Just a Speck of Gold - Severus Snape

Chapter Five - Beauty and the Beast?

Chapter 5 – Beauty and the Beast?

M.S

Severus rushed to his office immediately after eating his dinner. He wasn't looking forward to this extra lesson with the newest addition to his house. Although she was incredibly polite and smart, it was an intrusion on his own time. Severus sat in his chair and waited for dinner to end, which was five minutes from now. He sighed wearily and looked at his ungraded papers. The one on top read:

Amortentia
A powerful potion used on powerless people. It is a difficult potion to make and never ceases to amaze people. Even the smell of Amortentia will instantly attract a person. The smell is different for everyone.

Severus stopped reading. The paper belonged to Maya Gold, and he could tell she was well-spoken. Her handwriting wasn't the best but, neither was his. Severus examined the paper once more and sighed. Severus wondered if he should start with Occlumency, but he decided against it. The poor girl would break down into tears the instant he suggested it.

Finally, there was a knock on his door. Severus ran a hand through his hair and stood up. The wizard straightened out his robes and took a deep breath. He opened the door. There she was, still in her Slytherin robes.

"Good evening, Professor," Maya greeted.

"Miss Gold," Severus replied. He stepped aside and watched her walk in, shyly.

"So, Professor, what will we be doing today?" she asked while setting her stuff down by the door.

"Occulmency was the first option but—"

"Occlumency! Oh wow, I haven't worked that in years," Maya's face soon turned apologetic, "Oh, my apologies, sir. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Severus eyed her curiously and ignored the outburst.

"We will work Occlumency once I see how strong you are. We will need to work in a bigger space and unfortunately, my office does not meet the requirements. Follow me. You won't be needing your belongings, only your wand."

Severus opened the door for Maya, which surprised both of them, and led the way. The silence was tolerable and was somewhat nice to have, well, until Maya started talking.

"Sir, where are we going? I don't exactly know where everything is just yet."

Severus held up his hand for silence. They rounded the corner and stopped in front of a blank wall. Severus closed his eyes and the wall started to form a door. Maya's face dropped in awe, she knew this man had some secrets up his sleeve.

"The Room of Requirement." Severus opened the door and stepped inside.

"Brilliant," whispered Maya. She stepped into the enormous room and the door behind her closed. It was prepped with four dueling dummies and a cupboard stocked with all sorts of potions and bandages. Maya looked to her professor, he wasn't much taller than her; Severus averaged at about 6', maybe 6'1. His pale face held no expression, and he proceeded to walk into the middle of the room. Maya followed closely behind him. He turned around to face her and spoke,

"You and I will duel here. I want to see your strengths and your weaknesses. You will work hard, very hard," Severus explained menacingly; taking an extra-long time to explain her extra lesson. "Have you ever dueled, Miss Gold?"

"My brother and I used to. I guess when he started working for the Ministry, he didn't have time for that anymore."

Severus grew agitated and snapped at her, "This isn't time for your sob-story," he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked at his student, "You have dueled, but are you legitimately skilled in dueling?"

"I would like to think so," Maya joked, "I...I mean, I beat my brother a couple of times but other than that, it was more for fun."

Severus pondered for a moment. This girl was no doubt a brilliant student, but was dueling him too much to ask?

"Have you tried using nonverbal spells?" He questioned. Maya nodded and Snape furrowed his brow, "And your brother is employed as?"

"A curse-breaker, sir," Maya answered.

Severus furrowed his brow once more, that didn't help him much. "Very well. I want to see how well you do against me," He grunted.

Maya's stomach dropped and walked the end of the room. She wasn't expecting to duel Professor Snape. Severus walked to the other end of the room and drew his wand.

"I suspect you know how to begin?"

"Yes, sir," Maya answered shakily.

She readied her wand and look at Professor Snape. He only nodded but it reassured her. They started to walk forward, soon meeting in the middle of the room. Snape's dark eyes burned into her own, they were fairly close and her heart started to beat even faster. Their wands went down to their sides and they bowed. The two turned their backs away from each other and then proceeded to walk five steps forward.

'This is it. The day I die.' Maya thought worriedly.

They faced each other once again. Snape cast the first spell: Stupify. Maya quickly dodged it and shakily rose her wand. She tried her best to block her mind, but he was ultimately too strong for her. Maya thought for a split-second and flicked her wand, flames burst out from the end. Snape knew it was coming and easily deflected it.

Maya furrowed her brows and huffed. Snape is an excellent wizard, but he isn't even trying. She cast spell after spell and all he would do was stand there. Severus, on the other hand, knew she was getting frustrated. This is exactly where he wanted her. He watched as Maya grew impatient, her olive-toned face growing in color. A smirk tugged at Severus' lips when he saw his student fiddle with her wand.

