Disclaimer: Belongs to J.K Rowling and Warner Bros. And whomever else it happens to actually belong to… I'm not an owner… just a user… (Yay… ish)
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He makes me SO mad! Sorcha thought while she angrily shoved on a pair of black jeans. She slipped off the dinner dress and slipped on a forest green tank top. That's better…
"Are you done changing yet?" She heard Warren ask from underneath her comforter.
"Yes." She replied as she desperately tried to force her wild curls into a neat braid. "You can come out from under the covers."
Without turning around to face him, she watched Warren in the mirror. He threw the red blanket off of him and flopped down on his back to gaze at the ceiling, letting out a deep breath. And I'M weird… Well, at least he bathed…
After making sure her hair was out of her face, Sorcha skipped over to her bed and paused just before her knees touched the edge, grinning at her best friend. Warren glanced up at her and frowned. "What?" he asked.
"You got me in trouble." She said sarcastically, as though he should've already known. She watched gleefully as Warren's eyes squinted in meditation and then almost immediately widened in realization.
In one leap, Sorcha jumped onto her bed, landing hard on top of him and laughing all the way. "Geroff!" He protested, swatting her leg playfully as she pinched his arm.
Sorcha loved "fighting" with Warren. He was one of the only people she fought with who ever fought back, though. His theory was that since Sorcha was a princess and had to keep up the image of being totally and completely unaffected by anything, she had to beat up on her poor defenseless servants just to relieve herself from her agitated state.
That couldn't be further from the truth. She thought, grinning and giggling as Warren reached the "fight back" stage where he would begin to bite and hit Sorcha's arms aggressively. The only reason he thinks that is because I usually fight with him after I've had one of my huge arguments with Albert. And sure enough, there came the first bite, to which Sorcha yelped and elbowed his nose in a wild attempt to free her other arm from his teeth. It's not that I fight with him because I'm in need of tension-relief. I fight with him because after I yell at Albert a bit, he sends me to my room and so I have nothing else to do but… fight with Warren.
After a few minutes, Sorcha heard a light knocking on her door. Ha! There's no way I'm getting up and opening that door! That would be like LETTING Warren win! Not gonna happen!
"Come in!" She called just as Warren's sharp teeth finally freed her arm. Gotta end it soon… "WARREN!" She squealed when he kicked his legs frenziedly and grabbed hold of her thick, black braid. Owie! Not my hair! That… that hurts!!
"Ahem." She heard from the other side of the room. Oh yeah… I said, "come in," didn't I?
Oh well, can't win all the time. She swatted at Warren's right arm a few more times before she said, "Let go! You win, you win! Let go!"
Warren grinned as he released her hair and she slid off of him and onto the softly carpeted floor. "I'm gonna go bald at a very young age," she accused the boy who still lay on the bed, "and I'm going to blame you, Warren."
Warren laughed and lugged his long legs over the side of the bed, his feet landing on Sorcha's back as she moved to stand up. "Ha… Oops." He laughed and jumped in the other direction. "Well, Sorchy, I'm gonna go get some sleep so I'm not too TIRED in the morning."
Sorcha growled and stood up quickly, shoving him in the direction of the door. "You already knew! I'll get you again you little twerp!" Warren laughed and did a mock-scared run out of the room.
Now, who's bugging me? The princess thought as she grabbed a black dress robe off of her end table and turned to face her new guests, pulling on the cloak.
"Aha! It's just you, Alby!" She exclaimed, skipping forward a few steps before pausing wearily. "You're not here to lecture me on Albert's behalf are you?"
Albus smiled and shook his head. "No, Sorcha. I'm here to talk about the potions tutor I promised you."
Sorcha's eyes brightened and she finally realized that Dumbledore hadn't come to visit her alone. Oh no, he's brought the rude boy with him! What does he need to be here for?
"I believe you two have already met, seeing as how you were seated next to each other at dinner." Dumbledore said as he gestured from Sorcha to the black-haired boy. He smiled at Sorcha. "He's considerably well at potions, so he'll be tutoring you. It isn't late right now, so you may have your first session tonight."
Stepping towards the door, he nodded to each of the persons. "I'm sorry I can't stay, there's some things I must do. Goodnight." And with that he left the room swiftly, closing the door behind him.
Oh thanks Albus. Just leave me in here with some guy I don't even know. Sorcha sighed and turned back to the boy, who just stood there, looking around the room. At least I already know this guy's annoyed with me. No point in making buddies now! But it should be fun to tease and torture him…
"Sit down over there at the table and I'll go get my books." Sorcha commanded and turned to sift through her pile of carelessly thrown books to search for the one on potions. Why does everything I say always come out as an order? That's so annoying!
