Hey everyone! SO sorry I've been gone so long – lots of personal problems but I'm back and working on some chapters for this fic. I know a lot of you were eager for a sequel and so I'm very sorry I didn't carry it on as planned. I'm a terrible person. Anyways, enjoy this new chapter and I hope you're not too mad to review...

RdF

Chapter Three – Settling In

"Impertinent! Rude and downright unprofessional!" Severus Snape shouted at Alana when she finally bit the bullet and went to see him that evening to clear the air. "How dare you speak to me that way, let alone in front of a class of students?"

"They didn't hear me, professor," she retorted lazily, wondering how long he'd continue with her lecture. Why she had to stand for it was beyond her, but she reminded herself that even though she was a teacher now, she still had to respectful. Even to Snape.

"That is beside the point, Miss Cross," he spat. "You may be my colleague but it'll be a cold day in hell before I take abuse such as that again - don't think I'll hesitate to go to Professor Dumbledore if you toe out of line. You're not exempt from the rules and etiquette of this school." He was tempted to add "and you never have been" but this wasn't about the past.

"I'm sorry," she said, exaggerating the syllables and folding her arms. He was doing just what she expected him to; lecturing her like she was still in her school robes.

"No you're not." He recognised the expression she was pulling; the "just-give-it-a-rest" look.

"Look," she said tapping her foot. "It works both ways Professor Snape – I'll treat you respectfully...like a colleague," she added shrugging a little underneath her work robes, "If you don't try and undermine me. I am a fully qualified teacher you know. I'm a Potions Master. I tick all the boxes that you wanted for a Potions teacher. And it isn't fair to come in and humiliate me just because I used to be a student. Which you did," she said sternly. Snape gritted his teeth hard as finished pacing in a fury, regarding her coolly. "You wouldn't be this way with anyone else."

No, he supposed that was true enough. But he doubted anyone would be as much of a pain in his arse as she was. "Fine. Perhaps we should just stay out of each other's way," he suggested venomously.

"Or perhaps we could just learn to get along," Alana sighed. "Like adults."

She turned at that point and opened the door to his rooms, leaving him in a quiet stupor. He rolled his eyes and stormed over to his desk, sitting down with an exhausted sigh. He hoped the following year wouldn't be like this; her final year at Hogwarts had nearly killed him with the bickering and fighting. She was a stubborn chit back then, and didn't seem to have changed. He ran his hand along his jaw line pensively. She wasn't going to come under anyone's authority lightly, least of all his. Once again, he had to question what on earth Albus was thinking hiring her of all people. He wished he'd been a little less picky regarding the stipulations for the job now. He'd take Longbottom over Alana, if it meant some peace.

XXXXXX

Weeks passed with little consequence. Alana, for what it was worth, kept to his suggestion and avoided him, preferring to only converse with him when it was absolutely necessary and never on anything but work. It was better that way – for a moment, Snape had been afraid of her disturbing the life he'd built up after their last encounter but it seemed she had no desire to be "good friends" anymore. She had become fairly close to a lot of the other teachers he'd noticed; Minerva and Alana laughed over breakfast most mornings, he'd heard one of the new Herbology teachers say that a group of them were going to Hogsmeade – Alana included. She kept herself busy, and made herself popular amongst the faculty and students very quickly.

That was the most annoying thing; she seemed to be able to make time for tea with Flitwick and so he hoped she'd lapse a little in her duties. He hoped she'd be unable to control her classes and forget to mark homework whilst setting them more. And while he couldn't understand his desire to see her fail, he really wished she would on some scale. But she had a firm grasp on her social and professional lives and the students adored her. They lapped up every word she said with great hunger, eagerly waited for their next trip to the dungeons and a lot of the boys in school had rated her best looking teacher.

She was making Potions almost as desirable as Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Everyone raved about "Professor Cross" and how interesting Potions. He had never felt more inadequate, useless. Still, he knew that as head of the Slytherin House there were still a fair few students who preferred him to Professor Cross. Not many...but still. A few was better than none.

XXXXXX

Alana sniffed as she finished marking a first year essay and scrawled a note at the bottom on how they could improve it. Her first year class weren't the best of potioneers – the young Malfoy was by far the most gifted and he'd magically glued his palm to a rapidly heating cauldron a few days ago – but they were eager and she couldn't fault their efforts. L:aying aside her quill she exhaled deeply, giving herself a few moments before she had to make herself look presentable; she was expecting a call from Draco.