"Well, Gold, aren't you going to fire anything?" He mocked sarcastically. His smirk grew bigger, "Am I not the same as brother dearest?"

Maya glared and she gripped her wand tighter. What was he playing at?

"Am I making you angry? What a shame. You were a brilliantly calm girl." Insults slowly slipped from his teeth again and again. Maya's cheeks grew bright pink and Severus bit his lip to prevent a small chuckle. Instead, he rose his eyebrow.

Maya pointed her wand straight to his chest, anger, and embarrassment clearly showing in her face.

"Come on, Gold! What are you afraid of?!" Severus coxed her to the breaking point, "Surely you can do it." He stepped forward.

Maya's wand started sparking. This wasn't fair. Her hands were shaking, but she still managed to look him in the eye.

"I never said it was going to be fair, Gold," Severus seethed, "You're just standing there, like a fool! This is bloody ridiculous—"

"STUPIFY!" Maya stepped forward. Snape flew backward and his body slammed against the wall. Her heart dropped, as did her wand, and she rushed over to his body.

"Professor Snape, are you alright?!" She shook him slightly and heard him groan, "I am so sorry."

Snape slowly sat up and brushed his hair out of his face. Maya searched his skin for any marks or injuries. Snape stared at her, watching her worried eyes look him up and down.

"I do not need any assistance, Gold." Snape backfired.

"I'm not in any trouble am I, Professor?" Maya asked apprehensively.

Snape shook his head and whispered, "Ten points to Slytherin."

-

Several days went by, the dueling ceased and Snape had advised that they would meet in his office before each lesson to discuss they're plans. The pair would sit on Severus' couch and talk; sometimes they would drift off-topic and discuss their personal lives. They grew closer and Severus, in particular, began to like this student a bit more.

Today, Snape had called their meeting before dinner. When Maya arrived and opened Snape's office door, he was already seated on his couch. Ever since Severus was little, he would stare into the fire. He would watch the wood turn to embers and would feel the heat against his face. Now, his student would be seated next to him, watching the flames just as he would. Severus thought back to a time when he and Lily would stare into the Black Lake, hoping to see the Giant Squid. A smile tugged on his lips; that was one of his happier memories.

Severus was so in thought that he barely even noticed when Maya had sat down. He then cleared his throat and Maya turned to face him. The man looked her in the eyes, and he opened his mouth, but he never said the words he wanted to say.
"It runs in the family," Maya said.

"What?" Severus furrowed his brow.

"My eyes." She looked into the fire again, the flames danced in her eyes.

"Oh—yes? Heterochromia is it not?"

"Yes, sir. Funny enough, when I was going up, I used to cover it up." Maya laughed.

Severus looked baffled, "Pray to tell, why?"

"I don't know. I thought it looked stupid," she laughed once more, "I would use my hair to cover my eyes," Maya explained.

Severus let out a deep chuckle, and it was the most beautiful sound Maya had ever heard. It made her heart jump but it brought a bright smile to her lips.

"Who knew the evil Potion's Master was capable of laughter." Maya joked.

"Oh? Because everyone thinks I live in a bat cave and I'm secretly a vampire." Snape scoffed.
"Exactly." Maya snickered.

"You don't think that...do you?" Severus questioned seriously.

"Of course not, Professor. It's just a style preference, I suppose. I like it, I think it suits you."

Severus was taken aback. Did she just compliment him? Or did she want something from him?

"What is it that you want from me, Gold?" Snape muttered, his eyes were gazing down at his feet.

Maya gulped, the laid-back atmosphere had suddenly turned sour, "What do you mean?"

"You undoubtingly want something from me, otherwise you wouldn't have stayed this long." His voice was gravelly and held uncertainty.

The truth was, Maya enjoyed his company, even if he was a little bipolar.

"The only things I want from you is your trust and your guidance, sir," Maya responded, and she looked him in the eyes.

They didn't say anything, the only noise was the fire crackling at their feet. Maya then noticed that Snape's eyes weren't black, they were dark brown. This somehow made Snape look softer in her eyes. A few seconds went by, Snape turned his head and cleared his throat.

"Well, would you mind helping me with something?" He asked, his black eyes turned back down to the floor.

"Not at all, Professor. What do you need?"

"Next week, I need to go into Hogsmeade to retrieve some ingredients and I would like for you to go." Snape ran his fingers through his dark hair.

"I'd be more than glad to help you, Professor." She smiled, "So, what will we be working on tonight?"

"I don't have a lesson planned for you today, Miss Gold," he cleared his throat again, "I would be most grateful if you had dinner with me tonight. After all, we will be spending a lot of time together, I must get to know who I will be dealing with." Snape joked sarcastically.

Maya stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"I am," The professor nodded. His voice was soft yet, somehow, incredibly intimidating.
Maya looked away bashfully and smiled.