The Professor's Assistant (Snape x OC)

Friendship and trust

I was alone in the lab, working on the last few pieces of preparation before the new school year would start in two days. Severus was not there, he had some kind of business to attend to, and I occupied myself filling up the potions cabinet. Suddenly, the heavy wooden lab door burst open, and I nearly dropped the phial I was holding. 

"Merlin, Gabriel! Ever heard of knocking?" I put the phial I had just been inspecting back on the shelf. 

"I'm sorry. I'm just so stressed out." He let himself fall onto the armchair in the corner. Severus seemed to have an affinity towards them. "Can you help me with some papers and errands? I think I'm going insane." 

"No problem, let me just finish up the first-aid kit. It's just gonna take like five minutes. You can stay there and relax in the meantime." 

"Thank you," he exclaimed, tension falling from his shoulders like a rock.

The Defence against the Dark Arts classroom looked like a mess; papers scattered everywhere, books on the floor and on the tables, messy notes on the board. I turned towards Gabriel. 

"Did you let a racoon roam around in here?" 

"Haha. Just... shut up and help me." 

I took out my wand from my sleeve and cast a cleaning spell. The papers were stacked neatly and the books flew back to their spots on the shelf. Gabriel was wiping his notes from the blackboard in the meantime. 

"Not that we have a clean work environment," I started, "where would you like to start?"

He was about to answer, when I heard a female voice behind me. "With coffee, maybe?" When I turned around, I saw Alissa and Anisa walking into the room with trays of coffee cups and cake. 

"What angels you are," Gabriel stated and kissed Alissa on the forehead, who, funnily enough, turned a shade of bright red. I had to giggle. 

We sat on a few of the tables, munching down on some delicious chocolate cake and having conversation. 

"So," Anisa eventually asked with her mouth still half-full, "who even is the mysterious teacher that just doesn't show up?" 

Gabriel, like the decent person he was, swallowed his cake down before answering. "Some guy called Alastor Moody, I think." 

My head jerked up. "What, Mad-eye Moody?" 

"You know him?" all three of them said in unison, turning their heads in my direction. 

"I don't, but my mum has told some stories about him. Ex-auror with some kind of magical eye; a bit of a.... well, let me put it nicely... a bit of a weirdo. I think it's going to be an interesting year when he is here." I took another bite of my cake. 

Gabriel threw his head back, groaning. "Great. Amazing. This is going to work out fantastic, I can already feel it." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice. He looked back up. "Can I still quit?" 

"Nope," we all said to him. "You are stuck with us for another year," Anisa added, pushing a strand of her curly hair behind her ear. 

"Besides, it's probably not going to be too bad," I suggested. "I don't know him personally, but maybe this Moody guy is actually really nice." 

"Let's hope so. Otherwise, I'll blame you for it." Gabriel mumbled, still looking rather annoyed. 

We finished the rest of our coffee and cake in silence, only the occasional slurp or chewing noise could be heard, as well as the birds that were chirping right outside the window. Afterwards, we put our cutlery and dishes back onto one of the trays and got to work. We roamed through books to get information, took some notes and sorted stationary, while Gabriel tried to craft a structured lesson plan from everything we handed him. And as much as the end result was sure to not be perfect, we at least got through everything way quicker than Gabriel would have ever managed on his own.