7. In the Snape's Nest
Severus Snape had a private potions lab adjacent to his office. He rarely let anyone in there, as far as he can remember there were only a handful of people who had been there, all of them members of the staff. It was a strange feeling for him to invite a student in there, but he had no other choice. He was teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts now and the Potions classroom was Horace Slughorn's territory.
Miss Jennings was punctual as ever. She was standing at the long desk in the middle of the room which wasn't very big, but there was enough room for two people to work in it. She had a cauldron in front of her and tools to prepare the ingredients, right next to her wand. She tried to look calm, yet Snape could feel her excitement.
'Now, Miss Jennings, since you have an OWL in Potions and your grade was acceptable, at least better than the dunderheads I teach every day, I assume you know all the OWL-level potions by heart.'
'Yes, sir.' Alice tried to sound confident.
'We start with one of these. Tell me the three most important ingredients of Draught of Peace.'
'Powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore and powdered unicorn horn, sir.'
'Good. Now I want you to brew the potion. You find every ingredient on the shelves in this room. You may start work.'
Alice nodded, went to grab the ingredients and started to prepare the potion. It didn't require much time but she had to follow the directions carefully. Snape didn't stand just there, he also started to work on a potion. Alice was smarter than to ask him what he was brewing.
After roughly half an hour Alice grabbed a vial and poured the potion in it.
'I'm ready, sir.'
Snape looked up from his cauldron and took a few steps to take a look at the draught. Then he poured it in a small glass bowl, pointed his wand on it and murmured a spell. The colour of the potion changed from turquoise blue to light green. With another wave of his wand, Snape vanished it from the bowl and turned back to his student.
'This was an excellent potion, Miss Jennings.'
Alice smiled.
'Thank you, sir.'
'Excellent potion for a student. For a usual dunderhead of a student who doesn't want to be a Potions mistress.'
'Oh', the girl's mile faltered.
'As a Potions mistress, you have to be better than that.'
'With all due respect, sir, I did everything I learned from the book.'
'That is the problem.'
'Sir?'
Snape stepped closer. He was standing only a feet away from Alice, she could smell his scent: a unique mixture of herbs and something manly. Her insides stirred a little while trying to concentrate on what the professor was going to say to her. She had to tilt her head back a little to see his face since he was a foot taller than her.
'Being a Potions Master or Mistress means you have to be creative. You know the recipes of hundreds of potions, but that's not enough.' He spoke slowly and his voice was low and slightly passionate. 'You have to find the weak spots of those recipes, to find a better way to prepare the ingredients, even substitute them with better ingredients or to create new potions which don't have side effects. You have to experiment constantly, but since it costs time and money, you have to know what you are doing. You have to plan your steps ahead.' Snape's dark eyes bore into Alice's green ones. 'Am I clear, Miss Jennings?'
'Yes, sir.' Her voice was only a whisper, some could say a bit husky. She felt herself blushing and hot, it is because of the flames under Snape's cauldron, she thought.
'This is hard work, Miss Jennings and creating new potions means responsibility. You are responsible for the health of the people who are using the draughts you brew.'
'I know, sir. I'm ready for that.'
He held her gaze for a few moments then nodded. He stepped back and went back to his cauldron. Alice let out a breath she didn't realize was holding.
'What would you change in the Draught of Peace?' Snape's voice was back to his usual professorial tone.
Alice pursed her lips.
'Think about the ingredients, Miss Jennings.'
'Well… The Lethe River Water is used in the Forgetful Potion', she said slowly. 'It is known for enhancing the power of powdered unicorn horn. I assume that mixing powdered unicorn horn with some Lethe River water would enhance the effect of the Draught of Peace as well. Of course, we should be careful with the portion because we don't want the patient to forget anything, only to… dull their troubles so they will be calmer. Since Lethe Water is a liquid, we won't need the syrup of hellebore.'
While explaining her theory, Alice didn't look at Snape, but was watching the cauldron in front of her. It helped her to find the courage to talk. When she finished, she lifted her eyes and waited for some kind of reaction from Snape. His face was indifferent as usual.
'Start brewing, Miss Jennings.'
The young witch's second potion was much better. However, Snape didn't encourage her to use Lethe Water in a simple Draught of Peace since the ingredient was quite expensive and hard to get. Still, he praised her, in his own way of course, finding a great ingredient to upgrade the potion and understanding the concept. Even if she got loads of homework from him, she didn't mind it – she really enjoyed the extra lesson and left the Snape's office in good spirits.
There was one thing though that she found a bit odd. When Snape wanted to grab an ingredient from an upper shelf, he hissed and grabbed his ribcage as if he was in pain. Alice noticed it but didn't ask anything – it was a very personal matter. I wonder if his pain is related to his disappearance last night, she mused on her way back to her dorm.
Snape laid in his bed and tried to fell asleep. Miss Jennings was talented even if she needed some guidance. That was understandable, she was only 16. No, she was 17, a voice in his head corrected him – a voice which was very similar to Dumbledore's. Severus didn't forget his erotic dream about Miss Jennings; luckily he didn't think about it during their lesson. It would have been so embarrassing. The wizard groaned and turned on his side. He felt a sting in his ribs, just like he did earlier in the lab. He knew the girl heard his hiss from pain, but he also knew that she won't ask questions. For a fleeting moment he thought, if he would have to confide any student in his secret life as a spy and Death Eater, he would chose Ms. Jennings. A moment later he fell asleep.
Private lessons with Snape - don't we all want that? ;)
In the next chapter:
"On my first ride on the Hogwarts Express, I sat in a compartment where everyone was from a wizarding family, they knew a lot about Hogwarts and magic. I felt embarrassed so I chose not to reveal that I was completely foreign to these things."
