Descendant of Merlin (Severus Snape) Book 1: Anger and Awe

Detention...Again..

When I told Lynx I had gotten detention again she frowned deeply. She asked if it had anything to do with what I hadn't told her yet. I said it did a little bit. That only made her furrow her brows further. I told her it would be alright and headed, yet again, to the dungeons. Today I made it five minutes early.

"Enter," Snape responded when I knocked softly on the door. I walked up to his desk noticing a bottle of cleanser and a toothbrush on the edge of the front table. He glanced up for a second before turning back to his papers.

"Since you nearly damaged the Whomping Willow tree on your broom today you are going to sweep my classroom and then scrub every inch of the floor until I can see my reflection in it," he instructed. He didn't seem so angry now. It was almost as if he was relaxed, as relaxed as he gets at least. I exhaled and retrieved the broom that stood in the corner.

I set about the task of sweeping making sure to get underneath the tables and chairs. Once I was satisfied most of the loose dirt was in a pile I levitated it into the trash bin by Snape's desk. There was an awful lot of dirt too. I wondered when the last time the floors had been swept was. I sat the broom back in its corner and picked up the toothbrush and cleanser.

"You sure have a thing for toothbrushes, don't you, Professor?" I commented glumly.

"Oral hygiene is very important," he said without humor. I got the vibe it was a joke nonetheless. I laughed quietly as I got down on my hands and knees to scrub the stone floors. I dreaded this. It was not about to be pleasant and would have my knees sore for days.

"So Professor?" I began after working in silence for several minutes. I heard Snape sigh and sit back a bit in his chair.

"Yes?" he asked unhappily.

"Don't you think some of the tricks I was doing on my broom earlier were brilliant?" I asked. I was making conversation to see where it would go.

"Why would I care?" he replied blandly. I made a face that I knew he couldn't see.

"You seemed pretty concerned earlier," I stated simply. I could sense him becoming frustrated and knew if I wanted this conversation to be helpful I had to watch myself carefully.

"I assure you, Miss Fellstone, that the only concern I had was for the reputation of this school," he responded quickly with an edge to his voice.

"Do you enjoy flying, Professor?" I asked ignoring his last comment.

"Don't be silly, I don't have time to fly," he said.

"That's sad, I love flying at high speeds, but free-falling with my broom is my favorite," I confided dreamily. He looked over at me with no emotion on his face. Thankfully, I wasn't facing away from him.

"Tell me, Miss Fellstone, do you have a death wish?" he asked in his rich deep voice. It reverberated in the stone causing my body to heat up slightly. I swallowed to push the feeling down.

"No Sir, I just like the rush," I replied honestly.

"I do not believe you to be a stupid girl. Do not give me cause to change my mind," Professor Snape said going back to his papers. I smiled softly at the floor. He didn't even realize what he was doing, but he was giving me ammunition to use in my battle to win his heart. I knew he cared. I just had to figure out how much.

Several minutes later I hadn't made much progress because I had to wipe over the spot I had just scrubbed with a damp rag to get rid of the dirt and left over cleaner. It was a slow process. I was surprised when Snape broke the silence.