A/N: So, here we are, edging closer to a more comfortable relationship between the two. Happy days. Hope you like it. As always, reviews, suggestions, general praise and adoration are much appreciated. In fact they're encouraged. I'm only kidding, just drop a line.

I don't own HP. Chapter title is a song that comes from the musical 'A Very Potter Sequel'. Except this is about Alana and Snape, not Umbridge and Dumbledore.

RdF

Chapter Eight – Gettin' Along

Alana awoke on Christmas morning, a little disorientated as she stared hard at the pile of gifts on her desk and wondered why they were there. When the realisation dawned on her – that today was Christmas, and they were for her – she smiled contentedly and rose from her four poster bed, pulling on her dressing gown that was strewn over the end as she did so. The room was cold, despite the house elves having lit the fire. She flicked her wand absentmindedly towards it so its heat swelled a bit. She tucked her feet underneath herself as she sat on the chair to have a proper look at the gifts; they were like blocks of ice.

She hadn't expected many, but there were quite a few here. It was obvious who the green and silver one was from; a running joke between her and the Malfoy's over her Gryffindor pride. They constantly told her she should have been a Slytherin, not that you could argue with the Sorting Hat. She touched the velvet bow lightly before laying it aside. There were also small parcels from Hermione, Harry, a few from friends from her apprentice days, Jenea, who had gone home for the holidays, and Chester, who had also returned to his parent's in Ireland. At the bottom of the pile was a small plain looking one with a French postmark. She couldn't believe her father had sent her a gift, so it must have secretly been sent by her mother. Sure enough, when she tore of the wrapping paper hurriedly, inside was a short letter from her Mum, sending her love and best wishes, and a leather bound notebook with her name engraved in the cover. She ran her hand over the letters feeling a renewed surge of sadness that she was alone in her room unwrapping presents when she could be with people she loved, but she laid it aside. She was determined not to feel too sorry for herself.

Jenea and Chester had sent sweets and alcohol, just as she had them. Hermione's was ever practical – a diary to help organise her lesson plans. Most of her gifts were edible. She smiled at the book inside her present from Lucius (and Draco, though she thought he might have just added his name to the tag). It was a first edition they'd been discussing last time she visited. She should have known he would have remembered.

By the end of it all Alana was surrounded by paper and had begun arranging her gifts into a neat pile of her desk, smiling gratefully as she did so. The room was considerably warmer now so, rising from her chair, Alana flicked her wand to send the paper to the bin and headed to her bathroom to get ready for some breakfast. Family or no family, she was going to enjoy Christmas Day whatever it brought.

XXXXX

Alana groaned as she strolled down the corridor to the room where the teachers were gathering. She had eaten way too much at lunch and she sincerely hoped that no one would offer her anything else except a large, soft chair for her to sit herself down in and rest. Christmas dinner had been wonderful; there was something about the food here. It tasted heavenly, and even when she thought she'd had enough, she'd found room for some more chipolatas or roast parsnips.

Everyone had been in good spirits too. Joking, laughing. It had been a good decision to stay. There were plenty of distractions to take her mind off her parents, and she found herself really enjoying the day. After eating, she'd decided to take advantage of the quiet library and gone to read in one of the alcoves. She'd run into Ollie from her Potions class on the stairs on her way to get ready for the staff party, surrounded by a large group of friends. She couldn't help but feel proud and encouraged to see him come out of his shell, and he was coming forward more in class with answers. Porthos Malfoy on the other hand was still hopeless.

She'd tried to get out of the party in the end, simply because she was tired and she'd realised that she would be the only person her own age there. Not that her age was a huge issue, but with all the other NQT's away, Alana was concerned that she'd have nothing to talk about and no one to talk to. But when she tried to brush Professor Sprout off, the woman had alerted Minerva and Madame Pince and before she knew it, they were all insisting she was there, if only to try McGonagall's mulled wine she'd heard so much about. She'd buckled under pressure, and she could have sworn she saw a smirk appear on Professor Snape's face as the scene played out before him. He'd been quiet all day, showing his face but not really getting involved, but then he'd always been very private.

Entering the room, she was surprised to hear soft music playing. The room was small, warm and decorated festively like the rest of the castle, with mistletoe just above the door that she came through. Alana grimaced when she spotted it and hoped she wouldn't witness anyone taking advantage of it. She smiled warmly at everyone as she walked past, making a conscious effort to put some distance between herself and the buffet table and made her way over to the edge of the room where there was an empty set of chairs and not many people. When she made it over there, she found they weren't as unoccupied as she thought – Severus Snape was sat by himself, completely absorbed in a book. He noticed her standing there and glanced up, scanning her quickly with his dark eyes.

"Sorry – do you mind?" she asked, pointing to a chair. He shook his head, closed his book and rose.

