A/N: As always, feel free to skip everything in bold...
Oopsies sorry for being MIA! Sometimes the depression just hits ya know 🤷🏻♀️ also I keep getting hyped and writing excerpts that can't be used till like ten chapters from now... lol
In other news, I finally caved and told someone I know irl about this story *sigh*. It was my bffl who also happens to my ex 🤦🏻♀️ ffs I don't know what I was thinking! Aaand I definitely scared him with the whole having eyes for men twice-thrice my age thing lmao I tried to convince him with AlanTok - I was like "Look at all the other people who watch these! SEE! IM NOT THAT WEIRD I SWEAR!" buuut that just weirded him out more ahaha
Aaaaaand now he's reading this story AAAAAHHHHHH WHAT HAVE I DONE 💀💀 but luckily he's an engineering student so, like me, he's slow af at reading and will hopefully get bored and won't make it to the spicy 😂
Anyways, in BIGGER news: The Diaries of Alan Rickman! whaaaat!!
"A generation-spanning collection of 27 handwritten diaries kept by the late, great Alan Rickman are to be edited down into a single book and published, by Canongate, in 2022. As reported by The Guardian, the famously sharp-tongued actor began writing these memoirs in the early 1990s, with the intention that one day they would be published for the world to see."
😱😱😭😭 *throws handfuls of money at publishing company*
Now, back to business. I've ended up cutting this chapter in two because I couldn't be bothered editing it all at once. Enjoy! ❤️
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Over the past week, a plethora of Christmas decorations had sprouted up throughout Hogwarts castle, cultivating an almost dizzying air of festivity. The students were becoming increasingly boisterous as the approaching final classes of 1994 brought with them the promise of holidays, presents and, most topically, the Yule Ball.
Asha was back to excelling academically (with the tragic exception of History of Magic). Her self-taught spells had finally started to overlap with the curriculum, meaning she could pay zero attention in Charms, Transfiguration and DADA and still achieve near-perfect grades.
Given her lack of need to focus in these lessons, she had begun seating herself toward the back of the class where she could better spend her time reading books such as Advanced Charms for the Studious, Spells Every Nomad Should Know and The Path of an Auror: A Collection of Interviews. Dumbledore had also given her a pass to the restricted section where she had discovered a series called Duelling Not for the Faint-Hearted. She was currently on Volume IV, Chapter Twenty-Two: Sixteen Creative Ways to Disarm your Opponent.
In previous years, when Asha had found classes easy, she would still pretend to listen and learn alongside the others, all with the intention of blending in. But things were changing. The once compliant and attentive Asha Winters was slowly but surely fading. In the few weeks since her memories had been returned, her desperation to stay safely below the radar had dissolved. She recognised that this was rather ironic given she now had an extremely good reason to fit in. Of course, she was still mindful not to give away any clues that she was the missing child of Lord Voldemort, but she found Severus and Dumbledore's urge for extreme caution excessive and unnecessary. What did it matter if she stuck out just a little?
Unfortunately, there were still a few classes where she had to pay attention if she wanted to do ace them; namely Astronomy, Herbology and Potions. She had soared to the top of Potions, though, as Snape - or Severus, as she now often thought of him - frustratingly liked to remind her, she still couldn't out-perform Draco Malfoy or Hermione Granger.
Asha had never taken Potions class quite so seriously before... or paid quite so much attention. She was now finding Severus' precise, velvety voice hard not to listen to. How she'd ever found it dull or boring she had no idea.
Since the night Severus had tried to give her the watch, she'd hardly had a chance to talk to him. Neither of them had found a good enough excuse to organise any form of private meeting. They did exchange a few curt words during his lessons, but at those times neither of them were being their authentic selves so the interaction was empty.
At other times, their communication was limited to being highly discrete. When they passed each other in the corridor they would exchange subtle, meaningful looks. Or at mealtimes when their eyes met across the Great Hall, they offered each other a slight tilt of the head. In those moments, Asha sometimes found it hard to pull her gaze away. It was also becoming more of a reach to put the accompanying swooping sensation in her stomach down to a mere coincidence.
But the most topical gossip of the month was the official announcement of the Yule Ball. This was why Asha now found herself in the unfortunate position of having to sit through a dance lesson.
"Settle down please," came the brusque voice of Professor McGonagall. "I understand you are all excited to be doing an activity outside that of your usual classes, but time is of the essence. I'm afraid we have a lot to cover if we want to get up to par with the other schools."
The fourth year Hogwarts students were gathered in the Great Hall, forming a buzzing mass of black robes. The house tables had been shrunk and whisked to the back of the room and benches now lined the walls, leaving an ominous expanse of stone floor.
