Chapter 4: She's no Snow White
Annie and Neville sat in the library, fingers tangled together as they studied for their potions test. Well Neville studied, Annie just answered his questions and proved the book wrong about 9 times.
"You're really good with potions," Neville inquired, stating the obvious to gain conversation as he rubbed his thumb against the back of the hand he was holding. "Snape never has problems with you and your potions… you're probably his best student."
"It didn't come without practice; in fact I sucked in my first year. But over the summer I was determined to get better so I stayed locked away in my room studying every potions book, muggle and wizard writing, I could get my hands on. Over that time it really caught my interest and I became a huge potions nerd and everyone kinda made fun of me but I was happy with my knowledge so I guess nothing else mattered," Annie whispered, closing the book in front of her before reaching with her free hand for a different one.
"Wow, that takes a lot of commitment to be able to learn that much and retain it at the same time," Neville said, a smile lighting up his features as he squeezed her hand lightly. "Now potions seems to come naturally to you, like you don't even need to think about it."
"Yeah I guess, I mean potions is something that I'm very interested in and I'd like to continue to study potions after this year…"
"Maybe you could be the new potions professor here. It'd be less awful if you were professor I'm sure because I know you wouldn't be as horrid of a teacher as Snape is." As Neville spoke Snape froze behind the shelf behind Annie's back, he peeked through the books on the shelf, staring at the back of Annie's head as she shook it, causing her curls to cascade over one shoulder.
"He's not a bad guy, I mean yes he has his moments of assness but he's not completely horrid," Annie said matter of factly, knowing this from experience. Neville looked at her oddly, an eyebrow raised in question. "I mean you have to think about it, no person can be that horrible without having reason, something in their past had to have triggered such coldness to enter someone's heart. Or maybe he just doesn't like kids… but he's not all that bad. Don't look at me like that!" Annie sighed as she flipped open the cover of her book and read the first line, feeling Neville's confused gaze on her.
"You have a different way of looking at people Annie; I've never heard someone explain a person quite like that before… I think it's good." She peeked up from the page and looked into Neville's eyes for a moment, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Snape continued to listen from his hiding spot behind the shelves, listening to how Annie spoke so kindly of him. He was slightly taken aback by the words that fell from her rosed lips. After a few more moments of lurking behind the bookshelf be began to take his leave toward his classroom where hours of silence would follow.
"Come on, we should start heading back," Neville said, closing the book in front of Annie causing her to look up at him, her brown eyes questioning.
"Why? Is it really that late?" Annie asked, pulling herself from the chair as she reached for the desk light.
"Yeah, I don't want us getting into trouble…" She nodded slowly as she shut off the light. Neville reached for her hand, his fingers tapping against her skin until they wound around her hand. He walked her toward the Slytherin Common room where the password to get in changed daily. "Well I guess I'll leave you here…" Neville's sentence trailed off as he turned to face her, his hand still intertwined with hers. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, shifting from foot to foot before Neville quickly lowered his face to hers and pressing his lips lightly against her cheek. She felt the blood rush to her face, turning her face a light pink before Neville quickly turned and darted across the hallway.
Annie smiled slightly, her hand coming up to touch her cheek lightly where his lips were not even a second before. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about the newly braved Gryffindor, but in the moment she felt differently than before. Annie whispered the password and the secret passage opened and Annie began to descend into the lower dungeons of Hogwarts and into the Slytherin common room. She sat down in a chair and reached for her bag, her hand skimming past loose pages and small notebooks but the one she needed wasn't there. She didn't feel the rough ripped cover of her potions notebook where her homework was contained.
She sighed, knowing it must still be in the potion room where it slipped from her fingers due to shock of Neville throwing himself at Draco to punch the living daylight out of him. Annie picked herself up from the chair and left the common room, hoping to make it to the potions room and back before the teachers came out on patrol, last thing she needed was to get yelled at for wandering the halls after curfew, not that she hadn't gotten away with it many times before. She ran down the hallway, fleeing toward the potions room knowing Snape kept it unlocked at all times as if to show students and teachers that he had nothing to hide.
Annie pushed open the door and darted toward her seat, trying not to make a sound. Once she reached her station she searched the floor and desk for her potions notebook. After a few moments of searching her fingers slid over the cover of it and she picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her robes, tucking the battered notebook under the crook of her arm before heading toward the door to take her leave.
Suddenly there was a loud clatter causing Annie to jump followed by a stream of curses that would've scared a sailor. She lowered her notebook to Snape's desk before heading to the back of the closet where the large noise erupted from. Opening the door that led to the very large supplies closet she found Snape picking up fallen ingredients that were scattered about his feet. One of the ingredient shelves was tipped over toward the ground; the only thing keeping it from falling was another shelf blocking its path to the ground.
"Professor?" Annie whispered, peeking her head a bit further into the room as Snape's head snapped up to meet the eyes of the curly haired 7th year. "Are you alright?"
