As Alexis and Draco descended the stairs, Alexis gently gripped her brothers arm. He was older than her by almost thirty minutes, her mom wasn't very always the nicest bringing up that Alexis had kept her waiting at extra thirty minutes to be done with the hell of child labor. Her mother had always liked Draco better, they'd bonded first and well, he just seemed to go to her with problems. Whereas Lexi was a full on daddy's girl. She always went to her father and she was the only one he ever allowed into his library while he was in there working.
Given that both Lexi and Draco had just turned seventeen, their parents decided to throw a mixture party of going back to school and their birthdays to celebrate. Lexi loved parties but she knew that Draco only went because he had to. He always only danced with Pansy, whom Lexi couldn't stand. If she had to survive the rest of her life with Pansy as her sister-in-law she wasn't sure what she would do. However, Lexi danced with everyone that asked her. Young, old, her age, didn't matter to her. She loved to dance. Tonight was an extra special night because there were special guests. Her father's coworkers, not only from the ministry, but also his fellow Death Eaters.
Lexi didn't fully understand everything that went on with her father, but she was happy that she hadn't been forced to join in. She had been a special interest to the Dark Lord himself though and that had made her nervous until her father cooled her off by explaining that it was just because he didn't have many female followers and because he hoped she'd be as helpful as Draco had been.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lexi and Draco kissed their parents cheeks and then parted ways. Draco found Pansy almost immediately and slipped out of the party with her to go to the garden. That girl better thank me later for that idea... Alexis thinks cruelly. Suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder and jumps, turning to grab the arm of Lucius.
"Haven't we discussed, you shouldn't sneak up on me?" She asks in an innocent tone, releasing her fathers arm, a coy smile playing on her lips.
"Just wanted to congratulate you on a beautiful dress. Oh, and professor Snape has asked that you dance with him at least once tonight. He wishes to speak to you about Potions this year, as you're becoming rather advanced. I'll let him explain the rest, but you should try to keep your calm. You get too much better at things and the Dark Lord may have no choice but to force you into following," Lucius explains, kissing her cheek softly before leaving.
Lexi rolled her eyes slightly. She loved her professor but must they discuss school at the last party before she has to return to that hell?
"Must you really think that Hogwarts is hell? I mean, after all I am going to be the headmaster this year," a low and drawling voice says from behind her.
Lexi turns quickly, her hand extended to smack him. He catches her hand and raises an eyebrow at her. She already knew what he was going to say and she had no desire to hear it.
"Don't read my thoughts without my permission, professor," She says, her tone dangerously low and borderline threatening. If she learned anything from her father, it was how to put someone in their place with the tone of the voice as well as the look in your eye.
Severus nods, releasing her hand and takes a bow gently.
"May I have this dance to make it up to you?" He asks, holding out his hand while looking at the dance floor.
Lexi nods, taking his hand after giving him a polite curtsy. She unfortunately was unable to say no to dancing, and the bastard knew it. But he wasn't all that bad, he was actually a terrific dancer and one of her favorite partners besides her father and her brother.
The first song starts to play and they twirl around slowly to the music.
"So, I'm sure your father mentioned why I wanted to dance?" Severus asks.
"You mean to say you didn't want to dance with me because I'm a fabulous dancer? Shocker..." she replies, somewhat dryly which causes the corner of Severus's mouth to twitch into half a smile.
"That was my first reason, but my second reason is that I must discuss your lessons with you. I've arranged for you to take your final year in private lessons with me. Given that you had been doing so well as I was teaching potions and then your grades significantly deteriorated when Professor Slughorn took over -"
"Oh, you mean the douche who prefers Gryffindors, even though I made ever potion better than Potter?" Lexi interrupts him.
"Lexi, Slughorn has his favorites, trust me, I wasn't one of them either. But, that doesn't mean he's a bad teacher. I had my favorites too you know," he says, giving her a slight smile, just for a second.
Lexi groans internally. Of course she had been a favorite, because she was the best in the class up until Slughorn took over for him. But Severus and Lexi had developed a close friendship. They'd spent a lot of evenings in the common room just talking and playing chess after she'd finish her homework. Many students thought they were actually dating or just screwing around, but they weren't. Lexi had thought about it, wondering if he even liked her that way but she figured she'd let him come to her if he wanted that. So far, it was just their connection to each other and their common interests with Potions and Slytherin pride that had been keeping them so close.
"Should I come by your office once I get my schedule tomorrow? We can set up a time that works for us then?" she asks politely, twirling under his arm as the first song draws to a close. They bow and curtsy in respect before joining together for the second song of the evening.
"That should work for me, I might be able to get the schedule even this evening or before we leave tomorrow if that would be suitable. Slughorn should have them close to finished, I should think," Severus replies, his hand holding hers again, the other hand gently wrapped around her waist for the slow song.
Lexi nods slightly and smiles, she always enjoyed dancing with Severus, even though she loved any time she got to spend with her Professor. They had often discussed her desires and fears about her life after the war, joining with the Death Eaters, as well as Dumbledore's Army, her qualms about blood status and even her serious devotion to her family and her potion work. Lexi took after Severus in a lot of ways and he'd really helped her develop her own thoughts about blood status and if it was even that big of a deal. She'd been brought up to think it was, and she hated turning her back on her own family with her beliefs, but especially after learning more about Severus' past, she wasn't so sure that the purity of one's blood mattered anymore.