A/N: Usual disclaimer. I own the plot and some character names, that is it. Enjoy, please I want reviews. I have one loyal reviewer! Thanks so much for your constant reviews Kemenran. More is coming, I promise. Please read and review. Thanks.
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Chapter 12: Sun Drop and a Walk to Clear the Mind
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Later on that afternoon, Snape was making his usual rounds to see is anybody was sneaking around into Hogsmeade during a non-Hogsmeade weekend, when he noticed Professor Hammock's office door open. He peered in and saw all of her dogs fast asleep as she was listening to music. He looked at her and noticed that she had on a short-sleeved, baggy t-shirt, long pants, and the ugliest pair of slippers that he had ever seen. They had a dog's head on the tip of each one, and the dog head bobbled as Ashley tapped her foot to the beat of the music. He laughed inwardly as she took a sip from a small green bottle with the words "Sun Drop" on the label.
He sneered as he watched her twitch her foot. As Severus walked past, one of Ashley's Great Danes let out a booming bark. Ashley shrieked and fell out of her chair with a thud. Severus turned back and sneered as Ashley laughed. Ashley rolled over, noticed Snape's trademark robes and grumbled, "Stupid dog."
"I thought you considered your dogs to be the greatest things to walk the Earth"
"Ha. I think that they are great, but all great things can be stupid at times."
"So, because a dog barks, you call it stupid?" Snape was going to enjoy this.
"No, because Jazz barked is not why she is stupid, it is that she scared me."
"Thus, with that lovely explanation, you call yourself stupid?"
"Basically... Yes." Ashley said, noticing his surprised look.
"Glad that you admit it."
"Oh come on now. Look at my hair color, it is in my nature to be dumb."
Snape looked at Ashley's golden blonde hair and fought back a laugh at Ashley's extremely blunt comment, "Even though, that is not where I was going, you did. It only applies to natural blondes. That doesn't look natural."
"It is. I only colored my hair once. It turned red." Ashley blushed slightly while running her fingers through her wavy hair.
Snape smiled inwardly while picturing her shoulder length, wavy hair, a shade of red that is similar to the Weasley's, giving her the look that her head was on fire. Ashley went to stand up and she tripped on one of her slippers. Snape glided over to her and caught her. "You aren't drunk are you?" He questioned.
"No, the only thing I drank was a bottle on Sun Drop. It's a soda, no alcohol what so ever, only tons of caffeine." She walked over to her desk and handed him the bottle of Sun Drop. "Try some." She suggested as her North Carolina accent came out. Snape lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip.
"It is very interesting, but not bad." Snape commented while handing the bottle back to Ashley.
"I love this stuff. It is the best soda, other than Cheerwine. Plus it reminds me of home." Ashley said while downing the last bit in the bottle, making sure not to waste any bit of it.
"How does a drink remind you of home?" Snape arched an eyebrow quizzically.
"Well Sun Drop can only be found in three states in all of America: South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Even then you have to know where to look if you want to find it. It just so happens that where my mom grew up, there was a Sun Drop bottling factory not to far so I had Sun Drop whenever I went down there. So, it reminds me of how much a country hick I am." Ashley said very matter-of-factly. "Before you even ask, I listen to country music, my brother has a truck that you can hear from a mile away, I know how to operate a shotgun, I know what day deer season starts in Virginia, and I have been mud-slinging before."
Snape looked at her, very blankly. "Right, so before I came in, you were trying to remind yourself of home?"
"Yeah, well sort of. I just got a letter informing me of when my family will celebrate Christmas and I might not make it. It will be the first time that I have ever missed it. So I am depressed and I hoped that the Sun Drop would give me a slight caffeine rush to clear my head."
"Oh, I always find that I walk around outside always clears my head." Snape commented.
"I think I could use that, you want to join me?"
"Why not, I do not have anything better to do."
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Severus and Ashley walked at towards the lake on a rather windy fall day. They walked in silence for a while before Snape spoke up. "Any better?"
"Sort of, It's just that I am so alone here." Ashley commented as they walked past Hagrid's hut and towards the lake.
"Alone? What about that Thorold person?"
"I thought you knew, I heard about how fast news travels in Hogwarts and just didn't press the matter. We broke up the night that Nina's puppies were born. I sent him a very hateful letter that had a dog's placenta in the envelope."
Snape sneered smugly at the thought of somebody finding a dog placenta in an envelope. He was surprised that he hadn't thought to do that to his enemies. "No, I didn't know about that."
"He was the main reason I wanted to come here. I have no family or any connections here. I hate starting over."
"So if you hadn't known him then you wouldn't have taken the job?" Snape questioned.
"I probably would have taken the job because I really needed to get away from Midlothian and the Richmond area, too many bad memories. Plus I wanted the chance to be a director of a music program and the best that could do was, assistant to my former band director."
"Bad memories? Assistant? Was coming here your only option?"
"No, I had an offer to go to Virginia Beach for a temporary deal; it just wasn't worth it. So I chose to come here. I like it here, I just wish that things had turned out better than they have." Ashley said, catching herself, she couldn't believe that she was baring her soul to a person she hardly knew. She figured that it was time to turn the tables a bit. "So, what about you? Why are you here? You don't seem to like kids very much so it can't be that."
"It is complicated. I won't say any more than that, you are right about it not being that I like kids. Most are annoying to tell the truth."
"I understand. My brother and his wife have kids, they are annoying." After that, they continued walking in complete silence. They walked back into the castle about a half an hour later. Ashley stopped at her office door. "Thanks. You are right, that walk helped a lot."
"Good. Let me know if you ever want to go again. I would like to accompany you." Severus said smartly.
