A Night With The Headmaster

Lupin's Assistant

Kitri sat in the Great Hall in her usual spot at the professors' table - right between Remus and the grand seat of the headmaster.

She moved the food on her plate around without showing much interest in eating, while watching the students from behind her thin framed glasses and half-listening to Remus talk about the teaching plan he had for them for next few days.

It was hard to believe that almost a year had passed since she had graduated from the foreign magic school Koldovstoretz and was placed at Hogwarts, working as an assistant for Reemus.

Although Koldovstorets was known for potions, she had always excelled in the dark arts. Not the defense from the dark arts, mind you, but the true dark arts, since schools outside of Hogwarts seemed to be a lot more lenient on teaching it. There was some love for the art of potion-making as well, but never a drive to compete in the Wizarding Schools' Potions Championship as much as others did.

Her unlikely background and dark demeanor made most other students keep their distance from her, but her personality was actually bright and passionate, just like her bright red hair.

With the death of Dumbledore and the impending doom of war, interest in defense against the dark arts had spiked, and Reemus was having trouble maintaining the extra load of students.

Since starting teaching at Hogwarts, her skills grew quickly, and this improvement was not unnoticed by some professors. Including the new brooding headmaster.

Snape had always remained quiet and thoughtful. In fact, throughout her entire time at Hogwarts, he had spoken to her fewer times than she could count on one hand, yet she did not mind this distance. She was a fairly quiet person herself and had heard many tales about how awful Snape could be. She had felt his irritation during their few interactions, but for some reason, she never truly believed he was as cruel as rumors that she heard whispered between the students.

She bit down a smile as she noticed some of the newer students were averting her gaze.

Remus raised an eyebrow at her, and she leaned in to whisper to him. "It seems that some of the newer students are weary of me."

Remus grinned. "Cute." He reached around the back of her chair to poke Snape's arm. "Are you going to let a complete newbie steal your frightful thunder, Severus?"

Snape scoffed without looking at either of them.

He had noticed her the first time they spoke as she was introduced to the Hogwarts staff.

In fact, he was the one who selected her as a prime candidate for this position based on her qualifications. Thinking that having someone versed in the dark arts themselves would provide a good balance and keep the dark lord convinced of his loyalty.

He was his usual rude self, and in a quite particularly nasty mood the day he met her, but seeing her expecting dark brown eyes made him hesitate. She was young, probably in her mid twenties, flawless pale skin, and bright hair instantly made him think of Lilly.

"Keep in mind you are speaking to the headmaster." He leered at Remus, who just laughed half-heartedly in response.

"I have been meaning to ask." Kitri started, in a low, soft-spoken voice while leaning toward Snape so he could hear. Severus couldn't help but thoughtlessly lean towards her while moving his dark hair out of the way behind his ear. "If you have some time, would you consider mentoring me in potions? I have been trying to learn as much as possible, and from what I have heard, even my school does not have professors with a skill comparable to yours..."

He smirked. She definitely played on his ego with that last bit, but he didn't mind.

"They are all awful jokes of educators. Just earlier today, I finished writing a letter to... Professor Zelyeits, is it?"