounding commanding one minute, frustrated the next.
Noiselessly, he pushed through the bushes, then crept up to an old beech tree near the edge of the clearing. Crouching behind the trunk, he stopped and watched.
What he saw made him smirk – Dumbledore's god-daughter, obviously trying to cause grave bodily harm to... a blueberry bush.
As he looked on, he saw her raise her wand, and speak the words to the Blasting spell in the most commanding voice she could muster while pointing her wand at the hapless bush. The result consisted of a small cloud of dust that rose up from the leaves, leaving the rest of the plant otherwise unharmed.
She dropped her wand to her side, muttered something sounding suspiciously like a swear word, and then pulled herself together. "Try, try again," she said in a frustrated voice, and raised her wand again. As the next cloud of dust rose off the blueberry bush, Severus raised himself to his full height, noiselessly stepped up behind her, and said in the most sugar-sweet voice, "May I inquire as to what exactly it is that poor bush has done to you?"
At the sound of his voice, Marya spun around with a shriek, wand at the ready.
Snape raised his hands in mock surrender. "Miss Morava, I am sure I would not want to incur your displeasure, seeing as you are so... dangerous with the wand."
Marya blushed crimson. "How long have you been watching?" she demanded.
"Long enough," Snape sneered. "Would he tell me what exactly it is you are trying to accomplish?"
Marya pocketed her wand and turned away, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Trying to practice," she finally whispered. Half turning back towards him, she said, "What if the Order gets summoned, like you said? What if I have to defend myself? Or help someone? I barely passed my Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT – and I am five years out of practice. If I should have to fight a Death Eater...." Her voice trailed off.
"Why, Miss Morava, I am sure any Death Eater would gladly hold still and let you knock the dust of his robes," Severus said, still in the same saccharine, taunting voice.
Marya exploded. "Dammit, Seve... Profes... whatever! It's not like I asked you to sneak up on me. Could you just kindly leave me alone if you don't have anything constructive to contribute!?"
"Very well then." Severus turned almost lazily, drew his wand with a bored air, muttered a word, and gave an almost imperceptible flick of the wrist. The blueberry bush flew six feet into the air, and fell, uprooted, in the middle of the clearing.
"Is that what you were going for?" he asked sweetly, turning back to her.
Marya closed her eyes, and took several deep breathes, all while fighting unmentionable thoughts in which the words "insufferable", "show-off", and "conceited" were some of the milder terms occurring.
Finally, she found her voice. "Well, Sir, as I don't have Death Eaters volunteering to practice with me, I guess I had to start somewhere. Thank you kindly for your most enlightening demonstration. Now if you will excuse me?" She tried to walk around him, but he stepped in her way with a small, mocking bow.
"How about yours truly?" he said.
"You?" she said, unbelievingly.
"Unless you have forgotten, I am presently engaged as a real live Death Eater, at least part of the time?" he asked facetiously.
"You want to help me?"
"I believe that is what I just indicated?" he said impatiently.
Marya took a steadying breath – again. Well, if she really wanted to get better, here was her chance. "Alright," she answered cautiously, "What do you want me to do?"
Nistrale, sorry the chapters aren't longer, but I find I can get about 1000 words written, edited, and rewritten in a couple of hours, and usually I don't have much longer!
Reviewers – thank you so very much, again, from my heart!!