(A/N: A big thank you to XeVanne, my first and only reviewer)
Trysten's feet led her aimlessly about the castle, hunger all but forgotten in the midst of her wonder and confusion.
"'Ello, Miss Moonjade!" Trysten started, nearly tripping, and whirled around to face the speaker. A portrait of a large woman donning a robe and flower necklace looked joyfully at Trysten, large frizzy red hair framing her face. Trysten relaxed visibly and smiled.
"Hello, Jillian. You startled me."
"My apologies, dear, I just haven't seen you in quite some time," Jillian explained. Trysten smiled to herself, deciding not to mention that she had spent hours in this very spot not three days prior. "When are you coming back for storytelling, dear?"
"They're not stories, they're my life," Trysten sighed. "And soon. But it is my turn to listen. One of you has to tell." Mutters of protest could be heard, as the occupants of the nearby portraits had become interested in the conversation. Trysten held up her hand for silence. "That was the deal. I'll try to come soon, but things seem to be getting more hectic by the minute." Trysten had a fleeting thought of the thestral and added, "And if you're nice enough, perhaps I'll tell you another tale." With that, Trysten spun on her heel and began marching towards Potions, trying to suppress her thoughts and prepare for the long class ahead.
As soon as she stepped into the room, she instantly regretted it. The room was deathly quiet, as always, dark seeming to emanate from every surface the room held. In his elegant handwriting, Professor Snape had succinctly stated that this potion required partners, which he had assigned. Details of the potion would be disclosed later, and both individual and partner grades would be taken into account.
Trysten panicked at the thought of revealing herself to another, knowing that person could not just see her as another piece of thoughtful decoration, but must work with her. Her eyes flicked to Snape, who was checking the last of the work stations. He hasn't seen my yet—I can leave and do the makeup work myself, she thought frantically. She stared at the word 'partners' and backed up as quickly as she could. Approaching the doorway, she gulped, Please let me get out of here, a moment before running into something solid and slightly warm. An icy grip burned into her elbow, holding it at a weird angle and forcing her to walk forward. She found herself stumbling though the ominous doorway into Snape's office, then ungracefully thrust forward, ramming into the professor's desk. Trysten turned to face her assailant just as Professor Snape closed the door behind him.
"What made you think you could escape this so easily?" Snape drawled out, his town cold (per usual). Trysten simply looked at the professor, just about the only person Trysten ever—almost—debated with, and the only one who had seen her temper. He was also the only person who seemed not to care what Trysten wanted, but rather forced her into basic assimilation.
She tried looking innocent, knowing full-well it was useless. "Escape? Whatever do you mean?"
"Miss Moonjade, you were thinking so loudly I have a headache," he moaned, rubbing his temple in exaggeration.
Bloody legimens, Trysten thought as loudly as she could, rewarded by a knowing smirk upon her professor's face. The above stated facts also made Severus Snape the only living being with whom she shared her sardonic humor.
"Trysten Moonjade," Snape began, grimacing inwardly as she winced at her full name, "you will go out there and work with your partner actively, or I will make sure each student in Hogwarts pays attention to you." Snape could have laughed at the horror-stricken look on the girl's face, but kept it to himself. "Are we agreed?"
"Yes, sir," Trysten mumbled sullenly, glancing about her nervously as she exited the office, content that no one seemed to be noticing. She slinked off to a back corner of the room, anxiously wondering who her partner would be, just as a smiling trio entered the room.
"Partners?" Hermione questioned, reading the board. "This is the first partner assignment this year!"
"Stating the obvious as usual, Mudblood?" Draco Malfoy taunted, entering the room.
"Seats, everybody, now," Snape stated authoritatively. "You must brew the ingredients exactly how I have written, or you will regret it immensely." Snape flicked his wand at the air in front of his desk, leaving his wand scribbling in the air as he turned to write more on the board. "You will be making the Draught of the Living Death, starting page 10 in your Advanced Potion-Making textbook. Your pairs are being randomly conjured as we speak. Get to work."
