Arlyn Quinn and the Lost Girl -* A Severus Snape Fanfic *-

Bloody-minded acceptance - Part 1

"... excellent answer, Felix, five points to Slytherin." Arlyn praised the third year boy and patted the machine standing at the front of the class, "Muggles use this machine you see here to wash clothes, it's called a washing machine, as Felix said. And of course, who has time to wait for their clothes to air dry out in the sun? That is why the Muggles invented another machine for that task. Who can tell me what it's called?"

A hand shot up at the back of the class.

"Yes, Andrea?" Arlyn asked the Gryffindor girl.

"A drying machine, Professor?"

The rest of the class sniggered and the girl's cheeks tinted red.

Arlyn held her hands up to silence the children, "Alright, settle down, there's no need to laugh. Andrea had the courage to attempt to answer a question, and I didn't see any other hands in the air. If that's not an accurate depiction of her House, then I don't know what is. Thank you for trying, Andrea." She sent the girl a warm smile before continuing her lesson, "The machine that dries clothes is called a tumble dr- Sofia? Are you alright?"

She wondered how she haven't noticed it before, but Sofia Adler, one of her most hardworking students, hasn't said a word throughout the whole class, whereas she was usually the one whose hand remained permanently in the air to answer questions. The Ravenclaw girl has been zoned out since the class started and only blinked from her trance when Arlyn called her name.

"I'm alright, Professor Quinn, just... deep in thought, I guess," she assured her professor with a mild smile.

Arlyn quirked a brow and rested her hands on her hips, "I know that look, Sofia. What is troubling that overactive mind of yours?"

The girl swallowed visibly and pursed her lips. At last, her hazel eyes met Arlyn's when she asked, "What is the Chamber of Secrets, Professor?"

The second that question left the young girl's mouth, the entire class' attention shifted from her to their professor. Several pairs of inquisitive eyes lingered on her, and Arlyn shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wondering how she was to explain this to them.

"Well..." she trailed off and backed up to hop onto her desk.

However, no one knew of the tall and dark figure standing just outside her door, listening in on her class.

Severus wasn't planning on dropping by to see her. Merlin, no, he had a Potions class to get back to and the Muggle Studies classroom wasn't on his way to his own. Perhaps he was a bit in thought as he made his way through the halls of Hogwarts and coincidentally found himself outside her door. The Potions Master nearly turned to return to his class, but upon hearing her award a Slytherin boy with points for an answer he got right, made him pause and listen in a bit.

He couldn't fight the fond smile on his lips when she encouraged a student for attempting to answer a question, and when she displayed genuine concern over another student's well being, he found himself leaning against the wall at the fluttery sensation in his chest and stomach. And now, he was anxiously waiting to hear her explain to the students about the Chamber of Secrets. If it was him who was faced with that difficult answer, he would have simply sent the dunderheads off to ask another teacher, McGonagall to be exact.

"Well..." he heard her say and lowered his head to listen more intently, "Once upon a time, over a thousand years ago, Hogwarts was founded by the four greatest witches and wizards to have ever walked this earth; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of them worked quite well together, but the other not so much."

"I bet it was Salazar Slytherin," Angus, a Gryffindor boy, said disgustedly and glowered at the few Slytherin students in the class.

Felix was very well on his way to defend his House, when Arlyn cut him off, "There will be no discrimination in my classroom, Mr Hardy. Not all Slytherins are bad, it's our choices that define us, not our Houses. You would do well to remember that, or I shall be forced to take points from Gryffindor for your actions."