Note: I do not own 'Harry Potter' but do own Neci. I've written this story so it's set currently and not back in the 1990s. Hope you enjoy the story.
Snape couldn't look at me on Monday. I smiled and occasionally I'd lightly run my fingers over his thigh under the table until he got up and left the Great Hall. I laughed and left myself. He cornered me and pulled me into my classroom.
"What the hell was that?" he growled.
"Did you like it? Because I could do more," I purred into his ear.
"I'm old enough to be your father."
"But you're not and if we're doing my plan we might as well get something out of it. It's been a long time for me and I bet it's been the same for you."
"Just how long?" he asked, pushing his body into mine.
I could feel his hardness against my body and I just wanted to wrap my legs around his torso and forget about class.
"Too long."
"How long?" he persisted, pushing himself harder into me.
"Over a year. I got pregnant."
Snape dropped me and I slumped against the wall.
"You have a child?" he growled.
"No. My ex made sure it never went to term. I spent a month in the hospital healing from the beating."
I fought back the tears and his face softened. He was pitying me. I didn't need this right now. I hadn't thought of my little girl since April, when she would have been born.
"Just get out. I have a class to get ready for."
"Neci."
"Don't. Just get the fucking hell out," I yelled.
As soon as he left, I cranked my iPod and flipped to Finger Eleven. I needed something hard but still kinda soothing to calm down to. My back was turned to the door so I didn't notice the students filing in.
"Neci?" Hermione called.
I whirled around and turned off the music.
"Sorry. I needed to get my mind off of something."
"What was that?" Blaise asked.
"That was a Muggle band called Finger Eleven. This is called an iPod. It's the Muggle equivalent to your Wizard's Wireless. It holds songs and I have a few videos on it. I was going to start on Transportation but why don't we start on Technology. Those who know any, yell some out."
"Computers."
"DVDs."
"CD players."
"OK. That's good. The text book discusses other technologies as well but we'll pick and choose. We're young so we'll go with the things that are cherished by Muggles our age. We'll look at computers, music storage, video storage, communication devices, microwaves, gaming systems, and television."
The class was fascinated by our discussion. I didn't really teach. We just talked about technology at random. Even the few purebloods were interested. Just before the class ended, I promised to see if I could get a TV and DVD player in for next class.
I spent the rest of the day getting ready for Neville's tutoring session. I picked out a lesser known but complex potion for him to try. I chopped, shredded, and ground all the ingredients so they were all ready for him. I just smiled thinking of what I was going to do with the potion once it was finished.
"Professor Spencer."
"Neville, call me Neci. Don't bother to sit. We're going to a special room to do your potion. Come on."
I led him up to the 7th floor and paced three times near the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry. The door appeared and I went in. He hesitantly followed and took in the room. It looked like a kitchen.
"Potion making is like cooking. You have a recipe and as long as you follow the recipe, the food turns out. Do you know how to cook, Neville?"
"Not that well."
"Let's get started. What kind of music do you like?"
"What does music have to do with potions?"
"It doesn't. I find that music is a way to center myself. Some find it distracting but it'll help with you focusing on what you're doing and not what is around you. Why don't I put it on a low volume so it's kinda there but kinda not?"
I put my iPod on shuffle and left the volume low. Neville took off his robe and stood beside me.
"OK. We're going to try to do two. Once you have the hang of potion making, I'll help with your Snape problem. Here's the list of ingredients for the first one. I've gotten it all ready for you so you just have to follow the instructions."
"Flour? Baking soda? Chocolate chips? These aren't potion ingredients."
"That's because they're not. We're going to start off with cookies. If you can make these, you can do potion making."
I watched as Neville measured and mixed the ingredients by following the instructions. It was the right consistency for the dough. I handed him a spoon to help spoon it out onto the baking sheets. The recipe said it'd make three dozen but we made the cookies bigger so it didn't make that many.
"Good. You started off wobbly but got into a nice flow."
I put the cookies into the ovens that the Room of Requirement supplied to bake.
