Chapter 42 - Teach Me

A/N: No WAY I'm back in 2025??! And literally 0% more mature. Love that for me (prolly not true but it feels true)

Anyway, Brando Sando said every time you write, you're honing yourself as a writer - sort of like YOU are your art, above and beyond whatever specific piece you're working on.

Let me translate: Writing SS fanfiction is a productive use of my time 💀💀💀

Understood loud and clear Mr Sando! I'll get right on it *salute*

PS I had a HP meme folder at some point and I give myself a 5% chance I can find it - let's see... OMG I found it... aaand there's only two I haven't used yet rip. they're both a whole mood tho

PPS if you're jumping back in after the hiatus, I recommend rereading the previous chapter because it's actually a fucking banger if I do say so myself lol

*

Asha's body tingled with anticipation. Across the room, Severus stood stoic as ever, his wand out. Unable to keep still, Asha shifted her foot placement and adjusted her grip.

"Stop smiling" Severus snapped.

"Why?" she grinned, "is it distracting?"

"Stop treating this like it's a game."

Asha's grin turned mischievous. "Wipe the smile off my face then, if you're so serious about it."

Severus glared. He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head in a way that seemed to say, You asked for it.

Then he raised his wand...

*

Three days earlier

"There you go," Malfoy sneered. "Hate to break it to you, Potter..."

Harry snatched the Daily Profit from Malfoy and unfolded it. Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville peered over his shoulder, trying to read the article as well. The first thing Harry saw was a huge picture of Hagrid, looking extremely shifty. Beneath this were the words:

'DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE'

"No," Harry muttered furiously as he read:

'...An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons... his mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess, Fridwulfa... Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature... students should be warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants...'

By the time they finished reading the article, Ron's mouth was hanging open.

"That Skeeter cow!" Harry seethed, his clenched fists crumpling the edges of the newspaper. "What do you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" he spat at Malfoy. "And what's this rubbish about him" - he pointed at Crabbe - "getting a bad bite off a Flobberworm?"

Crabbe snickered, apparently very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," Malfoy said pompously, his eyes glinting. "Half-giant... and there was me thinking-" Malfoy trailed off as he noticed the Gryffindors' attention drift to something over his shoulder.

"What are you looking at, Potter?" Malfoy spun around.

Someone in school robes was marching down the snow-covered hill towards them. As the figure came closer, Harry realised it was a girl. And she was clutching a newspaper in one hand.

"Ah, I see someone else got the news," Malfoy said smugly. "I suppose they've come to withdraw from this awful class." He made a show of sniggering with Crabbe and Goyle.

Then he squinted to see who it was. Asha Winters. Suddenly, he didn't look quite so sure of himself.

Everyone knew Winters and Hagrid got along, and everyone knew Winters' reputation.

The consensus had been that she was friendly and normal. But recently... well. Word was, she had punched a hole in the wall during class, and not long after, put the sixth-year Hufflepuff Keeper in a headlock. Harry knew from experience not to put much stock in school rumours, except he had seen her attack Brad with his own eyes.

"Ash?" said Dean, surprised. "What are you-"

"Draco Malfoy, you son of bitch!" she snarled as soon as she was close enough. "What the hell is this?" She slammed the Daily Profit into his chest.

Malfoy took several steps back and glanced nervously in the direction of Professor Grubbly-Plank. The stern witch was out of earshot, along with the girls in the class who were patting a unicorn by the edge of the forest. Unicorns were sexist, apparently.

"Is this the work of you and your snotty father?" Asha demanded. "After you didn't get the satisfaction of executing an innocent animal last year? Some of us think Buckbeak should've been knighted after what he did to you."

Ron made a choking sound, looking like he wanted to laugh but was unsure if Asha would punch him for it.

"And Flobberworms don't even have teeth, you idiot!" she hissed, somehow looming over Malfoy even though they were about the same height.

"Exactly!" Harry said angrily. "Just because you're scared of the skrewts!" Though, he thought, that wasn't exactly something to be ashamed of - everyone with sense was afraid of Hagrid's fire-breathing scorpions.

