Charms and Potions Just Don't Mix (Shannah)

[Severus Snape]

Against every occlumency shield that Severus had up, a mental image of one of Potter's memories of his uncle's vein in his forehead came to mind and he had to wonder if he himself were so mad that said vein was pulsing now. Either way, name calling had always been a petpeve of his ever since day one with the Potter Sr's little act.

"You lost the ability to gain my respect when you beat on my door and you lost that all together when you went and took my door apart. Can your simple little mind even begin to image the complexity of the spells placed on the door hinges? How many webs of magic was placed on every single panel of that door so that no one could enter unless they were me or the headmaster or mistress? That door was charmed with enough spells that not even the dark lord could enter this room. How dare you destroy such work. Surely as a 'charms expert' you should have felt the vibrations coming from the door and expected such magic. Why, in your infinite wisdom, oh 'charms expert' would you do through so much trouble to dismantle my work? Do you possibly have a death wish?"

Snape looked down at his papers and started grading again. It was quiet so he figured that she had left. He looked up to see her still standing there, foot tapping in anger, obviously expecting some of that...what did she want? Respect? Psh... like she would get any from Severus Snape. She hadn't earned respect yet from him. Just because of her look alike or her teaching position, she thought she would just get all the professors to bow down and hand over their respect? It just didn't happen that way around here.

"I'm sure you know your way out since you found your way in Miss Iggins. If you don't leave now, I'll have to consider this an act of violence and refusing to leave privately owned offices which means I would have the right to defend myself. They say that the dementor's kiss is simply unbearable to watch, but if you don't leave I'll call for that and trust me, I'll try my hardest to watch it all happen."

[Shannah Iggins]

Shannah's face took on an inpenetrable mask that she used for social situations. "I know that you think you're something to fear. And you've earned the title of sneaky badass. I get it. You're the scary bat of the dungeons, you were a spy in Voulavent's inner circle, you were putting your life on the line every time you showed up at the Death Eater. I get it. You laughed in the face of danger, ha ha ha, yada yada yada lobster bisque."

She advanced towards him a bit, her mask slipping. "Here's the thing. I don't care. You could have my guts for garters, and floss your teeth with my achilles tendon. Whatever. I probably shouldn't have barged into your quarters, and I apologize for desecrating the sanctity of your private quarters. I'm willing to help you put the protective wards back on the door and hinges, but I also understand if you would rather not accept my help. But I'm not leaving until we work something out, because honestly, Professor" the word came out in a sneer, somehow managing to come across as though she considered the word to be a profanity instead of a title that they both shared, and that she'd worked damn hard to earn, "I am just about ready to slip some poison into your morning tea, just so I don't have to put up with your snark and sarcasm. The students don't like you, and I'm not going to lie to you and say that they do. But whether you like it or not, they look to your reactions to a new teacher before they decide for themselves whether or not the professor is any good- especially if the professor isn't in your coveted position of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Your treatment of me isn't just particularly irksome to me. It is detrimental to my ability to teach the students. And I'll be damned if I let you dismiss me as though I were some wayward sixth year student who still didn't know the difference between Veritaserum and Wolfsbane."

[Severus Snape]

Now Severus was positive beyound any reasonable doubt that there was indeed a vein pulsing on his forehead and neck and was about to burst. How dare she... how dare she come into his office, tear down his door, insult him, and then demand respect. He swore to himself that even dimwitted death eaters had more common sense then this woman. And then, to top it all off, she was going to sit there and say she didn't give a flying rat's ass about any of it? That was a tad too far in Severus's opinion. Snape was on his feet and His wand flicked before he could make a rational thought and shot a repelling jinx at the teacher, knocking her off her feet and on her butt only a foot or two away. In snape's opinion of the matter, she had better be glad that he didn't curse her wand arm off for her jib.

"Listen." Severus growled. "I have done things that you could never imagine to keep the likes of you safe. Never did I ask for a thank you or even a cloak to wear when it was cold. I never asked anything of any of you. What I did, I did for my own reasons but I had everyone's best wishes at heart, though it may surprise you to know that I do indeed have one of those things. However, to presume that you could speak to me that way. How dare you barge in here as if you own the place and then threaten me in my own office. Now get out."

Snape started to sit down before saying, "Oh and just for the record, there is no poison made that I couldn't detect on smell alone. Nice try but think of something more original then poison to try and kill a potions master with. thank you, good bye."

[Shannah Iggins]

Shannah scrambled to her feet. "Don't presume to tell me what I'd be surprised by. Of course you have a heart, you dingbat. Playing double agent for as long as you did is too dangerous for you to have done if you didn't have one to propel you to do so."

She studied him, her hands on her hips, for a long moment, before sighing heavily. The jinx had served to cool her temper somewhat, and she was able to think through the red haze of anger and embarrassment. "I apologize for barging into your quarters. I do hope that you will accept that apology. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me. I thought I'd been doing better in that regard, and I'm embarrassed to find out otherwise. You may have never asked for a thank you for the service you did, but you're getting one now. Thank you for doing what you did."

"Now are you going to accept my offer of help with repairing the damage I did, or are you going to do your best to pretend I don't exist?"

