A Befitting Punishment can be Sweet

Note: Hey! Please Review! This is my first fan fic and I want to know if it's any good, or just a load of sh*t. And I promise the the next few chapters will be more...adult.


Chapter One: The Incredible Miss Harriet Noxcycneus

Severus Snape looked into the mirror in his private bathrat Hat Hogwarts, peering into the empty depths that offered him only the truth. It was a special day for him, if he could consider the return of any student special. But he had reluctantly decided to make himself look somewhat acceptable. But only because the best student he had ever had was returning to him. Harriet Noxcycneus. Her name always rolled off the tip of his tongue; whenever he said it aloud, it sounded as though it were the name some enchantment or exotic potion. Such an incredible name for an incredible girl.

He felt an odd twist in in his stomach at the thought of her. He didn’t mind admitting she was his favorite pupil; every teacher deserved to have a prized student that they could gloat about to the rest of the staff. But when ever she was around he felt... different. Her presence was comforting to him, she was someone he felt nothing to fear from.

She had been given to him during the end of 1996, the end of Harry Potter's sixth year-
y doy do I classify everything by Potter!?!?' he thought, feeling annoyed as he lifted an old horse hair hair brush to brush his hair.

'Because you want him gone and he's how you're measuring your time here until he leaves,' a nasty voice in the back of his mind replied.

He continued smoothing the top layer of his hair with the hair brush that he had owned since he was about five. He noted that his hair wasn't as oily as it had been lately; perhaps that expensive hair tonic was working after all. He set the hair brush down and left the bathroom, heading towards the main hall so he could leave the castle for the main gate. Once again, he was feeling an odd twisting in his stomach at the thought of having his favorite student back on Campus.
He still remembered the day she arrived on the premises...

******It was May 1996. The Dark Lord had been defeated and the country had gone into a state of celebration, starting with the Hogwarts school and spreading elsewhere. Severus had taken the liberty to greet the new student Harriet Noxcycneus at the gates and escort her to the school building. Dumbledore and the rest of the faculty had forgotten she was coming; Gryffindor had decided to throw Potter a party during breakfast for the sixth time that week and Dumbledore had felt compelled to join in the high spirits and urged the other faculty members to do so. Only he hadn't joined in the festivities. What was there to celebrate Potter for? Yes, he had deed ted the Dark Lord but that was over a month ago; and there were still been classes that students needed to complete, not parties to go wild at.

Dumbledore had informed the staff that the Noxcycneus girl was transferring from the Durmstrang Institute to Hogwarts. At first, Severus' fascination in her had been little until he saw the grades she had received in potions class. Her transcripts had spoken highly of her ability to create masterful concoctions, rivaling those of the potions master in Durmstrang. He had seemed to be the only one along with Dumbledore who had anticipated the new student, though at that moment it had seem otherwise. He had decided to walk out to the gates, to get away from all the idiots in the main hall about an hour early. When he had reached gategates, there was a figure in black wool robes standing there with the hood over their head. A wooden trunk and large coiled basket sat at their feet and as he approached the person, he had seen glowing indigo eyes staring at him from the depths of the hood. He had felt sorry for her; an entire school had forgotten her to act foolish instead. Who knew how long she had been standing out there?

"Harriet Noxcycneus, I presume," he said and she pulled back the hood. Golden hair that fell down to her chin caught the sunlight and framed a plain face. Like plain ring, it had two sapphire eyes and a coral lips that had been set in skin that was pale enough to be white gold. There was nothing unusually about her appearance and Severus knew that by the end of the month her lack of individuality would filter her in with the masses, indistinguishable from any other student in his classes, a background melody.

"You are correct, Headmaster," she said, nodding her head. Her voice held no accents aside from an upper class Englander, her words rising like champagne bubbles at the bottom of a lake. He was surprised because after eleven years at Durmstrang, she should have at least spoken somewhat like a Bulgarian.
"I'm nhe Hhe Headmaster," he said, still eyeing her, trying to build up her character and see what kind student she was.

She gave an apologetic nod of her head, but he saw no embarrassment on her face. "Forgive me. Might I have the pleasure of knowing the name of the man coming to escort me?"