"Ok. I will." With that, Ashley walked into her office. She shut her door as she noticed a large barn owl sitting on her desk.
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Chapter 12: Sun Drop and a Walk to Clear the Mind
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Later on that afternoon, Snape was making his usual rounds to see is anybody was sneaking around into Hogsmeade during a non-Hogsmeade weekend, when he noticed Professor Hammock's office door open. He peered in and saw all of her dogs fast asleep as she was listening to music. He looked at her and noticed that she had on a short-sleeved, baggy t-shirt, long pants, and the ugliest pair of slippers that he had ever seen. They had a dog's head on the tip of each one, and the dog head bobbled as Ashley tapped her foot to the beat of the music. He laughed inwardly as she took a sip from a small green bottle with the words "Sun Drop" on the label.
He sneered as he watched her twitch her foot. As Severus walked past, one of Ashley's Great Danes let out a booming bark. Ashley shrieked and fell out of her chair with a thud. Severus turned back and sneered as Ashley laughed. Ashley rolled over, noticed Snape's trademark robes and grumbled, "Stupid dog."
"I thought you considered your dogs to be the greatest things to walk the Earth"
"Ha. I think that they are great, but all great things can be stupid at times."
"So, because a dog barks, you call it stupid?" Snape was going to enjoy this.
"No, because Jazz barked is not why she is stupid, it is that she scared me."
"Thus, with that lovely explanation, you call yourself stupid?"
"Basically... Yes." Ashley said, noticing his surprised look.
"Glad that you admit it."
"Oh come on now. Look at my hair color, it is in my nature to be dumb."
Snape looked at Ashley's golden blonde hair and fought back a laugh at Ashley's extremely blunt comment, "Even though, that is not where I was going, you did. It only applies to natural blondes. That doesn't look natural."
"It is. I only colored my hair once. It turned red." Ashley blushed slightly while running her fingers through her wavy hair.
Snape smiled inwardly while picturing her shoulder length, wavy hair, a shade of red that is similar to the Weasley's, giving her the look that her head was on fire. Ashley went to stand up and she tripped on one of her slippers. Snape glided over to her and caught her. "You aren't drunk are you?" He questioned.
"No, the only thing I drank was a bottle on Sun Drop. It's a soda, no alcohol what so ever, only tons of caffeine." She walked over to her desk and handed him the bottle of Sun Drop. "Try some." She suggested as her North Carolina accent came out. Snape lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip.
"It is very interesting, but not bad." Snape commented while handing the bottle back to Ashley.
"I love this stuff. It is the best soda, other than Cheerwine. Plus it reminds me of home." Ashley said while downing the last bit in the bottle, making sure not to waste any bit of it.
"How does a drink remind you of home?" Snape arched an eyebrow quizzically.
"Well Sun Drop can only be found in three states in all of America: South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Even then you have to know where to look if you want to find it. It just so happens that where my mom grew up, there was a Sun Drop bottling factory not to far so I had Sun Drop whenever I went down there. So, it reminds me of how much a country hick I am." Ashley said very matter-of-factly. "Before you even ask, I listen to country music, my brother has a truck that you can hear from a mile away, I know how to operate a shotgun, I know what day deer season starts in Virginia, and I have been mud-slinging before."
Snape looked at her, very blankly. "Right, so before I came in, you were trying to remind yourself of home?"
"Yeah, well sort of. I just got a letter informing me of when my family will celebrate Christmas and I might not make it. It will be the first time that I have ever missed it. So I am depressed and I hoped that the Sun Drop would give me a slight caffeine rush to clear my head."
"Oh, I always find that I walk around outside always clears my head." Snape commented.
"I think I could use that, you want to join me?"
"Why not, I do not have anything better to do."
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Severus and Ashley walked at towards the lake on a rather windy fall day. They walked in silence for a while before Snape spoke up. "Any better?"
"Sort of, It's just that I am so alone here." Ashley commented as they walked past Hagrid's hut and towards the lake.
"Alone? What about that Thorold person?"
"I thought you knew, I heard about how fast news travels in Hogwarts and just didn't press the matter. We broke up the night that Nina's puppies were born. I sent him a very hateful letter that had a dog's placenta in the envelope."
Snape sneered smugly at the thought of somebody finding a dog placenta in an envelope. He was surprised that he hadn't thought to do that to his enemies. "No, I didn't know about that."
"He was the main reason I wanted to come here. I have no family or any connections here. I hate starting over."
"So if you hadn't known him then you wouldn't have taken the job?" Snape questioned.
"I probably would have taken the job because I really needed to get away from Midlothian and the Richmond area, too many bad memories. Plus I wanted the chance to be a director of a music program and the best that could do was, assistant to my former band director."
"Bad memories? Assistant? Was coming here your only option?"
"No, I had an offer to go to Virginia Beach for a temporary deal; it just wasn't worth it. So I chose to come here. I like it here, I just wish that things had turned out better than they have." Ashley said, catching herself, she couldn't believe that she was baring her soul to a person she hardly knew. She figured that it was time to turn the tables a bit. "So, what about you? Why are you here? You don't seem to like kids very much so it can't be that."
"It is complicated. I won't say any more than that, you are right about it not being that I like kids. Most are annoying to tell the truth."
"I understand. My brother and his wife have kids, they are annoying." After that, they continued walking in complete silence. They walked back into the castle about a half an hour later. Ashley stopped at her office door. "Thanks. You are right, that walk helped a lot."
"Good. Let me know if you ever want to go again. I would like to accompany you." Severus said smartly.
"Ok. I will." With that, Ashley walked into her office. She shut her door as she noticed a large barn owl sitting on her desk.
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