Severus stood stiffly near the main doors, keeping a healthy distance from the throng of over-excited teenagers. To his utmost displeasure, Minerva had requested he aid in supervising the lesson until Filius (someone who, to Severus' incomprehension, actually delighted in the idea of teaching dance) was able to join them.
"If all of you could please take a seat," Minerva instructed sharply.
The students immediately moved to do as they were told, highlighting another reason why Severus was vexed that she had insisted his presence was necessary. The formidable woman was more than capable of controlling the year level on her own, making this whole exercise a complete waste of his time. Although, to her credit, the students were acting far more giggly and misbehaved than usual. Apparently, the thought of dressing formally and partnering up drove teenagers into a ridiculous mania. Severus' expression turned even more sour.
As the sea of adolescents parted, filtering to the edges of the hall, he spotted Asha. She was hard not to miss; a fact which bothered him deeply. To him, she appeared so much older than the students around her it was laughable. Not just in her looks or height, but in her poise. She carried herself with such effortless grace it irritated him. Would it kill her to slouch, act a little awkward or trip over her own feet from time to time like every other juvenile in this school? She stuck out like a sore thumb and it made him uneasy. Surely someone as shrewd as Minerva would see it. Surely whoever was the powerful witch or wizard who was meddling with Potter would notice her.
Asha's attitude was also not helping. A look of absolute disinterest was plastered across her face as she refused to take part in any of the hysterics or gossiping that the rest of the kids were absorbed in. She looked to be off in her own world, barely hearing Minerva's orders. Severus wondered which of the many things Asha could be thinking about this time.
One of her little friends grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the side benches with the rest of the Hufflepuff cohort. How Asha managed to put up with such a huge gaggle of fifteen-year-olds, Severus would never comprehend.
With Maive's hand dragging her back to the present, Asha realised everyone was taking their seats.
"Mmm, I'm gonna go this way," Asha declared with a cheeky smirk. By the time Maive had looked around and opened her mouth in protest, Asha had already swiftly manoeuvred herself to the far end of the benches - in other words, as far away from Professor McGonagall as she could get.
Seating herself next to a cluster of Slytherins, she glanced back up the line of benches. Maive leaned forward and shot Asha a half-amused, half-exasperated look. Asha pulled a face. Given how openly unenthusiastic she'd been about the Ball so far, her actions weren't exactly out of left field to her group of friends.
"House point will be deducted from anyone who isn't seated in three, two..." McGonagall glared at her Gryffindors. "Thank you."
All students were now seated but a blanket of chatter still covered the Hall.
"Parkinson! That is enough!" barked Severus. The girl had been declaring with unnecessary volume that she had accepted Draco Malfoy's invitation to attend the Ball with him. The room fell silent.
"Thank you, Professor," said McGonagall, giving Severus a curt nod before turning to the students. She began to explain the tradition behind the Yule Ball and the various dances that would feature.
Asha slouched against the back wall, folded her arms and legs and tuned out the professor's voice. She was annoyed that this lesson was compulsory. In her opinion, those who weren't going to attend the Ball shouldn't have to learn the dances.
Gazing unseeingly through the stained-glass windows of the Hall, the first place her mind drifted was Winky. Of recent, Asha had been unable to get the events of the Quidditch World Cup out of her head. Over the last week, the ominous, swaying image of the Dark Mark printed in the Daily Profit at the start of the year had continued to pool in her vision.
So, even though she had been too busy catching up on sleep to properly practice her abilities since that night with Severus, she had made time to sneak back into the kitchens and attempt to coax more information out of Winky. But as she expected, if Ministry Officials couldn't interrogate the information out of the elf, Asha didn't have a chance.
She ran through the elf's choked words, trying to glean any extra pinch of information she might've missed. So far, all she really knew was that Winky's family had served the Crouches for generations and that the elf had been at the World Cup to save Barty Crouch a seat. But even that was guessing game. Deciphering words from Winky's hiccough-filled, floor-facing, slurred wail was quite the challenge. It also didn't help that Winky's distress was so intense that Asha hadn't been able to stomach questioning her for very long. All in all, she thought that Winky was very lucky to have Dobby looking after her.
Asha's wandering eyes suddenly landed on Severus and she was sucked back into the present. He stood tall, stiff and brooding; like Hogwarts had employed someone from the military to keep their eyes peeled for an imposter in the crowd.
With effort, Asha drew her gaze back to the colourfully illuminated windows. But it didn't last. It was like an invisible string was stubbornly tugging her eyes in the man's direction. It didn't take long for her to submit to its pull. With a swoop of her stomach, she found his dark eyes already looking right at her. Expectedly, his face showed no indication that she was anything more than one of his numerous students. With all eyes on McGonagall, she felt safe to give him a little smirk and eye roll, acknowledging their shared distaste for the current activity.
