Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in this chapter (in every chapter). This particular chapter happened during a death in my family. I have been distracted. I hope you enjoy it, regardless. I am not proofreading before posting, so I hope mistakes are few. I wanted to get this up in time for Christmas, but that didn't happen, so here is a New Year's present…

Chapter 25

"Did you put the pennyroyal in yet?"

Lucinda looked up from her cauldron. Snape looked back at her, but it was over his shoulder. He was currently writing something on his chalkboard. Actually, he was writing down everything that she was doing. She knew that this was going to happen. It was only a matter of time before he figured out what she was trying to make. The finding out part wouldn't necessarily be bad, but she had a feeling he was going to be less than thrilled when he learned what her intentions with it were.

"No, not yet," she said and glanced through the page of the potions book that lay in front of her on the table. "I was thinking that it should go in after this heats for two extra minutes…" She paused and looked up at him. "Is that wrong?"

Snape turned back to the board and stared at it for a moment. Then he wrote something down and stared at it again. "I don't know yet…" he said, obviously deep in thought. "You said it needed to be crimson in hue, correct?"

Lucinda nodded and then said, "yes" once she realized his back was still to her. It was a Saturday afternoon. Several weeks had passed since the day they acquired (re-acquired) her Kudu sap at the apothecary and the two of them had begun the experiment. They were meeting up in his classroom every Saturday and Wednesday to work on the potion. "Okay, Sev, come on—help me out here," she said in agitation, watching the flame under the cauldron carefully and then glancing nervously at the blue liquid inside of it. "The two minutes are up. Should I put it in, or no?"

"Well, it isn't going to blow you up," he snapped. "Go ahead and do it… And don't call me that."

"Oh are we back to professor and student again?" She drawled sarcastically and then cringed when the pennyroyal sank down into the blue concoction. It didn't explode. She relaxed and stirred.

"We have always been professor and student," he snipped, walking up to the other side of the table. "But that is not my name. Do not call me by any nicknames."

"What's got your wand in a knot?" She hissed across the cauldron at him. "Forgive me for being so insensitive about your name." Her words said "I'm sorry", but her tone sounded much more like "fuck off". He didn't like it…

The potions master sneered. "I am perfectly fine," he said smoothly and his sneer increased in dislike. "But you don't seem to be fine."

"Because you asked to look over my potion making and all you've done is irritate me!"

"That is your own fault," he scoffed and stared down into the cauldron. "You expect me to be your best friend and to support you in all of your life choices, as if I am one of your little girlfriends. First and foremost, I am a Hogwarts teacher."

"Didn't you tell me before that you were my friend first and my teacher second?" Lucinda asked stubbornly, as her anger started to ebb away again. "I get a boyfriend and then you never want to talk to me anymore…"

"That is because you are never alone!" He growled through clenched teeth.

"Of course I am!" Lucinda said in exasperation. "And what does that matter? Can you not speak to me in his presence?"

"I would rather not, actually," Severus growled a little quieter this time and then turned around to lean his bottom against the edge of the table. "I may vomit if I'm forced to be anywhere near him."

"You are unbelievable." Lucinda ground out, barely containing the fury that crept up inside her again.

"Thank you." He replied in condescendence.

Lucinda clenched her fists tight and stared down into the potion. It was turning from a deep blue to a lighter blue. Flecks of green were beginning to wink up at her, mockingly. She smacked a hand down on the potions book and then flipped it closed with a sharp snap. "It's turning green again," she barked and then blew the flame out from under the cauldron. "The ruddy thing is heading in the complete opposite direction of the color spectrum. I am so done with this." Then she began packing up her things.

Snape turned around at the sound of her hand slamming down on the book and now he watched her movements as they became increasingly irate. After she'd packed her book, parchment and quills into her bag, she hoisted the cauldron up and began walking it unsteadily to the sink at the back of the classroom.

