What if

Warming up

#-&-HP-&-#

Snape was sitting at the teacher's desk in the classroom, fidgeting nervously and playing with the loose strand of his hair. Any minute now the students will come in and his first ever teaching lesson will begin. They were 7th-year Gryffindor&Ravenclaw N.E.W.T. students, so it should technically be one of the easiest, most pleasant classes he will be teaching. Not only he will be dealing with adults, but also those that managed to pass their O.W.L.s so there should be no braindead people in this class. Hopefully.

Severus went over the students' preparation essays for the potion today, and most were satisfactory. Well some better, some worse, some barely plausible, but also some really good ones. He decided to start the class by giving the students their marked works back so that he also has a chance to remember their names as he calls them.

The doors opened and a couple of Ravenclaws entered the classroom, giving Severus curious looks. Snape felt awkward, was he supposed to smile at them, make himself likable and have them feel at ease? But wasn't that counterproductive in the long run? Did he even want to become friendly with the students? He was already mistaken for one of them the previous day, it's better to draw a clear line.

Snape acquired a stern expression and crossed his arms on the chest, what he hoped was an intimidating authoritative pose. Nevertheless, the Ravenclaw girls seemed quite happy for whatever reason. He was sure he heard the word "Hot" coming somewhere from the third row.

The class was filling fast and Snape willed himself to remain calm under students' intense scrutiny. And then...Fuck!...the doppelganger entered the classroom. When she noticed Severus, her eyes widened in shock and then she blushed deep red and cast her eyes on the floor. Snape couldn't help the subtle smirk, enjoying the girl's embarrassment. Now, that's better! So the ballsy Lily was in N.E.W.T. Potions class... interesting.

"Good morning. My name is Severus Snape and I will be your Potions Professor for the foreseeable future," Snape stood up introducing himself, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice. The last thing he needed was to show the teenagers, how nervous he actually was. He scanned the class with a strict gaze before continuing, "This is your final year, I guess I don't have to remind you of the importance of N.E.W.T. exams or the necessity of class preparation. You are not kids anymore so I'll skip that. Anyway, I assume that Head... I mean Professor Dumbledore told you, that you will also be required to work on a personal project of potion design. A want a project proposal by the end of the month. I don't have office hours yet, but my quarters are next door from here, so if you need help, you know where to find me."

The class was in polite silence as he spoke, students listening intently. Severus was happy that everyone seemed to be paying attention. Whether it was because they understood the importance of the year, or because Severus was a new teacher, was not important. Though Snape had a gut feeling, that some of the girls will not remember a word of what he was saying, cause they were too busy undressing him in their minds.

"I will give out your preparation essays now. They were quite ok. I went over all your work this year, there are some issues, but we will address them. So... Terry Ganders?" he called out and the tall Ravenclaw boy stood up and went to fetch his work.

"Rosemary Wolpers?" another Ravenclaw stood up and gave Severus a shy smile as she took her essay.

Snape kept giving out the essays, trying to remember the names and how well did they do, but by the time the fifth student fetched his work, he didn't remember the first one's name already. Perhaps he should just tell them to write the name tags for now.

"Kathryn Riley?" he was about to compliment the work for being very decent when he saw the redhead standing up. So the smartest one among all the Ravenclaws was the Gryffindor? And it was his ballsy Lily, on top. Well, not his... and not Lily. Kathryn. The girl approached him apprehensively, waiting to be reprimanded for her daring comment, no doubt.