As she sat back down next to the black haired boy, her textbook in her lap, she saw him look away suddenly and close his eyes tightly. Umm… Problem much? "Are you alright?" She asked, trying to sound genuinely concerned.
"Fine." He mumbled. What is WRONG with him?!
"So, what's your name anyway?" Sorcha asked, trying to get him to look at her. Cool. I've known him all of maybe three hours and already I can find little ways to amuse myself when he's around. "You must already know my name after Albert belted it out at the top of his lungs at dinner."
He shrugged, but didn't say anything. Sorcha sighed. "What. Is. Your. Name." She said slowly and about six octaves higher.
"Severus Snape." He breathed. SSSssssss… Reminds me of a sssssnake.
"Good." Err, did I just say, "good," as in, "good, your name is Severus Snape"? Sheesh, I need to come up with some new material or else this is going to be the most boring tutoring experience I've ever had.
"I mean, 'good,' as in, 'good, now that we have names out of the way…'" Sorcha tried to correct herself. Oh yeah, that made lots of sense, Sorcha.
Severus did a sort of grunt but didn't say anything. You… Are … So… Boring! "So, how old are you, Severus?" She asked, procrastinating. I refuse to discuss POTIONS on the first day I meet someone. I mean, we're gonna be stuck together for awhile, so we might as well get to know each other. "Can I call you Severus? Or should I call you Snape? Or, Mr. Snape? You don't look that much older than me so Mr. would probably be awkward… Do you have a nickname? Seven, maybe? Maybe Double-S? Heh… That's a good one… 'Double-S'… You get it?"
Severus smirked briefly before he turned to face her. There we go… Now I must come up with another mindless game… "It's Severus." He said. "Just Severus. And I'm twenty."
"Really?" Sorcha asked, shocked. "Me, I'm only nineteen. But my birthday's in… I don't know… but it's soon. I think." She stared off into space for a few moments before snapping back to reality.
"Anyway! See? Told you, you're not much older than me." She smiled. "So you must be fresh out of school!"
He nodded slowly, still looking at her eyes. Lucky, you. You must've had tons of friends. "What's it like?" She asked, leaning closer to him and half whispering her question.
He blinked, shocked. "Um…" He smirked again. Smirky, smirky, smirky. I shall call you "Smirky" from this moment forward! Well, not to your face, of course. Or out loud… whatsoever… "It's… school. You never went to school?"
Sorcha smiled and shook her head. "No. I've had schooling, sure. But it was from my own personal teachers, so I never had classmates. Well, unless you count Warren. But he was just there to bug me, he wasn't permitted to have class."
He looked away from her again. "Warren… that's…?"
"That guy that was in here earlier. The same guy from dinner. You know, the mud."
"Oh."
"Yup. He's a servant, I guess, but he's the only one my age that doesn't completely hate me, so… yeah."
"Oh."
"Did you like it?"
"Like what?"
"Hogwarts."
"That's my school."
"Yes… Did you like it there?" Sorcha asked again, rolling her eyes. He's pretty dense for someone who's supposed to be a potion genius.
"I suppose. I was there for seven years."
"Um… So? I've been here for nineteen years and I hate it." Crap. Sorcha sighed. "I mean, I don't mean… Atlantis is… umm… I mean, I just… The thing is…" She shook her head in exasperation. "Oh never mind!"
"Okay."
"So… What are you doing here? On the island, I mean. You're here with Albus, but you're like, half the age of him and all the other guys he brought." She placed her book on top of the wooden table.
"It's business." Was his only reply.
"Oh." Sorcha rested her chin in hr palm and tapped her fingers against her cheek. "You're staying all year, too?" He nodded. "So… You're gonna be stuck tutoring me all year?" He nodded slowly again. How's about you say more than just one-syllable words and actually help me keep this conversation going, Severus?
"It's not so bad." Sorcha tried to reassure me.
He looked up from his hands. "What isn't?"
"I mean me. I'm not so bad. Tutoring me… It won't be so bad." He just stared at her, the "emotionless" look on his face again. Smile. Or SMIRK! I thought you were a smirker! You're supposed to smirk meanly whenever I say something!
"It could actually be fun." Sorcha supplied.
"I doubt that."
"Excuse me?" How dare he? He can't speak to me like that!
"Never mind."
