The next day was a blur; all I could think about was Snape and detention. How did he know about Monti? What was he going to make me do tonight? Yesterday's detention wasn't so bad. Lines, I don't think Snape's ever given such a soft punishment before. It was probably because we were being nice to each other, but before I left he seemed so irritated, he was probably going to make me do something horrible.
"Cabby, where are you today?" Hermione whispered at me from across the table. We were at the library; lessons were over for the day. She was doing her homework and I had a book propped open against the table. I wasn't reading it; I was staring out of the open window. The day was dark and dreary and I wished I was outside,
"Hmm?" I turned my head towards her, but my gaze remained on the soft ripples the wind made on the surface of the lake,
"You're so out of it today, it's like you're not even here." Her voice sounded concerned, I wanted to tell her that I was fine. I knew there was something up. I don't usually dwell on things for long periods of time, but today my thoughts had consumed me and I didn't know why,

"I'm here." I finally looked at her, "I've been thinking."
"What about?"
Snape.
She'll be freaked out if you tell her you've been thinking about him all day.
I can't lie to her.
You should.
I know.
"Potions." Close enough. "I wonder how we'll be marked on those healing elixirs we did. I worked hard on mine, I wonder if it'll be enough." She believed me.
"Oh, Cabby you're great in Potions. I know you did really well." She smiled encouragingly and I smiled back,
"Thanks, Hermione."
She finished the essay she was working on, although it could have been done an hour earlier if she wasn't such an overachiever. I checked out the book I had, A Letter in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I was surprised when I was young to find a small muggle section in the gargantuan magical library, but now it was a section I visited often. I'd almost read every single book. I'd save this book for another time when I wasn't as preoccupied.
We met up with Harry and Ron at dinner. Hermione scolded them for not joining us in the library and finishing their homework. I glanced at the staff table while she started another lecture about leaving their work to the last minute. Snape was at his usual seat at the staff table, head down, picking at his food.
The painfully familiar pain sparked on my left forearm, I didn't make a noise, I was getting used to it. Snape's head looked up quickly and his eyes settled on me. He felt it too, of course. I sighed and looked away, back to the dinner and my friends.
Snape has left the Great Hall sometime between then and 6:00. I don't know exactly when, I'm not a stalker. When I got up at 6:00 to head down to the dungeons for detention, he was gone. I bid farewell to Harry, Ron and Hermione before separating from them and heading down to Snape's classroom.
The stone corridor was empty and cold as I hurried along. As I reached the door to Snape's classroom my dark mark throbbed under the cloth bandage that was wrapped around it. I hissed in pain as I pushed the door open. Snape was at his desk and he looked up at me.
The pain lasted a long minute and his gaze intense upon me the entire time. When it finally let up, he stood and pretended like it hadn't happened,
"You will be helping me with more grading." Before I could cringe at the memory of the horrendous English skills of the first year's papers, he continued, "By taking down notes for me. I'll be looking over the elixir's we did in class yesterday."
"Ooh! That sounds like fun!" I was about to rush forward when I caught sight his skeptic face. "...I mean... that sounds like a terrible idea. Do I have to?"
Snape smiled slightly, "Yes, now come here." There was a cauldron set up on his desk and a cluster of potion-filled flasks sat next to it. I set myself up in the chair he usually occupied behind his desk. He had a stack of parchment and a quill ready for me.
"Just write down what I tell you to." Snape picked up the first flask and tipped it's content's into the cauldron. One hand held his wand and he used that to stir around inside the large metal pot.
I couldn't see what he was doing so I stood and stepped closer. In the cauldron, his wand wasn't touching the liquid, yet it was stirring itself as though it was.
"What are you doing?" Snape asked. I looked up at him; he was barley a foot away from me,
"What are you doing?" Snape raised an eyebrow at my question. "I mean, how can you tell if it's good or not?" I motioned towards the cauldron. He regarded me for a moment; I guess trying to decide whether or not I was being serious,
"It's simple." We both turned our attention back to the potion, "Do you remember the color this was when it was in its flask?"
"Umm...blue?"
"Yes, Gaunt. It was blue." His voice was slightly sarcastic, "Cerulean to be precise. It's now teal. The fact that this potion has gone from cerulean to teal mean that Miss Brown added her hellebore a few minutes early."
"How do you know that?" I whispered. Potions were one of my favorite subjects and this was a side of it I've never seen. I'm used to putting the potion together, not taking it apart.
"It's my job to know that."
"Oh...right." I glanced up at him. He had a strange expression, if I didn't know better I'd say that he was nervous or... anxious. But that's a ridiculous thought, Snape doesn't feel. I quickly went back to potion, a grateful distraction. "What else?"
He picked up a large wooden spoon and scooped some of the potion up,
"What do you notice?" He slowly poured the potion back into the cauldron,
"It's too runny."
"Exactly. She didn't let it simmer long enough. Probably five minutes instead of ten."
"Does the thickness always depend on the time a potion simmers?"
"No, not always. Not all potions require a simmer. Density can be determined by certain ingredients, how long a potion needs to sit, how much stirring it needs. Every potion is different."
"Wow." I breathed. "What else?" I looked up at him excitedly. Whatever I saw moments ago, whether it was nervousness or anxiety, it was gone now. He looked as happy as Snape could look when a small smile made its way onto his face.
"You really enjoy learning about this don't you?" I nodded happily.
"Yes sir. Can we do this with all of them?"
"If you like. As long as you do what I assigned you in the first place."

"Oh right!" I'd forgotten I had a job to do. I snatched the papers up and scribbled down the problem Snape had pointed out, "Got it."
"Very well." He waved his wand over the cauldron, "Evanesco!" Lavender Brown's potion disappeared and Snape picked up a new flask. The consistency was like water as he poured it out, "Oh, dear." He sighed, "We're on to Longbottom's. This potion alone might take all night to decipher."
I swallowed a laugh and looked into the cauldron as Snape started to point out the color problems.