An American Professor

Erin pushed her hair behind her shoulders, took a deep breath and casually strolled into the room. The silence made her flinch, but she tried to ignore it as she walked to her place at the head table. She felt all the eyes in the room on her, and she could feel herself blushing. Erin could only imagine how awful she must look having a red face with pink polka dots. Arriving at her place, she noticed with a sinking feeling in her stomach that Snape was at his place. She slid into her seat and braced herself for the nasty comments that she knew he'd have for her.

When he remained quiet, she raised her eyes and saw that not only were all of the students staring at her, the teachers, aside from Dumbledore, were all watching her with fascination. It was at this moment that Erin noticed a daisy lying across her plate. Feeling her nose begin to tickle she turned her gaze to Flitwick and whispered, "Did you leave this here?"

He looked glum and shook his head, so she turned to Snape, he looked back startled. "Well I wouldn't put that there," he blustered.

"I figured as much," she said through gritted teeth, "but I thought perhaps you'd seen who did. Aaaaahhh Chooo! Dammit!"

"No," he admitted, "it was here when I arrived, which was after Flitwick," he said pointedly.

She turned to Flitwick. "Filius, Did you see who put it here?" He shook his head glumly again. Obviously knowing he had competition where Erin was concerned was not making him feel very happy. Erin caught Dumbledore's eye and raised a questioning eyebrow while gesturing to the flower. He just smiled and shrugged while shaking his head.

As Erin began to itch the back of her left hand with her right her gaze traveled to Hagrid who seemed to be one of the few teachers not looking at her. He, in fact, appeared to be avoiding her eyes. Sighing Erin turned to Flitwick and asked, "Was Hagrid here when you got here?" At the mention of Hagrid's name Flitwick's face darkened.

Snape tapped her on the shoulder. "You'd be better off not mentioning Hagrid's name to him. As I was arriving I heard Flitwick telling Hagrid to keep away from you."

Erin gasped and turned to Flitwick. "Professor, is that true?"

Flitwick looked embarrassed and said, "I may have said something like that."

"Aaaah Chooo! Excuse me. Professor, may I remind you that I'm not just a professor here, I'm also a student. As such, our relationship cannot ever be anything more than professional and perhaps a friendship. If that's not good enough for you, then I'm afraid I'll have to insist that we have no contact at all."

Flitwick looked at in surprise. "No, I think we should be friends. It's enough for me. I just enjoy your company."

"And I enjoy yours, so, good, I'm glad that's settled." Erin turned to Snape and said, "And thank you helping me sort that out."

"Don't mention it," he said flatly.

"Trust me, I'll try not to. Ahhhh Choo! Damn flower, excuse me," she muttered.

Erin looked at Dumbledore and decided he wasn't ready to make his announcement. She stood up and walked to Hagrid's chair, she squatted down beside him. "Hagrid, please look at me." He looked down at her and she almost cried he looked so sorrowful. "Oh, Hagrid, I'm sorry for whatever happened between you and Professor Flitwick. I came over here to tell you that I told him we are all coworkers and maybe friends, but nothing more. And Hagrid, I hope that that will be enough for you. But I also want to thank you for the daisy, it's lovely, even though if I touch it I'll probably have these hives for the next week." Hagrid appeared to be confused, but he did perk up a little. "So, what do you say Hagrid, friends only?" she asked sticking out her hand.

"Aye, friends it tis," he conceded shaking her hand carefully so as not to hurt her.

Well, that went better than I thought it would, Erin thought heading back to her seat. Looking at the daisy, she turned to Snape. "Um, Severus?" It felt so odd to say his first name, and he appeared to be startled to hear it coming from her mouth. "Would you mind moving that daisy off of my plate and as far away from me as possible? I think it would really bad if I were to touch it."

He plucked the daisy off of her plate and then picked up the plate as well. Erin looked at him confused. Snape quickly explained, "If you are having such an allergic reaction to just being in that flower's vicinity, imagine if you ate off of the plate it had been on."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He handed her his plate, which was still clean and took hers as his own. Erin reached for the mashed potatoes, helped herself to a big helping, and also put some corn and chicken on her plate. She wondered why Snape was being nice to her, and how long it would last. The thought had barely left the gate when he sneered, "My, my, someone certainly has gotten her appetite back."