"We could have continued trying, you know…" Snape said behind her. He gathered the unused ingredients from the tabletop and then walked them to the cabinet beside the sink that the girl was washing the cauldron out at. "That one didn't turn out right, but there is no harm in starting a fresh one."

Lucinda shook her head as she wiped at the brass. "No, I told Tristin I would be meeting him at three o'clock anyway. I'll clean this up and I'll be on my way."

Snape didn't reply. He looked at her face and tried to decide whether or not she actually liked the boy. Sure, he'd seen them holding hands and on more than one occasion he'd seen the boy's filthy hands running up the back of her shirt as he nearly devoured her face with his tongue when they thought they were alone in the library, but that didn't mean they'd done anything else. That didn't mean that she actually liked it. That didn't mean that they were serious. That didn't mean that Samael had won…

"Is everything… going okay?" Snape asked offhand. The ingredients were placed in their rightful spots and now he leaned his shoulder against the cabinet and stared at her.

Lucinda pulled the clean cauldron from the sink and set it on the table behind her. "Are you asking me honestly?" She said, watching his expression with skepticism in hers.

Snape shrugged and watched her face carefully. "I guess so."

Lucinda looked down and pivoted on the spot to put her hands behind her on the table and then she hopped up on it. Snape walked to her as her hands came forward to fold in her lap. He stood in front of her and her legs swung out gently between his planted feet. She watched his black shoes and then trailed her eyes up his black slacks, over his black cloak and into his black eyes.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" He asked too seriously.

Lucinda shook her head and looked at her lap again. "Tristin is… great," she smiled slightly. "He's kind to me and he really seems to like me a lot…"

"But?" Snape said expectantly, because there was always a 'but'.

Lucinda looked up and laughed a little. "But I don't think I deserve it."

"What are you talking about?" He asked incredulously and stepped between her swinging legs. She stopped her motions abruptly. "In what way are you undeserving of his affections? If anything, he is the one who doesn't deserve—"

"Oh, Severus, that's not what I mean," she shook her head again and smiled sadly. "I know I deserve it, but I just don't feel… worthy of his affections."

Snape narrowed his eyes at her. "That is the same thing."

"No it isn't," she wrinkled her nose up at him. "Aren't you supposed to be an educated man?"

Snape curled his index finger under her jaw and swiped it against her skin. "I must have missed that lesson, Gryffindor Girl," he said softly and flicked her chin lightly, before his hand dropped to his side again. "Just remember what I told you."

Lucinda sighed and leaned back on her palms. "Refresh my memory, sir." She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips exaggeratedly. "What was it that you told me?"

"Yes, what was it that you told her, professor Snape?"

Both the student and the teacher turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Lucinda was too relaxed to jump and it was probably good that she didn't; it would have made her look like she'd been doing something wrong and she hadn't been. She had to remember that: she was doing nothing wrong.

"Tristin..." she smiled and hopped back off of the table.

Severus moved out of her way and glared across the room at the Slytherin Prefect who stood in the classroom's doorway.

"Is your playdate with potions finished for the day, my love?" He asked, lips pulling to one side in a smirk.

"Yes, I was just saying goodbye to professor Snape."

Both men stared at each other as the girl between them gathered her things and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you at dinner!" She called behind her with a joyful wave and then walked quickly to the one waiting for her.

"How did it go?" Tristin asked, holding her chin in his fingers and stooping down to kiss her deeply.

Snape was bitterly happy to see that she broke the kiss sooner than the boy seemed to like. "Fine," Lucinda mumbled and they shuffled out of the room. "I still haven't got it right, but there's been progress…"

Snape watched the two of them leave. He fought the urge to return to that same person he had been at the beginning of the year. There was no need for tantrums or chair-throwing… He needed to be an adult about this. She was dating Tristin Samael. He had told her to go ahead and do it, albeit he had said it with resentment. Now he was just going to bide his time. He was going to be the friend that she needed. Samael was going to break her heart and he would be there to pick up the pieces…

