Chapter One: Same Old, Same Old

A new year at Hogwarts, a new teacher to take the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nezerah Yeardley, new teacher at Hogwarts, but not new to its surroundings. I’ll bet you think she’s the new DADA professor, right? Wrong. Meet the new Care of Magical Creatures assistant. Hagrid, after getting into a bit of trouble with a manticore over the summer, decided he needed some help. So an old friend came into the picture.
Nez went to Hogwarts at the same time the Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew alliance was in effect. Of course, there was also the Snape factor. Nez was, of course, a goody-goody Gryffindor. Well, not all that goody-goody, but good enough. She’d met the Marauders on her first train trip to the school and had since then on been good friends with the group. Then there was Severus Snape. Ah, Severus. Not the most loved or attractive person in the world. Probably in the bottom ten. Nez took pity on the poor soul when James and the like took out their “anger” on Snivellus dear. He was somewhat of a friend to her, confiding in her sometimes. Nezerah never let any of his secrets escape, especially to the Marauders. They would have had such a good time with the things Snape told her. But no, that’s not what this tale is about. I get off track so easily...
The new professor took pride in her title, even if she was only an assistant. For one thing, she got her own dormitory. To herself. No one else. Except her pets. Nez had an affinity for cats, especially the magical kneazles, who resembled cats in many ways. She also had a dog, a great big dog. A Great Dane, to be exact. Name of Newton. Nezerah had several cats as well, one black cat, one grey tabby, one ginger shorthair, and a great, fat red Persian. She also had a kneazle, named Snow, an adopted dragon, named Lacey, and a chestnut hyppogriff named Walter. Her only owl, Elliot, was her very first pet. It was quite odd, him living on for so long, but Nez took it as a sign of good luck.

So, the story begins on the first day of school, September 1st. It was Harry, Hermione, and Ron’s 6th year at Hogwarts. Hermione had received 15 O.W.L.S. (if it was possible), Harry got 6, and Ron got 5. So much for studying.
The Sorting had just begun and the new students seemed as nervous as ever. Nezerah smiled at all the students who looked at her. She remembered what it was like to get Sorted. Scariest thing a normal kid went through at school, next to exams. Finally, when McGonagall had put away the list, hat, and stool, Dumbledore made his speech.
“It is another wonderful year here at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements to make to you before you begin your supper. One: we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher here at Hogwarts. Please welcome Professor Anne Waverly!” This was met with a smattering of light applause. “Second: there is a new Care of Magical Creatures teacher here at Hogwarts. Don’t look too disappointed, Hagrid is still teaching-” the Slytherins groaned, “Please welcome, Ms. Nezerah Yeardley!” Barely anyone clapped. Nezerah didn’t care much, specifically because she knew she wasn’t widely known. “Third: Professor Sybil Trelawney and Professor Firenze will be teaching side by side in this year’s Divination class.” Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown giggled and clapped the loudest. It was apparent to all that they were the only ones clapping. They quickly stopped, and Nez smirked. Divination; awful, pointless class. “Fourth: this year will be your most dangerous yet, students. Please make an effort to be, ahem, trustworthy towards each other. Now, my final words: eat up.” With that, the Great Hall was filled with the clatter of gold on gold and the chewing of hungry students and teachers. Nezerah made it a point to nudge McGonagall, who had been her favorite teacher, and wave cheerily at her. Minerva only rolled her stony eyes at Nez, but smile nonetheless.
Conversation grew loud over the sounds of eating. Soon, most of the Great Hall was full of talk. There had been several break outs in Azkaban over the summer, those Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood. Rumor had it also that Dementors were floating around seemingly deserted areas. A lot more had been spotted recently, and there were more Muggle and Muggle-born attacks these days. The Muggle population was quite frightened, and they had been ordered, on more than one occasion, to lock their homes up tight and stay inside all day. The Prime Minister had seen to that.
Nezerah glanced down both ends of the table. There was Severus, not even eating, surveying the students over his hooked nose. Nez snorted into her food and looked away. She saw him glare over at her from the corner of his eye. It was his way of saying, “Hello, how are you today?” Looking back over to him, Nezerah saw a look of utter concentration on the students. Her eyes scanned the scene, but could find nothing of interest. It was then that it dawned on her that he was trying not to look at her.
I’ll make it harder than that, Snivelly, she thought, grinning to herself. Nezerah quickly scrawled a note to Severus under the table and enchanted it into a paper airplane. Then, she sent it flying along the back of the row of teachers until it hit Severus in the back of his greasy head. Grumbling, he picked it up and unfolded it. It read:
Hey Snivelly,
Don’t you dare ignore me! I’m watching you.

