Skuld: making your mind up

I don’t own any of the Harry Potter characters; they all belong to JKR, boo


Chapter 6

The next couple of days had passed uneventfully, and now Wednesday arrived.
Mia struggled down to the dungeons carrying her large box of assorted sized jars and bottles. Every salve and infusion, cream and pill she thought she might need.
Finally on reaching the heavy doors to the potions classroom where her meeting with Professor Snape was supposed to take place, she found the door closed. With both arms full of box and sweating from the long trip from the infirmary she was not too happy, “bollocks bollocks bollocks” she swore and kicked the door, attempting to make it sound like a knock rather than an unladylike booting.
The door flew open and she could see that there were already several cauldrons set up on the front desks, ready to begin analysis of her products.
“Could you possibly give me a hand professor? It’s a lot further down here than I thought”
Snape barely looked up, raising an eye brow at her and briefly flicking his wand; he levitated the box up to the front.
Mia smoothed her dress and quickly pushed back a stray hair into place, grateful the lower levels of the castle were so cool and she wouldn’t look quite so shiny.
“Nervous Miss Skuld?” the potions master got up from his desk and stalked over to the box of medicines, he was secretly somewhat pleased that she had, for the first time since arriving at the school, not appeared looking picture perfect.
“hm? What was that, nervous?” trying to quickly regain some ground she conspicuously adjusted her stockings and looked up at him, “no no, just hot.”
He turned away quickly frowning at himself for stealing a glance at her cleavage while she was bending over.
“I’m sure you’ll find the atmosphere much cooler down here.” He swept along tipping samples of each substance into the various different bubbling cauldrons.
“These will take a few minutes” he said,” if you would like to take a seat” gesturing to one of the class stools and returning back to his teachers desk.
Mia picked up the stool and carried it up to his desk, receiving a surprised look from the man, who quickly regained his standard scowl.
“So, professor, how long have you been teaching here?”
“Too long, around 15 years”
“Really, you must have been quite young when you stated”
“Mm, I suppose.”
Mia continued to push on with small talk, making sure to intersperse the conversation with several small touches to his arm and a good dose of eye contact. By the end of ten minutes Snape was slightly baffled by her ability to talk almost continuously and yet not give anything away about herself. Still stranger she managed to get him to smile several times during the conversation. He was suddenly aware of her hand on his knee under the desk and jumped down quickly into the body of the classroom, “Well I think all these seem to be in order,” he coughed and hurriedly stirred several of the mixtures, “all…. Adequate”
“Really, adequate, I suppose I should take that as a complement!” she laughed.
“You can take it however you like.” His cool demeanour re-established.
“Well, in that case I will take it as that, and get back to work. I’ll see you soon, I hope”
“I imagine so, now I really have a lot to do, please excuse me. Miss Skuld”
“Of course, Professor” she smiled again, and left, quite pleased with herself.

Snape himself was sat back down, “what is she up to?” he thought, “Young women don’t just appear and flirt with the miserable potions master, I must find out more about her”. He stretched, quickly tidied away the equipment with a few spells and found himself rubbing his knee where her hand had touched, imagining how it could easily have moved a little higher. He suppressed the thoughts and gave a small grunt; “I really must be regressing,” with that he headed of for a cool shower and more thoughts of a certain younger woman.