WHO: Severus Snape & Ginny Weasley
WHAT: Severus shows 'concern' in odd ways.
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 11th
WHERE: His classroom
RATING: PG
STATUS: Done





Severus Snape hated life more than usual that week. His godson was a mess, Potter was a right frustration, Pansy clearly needed extra time, the school was in danger of losing its Head Boy and, to top it all, his so-called NEWT bound Potions students were intolerable. "Dismissed," he snarled as his final student turned in his exam. "Weasley? To me."

Ginny was having a rough day. It seemed any day in which she overslept she was thrown off and couldn’t quite get into the swing of things. Which is exactly what had happened that morning. By the time she’d gotten to Potions, she was in a right foul mood and wasn’t really prepared as it was. She found herself struggling to keep her head together as she worked on the exam, but it simply wasn’t going to happen. She started when she heard her name and felt a pit form in her stomach as she gathered her things and headed towards the Potions Master’s desk. Brilliant. This is just what she needed today.

“Yes, Professor?” She asked, unintentionally sounding a bit exasperated.

Oh, he really didn't need attitude right then. Especially from a Gryffindor. "Tone, Miss Weasley." He didn't even look up as he shuffled some of the tests around. "Disgraceful handwriting," he muttered to himself before placing a particularly shoddily written exam in his folder. "So, the issue?" His final statement was directed at the girl he had called forth, but Snape still made no move to make eye contact. He was a busy man, after all.

Ginny had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Instead, she settled for folding her arms across her chest and letting out a small sigh. “Sorry.” She mumbled. She hated when he did this. If he wanted a word, why couldn’t he have the decency to look at her while he was speaking? If she’d pulled that with him, she’d end up with detention scrubbing cauldrons for a month. “What issue?” She asked, knowing full well to what he was referring.

Did all the blasted students have to play innocent with him? As if he didn't have ears and eyes! "Your huffing. Your mumbling. Your expression." Severus bent down, sticking several pieces of parchment into his bottom drawer. Finally straightening, his bored expression met Ginny's. "Anything I miss?"

Ginny shifted uncomfortably, chewing on her lower lip as he listed off everything one by one. She dropped her arms from across her chest and began fidgeting with her fingers. When he was through she opened her mouth to make a smart retort, but closed it just as quickly as she checked herself. “I wasn’t aware that was a crime these days.” So much for checking herself.

"A crime, no. A nuisance to your fellow classmates, yes." Severus didn't miss a beat, glowering as he rebuked. "Did you study? Or did you assume good luck was all you needed, Miss Weasley?"

“Yes, I studied.” She stretched the truth, trying not to let her Weasley temper get the better of her. She could feel her anger bubbling just beneath the surface. She wasn’t entirely sure why. It was her own fault that she hadn’t properly prepared for class, and yet, something about Professor Snape tended to set her off.

Severus raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Well, good then. What do you believe you achieved?"

“Clearly nothing by your standards if I’m here talking to you after class.” Ginny retorted. She regretted it as soon as the words fell from her lips, but it was too late to take them back now.

Severus sighed deeply. For better or worse, this Weasley might actually accomplish something. Something other than running a silly joke shop anyway. He didn't need her goofing off her second to last year. "I don't know. Why don't you grade your exam?" He summoned his answer key before pushing her scroll toward her. "You recall your practical mark, yes? That and these combine as usual."

Oh, well bollocks. This was it then. While her practical wasn’t all that horrid, she was sure this portion was going to be nearly painful to look at. She swallowed hard before giving a small nod and slowly opening her scroll of parchment. Running a hand through her hair before digging quickly in her bag for a quill she went through the exam question by question, comparing the answer key with what she had written for each. Even with her own biased generosity on some of the short answer questions, she was nowhere near her usual marks. She’d dropped at least a letter grade this go ‘round. When she’d finished, she placed her quill down on the desk and pushed the pieces of parchment towards her Professor

Severus glanced down. "Hm." He pulled out his grade book, penciled in the mark, and looked back up. "What happened?"

