#
The next evening after her Charms class, Freddie hurried down to the dungeons excitedly. Her Amortentia would be done within the hour, she just had a few more ingredients to add. Snape was at his desk when she entered the office.
"Hey," she said as she dumped her bag into her usual chair then headed straight for the Brewing Lab.
The whole room smelled amazing. She breathed deeply as she gathered what she needed to complete the brew. Peppermint oil and pearl dust. She added two measures of pearl dust to the silver brew and stirred it in. She carefully added 3 drops of the peppermint oil and reduced the flames under the cauldron.
The potion looked exactly as described in the textbook, a shimmering silver with a mother-of-pearl sheen. Spirals of steam came from the cauldron and Freddie stood there, breathing it in. It was an intoxicating scent that made her feel calmer than she could ever remember being. An earthy, herbal scent, like freshly picked fluxweed.
"Smells like you successfully completed the Amortentia," Snape said from beside her.
Freddie looked up, feeling a little light-headed. She hadn't even noticed he'd joined her in the lab.
"Mm-hm," she said, inhaling deeply again.
"What do you smell?" he asked, also breathing deeply.
"If I tell you, then you tell me," she said.
"Fair enough," he agreed.
"I smell earth...like freshly-picked herbs. Sandalwood. And snow, freshly fallen snow and ice."
He nodded silently and took a slow, deep breath.
"I smell tea leaves," he said. "And a metallic scent, like how an empty pewter cauldron right before you start a new potion. And there are floral scents, too. Honeysuckle and-" he paused a moment. "-lilies."
Freddie felt suddenly warm as she realized that honeysuckle essence was the scent she wore as perfume. Does he know that? She wondered.
"I'm feeling a little light-headed," she admitted with a chuckle.
"It can have that effect. We should vanish it, now that it's complete."
"We should," she agreed, but neither of them moved. They stood together for several minutes, just breathing in the scent.
Finally, Snape seemed to shake it off. He pulled out his wand and Freddie watched wistfully as the potion disappeared. She sighed softly as the wonderful scent faded, leaving her with a strangely hollow feeling.
"Come," he said to her. "I'll have Noelle bring us some tea."
Freddie nodded and followed him out of the lab.
"Do you have homework you need to do?" he asked her once Noelle had brought their tea.
"It's Friday," she said with a shrug. "I have time."
"If you complete you assignments tonight, we will have more time to practice nonverbal spells this weekend. You may do your work here if you like, while I grade your class's homework I collected this morning."
"Okay," she agreed, digging her Charms textbook from her bag. She pulled her chair closer to his desk so she would have space to work.
"Are you still going to work with me on controlling my outbursts?" she inquired.
"Yes. I am still considering the best approach for your issue. I've been doing some research."
"For me?" she asked, surprised.
"Yes."
"You don't have to do that. I don't want to cause you any extra work, or- or stress," she said nervously. "I just...I don't want to hurt anyone else by mistake."
"I know," he said quietly. "Do not worry. Focus on your homework, Winifred."
"Yes sir," she said obediently.
#
On Sunday morning they practiced nonverbal hexes and jinxes until lunchtime. When he asked her if she wanted to come back after lunch, Freddie hesitated.
"I have something I need to do," she said. "Would after dinner be okay?"
"I told you to finish your homework on Friday."
"I did," she said defensively. "This is something else."
"You're not going into the forest again, are you?" he asked, looking at her with a piercing gaze.
"No," she said. "No, I promised. I just have something to do, okay?"
"Fine," he agreed. "I...trust you."
"Good," she said with a smile. "You should."
Freddie left Snape's office, smiling pleasantly to herself. Tomorrow was Snape's birthday and she hadn't forgotten. Despite his insistence that it was irrelevant, she planned to get him something. She didn't know what exactly but she knew she wanted to get him something.
She stopped by her dorm and got her hat and scarf before heading outside. She started down the path to Hogsmeade, ignoring the students who glared at her as she passed or ran away from her. She kept her hand on Hemlock who was hidden away in her pocket as always.
