It was the following day when My father asked for me to come by during my free period. I made my way to his classroom. It was mid-afternoon, I could only assume he didn't have a class during this time either. As I approached his classroom, I started to overhear a conversation. It was clearly between him and Headmaster Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry Professor Blanchard."
"No, No, Dumbledore I am well aware of this woman and her pursuit for Aurora."
"Would you consider the protection program once more?"
"No, She found us the last times. I've been better at hiding her with moving constantly rather than staying in one place."
I placed myself against the door, to listen closer.
"What will you do when she turns eighteen?"
"I...I don't know. I just have to worry about now. Keeping her mother away from her. I won't let her fill Aurora's head with those lies." My father was getting more frustrated than I've ever seen him before.
"You still have it?"
"I do... I often look into it for maybe a clue to why she is so despite to find her... As you know, the ministry is doing everything in their power to locate her."
"The ministry has been looking for 12 years" My father raised his voice before I heard a slamming sound. My best guess was it was his fist against a table. "Professor Blanchard. I assured you, She will be safe here. At the very least until the end of the term. It wouldn't be good to take her away now. Not since she's made all these friends."
I couldn't handle this anymore. I wanted to know more. I felt like this conversation was coming to a close now and I had more questions than answers. Who was my mother, and why is she looking for me?
I gently knocked on the door, making my presence known. "Professor Blanchard?" I said as I walked in. my father was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. Clearly stressed about something. "We'll finish another time," Dumbledore simply nodded and made his way out.
I wanted to ask him more about my mother, about the conversation between him and Dumbledore but when I saw him looking like that. I've never seen him so distraught before. Honestly, I didn't think he'd tell me anything. It looked and sounded like he tried very hard to keep it a secret which hurt my feelings quite a lot. I felt like I understood why though. He wanted me to be a kid and not worry about such things. I can understand that but now I need to know. "You asked me to come by?"
My father took a deep breath in and sighed before holding up a slip of paper. "Once you get your grade up in Potions, Then I'll sign the permission slip for you to go Hogsmeade." My father said as he shrugged. "You know my rules. School always comes first. You're doing well enough in your other classes." he continued. "Why is it in my class you're doing terrible in? Your own fathers class" he was being a little dramatic.
He was always a little dramatic about such things. I couldn't really blame him being both my father and my professor probably wasn't too easy for him either. He wasn't the type to favor some students over others... especially if they were related to him. "Once you're grade comes up a bit, I will then give you the permission you are looking for." he chuckled to himself.
"I will die if I have to be tutored by you" I too was being a little overdramatic. If people found out he was helping me then I'd be a teacher's pet and I'm nowhere near that. "Good thing I won't be tutoring you Aurora." he laughed at my comment.
"Ah, Snape. So glad you could join us," he called out behind me as the door closed.
"Professor Blanchard, Aurora" He greeted us as he placed his books on what I would assume would be his preferred station.
"Severus here will be tutoring you on some potions that seem particularly hard for you." my father snickered. "I'll be in my office if you require me" he added.
Severus and I stared at each other for a moment or two before I moved to his table where he had turned to Induce Euphoria.
An elixir to basically cure depression. "I want you to show me how to make this," he stated straightforward and to the point.
No causal convocation, just straight to business which was a little disappointing. As I casually looked over the instructions. "How are you today?" There was a very high chance of many of these sessions. "Sorry, I'm cutting into your time free period." The least I could go was apologize.
He just stared at me. I wasn't sure if he was shy or just a little weird. He closed his eyes and gestured to the ingredients and let out a small sigh.
I looked at the ingredients again and then into the cauldron which was boiling with water now. "Let's see..." I started. I looked at the recipe and read over it. There was a lot of steps... Why so many steps? I finished reading it. Already forgotten what the recipe said.
I picked up the place that had all the ingredients on it and poured it all into the pot and stirred 4 times clockwise and twice counter-clockwise. "All done." I proudly said as I turned to Severus. He looked like a cat that had been startled to death. He looked in complete utter disbelief that I had just done that. "do you really think that's the correct way to make it." he asked
I went into a panic. I forgot the most important thing. I took my wand out and placed the Cheering Charm on it. Then I looked back at him. He looked even more defeated than before. "What was your thought process?" He asked. "Well, I read the recipe and then figured, They all gotta go in the pot at some point and decided to dump them in all. Makes sense right?"
"You're an Idiot."
I lowered my head sadly. "I know" I mopped.
"How did you even make it this far into potions?"
"I always got matched up with really good people"
He let out a big sigh.
"Let us start from the beginning shall we?"