The Malfoy Principle (On Hiatus)

The Waiting

“Nothing on Black? At all?” Saphira asked with a bit of trepidation a few weeks later. She had pulled her blonde tendrils back away from her face using an ornate hair-clip. Severus frowned as he turned to his oldest friend.

“No, Lea,’’ Severus replied as Saphira frowned. She sighed as she let the scroll she had been reading roll up. The teacher’s lounge was oddly empty after dinner one night. Severus and Saphira were sitting across from one another as they attempted to grade the multiple potions assignments that Severus had assigned earlier that week. Severus pushed his ebony hair away from his face as he quietly studied his friend.  She seemed to fit in well among the teachers at Hogwarts. She was got along better than he thought she would. Of course, she didn’t spend much time with them. Between helping him and being Hagrid’s assistant, she barely had time to truly socialize.

“This whole waiting -for-the-enemy-to-strike plan bothers me, Severus,” she mumbled as she leaned back in her chair.

“What would your plan be?”

“Easy. I use Potter as bait and then confront him!” Saphira replied easily. Severus chuckled.

“And if Potter was hurt?”

“Then he shouldn’t look like his bloody father,” Saphira rebutted jokingly. She sighed as she looked toward the only clock in the massive room. They’d only been there for an hour or two, but she was exhausted. Being a teacher was hard work.   As a student, she only had to worry about what she was doing. As a teacher, she had to worry about what all of the students were doing. It was energy draining, to say the least. She couldn’t understand how Severus looked the same at all times. She was sure she looked ragged by fifth period.

“Have you been sleeping, Lea?” Severus asked when he took notice of the faint dark circles underneath his friend’s eyes. Saphira looked up before sighing.

“Yes, but this whole being a teacher thing is exhausting,” Saphira answered truthfully.  Severus chuckled.

“You’re only an assistant,” he remarked. Saphira scoffed.

“With Hagrid, I might as well be the teacher. Honestly, that man only has two settings. Dangerous and more dangerous,” she replied truthfully. After the hippogriff incident she had hoped he would dial back, but no. Hagrid had brought forth another dangerous creature. Wood nymphs.

“What was it today?” Severus asked as he failed the current essay he was reading.

“Wood nymphs! Can you believe him? Those creatures don’t like people, much less students prodding at them and their homes!” Saphira exclaimed. Severus chuckled.

“So who didn’t you have to save today?” He asked.

“Potter and his friends, and surprisingly enough, Longbottom, but everyone else I had to rescue. It’s exhausting merely being that man’s assistant. What was Dumbledore thinking making him into the Care of Magical Creatures teacher?” Saphira mumbled as Severus shrugged his shoulders.

“Lea, no one knows what goes through the mind of Albus Dumbledore,” Severus replied as Saphira sighed.

“I think someone should. You know, sometimes, I think we’re just puppets to him,” she remarked quietly.  Severus frowned. He trusted Dumbledore with the very fiber of his being, but he knew Saphira trusted no one but him.

“I’m sorry if I upset you, Severus. I know how you feel about him,” Saphira quickly amended her earlier blunder. Severus shook his head, signaling for her not to worry.

“You’ve always had your opinion, Lea,” Severus excused as Saphira sighed. Halloween was coming up over the weekend. It was also the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.