Severus experienced a moment's respite from his bitter mood as a gentle warmth seemed to fill his chest. But it faded as quickly as it had appeared as he returned to scanning over the rest of the students. He found he had to make a conscious effort not to glance back at Asha.
"To dance as a pair is an act of trust and connection," McGonagall was saying.
Asha rolled her eyes internally and leaned her head back against the cool stone wall. This time her mind drifted off to thoughts of Crash and her container family back in New Zealand. She spent a lot of time in those memories now. As much as it hurt to veer so close to the truth of what she had lost, it sucked her in. It was a safe place that she could dissolve into and pretend for a brief moment that the rest of the world didn't exist.
She had decided her memories from that time in her life were some of her most precious possessions. There were so many incredible moments that she hadn't realised at the time would come to mean so much to her. Like that time they all put on high-vis vests and cut down the-
"Miss Winters," came a sharp voice. Asha was snapped out of her daydreaming and turned to look at Professor McGonagall. "Do pay attention. Eyes on myself and Mr Weasley, please."
Asha feigned a guilty expression and pushed herself upright. To her amusement, she saw Ron standing awkwardly in the centre of the Hall next to McGonagall. His face was a deep shade of red.
For a short while, the ludicrous sight of Ron demonstrating dance steps with the stern woman held Asha's attention. A mischievous part of her wished there was a way to bottle this memory to gift to Fred and George. It would've made a perfect Christmas present.
Before long, she found her eyes on Severus again, but this time he had his back to her. His meticulous posture only served to accentuate his broad upper back and shoulders. Not wanting to be caught staring at Professor Snape for longer than the average student, she lifted her gaze to a beetle which was slowly making its way up the back wall of Hall.
Suddenly Draco Malfoy gave her a sharp elbow in the ribs. She glared at him.
"Miss Winters?" snapped McGonagall for what was obviously not the first or even second time.
"Sorry?" Asha asked innocently. McGonagall scowled knowingly at her.
"Tell me, when Mr Weasley takes a fourth step back, what must I do?"
Asha stared at her blankly.
"Er, take a step forward?" she guessed. There were a sprinkling of sniggers around the room.
"Winters!" McGonagall chided, "I do not want to have to ask for your attention again. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students are already experienced in formal dancing and I will not have any of our Hogwarts students embarrassing the school. Five points from Hufflepuff."
A hush of groans issued from further up the benches.
"Now, now Professor," came Severus' familiar drawl.
The entire hall turned their attention to him.
"You cannot fairly claim Miss Winters has been paying no attention at all. Perhaps she simply missed your last few instructions," he said with an open gesture of his hands.
Asha watched him warily, suspicious of where this was going.
"A more telling question might be: what is the type of dance you are currently learning..." he turned to her "...and have been learning for the past twenty minutes... Winters?"
The hall went silent, waiting for Asha to answer.
She blinked, resisting her desire to shoot Severus a very dirty look. Or perhaps just grin at him. She was first and foremost irked by his attempt to call her out. But a small part of her was electrified by that fact that he was toying with her. By the fact that no one else in the room understood the depth behind this exchange. By the fact that the truth of the taunt was shared exclusively between him and her.
After a beat too long, she replied with stubborn conviction, "The waltz."
This time the Hufflepuffs groaned openly. The Slytherins near Asha sniggered louder than ever and Pansy Parkinson practically shrieked with laughter until Millicent Bulstrode slapped her on the arm, determined not to lose the points they'd just gained over Hufflepuff.
Asha's calm stare remained fixed on Severus. To her, the gleam of satisfied amusement in his eyes was clear as day. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to laugh as well. A line of communication passed between the pair; something along the lines of 'You're such a prick' and 'Oh, I'm well aware'.
Severus held up a hand and the noise of the hall quickly died away. The students were now on the edge of their seats waiting to see how he would respond. It became harder for Asha not to smirk as Severus left a ridiculous dramatic pause.
"It seems I stand corrected," he mocked in a tone that made the rest of the students nervous, "Miss Winters was, in fact, paying absolutely no attention what so ever."
In a secret message of defiance, Asha slid her jaw forwards and narrowed her eyes in a movement so infinitesimal it might have been non-existent. Severus saw it and internally smirked.
Their private stare-down was broken by a severely unimpressed Professor McGonagall.
"Well then, Miss Winters. Since it seems you require a more hands-on learning approach, why don't you come up here and help demonstrate the next steps we will be learning. Mr Weasley here has been making a valiant effort but I think it will be beneficial for the boys to see how the steps are intended to look, Professor Snape."
There was disbelieving silence from the entire hall, including Asha and Severus, as McGonagall's suggestion sunk in: Professor Severus Snape and Asha Winters... dancing.