Malfoy scoffed. "Hardly. Th-"

Asha poked him hard in the chest. "Have you been so brainwashed that you actually believe being wealthy or pureblooded puts you a cut above the rest? Or do you just enjoy being a cruel, pathetic, ferret of a boy?"

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. It was nice to watch Malfoy getting berated by someone else for a change.

"A cut above filthy little mudblood orphans like you, you mean?" Malfoy jeered, but Harry noticed his face had gone rather pale.

"Anyway, don't you have a class to be at, Winters?" Malfoy snapped. Again, his eyes flickered, more urgently now, towards Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"You listen to me, Malfoy." Asha snatched the dishevelled newspaper off him and waved it about. "If I see so much as a mention of you and Hagrid in the same sentence again, I will-"

"What's going on here?" came the brusque voice of Professor Grubbly-Plank. She was striding over from the edge of the forest. "You're not in this class are you, Miss...?"

"Winters," Asha conceded grudgingly, still glaring at Malfoy and his little gang.

"What are you doing here?" the professor demanded.

"Just delivering a message," Asha said, sounding strangled, like she was trying and failing to rein in her anger.

"She attacked me!" Malfoy cried.

"No she didn't," Ron and Harry said in unison.

"She was bringing me my charms homework," Harry said quickly. "I left it in the Great Hall."

"He's lying!" Draco spluttered.

"Quiet!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank. "What class are you supposed to be in right now, Miss Winters?"

"Potions," Asha admitted.

"Well, I suggest you make your way to the dungeons as quickly as your feet can carry you. Ten points from Hufflepuff."

"Yes, Professor," she said cooly.

From behind Grubbly-Plank, Malfoy sneered.

As Asha turned to leave, she caught eyes with Ron and Harry and flashed them a grateful look.

"Enjoy the detention Professor Snape is about to give you, Winters," Malfoy called loftily.

Unfortunately for Malfoy, Professor Grubbly-Plank had turned her attention back to the unicorn. Asha marched right back over, making Malfoy flinch behind Goyle. Harry couldn't see the look Asha was giving him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

She spoke in a low voice, "Talk to the Daily Profit again and I'll make sure you and your friends have some real injuries to match your stories. You got that?"

Then she turned on her heel and headed back up to the castle, her eyes burning with an intensity that startled Harry.

"I can see why Fred and George like her," Ron muttered.

*

For Asha, the start of the new term had brought with it both good and bad news.

Bad news: the castle was once again filled to the brim with boisterous, rowdy teenagers.

Good news: the boisterous, rowdy teenagers provided a great distraction from brooding over her intrusive thoughts about... a certain person.

To Asha's frustration, the Yule Ball encounter still hadn't faded from her mind. The things she kept thinking and feeling were all at once frustrating, terrifying and thrilling.

As she reluctantly pushed open the door to the potions classroom, she was met with a pair of appraising onyx eyes.

"Winters, you better have a good reason for being twenty minutes late to my class," Severus drawled dangerously. He glanced down at the crumpled Profit still clutched in Asha's hand.

A dozen comebacks sprung to Asha's mind, but obviously none she could say in front of the class. Hagrid's article and the general reaction to it had put her in a very bad mood. Usually good at playing her part, today Asha couldn't be bothered feigning fear or even thinking up something reasonable to say.

Severus seemed to sense this because he quickly snapped, "You will talk to me after class," and moved on.

"Where were you?" Matt whispered, once Severus had set them their next task and turned his back.

"Paying Draco Malfoy a visit," Asha replied darkly.

Safe to say, Asha's work in potions that day was abysmal. As the rest of the class filed out for break, she stayed behind as ordered, still in a sour mood. Severus waved the door shut and approached carefully.

"Do I want to know what you were doing?" he asked warily.

"Nope," Asha replied bluntly. She crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair and glared at her cauldron.

When he continued to scrutinise her, she relented. "I was just having a little chat to Draco Malfoy about his contributions to this morning's Daily Profit."

"Ah," Severus said. He sat back against the bench beside her, his robes falling to either side as he crossed his ankles.