"By all means, take a seat." He made a motion to go but Professor McGonagall arrived with a glass in her hand and passed it over to Alana. "Ah Severus – where are you going? I know you don't want to be here. But this is Alana's first staff party. Don't leave her by herself." He narrowed his eyes slightly at her tone – that of a stern teacher addressing a pupil reproachfully. He didn't sit down or reply, but he didn't look as if he were about to walk away either, so she turned her attentions to Alana. "I thought I saw you come in, dear. There you are, as promised. My own recipe," she added with a proud smile. "Drink up."

"Er...thanks Professor," Alana smiled, taking the glass. She saw Snape fight a smirk out of the corner of her eye but didn't say anything. Minerva smiled warmly at her, and left them alone.

"What's so funny?" Alana asked after a while of sitting, scanning the room. Her glum companion didn't turn his head to look down at her as he replied. Instead he kept his gaze focused ahead for the moment.

"You."

"Me?"

"The way you interact with your old Professors," he explained. "You obviously find it extremely awkward sometimes, and it's amusing to watch. They way they press ganged you into coming this evening was very interesting."

"It's not awkward..." she paused as he cut her off with a reproachful look, his lip twisting into a sceptical smirk. She bowed her head and shook it before lifting her face to meet his gaze. "Fine. It's a little awkward sometimes," she admitted with a shrug. "Look, in the same way you obviously find it hard seeing me as a professor and not a pupil sometimes, I find it hard to see you and everyone else as my..." She trailed off as she watched Hagrid down a pint. "Colleagues. I mean, I'm not stupid. I know you all have lives..." Alana trailed off with a nervous laugh. "It's just weird seeing you all drink and stuff."

Snape listened, standing fixedly in his spot with his book under his arm. "Well, it's always a little 'weird' having someone we used to teach join the fold too, so you're not alone."

She smiled and took a sip of the mulled wine. It was warmly, pleasantly so, and had a delicious kick. She nestled back in the chair to make herself comfortable, but seeing that Snape showed no sign of moving, nor any sign of sitting down, she frowned.

"Sit down if you're staying. You're making me nervous, standing there like some kind of sentinel."

He glanced at her sharply when she spoke. He'd heard those words before – over five years ago, in the Malfoy's study, she had said almost the same thing, and sitting down then had been one step towards something that shouldn't have happen. It was only one element of a dangerous mix, but he had sat down all the same, became too close. He mentally reminded himself that it wasn't the same now – she was older. She wasn't his student anymore. She was a grown woman. And he was a grown man. They were colleagues for goodness' sake, and shouldn't they be able to behave like that? He knew that a lot of the discomfort between them was not because he had once taught her, as it was with everyone else in the room. But he was confident that sitting down now would not be a step towards another situation from five years ago. Was there any harm in being...friends? Not now certainly. And so, he returned to the chair he had been in before.

"Thank you. Talking of treating me like a student - you make me feel like one when you stand over me, all ominous," she joked, smiling into her glass as she drank. He shook his head with a sigh, not bothering to bite back to her jibe.

They sat quietly for a while; Snape reopened his book and carried on reading, and that prompted Alana to take one from the shelf behind her. She examined the cover, saw that it was relatively interesting and began reading. Her concentration was disturbed by a pair of eyes on her, staring intently, and when she looked up to see who it was, Snape was looking at her with a searching expression.

"What is it?" she asked.

"France," he said simply, but when she looked expectant, he closed his book slowly. "You were supposed to go to France. Why didn't you?" He had been reading rather innocently until he came across a passage talking about a particular herb discovered in Paris, and it had sparked him off on a train of thought that had bothered him for some time – since Alana had first arrived. He had the opportunity to ask right in front of him, and so he did so.

"I'm...sorry?" she said, eyes growing wide. Was he about to start an argument with her over why she was here? He didn't seem confrontational.

"When you left, you said you were going back to France, but you didn't intend to stay long. I'm curious to know what happened," he explained more clearly. She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in a thoughtful way, closing her book and laying it on the table in front of her.

"I didn't intend to stay at all. I was going to apply for an apprenticeship that began after the summer," she started. "But I fell ill, really ill, during the holidays and couldn't go. By the time I was even slightly better, it was too late to start anything, and so my father and I sat down and discussed everything that had happened between us. He offered to apprentice me on a trial basis and I had no other option, so I stayed."

"I presume it didn't work out," Snape interjected in a serious tone. She shook her head and sat back.

"No, not at all. I tried to, but my father went back on everything he'd said. I found out he'd not even filed the official documents that meant my time with him would actually amount to a qualification. I was basically there to work as his servant," she said, and he heard the anger in her voice, though she didn't raise it. She cleared her throat and tucked some hair behind her ear as she continued in the story. "We had a huge fight, and I left. He told me never to come back."

Snape frowned. "I'm...sorry. I did see something of that in your father when we met, but I never suspected he would be so active in his attempt to sabotage your future."

She shrugged as if it were nothing at all, though he saw sadness in her eyes. "It was because of you I knew I was better than just someone who cleaned out my father's cauldrons for him. It wasn't that I wasn't willing to work hard, it's just..."

