AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, it's been almost a year, but I've finally decided to continue this story! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Please read and review, I'd love to know what you think.
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Drusilla sat silently and stiffly in the chair across from her house master. Part of her was definitely intimidated by this man. Though she highly valued courage and confidence in the face of such overtly authoritarian figures as he (a distinct Gryffindor trait, she noted wryly), she was not too proud to admit (to herself, at least) that this teacher quickened her pulse. It seemed to Drusilla that, unlike the other teachers at Hogwarts and even at Durmstrang, this teacher did not follow the same rules as everybody else. He seemed far more likely to make up his own, and she was almost certain that did not bode well for her.
However, she was determined to continue her reign of destruction and somehow, eventually, get herself ejected from Hogwarts.
"Well?" Snape said, in that same low voice he'd used since arriving on the scene in the Slytherin common room.
"What would you like me to say, Professor?" she said calmly.
Snape emitted a short snort of laughter. "What I would like, Miss Malfoy, is for this incident to be erased from history. I would like, Miss Malfoy, for this evening never to have happened. What I would really like, Miss Malfoy," he said the last two words as a hiss. "Is for you never to have come to Hogwarts, and never to have been admitted to my house."
Drusilla was surprised. "Then Professor," she said, leaning forward and looking him directly in the eye. "You and I are allies in this miserable affair. What I would like, Professor Snape, is never to have come to this awful country at all."
Severus smirked. "Yes, well, as unfortunate a circumstance as your presence creates, it is a moot point. You are here, you are staying, and we all must tolerate it."
Drusilla's heart sank. "But obviously the best thing we can do -"
Snape turned his glowering face to her and scowled. "We, Miss Malfoy? There is no we. You and I are not - allies - as you put it," he said, his lip curling in disdain. "I am your house master. You are my student."
"But Professor, you don't want me here any more than I wish to be here. You must see we have a common interest."
"All I see is a student who has broken the most basic of rules, shown nought but disrespect for myself and her house mates, and caused severe injury to the Head Boy. Who is also, must I remind you, your cousin!" he said, his voice rising.
Drusilla scowled, slumping back in her chair. For the briefest of moments, she had seen a light in this miserable place. Here was a professor, her own head of house, someone with the power to have her expelled from Hogwarts, and he actually wanted her gone! Drusilla had anticipated months of forced disruption and misbehaviour before she got the expulsion she wished for, but this man wanted her gone now! For a fleeting second, she'd envisioned arriving home in her beloved Paris, free from the constraints of being a lowly student in an unfamiliar place, free from the new family she resented so deeply. For a moment, she'd been liberated.
The disappointment of having that snatched from her melted away all of Drusilla's careful composure and coolness. Her air of dignified contempt turned quickly to petulance as she fumed silently in her chair. For a few seconds, it was as though she had forgotten where she was and whom she was with.
Severus observed her new demeanour with amusement. It was almost Veela-like, he thought to himself, the way she had changed from the poised, audacious and cleverly defiant young woman to this scowling, incensed teenager.
"What is it then?" she asked abruptly, turning back to him.
He blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"My punishment, what is it? Points from Slytherin? Detention? What?"
Severus narrowed his eyes. "Be quiet, you stupid girl," he warned.
Drusilla sighed, looking away. "Why? If I'm sentenced to life at Hogwarts, I'd rather inspire the death penalty, so to speak."
Severus stood abruptly and slammed both his hands on the desk. Drusilla flinched.
"You have no idea, do you? You don't understand the mess you've gotten yourself into! Do you think I'm your chief concern, Lacroix? There are more sharks swimming around you than you can possibly imagine."
Drusilla looked up slowly from his hands on the desk to his eyes. There was a mean, desperate glint in them, as though he resented her for reasons she'd never know. Comprehension dawned on her.
"Lucius," she said slowly.
Severus stopped then, and stood to his full height. He realised he'd said too much. If he were to do the jobs each of his masters expected him to do on this girl, he would have to keep his emotions in check and not give his hand away too soon. He must tread a fine line with this 'project.'
Remembering Dumbledore's advice about the girl, Severus masked the emotions on his face and walked around the desk to stand beside her.
"No, no points from Slytherin. No detentions," he said softly, taking Drusilla's wrist in his hand. She eyed him warily but didn't pull away. He pulled back the sleeve of her black robes. "I'm not McGonagall. And this isn't Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw house either. You are a Slytherin, Drusilla, and must expect to be handled as such."
Drusilla briefly registered that he had addressed her by her first name as she mentally steeled herself, anticipating what was to come.
"In Slytherin," Snape said in that familiar threatening, serpentine voice. "We believe in an eye for an eye."
At that moment the two of them locked eyes, before Severus whispered the incantation Drusilla herself had used earlier that evening.
"Comburo Penitus."
At first, though her face turned grey and she bit deep into her lip, Drusilla thought she may be able to withstand the pain without succumbing to the urge to scream. As the pain shot from her hand throughout her whole arm, and eventually overtook her body, she held out just barely, still meeting Snape's firm gaze. However, when the smell of her own burning flesh reached her nostrils, Drusilla could not hide her panic. She cried out in pain and horror. And as soon as she did, a spell was muttered and the torment was over.
With the pain gone, Drusilla slumped in her chair, breathing heavily for several long moments. Severus stayed where he was, standing in front of her.
"A very useful spell. One that I'm surprised you knew, given your mother's tendencies towards more….. Natural magicks," he said, smirking. "It's also quite useful to know the reversal. Fortunately for you, I do. Therefore while your cousin spends the next two days recovering in the hospital wing," he continued, picking up her hand, which hung limply at her side. "You will have no residual mark but the one that I hope is imprinted firmly on your memory."
She looked up at her hand and was surprised to find that any evidence of what had just happened was completely erased from her smooth, white skin. She brought it close to her face to examine it properly. Fascinating, she thought.
Snape leaned back onto the desk and folded his arms. "Your house mates will no doubt be extremely curious to know what has transpired here this evening. I'm certain that for the sake of your own pride you will remain silent about it."
Drusilla looked at him hesitantly, but nodded. "My pride and your employment," she said quietly.
Still defiant, Snape thought. He was pleased to observe, however, that her demeanour was at least somewhat subdued. Though for how long he didn't know. Time to put the next phase of this first encounter into action.
He took Drusilla's hand in both of his own in a manner that she thought was strangely….. gentle.
"You have the hands of a musician," he noted, looking at them carefully.
Drusilla narrowed her eyes. "My mother taught me to play the violin. But I don't do that anymore."
"Why not?" he asked.
The idea crossed her mind to tell him to mind his own business, but the memory of her own burning flesh was still too raw to allow it. "Because my mother is dead," she said frankly.
"I know," he said, mindlessly tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.
Drusilla nodded. She was surprised, and strangely grateful, that his manner was suddenly so benign. "She was murdered."
"I know," he repeated. The pair continued to stare darkly at one another.
"How do you know?" she whispered suspiciously.
Suddenly Severus let go of her hand. His work for the evening was accomplished. His onslaught had begun, but he must be patient with its completion. "That will be all for this evening, Miss Malfoy," he said coolly, turning away from her. "You are dismissed."
"What do you know bout my mother?" she demanded.
"I said that will be all. Goodnight," he replied menacingly.
"Professor Snape-" she began, but was cut off by nothing more than a look, and the memory that was still burning in her brain.
Calculating her options, Drusilla decided to retreat. For now.
"Goodnight Professor."
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, what do you think? Oh, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. I don't think I would have picked up this story again if it hadn't been for your encouragement.
