The Era of Aria Snape

03

Chapter Three

ARIA HAD LOST sleep over what her father could have possibly wanted from her. He hardly ever asked for her help and when he did it was only for minor situations. This did not seem minor at all.

Her classes had gone by excruciatingly slowly for the whole of her first day. All she wanted was to get to her last class of the day and speak to her father. The suspense was absolutely killing her!

Finally, it was time.

She walked in with the rest of her class and sat down. He paid little to no attention to her, as if nothing was going in at all. Aria felt angry at that.

Maybe it was the fact that she had been seated next to her annoying roommate, Matilda Spencer. They had never gotten along and there was nothing more that Aria wanted than to hex her, but she couldn't. Not in front of her father.

The first potion of the year that they were instructed to brew was the Wiggenweld Potion. It was used to heal and replenish stamina. Matilda would need it for her multiple wounds when Aria was done with her.

She began to mix in her ingredients, keeping an eye out for what her partner was doing and how she was doing it - completely wrong. She was so stupid!

"If your potion is not swamp green by now you have down it wrong!" Professor Snape called out to the class as he began to walk around, eyeing each individual potion.

"Mr. Ling. You appear to have added too many lionfish spines." He waved his wand and the potion disappeared from inside the cauldron.

Professor Snape slowly made his way over to Aria and Matilda's shared desk. He sent Aria a small, impressed smile that she would have missed had she not been paying such close attention to his every movement.

"Aah, Miss Spencer." He sighed and stared down in disdain at Matilda's failed potion.

Aria smiled in triumph.

"Please." He waved his wand and the potion disappeared. "Read the instructions carefully. I won't have you failing in this class."

He shot his head towards the clock. "Class dismissed. Everybody get out."

Aria waited for the class to empty before she approached her father. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes." He gestured to the seat in front. Aria sat down. "How has your first day been?"

Aria felt confused for a moment. He had never asked her how her first day was before. She wondered what the catch was. "It was fine." She mumbled.

"Only fine? Nothing to report back?"

"Well..." she smiled at the memory. "If you must know, I bumped into Harry Potter! Actually, he ran into me, practically knocked us both over, but still!" She exclaimed ecstatically.

His face betrayed no emotion as he slowly nodded along to her every word. "There is a first-year I would like you to keep an eye on." He finally said. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"What?"

"His father, Lucius has asked me to watch over his son and make sure he doesn't embarrass himself or his family name. Can't have him bringing down Slytherin or the Malfoy name."

"But father!" Aria protested. "I have better things to do with my time than watch a bratty first year."

A smile played on his mouth. "What could you possibly have to do, Aria? I have your schedule, you're not that busy. This will be a piece of cake." He said in finality. "You are going to do this. Introduce yourself."

"Fine." She groaned after a moment. She picked up her bag and made towards the door, only stopped when he called her.

"Oh, and Aria. Stay away from the Potter boy! I don't want you around him."

She sighed. "Yes, father." Aria hurried out of his classroom before he could make any further demands.

She ran straight to her dorm room and hoped that out of her three roommates, only Anna would be present.

She was in luck. "You won't believe what just happened!" Aria snapped and collapsed onto her bed.

"Talking with your father didn't go so well?" Anna wondered from her bed as she lifted her eyes away from the paper she was reading.

"No! He wants me to watch over Malfoy and make sure the bloody blonde ape doesn't make a fool of himself."

Anna snorted at Aria's choice of language.

"I mean, why is that my responsibility? Lucius asked him to do it, not me! But oh no, he's much too busy torturing first years!" Once she had finished her rant, she released a sob and shoved her face into her pillow.

"It's not that terrible, Ari," Anna reassured her. "All you have to do is occasionally glance at him during meal times."

Aria ignored her best friend's suggestion. "And why does father hate Harry so much? What could possibly happen to me if I hang around a first-year with a weird fringe?"

"Maybe he's worried that the weird will rub off on you." Anna snorted.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She sighed. "But Anna, how am I supposed to go to Hogsmead if I'm stick babysitting that clown?"

"Oh, Ari. It's not like your father won't let you go out. Seriously, everything is going to be fine."

Aria folded her arms. "It better be. Or else I might have to get that blonde brat expelled."