#8 ~ A Rather Catty Situation

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR (except Odessa Divine). All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 10 ~ Marcus Meets Odessa

Odessa and Albus stepped through the floo in the Main Hall. Once again, Odessa’s presence caused a noticeable fluctuation in the temperatures and directional abilities of the youths of Hogwarts. They followed behind her, streaming into the Great Hall, glassy-eyed as if they were rats and she were the Pied Piper of Hamlin Town. Albus escorted her to the High Table, where he gave her a short introduction to Minerva, Pomfrey, and Flitwick, who were already there. He directed her to a seat near the end of the table, promising to come back shortly to introduce her after the staff and rest of the student body arrived. Odessa set her bag under her chair and looked around the Great Hall. Most of the male students were looking at her and nudging each other.

“Whatever she’s teaching, I’m taking!” exclaimed a blonde-haired Hufflepuff sixth year. Others along the table murmured agreement.

“I hope it’s sex education,” said another sixth year. This started off a new round of excited mutterings.

The reaction of the female students were mixed. Some hated Odessa on sight, others thought she was beautiful and wondered if she would give them tips. As the Hall filled up, Marcus entered through the staff entrance. He greeted Minerva, Pomfrey and Flitwick as he passed and headed for his chair, which was situated right next to Odessa. He walked past her without comment, and sat down. Only then did he cast a surreptious glance over her. Quite a beautiful witch…she looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn’t quite place her. He eyed her curves. Devastating. She might have possibilities. He cleared his throat. Odessa turned her green eyes on him. He stuck out his hand.

“Marcus Delaluci,” he said, smiling at the witch, “Dark Arts Teacher.”

Odessa looked him over. He felt a little like a piece of meat, the way her eyes considered him. She took his hand rather limply and said, “Odessa Divine” before turning back and watching the hall again.

“Well, brrrrr to you too, lady,” Marcus thought as he ordered his lunch. While he waited for his plate to appear, he glanced at the new staff member’s profile again, knowing he had seen her somewhere before. It bothered him he didn’t remember where. She was such a beauty, it should have been instant recall. Maybe all this celibacy for the sake of Cassandra was getting to him. For the past few months, he had severely curtailed his “extracurricular activities” in other words, he hadn’t been laid for weeks, trying to get himself to the point where Cassandra would let him do more than occasionally kiss her, chastely. But the Obeah woman knew he wasn’t ready.

She gave him credit for restraining himself while he attempted to court her, but knew he still wasn’t at the point where he wanted a serious relationship. He wasn’t abstaining from other women because he wanted to, or because he felt Cassandra was the only woman for him. There were a number of lovely women he was dying to fuck. He only holding back, hoping that Cassandra would have mercy on him and give in to his desire for intimacy. But the Obeah actually would have preferred him to sleep with the women if they were willing, rather than be miserable for her sake. The wizard was trying, but just wasn’t getting it.

The truth was, other women still attracted him. He just wasn’t a one-woman man. But he adored Cassandra, he found a peace with her that he could find no place else. He wasn’t willing to give that up. So, for the most part Marcus for the first time was living an exemplary life. But it didn’t stop him from wishing. He took another quick peek at Odessa again as her lunch arrived. He looked down at her meal and winced a little. That had to be the bloodiest steak he’d ever seen. It looked like the elves had just warmed the meat on either side and slipped it on to her plate. She had a large piece of bread and a glass of pumpkin juice to wash it down.

“Prefer your food still squirming, eh?” Marcus said. Odessa looked at him, her eyes narrowed just a bit.

“When I can get it,” she replied, flashing him a quick, unfriendly smile before diving into her food. She had very sharp looking eyeteeth, and was making short work of the steak, sopping up the blood with the bread as she ate. The pleasure on her face as she chewed looked almost orgasmic.

“Whoa,” Marcus thought, watching her with a morbid fascination. This chick has issues. He mentally crossed her off as a possibility for his “women to fuck” wish list. He could just picture her sinking her pointed little eyeteeth in a part of his anatomy where they didn’t belong. But he remained curious. He’d figure out where he knew her from eventually.

At this point, Severus and Hermione walked into the Great Hall. Severus pulled out his wife’s seat, settled her in, then sat down beside her. Odessa stiffened a little when she saw them. Marcus noticed this immediately. Why did she react like that? He looked at her again, then his eyes widened in recognition.

“Oh shit. She exists,” he thought. This was the woman Snape was boning in Hermione’s worst fear scenario from the astral plane. And by the way her body language changed when the Potions Master walked in showed there was something other on her mind than just resorting files. Marcus grinned. Looked like things were about to get interesting again at Hogwarts. He wondered how long it would take for Hermione to recognize the woman as the one from her worst nightmare. And Snape. Great Merlin’s nuggets. How would he react?

Marcus practically rubbed his palms together in glee. He had no intention on sharing this little gem with the couple. It would be his dose of daily drama for the next few weeks. Gods, this was going to be awesome. He leaned toward Odessa.

“That’s Professor Snape and his wife Lady Snape. They are Hogwarts premiere couple,” he offered, trying to get a rise out of the woman, “they are thick as thieves.”

