The night had passed by quickly, and the next day would be one of the most tiring of her life. Hogwarts was much larger then the school she had transfered from, a castle of endless hallways, shifting staircases, and full rooms that would disappear and reappear at will. She could barely find her classes, and she barely made it to her afternoon's Potions class, the bell ringing just as she through herself through the heavy stone door.

Everyone was already seated, and she found herself nearly colliding with the black robed form of Professor Snape. She blushed furiously.

"Sorry, Professor," she gasped in breathless voice, avoiding his gaze.

He gave her a quick glance, taking in her silver and green house tie, before his eyes met hers. The same feeling of warm intensity of the night before overcame her, and she had to resist the urge to shiver again, knowing that it would surely be noticed in such close proximity. What was wrong with her?

After a few more moments he flicked his eyes back to his roster, although, (was she imagining?) he seemed almost reluctant to do so.

"Sit down, Miss Alexander," he replied in an almost lazy voice, and she scurried away, moving automatically to where Draco was gesturing for her to join him.

"Move over, Pansy," he ordered, and the other girl looked affronted. However, she slide to the side, giving enough room on the potions bench for Avi to sit.

"Told you he favoured us," he murmed close to her ear, and he flashed her a grin. She forced a quick smile, trying to forget the way Snape's eyes had sent a wave of heat through her body.

The rest of the class went on as she had suspected it might, after a long night with several of the other girls explaining what she might expect. The Gryffindors, the house she was apparently supposed to immediatly hate, were treated rather unfairly, while the Slytherins were favoured almost to an appaling degree. Even being in the house she could see that the bias was wrong.

But despite her being totally aghast at the way Snape behaved, she couldn't help but admire his soft, commanding voice, his long fingers and the way they would almost caress the ingredients, the mastery in which he explained each instruction, guiding.

She nearly made several mistakes, even though Potions was always her best class, so lost was she in watching him, listening. It wasn't until halfway through the class that she was truely broken from this reverie, jolted from her thoughts by the sound a loud crack and a squeal.

She turned quickly to the boy just behind her, a round faced teen with scales errupting all over his pink skin. He had cracked his cauldron in two, and the potion had gotten all over him.

She didn't even take any time to think, but automatically jumped forward, pulling out her wand.

"Here, hold still," she said soothingly, as the boy continued to whimper pathetically. "This will only take a second...just take a few deep breaths..." She waved her wand in front of him, muttering a few words under her breath, the incantation having a lyrical sound to them, almost like she was singing.

Slowly, the scales began to vanish, and the boy calmed. She looked up and felt a shock...the entire classroom was there, staring at her and the boy, and just in front of her was Professor Snape.

For the second time that afternoon she felt herself blush, painfully aware of the black eyes focussed on her. She looked into his face and saw his expression was calculating, but otherwise unreadable, and she slowly straightened up, waiting for him to speak.

"I would like you to see me after class," she said after a long moment. Her brow furrowed in confusion, but he didn't elaborate, instead turning and barking at the rest of the class to get back to work, and deducting twenty points from Gryffindor for the boys incompetence.

She went back to her own cauldron nervously, and jumped when Draco leaned towards her, whispering, "Don't worry, you wont be in trouble, we never are. He probably just wants to tell you off a bit for helping a sack like Longbottom." He sniggered and turned back to his work.

She laughed softly, although her heart wasn't in it. Snape made her nervous, though she would never admit to that, and the thought of being alone in his office brought on an entire slew of barely definable, but very conflicting emotions. She shook her head. Well, I suppose I will find out what he wants soon enough. No use ruining my potion over...

A/N – Well, there is chapter two all written up. What will Snape have to say? I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see. ;) hehe