Object of Erised

Madison sighed as she sat amongst the rowdy Gryffindors. The murmur of Quidditch games, homework and nonsensical conversation filled the Great Hall with noise.

She was in her Seventh year of Hogwarts. Her short brown hair tapered from her neck to below her chin, which she brushed behind an ear in order to eat. Even after all these years, she felt out of place. Her dark eyes scanned for a friendly face, someone she knew would talk to her. But it was futile, for all her friends were fairweather.

All she could do was eat her meal quietly and work on her Potions homework; something she had to make sure was done right.

Severus Snape, the infamous Professor of Potions and head of Slytherin house slunk into the Great Hall with a cat-like gait. His hair, known for its greasy appearance, was growing a bit longer than he usually let it, it fell near to his shoulders. His eyes were peering down his hooked notes at the other teachers and students, and he finally, in a swooping motion, raised the tail of his cloak and sat down at his spot at the Teacher's table.

A goblet filled itself in front of him. He looked at the wine distastefully and pushed it away. He reclined in his respected seat, kicking one leg back and he looked across the tables, surveying for any student he could judge mentally, and he happend upon Madison.

She was in the class he held in roughly an hour. His eyes focused on her, and his brow furrowed. She was working on the homework that was assigned a week ago- and at dinner. He scoffed and took a deep breath, his index finger stroking at his cheek a bit, his black eyes focused on the girl still.

Madison had seen him come in, of course. She had perfected the art of looking when the other was not. After Professor Snape had sat down at the table, she found herself struggling to think straight. She fought the urge to look up at the Professor, even from a distance. No, only when his back was turned could she look up at him.

She fixed her tie nervously, making sure her outfit was straight and her robes were not messy. She puffed out her chest, trying to keep a good posture instead of slouching. But it was without any hope. About a minute back into her homework, she slouched again, too busy trying to figure out what the certain potion was. It was on the tip of her tongue....

The hour had passed by quickly, and at this time, Severus Snape stood at the front of the Potions class, his dark eyes passing from student to student. "Now, class. Turn to page 723 in your text. You will find a potion that is incredibly hard to make. Miss Friedman, come speak to me after class, if you will." The older man drawled, then watched as students shifted through the textbooks, then wrinkled his nose.

One boy blew up the potion within seconds of mixing two ingredients. "Read the instructions thoroughly, Mr. Mikal. Clean up your mess, try again, if you don't get it right this time, it'll be a detention and a deduction of house points from Slytherin, although I hate to say that." His eyes moved back to Madison as he went to the messy desk at the front of the class, sitting behind it as he began to grade essays that had been turned in.

Madison panicked in her head, even though she gave a nod to her Professor. She started panicking about what she had done wrong, and why he needed to talk to her. Oh, God, she though, I must have failed my exam. The girl nibbled on her thumb nail nervously, thinking about all the things she had done. She had called a Slytherin a name the other day. But he was harassing her, it was only fair... She just did her homework that was assigned, but why did it matter when it was done? She had done it, she argued with herself.

She shook her head softly, and let out a breath. She just had to impress him with doing the potion right. It shouldn't be too hard.

Madison gathered her ingredients and began to inspect them thoroughly before following the directions exactly.

Severus came to Madison's essay. His brow arched, and he read it through. The grammar was exquisite, but he wasn't a grammar teacher. She hadn't named the potion which was the counter-act to jelly-limb. . but, how did she know the one that sped the process of returning to one's former appearance. He cleared his throat and graded it as a S for Satisfactory. He moved on, looking at the musty clock on the wall to his right. His lip twitched. He raised a pallid hand to his forehead and rubbed it. He couldn't read this next students handwriting. A scowl took his features and he exhaled. F.. for fail. This student needed to write better, he always had trouble with the boy. Shaking his head, he watched the clock.

"Tomorrow, we will be studying the effects of Wolfbane and why it works the way it does.." Severus snarled, his eyes focused on Madison. It had been a long time since they had seen a werewolf, Remus had been seen perhaps two years ago, maybe. A sigh escaped his lips and he turned his back to the class, looking at the architecture of the dungeon's ceiling. "Dismissed, except for Miss Friedman."

Madison looked up at him, nervously. She scanned his face for any insight into why she was forced to stay behind. It terrified her. She had gotten in trouble with other teachers, but the crushing fear of him hating her... She could not stand it. She tried entirely too hard for him to hate her so easily, and she, in return, hated herself for slipping up and giving him a reason to hate her.

"Yes, Professor," weakly left her lips.

If she had been a dog, her tail would be between her legs and she would be lying on her back in total and utter submission.