He gave slight bow and said, "Professor Severus Snape, Hogwarts' Potion Master."

At this her face lit up, a smile becoming apparent. She reached into her pocket and produced a roll of parchment that had a blood red seal.

"Potions Master!" she said, handing the letter to him. "Fancy that! I'm supposed to give you this letter from Headmaster Karkaroff."

He slipped it into his robes and motioned for her to come to his side. "If you'll be so kind as to follow me.”

She pulled her wand and pointing it at her two items, muttered a few words and they levitated off the ground. She turned to him and they proceeded to walk to the Castle.

"So where is the Headmaster?" she asked, the trunk and basket floating lazily behind her.

"Up in the castle. He's a bit 'busy' right now," he said voice filled with distaste which he instantly regretted. She obviously realized that something wasn't right and her eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Too busy to greet his students and send a professor in his place?" she asked and quite suddenly he felt contempt for Dumbled How How could he dare leave an obviously precious student like to wait by the gates of the school as though she were an unimportant package?

He turned his head to face her as they walked and he said, "He didn't send me; I came on my own because I knew no one else would."

She stopped in her tracks, eyes narrowed, left hand clutching her wand tightly. "What exactly is going on here?" she asked, voice filled with suspicion.
"The school felt it necessary to throw a party celebrating the fall of the Dark Lord," he said curtly, turning a hateful gaze to the castle.

She seemed to relax a bit and they continued walking. "That was over a month ago," she said pointedly.

At that moment, he realized that he had stumbled across an equal. He turned to her and gave an annoyed smile, letting her share his anger at the idiots in the Great Hall. "You and I seem to be the only people who realize that," he said and he could see she agreed with him.

Filch appeared out of no where and said in his low, dark voice, "Professor Snape. I came to see if the new student needed help with her trunk," his eyes shifting in constant paranoia, seeking students that were breaking rules.

Severus nodded his head and said a quick spell to release the trunk and basket from it's hold. They floated to the ground and the girl lifted the basket into her arms.

"I'll keep the basket with me," she said and pointed to the truck with her hand, silently ordering Filch to pick it up. Filch obeyed the command and left, grumbling something about not being a servant.

There was a soft rustling inside the basket and Severus had felt himself involuntarily reach for his wand again.

"If I may ask what's in there?" he said, eyeing the basket.

She gave quick smile and said, "Virsidium. He's my emerald cobra."

Snape felt himself smile for the second time that day. "Bit of a snake lover?" he said and watched her smile reappear.

"Yes. They make excellent companions," she said and he watched her look down at the basket lovingly.

"Perhaps you'll be a Slytherin," he said, not letting the hope slip into his voice.

"Perhaps," she replied and they walked contentedly towards the school.

Suddenly there was someone jogging down the path, purple robes and silver beard in tow. Severus felt his lips start to curl in disgust, which he immediately stopped once he realized that the Noxcycneus girl was watching him. At that moment, he didn't want the fumbling old man nternterrupt the conversation he was trying to have.

"Severus! I'm sorry I didn't come out here with you! I was a bit caught up-" Dumbledore started but the new student interrupted him.

"You're the Headmaster, are you not?" the girl asked cooly, eyes devoid of emotion.

"Yes, Albus Dumbledore at your service," he said, eyes twinkling merrily as he smiled down at her.

"My father has high opinions of you," she said a smile coming across her face. Severus wanted to warn Dumbledore that it was for effect; he had done it a thousand times himself and the second that one realized it wasn't real, it stung like a slap across the face.

But naturally Dumbledore didn't realize it and his smile broadened. "Tell your father thank you-"

Her smile warped into a sneer and she said, "Obviously he doesn't know how you decide priorities."

The smile on Dumbledore's face disappeared instantly,vingving only an expression of shock and complete disbelief. Severus almost laughed; he had never been able to get a reaction out of the old man that quickly and he had perfected the art of stinging remarks. But at the same time he was just as shocked as Dumbledore; Durmstrang students were known for their respecting manners towards teachers and people of authority.