Severus leaned over the table and pressed his forehead into the top of it, while his arms came up and wrapped around the back of his head. "I am the worst…" he groaned. It was an awful thing to think. He should stop him before he hurt her, not wait until he did… What the hell was he doing? And what could he do? She was a grown woman. She was a student at a school, but she was definitely a woman. She had her own intentions and she could take care of herself. He needed to stop treating her like a child. She was far from it…

There was only a few days left before Christmas break was to start. Nearly everyone was leaving for home. Dumbledore, of course, was staying. McGonagall was going home. Poppy Pomfrey was staying, along with most of the other teachers. Severus Snape was going home, which surprised Lucinda, because she couldn't imagine him in a homely setting. It was strange. It was also strange imagining Tristin not going home, but he had, indeed, told her that he would be staying at Hogwarts. He didn't mention anything about home, though. Just as was the way of the Samael's, Lucinda heard nothing about the other members of their family; nothing about their parents or aunts or uncles. In fact, since the night outside Gryffindor Tower with the Samael twins, neither had so much as glanced her way. Honestly, it made her a little sad. She shared a room with the girls and she was dating a member of their family. You would think they would be a little more welcoming… Tristin didn't seem to mind, though. When his cousins' cold demeanor was brought up, he told her that it was better that way. Lucinda tried to trust him, but she couldn't help but feel bad about the whole ordeal. She wanted his family's blessing and it seemed they didn't like her from the get-go… Well, Amph didn't like her, anyway. Nica seemed very disinterested about everything… unless it was where her sisters were concerned…

Lucinda would be going home for Christmas break, much to Tristin's disappointment. He tried to convince her to stay (and she almost did), but she'd told her parents she would go home for Christmas and she couldn't back out now. Besides, she really did miss them. She was used to being with them every single day. This was the longest they had ever been apart (minus the one day that they arrived unexpectedly at the school). Aurora and Clover would be going home and they both made it a point to give Lucinda their address, in case she wanted to stop by for dinner some evening while they were on break. Though she highly doubted it was going to happen, Lucinda hoped her parents could be convinced of it.

Besides visiting home for Christmas, Lucinda's parents had sent her a letter explaining that they would be having some of the extended family there from the 23rd to the 26th. Lucinda smiled to herself at the thought, while she read through her potions book beside the Black Lake. Seeing her cousins and her eccentric Aunt Camille (as they no doubt would be there) put her back in a good mood. It would be a long two weeks away from her beloved school and all of her friends, but knowing that she'd be seeing more family made it better.

"You look demented, Lou."

Lucinda turned around. She expected to see Xavier standing in the grass behind her, but all she saw was the trunk of the tree that she was leaning her back against. She peered around the tree on both sides, but still nothing. Some students walked here and there in the distance of the grounds, but not very many (it was pretty cold out there, though there hadn't been any snow yet).

"X?" Lucinda called.

Then there was a giggle. It started quietly and then it grew the more she looked around frantically for the culprit. By now, he was laughing in great guffaws and Lucinda was reminded of Scut Farkus from a holiday movie that her parents made her watch every year.

"Up here, you fool!"

Lucinda looked up. Instead of looking upon the beady-eyed and metal-mouth of the antagonist from "A Christmas Story", she saw the green, almond-shaped hues and rose-tinted cheeks of Xavier Michael. His face was exuberant and his mouth pulled open wide in a bigger laugh than before.

"A-HA-HA!"

"X, what are you doing?" Lucinda called up to him and set her book to the side.

"The question is Lou, what are you doing?"

The girl shuffled around on her knees to face the tree, so that she didn't have to crane her neck to look at the boy. He sat in the crook of one of the thick, bare branches; back leaning nicely against the upper trunk and one leg swung out beneath him, swaying back and forth.

"I'm just reading," Lucinda offered with a slight shrug.

Xavier shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Huh-uh." He shook a finger at her. "I'm talking about you and your reading environment… Why are you sitting in the cold? Are you nuts?"