Ah, that may be an actual record for him, nice for a consecutive thirty seconds. However, rather than be baited, Erin fed into his sarcasm and leaned to him whispering, "One certainly does build up an appetite fending off suitors." She was pleased when he cracked a smile. She felt like she had beaten him at his own game. She heard Dumbledore clear his throat and tap his glass. "Uh oh, the big announcement," she muttered under her breath. Snape glanced at her with curiosity before turning his attention to Dumbledore.

"Ladies, and particularly gentlemen could I have your attention. I have to say, I'm very pleased that you all were able to forget the scene last night with Professor Worhli, and many of you have indeed seemed to embrace her." Cheers erupted from the hall and Erin felt her cheeks redden. "However, I must please ask that you do not send Professor Worhli any more flowers. She has been inundated and cannot do her job properly if this continues, as she appears to be highly allergic to these flowers. I'm sure you all have noticed that her behavior was even stranger today than yesterday." Erin heard quite a few snickers, and felt her face go red again before Professor Dumbledore continued, "Now, I believe that Professor Worhli has something she'd like to say. Professor?

All eyes in the room shifted again to Erin. She carefully stood and nervously smiled. "Well, um, I just want to say thanks to all of you who sent me something. I hope you'll accept this public thanks in lieu of a personalized note, as if I tried to respond to all that I received I'd be writing until June. Well, I really do appreciate everyone going out of their way to make me feel welcome, especially after making a less than superb first impression. However, please save your money, and spend it on yourselves or your friends, not on me. Lastly, please do not be offended if you see your particular bouquet around the castle, I'm obviously allergic to some type of flowers, but I don't know which kind, so I've decided not to keep any of them around me. I'm sure that they will brighten up this place quite a bit. Thank you all very much," she finished with a smile, and sat back down. Unfortunately, she didn't return to her chair as gracefully as she'd left it and she stumbled slightly backwards. Snape reached out and in a swift movement steadied her with his arm across her back.

Shifting so she was seated comfortably he removed his arm and Erin noticed with surprise that he was rather muscular. She'd thought he was puny. Turning red at the directions of her thoughts had taken she quickly muttered, "Thanks."

He replied in the form of a brief nonchalant nod. Erin pretended that her plate was overly fascinating and gobbled her dinner down as fast as she could without breaking decorum. When she finished she picked up her bag and hurried back to her room with the map's help.

Once there she found an arrangement shaped like a lion's head. She reached cautiously for the card. It was from the Gryffindors. Erin smiled at the gesture, and waited for the sneezing to commence. When it didn't she smiled again and for the first time, enjoyed the flowers.

She walked into the bedchamber and pulled open the wardrobe. The pants she'd worn the night before were clean and hung inside. She giggled at the house elves hanging up running pants. Erin pulled them on, as well as a black sports bra and a gray hooded sweatshirt. She began looking for her trusty Adidas. She finally found them next to the wardrobe. Throwing her robes in a heap on the bed and leaving her other clothes in a pile on the floor, she padded into her sitting room to put on her sneakers.

As she was getting ready to leave, she remembered that she hadn't changed her password yet. Finding the parchment, she followed it instructions precisely. When it was time to pick a new password she decided to use the name of one of her favorite Muggle movies. She stated, "Gone with the Wind," and then was ready to go.

Before heading down the hall she tried out her password and the statue moved as it should. "Phew," she sighed, one thing went right today, she thought. Taking out her map, she said, "Quidditch Pitch" and began to make her way outside.

It didn't take long for her to get to the lawn in front of the castle. It was already dark outside she noted with surprise. It got darker here a lot earlier than it did at home. Erin, silly, this is your home now. She sat down on the front lawn and proceeded to stretch for ten minutes. She stood up and jogged to the Quidditch Pitch.

It was the most amazing stadium. It reminded her of a football stadium, only the seats were much higher up. She began to run around the perimeter of the field. After her second time around she began to wonder if she could pull off her sweatshirt without scandalizing anyone. Erin looked around to make sure that no one was outside the castle, and unzipped her sweatshirt and shrugged out of it.

She went around the field two more times before she stopped, fell back and began stretching out her arms and legs. Her reverie was broken by the sound of footsteps running towards her. She sat up abruptly and called, "Who's there?"

Snape came into view panting, "Are you ok?"

"Of course I am, why?"

"I - saw- you- collapse, " he gasped.

"I didn't collapse, I laid down to stretch! Were you spying on me?"

His face darkened and he spat, "Why would I follow you? I was taking a nightly stroll and I saw you fall. I should have let you die."

