Snape walked in, slammed the door and didn't even look at anyone in the room to start his monologue. If he had actually cared; among the usual piles of NEWT coursework, dirty coffee pots and random notes slapped to the overcrammed board at the end of the room he would have noticed that he was actually totally alone.

The 4 saggy chairs around the low orange coloured wood table in front of the fire were empty, as was the kitchen area to the corner where usually the staff could be found making as much coffee as was physically possible to get them through the next period. The size of some of those mugs was alarming, even Hagrid would struggle to finish the contents. But somehow the Hogwarts staff had a miraculous ability to consume vast amounts of liquid as long as it contained some kind of stimulant.

"They are so patronising. I've been teaching for 14 years for God's sake" whinged Snape going over to the kitchen and getting his own mug out before violently throwing a tea bag in it.

"I know how to take a register, I know what the marks are and I know how to give a detention and discipline them. What kind of fool wouldn't?"

He grabbed the spoon as if it was the throat of a particularly cocky Gryffindor and dipped it into the sugar pot, putting far too much in. Not that he cared, he was stressed and he had the bloody Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs next.

"Spent 6 hours locked in a room and learnt nothing."

He filled the cup with water which he heated with his wand. He wasn't waiting for a kettle to boil.

He took the mug and walked over to the notice board.

Please can someone referee Slytherin vs Gryffindor on the24th June? I'm away on the "It's the taking part which counts..." course, Holly

That could be interesting, not that he favoured his own house, but he always felt the decisions went the other way in their matches. Wade's tackles weren't that reckless and how did anyone know if grabbing an opponents broom was banned if no one had ever seen the rules. He took a deep gulp of his tea and turned his attention to another.

If a student is ill during lessons send them to the hospital wing. DO NOT let them go back to their dorms until they have seen Poppy. We have had a few incidents this term of pupils faking illness or the genuinely ill suffering through as they think there is nothing that can be done. I am sure you will agree this is not beneficial to the running of the school. Minerva

"Bloody mothering them." He said about the note, desperately trying to take his mind off the waste of a day he had had. God knows how many essays he could have wrote instead of listening to that drivel.

He couldn't blame the kids avoiding the hospital wing. Poppy wasoverly fussy about their needs. Anyway learning to struggle through wasn't such a bad thing. It builds character.

Cover for Severus – 27th Feb

First Period – Minerva - First year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw- copy out pages 146-9, answer questions on the board. Homework is to finish all set work. Radcliffe essay deadline is Friday. Please Remind them.

Second Period – Fillius - First year Gryffindor and Slytherin – as above.

Third Period –Remus - Seventh year NEWT – Read chapter 7 and summarise, be able to do method for Whitefield potion from memory for Thursday's lesson. 1500 word coursework on Polyjuice due on Monday.

Snape looked over the last bit again…Remus? As in Lupin? God, he was useless when they were at school together, he only just passed his OWL and was never seen in a potions lab afterwards. And the seventh years? Their exam was coming up. Hell knows how far he could have set them behind. He knew nothing buthe always was the arrogant one. Always thought he could do anything.

The first years he could understand at a push, first years were deeply stupid, it wouldn't matter if the teacher was the same. But the seventh years? Hell, they would no doubt know more on the subject that Lupin. He was going to kill Flitwick when he got his hands on him, in all honesty he'd probably trust Filch teaching them more than Lupin.

He downed the remainder of his caffeinated beverage and stormed out the room, slamming the door so hard behind him that the room shook.

He never did realise he was talking to himself in there.

Please read and review.

I got some great emails and reviews for this from people who seem to have the mistaken impression that teachers get put away in the cupboard at the back of A14 when the bell rings at 3.45 and don't have personaility or lives. My mum and my pseudo-mum are both teachers, and I find it humerous when they come in from work and tell me stories of what kicked off that day and what they really think of the kids. I also work with teenagers, meaning that I am used to the face you put on in front of 35 kids and the sarcastic comments you make when you get home because Jade is a lovely girl but you wish just occasionally she'd be a little quieter.

Now i feel like some comments to reviews (because I care).

LupinLover88 - Ahh, the caffeine addict is a rare being, but from my experience with them they tend to develop their obsession in the early years of uni and work, as it dawns on you that you are a grown up and that means responsibilty and actually putting effort in. By this point you've stopped growing so you can still be tall. I know Lupin is different to the way he is in books, but we have never seen him with peers really, smoking is bad for everyone but they still do it, so why should being a werewolf stop it. Probably means he's more likely to smoke due to the stress and thinking that lycanthropy is going to take him out anyway. I can picture Lupin swearing, not in a drunken Scotsman style but the occasional curse. Look who he assocaited with at high school.

Duj Thank you for the best compliment in fecking ages. I hate people saying I'm an adult, to me it's the biggest insult there is. But it doesn't alter the fact that I am. I can drink, smoke, get married, drive, have sex, vote...I have paid a mortgage, got my GCSEs and A levels, moved out of home and I have a job. I don't think the characters sound like teenagers, they sound like the people I know who are teachers, although I appreciate they are out of character this whole series is based on the fact that people are different when relaxing with their peers. (Incidentlty, I think you should watch Teachers, which this is based on. Go on amazon and buy series one or two.)

Liz W Teachers is a comedy show in the UK, it was shown on channel 4. If you have the chance I really recommend it. It was always slightly surreal, but by the last seris (series 4) it had gone stupid. I have a confession to make...the best line in this story was nabbed straight from it. It was originally said by Kirk the IT teacher to Susan the head of year.

ooXXHPFANFOREVERXXooPaige HalliwellThank you so much for trecking from the Mugglenet chat room. You rock. Incidentally for anyone else lurking in those parts my name is Bouncebackability, Paracetamoxyfrusebendroneomycin or Packed-itbooked-itfecked-off. Feel free to say hi.

And to everyone else THANK YOU. Especially those of you who said you were teachers. I was thrilled with the number I got. I really appreciate them.