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~Chapter 4, Clash.~
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The last thing Katja wanted to do was to serve detention tonight, not that she particularly had anything better to do. She'd probably just hang out in the commons with Fred and George and do homework or help them with their practical joke planning.
She stopped by her dormitory to refresh her parchment and ink, unsure as to what the exact nature of her detention would be tonight.
Probably something god-awful and boring. Something to waste her time a flair Snape's ego. Katja rolled her eyes at the thought, seeing in her mind Professer Snape's disapproving glower. His arms crossed and his chin lifted defiantly, as if to say I have the power.
Great. That's just what she needed... to be around some kind of power hungry psycho. As if she didn't have enough of those in her life already...
She was getting used to the maze-like layout of the school, and so she wasted little time getting to the cold dungeon potion's classroom.The air was perpetually damp and chill, owing to the fact that it was partially underneath the lake. The very idea made her shiver. She didn't particularly like the idea of being underwater, especially under a lake that was home to innumerable sea creatures like mermaids, grendilows, and the rumored giant squid. She still wasn't sure if that was true or not.
The classroom door was open, and Professor Snape sat at his desk making a show of grading papers. She was certain that he knew she was standing there, but he said nothing. After a moment of quietly watching him, Katja entered the room. She'd foregone her thick braid that day and instead her hair hung free and wild around her face. She was sure she'd have to tie it back.
The thick red locks were impossible to deal with if she had to do anything other than sit still. Snape waited until the last possible moment before he looked up at her. His face was a mask, and if she could see her own, she'd say the same about it as well.
"Good evening, Professor." Katja said quietly, her voice bouncing around the empty room.
"Good evening," he replied automatically, his brow furrowing. He gestured to a pile of papers stacked precariously on the edge of his desk. "First year potions essays. I should think you could manage them. Then you will reorganize the store room. When you're done, you may leave."
She took the pile deftly and made her way to a desk in the front of the room, aware of Professor Snape's eyes on her the entire time. Katja was still a little angry, but she accepted her punishment with grace. After all, she did behave quite belligerently earlier and she embarrassed him to boot. Severus Snape was not a man that took well to being disrespected.
She sifted through the papers quickly and accurately, her head throbbing and her brows furrowing in disgust at several of the answers throughout them. She didn't understand why even first years would make these mistakes. Some of the answers were down right ridiculous. No wonder why Professor Snape wanted nothing to do with them.
Katja snuck a peek at him and watched him while he worked for a moment. He was silent reading a roll of parchment, his head bowed over it. His shoulder-length black hair made a silky curtain that partially obscured his face. It was all part of the act, she was sure of it. He wanted to keep everyone away.
I wonder, what kind of person are you really, Professor?
He looked up, aware that he was being watched and she blushed and quickly looked back down to her own work. Katja hadn't meant to stare. She was just curious about him. His sour demeanor and attitude grated on her and terrified and made all of his students have him.
Not that she hated him. She could understand that it was showmanship. It was simply a tool that he used to make his life easier. No one bothered you when you didn't like them, and loneliness didn't hurt when you were the one controlling it. If he had no one close to him, how could he miss companionship?
Finally, after what Katja was certain equalled a century, she finished the first year essays. She gathered the thick stack up and walked over to Professor Snape's desk.
He looked up from the parchment he was currently marking and took them from her before rising to escort her to the ingredients store room. She followed, her nose wrinkling as they stepped into the small room.
It didn't stink, not exactly. It had a particular odor though...
It was readily apparent to what needed done, but the surly potion's master explained anyway.
"Alphabetize this mess. For each ingredient you can't identify, I want you to leave it on the lower shelf. When I return to see how you've done, I will assign you an essay based on them."
She frowned at him as he finished, her eyes roving over the shelves. "Sir, forgive me... but seeing as that I'm from America, many of our common names for plants are different from yours. Am I supposed to arrange them based on their Latin names or will I be punished for knowing them by a different name?"
The question gave him pause as he considered this.
"Arrange them all according to their Latin names." He said finally, turning and leaving her in the store room to sort it out.
Katja worked diligently, arranging the plants and herbs without much effort. A small jar of dried wings were unable to be identified and so she set them on the lower shelf, as he had told her to.
She was reaching up as high as she could, stretching to place a jar of dried Agrimonia Eupatoria otherwise known to her as Church Steeple on the very top of the shelf with the other A's when she felt a body brush against hers, taking the jar from her hand and setting it on the shelf with ease.
Katja flattened against the shelves, her heart thumping and adrenaline shooting through her as she let out a soft noise of distress. Memories surged around her and she could feel Uncle Lucuis's hands on her again.
She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her ears and sank to the floor. The phantom sensation of those cold hands stroking her thighs making her sick. His hot breath against the nape of her neck and his chest crushing her against the wall as he groped and touched her... reaching underneath her dress and rubbing her intimate areas. His lips leaving hot trails on her neck and his demanding body grinding against hers.
It took her a minute to come back to the present. She was sitting on the floor sobbing. Katja was horrified as she hauled herself to her feet, using the shelf as leverage. She backed away quickly, turning to face Professor Snape. She still had tears in her eyes and her heart was racing but she took deep breaths to try to control it.
He had taken several steps back to give her more room and he studied her wearily, looking almost into her it seemed. "Are you alright?"
Katja hastily wiped her eyes, not caring if it smeared her mascara or eyeliner. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry. You just frightened me... that's all."
"Miss Solomon, if you had acted frightened or startled, I could believe that... but you seem more... traumatized." He said slowly and unsurely, as if he were confused as to why he even cared enough to ask.
Katja straightened her robes, wrapping her arms around herself to try to conceal her trembling. "I don't really want to talk about it, if it's all the same to you. I'm sorry."
He clenched his jaw, his black eyes flashing. "No, Miss Solomon. It's not "all the same" to me. I demand an explanation for what just happened. I just watched you reduced to a whimpering mess on my store room floor because I came up behind you to assist you before you broke something."
Katja looked up defiantly, her emerald eyes shining. "Well, you're not going to get one!"
Professor Snape went still for a moment before drawing his wand, faster than she could react.
"Legilimens!"
Katja felt like a hand had reached into her mind and she could do nothing to stop it, she was immobilized by it.
