Severus continued to watch Allyna through the day as he caught glimpses of her throughout the castle. He had to forcefully make himself not stare at her during the lunch hour. She was sitting on her normal end of the table, but every few minutes a male of the species wandered over and sat across from her for a few minutes. Allyna would blush and shake her head in the negative and said male would glare and wander away again. Severus chuckled rudely when he realized that all of her potential dates weren't just from Slytherin, either. It seemed several proud Gryffindors and a few Ravenclaws, even, had the desire to be seen with the newly popular Slytherin "hottie" as they called them now.
He snorted outright with dark laughter, barely held in, when he saw young Ron Weasley screw up his courage and make his way towards Allyna. The boy's face was almost as red as his hair. When Allyna politely told him no, he looked angry for a moment, but Allyna said something to him and Ron sighed, nodded and left. Severus was suddenly very curious as to what Allyna had told him.
Thankfully the lunch hour passed quickly as he was getting rather fed up watching all those arrogant boys constantly trying to get Allyna's attention. Though he admitted to himself that in a bit of a cruel way, it made him smile that she turned down every single one of them. With only ten minutes of the lunch hour remaining, Severus left the Great Hall in a swish of midnight-black robes. He was preparing for his next class, first year Hufflepuffs, when he noticed that Allyna was opening the door.
He nodded his head to her, acknowledging her presence while he finished marking some essays. She perched on a stool at the front of the class and pulled a book from her bag, content to read until class began. When his first years arrived, nervous as usual, Severus stood and with a flick of his hand, began the day's lesson. Allyna put her book away and listened as Severus explained the properties of a bezoar.
When he asked where to find a bezoar, none of the little firsties raised a hand, which frustrated Severus. If they'd read the chapter he'd assigned yesterday, they should know the answers. As his mood darkened, so did his scowl. He began to take away points when he'd call on a student and they could not give him an answer. Then he saw Allyna raise her hand confidently. "Yes, Miss Wilson?"
Allyna smiled and answered swiftly, "The bezoar is a stone, an extremely potent anti-poison, found in the stomach of a goat, Professor Snape. Though there has been speculation between procurers that it is best that the goat be slaughtered on the night of a new moon or a more powerful blue moon for a more powerful stone."
"Very good, Miss Wilson. Ten points to Slytherin for actually having read the chapter." Severus said in approval. He turned his harsh gaze on the rest of the class. "Miss Wilson, if you would indulge me, perhaps you could read the chapter out loud to the other students so that they can take notes and understand the information before their test tomorrow?"
Allyna heard several small moans at the thought of a test and felt sorry for her young classmates. She was sure that at least most of them had probably read the chapter. It was most likely that Professor Snape terrified them and they were afraid to answer in case they were wrong and he became angry. But she did as she was told and stood at the front of the class, opened her book to the correct page and began to read out loud.
As she read, Severus paced through the room, making sure that students were taking competent notes. He noticed one little girl looking at Allyna with near-worship in her eyes. He had to fight off a smirk, there were definitely far less worthy people for the little first year to want to emulate than Allyna Wilson.
As Allyna continued to read, Severus found himself standing at the back of the classroom, watching her and listening to her as she read from the simple first-year's text. He admitted to himself that she would make an excellent Potions teacher. She looked up often to make sure that everyone was following along. At the end of each passage, she stopped so that students could finish their notes. She even asked if they needed her to read anything again for their notes. When the little girl he'd seen staring at Allyna raised her hand, Allyna's smile was kind and encouraging. She answered the girl's question about the effects of a bezoar as opposed to an anti-venom for snakebites competently.
"That will be enough for today, Miss Wilson, thank you. You will all turn in your notes at the end of class, and they will be returned to you this evening after dinner," Severus called out, when there was only five minutes left of class. Allyna smiled. "Yes, professor." she replied and took her seat. She quickly wrote out her own notes, from memory, and handed them to Severus when he waited by her desk. "Class dismissed," he called out and the students packed up their bags and hurried away. Only Allyna was left, and she was humming to herself as she packed away her things.
