Sunset

I followed Ron and Hermione into the chemistry classroom and took a seat between the two of them at a table in the back. Other students slowly filed in, grumbling about the ridiculous amount of homework they had to do over the weekend.

I looked around the room to take in my surroundings. Snape hadn’t arrived yet, so I figured it’d be a good idea to figure out where everything was before he came in. The tables were wooden with a black chemical resistant top, like the ones back in Phoenix. There were eight altogether, arranged in columns of four with an aisle between them. In the back of the room were two long lab tables, complete with sinks. A fume hood stood against the wall between them. Cabinets lined most of the walls, and in the front of the room was a teacher’s desk with perfectly organized paperwork sitting on top of it. The desk sat in front of large whiteboards, which still had writing on them from previous classes.

Most teachers had posters and other entertaining objects scattered around their rooms, but Snape had only a large, detailed, periodic table on the right wall. Windows were on the left, but the blinds were down. Less distracting, I guess.

My attention was redirected to the front of the room as a tall, dark figure swept through the door. The figure was a man who looked to be in his early thirties and stood at a height of at least 6’4”. He was wearing black shoes, black pants, a black dress shirt, and a silver tie. Through the clothing I could feel a sense of power, the slight outline of his muscular arms and chest almost got me drooling. As my eyes moved upward I realized that he could easily be the most gorgeous person I had ever laid eyes on. He had black shoulder-length hair that artfully framed his pale face. He had elegant eyebrows and the most interesting nose I had ever seen. The man’s eyes were dark and piercing, despite the sleepless circles beneath them. Their color was unique, too… almost coal black. His perfect lips were set in a sneer as he stood in front of the class and waited impatiently for everyone to quiet down. He was incredibly sexy.

Hermione nudged me in the ribs with her elbow and shot me a grin. I assumed she had the same thoughts as me. I just shook my head and laughed under my breath.

Sighing, I moved my chair back and grabbed the sheet from the office to give to Snape. I walked around the corner of our table and through the center aisle, and stopped in front of Snape to give the slip to him.

I cleared my throat and said, “Erm, I’m Harry Potter. The office told me to give this to you.”

I thrust my hand out with the paper in it, and waited for him to take it. He didn’t. He stood unnaturally still, almost rigid. He stared down at me with an intense expression on his face. I was half a foot shorter than he was, so I uncomfortably shifted my weight from foot to foot and blushed. His lips quivered almost imperceptibly and his pupils dilated to the point where I thought he was having a seizure or something.

I cleared my throat again. He blinked, snatched the paper with ridiculous grace, and ground out, “Very well, please be seated.”

It sounded more like I fucking hate your guts. I was confused, what had I done to deserve such an attitude? I decided not to let it get to me. Maybe he was just having a bad day.

When I finally looked back towards the front of the room, Snape was still standing in the same spot. I wondered what he was being so still for, because it was weird. Then, he closed his eyes as if to concentrate, opened them, and walked back to the whiteboard. He picked up a black dry erase marker and wrote down an assignment for almost 40 problems from the textbook. It was due by the end of class.

A collective sigh came from the students. Snape took a seat at his desk, and started grading papers, paying absolutely no attention to anyone else in the room. I shared a book with Hermione and struggled to answer the questions correctly. Chemistry had always been difficult for me, but thankfully Hermione helped and I finished two minutes before the bell rang.

Everyone packed their bags and threw on their jackets, then walked up to Snape’s desk to deposit their papers on the corner of his desk. I waited for Hermione to put her book away before we walked to the front of the room.

I was the last person to hand in my assignment. Just as I set it down, Snape looked up at me from his chair. I was struck by his dazzling beauty for a moment before I could register the ferocious expression on his face. Taken aback, I quickly ran through his door. One thing was certain; there was something Snape didn’t like about me.

I had no idea what it was.

I was determined to find out.

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History with Mr. Binns was my last class of the day. I couldn’t pay attention to any of it, because my mind kept wandering back to Snape and his confusing actions… and his exceptional beauty. I couldn’t understand what was so off about him, did I smell bad or something? Nobody had mentioned it. And I had definitely showered.

What was it, then?

My thoughts were interrupted as the intercom system crackled to life.

“Mr. Binns?” the voice asked.

“Yes?” he replied.

“Could you tell Harry Potter to come to the office after the period is over?”

“Sure thing,” he answered back.

Nodding towards me to make sure that I had heard, class ended with the final bell. Everyone rushed out of the room to their cars, but I lagged behind and headed to the office. As soon as I opened the door, I wished I had gone home instead.

Inside I could hear someone, the voice was definitely Mr. Snape’s, arguing in one of the back offices. I didn’t catch what he was saying. A moment later, he stormed out of the room and caught sight of me standing innocently in the reception area. His face hardened and turned to stare ahead as he brushed past me through the door.

I was still recovering from the intimidating man’s actions when I heard my name being called.

“Harry?” the office assistant called, “Mr. Dumbledore would like to see you in his office.”

Oh. The principal. I wondered what I’d done to warrant a trip to the administrator’s office on my first day of school.

I sucked in a breath, stood up straighter, and walked into the room that Snape had exited only moments before.

The first thing I noticed was the outlandish purple suit. The next thing I noticed was that the headmaster looked nothing like I expected. He was maybe in his late thirties, with graying red hair, a beard, and a kind face. He was pale, with amber eyes that had circles underneath that indicated sleepless nights. He was handsome, not quite attractive to me but definitely a ladykiller. He smiled at me, and stood from his comfortable-looking leather chair to shake my hand.

“Harry!” he exclaimed, “Wonderful to finally meet you. Please, have a seat!”

I sat in one of the chairs arranged in front of his desk and waited for him to continue.

“Did you have an alright time getting to all of your classes, Harry?” he asked.

“Erm, yeah. I met some people who helped me to find all of the rooms.”

“Oh, splendid!” Dumbledore exclaimed, “And how did you like your classes? Any problems, questions, concerns?”

“Well,” I started off, “I’ve been alright. I mean, the classes are fine and everything. I was wondering, though, erm…”

“Go on,” Dumbledore encouraged.

“Well, today in chemistry I noticed that Mr. Snape was in a particularly bad mood. I just hope I haven’t done anything to offend him?”

Dumbledore’s face cracked into a thousand watt smile and rushed to reassure me, “No, no, dear boy! Mr. Snape has been having a very trying week. I hope you’ll understand, he has nothing against you personally.”

Sighing with relief, but also partially disbelieving the headmaster’s statement, I smiled back.

“Thank you, sir. I understand completely. Was there anything in particular you needed to see me about?”

“Ah, yes!” Dumbledore shuffled a few papers on his desk and handed me a slip to have signed by my father.

“Just bring that back to me tomorrow morning, and welcome to Forks High School!”

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Later that night, I called my mother. I told her about my first day of school, some routine things, and finally hung up the phone an hour later. She missed me. I missed Phoenix.

James cooked hamburgers for dinner. He wasn’t too terrible of a cook, but I thought I might need to take over every once in a while. His cooking knowledge was limited to about five different meals, and that would get old pretty fast, especially in a town with only one restaurant that delivered.

I sighed as I tried to fall asleep. The rain was beating on the roof of the house again, wind making just as much noise as it had the night before. I made a mental note to buy earplugs the next day. It was no wonder that Snape looked so tired…

I sighed again. It was annoying how I couldn’t stop thinking of him. I kept telling myself that he was just an asshole and I should drop it, but that was unlikely to happen. The one thing I could never let go was a good enigma.

The last thing on my mind before falling asleep was Snape’s gorgeous face and beautifully sculpted muscles…