Of Potions and Prowling

That afternoon, he decided it would be safer if he kept an eye on her himself. So he armed himself with a ream of parchment and a box of ninety-five crayons. He placed her off to the right of his desk, close enough for him to watch her and his students taking the written final at the same time. The material on the exam was quite difficult, and the students would take the full hour and forty-five minutes to complete it, most likely.

Marietta wrote her name and Sevvy's name in a variety of colors on the parchment. She then drew various pictures for quite a long while. But a four-year-old's attention span has limits and after an hour she grew bored and came up and tugged on his sleeve.

"What is it, Marietta?" he glanced down at the little moppet. Today she was wearing red pants and a knitted snowman sweater.

"I'm sick of drawing. I want to make a potion like your students, Uncle Sev. Can you show me?"

"Uh . . .let me think for a minute." he replied, his mind racing. What kind of potion could I give a child her age to make? He thought fast, at last coming up with something he thought would keep her busy and used normal cooking ingredients.

"All right, Marietta. We're going to make a Kaleidoscope Potion," he improvised, making up a name for it on the fly.

He looked over at his students, most had their noses buried in their exam, but he caught a few eyeing him curiously. At least until he shot them one of his famous glowers and they hastily dropped their gazes back to their papers. By now most of them knew his niece was staying with him and Marietta's presence didn't elicit any wide-eyed stares or gasps of astonishment.

With a flick of his wand he summoned a child-sized cauldron, a container of milk, a small measuring cup, and a box of food coloring. From his desk he retrieved a toothpick and a small jar of vegetable oil.

Marietta watched him intently as he carefully placed all the ingredients on her desk. "Now then, Miss DiSarno, I want to measure out two cups of milk and pour it into the cauldron. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," she carefully picked up the container of milk, it was a one liter size, and poured a cupful into the small measuring cup. "That's one," she said, and poured it inside the cauldron.

"Good. And then?"

She poured the second cupful then looked up at him. "Now what?"

"Now you add the food coloring." He indicated the little bottles. "Pick three colors and add one drop—one mind—to the milk."

She chose red, green, and yellow. She squeezed a drop of each into the cauldron carefully. The drops quickly flowed into one another and swirled on top of the milk.

"Now add another color," he instructed, and she added blue.

"I'll help you with this next step." He took the toothpick and dipped the tip of it the bottle of vegetable oil. Then he handed the toothpick to her. "Touch the tip of the toothpick to the potion and see what happens."

Marietta obeyed. As soon as the oil on the toothpick met the milk, it caused the drops of food coloring to move and swirl, creating a beautiful pattern of colors. "Neat! That's so cool, Uncle Sev!"

"And if you move it around, like this," he gently moved her hand about, so the swirling colors appeared to dance. "It makes even more patterns. Just like a kaleidoscope."

"How's it do that? Is it magic?"

"Well, it's a kind of magic," he hedged. Actually all that was involved was a simple chemical reaction, namely that oil repelled the water-based food coloring. "Now, you play with that and see how many patterns you can make while I go monitor my students." That ought to keep her busy, he thought in satisfaction, vanishing the items from her desk. Like a kaleidoscope, the colors could arrange themselves into different patterns each time she touched them with the toothpick.

He put on his forbidding face and walked around inbetween the rows of desks, making sure no one had access to notes or had written answers on their desks or hands—which were old Muggle tricks, but they'd been tried before, since the quills were spelled with Anti-Cheat charms.

Thus far, everything was normal. Students bit their lips nervously or sweated in panic trying to recall a formula, but nobody was trying to sneak a look at their books or had suspicious scraps of paper lying about. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that Marietta was still playing with the Kaleidoscope Potion, enthralled by the way the colors shifted and changed.

But at last the exam was over and he collected all the papers and dismissed his students, some of whom were bold enough to wish him Merry Christmas before departing. He tucked the papers in his desk and said, "Marietta, would you like to clean up and then we can eat supper?"

"Okay. I really like this potion, Uncle Sev. It's almost as good as that spell you did for me on Fourth of July."

"Prismari," he recalled with a smile. "We'll have to cast that later." He spoke a word that emptied out the contents of her little cauldron. "Evanesco!" Then he placed her artwork, paper, and crayons inside it and put it under her desk. "There. If you want to draw some more, you know where the crayons and paper are."

She showed him her pictures, telling him how she'd made one for her parents, grandparents, Arista, Trish, Mel, Kit, and all the teachers. "And I'm making an extra-special one for you, only it's a surprise and you can't see it now."

"A surprise for me?" he arched an eyebrow, amused. "I'm sure it'll be as good as the last picture you sent me."

"Better. I draw much better than that now," she told him. She picked up Sevvy's leash. "Come on, Sevvy. Time for dinner." She followed the Potions Master from the classroom, the black dog trailing after her like a misplaced shadow.

Eight-thirty was bedtime and after she'd brushed her teeth and gotten into pajamas, she was more than ready to have Severus tell her a story. She snuggled up on his lap and listened to him tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, and this time she remained awake till he reached the end of it. " . . .and they all lived happily ever after," Severus finished the traditional tale. "How was that, Marietta?"

"I really like that one!" she said, then yawned hugely. "But I guess I'm a little sleepy."