"I wasn't in trouble, though! Sheesh, overreact much?" she snarled back sarcastically.

He glowered at her and stalked off. Erin felt badly for about a minute, but was still creeped out that he may have been following her. She walked to her sweatshirt and slipped it on without zipping it. She noticed that Hagrid was outside his hut tending to something and she thought she'd go talk to him for a few minutes.

Loping towards his hut, she arrived fairly quickly. Hagrid smiled as she approached. "Good evenin' Professor, I saw yeh runnin' over there. Yer pretty fast," he said admiringly.

"Well, thanks Hagrid," she said glancing nervously at the huge black dog growling at her from Hagrid's side.

"Aw, shut up, Fang, yeh big git," he told the dog. The dog approached Erin and she dropped to her knees and stuck out her hand. Fang smelled it and then nuzzled her head.

"Aw, you're a big sweetie, aren't you?" she said rubbing his head. Erin noticed a gray blur streak to her legs and then back to Hagrid. "What was that?"

Hagrid chuckled, "Well, it's a kitten," he said holding up a fluffy gray ball that blinked at Erin with charming yellow eyes. "Not the sort of beast I'm used ta takin' care of, is it?"

"Oooh," she gasped, "Hagrid, he's so beautiful."

"She, actually," he said. "I need ta find her a home. I think she was orphaned, but she's old enough ta be on her own."

"Just like me," Erin whispered. "Hagrid, I'd love to take her. Are professors allowed to have pets?"

"O' course they are. Do yeh really want her?"

"Oh, yes," Erin said, sitting down next to Hagrid and watching the kitten crawl into her lap and fall asleep.

"Looks like she wants yeh, too," Hagrid chuckled.

Erin was completely taken with the beautiful animal. "Does she have a name?"

"'Course she do, it's Violet."

"Violet, that's perfect for her. Thank-you, Hagrid, I love her. I'll even bring her for visits while I run every evening, how does that sound?"

Hagrid eyes filled. "Ah, that would be great. Look forward ta it."

"Well, I guess I'd better go try to get some work done, thanks again, Hagrid."

"My pleasure. Almost seems like yeh need each other."

"Yeah, we probably do."

"G' Night."

"Good night." Erin walked back to the castle cuddling and cooing to Violet. As she reached the castle the incident with Snape came to the forefront of her thoughts. She debated going to tell him she was sorry for snapping at him. Erin found that Violet was small enough to fit comfortably into her sweatshirt pocket.

Pulling her map out, she said, "Snape's office," and began making her way to the dungeon where Snape's office was located. She found his office and knocked lightly.

A voice echoed through the hall. "ENTER!" Erin shivered at the ice in his voice wondering if he knew it was she. Reaching for the doorknob, Erin walked into the room slowly. He was bent over his desk in concentration. "What do you want?" he asked without looking up.

"I came to uh..." His head jerked up at the sound of her voice.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Well, I was trying to apologize for yelling at you earlier, but now I'm rethinking it," she spat and turned on her heel heading for the door. Before she could reach it, however, it slammed shut in her face. She looked at it in complete shock, and then realized that Snape had done it.

The fire in her eyes was enough to make him squirm despite trying his hardest to look cool and collected. "What the hell is your problem?" Her voice frightened her as it was laced with such smoldering fury.

"I- I- just don't like you."

"Obviously," she said dryly, "but what the hell did I do to make you feel that way. I'd like to know so I can keep doing it." Violet mewed pitifully from her pocket and poked her head out to see why her new mom was so angry.

"I don't know," he said simply.

"YOU DON"T KNOW!" Erin shrieked. She'd lost all control at this point. Violet slunk back into her pocket. "You've been treating me like a second class citizen, like I'm scum, since I got here, and you don't even know why!" she roared.

Erin continued to glare at him until he said, "I'm not really sure."

She turned, walked to the door, yanked it open and said icily, "You- are- impossible," and left the room slamming the door soundly behind her. Erin stomped back up the stairs and looked at her watch, it was nine o'clock. She assumed students would still be awake in the Gryffindor common room. Holding out her map she said, "Gryffindor Common Room," and a line appeared. Well, that's interesting, I'm surprised it actually worked, I thought that the dormitories were secret, she mused. Following the line she soon found herself in front of a portrait of a fat lady. She was wondering what she should do next, when the painting asked, "Password?"

"Damn, I don't know it. I'm a professor, can't you just let me in?"