"I'm not nuts."

"You look nuts. You look like a girl who can't get enough potions and punishment."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what you think it means."

"I think you're nuts."

"You think my nuts, what?"

Silence

Lucinda's face went red and she plastered a hand to it. "Oh my god," she muffled out through the hand. "How could you say something like that?"

"Oh, look at Lou get red! I never knew you could get so embarrassed!"

"Stop it!"

"No, it is too much fun!" X called down, before he jumped to the ground beside her with a "tally-ho!"

"Jeeze! You almost kicked me in the face!"

"Oh, my dear, sweet Lucinda," Xavier scrambled forward and held the sides of her face. "Tell me I didn't! Tell me! Oh, my sweet, sweet child. How could I have done such a thing? Tell me I am the rubbish in your trash bin! Tell me I—OW—HEY!"

Lucinda brought a fist up and then back down on the top of the red-head's skull.

"Haha!" Lucinda laughed at the boy while he fell back on his bottom in the brown grass and rubbed the crown of his head.

"Ahh… You didn't have to hit me so hard, you butt."

"Wah—don't call me a butt!"

"But you are a butt. Jeeze…" He squinted an eye at her, but he had a smile on his face. "So, seriously then," he said, dropping his hand into his lap. "It's the middle of December and you're acting like it's summertime bake-fest out here by the lake. It's frackin' cold, man. What gives?"

"Are you that interested in my affairs?" She retorted, hardly concealing the smile in her voice or on her face.

"Always." He said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Lucinda laughed again and turned around to lean her back on the tree, as she had been doing before. "You're right…" She nodded. "It is cold. But that is precisely why I'm out here."

"See, I knew it, Lou," Xavier laughed tenderly. "You are a masochist."

"I am not," she glanced sideways at him, before her eyes settled in front of her on the surface of the black water. "I don't really mind the cold, for one and for two… Well, as you can see, there aren't many people here who feel the same." She gestured behind her. "No one wants to be out here right now."

"Plus, a lot of them are still in class." He added in, thoughtfully.

"Yes, there is that—hey!" Lucinda snapped her head in his direction.

"What?" He said back with a wide-eyed shrug.

"You're skipping class right now!"

"Who says?!" He retorted in an equally appalled tone.

Lucinda sat forward and looked at him seriously. "You think I don't know all of my friends' class schedules?"

"Are we friends now?" Xavier's wide grin pulled to the side.

"Of course we are…" Lucinda replied and—because there was still a small part of her that wasn't sure—she added, "I mean, unless you don't think that we are."

For a small moment, neither said anything and Lucinda was afraid that she'd been mistaken in their "friendship". Xavier looked to his left and out across the lake. He seemed to breathe in deep and then he looked at the girl in front of him again. He cracked another smile.

"Of course we are." He mimicked her words.

Lucinda smiled back, looked down in embarrassment briefly, and then said, "So, seriously, why are you skipping class? You're going to get in trouble."

X shook his head distractedly. "I'm trying to avoid McGonagall."

Lucinda cocked her head to the side. "What for? Did you forget to do an assignment?"

"No… I know I don't look it, but I'm one of her best students. Transfiguration's pretty easy, in my opinion."

"Yes, but why are you avoiding her?" The girl persisted.

X shrugged quickly and said with a look toward the lake, "Oh, she's taking down names of students who are staying at school for Christmas break."

Lucinda waited for him to say something more, but he didn't. "And..?" She trailed off expectantly.

A wind came and ruffled the hair on the boy's forehead. His eyes were still staring out across the lake and Lucinda thought she saw his throat move as he swallowed. His blushed lips parted in a motion to answer her, but then he merely let out a faint sigh.

"If this is something you'd rather not talk about—"

"What?" Xavier turned his eyes on her again in confusion. "No, no, it's alright. I'm just spacing out."

"But, I'm guessing you don't want to tell McGonagall that you're…?"

"That I'm staying at Hogwarts." He shrugged again, with a grimace.