She hummed to herself as she walked along the path, intermittently mumbling the lyrics to Take it Easy under her breath. She was almost to the village when she spotted the tall, bearded figure of Albus Dumbledore walking towards her. She glanced around her, but there was nowhere to hide, no way to avoid him. She sighed deeply, hoping that he would just say hello and be on his way.
No such luck, she thought as he slowed down.
"Good afternoon, Miss Gray. How are you?" he asked cheerily.
"I'm, uh, fine, Headmaster. How are you?"
"Fantastic," he answered, his blue eyes twinkling. "It's such a lovely day for a walk, don't you think? It's going to be a beautiful Spring this year."
"Yes sir."
He didn't continue walking, just smiled, like he was waiting for her to say something.
"I was just, uh, heading into the village to- well, it's Professor Snape's birthday tomorrow, sir."
"Yes, I know. You're off to find him a gift?"
"Yes sir. He's been really, well... I just wanted to do something nice for him. He said he doesn't celebrate birthdays."
"Oh he hates them," he said cheerfully. "He complains every year when I give him a gift. He doesn't usually tell people his birthday, but I've known him most of his life."
"He mentioned it the other day. What did you get him?" she asked curiously.
"The same thing I always get him," he said, producing a bottle of scotch with a red bow on it.
"Ah," she said with a nod. "Well, I'm going to see what I can find in the village."
"Good luck, Miss Gray."
Freddie spent the next few hours wandering in and out of the shops in Hogsmeade. She spent a good deal of time in the Apothecary. She could get him potion ingredients, something he didn't normally keep in stock, but that didn't feel right. She wanted something more personal.
It was getting late when she found herself in an antique shop. She browsed the shelves absently. Suddenly a flash of green caught her eye at the back of the shop. She felt drawn to it and walked over to a dusty wooden cabinet filled with curios. There on the top shelf was an antique tea set.
It was emerald green with silver inlaid in a web-like pattern. There was a pot and two matching cups and saucers. It was perfect.
She paid for the set and the kindly old witch at the counter wrapped it up for her.
"I was worried no one would every buy this old set," the witch said in a crackly voice. "Most sets have at least four cups. This one may have at some point, but as long as its been here its been incomplete."
"That's okay," she assured the woman. "My...friend who I'm buying it for, he's a bit of a longer. Not many house guests who join him for tea."
She chuckled quietly.
"Well, I hope he enjoys it, dear," the witch said.
"Me too. Thank you."
Freddie planned to take her gift to her dorm as soon as she got back to the castle. She was walking past the greenhouses when she had another idea. She smiled to herself and looked around to make sure no one was watching before she snuck into Greenhouse 1.
After stowing her gifts in her trunk, Freddie headed down to Snape's office. She was smiling when she entered the room to find Snape sitting at his desk. He looked annoyed.
"You okay?" she asked, sitting down across from him. "More essays to grade?"
"Did you eat dinner?" he asked, not looking up at her.
"Uh...no."
"Go eat dinner, then you may return and get started on brewing Chelidonium Miniscula. I have left the recipe for you on the workstation," he said coolly.
"W- what's wrong?" she asked, frowning slightly. "Why can't Noelle just bring-"
"Go eat dinner, Miss Gray," he said shortly.
"...Fine," she said, getting up from her chair. "I'll see you after."
Freddie felt confused as she made her way up to the Great Hall. Snape was mad, clearly. But is he mad at me? Or just mad in general?
Freddie tried not to fret over Snape and his mood swings as she sat at the end of Slytherin table and picked at her dinner. When she felt she'd been there a significant amount of time, she headed back down to the dungeons, hoping Snape's mood had improved.
It hadn't.
She spent the rest of her evening working on her potion alone. Any time she tried to talk to Snape, his replies were short and snarks. Eventually she gave up trying to get him out of his mood and just focused on her work.
At 10 minutes til curfew, she put a stasis spell on her potion and cleaned up her workstation. She walked out into Snape's office and got her bag and cloak off the chair.
"Goodnight Professor," she said as she headed for the door. "I hope you feel better tomorrow, whatever your problem is."
"Miss Gray," he said sharply and she paused with her hand on the door. "...Goodnight."
"Goodnight," she repeated and headed to bed.