Previously…

The teenage boy stared at her. "You are very odd, do you know that, Prof- I mean, Brethany?"

"Of course I know that," Brethany spoke breezily, "I delight in being odd. It's so much more fun to shock people than to be boringly normal." She turned her back on them to head for her office. "What are you two still doing here? Out! Out! I have things to do!" Still laughing, the two exited the classroom. 'Honestly,' Brethany thought with a grin, 'men!'

And Now…

Brethany slumped in her chair, utterly exhausted. Would every day be like that, she wondered with a wince. Merlin, she hoped not!

"I see you managed to survive your first day with the little dunderheads," Snape's sneering voice echoed across the room, and the young teacher wearily lifted her head. The Potions Master strode into her classroom, surveying the room with ill-disguised contempt.

"'Survived'?" Brethany echoed dully, pulling herself upright with a quiet groan. "First I had the Gryffindor/Slytherin sixth years, then Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff first years, and finally the Gryffindor/Slytherin seventh years! Why does Albus insist on putting those houses together? Much as I enjoy a good scrap, having to put up with a bunch of teenagers who believe themselves to be each other's mortal enemies is not something I want to do on a regular basis!" She cast the Slytherin head of house a glare. "So far, I have given three Slytherins and two Gryffindors detention, and collectively taken almost forty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. I hope your house has been doing well in their classes, or Slytherin's points will be in the negative."

Snape scowled. "For their sakes, I hope they have as well. Why, may I ask, do so many of my house have detention on the first day of classes?"

Brethany snarled quietly. "Because your seventh years were not expecting a girl barely two years their elder to have a backbone when faced with three of them at once." A small grin formed on her face. "I did warn them at the beginning of class that I had been trained for five years by Aurors." She cast a thoroughly mischievous look at the other teacher. "Mr. Wilkins may have some trouble 'getting it up' over the next couple of months, but otherwise all three are physically intact."

The Potions professor regarded her sharply. "And what did Mr. Wilkins do to deserve your personal wrath?" She smiled at him sweetly.

"I called him and his two cohorts into my office after class. When I assigned them detention, Mr. Wilkins said something particularly degrading about me, and attempted to sexually intimidate me." Brethany grinned nastily. "I hexed him with Cruciex ecstus, and had his friends help him back to their dormitory." She smirked in satisfaction. "I'll have to owl Dad about that; he taught me that hex when I was fourteen."

"Cruciex ecstus," Snape repeated in a pained voice. "'Pain in place of pleasure'" he translated the Latin phrase, and Brethany laughed.

"Yes, that's how Dad sounded when he taught it to me. You needn't worry about Mr. Wilkins; it will only affect him when he attempts to," she paused, searching for the correct term.

"Procreate?" Snape finished her sentence, an eyebrow raised. Brethany nodded, a small grin on her face. "Normally I would protest using such a punishment, but I am well aware of Mr. Wilkins' reputation throughout Hogwarts. You have likely done the female population a great favor."

The young woman before him sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Are they always like this?" she asked plaintively, peering up at him through her fingers.

"Yes," Snape replied bluntly, "They are always so. They will not be nearly as much so in the future, simply because they understand that you will punish them, but they do not change. It would take a complete change in their way of thinking to make them otherwise, and I doubt that you can bring that about."

"I don't," Brethany spoke, her eyes sparkling with determination. "I think I can bring about that change, Professor Snape. I know that only a few will accept the change, but that is enough. That is all I want, just one or two students out of each house to work out the truth for themselves. All I have to do is ask the right questions. The answers don't matter so much in the long run, it's the questions that count. And Professor Snape," the young woman looked boldly up at the Potions teacher, "I am very good at asking the right questions."

The two stared at each other in silence for a long moment, then Snape gave a sharp nod. "That may be so," he conceded quietly. "I have heard some of my students speaking of your questions. I hope you understand, however," he continued sharply, "How much negative attention you could receive for this. No one likes change, especially when it deprives them of what they consider their rightful dues."

Brethany leaned back in her chair lazily. "I know," she agreed quietly. "And I will be careful of how I say certain things. While I am Gryffindor enough to continue saying what needs to be said regardless of the consequences, I am also Slytherin enough to know how and when to say those things." She grinned at his sharp look. "My father was a Slytherin, you know, but incredibly blunt. My mother was a Hufflepuff, but she was always able to manage my siblings and I with a great deal of cunning. I think I received a great deal of each of them. It's almost a shame that I can't be sorted; I'd rather like to know where I would have ended up."

"Slytherin or Gryffindor," came the swift answer, and Brethany looked at the Potions Master in surprise. "As you say, Miss Lewis, you are equal parts of the two houses. You are entirely too sly for Hufflepuff and too realistic for Ravenclaw. A Hufflepuff would never have hexed Mr. Wilkins in such a manner-"

"You've obviously never met my mother," Brethany muttered.

"-And most Ravenclaws would be appalled at how you question what is touted as absolutes in their precious books," Snape sneered. "You are perhaps fortunate to not know what house you would have belonged to. No one automatically views you as being one thing or another based on a name having been attached to you." Brethany considered that as the man turned toward the door.

"So, you consider me to be an honorary Slytherin, Professor Snape?" she asked, her grin apparent in her voice. Snape halted in the doorway.

"Merlin forbid that you would have been in my house," he spoke dryly, then turned to look at her. "Your tongue knows no boundaries or restrictions; you would have put Slytherin points into the negative very quickly." Brethany had to grin; he was likely correct. "You would have been a credit to either house, though both would likely have been eager to be rid of you."

She was startled into a laugh. "I'm not certain whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Snape stared at her without emotion, and the young woman shrugged. "Thank you, I think."

"You are welcome," he said coolly as he turned to exit the room, then paused for a moment. "I am given to understand that you are partially responsible for Potter showing up in my office earlier today." Brethany froze. Oh, dear…

"Yes, I am," she replied uncertainly. "I merely gave him the boost that he needed. I'm sure that he would have done it on his own in time." Snape scoffed in disbelief, and Brethany had to laugh. "All right, he probably wouldn't have, but I really only gave him a little encouragement. I didn't force him to go to you in any way, and whatever Mr. Potter said to you was from him alone. I merely provided the opportunity; he was the one who took hold of it." The room was silent for a long moment as Brethany waited for a response. Finally, Snape simply grunted and swept out into the hall. Brethany sighed, but could not help grinning. Snape would be Snape…

Word Count: 1284