#sasusaku #ssmonth22 #sssnippet
This one carried on for a lot longer than originally planned😅 Enjoy!
Sakura was hurrying from the library while balancing a number of thick textbooks and navigating through the sinuous passageways of Hogwarts. She was already running late to her Potions class and Professor Orochimaru was extremely unforgiving of tardiness. Over the years, Naruto had been on the recieving end of Orochimaru's creepy detentions plenty of times and based on his depressing albeit pitiful recounts of his experiences, Sakura was determined to not spend the rest of her afternoon disemboweling a barrel full of horned toads.
Already spotting the door in the distance, she whizzed past passers-by in a frantic blur, almost dropping a book or two, and made it just in the nick of time. Whilst shuffling into class behind the last students filtering in, she allowed herself to blow out a relieved sigh and quickly took her seat in the front row. Since they were in their final year, getting prepared to sit their advanced N.E.W.Ts, the class was quite small with around 12 or so students. It was made up mainly of Slytherins (which she secretly suspected was because Orochimaru favoured them above all) and the occasional Ravenclaw, leaving her as the only Gryffindor present.
Whilst everyone was getting settled, Orochimaru's slimy voice echoed around the room as he began his lecture on poison antidotes. As someone who was quite keen on the topic, Sakura eagerly opened up one of the many textbooks dumped on her desk. She had unfortunately forgotten to check for any hexes and was immedietly engulfed in a cloud of smoke.
Sakura, unlike so many of the students who attend Hogwarts, was born of two muggle parents so it was no surprise to find that she would often fall prey to bullying and pranks. In her earlier years she worried that her limited early exposure to the wizarding world would hinder her ability to keep up with her cohort and eventually earn her place among them.
However, she studied harder than any of her counterparts and excelled above them all in the arts of magic- even rivaling the likes of Ravenclaw's top-ranking pupil, Nara Shikamaru, and Slytherin's prodigy, Uchiha Sasuke. Though, that didn't exactly solve the problems related to the stigma attached to being born of muggle-parents, she was usually observant enough to de-spell any hex or anticipate any foul-play before they took effect.
This was one of the few times she was less than observant and ended up feeling the strange sensation of a pair of cat ears twitching atop her pink tresses.
A roar of laughter erupted from the class, but the deliberately high-pitched cackle of a certain red-head drew Sakura to turn her head and face a particularly amused Karin. She sent her a look that promised payback but all that seemed to achieve was her cackle to increase ten-fold. God, her ears started to hurt (worserned still by her cat-ear intensified hearing ability).
'Is this class some kind of joke to you Miss Haruno?', hissed a less than amused Orochimaru.
'No, no, n- professor! I -'
'Perhaps, I should unenroll you from this class, I do not take kindly to mockery', interrupted Orochimaru.
'It's not what you think!- I didn't- ', Sakura tried to communicate dismayed.
'100 points from Gryffindor'
'B-b-but, it wasn't my fault!', Sakura exclaimed now scowling.
'200 points from Gryffindor, and if I have to repeat myself again, Miss Haruno, I will fail you this instance'
That shut her up and the class too it seemed, save for a few stray giggles here and there. Sakura, glanced back at Karin to send her one last glare, to which she responded with a sneer of her own but quickly diverted her attention to her seated partner, Sasuke.
Ever since word got round about Sakura's lineage way back in first year, Karin made it her solemn duty to make Sakura's life at Hogwarts as difficult as possible. Having come from a prestigous line of wizards herself, being an Uzumaki and all, she found great pleasure in making it known to those who she felt were inferior to her status. Her antics only seemed to get worse when Sasuke was in the vicinity- a poor attempt at gaining his attention.
Afterall, it was no secret how much Karin obsessed over her fellow Slytherin, what with her ostentacious proclamations of love for Sasuke; and possessive nature in which she would constantly trail him in and around the school. Sakura admitted that she has a crush on Sasuke herself, but never dreamed of being as vocal or forthcoming since she knew she didn't stand a realistic chance- especially considering her lineage.
Being an Uchiha, one of the most powerful and pure-blooded families in the wizarding world, his family were well-revered and like them, he too was highly respected and feared among his counterparts not only for his prodigal ability but also his signature cold demeaner.
It seemed like Karin was trying to determine if Sasuke was impressed by her successful hex. She moved her head close to his and attempted to catch his eye while whispering lowly (the cat ears really did wonders in the way of hearing-enhancemnts)
'So, what did you think Sasuke-kun? Think that mudblood got what she deserved?',
She was smirking triumphantly at her achievement, and Sakura suspected that she wanted Sasuke to relay praises and maybe even finally ask her out. But to Karin's immense disappointment, Sasuke's face remained impassive save for his low growl,
'Pathetic, get away from me.'