"I'll see you later Professor," she said giving him a slight, honest smile.
He nodded his head and she moved into the building. The rest of the professors had come out of the building, craning the necks back to look at the newest addition to Hogwarts. They swarmed around him and Dumbledore. The rest of the facultymed med worried by either the fahe whe wrom rom Durmstrang or the fact she was from the Noxcycneus family. Then there were a few people worried about the fact that she was both.

"Albus, is it safe to let a person like her into our school?" Minerva asked in a low voice, eyeing the disappearing figure with distrust.

Dumbledore had already forgiven her for her harsh comment and said, "I believe so. She seems to be Hogwarts material."

"But Albus, she's a Noxcycneus-" Flitwick protested.

Dumbledore’s eye darkened and he held up a hand to stop him, saying, "Her family had its reasons for remaining hidden for the past sixteen years. Perhaps one day you will know why they did what they had to do."

In the following week, Severus heard people talking about her quietly in the halls as they avoided getting close to her.

"I heard she became a Death Eater at the age of five! Her father was supposedly in You-Know-Who's inner circle."
"Is it really true that they're the oldest pureblood family in Europe?"
"Well I know that they're right up there with the Malfoys. Do you suppose she's going to be a stuck-up bint?"

"I don't know..."

Harriet had been anything but that. When she had been sorted into the Slytherin house, she made sure to learn everyone in her house’s name by the end of the day. By the end of the week, the entire faculty had sat and had tea with her at least once. And she had been an absolute joy to work with in the potions classroom. She would talk about certain plant and animal properties for creating liquid fireworks or why a solid gold cauldron was better for boiling daisy roots than a pewter one while she stayed after class to help him clean the classroom. He would listen to her quietly as he graded essays on wolfsbane, filled with admiration that she was smart enough to talk with him like a fellow colleague. Whehoolhool had ended for the year, he realized how much he had grown fond of her company...****

Severus had found he had reached the front of the gates during the time he had been lost in his thought. He was waiting for the two Seventh years he had chosen last year to be Head Boy and Head Girl, Harriet Noxcycneus and Brendon Pyre. He had written to them both over the summer to notify them they had been accepted as the house leaders and how they would be expected to come to school a week early. Dumbledore felt it would be best to prepare the new student leaders for the changes Hogwarts had undergone due to the fall of the Dark Lord and their responsibilities to help the new generation post the battle of Potter vs Evil.

She was to be a seventh year, same as Potter. He was glad that Potter would be gone in less than a year, but slightly sad that the best student he had ever had was going to be graduation this year.

The carriage door opened at the copper haired boy Pyre stepped out, lugging a trunk behind him, dropping it with a heavy thunk to the ground. He stepped out of the way to let the carriage's other occupant out.

She appeared in the doorway, her face covered by the light blue hood of her robes. Severus offered her his hand so she would have somng tng to hold onto as she stepped to the ground. Her long slender hand grasped his firmly and she leap to the ground, the hood falling off her head.

Her beauty to him aback for a moment, but he let no indication of his feeling show.

Somehow over the summer holiday, Harriet had come to possess the elegance and grace of the Noxcycneus bloodlines. Her pureblood heritage was obvious from her long white-blonde hair that hung down to her waist, held back by a black Alice band. Her large, almond shaped indigo eyes were brimming with laughter and life.

She was wearing her family crest robes, a light blue, with Quidditch leggings in a brown colour, and a fancy long-sleeved white shirt that pearl buttons up the sides of the arms with a tied white silk scarf as the collar. Her curves seemed to have blossomed over the summer, because he certainly would have remembered her having breasts and hips. Actually, last year, she could have passed as a fourth year, her features had been more like that of a youth than that of a woman.
Merlin, she could have been a Veela.

Her eyes met his and in that moment, the world around him disappeared. Her lips shaped into a pleasant smile and she said, "Professor, it's good to finally see you after the holiday."

She leaned forward and gave him a delicate kiss on the cheek.

"It's a pleasure to see you as well," he replied, certain she could hear the pounding of his heart.