Severus straightened, his eyes containing their usual coldness as he cradled a few ingredients in his arms. "Yes I am fine Ms. Hays, return to your room curfew is almost upon us," He whispered dully before looking away from her and placing what he was cradling in his arms into the cauldron on the floor.
"Do you need any help?" Annie asked, pushing a stray copper curl away from her face before tucking it lightly behind one ear. The Potions master looked back at her, eyes slightly fogged over from his last glass of whisky not too long ago.
"No," Severus snapped, he couldn't take her kindness toward him. It was too much for him to handle it only caused the memories of Lily Evans to become more noticeable in his brain to the point where it was unbearable. "I don't need your help."
Annie rocked back on her heels as hurt sparkled in the depths of her chocolate brown eyes. She stood there for a moment, trying to collect herself before saying with as much venom as she could muster "You twat! To think I thought you were different than you let on. Thank you for proving me wrong and keeping me from wasting another second of my pathetic life on you." Annie spun around, her curls whipping around her face as she stormed from the room before disappearing down the hallway.
Severus stood there for a moment, the anger and desperation for hash words dissipated as he looked toward the door where she had disappeared. He turned suddenly and banged his fist against the wall before he went to his desk to down the rest of the whiskey contained inside the thick glass bottle. As he picked the liquor up off the desk, something caught his eye. A frayed notebook sat at the edge of his desk and he knew it did not belong to him.
He picked it up carefully taking in the loose binding as he warily flipped the cover open only to be welcomed by the name: Annie Rose Hays Potions notes. He slowly lowered himself into his desk chair before flipping past the introductory page and further into Annie's world where potions slowly began to take over her life starting with the summer after her first year at Hogwarts. The ingredient room fiasco was forgotten as he flipped through the pages of Annie's personal research, stealing sips of whisky every few pages.
#
When Annie woke the next morning she wasn't angered any longer, only hurt wrapped itself around her already battered heart as she pulled herself away from her sheets before grabbing her robes and other school supplies and heading toward the bathrooms to shower and fix herself up before school started.
A chill had slowly begun to set itself over the castle like school as the beginning of December rolled in like early morning fog. Annie turned on the hot water for the shower, hoping to take the chill out of her milky skin.
After a few moments of showering she shut off the water and wrapped a fluffy towel around her body, trying to keep the heat against her damp skin before she pointed a finger at her mass of dripping curls causing them to dry nicely in place. She pulled on her clothes and robes before finally grabbing her books and heading off toward Herbology where Neville waited outside the door for her.
She tried to smile as he took her hand and led her to their work station. Annie was not looking forward to the day, especially potions class.
#
Severus sat at his desk, Annie's notebook still open in front of him, everything that she had ever learned in potions scrawled on each page in her delicate hand, small portions of it over inked from a too full quill against the parchment. Once his class began filing in he closed the notebook tightly and sat it exactly where he found it on the edge of his desk.
Annie slowly strode into the classroom, her copper curls already pulled up into a tight bun already ready for the class as she placed her books silently on her workstation before sitting on her stool and staring blankly forward at the cauldron, her brown eyes sad and tired. She didn't even bother doing what she usually did upon entering this class room, giving Severus a small appreciative smile before taking her seat. He didn't want her kindness, he said so last night and so she wouldn't give it to him.
Severus dully explained the lesson plan, he wasn't in the mood to give his students one of his long hard potions that would cause them all to run into each other to finish. So instead he made it easy and told them to create the cure for boils. Of course due to the easiness of this assignment Annie was the first one finished and solemnly raised her hand into the air in order for him to check the potion and for her to be able to head back to her bed and sleep before dinner was called.
Snape swiftly crossed the room, his cape swooshing out behind him as his black shoes made small defiant taps against the ground as he leered over her. He checked the potion promptly and nodded his head, indicating she was allowed to leave. Annie picked up her things about to head out of the room and to her bed when Severus beckoned her toward his desk with his long finger. Annie slowly made her way toward him, her eyes focused on the floor.
"Ms. Hays," Severus droned, his eyes trying to catch hers as the darted around him from the floor to the board behind him.
"Professor," Annie mumbled, her eyes focusing just over the top of his head and on the board behind him, avoiding the contact of his coal black eyes. No matter how much she tried she couldn't muster up a cold behavior toward him, somewhere deep in her mind he was still the kind man who had picked her up and away from the mirror those few nights ago. Snape handed Annie her notebook, the familiar rough exterior of the cover brushed against her sensitive skin as she gripped it in her hands.
"You don't want anyone else getting their hands on that," The Potions master whispered, his eyes finally grabbing hold of Annie's whose were submersed in sadness while his burned with a regret that only intensified when their eyes met. "You're free to leave."
Annie nodded slowly as her brain tried to process the look in the middle aged man's eyes. Very few emotions past through his cold coal gaze; it was a rare sight indeed and Annie found herself lost in it. It was something she couldn't quite put her finger on at that moment in time before she turned her face away from his and forced her legs to carry her from the room and back to her bed where none of her questions went to rest and neither did she.