"There's nothing wrong with staying at Hogwarts," Lucinda replied with a gentle smile. "I would stay if I could, but I told my parents I'd go home."

"And I would go home if I could, but I'm staying." He tried for another nonchalant shrug and a crooked smile, but Lucinda was watching him intently and didn't smile back. X dropped his gaze to his lap and then back up at her again.

"Still…" Lucinda said slowly. "I don't understand what this has to do with professor McGonagall."

"Well, it doesn't have anything to do with her, exactly. I just don't want her knowing I'm staying."

"Why?"

"Because she'll ask why I'm not going home."

"She doesn't seem like the type to pry. Are you sure she'd even care about your reasons..? No offense."

"None taken," X smirked at her and leaned back on his hands; Lucinda watched them, wondering if his fingers were freezing from the cold ground. "I have gone home for Christmas break for every year I've been here. She'll find it strange that I'm not going this time… She'll want to know why, with that hardened gleam in her eyes… And I really just don't want to deal with her going and pestering PomPom about it."

"P-PomPom?" Lucinda questioned with a laugh.

"Oh," X rolled his eyes. "Right. She doesn't like that name… Madam Pomfrey."

"Why would she…?"

"Well, I mean, it's not that bad of a nickname. She should know by now that I'm not going to stop calling her 'PomPom.'"

"No, I mean, why would professor McGonagall go to Madam Pomfrey about you?"

"Well, she's my aunt."

Lucinda tilted her head all of the way to the side and stared at the red-head boy. "Uhh… Seriously?"

Xavier shrugged again. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"It's just a surprise, that's all," Lucinda shrugged back at him. "So… I still don't understand why it's a big deal that you're staying at Hogwarts for Christmas."

"Never mind," he shook his head and stood up. "Let's just say that I don't want to start any unnecessary fights."

"I thought you've never been in a fight?" Lucinda joked as she stood up with him.

"Weeell…" Xavier rubbed his chin in thought. "I might have been in one or two."

"How many fights have you been in, X?" Lucinda asked and leaned her shoulder against the tree. "Five? Fifteen?"

"None."

"None?"

"Not a one."

Lucinda narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you."

"You and the rest of the world, Lou," said Xavier and then he looked up at the sky with a flat hand across his brow. "It looks like snow. You should come back inside soon."

"You should go tell McGonagall that you're staying at Hogwarts during break."

Xavier dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes this time. "Maybe I will, Lou. Maybe I will…"

A silence fell upon them and X became slightly uncomfortable. He rubbed his hands together and then stuck them in his coat pockets. "So you're going home for Christmas? Any major plans?"

Lucinda smiled and nodded. They walked together back to the castle, while she told him all about her home in the country and about the family that she was going to see during Christmas break. She didn't press him on the issue of his own home. Half the time, she didn't know whether or not he was joking, anyway. It was the same thing with the whole Madam Pomfrey thing. Who knew if that was true? Either way, Lucinda didn't care. He was kind to her and made fun of her and it never failed to put a smile on her face.

"Ahh!"

There was a crash, as glass met stone. "What's wrong?!" Snape spun around on the spot, completely ignoring the glass of water that had just slipped from his startled fingers and smashed on the floor.

"It's turning purple!" Lucinda squealed, bouncing up and down behind her table. "It's finally starting to head in the right direction! Thank Merlin!"

Snape squeezed a fist at his side and refrained from slamming it against his desk. "Don't scream like that."

"But I'm so excited!" She bounced again and Snape looked away from her chest, as it was making itself very prominent at every move that she made. It was another Saturday and she had muggle-type clothing on: a simple long-sleeved emerald green shirt. The neckline scooped down slightly, though and she wore a plain silver chain that reached just where the swell of her breasts began. Severus realized his eyes had wondered to the piece of jewelry again and he averted his eyes for the tenth time.

