In the Gryffindor common room, everyone was outraged by the head masters selection of D.A.D.A professor.
At last Hermione put two and two together, and it dawned on her." OH MY GOD!! SNAPES A VAMPIRE!!"
"Well that explains a lot. Did you see that Luna is Head Girl? She isn't even in 7th year, she can't be."
"Luna isn't doing her 7th year, so Dumbledore thought that she could be head girl now instead of miss out." murmured Neville.
Everyone looked at him, as the whole room went quiet.
"Why don't you just but out Longbottom."
"Yeah… no one wants to know what you think, especially with you and your girlfriend defending a mass murderer."
"THAT MASS MURDERER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND HERMIONE, AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO THINK OTHER WISE. FOR ALL YOU KNOW, IT MIGHT JUST ALL BE A TRICK SET BY YOU-KNOW-WHO, IN AN ATTEMPT FOR US TO ALL BAND AGAINST HARRY AND ALSO TO GET HIM TO JOIN HIS FORCES. FOR ALL YOU KNOW, HARRY COULD BE LOCKED IN A CELL AT YOU-KNOW-WHO'S BASE, STARVING TO DEATH!!!"
"AND ALL YOU KNOW, HARRY COULD BE KILLING ANOTHER FAMILY!!!"
"SINCE WHEN DID HARRY KILL INOCENT PEOPLE. IN 2ND YEAR, HE RISKED HIS LIFE TO SAVE YOU GINNY!!!!! HARRY WOULD NEVER SWEAR HIS ALLEGENCE TO THE PERSON WHO KILLED HIS PARENTS, AND TRIED TO KILL HIM ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS!!!"
"Neville, we all saw it with our own eyes. Harry blew up Rosemretta's shop, and when you-know-who turned up, he bowed down to him. You can't keep denying it for long Neville. Harry's gone bad."
"It's just that I don't think that that was Harry. That Harry killed Remus, the closest thing he had to a father."
"We all really want to believe it's not him Neville, but you can't deny it forever."
"Oh did you see the new potions professor, professor banks? What a hottie!!! What do you think Sam?" Drooled Parvati.
"He's o.k. I guess, but you couldn't se him with his hood up. How do you know he is a 'hottie' as you so colourfully put it?" Yana was sitting on her bed reading a muggle book. One of a serial and a TV show, Roswell.
"Trust me… She knows."
"And what about that new boy, Will…" Padma trailed off as she squeeled in delight.
"Is this all you talk about?" Yana enquired. She had come quite attached to Harry over the months he was at her home. She just didn't feel all that comfortable talking, or hearing about Harry as a prize to be won in a cheap contest.
"Ooooooo touched a nerve. You like him don't you?"
The dorm room all of a sudden grew deathly quiet. Everyone had stopped their own conversations to hear this one.
"Am I that transparent??? I want him…I need him, oh baby, oh baby." Yana replied in the most sarcastic voice she could muster.
"Will my man…… So, who do you like here so far?"
"Oh come on, that's an easy one. I bet he likes Sam. You two were hitting it off at diner."
The dorm room broke out into laughter, as Harry's face wore a mask of boredom. It was true, he did like Yana more than a friend or a Sire, but Jean-Claude had made it clear to him from day one, Yana was his girl, though it didn't look like it. . As a matter of fact, Yana hated Jean-Claude's guts, not to mention the rest of him as well.
When Yana woke the next morning, her vision was obscured by her copper-brown hair that had turned into a flock of seagulls over night, as usual. She had been thinking of cutting it, until she found out that that was what Jean-Claude wanted, so she kept it long. Down to her thighs to be more specific. Anything she did she had to make sure it was the opposite of what Jean-Claude wanted. Just to annoy him.
She took a canteen from underneath her pillow, and took a couple of mouthfuls while praying that Harry was doing the same, and not forgetting like he always did.
Yana and Hermione met the boys in the common room, and they all made there way to the great hall for breakfast.
Breakfast was quite uneventful, unless you count Pig crashing into Yana's cereal and sending a spray of milk to go hurtling towards an unsuspecting Ron.