"He had nothing left to teach you. I understand," Snape interrupted. Alana looked at him with a soft smile.

"Well, I'm glad someone understands. If I told people I left the apprenticeship of the Great Algernon Cross, it would be like I committed murder. In fact, Dad acts as if I have," she added wryly, looking down at her half empty glass.

Snape paused pensively before asking another question. To have the curiosity he'd had all these weeks finally quelled with some answers was good but he didn't want to pry or push her. "Where did you go?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I didn't know what to do. I came to London," she said. "This was around late November time, and I realised I had nowhere to go. I certainly didn't have another job to go to. I had some money saved up and spent a few nights in a hotel until I happened, by chance, to run into Draco."

Snape stiffened a little at the sound of his godson's name, though he couldn't explain why. He put a finger to his lips and waited for her to continue.

"He listened to what had happened, offered me a place to stay at his and Lucius', and I was running out of money so I took him up on it. But you probably knew that. I stayed for a while and Lucius managed to pull a few strings and find me an apprenticeship that I could begin in the January. They were very kind to me," she added with a fond smile.

"I was aware that you'd kept in contact but not to this extent," he said.

"Yes, we're all good friends."

"But you didn't go for Christmas?" he probed with a smirk.

Alana's shoulders shrunk visibly. "I know, I know. But I just didn't feel like it this year. I miss my mother and being surrounded by people didn't seem like a good idea at the time." She faltered. Why was she telling him all this? Minerva's mulled wine had made her a little talkative. She eyed the empty glass shrewdly – she hadn't realised she was such a lightweight. "Sorry, I'm...er...running on a bit."

"Not at all," Snape replied. "I asked you, after all." He paused.

She nodded and fell into an easy silence, picking up her book again and reading where she'd left off. Snape did the same and they sat quietly for a little while longer before he watched as she discreetly yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, and then did it again, and again, before finally she closed the book and replaced it on the shelf.

"Goodnight, Professor," she said, rising. "I just can't keep up," she joked, jerking a thumb at the rest of the faculty still enjoying themselves. "I'm too tired."

"Goodnight," he replied. She moved past him to leaving, brushing his legs accidently with her own as she did so, causing him to pull them in.

"Oh, thank you," she said, turning on her heels quickly. He looked at her with mild surprise.

"What for?"

"For listening. For being interested. Whatever. It was...good to talk," she added with a polite smile. And with that she left the room, thanking Minerva for the wine as she did so. She had known they could do it – be amicable, that was – and surprisingly, she had really enjoyed his company. Well, not surprisingly, she thought as she paced along the corridors back to the dungeon. Alana had always enjoyed spending time with him, when they weren't fighting. He was an interesting man, who could joke when he was in the mood. Sitting in silence with him was...comfortable sometimes. If only there hadn't been all the drama of feelings during their time together and they could have maintained a long relationship. It was only because of those everything had gotten all mixed up in the first place.

XXXXX

Severus Snape was disturbed.

He couldn't put his finger on why exactly, as he entered his chambers and readied himself for bed. He hadn't drunk anything – he'd had quite enough at dinner and had only really gone tonight because he'd been bullied into being sociable by Albus. He didn't feel unwell really; not because he'd eaten too much, or eaten something strange. He could only isolate the source of his discomfort to the last hour or so he had spent with Alana.

There was something different about Alana. He'd noticed it before now, but having spoken to her, there was something in her manner these days. At first he hadn't liked it, but he didn't know what it was – he could tell now it was a self assuredness and quiet confidence. It had been close to arrogance in her school days, but now? No, no...now it was the product of a five year adventure in which she had left home and lost people she cared about, no matter how terribly they treated her. She had grown up, and matured, and he hadn't noticed properly before. Stand her next to any of her peers and she might seem older. After all, by the sound of it, she'd had to grow up fast, even without Lucius' helping hand. Of course, there were still flashes of the old Alana, he thought with a smirk, thinking about her temper tantrum the other week over the reports. He hoped she never lost that. But this new side of her – a side he could almost imagine himself liking a little – was a definite improvement.

Something in her story had riled him too. A sort of sense of righteous anger over the way her father had treated her had boiled his blood. He'd hid it well of course. He couldn't imagine what she'd think if he had gotten angry over it in front of her. He'd disliked Algernon Cross since he'd met him at the convention briefly and liked him even less now. What sort of a man, let alone a father, tried to wreck his daughter's career? Severus supposed he'd only really understand if he was a father himself, but he couldn't see a logical side to Algernon's actions.

What further infuriated him was the fact that he cared at all. What business was it of his? Beyond that of an interested ex professor. He had only asked out of curiosity really, and here he was, playing over the story in his mind, allowing it to plague him further than necessary. He climbed into bed, feeling wearied from the day. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he suspected that what had disturbed him most was, despite his effort to keep some distance between them, he had rather enjoyed her company.