~Of Love, War, and Well-Kept Secrets~
A SS/HP and DM/OC role-play

"All's fair in love and war."

Name: Veronica Fayth
App:
House: Slytherin
Bio: Veronica Fayth is a transfer student from Beauxbatons. She also a pure blood wizard with dark secrets. Eventually some things happen, and she gets sent to Hogwarts.
[[ I'll add in other things later]]

Severus Snape, Potions Master for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, watched as the students entered the Great Hall, having just gotten off the Hogwarts Express. He couldn't believe Albus, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had denied his request to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again, and instead of Severus, Albus was letting Simon Weatherby, an incompetent Ministry official, teach the class. Hadn't the man learned from the Umbridge experience? Then again, Weatherby did seem to be a bit of a pushover--well, no, that was an understatement. The man was like a mat, which was probably Albus's reason for hiring him.

"Ah, well," he thought, bitterly. It's not as if he liked teaching dunderheads anyway, but they might have at least been more interested in the Dark Arts class. The man had, of course, no idea that he had just referred to the class as "Dark Arts" rather than the defense of them, but if he had more closely examined it, he might have found one small reason as to why Severus was probably not the best candidate. Severus had been around too much Dark magic in his life; Dark magic began to taint one's soul depending on how vulnerable it was. Severus was most probably dangerously close to being tainted, which he knew. In fact, he was already tainted by things he'd seen and done in his life, especially as a servant to the Dark Lord, before and during his position as a spy, which he still held.

Well, speaking of the Dark Lord, at least he'd have the opportunity to teach Defense to someone. Of course, that someone would be Potter, who was most definitely not a person he'd like to teach on any occasion, really, but it was something. Albus's train of thought had something to do with the fact that the boy needed to learn more advanced magic in order to best the Dark Lord. Severus wasn't sure Potter could best a fly, but he'd give him the time of day. He, of all people, had an interest in having his "master" gone.

As he thought about Potter, he sought him out among the throng of students making their way into the Hall. Soon enough, he found him, flanked by the Weasley boy and the bushy-haired Granger chit. Oh, the boy had grown over the summer.

"No," Severus thought to himself. "I am absolutely not noticing the boy. He loathes me, and I abhor him." Then again, after they had restarted Occlumency lessons during Potter's sixth year, he had to admit that he had a small amount of--grudging--respect for the boy. He took a different approach, giving Potter some text to read in order to better understand the art. That worked, as Potter was becoming more studious, probably due to Granger's influence and his desire to be an Auror later in life. Severus didn't much care. Absolutely not. He resolved to stop thinking about the boy, and started to scan the rest of the room.

Next, he found Draco Malfoy, his godson, flanked by his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Honestly, those two were the stupidest Slytherins Severus had ever seen, and he wondered how in the world they even survived in Hogwarts. Most probably, it was Draco who helped them, in exchange for their support. That boy was opportunistic, most definitely, and he liked him greatly. However, he knew Draco was going through an extremely difficult time. The war against the Dark Lord was raging and Draco was caught in the middle, in a way. Severus had a feeling Draco did not want to be loyal to the Dark Lord, and he was trying to foster that feeling in Draco. The problem arose when Draco's parents tried to influence him in the opposite way. Lucius Malfoy was out of Azkaban, of course, and he and Narcissa had every interest in giving the Dark Lord their son in the hopes that they would be in his favor. Well, hopefully Severus could thwart the Malfoys' influence on their son and get him firmly ensconced on the side of the Light.

Severus saw familiar faces--though most weren't of students he particularly liked--throughout the upper years. However, his eyes suddenly locked on someone he had never seen in his life. He frowned. She looked just a bit like he, Severus, did. That was decidedly odd. She was standing near the Slytherins, but not with them, which was a concept some did not understand--though she certainly did. He hoped that her identity would be revealed soon, as he did not like to be caught off guard.

As the first year students walked in, the looks on their faces ranging from cocky to extremely scared, he, like everyone else, knew it was time for the Sorting to begin such as it did every year. The Sorting Hat would sing a song about the four different Houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, the house for which he was the Head. Then, all the students would be sorted into Houses, which constituted their "family" for the time they were at the school. Slytherins weren't much of a family, though; their interest was in being successful, not foolishly aiding others.