"So, the color is getting closer…" Snape observed to himself and began cleaning up the shattered glass and water from the floor. Lucinda hadn't even seemed to notice he'd dropped the thing. She mused over her potion with a happy grin on her face.

"The color is only half the battle, though," she mumbled and lowered the temperature of the flame under the cauldron. "I thought we might try the Kudu sap once it turns red."

"And you're sure this is something that you have thoroughly researched?" Snape asked, walking around her table to stand behind her and gaze down into the potion. "None of this seems familiar. What are you trying to accomplish with it?"

"Well, I don't know yet," she said gently. "That's why it's an experiment. Don't you want to be surprised?"

"Actually, I don't particularly enjoy surprises."

Lucinda laughed distractedly and bent forward slightly, peering into the liquid. It was turning to a deeper purple. She didn't know if that was good or bad, yet… "So if I surprised you with a Christmas gift, you wouldn't be grateful?" She mumbled, watching the potion with a nervous breath.

"Are we to that point now, Miss Morgan?" He said quietly over her shoulder. "Exchanging gifts?"

"It's not a point that we're at, professor," she replied coolly, but her voice still held a smidgeon of angst. "I give gifts to acquaintances, as well as friends."

"And what would your rotter of a boyfriend think of that?" He sneered, but she couldn't see his face anyway.

Lucinda shrugged, as she looked down into the dusky potion. "I don't know. I don't care."

"You don't care?" He asked in honest surprise, when he was originally going to ask it mockingly. "What's gotten into you?"

"Urgh!" Lucinda slammed a hand down on the table. "I don't care about this stupid thing! Look at it now! It's BLACK!"

"Well…" Snape leaned over her left shoulder and placed a hand on her right one. "At least it could be any color now."

"Do you think this is funny?" Lucinda asked resentfully.

"Of course not," he said quietly and rubbed a thumb over her shoulder a couple of times. "I'm just trying to keep you light-hearted about this. It's not life or death. It's just an experiment. It's supposed to be pleasurable."

Lucinda's face began to get warm. He could have used a different word. Now she felt strange with his face so close to hers and his hand moving absentmindedly across her shoulders. She stared down into the failure of a potion and felt her professor's fingers move up to the back of her neck. She was about to ask him what he was doing, when she felt her necklace gently pull against her throat.

"You are about to dip this in the potion," Snape muttered.

"Oh," she replied and placed a hand against her throat to hold the chain there. "It's alright. It's not that important." She leaned away from the cauldron, but Snape was too close to her. She simply leaned into him instead. Snape didn't want another mishap like last time though and so he was the one to step away from her. He released his hold on her necklace and walked back toward the front of the room.

"Why is the chain not important?" Her teacher asked as he stared at his chalk board. "You wouldn't wear it if it wasn't important, would you?"

"I guess not…" Lucinda said, thinking about it. "It used to be important, anyway."

"Used to?" He asked without turning around. "How so?" Then he began to erase certain parts of the steps they'd taken with the potion that day.

"The chain isn't what was important. It was what was on it."

Severus turned around and looked at her. She was still staring down into the cooling potion, but her hand was still holding onto the chain around her neck. "What was on it?"

Lucinda let a small breath out and looked up at him. "It doesn't matter. It was something my mother bought me, although she was reluctant to…"

"Well, now I am intrigued beyond my control, Gryffindor Girl." Snape said with some amusement and began to walk back to her table again. "What was she so disinclined to buy for you?"

Lucinda frowned. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"I'm certain it isn't," he said gently, standing with his back straight and his hands clasped behind his back. "Tell me the story."

The girl chewed her lips, but a small smile began to find its way to them. "Well, alright…" she said and then began the short tale. "So, we live in the country, away from most of civilization. The closest town isn't much to look at, but we'd travel there anyway, because I was fascinated by the broken fences and crumbling factories. My mother didn't like the place to begin with. She would have preferred not to visit, at all, but there was a shop that I couldn't get enough of. Now, Cokeworth doesn't look like the kind of place that would even have a shop, let alone one that would be interesting, but it was! There were all of these different trinkets and things and beautiful jewels—" Lucinda stopped talking abruptly. Her professor was leaning forward with his fists clenched atop the table as he looked at her with apprehension… and the beginnings of anger. "What is it? What did I say?" Lucinda asked while her face fell.