Ginny shifted again, playing with the ends of her red waves out of habit. “It’s been a rough day. I...erm...I guess I was distracted.” She said simply, knowing that wasn’t going to fly. He wasn’t the kind of professor to let her off that easily.

It wasn't a matter of 'letting off' as far as Snape was concerned. The grade spoke for itself, after all. "There will always be distractions, you realise." He leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes sweeping over the pale face. While she hadn't been directly involved for much of the war, she had seen things she shouldn't too. Snape wasn't heartless to that truth, nor had he forgotten in getting caught up with Draco, Hermione, and the bloody Potter. "Tell me, what is it you wish to do after Hogwarts?"

The question threw her off. She’d of course thought briefly about what she wanted to do, but none of it seemed real to her. It always seemed so far away that it was just something in the back of her mind. Besides, if she told him what she really wanted to do with herself after school, she wasn’t so sure he’d find it nearly as appealing as some of her classmates might.

“I don’t know…Maybe be a healer…” she didn’t sound convinced though. That was mostly what she’d told her mum to keep the older woman from getting upset. What she’d really prefer to do, was to play Quidditch professionally. She understood that was a very childish dream to aspire to, but it was all she’d ever really wanted to do with her life.

"Hm. You need top marks for that." Severus regarded her coolly for a moment. "You have several talents, Miss Weasley. Undoubtedly, your past and current Head have told you this." He drummed his fingers on his desk, letting this sink in. "You can't afford to be distracted at this point in your academic career. Potions is a very important subject to have, you see."

She didn’t know how to react to him at first. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say something or if she was simply supposed to agree with him. She wasn’t quite used to him being so…mentoring-like. He was the Slytherin head who picked favorites and despised Gryffindors, after all. It took her a moment to regain her sense of reality and she let out another small sigh.

“Right. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” She said, unable to keep the snippyness out of her tone. She wanted desperately to ask if that was all, but was afraid of that leading to trouble.

Snape didn't despise all Gryffindors. He just thought most had to get a handle on themselves. Lily had been a Gryffindor and she had been smashing so clearly the entire House couldn't be absolute trash. Granted, Ginny was no Lily as far as the professor was concerned, but still. "I don't really care what you keep in mind, Miss Weasley. I want better results. Starting with next week's exam."

He leveled her with a stern stare. "Otherwise I'll be having a word with your parents." Both eyebrows raised then, he added, "Is there something in particular interfering with my subject?"

The look of fear that crossed Ginny’s face at the mention of her parents being brought into this mess was not something she would ever admit to in her life. It wasn’t that her mother and father were extremely strict about such things.-Well, her Mum was to a certain extent-But it was the worrying and the disappointment that Ginny was aiming to avoid. It was the overly-concerned talks about what was keeping her from doing her best in school. It was the “I’m not going to yell, but I want you to know, I think you can do better. And I think you know it too.” That her Dad gave her after such things. She didn’t need an entire winter hols filled with that sort of treatment.

“No.” she said after a moment. It wasn’t just his subject, after all. And to try and narrow everything down to just one thing-Let alone something she felt comfortable enough to discuss with Snape of everyone-It was just better to leave it be and promise to do better next time. “It won’t happen again.” She added, trying not to have an attitude with him as she spoke.

"I would hope so." Snape knew she was lying. And no, he didn't need to peer inside her mind to realize that truth. She was undoubtedly suffering in the wake of war and a new wizarding world changing enemies. However, it was not in Severus' nature to pry, especially with a student he really held no relationship with. For that, he gave a short nod, adding, "One more bad mark and an owl home, Miss Weasley. Remember."

“Yes, sir.” She said with a small nod. “Is that all, then?” She asked, probably a bit too hopefully.

Severus would never admit how much it hurt when a student wanted to be done with him. It wasn't his style to show he had any emotions, especially for any student who wasn't his beloved Draco. Still, since the war, Severus' guard wasn't quite what it used to be. Really, no one could survive two wars and be completely without feeling. If anything, he felt more presently than he had since Lily's murder. "Dismissed."