The first student--Amantus, Stephen--was called up, sat down, and the Sorting began--RAVENCLAW!

Severus sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Harry Potter, walked into the great hall followed by Ron, and Hermione. He certainly for once didn't have such a horrible summer. He had stay at the Drusley's till his 17th birthday, then he was whisked away to the order, and spent most of his summer with them. Though he hadn't been allowed to leave much because, of course, he was in danger. He was then escorted to the the train, and right before he got on he was told that Snape, would be teaching him some DADA, so that he would be better prepared.

Harry glanced around the great hall, and his eyes spotted Snape, he gave him a good look, up and down. He seemed the same, yet something was different about him, and Harry was sure that he looked very tried. He didn't get much time to think as he was dragged to his house table. He then hear a few of his house mates talking about the strange new girl, standing with the Slytherins.

Veronica stood their looking rather bored. She watched as the sorting started, she knew that she would have to walk up their, and be sorted herself. She had tried to get sorted during the summer, but they refused her requested. Veronica, had been transferred here from her old school, and already hated being here. She glanced around at the room, she made a face of disgust when she saw all the Weasley's and Potter.

She noticed, near the table she was standing at, sat Draco Malfoy. It seemed that this school did have some tasteful people here. She looked up at the staff table, and glanced at the staff, not showing much emotion. " Fayth, Veronica" was called.

She walked up to the chair, sat down, and glared out at the student body as the hat was placed on her head. " Slytherin" called out by the hat. She wore out a smirk that rival Malfoy's as she stood up, brushed off her robes, and tossed her hair back slightly, and strolled over to the table.

[[ I'm wondering, what if Snape's mother years later, had an affair with a Wizard man, and she gave birth to Veronica, but left her with her father, a man from the Fayth family. This way, she would be Snape's half sister, and a pure blood. Would you be alright with that?]]

[[That's a great idea! I thought maybe she was Snape's child who came about because he had drunken sex with someone in a fit of trying to prove he wasn't gay after Lily rejected him or something, but I like your idea much better.]]

Draco was extremely intrigued by the new girl. He had her pegged as a Slytherin the moment he saw her, and he was right, as that tattered Hat proclaimed "Fayth, Veronica" to be a Slytherin. Then he saw her smirk and toss her hair, and tried to pretend he wasn't staring. He'd had much practice at this, of course, so it wasn't as if he was Potter, whose emotions were written on his face all the time. Speaking of Potter, he quite enjoyed watching Veronica's look of disgust at the bunch, deciding she'd fit in well in this esteemed House.

Looking at Veronica, he suddenly realized that she seemed familiar, but he would have remembered if he'd met her before. Fayth was a fairly old Wizarding name, but that family usually stayed out of politics, so Draco's father had no reason to be in their favor.

"No, I haven't met her, but she looks uncannily like someone with whom I am acquainted," he decided, but couldn't for the life of him, think of whom.

He decided to give up that line of thought in order to pick it up later, and glanced around the Hall, finding his godfather, Severus, looking at Veronica questioningly, then shifting his gaze to Draco. Draco smirked in greeting, his smirk suddenly turning to confusion and then a frown as he glanced back at Veronica, then at Severus again.

[[ I hadn't even thought about that. That would have been fun to. *saves idea for later use*]]

Veronica walked to her house's table, and ended up sitting near some Pansy girl. She watched the rest of the sorting, and then glanced up at the table as the speech began. She looked to the different staff of the school, and her eyes came to rest on Snape. Her eyes widen slightly in surprise. ' Now this makes some sense' She thought before looking away.

She then noticed others looking at her oddly, and then sent some dark glares to those she didn't like, and a few smirks to the others. Yet she planned on writing home to her father the moment, she could.

Harry and his housemates sat enjoying as the feast was present, before chatting about the transfer student. Most said that it was rather odd, to have a transfer student, others thought she looked a lot like Snape, wondering if maybe he had some child he didn't know about. That was something Harry didn't like the idea of, yet he said nothing to them.