Sorcha shook her head, scooting closer to him. "No. Why would you say that? I want to know."
He sighed and looked away again. "I said never mind."
"And I said no. Come on, I'm not gonna hit you or anything. I just want to know why you would say that." Just answer the question you bonehead.
"It doesn't matter."
Sorcha frowned and tapped the table with her fingernails. "Look at me." She said and waited until he looked up into her eyes hesitantly before she continued. "You and me," she said, pointing to him and then to herself. "We're gonna get along."
He smirked. There it is! The smirk! "If you say so."
Sorcha grinned. "Oh, I'm not just saying it to be nice. We are going to get along." She tapped his hand lightly. "Otherwise, its gonna be one lone, miserable year."
He nodded and smiled slightly. "Alright then."
Sorcha nodded along with him and stood up, pulling her robe tighter around her. "I'm hungry. Let's go."
He scowled. "But-"
"Ah, yes." Sorcha said, glancing at her potion book with a faked-saddened expression. "Well, I can't work on an empty stomach." She looked back at Severus, a glint in her eye. "I refuse to. So… There you have it! I'm going to get some real food, and you're coming with me! So get up and get moving, Sevvy!"
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Severus silently followed Sorcha down a dark corridor, their footsteps making soft tap taps on the marble floors. She's procrastinating. He gathered as she led him around another corner. And she's trying to be friendly.
"Let's not walk in silence." Sorcha said suddenly. "These halls are scary, so start talking." She's ACTUALLY scared?
"Umm…" Was all Severus could manage to say. Smooth. "You can start." He suggested.
Sorcha turned around to watch him as they walked. She's going to trip if she keeps walking backwards like that. "Severus… Snape…" She said, raising an eyebrow as she said his name. Why does she say my name like that? No one says my name like that. She keeps saying it. Over and over. It's almost as if she just wants to say it out loud. She's probably trying to press my buttons…
"What's your favorite color?" She asked as she gracefully turned a corner. Okay, so maybe she won't trip. Or walk into a wall. Yet.
"Black." He replied, trying not to stare at her eyes for too long. She's like a damned child's toy. You don't really want to look, but you can't help it. And what's with her eyes? Why do they have to be so bright like that? She should wear sunglasses and save everyone the trouble of having to look at that blinding shade of blue.
"Black?" She asked, giggling. "Why? That's not even a real color! That's like saying 'clear' is your favorite color!"
I'm sure her favorite color is pink. Or at least something equally girly and… "What about you then?" He asked suddenly, unable to cease his thoughts from spilling out of his mouth.
She smiled and ran her fingers along one of the cement walls as she scuffed backwards, slowing down a little. "Umm… I guess green. Because of grass, you know."
"Grass?" She IS crazy. She IS crazy. She IS crazy.
"Yeah!" She said, a grin spreading across her face. Don't smile. It makes me want to smile. I don't really want to smile. "You probably see grass all the time!" she continued. "But around here, the only grass we have is fake or imported. Grass doesn't grow on the island because it's so small and what grass used to be here was removed when the squares and homes where built. All we have is sand and asphalt."
You're kidding. "There must be grass on the island somewhere." Snape said disbelievingly. "It's a small island, but not THAT small."
Sorcha shook her head. "No grass. No green." She skipped backwards a few steps. "I like green."
And again, she has to prove that she is in fact, crazy. She IS crazy. "Okay."
"Alright! Next question!" She exclaimed, turning another corner with expertise. She probably knows this entire castle by heart. "Let's make it personal this time Mr. My-favorite-color-is-black." She pursed her lips and placed her forefinger over her mouth, wrinkling her face in the effort to think. Don't laugh, Severus. You don't laugh. No reason to start now. But if you did laugh, you'd be laughing now. The facial expressions that girl makes… She IS crazy.
"Ooh!" She said, holding her hand up in the air in triumph. "I've got one capi-ton!" She folded her arms across her chest and smirked, a connivingly evil glint in her eyes. "Promise you'll never lie to me?"
Umm, no. "Sure, I promise to never lie to you." He replied, rolling his eyes when she twirled around and squealed in delight.
"Good!" She yipped, grinning. "I didn't know if you knew about my whole species thing, but I guess Albus told you."
Severus frowned. What is she talking about? "What are you talking about?"
"The promise, silly." She said, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue. "You know, once you make a promise to an Atlantian, you're bound to that promise for all of eternity and blah blah blah."
Severus stopped in his tracks. No. No no no no no. "What?!"