Sweet Soul Music

Disclaimer – Same as before, I don’t own anything that you already know.



The week before the start of term allowed Catherine time to get to know her surroundings better. By the time of the sorting ceremony she could find almost all of the places that she needed to get to and had settled into her new rooms easily. The few other members of staff that she had met had been friendly towards her instantly and a bond had formed quickly between herself and Minerva McGonagall. The older witch reminded her a lot of her mother and she had found that greatly comforting.



Checking herself one final time in the mirror before she went down to the great hall Catherine tried to calm her nerves. Although her taste in music was all encompassing her fashion sense had always been on the goth side. She had chosen an outfit that covered her tattoos and replaced her usual nose ring with a somewhat smaller version. Yes, she looked professional; but feminine, just what she had planned. The plain black shirt fitted her perfectly and she had left the top two buttons unfastened to make it seem less severe. The black pencil skirt came to midcalf and clung to her curves nicely. Her long black (freshly dyed) hair was scraped back into a neat high ponytail and the ever present eyeliner was as always perfect. Slipping on a pair of low kitten heel court shoes she headed towards the great hall for the feast.



As she took her designated seat at the staff table Albus and Minerva both smiled at her, she smiled back glancing along the faces already assembled and her breath caught in her throat. Sitting further down the table was Severus Snape.



“Of course he’s here stupid”, she thought to herself “He’s the potions master” The pictures she had seen of him in the papers really didn’t do him justice; he was more appealing in the flesh. Tall, dark and broody, just her type she couldn’t tear her eyes off him. She hadn’t noticed it in the pictures but he bore more than a passing resemblance to Alan Rickman, who she had been a fan of ever since she saw him as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Tall, dark and broody, shit this could be awkward.



Just as all these thoughts were passing through her head he turned towards her. Slowly he raised one eyebrow and nodded. Catherine felt her face flushing as she smiled briefly and turned away. Shit, shit, shit this was going to be very awkward indeed.



The headmaster sat in his usual place at the centre of the table watching with interest out of the corner of his eye. Of course, why didn’t he realise it sooner he was just her type, he even looked like one of those actors that she raved about. “This could be interesting” he thought to himself glancing the other direction to try and gauge Severus’ reactions.



Severus Snape took his usual seat in the great hall, as head of Slytherin he had to be present at the sorting ceremony, although there were a hundred and one places he would rather be. The headmaster had taken on a new member of staff, some family friend or something,” no doubt another misty eyed Trelawney type” he thought to himself. At least he could hide in his dungeons.



Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he decided try and spot her. To his surprise he looked up straight into her eyes and raised one eyebrow automatically. Her eyes were almost as black as his and lined with neat black makeup making them look almost feline. She smiled at him and turned away as he nodded in her direction, was she blushing? He had to admit he was wrong; she wasn’t a Trelawney type at all. He continued to study her as she turned away, good god she was…what? Neat? Well presented? The sexiest thing he had ever seen in his life? Shit, this could be awkward.



The headmaster stood up and began his welcoming speech, “Before we begin the sorting may I introduce our new contemporary muggle studies teacher, Miss McEwan” there was a spattering of applause as Catherine stood and acknowledged the students before returning to her seat. “Now, let’s begin.”



The sorting ceremony didn’t hold much interest for Catherine as she had no ties to any particular house and she found her gaze kept being drawn to the man on the other end of the table. “Stop it Cat you’re acting like a teenager” she admonished herself as she dragged her gaze away. If she hadn’t she would have realised that exactly the same thing was happening to Professor Snape.