Severus caught Draco's gaze and frowned slightly. He, Draco, had, of course, noticed the resemblance between this Veronica Fayth and Severus. Severus had noticed too, and wondered who in the world she was. "Ah well," he thought, deciding to give up trying to figure it out and just confront Albus later.

He also noticed Potter's eyes on him, probably thinking in a train of thought similar to Draco--"Then again," he thought, "does Potter ever actually think?" He had to admit, but only to himself, that Potter probably did think--on occasion. Very much on occasion. He looked at Potter for a few moments, without emotion, wondering what was going through the boy's head, since he was still looking at him, even as he was obviously chatting with his friends. He probably thought it was Severus's long lost child, which was an idea that Severus wanted Potter to know wasn't true. Of course, he didn't plan on telling the boy, because that'd be some sort of acknowledgement of his feelings towards Potter--which were, simply, less dislike than before. He definitely still disliked the brat, though, he told himself after looking at his meal again and slowly consuming it.

Draco noticed Severus noticing and since it was clear Severus didn't have any idea either, he decided to talk to him about it later. First, he wanted to talk to the new girl who was sitting next to Pansy, across from him. "Veronica Fayth? I'm Draco Malfoy," he proclaimed, extending his hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts, but more importantly, welcome to Slytherin."

Harry looked away, he decided to think about it later. " Guys, just cut it out!" He said at them. He wasn't pleased not at all. ' Harry, harry come relax, at this rate someone's gonna realize your...feelings for Severus. No wait you don't have feelings and it's Snape.' He thought. He wanted to sigh he had been trying to ignore these thoughts about his potions professor, but now they seemed to happened more so, and Harry wasn't please.

Veronica grinned at Draco, she took his hand and shook it." Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you" She said. She looked back at the table.

"You too," Draco replied. "So, Veronica, tell me a little about yourself?" he asked, looking interested.
He wasn't actually sure why in the world he asked that, and more importantly, why he cared. He usually didn't care to know trivial information, but he wanted to get to know this mysterious girl. He didn't want to ask her why she was here since she might not want to tell, but his question could just be answered by her talking about her favorite subjects, which is why he chose the words he did. He figured that as a Slytherin, albeit a new one, she'd understand that.

Most of the others at the table weren't actually staring at her, but Draco knew they were just as interested as he.

After Severus had finished most of his meal, he rose, fluidly, and swept over to Potter's table. Potter didn't look very pleased with his friends at the moment, but Severus reminded himself that he really did not care. "Potter!" he said, loudly enough for Potter and his friends to hear.

In the moment Severus was waiting for Potter to turn around, he nearly forgot why he was there in the first place, which was, of course, to schedule lessons. Instead, he noticed what a lovely backside the boy had. "Damn! I did not just entertain that thought," he thought angrily, thinking instead of the Pepper-up Potion he needed to brew for Poppy Pomfrey after he could escape from the Feast. He'd get out as soon as he talked to the imbecile in front of him.

" Well alright I can tell you a little" She said with a grin. " Well, my favorite subject is Potions, followed by Astronomy" She told him. That was all that she was willing to let on about her self. Her secrets were hers to keep, and she planned on keeping it that way.

Harry jumped a tad as he heard the voice of the man he had been thinking about call his name. He turned around," Yes Professor?" He asked. He hoped he wasn't already in trouble.

"Potions," Draco repeated, almost amused. "Well, that will be a beneficial preference, because Professor Snape, our Head of House, is also the Potions Master. It's always good to impress him, even if he never actually tells you so." He could tell that she was unwilling to share much more. He, too, enjoyed Potions; it was hard not to when around his godfather long enough, but he didn't desire a conversation about it at this time. "So, what about Quidditch? Do you play it or follow it at all?" he asked.

Severus was slightly surprised when he heard the boy's voice, but he had enough control not to show it. "Please come to my office at 9," he ordered the boy. "We must talk about your...lessons. And--ah--rest assured, I shall write you a pass if you end up being out past curfew. Though, it would not be the first time..." Feeling the usual annoyance regarding Potter rise to the surface, he turned around and stalked out of the Great Hall and all the way down to his office, all the while trying to cast Potter out of his mind.