All eyes watched the wand spew forth golden, flowing script, foreign to Snape's handwriting. Only two in class seemed fazed by this: Hermione knitted her brows in confusion, and Trysten sank lower in her seat, recognizing the script as her own. Making eye contact with her professor, she realized this was a warning that he would make good on his threat.
Hermione and Ron silently cheered, as the odds were on their side and paired them together. They immediately set to work, joining those previously named and leaving Harry to sit curiously at the desk, glaring daggers at Malfoy. Please don't let us be paired, Harry begged the wand. 'Malfoy, Zabini' appeared next, and Harry sighed in relief. He glanced at the names curiously. Just about everyone he knew were already partnered. The pen slowed, nearing its end, when at last Harry's name appeared. 'Potter, Moonjade'.
Harry turned the name over in his head, but couldn't match a face to it. Shrugging, he got up to go to their assigned work table, hoping 'Moonjade' would meet him there. Severus Snape visibly grimaced at Trysten's first partner, sending the girl a look of reassurance and sympathy. Trysten, however, was sulking, slowly going to her and Harry's workspace, thinking loudly, but in jumbles. One phrase that Severus managed to catch set a mischievous glint to his eyes: Bloody legimens.
Harry sat at the worktable, his curiosity nearly killing him. He had almost taken 'Moonjade' as absent when he noticed a presence. He spun in eagerness to face his partner, this 'Moonjade'. He was shocked to see a petite girl with mousy brown hair. Her ivory skin showed no blemish, and her downcast eyes caused her long eyelashes to brush her cheeks. Her wavy hair reached past her shoulders, tumbling into elegant curls upon her uniform. She stood about five feet, three inches, shorter than Harry, and had been worrying her lip constantly. A blush graced her cheeks, a startling contrast to her complexion, making Harry notice his stare.
"I'm Harry Potter," he stated, putting out his hand.
"Trysten Moonjade," she responded, barely audible over the chatter of the class. She took his hand hesitantly. They stood a moment longer, Trysten blushing furiously as Harry studied her.
Walking by, Snape paused, glancing at the pair. "Potter," he snapped, "get to work." Harry's head swiveled around to glare at the Professor, missing the grateful look Trysten sent Severus. The professor, however, saw said look and bobbed his head graciously, moving on.
Trysten cleared her throat, sadly bringing the boy's attention back to her. "Get the ingredients while I ready the cauldron?"
"Sure," Harry replied, focusing at the set task for the first time. Harry tried to shove his way through, but found himself at the back of the mob. Has she always been in this class? At Hogwarts? I've never seen her before. There's something odd about her, but I can't quite place it…which house is he in? He asked himself suddenly, queasy at the thought of admiring a Slytherin. He finally shoved through and grabbed the valerian root, sopophorous bean, and asphodel in an infusion of wormwood, fighting his way back to the work station just as the cauldron became ready to use.
Further dialogue was choppy and impersonal, consisting of Harry reading the instructions as Trysten performed the operations. Partially into the procedure, Harry began to pay attention to what his partner was doing. "No, it says to slice the sopophorous bean."
"But crushing the bean is more effective," Trysten explained, not missing a beat.
"But-"
"Harry, what did you get in Potions last year?" Harry mumbled an answer, embarrassment showing on his face. "Exactly." Realizing she had done all the work, she looked to her partner. "Would you care to stir?"
"Sure," Harry grumbled. Harry stirred dejectedly, and Trysten could barely restrain herself from grabbing the rod from his offending hand.
"Harry," she stated, teeth clenched. "Do you mind if I stir?"
The class proceeded accordingly, and Trysten was more than happy to do the work individually. The potion was a deep purple at the halfway point and released blue steam. As the class was nearing the end, Trysten leaned over to peer into the cauldron. "Lilac," she grinned. Harry looked to her in astonishment.
"It's right?" Harry choked. He checked the book, the cauldron, and the book again, not daring to believe it. As he did this, Trysten, used to having a correct potion, siphoned out a portion, corked the test tube, labeled it, and brought it up to Professor Snape, looking at the floor as she extended her hand.
