A/N: that's right, another update, only three days after the last one. Since I have all the chapters written, as you know, I'll post them as soon as i reckon i have enough reviews. That enough incentive? Please... The sooner I finish posting my previously written ones, the sooner you'll get the new ones, including the Quidditch match you're all so keen on.
A few days later, he was lounging in the staff room, empty for once, browsing idly through the latest copy of the Daily Prophet,when Professor Snape came bursting in, his black robes billowing out behind him as he spun to face James. James looked up, his face deliberately mild and curious.

" Professor Snape, can I help you?"

Snape, he thought enviously, seemed to have no problem with his surroundings, but then, he'd been living here for so much longer than James that it was understandable he no longer felt uncomfortable in staff areas.

" Evans," Snape said briskly, sneering slightly. "Would you mind explaining to me just how you came to the conclusion that I required an assistant? I might be a few years older than you, but I am by no means in my dotage."

"Actually, sir, I had no intention of applying for the post," James said, striving to keep his tone mild. "My main concern is that of my subject, Defense if you remember, and I only accepted the additional task at the request of the Headmaster. He seemed quite certain that you had requested assistance."

"I merely happened to mention, as I often have in previous years, that there were many calls on my time since my responsibilities include brewing the potions for the hospital wing," Snape said, affronted that his personal capabilities had been insulted. "Students, I have found, attract trouble. As he has never in the past seen fit to provide me with an assistant; I find it odd now that he should. However, since I now find myself saddled with you, I must endeavour to keep you amused. You play Quidditch, I assume?"

"Yes, sir, Seeker mostly, and I make a fair Beater."

"You may take over the running of the Slytherin Quidditch team, then. That will mean advising on team members and assisting with training, if requested. You can also take charge of the first-years. That will require dormitory checks to enforce lights out in the first few weeks and dealing with any bouts of . . . homesickness . . . that might ensue."

"Of course, I'd be happy to. How many students do we normally receive in a year?"

"The average is around five boys and five girls, though of course it varies depending on the aptitudes of the pupils. I am sure you will find that quite enough to manage alone, considering your inexperience. You will find that Slytherin house is the greatest house but also the most difficult. Slytherins tend to be the reclusive children, the abused children, the loners and the mistrustful ones in addition to the ambitious ones that you more commonly hear about. You will find that the Sorting endeavours to put children where they will receive the most appropriate care and at present they find that with me.

They require great understanding, and you should feel free to speak to me about them at any time. Contrary to popular belief, we do have a number of Muggle-born students within our ranks, yet they behave in a manner befitting a traditional pureblood and are accepted as such by those outside of the house. I have never understood why the other houses have no such system in place, something which causes their own muggleborns to stick out from the rest. The other houses commonly despise us through fear and ignorance; therefore, there must be complete trust within the house. Furthermore, all Slytherins are expected to live up to certain standards in manner, dress, academics and attitude; I will brief you more thoroughly on those later. You are also required to conform, and I must allow that your present attire is by no means acceptable."

"Yes, sir, of course; it's the holidays and I haven't any teaching robes yet, just my university ones. I've ordered some, but they haven't arrived."

"And stop calling me 'sir'. You are a Slytherin teacher; have some pride. You are not a student and are technically my equal, so you may address me by my given name."

"Perhaps I wouldn't act like a student if you didn't treat me like one," James snapped, more than a little irritated at this dressing down. "My name's James, you know. You're welcome to use it instead of speaking to me like a disobedient Gryffindor reporting for detention."

Snape looked at him penetratingly for a moment, then nodded curtly and spun around to leave, his robes swirling behind him and blowing over the pages of James' paper. As he left, he seemed to be muttering under his breath about an 'interfering old codger' and 'approaching his dotage'. Since James was fairly sure that he was not the man in question - if Snape thought James was elderly, what did that make him? - he assumed that Dumbledore had once more interfered with his staff's private lives.

As he left, Professor McGonagall came in. She seemed to have taken an instant shine to James as soon as she met him, and admitted to liking Snape, more than most, as well, claiming, much to everyone's disbelief, that he was actually quite sweet under the cold exterior.

"Was that Severus I just saw?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"What did he want? He normally avoids this place whenever possible."

"He stopped by to let me know that he doesn't need an assistant. I think I've managed to turn the blame away from me, though; he was muttering away about an 'interfering old codger' when he left."

"Poor Albus, he won't know what's hit him. It serves him right; he knows how tetchy Severus can be. I wouldn't take it to heart, James, he doesn't mean half the things he says; he's just a bit upset that Albus doesn't seem to trust him. So, what's he having you do?"

"Quidditch and first-years."

"Oh, a Quidditch player? I was keen in my youth, and I have to say that Gryffindor has rather a stranglehold on the Quidditch Cup at the moment; we've won it every year for the past ten. Severus is just a little put out with me about that. Hopefully, this year we'll be getting Simon Wood in our house, apparently he's very promising and a sweet little boy. He's Oliver Wood's nephew, the Puddlemere Keeper. Now, he was on my team, as well; one of the best I've ever seen. Let's see, that would have been him as Captain and Keeper, the Weasley twins as Beaters, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell as Chasers and young Harry Potter as Seeker, our very own child prodigy. I'm babbling. Why don't you tell me about your experience? What position did you play?"

"See if you can guess, you're obviously quite the expert."

"Hmm, Seeker if your build's anything to go by, possibly Chaser."

"Seeker it was, and I've played Beater competitively as well, unlikely though it seems. I was on the Merlin team at university, Beater for the first two years while Malfoy was there, then Seeker. He was two years ahead of me, so I was forced to give another position a go."

"Captain?"

"Well, yes, and Uni Quidditch rep."

"Very impressive; I'll have to warn my players to train extra hard this year. I hate to have to tell you, but you've got a lot of work to do with the Slytherin team at the moment; you might even have to start again from scratch. So many of your players finished school that you're rather at a disadvantage."

James smiled; he enjoyed Minerva's company. She, unlike Snape and a few of the other teachers, was quite willing to accept him despite his relative youth. Anyway, she had a tendency to have a loose tongue away from the students, and it was amusing and useful to see how much information he could glean from her.

A/N: Now, review!