He tucked her in bed with Sevvy, making sure she had plenty of blankets, for his quarters were sometimes chill and damp, since they were in the dungeon of the castle. "Sweet dreams, Marietta," he said softly, kissing her goodnight.

She kissed him back. "Night, Uncle Sev. Love you."

"Love you too. Now close those eyes, miss."

She obeyed and within moments was sound asleep.

He went to bed as well, for he had to be awake around two o'clock to help Filch patrol the halls. Unfortunately, his peaceful sleep was interrupted by Marietta sobbing, she'd had a nightmare about a giant Venus flytrap eating her. It took twenty minutes of holding and rocking, plus a glass of warm milk with a drop of a mild sleeping draft in it to soothe her back to sleep. And when she did fall asleep, she ended up in his bed, curled against him like a puppy, gripping his hand for dear life.

As a result of his interrupted sleep schedule he was irritable and in no mood to be lenient with rule-breakers when he arose for his nightly rounds. He warded the door of his quarters before setting out with Filch and Mrs. Norris, leaving Scout on guard inside, stretched out on the rug in the bedroom. If any mischief-making student happened to break the ward on his door, they would be greeted by ninety five pounds of snarling magehound, a sufficient deterrent to any delinquent teenager.

Irritable and grouchy, he came upon Brittany Marsh kissing James Hathaway in the corridor beside the humpbacked witch statue. Neither of them were his favorite student, Marsh was a spoiled little snot and her boyfriend wasn't much better, he was a conceited idiot too, getting by on his fabulous looks alone and his reputation as Marsh's current flame. They were sworn enemies of Arista and her friends, a fact which he knew quite well. Both of them were in Slytherin and both of them knew better than to flout school rules like that.

Their defiance roused his temper, not that it would have taken much given his mood, and he surprised them with a pointed cough and one of his severest scowls. "A bit early for mistletoe and kisses aren't we, Marsh and Hathaway?" he inquired acidly.

The two started guiltily, blushing and eyeing him warily. "Professor! We, uh, never expected . . ." Hathaway began awkwardly.

"Obviously." He drawled, eyes flashing dangerously. "That'll be ten points from Slytherin for your poor timing and your attitude. Now get back to bed, you two, and save your displays of public affection for later. Move!" He was furious at them for making him take points from his House, but he did it to teach them a much needed lesson, since they thought they were above everyone and could get away with whatever they wanted.

Brittany gaped at him. "B-but Professor Snape, it's Christmas . . .give us a break why don't you?"

He fixed her with a warning look. "Just because it's a holiday is no reason for you to disregard school rules, Marsh. As long as you are in Hogwarts you will abide by them, am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said sullenly. She wore a pout on her face that reminded him of his niece, though she was sixteen to Marietta's four.

"Well, what are you waiting for? A personal invitation? Go!" He pointed back in the direction of the Slytherin dormitory.

They walked away, Marsh muttering furiously to Hathaway, "Can you believe it? He takes ten points from his own House just 'cause he caught us kissing, for Godsake! It's not a bloody crime, you know! Bet he's just jealous, the old bat, 'cause he's never been kissed by a hot girl in his life."

"Brittany, shut up!" Hathaway warned, too late.

"I heard that, Marsh!" Snape snarled, taking a threatening step towards them. "Ten more points for your disrespectful mouth, young lady. If I were you, I'd not say another word, or else you'll serve detention with me tomorrow morning, end of the semester or not."

Brittany gasped and scurried away, followed a moment later by her boyfriend.

Snape watched them go, his jaw clenched. The nerve of that wretched girl! he thought furiously. I'm jealous of her indeed, the obnoxious little snot! Ha! My Amelia could kiss better than her any day of the week, and she was ten times as pretty too.

Thinking of his late wife, whom he missed fiercely this time of year, put him in an even worse mood, and he finished his rounds in a state of depression and aggravation that was frightening to behold. Luckily, he didn't encounter any more students breaking curfew. He returned to his rooms wearily, more than ready to lose himself to sleep's tender mercy.

Marietta didn't even stir when he climbed into bed, falling asleep an instant later. In his dreams, he was with Amelia again, and she took him in her arms and kissed him until he was breathless. Then she laughed and whispered, "I love you, Sev. Merry Christmas, sweetheart." He hugged her close, burying his face in her auburn hair, aching for her touch unbearably.

Only to wake clutching empty air, the one he longed for forever beyond his reach, lost to him for all eternity. Amelia, how I miss you! he thought sadly, lying back down and burying his face in his pillow, bitter tears seeping out from under his lids as he recalled their last time together, wishing like blazes for one he could never have again this side of heaven. Loneliness and longing swamped him, but he stubbornly blinked away his tears, refusing to give into them.

He turned his head and caught sight of Marietta, sleeping peacefully beside him, her little face angelic in repose. In Arista and in you, little minx, my Amelia lives on. In that way, at least, I'll never lose her.

He sighed softly and reached out to touch his niece's cheek tenderly. Precious child, may you grow up safe and happy, all your dreams fulfilled, unlike mine. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep, Marietta's head resting on his arm.

Well, the day ended on a good note, but just wait until you see what happens next! It involves Trelawney!