In her peripheral vision, Asha saw him fold his arms and drum his long fingers once against his bicep. Looking up at him, she had to fight the urge to ogle at the way the sleek fabric of his trousers pulled taut against his thighs. This did not improve her mood.

"Something to say?" she dared. His eyes were already on hers.

"Malfoy is one you ought to be careful with," he said quietly.

Asha actually laughed, "What?"

Severus glanced up at the closed door, then seemed to consider his next words carefully. "His father is one of the few wizards you would do especially well not to be noticed by."

"Because he... hates Voldemort?" Asha asked, nonplussed. "Not sure if you realise, but that's not a super unique characteristic."

"No," Severus said, leaning on the 'n'. The intensity of his gaze seemed to pin her to the floor.

Asha's eyes widened in comprehension, then revulsion. So Lucius Malfoy was a Voldemort supporter.

"Well, that explains Draco," she said at last.

Severus' fingers contracted against his upper arms. "Yes. He's been raised in a... certain kind of household."

They were silent for a moment.

"But what would Voldemort supporters want with me?" Asha mused. "Dead like he wanted or... or on their side?"

"No idea," Severus admitted. "But they're the most likely to recognise you for who you are. And without a doubt, they will want control over you. Lucius Malfoy has already been..." He trailed off, giving Asha a calculating look.

"Tell me," she urged, leaning on the bond of trust they had built over the past year.

Severus sighed. There was a complicated mix of emotions swirling in his eyes. "In recent years, he has already been responsible for planting one of ... Voldemort's ... old relics in the school grounds, to much devastation."

Asha frowned, turning the statement over in her mind.

"Sirius Black?" she guessed.

For some reason, Severus scowled. But he gave a slight shake of his head. Then it clicked.

"Not the Chamber of Secrets?" Asha gaped, aghast. His eyes said it all. "So, a relic - some kind of Dark object - is what opened the Chamber? I always wondered..."

Severus nodded. Asha was desperate to ask more, but figured she might have a better chance if she stayed quiet.

Then a thought struck her.

"You don't think it was Lucius who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire?"

"He has not been on school grounds."

"But could he have bewitched someone to do it for him?"

Severus slowly ran a thumb over his lower lip - a move that caused Asha's heart to flutter absurdly and made her cross her legs.

"Albus and I are in agreement," he said, and Asha wrenched her attention back to the conversation with pure stubborn will. "Bypassing the formidable magical protections imbued in that Cup would have taken nothing less than the physical presence of a powerful wizard in their right mind."

Asha's mouth went dry. "And you think they're still here." It wasn't a question.

Severus met her eyes but said nothing. As usual, his face was difficult to read. Asha could sense there was a whole lot going on behind those impenetrable eyes that she didn't understand. And she wished she did. She wanted to know what he was thinking. What he was feeling. She just wanted to know him. So much so that it was a physical sensation in her chest.

But when he spoke again in his immaculate voice, it was only to say, "I assume you don't want to talk about the Daily Profit?"

Asha's face hardened. "Correct."

She did not want to talk about it. About how, if this was the reaction people had to an established member of the community having a giant for a parent, how infinitely worse her situation would be. About how, if good people - people like the Weasleys - found out she was Voldemort's daughter, they would probably want her dead. And about how, deep down, Asha thought... they were probably right. Her insides twisted and writhed.

"Then I have news," Severus announced, standing up, his commanding tone bringing Asha back to the present.

She gazed up at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Duelling lessons. You and I. We start Thursday."

*

Red sparks barreled straight for her. She could've sworn she was ready for it, but they came so fast, with no warning incantation. She only just got her shielding charm up in time.

"Woah, that-" she began, but had to dive to the side as another spell immediately broke through her shield.

With no time to think, she threw up another shield... and another... and another. Red sparks filled her vision as spells cracked and echoed against her barely sufficient magic. Each of her shields was conjured so hastily, it could only take one hit before failing. Within seconds, Asha had resorted to full-on dodging. She was quickly losing track of where she was in relation to Severus, who was firing spells so rapidly she could hardly see.

