from Time to Time | Lucius Malfoy

In the dungeons...

1990, September 1st

Today was the day. My first day at work. Was I excited? Was Merlin the greatest wizard of all time? Heavens, I've been up since 4 a.m. and am now packing my bags for the 3rd time. It was an honor to start my assistantship at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry today, I didn't go to school here myself but I've only heard good things. I was particularly excited about the allocation to houses, the principal's letter said that teachers were also sorted into houses just like the students.

As I carefully packed my robes and dresses into the trunk, I thought about which house I would end up in. I've already read a lot about the individual houses, knew that Hogwarts also had house teachers and that the students could be given or deducted points by all teachers and at the end of the school year the house with the most points won the so-called house cup.

A nice idea, I thought to myself, that would definitely motivate the students to pay attention in class and not to disturb the lessons, the fear of having points deducted is certainly great. Would I be allowed to award points as well? When do you give them points? And how many? If you answer a question correctly, do you get 5 points or 500? My head was buzzing with confused questions, but I finally finished packing.

I looked at the clock. It was 9am, I had to go or I would be late. I pulled on my cloak and robes, tucked my wand up my sleeve, tucked some books under my arm, and dragged the large suitcase behind me. After leaving the apartment, I walked to the apparation point and apparated right in front of Hogwarts grounds, where I immediately bumped into someone.

"Excuse me," a deep male voice made itself felt in the chaos of suitcases and books. I looked up and met two almost black eyes. The eyes belonged to a tall, pale man with hair as black as the clothes he wore. He held me his hand which I thankfully took and helped me back on my feet. "It's okay, nothing to worry about..." I answered while brushing the dirt off my coat.

The man began gathering up his dropped books and piling them on top of his suitcase. I also started to sort my things and didn't pay much more attention to him. He suddenly cleared his throat and looked at me. "Is that your book?" he asked as he held my healing potions textbook in front of me. I took it from him and said curtly "yes". If it wasn't his, it must be mine, right? What a silly thing to ask? The man chuckled dryly and then spoke in a deep voice: "You know that we don't use this edition but the previous one? The content is the same, but the quantities in the recipes given in the older editions are a little more precise and the students fail a little less often when brewing."

We? Did he just say WE?

"Severus Snape, potions master. I assume you are miss Sterling, my assistant?" He arched an eyebrow, waiting for my reply. Great, on the first day here I ran over my superior, who was hardly older than me and embarrassed myself with the wrong book. Where are you even supposed to get an outdated version from? "Uhm, yes. My name is Caitriona Sterling. Nice to meet you. I hope it's going to be a great year."

He smiled briefly and then led me across the bridge into the castle. The headmaster was already waiting for us. It was explained to me that the students would arrive around 5pm and that I would have time to acclimate in my chambers and explore the castle and the surrounding area. Severus rolled his eyes but finally agreed when professor Dumbledore asked him to show me around the castle. However, before all of this could take place, I had to be sorted into a house in the first place. The Sorting Hat got involved. I wrinkled my nose. Ugh.

The hat was put on my head. Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, took on this task. She told me that it would be the same procedure for the students, but during a ceremony in the Great Hall after dinner right after the students' arrival. In order to save teachers various embarrassments, they would always be sorted in advance, the Sorting Hat seemed to like to reveal spicy details about the head it was sitting on from time to time...

So the hat sat on me and began its work. Everything was spinning around in my mind. The hat babbled on how I was curious, ambitious and friendly but also cunning and confident. Pretty cheeky, I thought to myself when he suddenly said, "Of course, Slytherin!" exclaimed. Great, sounds nice, I thought. Professor Dumbledore looked at me blankly, Minerva seemed to have pity in her eyes but Severus' eyes lit up. Apparently I ended up in his house.

"The Slytherin common room and dormitories are in the dungeon, password protected, with the potions, storage and classrooms right next to it," he explained as he led me down the corridors to the dungeon. "They sleep in the basement? Password protected?" I asked in disbelief. "Only the students in their own house have access to the common rooms and dormitories, the passwords change all the time, so remember them well because the students tend to forget them. Also, we're not in the basement, we're in the dungeon. Is that a problem for you, miss Sterling?" he stopped and turned to me with a questioning look on his face. "Not at all, sir. I was just surprised since it's quite cold down here." I answered innocently. "You'll get used to that quickly.", he replied flatly and continued his walk. I dabbled after him.

"Those..." he gestured towards a door, "are my private chambers. I do not wish to be invaded by annoying students and suggest you knock and wait for my reply before entering, unless you want an agonizing and slowly death." He looked at me emotionlessly. "I don't see why I should visit your private chambers, sir?" I put on an innocent expression again. A smile crossed his lips. "We will see." he replied. 

He then led me down the hall and pointed to the next door. "These are your chambers. Settle in, take your time. I'll also unpack my luggage. If you need anything, knock. Otherwise I wish you a pleasant day, we'll see you at dinner," he nodded and left stand at the door. I pushed the doorknob and entered.

Not so bad at all, I thought and looked around. My trunks and other stuff were already there, so all I had to do was unpacking it. As I put my clothes in the closet and organized my books, I wondered if this Snape and I would ever get along. He seemed kind of cold but still likeable. But I really didn't know why I should visit him in his room. First of all, I'd been trying to clearly separate my private and professional life ever since and secondly, he wasn't my type at all. Or was he?