Ha ha ha ha!
Nezzie

Snape glowered at her from along the table. Nez giggled at him and wrote another note. This time, it landed in his food, which he was actually going to take a bite of.

Severus,
Sorry, that was childish. I haven’t seen you in ages, why don’t you write?
Nezerah

Snape looked down and was apparently writing a note on the back of Nez’s. He sent it back in the form of a crane. Fancy, thought Nez as she intercepted it.

Nezerah,
I don’t write you because I don’t know where you live. It would be nice to know if I were to send you an owl, though.
Severus

Nez looked a bit surprised. She bent over the table and whispered loudly, “Severus!” He looked lazily at her.
“What?” He asked, resting his chin in his left hand
“Now you don’t have to know where I live!” She giggled and looked away. When she looked back, he was glaring into the students.

When the feast was over and all the students had gone up to their dormitories, Nezerah was out and about. Patrolling the corridors at night was her favorite pastime, and now she was allowed to do it. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one out of bed that night.
Snape was holding his candlestick about an inch from his greasy nose. His cold eyes scanned the darkness for any troublemakers out after dark. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and walked determinedly toward a point ahead of him.
“What are you doing out at this time of night?” Severus came up behind Nez who almost wet herself with fright.
“What the hell is your problem, Severus? I work here, remember?” Nez whipped around, her candle’s fire mingling with Snape’s.
“I didn’t know you were on night duty, Nezerah,” replied Snape, not missing a beat, “I was merely under the impression that you were wandering the halls as you had done in past years.”
“Are you implying that I was a bad kid?”
“No, I am only implying that you had the habit of being out after hours like another bothersome pest I have the misfortune to know.”
“So I’m a misfortune, am I?” Nez asked, glaring into Snape’s dark eyes.
“I didn’t say that, did I?” Snape replied, glaring right back into her grey-green eyes.
“But you implied it, dear Snivelly,” said Nez, leaning in closer to his face. The candles were touching now, the wax melting together.
“Did I? I thought I was speaking of someone else,” he said, pulling back from her only to be jerked back by the attached candles. “What the..?”
“Now look what you’ve done, you’ve gotten the candles all tangled and melted together!” Nez yanked on her candle and it came unstuck from Snape’s. The wax dripped onto the floor, but disappeared as it hit. Enchanted floors were always good for something.
“It was your stupidity that got them stuck together,” replied Snape, sighing so harshly that the flame went out on his candle. “Damn candle....”
“Want some help, Severus?” Nezerah came through the dark towards him, “Hold out your candle.” Snape obeyed and the flame reappeared on the candlestick.
“Good night, Miss Yeardley,” said Snape, turning away from her to walk back down the hall.
“Oh, so it’s Miss Yeardley now, is it?” Snape wheeled around, leering from behind the candle.
“I’ll call you what I want,” he said, taking a step towards her.
“Fine, then I’ll call you what I want, Snivelly. It’s odd, being so bitter and working around kids. I don’t know how they stand you,” sneered Nezerah, returning his leer with one of her own. They stood for about a minute glaring at each other until Snape looked away.
“I don’t have time for your childish prattle,” he growled, turning away for the final time.
“Alright then, go back to your bed of worms, Snivelly. I won’t wake you when the sun rises,” shouted Nezerah back to him. A portrait of a family with twin girls was looking down at the scene with some interest. “What are you looking at?” Nezerah growled at them, and they gasped and looked away.