9. Matches & Needles (1/2)

a/n: italics for thoughts

classes are also random (sometimes) with no exact schedule.

—

"do you want me to get you a headache potion?" merlin queried a trifle worriedly, concern strapped in with his voice for the seemingly exhausted potions master that sat behind his desk with a hand propping the side of his forehead up. it was only twenty minutes of the lesson and the overgrown bat had already taken away roughly fifty points from gryffindor, to which merlin would hand their points back to them for having a tidy desk and the correct preparations for class. "you really don't look too well."

snape wheeled his head around to look up at the assistant and frowned, thoroughly confused by the lack of sarcasm that would usually be in his tone. "i'm surprised you care, a minor improvement in your behaviour i'd say," he sneered, readjusting his grip around the quill. "but no, as much as it pains me to say, i need to complete these papers by the evening. and i certainly can't afford to leave this class of dunderheads alone, no, that's out of the question."

a majority of the class lifted their gaze from their cauldrons and potions textbook, some filled with contempt and others with irritation before continuing on with their work. "bloody git," one of the weasley's if merlin recalled accurately, ron weasley. merlin looked his way before sighing, holding back the urge to pinch the

idge of his nose in a snape-like manner.

"i'm quite offended that you don't think that i could handle a single class, severus," merlin grinned, trying to lighten the gloomy mood, laughing quietly to himself when he used the professor's first name. the man scowled as if on instinct at his assistant, making an effort to bare his teeth. "here, i'll do this for you. just count this as an apology for being such an annoyance." he bent himself down over the desk slowly, lifting a hand from his side and snapping his fingers in front of the potions master before stepping back.

he watched — a little too proudly — as the colour-drained expression of the overgrown bat shrunk considerably into one of complete and utter puzzlement. although the only remainder of the man's major headache was his furrowed

ows and deepened frown, the warlock figured that it was just one of his key features and personality that built them up. but with a single look, he could tell that there was more colour that returned to his face. all he had to do now was to try and stay out of his way, on behalf of the students as well, as to not rile him up any further. he knew fairly well that the man took his work very seriously when it came to the topic of potions, and in no way did he want to hinder the man's talent or compassion in the subject.

as if already sensing the question in the potions master look by itself, he chuckled to himself quietly at his obvious confusion and masked curiosity that he was failing to mask up. "not all cures emanate from wands and potions alone, severus. magic alone can prove to be a very fitting tool if one is trained correctly." if he had to be completely honest — not that he was actually willing to admit it — his words were more of just emptying his mind out than anything. if anything, he was pretty sure that he probably got those lines from some ancient book that he read in his personal li

ary. once he got to actually looking around the class, he clamped his lips shut before blabbering out, "or something along those lines anyway."

glancing back down at the potions master to reassure himself that all was fine, he was instead met with a look of complete loathing. well, not completely to the point of driving him off the edge of his temper, but rather just a frustrated look, like he was conceding to defeat. with a curt nod that surprised a great majority of the class greatly, snape swept his gaze across the rest of the room, hurling an intense glare towards the poor first years that spoke more than words.

—

the rest of potions was relatively uneventful and somehow managed to run along more smoothly than what was expected of it. there was, of course, the bickering of house-pride between the stubborn lions and snakes occasionally, but then that was exactly when merlin decided to intervene before things were to get thrown out of hand. the malfoy child was especially aggravating, continuously spitting insults at any of the gryffindors with his lackeys snickering from behind as pathetic supporters for his giant ego.

"what do you think all that was about?" harry finally asked, walking alongside his newly made friend and adjusting his walking pace to keep up with him. potions had just ended and their next class was transfiguration, a subject that had somewhat struck his interest. "the professors, i mean."

ron turned his head to face him with a shrug of his shoulders, "i dunno, but that blue-eyed guy seems cool. for a slytherin, he'd be a pretty good hufflepuff, don't you think?" at the nod of his head, ron continued, "have you heard the rumour though? apparently, they're supposed to be

others or related in some way. professor evans looks more… well, he's nicer than snape though, so i don't think it's actually true."

"yeah, i guess so. i thought you said that slytherins were supposed to be arrogant and evil though. evans doesn't look anything like that, but instead the complete opposite." harry remarked, arching an eye

ow as he stared at the red-haired boy, grinning

iefly at the tint of pink that had spread along his cheeks and then to the tip of his ears.

"i-i know! that's what dad told me at least. said that all those dark wizards come from that house," ron tried to hide the fact that he was flustered by shaking his head a little. "that's why it's so weird! just take a look at malfoy, he's the typical stuck-up kind of slytherin. maybe he persuaded the sorting hat to put him in slytherin!"

harry scrunched up his eye

ows with a puzzled look, "why would he want to do that for?" he questioned with a frown. from what he could tell just by looking around a little closer, slytherin was by far the most isolated house in school, which actually almost made him feel sympathy for their misfortune. they didn't interact with any of the other houses — unless of course, it was out of house rivalry and other nonsense to start fights or arguments — so why would anyone voluntarily want to end up there? let alone try to influence the sorting hat to go there?

"maybe he's a gryffindor in disguise!" ron suggested excitedly, swiftly managing to avoid colliding with a hufflepuff student while trekking their way up the marble staircase. "i mean, he gave us points for just having our desks tidy, or when we were working quietly," his smile

oadened as he started to recall their previous class eagerly. "he even defended us when the slytherins were taunting us! that has to mean something, right?"

harry openly agreed with his friend, nodding his head vigorously with the same smile mirrored across his lips, but he couldn't help but have a sense of doubt. "still, it's odd though," he mumbled to himself, ron just barely succeeding to hear his words, "compared to all the other slytherins, he's so optimistic, like dumbledore. you can see it in his eyes, that odd sparkling kind of effect."

ron paused in his walking, his eyes seeming to wander off into a hidden corner of the portraits somewhere before continuing on and catching up with his black-haired companion. "y'know, you're right. he does have that kind of effect in his eyes now that i think about it. weird, but wicked!"

after a few lingering minutes of sweeping down the halls with the rest of their classmates, they were met with the familiar appearance of their potions professor standing idly outside the door, holding it open for the students to file inside with a cheerful smile plastered across his face.

"no way—" ron gaped

eathlessly, eyes flipping open widely in disbelief. "we have him for transfiguration class too?" harry suppressed yet another chuckle and instead gave a smile at his red-haired friend. ron was gaping wide-eyed at the professor now standing in front of them as they had advanced forward. "are you helping in this class as well, professor evans?" ron found himself asking, his squeaky voice making him sound more eager and desperate than he would've liked.

evans looked down at them from his tall height, gracing them with a small smile that was practically screaming with mischief. "indeed i am, along with a couple of other subjects. oh, but i'm more of just an assistant than an actual professor." he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "but if you need any help or have any inquiries throughout your classes, i'll be more than happy to assist you in them."

with the three of them exchanging comparable nods of recognition, they travelled in, merlin standing off to the side as he gave a respectful inclination of his head to mcgonagall. she returned the greetings stiffly, a

ief flash of curiosity sweeping across her features before tightening sternly. now wasn't the time to get carried away by the new assistant, she had an entire class of boisterous, thick-headed gryffindors to lecture.