[[ Oh btw I'm sorry I took forever to post, I was at an Anime convention all weekend.]]

" Well that good information to know." She said. She had been one of the best students at potions at her old school, but here she had no idea where she would stand, if the students here were ahead or behind her, but of course, she was apart of the Advance Potions class. " Oh yes, I do play, I was the chaser for my team at Beauxbatons. I'm guessing you must play, your position?" She asked him.

Harry nodded slowly listen to Snape. His heart leaped slightly at the idea of being alone with his Professor, even it was just for training. Harry watched him walk away before turning back to his friends. Then of course, he was met with demanding looks from Hermione and Ron. Not even moments later they were dragging him out of the Great Hall demanding to know what was going on.

"I'm a seeker for the Slytherin team," Draco answered, "and you know, I think we might need a chaser. I can keep you updated about tryouts if you're interested." He hoped she was, as Quidditch was a good way to spend even more time with people, and this girl intrigued him. She was tall, dark, and mysterious, and Draco found that he liked that. A lot.

Severus got to his office with only once instance where he took house points ("Johnson, 5 points from Ravenclaw for colliding with me!") and then sat down at his desk. He found that he was rather distracted because Potter was to be down soon enough. There was no grading to do and no tests to create because classes didn't start until the next day. So, he fished around for a copy of Potions Quarterly and busied himself with making notes in the margins about how idiotic some people are. No, to be honest, there was an interesting article about the properties of asphodel. In any event, he tried to stop himself from checking the time every ten seconds. It mostly worked.

[[Ah, that's fine. (: Did you have fun?]]

[[ It was super fantastic awesome]. Your weekend?]]

" Ah, well yes, I'm very interested." She told him with a grin. She did like the idea, of playing Quidditch, especially with Draco. Something about him, made her want to know him much much more. She noticed that the feast seem almost over.

Harry left dinner, and went up to his common room alone. He wanted it to be close to nine, he was already pacing back and forth. He had tired keeping his mind off his lessons with Snape, by reading a book Hermione had given him for his birthday. Yet he failed miserably, he really hoped that he didn't act like this in front of Severus. Harry glanced at the clock again' Crap' He thought before rushing out of the room.

[[I'm glad to hear that (: Mine was not terribly amazing but it was rather interesting.]]

"Great!" Draco enthused, always excited about Quidditch. Maybe with Veronica on the team, they'd finally beat the Gryffindors. He looked around, noting that the feast was nearing an end. "Would you like me to show you where the Slytherin common room is?" he asked her, figuring she didn't really want to walk with the first years. He'd just let Pansy deal with them. He really didn't like dealing with whiny little firsties until they realized that they were, in fact, on the bottom of the totem pole.

Severus looked at the clock...for the third time in that many minutes. It wasn't 9:00 yet, so the boy wasn't late; it was 8:56, and he'd be here soon. Severus hoped Potter would be late; then he could take points and he could focus his feelings on the annoyance of Potter's lateness rather than...anything else. His foot started tapping of its own accord, which, when he realized it, he stopped. Instead, he drummed his fingers on the desk--because that gave of the appearance of boredom rather than impatience--while trying to make it look as if he could actually concentrate on his reading. Actually, he kept reading the same sentence over again. Crushing asphodel with a silver knife has been shown to increase potency, though crushing with an iron knife is useful when combining it with newt eyes.

He wasn't even certain what he was going to say to the boy, but he wanted it to be quick. Wait, did he? Yes. He did. He just needed to create some sort of schedule with the boy that wouldn't cut into his Quidditch practices (for Severus would never hear the end of that from the Headmaster or Minerva) but also wouldn't take Severus away from performing any necessary Head of House duties. Usually that just meant that he made himself available on two evenings for his students to come to him with any problems; that is, if their Prefects couldn't work them out.

" Yes, I would be delighted if you did" She told him. There was no way Veronica wanted to be seen walking with the first years and follow a perfect, because there was no way she planned on staying at the bottom of the Totem pole.