[Severus Snape]

Severus didn't know the jinx would effect him like it was. For so many years, Severus Snape had wanted to unleash all of his frustrations on someone besides the brilliant Albus Dumbledore, and now that he had his moment, he had unleashed everything and jinxed the poor woman. After his tyrannic comments, he felt powerful, in charge. Severus Snape felt like he could control this conversation now.

Mostly though, the feeling was almost orgasmic.

After so many years, this woman had been the focal point of Severus's attack. After coming down form that high, he could tell he'd been an ass. Sure, the woman had deserved it, but Snape was supposed to be the better man because he'd been there longer and if Snape could handle five years of being around another Potter, then why in the hell could he not be around this woman? It was her thankfulness that really put the icing on the cake for him though. Sometimes this woman was just too much like Lilly for her own good. Hot headed, brilliant, clever, and forgiving when it counts. Severus sighed and pulled out a leather bound notebook.

"These spells were given to me by a very close and personal friend before the end of the first wizarding war. She's dead now thanks to the snake faced bastard himself, but this was given to me in the hopes that it might help me to overcome some of the more lethal traps set by some of the death eaters who didn't believe I was who I said I was. It's come in handy quite a bit as of late. Some of the most advanced shielding spells I've ever seen were in this book. While I could do this myself, as evident by the door now sitting on the ground, but another wand would be appreciated."

Snape couldn't help but think though that this was as close as he ever wanted to get to this woman. There was too much history connected with her looks and attitude. He didn't have the time to get close to anyone. Well, now that the dark lord was gone he did, but did he actually trust himself to open up to this woman? No, snape thought shaking his head. No he did not at all.

[Shannah Iggins]

Shannah looked at the leather-bound notebook before accepting it. Judging by the worn edges, it was important to Severus Snape. She sat down in a chair without thinking about it, and flipped through it.

An unexpected surge of jealousy shot through her that he'd had a female friend close enough to leave a volume treasured by him.

Shannah shoved that down and away, really not wanting to deal with that just then.

She tucked a loose strand of red hair behind her ear as she continued to look through the spells. "Your friend, whomever she was, was brilliant. These spells are incredibly sound." She pulled a blank piece of paper out of her pocket, and a pen from her hair, and started making notations. "If you make some slight changes, switching these two around" she used the capped end of the pen to show him which spells she was talking about, "and add in a bit of elemental magic- invoking the compass points- then that would make it a bit stronger. We can also use some dragon's blood- I'm assuming you have some in your stores, of course- to draw some wards on the door, but that would take more time than you'd probably like. However, if you're wanting it done quickly, that one wouldn't be the way to go, because it would take a few evenings' work. " Shannah looked up at him, brilliant green eyes meeting dark ones. "Sorry. Protective magic is my hobby- as is figuring out ways around it, as my entry can testify. I think it comes from having a father in the muggle military, and the lessons he instilled in me at a young age. At any rate, what would you like done? Consider me your servant in this arena, since I'm repaying a debt here."

[Severus Snape]

No one else would have seen it, how could they? Snape however, could see it in her eyes before she made it die down. The only problem was, Snape couldn't see why she would be jealous. Before he could use his mental magics, the emotions were killed and they were lost to him. There were only three people in the world that Snape knew were powerful enough to skim surface thoughts of anyone without being detected and that was Tom Riddle, Albus Dumbledore, and Severus himself. After hearing what she had to say, Snape was intreeged. He nodded his head and said,

"Of course your help would be needed. You seem to have a good grasp at this sort of magic that my friend had as well. Curious. Very curious. I've studied this book every chance I get, re reading and memorizing this book to the exclusion of all else. I'm pretty sure it would only take a matter of a night to finish the door with both me and you working together. I've got many vials of dragons blood just waiting to be used in my personal storage and I'm sure it would make some high quality runes if my studies are right conserning them. I was never one to be able to master the subtle art of rune casting but I do have some experience fighting them. If you could do the runes part I could start on the infusing spells now."

[Shannah Iggins]

Shannah arched an eyebrow at him. "Should I note this day down for the record books? Severus Snape has admitted that you don't know something, and that that something is an art?" She sobered quickly. "Sorry. I'll try to hold my sarcasm."

She stood from the chair, ducking her eyes. Her thoughts were whirling around in her head, and she couldn't seem to focus on anything. If she didn't know better, she'd say she was flustered. But of course that wasn't possible, because she didn't allow men to fluster her.

And if you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you and some land in Florida for you to buy.

Shannah inwardly waved the voice in her head away. No. Not going there.

No.

"Well, like I said, your friend was brilliant. If you're adept in protective magic, she's fairly straightforward. The only reason I know about the changes I suggested is because this is my area of expertise. I'd imagine that if your friend was as good in Potinos as she apparently was with Charms, and her notebook was dealing with Potions instead of protecting charms, you'd be as hardpressed to find improvement. I'm saying that to point out how good she was at this, not to say that you're lacking in your area of expertise."

Shannah stretched slowly, working out kinks from her back that she hadn't realized was there. "We're going to need something to counteract the acidic properties of the dragon's blood. You'd know best what would work best out of what you have readily available on hand. I'd suggest putting that down first, and then layering the other spells on top of that. But, again, it's your choice."