The Raven and the Snake

Ariadne's Second Year

"Professor," she found herself asking one day.

Snape hardly glanced up from his papers, he was looking through some essays while Ariadne worked on an intermediate level potion that wouldn't normally be on the syllabus for 2nd years. "Yes, Miss Black?"

"I've heard that you have a certain level experience with the Dark Arts," she chewed on her lip, trying to word her question carefully. "Would it be alright if I asked you a few questions about the subject from time to time?"

He looked over at her now, his black eyes boring into hers. She felt the tickle of his consciousness probing at the edges of her own, as though he was trying to pick up what her intention was. She counted her breathing again, trying not to be overly interested in the set of his mouth.

"Is your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor not up to the task of answering your questions, Miss Black?"

Ariadne felt a blush creep up her neck. Truthfully, their current professor who was different from last year was a bit of a simpleton. Sure, she understood her topic well, but constantly seemed to underestimate the students. Ariadne had poked into her mind briefly and found that while she'd understood many of theories, she had little practical experience. She hadn't even seemed to realize that Ariadne had glanced into her mind.

"Professor Rutherford is passable on the subject," Ariadne decided to be blunt. "But I was hoping to learn more about finer arts like Legilimency and Occlumency. You have more experience with those subjects than she does, don't you?"

They stared at each other for a long moment. She prayed that Professor Snape couldn't tell how hard she was trying to not stare at his lips that he was now tracing slowly as he contemplated answering her. She prodded his mental walls a little, finding no openings at all.

His eyes narrowed. "I see you've already begun practicing the arts on your own, Miss Black."

Ariadne straightened, she wasn't going to ashamed of her natural talent. "Reading the mundane thoughts of others has always come easily. I have been able to delve a little deeper with effort, but I lack the ability to protect my own mind to satisfaction."

She dreaded him testing her mental restraints, focusing hard on a mental wall as strong as his own. She wanted to be sure he wasn't able to get around her defenses. She could sense that he was far more practiced and she wasn't always positive what he could pick up from her. Perhaps, he could pluck things from her head without her notice, the way she'd done with Professor Rutherford. There was a happy thought.

He leaned back in his chair. "You shouldn't need to worry about people trying to pick your mind. There's hardly anything in there that would interest a grown wizard."

Ariadne gritted her teeth. She liked Professor Snape for the most part, but he had a way of cutting with his words. She felt like he definitely had an idea of her fascination with him. Normally, that would probably be enough to scare off a student with less interest in the subject.

"I don't like having weaknesses." Ariadne nearly growled.

Another long moment of watching her. "You will attend every office hours, I will see if there is time enough to teach you when I've finished grading your pathetic papers."

Ariadne gave a curt nod. She would attend every one of his office hours. She had to prove her willingness to learn. Without further talk that day, she returned to her work, very focused on not allowing her gaze to stray to him.

  "Why do you go to every office hours?" Birdie whined one evening. "Who else is even there? Do you have like a secret crush that attends the office hours?"