"Now just because I am teaching you a different subject, does not mean that you can go bouncing off the walls."
Yana could't believe it. She had never seen Severus like this. To her, it was so out of character.
She burst out laughing before she could even try to suppress it.
"And what do you think is so funny Miss Mirabello?"
"Nothing sir."
"Well, we'll just have to discuss this NOTHING over detention tonight at 8pm sharp. Any objections?"
"No SIR."
Severus was going to pay later.
"Good. Now, because your pervious professor did such a poor job on vampire last year, we shall go over it AGAIN. WEASLEY! Name a characteristic of vampires, and DON'T even think about saying fangs."
"Err…"
"Wrong. 5 points from Gryffindor for wasting my time."
In the end, Gryffindor lost 20 points during the lesson. Severus must have been in a good mood.
Next was care of magical creatures, Unfortunately with Slytherins.
"THAT WAS SO UNFAIR!"
"But I DID laugh at him Ron"
"Now, we've covered all tha' creatures ye'll be doin' in ye' N.E.W.T.S, so I though' tha' we do summin' diffen't."
Hagrid motioned to the lage amounts of cages that were lined up every where.
"ye' job is ter look afta' one o' 'em for tha' year. This will go t'wards ye grades, so choose carefully. There is only one of each animal there. All are exotic muggle baby animals and all need different amounts of care and attention. Well, what 'er ye waitin' fer, get goin'."
There was a mad rush to get to the animals in their cages. As usual the Slytherin's pushed and shoved to the front of the crowd and gotten all of the easiest animals to care for.
"Oh Hermione, she's just gorgeous!"
Hermione was carefully nursing her baby vixen.
"Hey mudblood, where's your boyfriend potter? Is he out destroying another town, or is he spit-shining you-know-who's dragon-hide boots?" The whole of Slytherin laughed at the snide remark that Malfoy had made.
"You would know first hand Malfoy. After all, your daddy is one of his favourite lackeys, if you catch my meaning." Spat Hermione with as much venom in her mouth as possible.
"WHY YOU LITTLE …"
"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!! YOU!" Yana pointed at Malfoy, "lighten up and get the access gel out of your hair," she then pointed at Hermione "YOU!! Just lighten up."
"I see you haven't had the pleasure of meeting me. Names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Sam. Yes, I am I pureblood, No I will not go out with you, and No I do not find you in the least bit attractive, on the contrary I find you utterly repulsive. Now that we have the formalities out of the way, its lunch, and I would like to have something to eat before potions."
Yana turn on the heels of her shoes and headed up to the castle, closely followed by Harry, who soon caught up with her, leaving the two love birds (A/N: Cough Cough Ron and Hermione Cough Cough) alone at the rear.
"Nice going Sam." Said Harry while holding his red panda that he called mango.
"Why thank you Will." Laughed Yana. She was absent mindedly scratching her sleeping cheetah cub she had called Micah.
People were chatting wildly about what there potions professor was like while they waited for him to come to class. Some people thought that he would be worse than Snape, while others wondered if he was going to be nice. Most of the girls didn't care, as long as they got to see his 'gorgeous face' as Pansy had put it. Word was that she had dumped Draco for the new professor. Draco didn't mind at all though.
The doors of the classroom opened, and the students walked in and sat down at their respective desks.
"Okay, now I thought that before we start to make potions that we got to know everyone better than just Gryffindors and Slytherins. Hey, you never know, you might end up having lots of things in common with a person who you might dislike."
The chairs and tables were pushed back to the sided of the room and everyone bunched up into their own little groups.
"No, this will never work if we are clumped together like this."
He arranged that a circle was formed going Gryffindor, Slytherin so they had to interact.
"Now isn't this better?" Professor Banks put on one of those fake smiles, and was acting too perky and cheerful. "We will go around the circle and we shall tell everyone our names and something that no one knows about. I'll go first ok?"
Their seemed to be no objections as everyone was off into their own little world.
