Double Dare

I was sat outside in the courtyard with Draco and Celeste; chatting about mine and Dracos bet when Tempest walked by. I jumped up and ran over to her.

“Hey Tempest; uh, you wanna sit with us?”

She looked over at Draco and Celeste then shrugged.

“Sure”

I smirked at Draco and made her sit in between us. We got chatting about lessons and life in general.

“I have that essay to do for Potions” she sighed.

“Hey, Draco and I got it right, we could help you” I said. She looked up and smiled.

“Could you? I'd be awfully grateful!”

“Well to be honest, I'm kinda busy, but Draco has all the time in the world”

She smiled at Draco.

“Would you help me?”

He shrugged; “sure”

“Thank you!”

“Ooh, speaking of busy, we've got to go” I said standing up. She nodded.

“Shall I meet you in the library after dinner?” she asked. Draco nodded.

“Yeah”

I pulled Draco off down the corridors. He stopped us and looked at me scpetically.

“Why are you helping me?”

I laughed; “I'm giving you a head start before I whoop your ass!”

He laughed too.

“Bring it on Page!”

“Oh and by the way...”

“Yeah?”

I punched him in the shoulder; “you're it!”

I laughed and ran off down the corridor. I heard him shout a few obscenities and chase after me. I ducked down a corridor leading to the dungeons as he gained on me. Just then I saw Snape walking down the corridor; I stopped abruptly, not wanting him to give me detention. Malfoy shot round the corner and ran full pelt into me, sending us to the floor, laughing as if we'd been slipped a giggling potion. Snape spun round and approached us.

“What, are you two doing?”

We looked up and grinned.

“He ran into me Professor” I said. He shook his head.

“Get up”

He offered a hand; I took it, he pulled me a bit harder than he meant to, making me fall into him.

“Oh, sorry Professor” I said straightening myself out, smirking at him. He just nodded. Malfoy was up and smirking at us. Snape looked at us both analytically.

“So what's going on? Why were you running”

“We were playing tag” Draco replied.

“Why were you playing that? IN the corridors?”

“She started it!” he said pointing at me “she just punched me, said I'm it then ran”

“You didn't have to play” I chipped in.

“I'm not letting you win again!”

“You never let me win, I'm just better than you!”

“Oh whatever!”

“Silence!”

We'd forgotten Snape was there; we looked up at him.

“Sorry sir” we said in canon. He sighed.

“What lessons do you both have next?”

“I have a free period” I said. He nodded. Draco pulled his scrunched up timetable out of his pocket.

“Uhm, Divination”

“Shouldn't you be getting a move on then Mr Malfoy? You have to get up all those stairs”

Draco sighed and nodded; “I guess so”

“Miss Page; would you be so kind as to assist me in my class this afternoon?”

I looked at Draco to check that I hadn't dreamt.

“Me?”

“Yes you”

“Uh, yeah, sure”

“Good”

He looked at Malfoy; Draco quickly realised why and ran off down the corridor.

“No running Malfoy!”

Draco slowed down to a very quick walk. I laughed to myself. Snape looked at me.

“Follow me then”

I followed him as he strode off to his classroom. He stood behind his desk and motioned me over. He charmed a chair to appear next to his. We sat down.

“Do you have your Advanced Potions book with you?”

“Yeah...”

I pulled it out of my bag and passed it to him. He flicked through it, grumbling at every page.

“How anyone is supposed to pass with resources like this is beyond me”

I smiled; knowing this was essential time to try to get Snape to like me.

“Isn't that just the curriculum though sir? Won't what's in the book be on the exam?”

“The curriculum is 50% theory and 50% practical; with resources like this you'll only be able to pass one and not the other; barely scraping an A if you're good”

I nodded; “does the ministry know?”

“Yes”

I looked at him confoundedly.

“So, they know but they're just ignoring it?”

He nodded and started scribbling notes in my book. I smiled; watching him work.

“Uh, can I ask why you want me to help?”

“As I said; you're particularly gifted at Potions; and first years are always much more hassle than any other year; it's difficult to keep them all in order” he replied, not even looking up from my book.

“...Ok, fair enough”

He carried on rewriting the notes in my book until first years began arriving. I sat at his desk as he gave his first year speech. I sat reminiscing about my first year and my first Potions lesson. I was one of the few that weren't frightened by his icy demeanour. As I watched him explain what the students were to expect in their Potions lessons, I got a familiar feeling; my school-girl crush was coming back. Goddamn fate! Finally he set the students off making one of the most simplest potions ever. Snape came over to me.