Harry rushed down to Snape's office, and with one minute at the to nine, he stood there at the door panting for air. " Professor?" He asked. He hoped he wasn't late, or Snape would be pissed and he would be loosing points before the first day of classes.

"Alright, then follow me," Draco instructed lightly. He rose from his seat and motioned for her to follow. "So, have you ever created your own potion?" he asked, since she had told him she liked Potions. He wasn't one for awkward silences, either; he was very good at coming up with conversation topics. It was pretty much a requirement of being Lucius Malfoy's son.

"Aha!" Severus thought, hearing Potter at the door. "He's--" he looked at the clock. "Damn, he's on time." Usually, he would have just told the student that he or she was late, but that slipped his mind as he realized that one Harry Potter was standing, breathing heavily--because he'd rushed, of course, but that didn't matter--outside his door. Right, well, he'd better stop thinking about that and let the boy into the room. He flicked his wand to open the door and almost intoned "come," as that was his usual way of telling students to just come in already. They had a habit of lingering outside the door as if they were afraid for their life--which was, perhaps, not so farfetched. It's not that he would actually do anything, but he preferred them to think he might.

In any event, he realized he should probably change his mot de choix, at least for Potter. "Enter" was a perfectly fine choice, so he settled on that one. Then--"Potter is an annoying, egotistical student. Nothing else" became his new mantra for the few seconds he had to wait.

[[By the way, feel free to tell me if you think I'm going overboard with Severus's character. I think he's highly amusing this way but I realize it seems a bit OOC if you stare at it from a certain angle. xD]]

[[ No your not going over bored, I've read many Snarry fanfics, and this is how Severus tends to act, so to me it's not OCC at all.]]

Veronica stood up and followed Draco. Yet she stood at his side, because if she followed him from behind, it to her meant, she would be considered a minion of his or something and she didn't like that. " Well I've created one, but it's still in it's testing stages. I hope I can perfect it soon." She told him. She didn't plan to share what kind of potion she created with him, she wouldn't share it with anyone, not even her father knew even though she was using his private potion labs. For her work, but she always had been good at keeping secrets.


Harry felt nervous as he waited for Snape to call him. When he heard the words enter, he walked into the office slowly, while telling his mind over and over' That Snape is just your teacher, and a slimy git, who you hate. Nothing else' " You wanted to see me Professor?" He said, trying to keep his voice normal.

[[Alright, cool. (: There are a few different takes on his character... Mmm, speaking of Snarry makes me wanna go read Snarry. Isn't that sad? xD]]

Ah, so she didn't want to share it with him. Well, he'd gain her trust soon enough. "That's very impressive. Maybe at some...other time we could discuss the theory behind it. I enjoy speaking of Potions theory, in fact," Draco answered. He noticed that she did not follow from behind, which he liked. Really, this girl hadn't given him a reason, yet, not to like her...which of course meant she had a huge secret that could make him question everything he knew about her. That was the way the world--or at least his world--worked. Instead, he started a conversation about certain Quidditch maneuvers. It was an innocent topic.

"I--ah--we--" Severus started, then coughed so he could take a moment to get a handle on his words. "Yes, Potter. It seems I am to be teaching you some things that are beyond the curriculum, this year. We must create a schedule for these lessons. Are you aware of the times for which your Quidditch practices are scheduled?" Severus asked. "I must be available at least two nights per week, but I do not believe we must have lessons all the other days. One or two evenings per week ought to suffice," he stated emotionlessly. He was actually slightly...apprehensive, perhaps, so showing any other sort of emotion could leave him open enough for Potter to spy that emotion, which wouldn't do at all. Why he was...nervous, he didn't know. Well, maybe he did, but he would not examine it closely enough to be able to come to a conducive reasoning.

[[ It's not sad at all, I'm plan on reading some soon..lol]]

" Yes..maybe" She said. Yet that was only if she could trust him completely, and assembled her notes in a presentable way. When the conversation turns toward Quidditch moves, it was a simpler conversation. She responded with excitement, even told him about a few moves he hadn't heard about.