Life at Hogwarts barely gave her time to pause these days, and she realised how much she had taken her teachers for granted when she was younger. Still, the old castle was like home to her even though she'd only spent one year within its walls. It just had the sheen to it, which made everything seem the more magical. And she hadn't expected to be so liked, she thought, smiling as she glanced at the box of Honeydukes toffees one student had brought her. She had reasoned with herself, and Lucius when he'd queried why on earth she wanted to teach, that she knew what teachers did that she hated and so she resolved to learn from that and be a better professor. He'd raised an eyebrow, but didn't mention Severus, even though he knew that was who she meant.

"Not disturbing you am I?"

Draco's smooth voice snapped her from her thoughts and she turned quickly in her chair to see him emerge from her fireplace in a dark suit, dusting Floo powder from his shoulders.

"Not at all. Just finished marking," she smiled, rising to greet him in a hug. "How have you been?"

"Can't complain. Got some holiday leave coming up in a few weeks so I'm off on a little trip with Hermione," he said coyly. She rolled her eyes. No one had seen that one coming but it had been quite the office romance; despite initial tension in their department at the Ministry due to old prejudices, they'd managed to see past it and before long started dating. Alana had been as gobsmacked as Lucius, but neither complained. They suited each other, strangely.

"So how's the life of a Professor then?" Draco asked, strolling around her small office with his hands in his pockets. "You barely write these days, and Dad's not heard from you in a while."

She shrugged but had the good grace to look apologetic. "I underestimated how busy I'd be. But you can tell Lucius I'm very sorry. I'll visit at Christmas if he'll have me."

Draco nodded. She'd visited them frequently since her first visit and it had been the Malfoy's she had turned to when she left France. Lucius and Draco were bizarrely some of her dearest friends, and the Manor felt like more of a home than the tiny cottage on the outskirts of Versailles had.

"So, is this just a social visit or did you have some other reason for dropping by?" Alana asked with a cocked eyebrow. He looked as if he had something to say.

"Well, mostly socially," he grinned, some blonde hair falling into his eyes as he perched on the arm of the chair opposite. "But I have come to warn you – the school's going to have an inspection later this year."

"What?" she groaned.

"With all the upheaval and the new teachers, they just want to check everything's running the way it should," Draco explained. "No need to worry. Except...well, it'll probably mean some stuffy old stooge sitting in your lessons and taking notes. Or, if the Ministry can't spare them, your subject supervisors will have to write a report on you to send in."

Alana's shoulders slumped. "You do realise my 'subject supervisor' is your Godfather?" She could just see Severus Snape sat in the corner with a gleeful smile as he wrote reams of parchment on her terrible teaching methods, her bad temper, and mediocre potion skills.

He pulled a face. "Yeah but he's fair."

Alana simpered at him. "He's the last person I would call fair."

"Still causing you some problems?"

"Not at all," Alana reassured him. "I just have no desire for him to report on how I'm doing, criticising me, belittling my methods just because they're not the same as his. I had a gutful of that five years ago."

"I don't think he'll be unprofessional though," Draco smirked. Alana didn't bother to contradict him; she was too tired.

"Don't worry about it," her old friend sighed. "You're a good teacher Alana. Anyone can see that, and if Snape does decide to write a bad report the Ministry will check it out. They won't just take his word for it."

She knew that, but that didn't mean it wouldn't make her feel like utter rubbish. She supposed, even after all these years, she needed to feel something like approval from him. A pat on the back well done. For him to admit she was someone to be reckoned with. She was modest out loud, but in reality the results spoke from themselves; she'd graduated with O's and E's in all her subjects, she achieved her Master title in Potions in record time and had left her teaching course somewhere at the top. It bothered her that she still needed Severus Snape's seal of approval on her achievements.

"You're right," she said, so they could stop talking about it. She knew his warning her was supposed to help her prepare but she knew now that was all she would think about for the following months until Dumbledore announced it officially. "Now, have you got time for tea? Because I want to hear all about this outing last Thursday. Hermione's letter skimmed over the details but she was very vague..."

They were soon laughing as he told her how the bushy haired young woman had been practising her French in a restaurant and completely humiliated herself in front of a young waiter, but the worry was niggling at the back of her mind. She was still a new teacher, by no means perfect, and no amount of student adoration would save her from the wrath of Severus Snape.

XXXXXX

So it's a slow start, and short too, to get you back into it. Sorry.

And couldn't resist a bit of Dramione. So sue me.

R and R please!