“Wait now for at least one of them to mess this up”

I smiled. Just the a hand shot up. Snape sighed.

“What is it Mr Bennet?”

“I was just wondering who that was?” he asked; pointing at me. Snape looked at me then back at the class.

“This is a Miss Lenore Page, a sixth year in Ravenclaw and will be here to assist me on Mondays afternoon lessons”

The class nodded and went back to their work.

“Whoa, when did I consent to that?” I asked quietly. He smirked.

“Since when did I need your permission?”

“Maybe I need that free period”

“Do you?”

“...No, it's just nice to be consulted on these things!”

He smirked again.

“Ok; have it your way. Miss Page would you please assist me in this lesson every Monday afternoon?”

I smirked too; “I'd be happy to”

He shook his head playfully and set off on his rounds of the class to check everyone was doing their potion correctly. I looked at my copy of Advanced Potions and all the corrections Snape had made. I slowly stopped looking at what he'd written and began staring at his handwriting. I'd always liked his writing; it was flawlessly elegant. Cursive scripture, much more pleasing on the eyes than the usual scrawl that was crudely engraved onto paper. Just then my light was shadowed. I looked up; Snape was stood in front of me.

“Studying all ready?”

“Uh...Yes and no”

“Yes and no?”

“I was; then I got distracted by your handwriting”

“...My handwriting?”

“Yeah...Uh...I just really like it; it's all neat and stuff...Not sure why I'm telling you this, but any feedback you gave me on my papers, I tried to copy your handwriting because I like it so much”

He smirked; “is that a compliment?”

“...I think so”

He looked round at the class once more before sitting next to me.

“Well, do you not practise your handwriting?”

“Does it make me lame if I do?”

He chuckled and shook his head; “certainly not”

I sat in total awe that I'd managed to make Professor Snape, the most feared and evil teacher in Hogwarts, laugh! Almost. He took my book back off me and continued correcting things. I sat watching him happily; seeing him scribble down his notes so quickly and easily, yet so neatly. He smirked, knowing I was watching him. He suddenly stopped; picked up a piece of parchment and wrote the alphabet down, upper and lower case, and a sentence using all the letters.

“Here, your lines for today”

I laughed quietly to myself.

“Lines for what?”

“Running in the corridors”

“So my punishment is to practise my handwriting? Well, your handwriting?”

He nodded; “better get started”

I smirked and pulled a blank journal for quick notes out of my bag and began copying down the alphabet.

At the end of the lesson Snape inspected my attempts to copy his handwriting. He nodded in approval.

“Very good; you've nearly got it”

I smirked; “thank you Professor; I'll practise it all night”

He shook his head playfully and handed me my book.

“I've corrected everything for you”

I smiled and put it in my bag.

“Uh, I'll see you at dinner”

He nodded and watched me walk out. I ran up to the common room so I could put my things away and get changed before going to find Draco. I found him wandering down to the dungeons. He saw me and collapsed in my arms.

“I hate Divination!”

I laughed and propped him up against the wall.

“Then why did you take it?”

“I needed another one”

I rolled my eyes and took his bag. We started walking down to the Slytherin common room.

“So how did your lesson with Snape go”

I smirked; “pretty damn good! I've been signed up to help out every Monday”

“This is so not fair! You're going to win”

I laughed; “and what's worse is my crush has come back”

He burst out laughing.

“Oh my God! Awesome! I don't care if I loose now! This is going to be fantastic!”

I laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Thank you Draco”

“No problemo, how much flirting did you do?”

I shrugged; “enough for him to flirt back”

He stopped walked and looked at me; dumbfounded.

“He flirted back?”

“Uh...Yeah”

“Oh...Merlins...Beard!”

I laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down the corridor.

“It was nothing major really...But I made him laugh”

He stopped again; “what!?”

“Come on!” I said dragging him down the corridor to the Slytherin common room. I waited outside whilst he got changed. Snape walked down the corridor. He stopped when he saw me.

“Waiting for Malfoy?”

I shook my head; “nahh, I just like standing here, my greatest ambition is to become a suit or armour”

He chuckled and shook his head playfully.

“Pedantic swine”

I grinned; “sorry, but you walked into that one”

He nodded acceptingly.

“I guess I did”

Just then Draco came out of the common room. He grinned when he saw Snape and I. Before he could say anything Snape nodded and hurried off up the corridor. Draco elbowed me and smirked. I laughed and walked up the corridor; Draco ran after me.