Severus cleared his throat. "Miss Friedman. .I've noticed you've been slacking in your assignments- doing them at lunch or dinner is neither acceptable nor appropriate. For this I am giving you a detention with me, following our discussion at the hour of Midnight. You will aid me in cleaning and organizing the dungeons, and we will not cease until the small hours of the morning. Ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor, Quid Pro Quo." With each statement, he had turned a little more towards her, his dark eyes allowing for emphasis of his punishment.

"Please, Miss Friedman, do be aware that this punishment is nothing compared to what might have happened had I put you under Filch's care. . it would not have been lovely. Count your blessings." He circled the girl, his eyes focused on her smaller frame, his taller hovering above her, almost like a buzzard encircling its prey.

Her lip quivered as her eyes filled with tears. But she would not cry. She could not cry in front of him. She just couldn't.

"B-But, Professor," she sputtered, "the assignments get done. When I do them should not matter."

She looked down, ashamed and angry. It shouldn't matter when she did assignments, it shouldn't matter at all.

Her fingers rubbed the hem of her skirt, trying to take her focus off the brooding Professor only inches away.

"You will not talk back to me. As your superior, you must take heed and follow my instructions. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the teacher. I decide when it should be done. If I assign something, it should be done as soon as possible to avoid these conflicts. Do you understand?" Severus whirled on her then, a hand grasping her shoulder, but gently. He hadn't had a decent student that was quite like her, and if she had been legal in the wizarding community, he would have taken his chance to become her friend and possibly more.

His dark eyes met hers and he continued. "Am I clear?"

Madison blinked as her eyes began to burn. This provoked a solemn tear to slide down her cheek. Shit, she thought. The burning in her throat filled her with guilt and self-loathing.

"Yes, Sir," she choked out, attempting to keep her voice from wavering and from betraying her emotions as that bastard tear had done.

She hurried from his grasp, her pace very quick for walking as she left the room and down the hall. When she felt she was a safe distance away, she let the tears roll, and the gasping sobs come out into her robes. She hated to have to be near him for another several hours. She hated that he made her feel this way, and she could not even go and sleep the bad feelings off.

All she could do was cry it all out, reapply her make up, and pretend as if nothing ever happened. She crumpled next to a marble pillar, touching the cold marble to her face. It felt nice. Madison would recollect herself, and go in once the clock tower chimed for midnight.

That was one thing Severus Snape didn't particularly enjoy. Yes, he knew he was intimidating. Yes, he knew he could be harsh, but did that stop him in most cases? No. He had to do his job, regardless of how much it emotionally impacted the students. The black eyes turned from where Madison had been standing prior, and he turned his back to the area, sitting back down at his desk. More papers, from a different class. He had to grade them. His mind was reeling. How was he gonna allow Miss Friedman to clean this room? Magic? No magic? Limited Magic? His eyes strayed to the papers and found that he could not even think about reading them. His eyes were so strained from attempting to read several poorly written essays.

Cupping his chin with his hand, he decided to focus his attention on the dusty old clock beside his desk, waiting for the hour to chime midnight.

As Madison heard the chimes, she had already ceased crying. But her body was heavy and her face was still hot. She had reapplied her make up and was now walking quickly to the Professor's room, so as to get there before the twelfth bell rung.

She arrived just before the bell silenced and stood at his door, expressionless. She was going to keep her head down, and avoid talking to him as much as possible. As far as she was concerned, he hated her. Loathed her very being.

A small sigh escaped her lips.

"What do you need of me, Professor Snape?" she asked plainly, her eyes bent towards the floor.

"You aren't coming to Hogwarts for posture, are you?" Severus said plainly, raising an eyebrow. "You will, for one thing, look at me when I am addressing you. For the first task, Miss Friedman, I need you to put the ingredients in that case," He pulled the wand he carried from the inside pocket of his cloak and swung open a cabinet of ingredients, "And that case.." He did the same to another cabinet across the way, "In alphabetical order. No magic unless it's to find the next ingredient." His black eyes met hers and he did his best to smile.

A smirk was the product.

She immediately straightened her back, but her eyes averted his until she spoke,

"Yes, Sir," she said quickly, so she could look away again.

The Gryffindor sighed as she sat at a desk, taking each potion carefully out. She found a stand for the vials. Once all from one case was removed, she began replacing them, slowly, in alphabetical order.

She grit her teeth and cursed at herself under her breath as she got to "D" and realized she had missed an "A". She carefully switched each one a position down and hoped she wouldn't make that mistake again. Yet she did, several times. She was not the greatest at alphabetizing.

"What is your deepest desire?" Severus asked suddenly, his eyes raising to her. He had long since hidden the Mirror of Erised within his dungeons, knowing full well that it was a magical object. It was hidden behind a well-disguised room, a two-way mirror making it seem as though there were no other rooms. "If I show you something, you must tell me what you see when you look upon it. Do you agree to my terms? Severus continued, his arms crossing a little bit.

