Title: Outside of Mind
Author: Seph7
Rating: M, sexually explicit
Pairing: Snape/OC - Grace
Warning: Sexually explicit and some graphic scenes in later chapters.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and CO do not belong to me, they simply play in my fantasyland
Summary: Snape meets a woman from his past and has no idea what to expect. (Sorry, I'm crap at summaries!)
Notes: This is story one of a three parter. They will be long! This first one is set alongside OotP. I've tried to keep to the story as much as possible.

Outside of Mind.

Chapter 1

Dumbledore was pacing his office, as he frequently did when something important was troubling his thoughts. The Sorting Hat and the various portraits were watching him with mild interest; Fawkes sat idle on his perch and appeared to be asleep. He had been so deep in thought that he did not even hear Professor McGonagall enter the office.

"Albus, are you alright?" McGonagall asked with a tone of mild concern in her voice.

"Oh, Minerva, I didn't hear you come in. Yes, I'm fine. I'm just wondering how best to handle this situation." he replied, immediately giving her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. They should be here soon."

"Yes, of course, My Gods, I didn't realise the time. We should be there to meet her." he said, suddenly looking dishevelled.

Dumbledore quickly gathered himself and followed Professor McGonagall out of the office and down the spiral staircase. They walked quickly down the corridors towards the entrance to the castle. When they arrived they noticed that several of the other teachers had already gathered and were awaiting Dumbledore's arrival. He also noticed that Professor Snape was not among them. Dumbledore quickly caught the attention of a nearby student and asked him to collect Snape from his dungeon office. The student reluctantly obeyed and hurried off towards the dungeons.

The boy knocked on the large door to Snape's office and waited for a reply. None came. So he slowly and silently opened the door a few inches and poked his head around the side. Snape wasn't there. He closed the door and turned around to find Professor Snape staring down at him merely inches away.

"May I enquire as to what you were doing in my office?" Snape said severely.

The boy looked petrified.

"I was... just…" he replied shakily.

"Just what?" Snape questioned, his piercing eyes boring into the boy's skull.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to come and get you."

Snape backed up a little, while still keeping his eyes on the boy.

"Then you are dismissed." At that, he turned quickly and walked up the corridor, but while still in earshot of the boy, said "Don't let me catch you near my office again."

The boy ran off in the other direction.

It didn't take long to catch up to the other teachers, and he could see Dumbledore's uneasiness from down the corridor. He eyed Snape with an almost disapproving look, and Snape suddenly realised that he'd forgotten the new teacher's arrival.

"I'm so sorry Headmaster. It completely slipped my mind," he said looking deeply ashamed, although a little put out.

"Well, you're here now." sighed Dumbledore, almost with great relief. He took out his wand in readiness for the knock that came seconds later. With a quick flick, all the locks unlatched in quick succession and the doors opened to reveal two young women standing with bags in their hands.

Dumbledore stretched out his hands in front of him.

"You are most welcome here," he said with a look of deep satisfaction on his now smiling face. "Please do come in."

The women shuffled in and rested their bags on the ground with great relief. One spoke immediately as though she were afraid of an awkward silence.

"I'm Grace Huxton. This is my sister Evelyn," she said in a slightly American accent. She stretched a hand towards Dumbledore; he took it and held it in his own for a few seconds. She then nudged her sister who had her arms folded, in an effort to get her to shake hands with him. She did so formally and desperately trying not to show any signs of deep resentment.

Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall and introduced her and the others in turn.

"This is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor house. Standing next to you is Professor Sprout; she is the Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff house. Standing in the shadows behind her is Professor Snape our Potions Master and Head of Slytherin house. Professor Flitwick is our Charms teacher and Head of Ravenclaw house." He stood to one side to reveal the small teacher with a big beaming smile on his face. Grace smiled back and Evelyn simply nodded.