Her hand left his and she pulled her wand out of her robe pocket and turned to the carriage. She muttered a few words and with a flick of her wrist, her trunk and coiled basket came floating out the door way and stopped as they reached her.

Severus flicked a wrist towards their trunks and said, "You may both leave your luggage here while we walk to the castle; Hagrid will get them for you."

Harriet lifted the lid off the coiled rope basket, smiling broadly as she said to him, "If you'll wait a second. I'd like to take Virsidium with me."

He nodded his head. "If Hagrid knew you had him with you, he would take him back to his hut and you'd probably never see your serpent again."

Her smile became broader and she draped the monstrous snake around her neck, stroking the cobra's head and they made their way to the castle. Pyre had always been an obnoxious talker and he began to tell them of tales about his summer in Switzerland, partying with foreign wizards celebrating the fall of the Dark Lord. Severus was deeply unimpressed by the one-way discussion and by the slight sneer on Harriet's face, he could see she was feeling the same as he was. Then as if by a miracle, Pyre stopped dead in his tracks and said,

"Oh damn! I left my wand in my trunk!"

Severus smiled inwardly. Pyre had just presented him with the perfect opportunity to talk alone with Harriet. He turned to the dumbfound boy and said. "Well, if you want to go get it then do so, but we're not going to wait for you."

Without a second's hesitation, Pyre turned around and ran back towards the carriages. He thought he heard the words, “good riddance” come from Harriet’s direction, but he wasn’t sure.

Harriet set the giant serpent on the ground and it followed along as they continued walk towards the castle. Once again their eyes met and she smiled at him, her hands in her robe pockets. The insides melted within his body and he was about to open his mouth and spill out everything he had created over the summer holiday when there was a rustling in the bushes. Two small rabbit ears poked out of the leaves and Severus saw the large cobra dart off into the bramble.

"Virsidium! No!"she shouted and they both heard the rabbit squeal.

"It seems your compagn-" he started and then felt his insides run cold again.
His breath caught in his throat, her mouth opening and releasing a low hissing sound. He recognized it the second he heard it.

Parseltongue. She had the language of the snakes and he wasn't sure to feel uncomfortable or impressed. Generally, Dark Wizards possessed that power and she had been in Durmstrang her entire academic life, not to mention she was a Noxcycneus....

The large snake appeared from within the brambles with the rabbit twitching in it's mouth, hind legs kicking wildly in empty air. It came back to her, dropping the rabbit along the way. Severus watched both the rabbit die and the beautiful seventh year pick the serpent back up, slinging it around her neck once more like a living scarf.

"You speak have the serpent's tongue," he said and instantly felt like a complete fool for pointing out the obvious.

She nodded her head, looking down at the snake and stroking its head. "My entire family does. We take great pride in it."

"Most people wouldn't," he pointed out and her eyes looked into his, a slow smile creeping across her face.

"I'm not most people," she replied.

He could feel the conversation slipping away and spoke up with the first thing he could think of. “I’ve only heard it spoken once before,” he said lamely.

But he had sparked her interest and her eyes widened as she asked, “Really? Who else knows parseltongue?”

“Harry Potter,” he said and made sure to hold back any scathing tone.
Her eyes widened again and she said in a surprised tone, “Harry Potter speaks Parseltongue? I never would have guessed! His ancestry always sounded rather common to me.”

“It is rather common, actually,” he said, feeling no regrets on saying so.

“I assume your ancestry isn’t?” she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

Suddenly, his whole mood darkened, making him quiet. He did not want to talk about his family life. To anyone. Ever.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked and out of the corner of his eye he could see she was concerned.

“Did you read the book I sent you this summer?” he said, desperately trying to change the subject.

Her face changed to a look of excitement. “Oh! Yes, it was quite excellent. I made the iron diluter on page 23 and I melted an entire box of horseshoes.”

“I trust that you tried more than the simple diluters?”

A hint of a blush spread on her cheeks and she was quick to defend herself, replying, “I did other ones... I practiced the draught of peace and gave it to my mother... she enjoyed that.”

He nodded and said, “I was thinking that we could start this year off with a test.”

