House: Ravenclaw

Word Count: 1586

Category: Short

Prompt(s): [Word] indelicate [Object] Mason Jar

Year: Head

Warning: This is AU-ish. As we never see this in the books, but know it could have possibly happened. Also some things with the potions I don't think are factually accurate to the possibilities in the book, yet for story purposes I added them.


Severus Snape was one of the most indelicate teachers in all of Hogwarts, and he knew that. He knew he was brash, harsh rude, insensitive, and he knew his students most likely feared him. But it didn't bother him, not as much as it bothered the other teachers, or as much as it bothered the students either. He knew he was indelicate, and he loved it. He didn't have to be kind, or tell a student their potion was perfect when it wasn't, just to spare their feeling because it wasn't his reputation. They didn't expect to be treated delicately, and thus they didn't make as many mistakes. He was indelicate and he was proud of it. However, no one quite understood that.

Well, no one but Luna Lovegood. He would always remember the first time she'd been in his class, her silvery curls bouncing as she skipped to her seat. The other students acted as if she was insane, because didn't she know how harsh Snape was, how cruel and uncaring he acted? She had to have heard something from her fellow Ravenclaws. After all, he was quite harsh on them. If they were as smart as they believed then they would make their potions almost perfectly, or at least in his eyes they would. And yet, her silvery-blue eyes still shone with excitement on the day of her first Potions lesson.

Still, he set a rather tough first task to complete. The Herbicide Potion, a potion which he was sure would go disastrously in some way or another. After all, he had the odd Ravenclaw girl in his class, something would go wrong. Then they began to make the potion, students rushing around with ingredients, handling their jars without a shred of caution. He'd dreaded looking her way, not wanting to see what horrors were taking place at her desk. But looking at Luna Lovegood left him shocked. He was surprised at how delicately she handled the mason jars of ingredients, how much attention she put into how long she crushed the first two ingredients.

She was talented. Anyone could see that. Though it was curious to him that she'd taken out extra ingredients, he still left it alone, because surely she wouldn't mess up that late in the game. He watched as she rushed to the storage cupboard, skipping quickly over there and then back to her table, emptying some of her cauldron into a little flask before waving her wand and cleaning the rest away. He hid his interest, sitting at his desk and peeking discreetly at what the girl was doing every now and again. She was doing something with the ingredients, what it was he couldn't tell. And so he left it alone, supervising the other students and making harsh remarks as he passed them.

Finally class was over, some students looking quite close to tears from what their teacher had indelicately said. He took a bundle of flowers from his storage cupboard, moving around to each table in turn to test their Herbicide Potion. Finally, he stopped at Luna's desk, trying to hide his surprise at the fact that she was beaming up at him. He looked at the odd substance in her cauldron with a raised eyebrow, but she only continued to smile. A sigh escaped his lips. He opened his mouth as if to say something snide, a cutting comment, but figured he mind as well test her potion first.

He took the flower and dropped two drops onto it, as should have done the trick. Astounding, he couldn't help but think as it worked perfectly. Not a single hiccup or hitch, it did it's job wonderfully. She took the flower from his hands, as he stood stock still, eyes glaring slightly down at her. Luna dipped it into her potion on a spoon, waiting ten seconds before pulling it out again. His eyes went wide. The flower was back to normal, it actually looked healthier than before he'd poured the Herbicide Potion on it. She giggled. He was tempted to ask her in front of the whole class why she'd done that, why she'd taken the time to make another potion that reversed the effects of the one they were tasked with. Though he supposed it would be better to ask her without so many people to distract her.

The students left in a hurry, no doubt afraid of what staying longer would earn them. Detention, most likely. He supposed being indelicate had it's perks, the students didn't dilly dally, and they always got their work in. Snape was about to ask her to stay behind, but before he could she began going around desk to desk, delicately picking up the mason jars full of ingredients and bringing them back to his storage cupboard. Then she picked up the flower and began to leave the room.

"Miss Lovegood." He began, his voice a low drawl. She turned around instantly, a quirky little smile still on her face.

"Yes Professor?" She said it as if she was talking to any other teacher, one who wasn't as indelicate as he was, who wasn't as insensitive, one who was kinder to the students. If he hadn't known already, that would have been the moment he noticed she was different. But, in all honesty, he'd almost known she'd be different from the moment she skipped into the classroom.

"Why, might I ask, did you choose to create a second potion?" He was sure his words, to any other student, would have been seen as biting and harsh. But Luna's face just lit up even more, her eyes shining brightly.

"Well, I didn't quite like the energy the Herbicide Potion gave off." He was honestly somewhat shocked at her response. Perhaps, he just hadn't heard her correctly.

"The what?"

"The energy, sir. It gave off a terribly evil aura too." He had to have been hallucinating, surely a student wasn't mumbling to him about energies and auras. Didn't she understand that he was the last person to care about that? Surely she would be better placed telling someone like Professor Flitwick, or perhaps even Professor Sprout. He didn't quite understand why she hadn't made up some excuse like he was sure the other students would have.

"Besides," she began, "it's an awfully useful flower. It'd be a waste to let it stay dead." He quirked an eyebrow, watching as she delicately took the flower out of her bag and set it on his desk. Curious, he thought.

"Why did you place it on my desk?" She let out a tinkling laugh at his question, not at all fazed by his lack of tact or his blunt statements.

"It keeps the Wrackspurts away," she began with a smile, "I think it would be better in your classroom than in my bag." He was shocked at her knowledge, having heard many times from Professor Sprout about the properties of this specific flower. Flitwick telling him once about the effects Wrackspurts had on people.

"Thank you, Miss Lovegood. You may leave." He wasn't surprised at all when she curtsied before beginning to walk away, her odd acts something he was sure was normal for her. He looked back to the flower on his desk, wondering faintly what he should do with it. Because surely someone as indelicate as he was wouldn't be able to keep the flower healthy.

"Oh! It works better if you put it into a mason jar!" She called from the doorway, waving at him before leaving the classroom. He smiled, now that he was alone he could muse over the oddity that was Luna Lovegood. It was odd to him, mainly because he saw so much of himself in her. She was just as talented - if not more talented than he was at her age. Her skill with potions' making something he was sure would benefit her in the future. She was ready to learn, excited about it even. Something he absolutely shared with her, he'd always loved to learn about new things to do with magic.

It was odd to him, not because of the similarities, however, but because of their differences. He saw so much in her that was similar to him, which was astounding because they were so different. She was bright and bubbly, happy all the time. Luna handled things with tact and care, treated others equally, delicately. Whereas he had a reputation for being the most indelicate person in all of Hogwarts. Having a very prominent bias against any house other than his.

He stood up, robes swishing as he walked towards the storage cupboard. Despite her oddities, he found himself intrigued to see what she would do next. Grabbing an empty mason jar from the top shelf, he mused over what would happen at her next lesson. Whatever it was he was sure it would be, unique, to say the least. He left the cupboard, closing the door softly before heading back to his desk. He placed the flower into the mason jar, putting the lid on top and sliding it to the front corner of his desk. He smiled for the second time. Because with Luna he finally knew something positive about his students. For the first time in a while, he could honestly say with confidence, that she would do amazing things. Though he was sure she would do it in some odd, unheard of way.

She would do it her way.