"Did you say Cokeworth?" He said quietly.

"Y-Yes…" Lucinda mumbled and her face fell more at the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Are you..?" He began in disbelief, but then he shook himself and lifted his hands from the table. He rubbed his face and looked at her again, searching her face for something, but she didn't know what. "Are you just being glib with me?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked in irritation. "I'm trying to tell you a story that I'm embarrassed about and you're making it really difficult. Now I don't want to tell it to you at all!"

He watched her face for a moment longer as it grew more and more distraught. Then he decided that she was being honest and the guilt he always felt around her began to rear its ugly head. "Sorry," he finally mumbled and waved a hand at her. "I'm thinking of something else. My mistake. Continue."

"No, I don't want to now." She snapped and began packing up her things.

Severus sighed and braced his palms on the table as he looked down at her. "Do not be that way. I was distracted," he said soothingly, hoping she would give in. "Please, tell me the story. I want to hear it."

Lucinda stopped her motions and looked up at him. "Are you that interested?" She asked skeptically.

Severus leaned over the table, so that his face was close to hers. "Exceedingly so…"

The blush that crept up her throat and disbursed across her face was more beautiful and more satisfying than any word she'd ever speak to Tristin Samael.

"Oh-h, okay…" she said and her hand went to the chain around her neck again.

Snape involuntarily looked down and caught a glimpse of the valley between her breasts and he felt his own face flush. He turned around abruptly and walked to his desk. "Alright, so tell me…" He said and hoped his voice would not betray him. "You visited a shop of trinkets in Cokeworth… What did you see there that you liked?"

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed behind him and Snape smiled to himself. "So, on occasions that I was being exceptionally good or sometimes on my birthday, we would visit Park's Shop in Cokeworth. Mother hated that place… She hated the whole town, actually. I think the broken buildings just depressed her, but they made me feel nostalgic for reasons I couldn't even fathom… Anyway, I'm getting off topic. So, on one special outing—and it was special, because it was my eleventh birthday—we went to the shop for a present of my choice, because that is where I wanted it from."

"You wanted a trinket?" Snape questioned, slightly bemused. He leaned back against the front of his desk to watch her speak.

"I just wanted a piece of that place," she continued with faraway eyes. "I wanted to have it with me, always… So, I looked around the shop, but nothing really caught my eye. I was feeling disappointed and kind of foolish about the whole trip. We were just going to leave, but then I saw something shimmering in the window. It reflected the light and I saw something sparkling in a mix of silver and green…"

"Go on…" Snape said, truly fascinated now. "What was it?"

"It was a pendant," she replied, but she looked down as she said it. "I know it resembled something dark, but I liked it… Mother's face drained of color. She was as white as a ghost and I felt so bad."

"What was it?" Snape asked again.

"It was a serpent made from emerald stones."

"What is so dark about that?" He asked with a scoff. "There is nothing dark about a serpent. It is just a symbol."

"Well, it wasn't the snake that had my mother so upset…" she said, becoming increasingly fidgety. "It was the… object that the snake was wrapped around."

Snape folded his arms over his chest and watched her nervous glances. "You have nothing to worry about," he said to her. "I will not judge you. Tell me."

"It was a skull…" She said slowly and locked eyes with him. He held her gaze and she didn't seem him react at all. There was just the slightest movement of his eyebrows and that was it. "It… resembled the Dark Mark, quite a bit… and I think it really threw her. She didn't want to buy it for me. I am not proud of it… but I begged for the pendant. I wanted it more than anything. I'm sure she was just afraid, what with the Dark Lord gaining strength in followers and everything… I mean, I had just turned eleven. I was undoubtedly going to be getting a letter from Hogwarts that following summer to start school and she probably thought I was going to end up in Slytherin—no offense intended on that, either—Part of me has always wondered if it was the pendant's fault that caused my mother to keep me from Hogwarts. But, of course, we learned the truth about that. Well, part of the truth, anyway…" She trailed off again and Snape watched her, his own ponderings forming in his mind.