Once again her beautiful face lit up and she said, “Really? What shall I make?”

“A draught of the Living Death,” he stated, not bothering to add any tones for dramatic flair, considering she would probably see through it and mock him.

One of her eyebrows arched and she asked, “Am I really permitted to do that?”

He nodded his head once. “Of course. I’m supervising.”

“That would be wonderful!” she said with a sigh.

“And there’s always the matter of your training as the Slytherin Head Girl,” he added, wondering what she’d say.

Her face switched to one of displeasure and she scowled, narrowing her eyes as well.

“Professor, I honestly don’t see why you choose Brendon Pyre as my partner; he’s a bloody idiot. The entire carriage ride he sat there ogling at me the way a stray dog eyes a leg of roast dragon. I had to put my robe’s hood back on so I didn’t have to look at him,” she said, an offended tone in her voice.

He felt anger flare within him and made no effort to hide the rage in his voice. “I’ll punish him later; I will not have any of my students treating anyone, especially you, like a piece of meat.”

“Thank you, professor,” she said, an obvious relief in her voice. She opened her mouth to say more but they were interrupted by a witch heading their way.

It was Professor McGonagall. As she approached them, she said,“Severus!” then adding in a less joyous tone, “Miss Noxcycneus.”

Obviously the feeling for her was mutual. “Professor McGonagall,” Harriet said flatly.

Professor McGonagall moved her distrusting eyes away from the girl and said swiftly,“Severus, I trust your students arrived safely. Shouldn’t there be another one?”

He watched her eyes land on Harriet again. He felt the anger begin to well up in him again; how dare she look at his student like that! But he showed none of the emotions he felt when he said quite calmly, “He left his wand in his trunk. We chose not to wait for him.”

“Oh.” Professor McGonagall’s eyes shifted back over to Harriet, still filled with suspicion. She was obviously noticing his prized student’s new beauty, and he worried she was going to say something snide about it so he quickly distracted her with a friendly,

“When are your student’s arriving?”

She turned back to him and said, “In about an hour. I was just off to the gates to arrange for there to be magic carpets to transport them back over to the castle so they don’t have a long walk.”

Harriet’s voice was strong as she said, “Sometimes a walk in the morning is the best thing to prepare yourself for work to come.”

He and the Head of Gryffindor House turned to her and Professor McGonagall said in a snippy tone, “Miss Noxcycneus, perhaps you should keep the comments to yourself. Your starting to sound like a more feminine version of the professor here.” Her old, slender hand indicated him and he scowled at her.

Harriet’s mouth twisted into a sneering smile and she replied in a haughty way, “Well, he certainly is a role model of mine.” Harriet turned to face him, her face with a kinder appearance, and she said sweetly as to mock the female Professor, “Shall we continue to the castle, Professor? As McGonagall said so pointedly, we do have a long walk ahead of us and there’s no point in us wasting time with simple conversation.”

Severus felt compelled to play her little game and nodded his head in agreement, answering, “You make an excellent point.”

They moved aside from the shocked professor and as they walked away, Harriet turned around and said in a manner that one would use with a small child, “Have fun with your flying carpets, Professor McGonagall.”

As they moved farther away from the head of Gryffindor House, Harriet let out a giggle and said, “Did you see the look on her face?”

He turned to look at her, making a face of annoyance. “Miss Noxcycneus! I am absolutely appalled that you did that! You shouldn’t speak to your Professors like that!”

Her eyes held onto his and she said in a more serious tone, “If I hadn’t said it, you would have.”

His black eyes pierced into her and he gave her another frown of annoyance, but in his mind he was laughing uproariously.

Yes, he had enjoyed the shocked look on McGonagall’s face. And had he been a moment quicker, he would have said something similar.

“So Professor, how did your summer fair?” she asked and his eyes narrowed, letting the anger out in his voice as he hissed, “Absolutely smashing.”

She raised one of those perfect shaped eyebrows and inquired, “Did something happen?”