"Well, I expect you are both exhausted. Professor Snape will show you to your rooms," he said in a matter-of-fact manner. Snape looked at him wide eyed with surprise. After a few seconds, he nodded and looked over at the sisters, waiting for them to pick up their bags. He was immediately struck by how beautiful they both were, and not the least because they were twins. Evelyn, he could tell, was as irritated as he was; however, Grace was completely the opposite. He hadn't been so taken with a woman in such a long time, it seemed to him he had become somewhat cynical and narrow minded when it came to the opposite sex. He continued to stare at Grace.

"Oh! Of course, thank you Professor." Grace picked up her bags and waited for Evelyn, who was clearly in no mood to rush for anyone's sake, to do the same.

"This way." Snape said rather sternly. Evelyn glared at him, knowing full well that within seconds she would be able to intimidate him into looking away. She had immediately disliked him and was sure the feeling was mutual. Snape sniffed and turned away, his eyes falling once again on Grace. He wasn't sure what to make of her. She seemed overly nice, but not in a girlish way. He quickly decided that the best place to peruse such things would be in his office, alone and away from current company.

He led them to the staircases and waved Grace and Evelyn in front of him. With no warning, the stairs began to move away from the entrance they had just come through, making them drop their bags and grab for the banisters.

"What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Grace.

"I wasn't given much opportunity to explain about the moving staircases," Snape replied, rather intolerantly.

"Oh, I'm sure you could have found a moment." Evelyn retorted, catching his eye. He quickly looked away.

The staircases finally stopped at their destination and Snape led the way to the teacher's rooms. He proceeded to the end of the corridor, stopped outside the second to last room and pointed to Evelyn the already changing sign on the door.

"These will be your living quarters." he stated, and hastily moved along to the last room before Evelyn could comment.

"These will be yours," he said, a little softer this time. He turned to walk away when Grace grabbed his arm.

"Thank you," she smiled. Snape nodded and walked away.

Grace placed her bags just inside the door and looked inquisitively around the room. The large window opposite the door immediately caught her eye. She smiled in appreciation. Evelyn walked in and glared at the window.

"Yours is bigger than mine," she said petulantly.

"Yes, but no doubt there will be something in your room that is better," Grace replied.

"Humph." Evelyn snorted, as she circled round to the bed.

"You know, I never thought they'd take me. You I can understand, but not me." Grace mused.

"Why not?" Evelyn questioned, "Just because you're not magical does not automatically mean you can't teach here."

"Yes, but I'm not even a squib, and I wont be teaching. I'm only a classroom assistant."

"So? I wouldn't want to be related to a squib. Besides, you know everything there is to know about the magical world, especially potions. Just because you can't actually do magic doesn't mean you haven't anything to offer the kids. Who better to teach them about potions, than you?"

It was speeches like this that made Grace appreciate her sister more, even though she sometimes thought Evelyn could appear as a little abrasive. Mostly she thought it was deliberate.

Evelyn returned to her room to leave Grace to unpack. She hadn't brought anything out of the ordinary, just clothes, books, electrical equipment, and some magical encyclopaedias just in case. The room was more than big enough for all her things, and she felt it looked a little bare. She examined her bathroom, which was around the same size as her bedroom, with an enormous bath in the far corner, a large basin and a toilet made from what she assumed was gold. She gathered her nightclothes and ran a bath.

She spent a good long hour in the bath, day dreaming about what it would be like to have magic. As her dreams went along, she slowly fell asleep and began dreaming about a dark haired man whose face was obscured by shadows. He raised his hand to her face, and she saw a mark on his arm, resembling a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. It wasn't until she realised what the mark was that she awoke with a start, splashing water all over the floor. She quickly got out, cursing herself for falling asleep and almost drowning in the process. It was already well past midnight, and she knew it would be a long day as all the students would be arriving at Hogwarts in the afternoon, and she had to meet the rest of the staff and familiarise herself with the grounds.