Harry stood there listening, and nodding, to show he was listening. " Well we planned for Monday evenings, Wednesday afternoons, and every other Friday nights." Harry told him. Harry was getting the feeling that Snape wasn't looking forward to having to teach him again. Part of Harry wished, that he didn't look so much like his dad, so that maybe Snape wouldn't hate him so much.

[[Awesome. :3 So, do you have a favorite? I feel like I've read almost every finished fic there is that is readable...know what I mean?]]

Draco really enjoyed the walk down to the Slytherin common room, so he decided to tell her so. The girl was so well-versed in Quidditch that she knew more than Draco himself, which was quite a feat, and it wasn't even difficult maintaining conversation. "You know, I really enjoyed the walk down here, much more than usual. Obviously, it must have been the company," he complimented in a roundabout way which he knew she'd understand. Then he pointed to a door at the other side of the room. "Your dormitory is through that door," he explained. "You might want to stay awake, though, as the upper years usually...hang out for a while. It's a lot of fun, really."

"Right, well, Tuesdays and Saturdays, then," Severus stated. He wanted to see what Potter would say about having Saturday evenings taken from him, but he found that he was willing to give Potter a few Saturdays off; they'd just have the lesson on Thursday instead. He would tell the boy so depending on what he said. Really, he wasn't looking forward to spending more time with Potter. Wait, was he? No, he wasn't. Why would he think he was? He wouldn't, of course. In any event, it was wasting his time. Potter was completely incompetent, as Occlumency lessons had shown him. Why would he do any better? He realized right after that he had actually asked Potter that question aloud ("Potter, how do I know that you'll do better than last time in these lessons? How do I know they're not a waste of my time?") without meaning to do so.

No control of his mouth? That was new. It seemed Potter inspired odd feelings in most people. He couldn't wait to be rid of the boy. Truly couldn't. Maybe if he kept telling himself that, it'd become the truth.

[[ I'm sure, I do, but I never recall the names.]]

Veronica waited for Draco to speak when they came to a stop. She only waited because she could tell he was about to speak. Now hearing Draco say this normally would make a girl blush, but not Veronica she had a way of controlling her emotions, even though she was very pleased on the inside. "Yes, I also enjoyed tonight's walk, and the company." She told him. " Thank you. I'll shall retire now" She said, before turning around, and walking slowly and what one might call sexy to the girl's dorm.

" Alright Professor, What time?" Harry said in response to the nights they would have lessons. He didn't mind at all, it wasn't like he planned on using Saturday at all for dating. Sure girls wanted to date him, but being a poof and all, and his strange feelings for Snape, didn't help his dating cause at all. Harry looked up when the Snape asked him that question. He instantly felt horrible, and looked at the floor. ' Damn it all why does that hurt me, to hear him say that about me?'He thought. " I'll do my best, I plan on study everything you teach, I'll try not to waste your time." He said softly.

That girl, Draco knew, was aware of exactly what she was doing. He also knew that she knew that he knew it. He thought about all the others in Slytherin House. It was almost a disgrace, how rare it was that someone in Slytherin understood the way things worked like this girl. There were a few, but the rest were incompetent...bozos. The only difference between Slytherin and the other houses, in Draco's opinion, were that in all the other houses, there were only incompetent bozos. He chuckled for a moment, then went to sit down on a stylish green couch. Last year, the House had done a bit of redecorating. Draco approved, mostly because he'd been one of the main voices in deciding the changes that ought to have been made. Now it was modern but still encompassed the House colors. He wondered if Veronica would be impressed by his sense of style. "If she was, she wouldn't show it in any event," he thought, amused.

Severus was extremely surprised. Well, that was a bit of an understatement. He couldn't fathom that the boy was so willing to give up Saturdays. "Ah, Potter, I think 7:30 PM would be a good time. Also, if you wish..." he trailed off for a moment, wondering why he was saying this, "we could occasionally switch a Saturday lesson to Thursday. I'd only require notice at least a week in advance...and I do mean occasionally." He hoped that Potter saw it as...what? An apology? No, because Severus wasn't going to apologize. A concession, more like. Potter probably wanted to go date girls or something--which, of course, did not inspire odd feelings that he did not like at all--on his Saturdays off.

