Harry Potter One Shots

Yes, Professor: The Riddle

[[Originally this was going to be a short story but I kind of like it better as a oneshot so we're gonna go with that.  There may be a couple of other one shots that follow marnier and neville but idk yet.]]

Marnie Slate let her eyes wander the corridor as her mind wracked itself for an answer. An answer to a riddle that she had never heard of before.

I am tall when I am young and I am short when I am old, what am I?

Marnie had read many books about riddles in hopes of never being stuck outside of her dorm just as she was now; with a memory like hers, she would never forget an answer but unfortunately this riddle hadn't been in any books.

Puffing out her cheeks in anger, the blonde haired girl sat in the chair to the left of the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower and hoped that another Ravenclaw would come by and know the answer. Bitten-down nails tapped out an angry rhythm on her pants and a frown marred her rather pretty face much like a bruise. Her shoulders were hunched, left leg bouncing ridiculously to the tune of Old Magic which was rather close to the muggle song Old McDonald.

After perhaps a half hour of waiting on a fellow house-mate Marnie decided it was too near to curfew for any Ravenclaw's to still be moving about. The small blonde rolled her eyes before standing up and letting her short, thin legs carry her to the nearest classroom in hopes of a professor still being awake and able to help her gain entrance to her own house's tower.

Honestly, she grumbled to herself, what was the Sorting Hats plan to putting her in here? It wasn't as if she was smart, in fact if she didn't have an eidetic memory, she'd be quite average in everything she did. So why would the Hat put her in the smartest house? Marnie was terrible at reading, she was dyslexic; she was also terrible at Charms and according to her professor reminded him of a Gryffindor from five or so years ago who used to constantly blow things up.

Except she never exploded anything; she just set it on fire.

So, needless to say, Marnie Slate wasn't the only one wondering what she was doing in Ravenclaw; she was shunned by the entirety of her house, made fun of by several of the Slytherins and some of the Gryffindors and the only people she truly got on with were the Hufflepuffs.

The only class she was truly good in was Care of Magical Creatures.

Still, with a sigh and her bruised frown, she carried on down the corridor before stumbling upon something she never thought she'd see in a million years. Her professor, perhaps her favourite professor even, in a tuxedo.

Marnie's eyes wandered over his form, lingering a moment longer at his bum than anywhere else before letting them drift up to his face.

"G'evening, Professor," she called, watching as he jumped slightly before turning to face the girl.

"Marnie, shouldn't you be in your tower?" His voice was smooth and masculine and combined with his tux it left Marnie feeling all out of sorts. She's never felt the need to touch someone intimately before, she'd never wanted to kiss someone before.

Before that moment, that night, with him in that tux.

"Yes, Professor, but I don't know the answer to the riddle. I can't get in so I was hoping to find a professor who could help. Why are you so dressed up, Professor Longbottom?"

He tugged at the bottom of his jacket, his short nails seemed to scratch at it softly as if he were nervous before he turned muddy green eyes back to me. The corridors echoed a silence that could have been but in our wake, we stood speaking, our clothing rustling.

"I had a date," the man answered, sounding less than pleased and leading the Ravenclaw to make the assumption that the date didn't necessarily go well. Neville Longbottom was the youngest professor at Hogwarts, not including Professors Deacon and Weasley but they were ghosts and didn't count in Marnie's own opinion. Professor Longbottom was quite un-professional when it came to speaking to his students, he always called them by their first name and tended to speak to them as friends rather than as students, it was why so many people enjoyed Herbology nowadays.

"I take it that it didn't go very well," Marnie muttered, her eyes connecting with the professor's easily enough.

"She didn't show," the man replied, tugging nervously at the right sleeve of his tuxedo jacket.

"Well, her loss. Was it Miss Abbott from the Leaky Cauldron? Lana Murray said she saw you two speaking before school started, she said you looked very in to her."

Neville Longbottom, as shy as he had once been, didn't blush or stutter as this new information came to his attention, he simply nodded as if to agree that it had been Hannah Abbott before turning his full attention to the Ravenclaw who was officially out after hours.

"Come on then, what was the riddle?"

The small girl repeated the words, scowling as she once more thought about what the answer could be. The only riddles she'd ever gotten right without having to research the answer was the riddle of the Sphinx in her sixth year and another at the beginning of seventh year about something getting wetter as it dried.

"Candle. Now goodnight Marnie, try to make it to the tower before Filch or the Headmistress catch you."

Grinning, the girl nodded before turning on her heel and racing back off to Ravenclaw tower, fully prepared to daydream about her professor in his tuxedo for the rest of the night. After all, with a memory like hers, it isn't like she would ever forget this night.