Karin's face fell and she sullenly looked back towards the board, straightening her back once more.
'Cha, serves her right' thought Sakura, as she felt her ears perk up in her small victory.
Deciding to return her attention back to the board to avoid getting into any further trouble with her professor, Sakura was in the process of turning her head but couldn't stop herself from stealing a brief glance at the Uchiha. Her head froze still, however, as she caught Sasuke's eyes staring right back at her.
Feeling her cheeks staining red at the intense look he was directing at her, she quickly looked away, officially flustered.
'What was that all about?', she wondered.
Calming herself down by taking a few deep breaths, she resumed her attention to Professor Orochimaru. He was currently boiling something in a small cauldron over the exposed bunsen burners, adding liquids from various conical flasks.
The room was slowly getting warmer to the point where a few students, including herself, decided to remove their grey jumpers. Now seated in just her white school shirt, she was intent on catching up with what she'd missed due to the disruption caused by the pair of pink cat ears still present on her head. She had tried to disenchant the spell but came up blank for an immediate solution- resigning to her conclusion that it would disappear on its own in a few hours.
After the lesson was finished, Orochimaru swiftly exited the room and the students began to gather their things and chatter amongst themselves. She overheard Karin ask Sasuke,
'Wanna walk me to the common room Sasuke-kun? I have something to show you that I guanrantee you'll enjoy' employing her trademark fliratatous tone used exclusively for her dear Sasuke. Sakura didn't hear a reply but made a face of disgust at her suggestion.
Once Sakura had assembled all her books in her arms again, she sat up, intent on making her way towards the door. But as soon as she stood, she heard a few giggles and whispers from students behind her.
'What's all that about?', she wondered again to herself. 'Strange day'
Intending to think nothing of it, she was about to push her chair back so she could exit her desk but felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and gasped. There stood Sasuke with his face as impassive as ever and his hand held out, holding a jumper towards her. He made no attempt to speak, which slightly unnerved her.
'Err, hey Sasuke, you alright?', she hesitated. He rarely interacted with her, and when he did it was brief and usually confined to times when they're paired up in class or studying in the library.
'You have something written on the back of your shirt', he muttered.
Her eyebrows raised with curiosity as she turned her head trying to see what he was referring to. From the corner of her eye she could see that the word 'Mudblood' was printed across her back. Letting out a sigh and rolling her eyes, she felt her cat ears twitch with frustration,
'Could this day get any worse?', she thought bitterly.
She looked at her chair and then towards her desk for the jumper she had removed earlier, intending to use it to cover up the offensive word but, to her dismay, found that it was missing.
'Well, that's just great!' she thought sarcastically, 'Im just going to have to enjoy my stroll of humiliation back to dorms arent I?...'
Her cat ears drooped at this realisation but her internal monologue was momentarily interrupted when she heard a quiet,
'Heh, cute', from Sasuke's lips. She froze once she registered his words and saw his eyes looking up at her cat ears. Her face blushed bright red.
'Huuuuh???', she exclaimed internally. 'What is happening right now?'
Sasuke seemed to realise he'd said that aloud and quickly shifted his head away from her embarrassed; a tame pink appearing at the tops of his ears, as he shoved what looked to be his jumper into her arms.
Pretty much star-struck at the whole ordeal now, Sakura obediently took the offered item and pulled it on silently. It fit quite loosely on her petite form, but atleast it coverd the back of her shirt.
She offered a shy, 'thank you, I'll make sure to return your jumper tomorrow before class', though she could not bring herself to meet his eyes incase she spontaneously combusted with the overwhelming emotions that would be ignited if she dared to.
He responded, in kind, with a simple nod.
Thinking that would have been the end of their exchange, she proceeded to pick up her textbooks and walk out the classroom, but Sasuke surprised her once again by taking the books from her hands gently and announcing,
'I'll walk you to your dorm.', leaving no room for protest as he was already on his way out the door walking in the direction of the Gryffindor wing.
Momentarily dazed, she trailed after him and felt a sudden desire to tease him a little.
'I thought you were supposed to walk Karin to her dorm? Aren't you guys together?', she asked innocently.
He looked briefly confused by her questions, but didn't look too impressed once he understood.
'Absolutely not, she's not my type,' he muttered.
'Oh what would your type look like?', she asked before she could stop herself.
Here, he simply smirked and stared directly into her eyes.
Safe to say, Sakura's flaming cheeks remained hot for the rest of the week.