"So, what happened to it?" He asked quietly.

Lucinda frowned and continued packing her things. It wasn't until she had taken the full cauldron to the back of the class and emptied it in the sink that she continued. "I had just received my first letter from Hogwarts. I was in the middle of celebrating and jumping for joy at the thought of advancing in my magic when my mother, in a sudden rage, told me that I was to be homeschooled. I'm not even going to sugar-coat it. I flipped out on her. I screamed at her. I told her I hated her. I even ran away. I tried to make it to Hogwarts, myself. It was the middle of summer and not even time for students to start arriving, but I told myself I would just go to the school to live and no one was going to stop me. It was unconventional, but I tried to do it. I got as far as Cokeworth and, let me tell you, that was quite a trek on foot. It took me several hours to get there, before my mother realized I was gone. It only took her a few minutes to find me, of course. It was such a spectacle in the middle of the street. I embarrassed her. I know I did. I cried and stomped and bellowed that she was the worst mother who ever lived and that she didn't deserve me as her child. I told her that I wished she wasn't my mother…" Lucinda had to stop talking. There was a sob threatening to choke her. She had to keep it in. She had her hands in the soapy water, the tap still running at a trickle and she breathed deeply, trying to keep her tears in. One escaped, though. It slid small and silent from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek close to her ear. That was when she felt a hand touch her face and wipe the tear away. She turned to see that her professor was now standing next to her, looking down at her in a new way. She never knew professor Snape could have so many different expressions when he looked at her…

"Sorry," Lucinda said with a laugh. "I didn't mean to get so emotional. It's just a sad story."

"She knows you didn't mean it," he said softly and ran his knuckles down her cheek. "Did she take the pendant from you?"

Lucinda smiled sadly as her professor's hand left her cheek. "Yes. She pulled it right from my neck. The chain broke and the pendant slipped off and fell in the dirt. I went to retrieve it and she grabbed it before I could."

"And she threw it…" He finished the story for her.

Lucinda nodded. "Yes, she threw it. And directly after that she took me back home…" She rinsed the cauldron and set it on the table behind her. "I only had it for about four months, but it's alright. I know my mother felt bad. She was really gentle with me for the next few days, but I was still distraught… We even searched for it together a few times on our visits back to the town, but nothing ever came of it. The pendant was gone. It either got trampled deep into the earth, or someone found it."

"I'm sorry that you never found it," he said and he really sounded so terribly sorry that it was as if he were the one who ripped the pendant from her neck and chucked it in the dirt.

Lucinda shrugged and picked up her bag. "It's alright. It's in the past. It's not like it was a family heirloom or something. It was just pretty. It would have been nice to keep it, but I can't change the past, so oh well. Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"Actually," Snape said, looking at the bit of sun peeking through the tiny windows, "it seems it's getting late. Dinner will be starting soon. You should go."

"Just me?" Lucinda questioned. "Are you not coming to dinner, as well?"

"Yes, but not yet," he answered and then started toward the classroom door. "I will see you later; possibly at the end of the supper hour… possibly not at all."

"Why? What's going on?" Lucinda followed behind him.

"It's nothing, Gryffindor Girl," he smiled down at her. "There is just something that I need to take care of. I will see you later tonight or tomorrow. Be sure to go and get something to eat, regardless."

"Okay…" she replied, wanting to question him further, but he was already making his way quickly down the hallway outside his classroom. Lucinda watched him go; his black cloak billowed out behind him in a great, dark wave. She didn't see him that night at dinner, though. He had said she might not... but it still left her thinking of him as Tristin sat down beside her at the Gryffindor Table.