The next shield Asha cast was just a fraction too slow, and red sparks hit her wrist with unfathomable accuracy. Her wand shot out of her hand. Behind the fading haze of magic, Severus reached up lazily and plucked it from the air.

Asha bent over, gasping for breath. She was slightly shaky from the sudden exertion of so much desperate magic. Severus, on the other hand, was standing exactly as he had been: looking completely composed, entirely unimpressed and honestly a little bored.

In actuality, he was trying to discern the unfamiliar sensation in his chest. Asha's initially shocked expression had settled into one of complete awe. And it was making him experience a sort of... glow...

He scowled.

"No comments, Winters?" he mocked silkily.

Yesterday evening - yet again harbouring Asha in his office and doing a combination of working, chatting, and watching her practice magic - Asha had said teasingly, "Bold of you to call it duelling lessons. I think you underestimate me. What are you going to do if I kick your ass tomorrow?" Severus had merely snorted, not deigning to respond. He was looking forward to seeing the look on her face...

Now, to his annoyance, Asha's face broke into one of the most beautiful, unrestrained smiles he had ever seen.

"Oh, this is going to be brilliant!" she said between breaths. Straightening up, she pulled off her school jersey and strolled over to hang it on the far wall beside their robes.

Behind her back, Severus let slip a smirk. Her outright, unashamed enthusiasm at having been so thoroughly bested was...

He wiped his expression clean as she turned around.

"All right, I concede," she grinned sheepishly, lifting her hands in surrender. "You are insanely good at that."

"Finally, some respect," Severus drawled, folding his arms and allowing the corner of his mouth to lift.

"What? From me?" Asha replied innocently, retaking her place at the opposite end of the room. "You must be mistaken."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Okay then," Asha said, rolling up her sleeves. "Teach me."

The ghost of a smile brushed Severus' lips as he tossed her wand back.

The space Dumbledore had found for them was cavernous and cluttered with random furniture piled haphazardly against the far wall. Apparently unknown even to Filch, the room was magically tucked somewhere on the 3rd floor, warded against sound and spell damage. Motes of dust churned in the beams of January sunlight that streamed halfheartedly through the windows.

"Your shielding charm needs practice in both speed and strength," Severus lectured, "your reflexes are subpar, to say the least. Your lack of concentration is remarkable, and your tendency to resort to physical movement is a liability."

He waited for her to bite back. Instead, Asha's tongue peeked out the left corner of her lips, the way it always did when she was focusing intently.

Her shining dark eyes drifted to the ceiling as she went through each of his points on her fingers. "Agreed. Tragic, but clearly true. How dare you. And..." She cocked her head. "Interesting."

Severus surveyed her.

"Let me rephrase," he said. "You lost track of your surroundings and let visual and auditory stimuli overwhelm your senses. You aren't concentrating on what you should be. In order to do that, actions such as the shielding charm need to be second nature."

Asha nodded. "So step one, shield practice?"

For what felt like the millionth time, Severus Snape was surprised by Asha Winters. He had expected her to dismiss the necessary honing of the basics; expected her to be too eager to jump into advanced skills.

Merlin. He was sick of being surprised by her. Of continuing to make incorrect assumptions about her. Or, more accurately... sick of musing so much about her in the first place.

"Correct," he intoned. "Back in position."

Asha's countenance took on a determined air as she set her feet, though she still had that infuriatingly gorgeous smile etched on her face.

*

A/N: welcome back erryone! happy easter!!

I'm gunning for weekly updates! I can guarantee at least four since they're already written whoop whoop - next chapter is a fav

PS I can't believe genAI has become a thing since I was last hp obsessed - wild AI fanart now exists lol AND an HBO series?? AND I can ask ChatGPT where to put my commas lol (it's actually INCREDIBLE) My bffl is training to be a surgeon, another is a qualified psychologist, another is designing cutting-edge rocket tech. And I am sitting here writing snape fanfiction and I actually think that's great - I do NOT want to be responsible for anything important THANK YOU. The me who started this fanfic might have wanted to achieve great things but the me who's gonna finish it just wants to love people and pat her dog. And I love that for her