He lowered his eyes to the path they were walking on and felt his pace quicken a bit. “While I was away at a conference with the Headmaster, that idiot Peeves managed to drown my complete office with apple brandy and proceeded to stock my personal chambers with pond sludge and squid eggs. Everything, and I mean everything, had to be replaced.”

She gasped and exclaimed, “That’s awful! Wasn’t there anything that could be saved?”

He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. “My clothes, fortunately were all with me, and I had already placed a repelling charm on my books so that anything touching it would slide off. And of course, everything in that was in jars had either been smashed or emptied.”

Her lip curled in distaste and she said, “I assume that Professor Dumbledore laughed when you told him what happened and assumed you were exaggerated what happened when you told him?”

He was surprised. That was exactly what had happened. He gave a quick twitch of a smile and replied, “Sometimes, I believe you know more than you should.”

“What happened to Peeves?” she asked.

“He was banished to the old broom closet in the Astronomy tower.” He still didn’t see it as fit punishment, but there was nothing he could do about that.
“I’m sure he would make a lovely addition to you recovering collection of pickled creatures,” she said and he heard a playful edge to her voice.

He nodded his head and gave her a half smile. “If he does leave his closet ever again, I can assure you that he will end up in a jar of preserving fluid.”
“You’ll have to show me your new items,” she said, her eyes glowing with... what was that look? Admiration? But then her eyes widened and she quickly added, “In your office I mean. I have no business in your personal chambers.”

He felt an odd twist in his stomach and nodded his head to quickly agree with her. “Well perhaps you can see my office later.”

“Yes,” she murmured, her eyes darting away to look at something on the side of the path.

An uncomfortable silence continued and he wished to find something they could both speak about comfortably. But that opportunity was lost when a person riding on a broomstick dove down at them, shouting,
“I trust I’ll see you on the Quidditch field, Noxcycneus?”

Harriet’s face lit up, beaming a smile he wished could have been directed at him as she shouted, “Madam Hooch!”

The flying teacher landed and embraced the seventh year. “I’ve missed you, my dear.”

Harriet nodded her head and replied, “I missed you too. The summer holiday pulled me away from the two most important people here.”

He saw her eyes flicker towards him as she said this and he felt compelled to kiss her, an emotion he quickly tucked away.

Hooch beamed and motioned to the broom in her hand. “Hop on. I’ll give you a ride back to the castle and then we can both test the brooms together.” Then she shifted her eyes over to him, the smile disappearing rapidly. The old bitch hadn’t forgiven him still for being a Death Eater, even if he had been a spy.

“Severus,” she said cooly.

He returned the icy tone. “Madam Hooch.”

Harriet turned to him and asked kindly, “You don’t mind do you, Professor?”

He looked away from her and crossed his arms. “Go ahead. I’ll see you later. Good day to you both.” His eyes moved back to hers and he added softly, “And have fun.”

Harriet smiled at him and after transforming her gigantic serpent into a bracelet, straddled the broom, wrapping her arms tightly around Madam Hooch’s waist and then they were up in the air. He stood there for a few seconds, listening to her excited shrieks as they rode off to the Quidditch pitch. He honestly felt jealous that the campus’ lesbian had had an easier time removing her from his hands than he had the entire thirty minutes of trying to find some way to coax a worthy conversation out of the two of them. But he wouldn’t waste time wallowing in self pity, he still had work to do in his office. He hurried off from the rolling green lawn down to the depths of his dungeons.


The next time Snape saw Harriet was at at the Head Boy and Girl welcoming feast in the Great Hall. All the students were sitting together at one table, talking quietly to each other, uncomfortable expressions on their faces. Harriet was right in his line of sight so he watched her through the entire meal. She seemed to be writing something, a letter perhaps, and with her free hand, she used a golden fork to eat her meat pie. Towards the end of dinner she rolled the parchment up and tapped it with her wand on it, a light blue ribbon appearing and tying itself around the parchment. She tapped the ribbon and a black wax seal appeared. She tapped it a third time and it disappeared. He watched her finish eating her food and turn to the girl next to her, Granger, and began to talk. He gazed upon her beautiful face as her lips moved, curling into a smile. He couldn't help but smile as well.