"Allyna, do not forget, lessons this evening after dinner," Severus reminded her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Of course, Professor Snape. I look forward to it," she replied and left his classroom, leaving Severus standing there like an idiot. Did she say she looked forward to spending time with him? No, that couldn't possibly have been what she meant, right? He shook his head to clear it and waited for his next class of infernally dunderheaded students. Why couldn't there be more students like Granger, who at least paid attention, or Allyna who had a passion for the art of potion-brewing? He sighed and waited for the day to end.
Allyna, meanwhile, was entering the Divination tower with a group of third-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Professor Trelawney smiled at seeing her again. "Ah, delightful to see you again, my dear. Please, take a seat, take a seat! Today, we will be using the Sight to find visions in crystal balls. Crystal balls are second only to what other scrying device. Does anyone know?"
Sighing, Allyna raised her hand when no one else did.
"Yes, Miss Wilson?"
"Mirrors, professor. Black mirrors, specifically."
"Very good, Miss Wilson, yes, very good. Excellent. Yes, black mirrors are an excellent scrying device. I myself prefer the crystal ball, however. Now, will everyone please look deep into themselves, let your inner Sight take over as you stare deeply into the ball." Trelawney commanded the class.
Smirking, Allyna closed her eyes for a moment before looking into the smooth, unfractured crystal before her. Slowly she began to see shapes, as if her brain was trying to focus on. Until a face appeared in the crystal. An incredibly familiar face, a face that Allyna knew very well. But the face in the crystal was so very different than the face's usual appearance. For the face was that of Severus Snape. But instead of his usual haughty, strict demeanor, it was open and happy. There was no anger, no pain there, only a swift smile and happiness that shown from his eyes. And love, directed towards her.
Allyna gasped and fell backwards out of her short stool, capturing everyone's attention. "Miss Wilson? Are you all right, dear? What did you see?" Trelawney was at her side in a second, staring down at her. Allyna's eyes were unfocused for a moment before she closed them and opened them again. They appeared normal again, though she was still breathing hard. She knew she had to make the lie believable. "Professor Snape. He was giving me a failing grade." Everyone around them tittered with laughter.
"Yes, that would be frightening, my dear. Oh, look at the time, look at the time. Class dismissed!" Professor Trelawney called out and everyone began to troop out of the room. Allyna didn't notice Sybil Trelawney's eyes following her as she left the room.
Finally classes were over for the day and it was time for dinner in the Great Hall. Allyna stopped by her room and dropped off her bag and books. She was happy to see Hermione, Ginny and Luna waiting outside the doors for her. They fell into step and as if by some unsaid decision, sat at one end of the Gryffindor table. Ginny immediately launched into the fact that they all needed to go to Hogsmeade that Friday to shop for the Yule Ball that Saturday evening.
Allyna agreed to meet with them, she couldn't believe there was only two more days until the Yule ball. She was glad that she had at least two more nights of dancing lessons with Professor Snape. She was terrified of making a fool of herself at the ball. When dinner was over, she hurried to Professor Snape's hidden room, smiling as the wards allowed her in, with a feeling of fresh sunshine tingling over her skin.
She waited for him there, transfiguring her shoes into the thinner-heeled shoes that Severus had approved of. She seemed to sense him before he said anything, her head flashing up and smiling at him. He nodded at her and began to remove his long robes, leaving on his frock coat and trousers. He flicked his wand and music filled the chamber. Allyna smiled, it was one of her favorites, Fur Elise. She stood in the middle of the room and the second Severus' hand was at her waist and her hand in his, they were moving. This waltz was different, Severus was much closer. Allyna tried hard not to blush, but she couldn't stop the fire rushing under her skin as it flooded her veins.
The lesson seemed to last minutes instead of hours. As the last song ended, Allyna gasped as Severus dipped her low, her head almost touching the floor. As they stood again, Severus released her. He looked pleased. "Much better, Miss Wilson. Your balance and timing are coming along nicely. I believe that you will be ready for scrutiny on Saturday evening." Severus said.
Allyna smiled at him. "Thank you, Professor." As they began to ready themselves to leave, Allyna turned to Severus. "Professor?"
Severus turned to face her. "Hmm?"
"Will you save a dance for me, Professor?" she asked, blushing a deeper rose than before.
Severus stood stock still for a moment, a thousand thoughts running through his mind, the number one being that a beautiful woman had just asked him to save her a dance. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "If that is what you wish, Allyna."