“Really,” said Odessa, sliding her eyes on him, “and just how do you know how thick they are?”

“Oh, because we had a little problem we had to solve together. I saw them in action. Their love is what helped them survive,” he said, a bit off-handedly as he bit into his hamburger, “but it got a little shaky there for a minute.”

Odessa looked at him with interest now. She turned to face him and inhaled a little, which had the effect of plumping up her already admirable cleavage. Marcus’ violet eyes dipped to her breasts, then back to her face. This lady really knew how to work her goods…hmm.

“How shaky?” she purred, leaning back in her chair a little, which made her chest jut out a bit.

Damn, this woman had a very effective interrogation style of her own, Marcus thought. Most men would be in meltdown at this point. He felt a little throb. He thought Odessa was a bit twisted, but still he couldn’t help reacting.

“Lady Snape has a fear of losing her husband to another woman,” he replied, adding fuel to the fire. Hell, it wouldn’t be half as interesting if Odessa gave up too soon. Knowing this might give her a little extra gumption. Marcus, as much as Cassandra had helped him, was still a right bastard. “It really knocked her for a loop.”

“How do you know what she fears?” Odessa said, leaning closer to the wizard now, her eyes raking over him. He might come in handy. He certainly was reacting to her, which generally meant she would probably get him to do anything she wanted after a while. Most men turned into fawning fools when she turned the heat up. She doubted this wizard would be any different.

“I saw it for myself,” he said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. He was playing out the line, and baby, she was biting.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed.

“What did you see?” she hissed.

Marcus grinned at her. “Now, don’t you think that’s rather personal information?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and waggling them at her. Odessa felt her belly go tight with anger. He was playing games with her. Not a good thing to do.

“You’ve got the hots for the Professor,” he observed. She started.

Blast. How the fuck did he know that?

“How dare you…” she began, wanting to claw the smug wizard across his face.

“Look, I already know it’s true, so save the dramatics, okay?” Marcus said, his eyes hard now. “Listen, I have no major love for those two. In fact I owe them one.” He fingered the bump in his nose. “Plus I am supremely bored. Your pursuit of Snape would provide some entertainment, though why you’d want him is beyond me. I could help you…”

His eyes swept over her. Sorry Cassandra.

“…with the right incentive,” he said suggestively, “I have a bit of information that would be of use to you, I’m sure. Worth a lot.”

Odessa considered him.

“What would you want?” she said, already knowing the answer. He wanted what all men wanted, the pig.

He looked at her and telescoped his eyes. She didn’t react, which surprised him, as well as intrigued him.

“Do you really need to ask?” he said softly, looking into her green eyes intently.

Odessa felt the old rage rising up in her, and fought it down. Manipulative bastard. She hadn’t been in Hogwarts a whole hour yet, and already he was emotionally blackmailing her. But she wanted to know what he knew.

“I’ll think about it,” she said, frowning up at him.

“You just do that, Miss Divine,” he replied.

The two of them gazed at each other for a moment, then the “ting, ting, ting’ of a fork hitting a glass sounded sharply through the Great Hall. Albus was standing and getting the attention of the staff and students. The hall went silent as everyone looked at the Headmaster attentively. Both Marcus and Odessa turned their heads to look at him.

The Headmaster smiled broadly at the students and said,

“I have a short announcement to make concerning a new and welcome addition to our staff…”

Here Severus scowled, and Hermione poked him. He continued to scowl. Miss Divine was definitely not welcome as far as he was concerned. Albus continued, motioning for Odessa to stand. She did, looking out at the student body with a breathtaking smile.

“I would like to introduce Miss Odessa Divine!”

Applause, catcalls and wolf whistles filled the hall. Apparently, the male population was very enthusiastic about this new addition to the staff. Hermione looked at the witch. She was very beautiful and looked somewhat familiar, but Hermione was sure she had never met her before. Severus took a cursory glance at her, then returned his eyes to his plate, intently cutting his pork chop. He’d see enough of her as she wasted his time.

Albus waved his hands to lower the din.

“Miss Divine will not be teaching any classes here…”

Adolescent groans filled the hall as Odessa smirked unpleasantly. She would have hated teaching anything to these hormonal little gits. This was where it all started. The wanting. The desiring. The abuse.

“She will be serving in the capacity of File Cataloguer, restructuring records of previous graduates of Hogwarts. I hope you will all welcome her to our staff.”

Applause and wolf whistles filled the Hall again as Odessa sat down. Everyone returned to their meals, chatting animatedly about the sexy new staff member at Hogwarts.

Marcus looked at Odessa appraisingly.

“You’ve made quite a stir among our male population,” he observed, his eyes once again raking over her.

“I always do,” she replied, drinking the rest of her pumpkin juice and looking down the table at Severus. She met Hermione’s eyes, and gave her a friendly smile, which the Spells Mistress returned easily.

“Naïve,” Odessa thought, “Doesn’t even have the sense to feel threatened.”

Marcus looked at Hermione. He was thinking the same thing.

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A/N: Man, Marcus is a real piece of work. He can’t help himself. Well, Odessa has arrived and is on staff. Guess she’s going to have to deal with Marcus to find out what he knows. Please review this chapter, and thanks.