Madison did not look up at him, concentrating at her task.

"I only desire to finish alphabetizing," she sighed, figuring it was some sort of trick. And why tell him what she desired? It would simply ruin things between them and make it far more awkward. She would much rather not take that chance and do what was asked of her. The sooner she got done the sooner should could lay her weary body down.

She continued to alphabetize, pleased that she only had a couple more potions in this case to go... And then onto the other entirely filled case.

Severus' brow creased darkly. "You do realize what you are doing is insubordination. Your life mission is to alphabetize. Surely, that is interesting enough." The older man scoffed at Madison then turned his back to her, his eyes raising to the ceiling of the dungeons. "Detention. Tomorrow." He said, plainly. He cleared his throat.

"You may finish alphabetizing and tomorrow night I will give you another task." Severus concluded, his hand waving a bit to emphasize his point.

She sighed. She did not have the effort to care anymore about why or what she was in detention for. It at least gave her something to do instead of the usual sulking.

"Yes, Sir," she agreed with him, and continued her task. The teenaged girl wondered what she would have to do tomorrow. She then let her mind drift off to a fantasy world, where she was happy, and had love. Dreams were never a full escape, but fantasies could be controlled.

Severus' eyes followed her form. She had some grace about her, although it was a bit misguided, she was rather lovely, and she was charismatic-- not insubordinate in the least. He looked to the clock. "You must take your leave soon. . How much further do you have to go?" Severus said, it was mostly a sigh.

Madison looked at the case, and then at the vials and bottles stacked on the table. She figured, if she worked quickly, she could get done soon.
"I'll work quicker. I'll be done in ten minutes...Sir," she sighed and began to organize more quickly, taking less time to think and check through what she was doing.
She'd check when she was done so she would not make any terrible mistakes. She dusted one particularly dirty vial on the side of her skirt, dusting it clean so she could read the label and place it in its rightful spot.

Severus sighed as she worked quicker. "Didn't.. have to do that." He muttered, then when she had gone, he made sure they were all in alphabetical order-- they were. A small smile took his lips, a rare occurrence. "Goodnight Miss Friedman.." He muttered, knowing she couldn't hear him, but he wished, internally, that she could. He took a deep breath. The man wouldn't be able to sleep this night. He left the classroom and went to his quarters, disrobing as he went.

His robe hung over his arm and he remained in a black vest with a white cravat sticking out from the collar of it. He took both of these off to reveal an off-white undershirt which he took off as well, and this showed his not-incredibly toned chest and stomach. He was very pale. He imagined holding Miss Friedman closer to his pale, cold frame. A heart of ice to be melted down. He settled into the crushed velvet bed after he draped his clothes over a chair, his eyes staring at the ceiling.

Madison finally got back to her common room, and crawled into her bed after brushing her teeth. The tired girl sighed deeply as the comfort of the bed cradled her. She was restless, at first. Thinking of how much the only man she's ever really cared about hated her. She wished she could change the way he thought of her, even just as a student. But there was no way to change it, she decided. Professor Snape loathed her. For her back-talking, her manner of doing homework, and the fact she was in the Gryffindor house. Probably because she was a muggle-born as well, but he would never admit to it. All Slytherins hated muggle-borns. That was a fact.

Sleep took hold of the girl soon enough, and she slept through the night. Yet, it was not nearly enough time of rest before her alarm clock rang once again.

Severus, on the other hand, had not slept a wink. The black-haired man had remained in the same position, staring at the cobweb framed ceiling, dismayed that he couldn't have what he desired the most. With an aggravated growl, he stood and went back to the potion's class room. No one was expected to be in there for the next four or five hours, and he would have a chance to look in the mirror. He was still half-dressed, wearing only his black pants and Italian shoes.

He yanked a curtain back and went into the room where the mirror rest for several years. His body was illuminated by the moonlight that was reflected in this room's ceiling. He gazed at his reflection, and in his arms, in the mirror, he saw her.

They were embracing, and his eyes gazed into Hers lovingly, his slender fingers running along her cheek delicately before he dipped his head, kissing her. His other arm was wrapped around her, holding Madison flush against him.

His heart panged to see this, but it was all he could do. This would be the only way he could see what he truly desired.

Madison woke in the morning, on time. She stumbled in her sleepy state to the showers where she turned the water on hot. She undressed and showered quickly, taking what moments she could to enjoy the water before stepping out, feeling ashamed of her body. She put her uniform on, spritzing herself with her favourite perfume and applied her make up. The Gryffindor made sure everything looked perfect. Her mind was angry, though. Because she knew she did this all for the Potions Master.

The girl gathered her belongings and things she needed for class before heading out to breakfast and her morning classes. She'd only have a cup of tea and a piece of toast today.