After dinner in grand hall, Severus proceeded to his office to start making a lesson plan for the third years when he heard someone running towards him from behind. He whipped around and saw Harriet Noxcycneus approaching him.

"Yes Miss Noxcycneus?" he asked, his eye brow raising.

She caught her breath and smiled, saying, "I was wondering if we could have tea together in your office?"

He raised the other eyebrow. "Of course. We have plenty of th to to discuss."

"Wonderful! Shall we go?" she said, beaming.

He nodded and they headed down to the dungeons. When they reached his office, she stood in the center looking around and he went over to the tea pot floating on the corner of his desk. He whipped around to face her and he asked, "Nettle tea? Or would you prefer another flavour?"

"Nettle's fine. Could I have lemon and cream with it?" she asked, looking around at the glass bottles on the fire place.

He nd hid his head and turned back to the tea. He tapped the side of the tea pot with his wand and it filled up with water. He tapped the tea pot again and the water began to heat up slowly. He looked behind his shoulder again and said to her,

"Do you mind lighting a fire in the fire place?"

She pulled out her wand and smiled. "Not at all! Would you care for any specific type flame?"

He wanted to see her illuminated by silver and emerald. "The House colours will do fine," he stated simply.

She pointed her wand at the fire and said a few word and a raging fire in green and silver flames appeared.

"What chair would you like me to sit in?" she asked and he replied,
"The velvet one."

He snickered and caught her smile at his joke. He flicked his wrist to the chair that faced the door. She sat down, like an empress on her throne.

Dumbledore had somehow managed to convince him to get velvet high back chairs instead of his beloved bergere chairs that he was so fond of. Actually, most of the furniture he was stuck with Dumbledore had chosen. He missed the old chairs, desk and whatnot deeply.

The water in the tea pot was beginning to bubble, bringing him out of his thoughts. He turned to face Harriet and leaned against his desk, arms crossed. "So how old are you, Harriet?" he asked.

"I'm seventeen. My birthday is in August," she said, sitting in the armchair with her legs crossed and arms resting on trm rrm rests, her back straight.

He felt a tug in his stomach. "So you're of age then!" he said, surprised.

She smiled, nodding her head and said, "Yes."

"And have you applied for a Apperating License?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I don't know how to Apperate yet."

"I can teach you, if you'd like," he offered, noticing the water in the pot was hot enough.

She smiled. "That would be so wonderful."

'Yes it would,' he thought as he poured their tea, adding the lemon and cream to her cup.

"And how old are you Professor?" she asked, a playful tone in her voice and then she quickly added, "I'm joking."

He handed her the cup of tea with it's saucer. "Thirty-seven."

Her eyes widened. "Really? You're quite young!"

"My birthday's in November; I'm getting closer to forty quicker than ever," he said and drank the tea careful so he didn't burn his tongue.

She raised her eyebrow and said, "Age doesn't matter for anything," and took a d fro from her tea.

"You're one of the few people who believes that," he commented.

They sat there quietly for a while as the drank their tea. After a few minutes Harriet said,

"It's the family crest."

"What?" he asked, thoroughly confused.

"This," she said and pointed to her left breast where a large embroidered shield was. The crest was a dark blue with two flying black swans whose necks were intertwined with eacher her and a green viper rising up between the swans.

"It's what you've been staring at,” she said helpfully.

He felt shocked; he had been staring at her chest, hadn't he?

She continued. "It's the Noxcycneus family crest." She smiled and added, "You know, quite a few people seem interested in it. Brendon Pyre, the Ravenclaw's Head Girl, the Ravenclaw Head Boy, the Hufflepuff Head Boy, Professor Flitwick, Professor K, Professor -"

He interrupted, eye brow raising again. fessfessor K?"

"Oh, Professor Killington. He told all the prefects to call him Professor K," she explained, then her face became worried. "Unless you don't think I should. If you don't think I should, thenl cal call him Professor Killington."

"Well, it's none of my business on what he wants you to call him," he said and drank the rest of his tea. He pulled out his wand again and levitated the teapot over to him, pouring himself another steaming cup full. He drank the hot liquid slowly.