When the boy looked up, though, there was something in his eyes, some vulnerability there, that struck Severus, and it was only furthered by his words. It was as if the boy truly cared about his opinion and that he'd hurt him immensely. Funny, Severus had never even cared if he hurt the boy before--and he thought the boy hadn't cared--but now something had changed, and he couldn't figure out what. It was disconcerting, to say the least. The boy's eyes were the most beautiful shade of green, and he could possibly become quite lost in them--which of course wasn't an option, so he tore his eyes away.

"Yes, I expect you will," Severus replied, without malice, after carefully choosing his words. "It would not be...prudent of you to waste my time or your time." He asked the boy--he wasn't really a boy anymore--if he had any questions. All the better to send him away before he, Severus, could say anything else stupid.

Veronica made her way to where she would be sleeping, she noticed the decor around the place. ' Nice, someone has taste.' She thought. She made her way into the room, she seemed to have a presence about her, that made the other girls stop and look over at her. She just smirked, and moved to the bed where her luggage was. After she sat down, the questions started. She answered them, but was sure to be vague, she knew information was power, and she would hold onto her power.

Harry glanced up as Snape spoke once more. He was a bit surprised that Snape would allow him to not have a few lesson on Saturdays. " The time is fine with me. I thank you for the offer switching the nights, but I don't plan to miss any Saturday lessons. " He told him. Even if he liked girls he hadn't really planned on dating anyways, because all he knew is that he could be dead at the year's end. " I understand Professor, no I don't have any questions" He said.

Draco noticed Pansy Parkinson casually saunter towards him. He wasn't really a fan of that chit, but she was from a wealthy family and his parents liked her. To be honest, anything his parents liked wasn't likely to be something he also liked. Pansy was too self-absorbed and not even very nice to look at. She wasn't subtle or intelligent either. She was just very, very wealthy.

"So, why weren't you walking the students down here with me?" she asked Draco. "Well, you know, I had to make sure that Veronica Fayth knew where she was going, too. I figured it was my duty. It's not as if she's a firstie or anything," he explained. "Oh, that makes sense," she replied, almost fooling him into believing she actually thought that. "Well, what's up with her, anyway?" she asked casually. "Oh, ah, I hear she's from Beauxbatons. Also, she apparently really likes Quidditch. That's all I found out, though," he answered. "We had a nice chat about our favorite teams and some maneuvers. You know, she was telling me about this one maneuver that Georg Ferdinand performed in the England-France game in '76 that apparently was just used last--" "Right, okay," Pansy said, cutting him off.

She did try, but she wasn't a Quidditch fan like he was, and they both knew that. "How...interesting. Anything else?" she asked, clearly hungry for information. She hadn't yet gotten an opportunity to talk to the girl like the others had because she had to walk the first years to the common room. "Not that I am aware of, no," Draco lied smoothly.

There really wasn't much else besides the potion, but he felt that Pansy didn't need to know about that. If Veronica wanted her to know, she'd tell the girl herself. Quidditch was different, because once Veronica was on the team--and as the Team Captain, Draco basically had that authority; unless she flew like Neville Longbottom with a cold, she was probably fine--it would be rather public, of course, but the potion was different.

Pansy attempted to start a conversation with him, but she was so very boring. He just thought about Veronica as he nodded and hmmm-ed in the appropriate places.

The fact that Potter didn't even care to miss Saturday lessons was extremely surprising and struck Severus as very odd. "Potter...why?" he asked, unable to help himself. Then, because he wasn't sure if Potter would get the message, "Why would you want to spend your Saturday evening with me and not your friends, or better yet, some girl?" He was not asking snidely, either; he really did not understand.

It was as if Potter had changed; or maybe the boy was always a different person than who he thought but he was too caught up in the past to even notice. It was an odd thought, because it forced him to look at the young man Potter was and rethink just about every preconceived notion Severus had ever had about him. He pushed the feelings to the back of his mind, though, vowing to deal with them later. For now, he wanted to know why Potter didn't care one whit about his social life.