"Miss Moonjade?" Snape murmured questioningly. "Trysten," he said more firmly. She got out of the daze she was in and looked up at him. "Stay after class, I'd like to speak with you." She nodded. "Nice work on the potion," he murmured, dismissing her. Curious and slightly hesitant, she worked her way back to her seat, finding that Harry had finally accepted the truth.
"Nice work," Trysten murmured, unintentionally copying the Potions Master and sadly bringing Harry's attention to her presence.
"Thanks," Harry muttered, pausing to glare at Snape, you had been praising Malfoy. Seeing this, Trysten smirked. "It wasn't my compliment," she told him, gathering their work materials. He turned to look at her, brows furrowed. "It was the Professor's," she stated, carrying their materials to be cleaned. Inwardly pleased that she had bested two parties (embarrassing Harry for his bias and carrying Snape's compliment to his most loathed student), Trysten set about cleaning up cheerfully, forgetting her wand and doing it by hand.
Harry Potter stared after his partner before turning to Snape, an appalled look on his face. Seeing how distraught he looked, Ron and Hermione rushed over, having finished their potion.
"Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Did Snivellus say something? That stupid, bloody, git-"
"Ron!" Hermione snapped before turning back to Harry expectantly.
"Snape… gave me a compliment," he said, his voice full of wonder. Hermione froze in a state of shock while Ron opened and shut his mouth repeatedly, looking like a fish.
"You mean Snape just walked up and- and-"
"Well, no. He didn't compliment me directly." Harry read the two Gryffindor out of the room, seeing as the bell rang. "My lab partner told me for him."
"That reminds me, Harry, who was your partner?" Hermione asked curiously.
A distinct picture of the girl floated before his eyes and Harry opened his mouth to tell them her name, but found he couldn't remember it. As he came to his conclusion, his vision of her became blurry. He blinked and looked between Ron and Hermione, pausing mid-step. "I don't know," he confessed.
Professor Snape watched irritably as the students filed excruciatingly slowly from his room. Except for one blissfully obliviant girl who stood, washing her tools, by hand no less. Smiling slyly he easily sneaked up behind her, leaning close to her ear. "There are better ways to do that, you know," Snape said matter-of-factly, causing Trysten to jump and whirl around, dropping whatever she had been holding.
"Aeris, Isis, and Hecate!" she screeched, naming gods of different communities she had lived with.
"Come to my office," he told her calmly, savoring the fact he had startled her so. With an overly dramatic swirl of his cape, Severus Snape led the way, opening the door and gesturing Trysten inside in mock-politeness. He let her stand a moment, watching her fidget.
"What?" she asked in a bored tone, although she couldn't stop her hands from moving.
Snape gave a slight shrug and sat in his chair, gesturing that Trysten do the same in the visitor's chair. "Merely wondering ho your first social experience went." Trysten sent a glare at the Professor, which promptly turned into a grimace in answer to his question. "Honestly, had I known you would be paired with Potter," he spat the word viciously, "I wouldn't have forced you to stay today."
Trysten smiled mentally at Severus' obvious contempt for the boy and decided to egg him on. "Oh, he's not all that bad," she told him. Snape raised his eyebrows at this comment, a hard one to achieve with the young Miss Moonjade. Interested in what prompted this, Snape began to pick through her brain. Feeling a tickling in her brain, a sensation she had been waiting for, she put all her mind power into picturing Harry, a halo around his head. Snape audibly snorted, and Trysten changed the scene to a 'loud' though of Harry and Snape viciously snogging. Watching her teacher's face turn bright red at this, she decided it would be best if she left. Standing by the door, Trysten murmured, "Bye, Professor," and slipped out, winking at Severus as she did so.
A baffled, embarrassed and angry Snape caught the action. Did she just wink? He asked himself. However, before he could finish the thought, the door popped open again.
"Oh, and Professor? I passed on your compliments on the potion to Harry for you." Grinning, she closed the door and scampered off. However she was not out of hearing range when Snape responded.
"You did WHAT?" he bellowed, fury building in him. Taking in the girl's actions, Severus put aside his anger and sat back in his chair, an amused smirk positioned on his face. "She should have been in Slytherin," he murmured, taking out a flask of firewhisky.
