Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Kiara's Story	By : AnyuBoo Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 2008 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Hello all!
Here is chapter 5 for your reading pleasure. I own none of JKR�s
characters, more�s the pity. Kiara, her parents, and anyone not recognizable
from the books are my own creations. I�m
making no money off this, so please
don�t sue me. BTW, in case I have not
clarified this yet, I�m uploading a milder from of this story on
FanFiction.net, where my pen-name is Madpiper (I
share the name with my husband, although I�m writing this particular story
solo).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: Professor Snape: Not So Mean?

Kiara settled into a routine quickly.
She found she loved Potions, seeming to have a natural talent for it,
and she also did extremely well in Herbology. Her other strong subject was Broomstick
Flying. She found herself completely at
ease on a broomstick. So much so, that
she decided that when and if a position came open on the Gryffindor Quidditch
team, she would try out. In Charms she
was average, but found that while she did ok with most of the spells, she just
could not get the hang of levitation. In
Transfiguration, she did ok with the basics, but she had a hard time with many
of the more advanced charms. Her marks
in Defence Against the Dark Arts were similar to
Transfiguration. In book knowledge, she
did very well. But here too, she had
difficulty with the more advanced spells.
Her Astronomy marks never went above average, and it was only her
intense desire not to fail any of her classes that enabled her to stay awake in
Binns� History of Magic classes.

In her first Astronomy class, Kiara found that she had an additional
problem. She was getting very
sleepy. Not normally one to stay up late, she was almost ready to drift
off to sleep when class ended.

�Kiara, are you ok?� Melanie
asked concernedly.

�I�m
just ready to fall asleep,� Kiara replied, slowly putting her things in her
book bag. �I�ll be all right once I get
to bed.�

�Ok, then. We�ll see you back in the dorms,� Melanie
replied as she and the others left the Astronomy tower. Kiara slowly started to follow but she was
getting more tired by the minute.

Down in the dungeons,
Professor Snape was attempting to mark the first year essays he had
assigned. After reading Kiara�s essay
and feeling some pleasure in seeing that he had at least one student who seemed
to know what she was doing, he was getting more and more frustrated by the
rest. After a while, he felt he had
definitely earned a break and decided to go for a bit of a walk. He had just rounded the corner of the
corridor that led to the Astronomy tower when he saw a small shape huddled at
the bottom of the stairs. Recognizing
the shape as student-sized, he sprinted forward,
worried that someone might have fallen down.
To his relief, the girl huddled there didn�t appear to be injured, she
was merely asleep. He reached down and
gently shook her shoulder. She didn�t
wake but moved enough so that he recognized Kiara.

�Miss Connon, do wake up,� he
said, shaking her shoulder again. �This
is hardly an appropriate place for sleep.�
Kiara mumbled something that sounded like �asphodel�, but didn�t
wake. Snape almost smiled, hearing that
she appeared to be dreaming about Potions work.

�Miss Connon!�
Snape said again, louder. Kiara was in a
deep sleep, however, and refused to wake.
With a sigh of exasperation, he grabbed her bag, slung it over one
shoulder, then reached down and picked her up.
�This girl is tiny,� he thought to himself. �She barely weighs anything at all.� Walking quickly, but carefully, so as not to
wake her, he took her to Professor McGonagall�s office.

�Come in,� came McGonagall�s
voice after he�d knocked softly. Snape
walked in, still carrying Kiara. �Oh my! Severus, is
she ok?�

�She seems perfectly fine,�
Snape replied. �The child is merely
asleep. I found her at the bottom of the
Astronomy tower stairs. Fortunately, she
appears to have made it down those stairs before falling asleep. I thought I would bring her here as it would
be highly inappropriate for me to be entering the Gryffindor girls� dorms.�

�Thank you for bringing her,
Severus,� McGonagall replied, looking curiously at the Potions Master. With his sour attitude, a Gryffindor out of
bed after curfew, asleep or not, would have been cause enough for him to take
large amounts of points and give lengthy detentions. �I will take her from here,� McGonagall
continued. Snape gently handed Kiara and
her book bag over and strode out of the office.
McGonagall levitated Kiara up to her dorm, laid her on her bed, and
placed the book bag on the floor beside her.

The next morning, Kiara woke
to find herself on her bed, but still in the clothes she had worn the day
before. She couldn�t remember going up
to bed. As she thought about it, she
realized her last memory was leaving the Astronomy tower. She took a quick shower and put on a fresh
uniform before heading down to breakfast.

�Hey, Melanie,� Kiara said,
sitting next to the dark haired girl, �Any idea what happened to me last
night?�

�What do you mean?� Melanie
asked.