"My name is Jean-Claude favourite colour is Aqua. Your turn Draco."
"This is soo stupid."
"Just do it." Retorted Banks.
sigh"my name is Draco, and I hate peas."
"Your turn Hermione." Banks smiled.
"My name's Hermione and my favourite drink is butterbeer."
"My name's Millicent and I am a cat person."
"My name's Neville and my favourite subject is Herbology."
"My name is Pansy and I love the colour pink."
"My name's Will and I am from the other side of the country."
"My name's Vincent and I like pie."
"My name is Sam; I'm from Sydney, Australia."
"My name is Blaise, I wish I wasn't here doing this."
People just seemed to zone out after that. They didn't care about knowing about other people's personal lives. It was their business, not anyone else's.
Ron's bilby was hiding in his bag. When Ron had put the bag down, the bilby that Ron had named Elle, had gotten out. Yana had spotted it.
"PST… Ron." She whispered.
"What?"
"Is that Elle there next to Banks' seat?"
"SHIT!"
"MR WEASLEY! I hope you have a good excuse for such language?"
"Umm… that's my bilby next to your chair sir."
Jean-Claude levitated Elle to Ron.
"I am going to have to ask you to come here for a detention tonight for your language. 8pm."
Ron groaned out loud.
"At least I am not taking points."
At 8pm, Yana and Ron said good bye to Hermione and Harry and went to their respective detention.
"Remember Yana. He is pure evil."
Yana knocked on the door and waited until Severus came to let her in. Ron was still with her.
"You are late. Get out of here Weasley; you have a detention to go to if I am not mistaken."
Ron walked as quickly as he could without it tuning into a run, and Yana was led inside.
The room was even more shocking to Yana than Sev's personality swing. The room was mostly black, with a mahogany desk at one end, and a large book shelf on the other. The only colour in the whole room was a bunch of white roses with one red one in the middle.
"What are the roses for?"
"For you. Jean-Claude wanted to give them to you personally, but he is supposed to have a student/teacher relationship with you. Nothing else."
"You are spending too much time with Jean-Claude." Yana said. She moved and sat down in the only other armchair apart form Sev's which was at the mahogany desk.
"Why?"
"The colour scheme you have in you office."
"I am sorry I had to give you a detention. But you have to realise that I have to act like a git at school."
"For you cover story for Vol…you-know-who. Sorry."
"How did you know about that?"
"Oh come on Sev… how old do you take me for? I have seen you come through that door at home wincing at the pain that he inflicts on you with that Cruciatus curse. All I want to know is, why do you feel you have to hide things from me? You know you're not that good at it in front of me."
"I know that I am not that good, but I have to try. I feel as though you will find out anyway, so I don't really need to tell you."
"You can always tell me stuff."
"I know. You want some tea?"
"White with two sugars please."
"I know. I know. So… what will be your cover story when you get back to the dorm room?"
"You made me write lines."
"You have to do better than that Yana. I am .after all, Severus Snape. I could think of better punishment."
"After the lines, I was to re-pickle all the eye-balls you had in the place that was after cleaning out the spare closet for your special guest of course."
"And what special guest did you have in mind?"
"Jean-Claude."
"Derr. Appearance. They would know it's him."
"You have not seen Jean-Claude when he does not want to be discovered. It's weird. His eyes, hair, voice, and frame change shape, like a lycanthrope."
"You're the boss Yana." Sev chuckled.
It was about 2am when Yana thought that it would be a good time to head back.
She opened the portrait, and saw Hermione, Ron and Harry sleeping soundly. Shaking her head, she conjured 2 blankets for them. One of the blankets was bigger than the other, and that one was for Hermione and Ron, who were using each others shoulder as a pillow. On the large couch. Harry was on one of the armchairs near the fire that had extinguished no long ago. When she placed the blanket around Harry, he stirred.
"Shh. Come on, let's leave them here. You go to bed." She whispered.
Harry nodded, and they both went for their dorms.
(A/N: Elle is pronounced 'L' not Elle as in 'Ella')