"No, sorry dear."

"Oh, come on!"

"It's against the rules, sorry."

"Dammit! If I yell for them, can they hear me?"

"If they aren't making too much noise."

Erin was getting really tired of arguing with a painting. She sighed exasperatedly and asked, "Can you tell if they're being noisy?"

"I can."

"Well, are they?!" Erin's frustration was evident in her voice.

"They are not."

"Good." Erin smiled at her sweetly before opening her mouth to yell any and every name of Gryffindor that she could remember. "RON! HARRY! HERMIONE!" She waited a moment and then continued, "GINNY! NEVILLE! FRED! GEORGE!" The portrait swung forward suddenly and knocked Erin to the floor. "Ouch, bitch!" she swore at the painting. She looked up and saw an older version of Ron looking down at her.

"Professor Worhli, what are you doing here?"

"Cleaning the floor with my ass," she said sarcastically. "Sorry, I mean, I came to see you Gryffindors."

"Oh," he said, reaching out a hand he helped her to her feet. "I'm Fred, by the way. You sure were making a ruckus out here."

"That was the idea, as I didn't know the password."

"Well, come on in." She followed him through portrait hole into the common room. She found that her screaming fit had indeed caught everyone in the common room's attention. "Are you cold?" Fred asked, "You're shaking."

Erin snapped to attention and gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, thanks." She spotted Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville sitting together by the fire watching her with interest. She went to join them and felt quite a few eyes watching her progress.

Erin plopped down next to Hermione who promptly whispered, "Zip up your shirt."

Erin looked down and blushed. She forgot about that in her haste to get away from Snape. "Thanks," she muttered. She moved to zip up her sweatshirt and as she did a plaintive "Meow" came from Violet. "Oh, baby, I almost forgot you were in there." She reached into her pocket and pulled Violet out.

Ginny and Hermione said, "Aww," in unison.

"Would you like to hold her?" she asked Ginny. Nodding, Ginny stretched out her hands to accept Violet. "Her name's Violet," Erin began, "Hagrid gave her to me tonight."

"She's beautiful, but she's so small," Ginny noted.

"He says she's been orphaned, but she's just old enough to be able to make it on her own, with a little bit of human help. I think she's a bit afraid of me right now. I had a one-sided yelling match with Snape and she didn't like it."

"What were you yelling about?" George asked. He and Fred had joined the little group.

"Oh, Prof-, I mean, Erin, this is my brother, Fred," Ron began.

"We've met," Erin smiled at Fred who blushed.

"And," Ron hurried to finish the introductions, "that's George."

"A pleasure," Erin said. "As to what we were fighting about, well, I thought he was spying on me this evening and I yelled at him. I felt bad after I did, so I went to his office to apologize, and ended up yelling at him for not knowing why he hates me so much."

"He said that he hated you?" Hermione asked with wide eyes.

"Well, um, I think his exact words were, "I just don't like you" and when I asked why he said he didn't know."

Ginny was playing with Violet with a piece of string. She'd run it along Ron's leg and Violet sunk her kitten claws in. He took a moment to register the pain and then yelped, "Ow! Ginny!"

"Sorry," she giggled.

Harry turned the conversation back to Erin. "And then what happened?"

"Uh, well, I screamed at him for a few minutes in regards to not having a reason for disliking me so much, and then I slammed the door behind me as I left."

"Whoa!" Fred and George said simultaneously.

"I guess I could care less as to him hating me," Erin began.

"You just wish there was a reason," Harry finished. Erin turned to him and realized that he seemed to understand exactly what she was feeling, but wondered how he knew.

"Exactly," she murmured. They all sat in silence for a few moments when Fred and George, who seemed to hate any type of somber mood began cracking jokes.

"Snape's a stupid git!" Fred began.

"He hasn't washed his hair in a decade!" George continued.

"His breath smells like rotten fish!"

"He hasn't brushed his teeth in a century!" They continued on like that until Erin and the others were clutching their sides from laughing so hard.

"Enough!" Erin shrieked, "I won't be able to walk to my room!" Their laughter slowly faded and she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I guess I'd better get going," she said reluctantly. "Thanks again for the Gryffindor flowers and thanks a bunch for the laugh." She gathered Violet and walked to the portrait hole.

"We'll have to do this again sometime," Neville called. They all turned to him in shock.

"Yes, Neville, I definitely agree," and with that she climbed out the portrait hole and disappeared from their view.