"They should be ready when we're done the next one. This one is an actual potion. Again I have the ingredients ready. Just follow the instructions. And remember to relax. Don't rush and you won't screw up."
"But in class, we have a time limit."
"Here you don't. Take as long as you need. Ask questions if you'd like. Now take a deep breath."
Neville took the breath and started. The cauldron was on low heat and he added the first three ingredients. He was about to add the fourth but caught himself. Neville did the necessary four stirs clockwise and then added the next ingredient.
He took his time and caught himself before he made any mistakes.
"Now do one counter-clockwise stir and you'll be done," I said.
Neville did the stir and the liquid in the cauldron turned a dark blue.
"It's the right consistency and right color. Let's try it."
I took a spoonful of the potion and I could feel it working.
"It's perfect, Neville. Now put some in here," I said as I conjured a vial.
He filled it and I poured the rest in a jar. The timer on the ovens went off so I pulled out the cookies.
"And here's our reward."
We munched on a cookie and I cleaned up with a flick of my wand. I could sense Neville looking at me.
"Ask your question, Neville. I've got nothing to hide."
"Your mother was in the same ward as my parents."
"She was. When I saw her, she looked so different. It took her a second to notice me. She talked before she died. I had just been told about what happened to her and then she was gone.
"Your parents might not outwardly recognize you but deep down they know who you are. They know you're their son and they're proud at what you've become. You stood up to your friends in your first year. Like Professor Dumbledore said, it takes a lot of courage to do that."
The boy was quiet, looking down at his hands.
"Do you remember me saying that I know things?"
He nodded.
"What if I told you it could have easily been you in Harry's place? You'd be the Boy Who Lived and it would be his parents lying in St. Mungo's."
Neville looked at me scared.
"You mean I'd have to be the one to face You Know Who?" he stuttered.
"Yes, but you wouldn't be alone. You'd have your friends to help. Be there for Harry because it's a lot for a teenager to handle. Why don't you take these cookies back to your common room? Just don't let Ron eat them all," I said, magically putting them into a tin.
"What potion did I make?"
"I can't tell you. Just know it's a complicated potion. You have very right to be proud of yourself. Fifty points to Gryffindor. Good night."
Neville beamed as he left. I jotted a quick note and called Dobby. I had him take the note and vial to leave on Snape's desk. I couldn't help but smile as I walked back to my quarters.
"What is the meaning of this?" Snape yelled as he entered the Great Hall the next morning.
The students looked at him with fear. They didn't normally see him this angry. He charged up to the front, robes billowing behind him. I sat at the high table with a smirk on my face. He held out the vial of the dark blue liquid.
"Now, Professor Snape, it's not becoming of a teacher to be yelling in front of the students," I mocked.
"You little, witch."
"Yes, I am. I thought maybe your stock was running low so I had a batch made. Now don't think of asking for more. The rest is my own private stock."
Snape glared at me as the students looking on. I grabbed an apple and stood.
"Why did you make this?"
"Who says I did? I supervised a student."
"What? Who?" he asked, shocked.
"Wouldn't you like to know? All I'm saying it was a 5th year."
I left but still wanted to hear the conversation so I hid behind the corner.
"Severus, isn't that the…"McGonagall said.
He didn't answer but marched out of the Great Hall. I chuckled and left. I wandered the halls and could hear the students talking about what had happened at breakfast.
"Professor Spencer?" a voice called.
"Hey, Neville. Are you OK?"
"Yes. I was just wondering when our next lesson is."
"Whenever you want. We could stick with more complex potions so the simpler ones will be just that or we could start off easy. I just wanted to show you that you could do this."
"Could we work on some from my year?"
"Sure. Swing by my classroom after class and we'll head on up together. Do you have your book with you? I'll go through it and select some to work on."
Neville handed me his Potions book and he left. I went straight to my classroom and started picking potions. As I read the book, I noticed what could be Neville's problem so I pulled out my notepad and started to copy out the entire book. I rewrote the potions similar to the way I had done the night before.