�Well, I remember leaving
Astronomy class, and then I was waking up in my bed, still wearing the clothes
I wore yesterday.�

�Well, I don�t know exactly
what happened, but my guess is that you must have fallen asleep somewhere on
your way back, and Professor McGonagall must have found you. I woke up when she brought you in the dorm.�

�Oh. I guess I�m really not used to staying
up late,� Kiara said wryly. �I�ll go
thank her.� With that, she walked up to
the head table and stood before Professor McGonagall.

�Yes, Miss Connon?� McGonagall
inquired. �What can I do for you?�

�I just wanted to thank you
for bringing me in last night. I�m not
used to staying up late and must have fallen asleep on my way back from
Astronomy class,� Kiara said.

�You did indeed fall asleep,
although fortunately you did so at the bottom of the tower stairs, rather than
at the top,� McGonagall replied, smiling slightly. �However, don�t thank me. It was Professor Snape who found you and
carried you to my office.�

�Oh,� Kiara
said, startled. Then she walked over to
Snape. �Thank you for bringing me to Professor
McGonagall, sir. I suppose I�ll be
serving detention for being out of bed after curfew?�

�You�re quite welcome, Miss
Connon,� Snape replied, �And no, I will not make you serve detention�this
time. I understand you are not used to staying
up that late.�

�Oh, um, thank you,
Professor,� Kiara replied, smiling tentatively before walking back to her seat
at the Gryffindor table. Snape, for his
part, didn�t understand why he was being so nice to a mere student, and a Gryffindor
at that, but shrugged it off, attributing it to fatigue.

After that, Kiara started to see Professor Snape in a slightly different
light. No one liked Snape and he, in
turn, detested everyone. Everyone else
thought he was merely a mean-spirited person.
Kiara wasn�t so certain. She
thought there had to be more to it than that and resolved to talk to Professor
Dumbledore about it. With that aim in
mind one Saturday, she went to Professor McGonagall�s office, knocked, and
entered when invited to do so.

�Miss Connon,� McGonagall asked, �What can I
do for you?�

�Professor,� Kiara began, �Would it be
possible for me to see Professor Dumbledore?�

�Is there something wrong?�

�Not really,� Kiara replied. �I just wanted to ask him something, but
it�s kind of personal.�

�Very well,� McGonagall replied. �I happen to know that Professor
Dumbledore is not very busy today. I�ll
take you to his office.�

�Thank you, Professor,� Kiara said gratefully as the two of them left
the office. At the gargoyle that guarded
the Headmaster�s office, McGonagall spoke the password and indicated that Kiara
should go on up the stairs. She did, then knocked on the door.

�Come in,� came Dumbledore�s voice.
Kiara entered the room and sat in the chair Dumbledore indicated. �What can I do for you, Miss Connon?�

�Well, sir,� Kiara began hesitantly, �I wanted to ask about Professor
Snape.�

�Why ask me? Why
not Professor Snape?�

�Well, sir,� Kiara said, �He doesn�t seem to like anyone. Despite what he did after my first Astronomy
class, I get the impression that if I asked him a personal question,
he�d just throw me out of his office.�
Dumbledore smiled at Kiara�s perceptiveness.

�What would you like to know about Professor Snape?� he asked.

�Well, mostly I�d like to know what�s made him so miserable,� Kiara
answered, �And not in the way most people would use the word.�

�Ah,� Dumbledore replied sadly, although he smiled at her phrasing. �The
first question you ask, I cannot answer.
I would be betraying a confidence.�

�I understand, sir,� Kiara said. �But your answer does suggest that I�m
right in thinking that he�s not the way he is because he�s mean. He�s unhappy?�

�Yes, child, you are right,� Dumbledore replied. �I regret that I cannot
tell you the reason.�

�That�s ok, sir,� Kiara said with a smile. �It�s enough to know that I
was right. Makes his actions in class
easier to understand, as well as tolerate.�
Dumbledore also smiled.

�You are fond of Potions, then?�

�Oh yes, I love that class. All
the other Gryffindors hate it because of the things he says to us, but there�s
something about Potions that I love, no matter what he says.�

�Very well, keep up the good work,� Dumbledore said with a smile at her
enthusiasm. �If you should discover Professor Snape�s background, and you
didn�t hear it directly from him, do not discuss it with anyone else. Come see me right away.�

�Yes, Professor.�

�Now, off you go. I believe it is
almost time for lunch.�

Try as she might to learn something about Professor Snape, Kiara was
unable to learn anything useful. After a
few carefully manipulated conversations, she realized that it was unlikely that
any of the other students knew. During
the Christmas break when she went home, she asked her Gran about Professor
Snape. Her Gran professed not to know
anything about him, but her guarded way of replying indicated to Kiara that she
knew more that she was letting on. After
a few more months, she figured that those few who knew would probably be
betraying his confidence if they said anything.
She would have to learn the story from him, or not at all. She decided to wait. First year students did not march up to their
professors and request their life stories.
After all, patience was supposed to be a virtue.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heavens! Snape? Actually being nice? What�s the world coming to?

Please review!
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Kiara's Story