Harriet set her tea cup in it's saucer and with her wand, guided it over to the stone counter where other teacups were arranged. "So Profess she she said, her hands clasped, eyes looking deeply into his, "I have a proposition to make."

He lowered his tea cup from his lips and inquired, "Yes?"

"I would like to be you potions assistant. When I graduate, I'd like my profession to be in the art of potion making. I believe that it would be good training for me if I was under your guidance."

He felt the odd tug in his stomach again and smiled. "Well you're in luck Miss Noxcycneus. I had actually asked the Head Master for a classroom assistant. I'm sure we could work something out so that you could help me in the class and then in return I can teach you the skills you need to become a potions master. But from what I remember, last year you were the most advanced student I've seen in all my years of teaching at Hogwarts, so I doubt you’ll need much training. I know that I'll be instructing a woman soon to be one of the world's best wizards."

She lowered her eyes, cheeks flushing and she said softly, "Thank you sir."
"But I'm forewarning you that it will be a lot of hard work. You'll have a separate potions final along with the one your class will take. And extra class work along with many hours of your free time spent with me in the dungeons or studying the art of brewing."

She gave a cocky smile and replied, "I hope you're not challenging me, because I always exceed my challenger's expectations."

He stood up and after placing his tea cup next to hers, he went over to his book shelves and pulled a thick black leather book that had numerous blood stains on it. "I have a book hehat hat you should read to get yourself oriented in the subjects we will be studying." He swiftly moved across the room to give it to her while he said, "It's called 'The Darker Potions of the Wizarding World: Volume Three.' I suggest you start reading about dismembering potions which start on page-"

"-453, Chapter Seven, Sections One through Eight," she finished, smiling broadly as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You've read it before?" he asked, surprised.

She nodded her head. "I own it."

"And your opinion on it?" he inquired.

"It's my favorite out of the Darker Potions Encyclopedias," she said, toying with a lock of hair.

He smiled. "I have a personal preference towards Volume Nine on Suffer-inducing potions."

She nodded her head and smiled. "It's an interesting one to read."

He looked back at his shelves and asked, "Have you read 'Truth Serums' or 'Acidic Dilutes Discussed and Compared'?"

"Yes."

He beckoned her over to the bookcase and said, "Why don't you look through my private library and find something you haven't read."

"Alright," she said and joined him.

He couldn't help but map her body with his eyes, letting himself catch every contour of her body, traveling over her curves. She skimmed past three rows of books and on the forth, her hand paused, drawing a book out. His breath caught in his throat when he saw what it was.

"Occlumens: the Keepers of Secrets." she turned to facm. "m. "This is my favorite book."

"It's mine as well."

"You're an Occlumen?"

"Yes."

She proceeded to place it back on the shelf but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. He leaned forward, placing his mouth next to her ear. He could hear her breathing had quickened and he knew he had frightened her. The darker side of his sexuality felt aroused from that fact.

"I trust you won't tell anyone of my ability, Miss Noxcycneus?"

"Of course not."

He let her go and pulled away. She turned back to face the bookshelf and he watched as she held still, trying to catch her breath and when she did, she placed the book back. She looked over the other shelves and turned to look up at him.

"I've already read everything you have," she said apologetically.

"Then I'll have to try and find you something to read. For now, would you care to borrow this?" he asked as he produced a small leather bound book from the inner pockets of his robes.

"What is it?" she said, turning it around in her hands.

He placed his hand on top of hers to stop her movement. She looked up at him and he said, "It's my personal notes on the specific potions I've been working on as well as specific plants and other items that can be found around the school grounds that could possibly be used for any sort of manner."

He released her hand and she slipped the book into her robe's pocket as she said, "I'll read it tonight. When would you like it back?"

"It doesn't matter. I simply ask that you memorize everything in there."
"Would you mind if I made myself a copy of it as well? I would find this very useful."

"I would be honoured."

"Thank you. I'll return it as soon as I can."

"Perhaps we can have tea again?"

"I would like that very much."

She gave an pleasant smile and turned around, heading off to the Slytherin House.