She wrapped herself in a towel and dried quickly. As she slipped into a nightdress, she noticed that her door was ajar. She looked at it rather puzzled as she was sure she had locked it behind her sister's departure. Then she realised a simple lock would not stop magic in this school.

She threw on her robe, a long beige coloured one made from linen. She crept out into the corridor wearily and proceeded down the staircases, She ran into Professor McGonagall at the bottom.

"Could you direct me to the dungeons? Is Professor Snape's quarters in the dungeons?" she asked quickly, not giving McGonagall time to wonder what she was doing looking for Snape at this hour.

"Yes, is there something wrong?" She gave Grace a once over, wondering why she was barely dressed and looking for Snape.

"No, just something I need to ask him."

McGonagall directed her to the dungeons and she quickly hurried down the corridor to his quarters. She knocked on the door labelled Prof. S. Snape. She hesitated for a few seconds before knocking twice. She was looking over her shoulder, with her wet hair falling over her face, when Snape opened the door. She quickly spun round to face him.

"Yes? Is there a problem with your room?" he asked, seeming rather annoyed.

"Um, well, I was taking a bath, and when I got out, my door was open, and I'm sure I locked it. Since I can't do magic, I wondered if there was a way you knew for me to protect my door from being opened by unwanted persons?" she asked timidly.

"I may. Wait here." With that, he slammed the door in her face making her jump back a pace.

Before she could register what had happened, the door swung open again revealing Snape in his nightshirt, holding two planks of wood. He quickly strode past her towards the stairs and proceeded up them taking two steps at a time, leaving Grace to run after him. He quickly approached her door and surveyed it before quickly setting about attaching metal brackets for the planks to each side of the door frame, using his wand.

"Um, I… I don't see how two bits of wood will keep people out of my room if they are using magic?" said Grace.

He whipped his head round and glared at her. This usually made people look away, but she simply stared back. Her ocean blue eyes looked up at him with no fear or timidity.

"They are magically protected so that when you place them over the door, anyone using any spells or incantations will not be able to lift them. Since you cannot place wards on your door, this is the next best thing," he said this looking almost put out.

As Grace surveyed the new additions to the door. Snape glared at her again. He looked down to see that her robe had opened to reveal her nightdress, which hung delicately from her body. Her nipples were visible due to the coldness of the room. He had the sudden urge to reach out and touch her. He stared transfixed until she turned to meet his gaze. He quickly looked away and mentally tried to shake away the image.

"Thank you for helping to protect my door." She smiled and offered out her hand. He simply nodded and left, deciding that he should not spend any length of time alone with her while she was not properly dressed.

Grace shut the door and locked it, placing the planks between the metal brackets now wedged into the door frame. Although she didn't know Snape, she somehow trusted that his method would work. She felt a strange comfort from his presence, which she did not understand. She also found it particularly difficult reading him, which she put down to his Legilimency and Occulmency. These abilities would not be able to keep her out for long. Her gift was something she had been born with.

It was rare for a muggle to have any kind of powers or magic. Although Grace was born with the power of empathy, she could not perform magic of any kind. Her sister however was a very powerful Witch. She had the rare gift of Pyrokinesis; the ability to create and control fire, Telekinesis; the ability to move things with her mind, (sometimes allowing her to actually levitate); and Telepathy.

Since Grace didn't have any magical abilities, she could not teach a class of her own, so she would be Professor Snape's assistant. Although she would never be able to make a competent potion, she loved the research and properties of the ingredients. Snape wasn't fond of the idea of having an assistant, but Dumbledore had insisted. Grace, however, was quite looking forward to it. She loved the idea of being able to help magically inclined children with potions. She had heard that most children didn't do well in potions at Hogwarts due to Snape's cold and often callous nature. Grace could understand why he was taken to be so abrasive. But she got the feeling that there was more to him than that. She was hoping that with her helping him, she would make the children feel more at ease and maybe he would calm down with them.

She climbed into bed and fell asleep dreaming about what the next day would bring.