Freddie woke just a few short hours later, to the feeling of someone watching her. She opened her eyes and was startled to find Snape standing next to her bed.
"Bloody hell," she said, sitting upright in bed and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it? What d'you want?"
"You have a study period this morning," he said. It was a statement not a question but she answered anyway.
"Yeah, I was gonna sleep in."
"No, you're going to help me teach my class, since you kept me up all night. Get dressed."
She ran a hand through her hair and squinted up at him, wondering if she were still asleep.
"You gonna stand there and watch?" she asked.
His face flushed an angry shade of red.
"Be in my classroom in 10 minutes," he growled. "And don't go back to sleep."
"Yes sir," she said, rolling her eyes when he turned his back to her.
Freddie got dressed quickly. Despite her lack of sleep she was actually excited. He'd never asked her to help with a class before.
"You were up with Professor Snape all night?" Maggie asked as Freddie pulled the curtains open around her bed.
Oh now she wants to talk to me? She thought, a feeling of annoyance rippling through her. She ignored her classmate and left the dorm.
Freddie hurried down to the Potions classroom to find Snape sitting at his desk, rubbing his temples.
"Hangover?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the desk she usually sat at during class.
"Lack of sleep," he replied coolly. "Take this and write the instructions for the Calming Draught on the blackboard."
He pushed the book containing the recipe towards the edge of his desk. She waved him off.
"I don't need that," she said dismissively, approaching the blackboard and picking up the chalk. "Unless you've improved upon it in the last two years?"
He didn't respond and Freddie began to write the recipe on the blackboard. It was one she knew by heart and she didn't stop until she was almost finished. She glanced over her shoulder to see Snape's eyes on her.
Is he looking at my butt? She wondered, smirking slightly to herself.
"Are you stuck, Miss Gray?" he asked in a drawling tone, tapping the book on his desk with one finger.
"No sir," she answered and finished writing the last two steps.
She put the chalk down and walked over to his desk.
"So," she said, sitting on the edge of his desk, facing him. "How am I supposed to help you teach your class?"
"You can start by getting off my desk," he said irritably.
"Okay, okay. Jeez. Touchy," she said, sliding off his desk. "You're grouchy when you don't sleep."
He glared at her, a sour look on his face.
"I strongly dislike you sometimes," he said.
"Only sometimes?" she asked with a smirk.
"Enough chit-chat," he said. "The fourth years will be here any minute."
"Alright, what do you want me to do?"
"You've seen me teach classes for the last six years. Be me."
"Brood around, insult them, make them piss their pants?"
He looked up at her, smirking slightly.
"Think you can do it?" he asked.
"I'll do my best," she promised.
As the fourth year students filtered into the classroom, they all stared wide-eyed at Freddie. Most of them looked terrified but no one dared to whisper about her, not with Snape in the room.
When the bell rang, signaling the start of class, Snape stood up from his desk.
"This is Miss Gray," he said without prelude. "She is my apprentice and she'll be teaching this class today. I expect you all to be on your best behavior and to obey her as you would me. If not there will be...unpleasant repercussions."
He headed for the door and Freddie felt briefly alarmed.
He's leaving me alone with them?
"I will return shortly," he said smoothly, then left the room.
The students all stared at Freddie, too afraid to speak.
"The instructions are on the board," she said in her best bored-sounding Snape voice. "You may begin."
She watched with a sense of satisfaction as they scrambled for the supply cupboard. She walked around Snape's desk and sat down in his chair, feeling a thrill of excitement. She kept an eye on the students as she looked over the papers on his desk. There was a stack of ungraded essays on the corner of his desk. She picked them up and looked through them.
She opened the top drawer of his desk and found a quill and an inkwell of red ink. She settled in to grade the papers for him.
She was reading when she heard whispers. She glanced up to see two Gryffindor girls whispering to each other.
"Quiet," she said in a dangerous tone and they fell silent.
She continued working on the essays, glancing up at the students periodically. Once when she looked up she noticed a small Slytherin girl with her hand in the air.
"Miss Gray?" she said timidly.
Freddie pushed back from Snape's desk and walked over to her.
"What?" she asked shortly.
"M-my potion. It won't turn red no matter how much powdered porcupine quills I add. Did I mess up?"
Freddie glanced at the brew in the cauldron, which was a violet color. She picked up the ladle and brought a spoonful up so she could examine it more closely. She nodded slightly to herself and put the ladle back.
"Let me see your porcupine quills," Freddie said and the girl quickly handed her the mortar. "You have to shake them up really well, like this."
She put her hand over the top of the mortar and shook it vigorously before handing it back to her.
"There, try it now," she encouraged.
The girl added just a dash of the powdered compound to her cauldron and it immediately turned red.
"Wow. Thank you ma'am," the girl said, looking up at her with bright blue eyes. Freddie smirked slightly.
"Back to work," she told her.
She strode along the rows of desks, checking the work of the other students. She shook her head at most of them. She stopped beside a cauldron that contained a thick, blue liquid.
"What is this?" she asked the Gryffindor boy, squinting at him through the dark gray smoke coming off of the brew.
"A...Calming Draught? Ma'am?"
"What's your name?"
"Don Segrest, ma'am."
"Do you know what would happen if someone were to drink this potion of yours, Mr Segrest?"
"Um..." he looked down at his cauldron then back up at her. "Probably something bad?"
"If we were to give a dose of this brew to someone suffering from hysterics, then would no longer be upset," she said. "However...they would also be dead."
"Oh," he said, looking down again. "Well that sucks."
He wouldn't say that if I were Snape, she thought with a snort.
"Indeed. Do you know where you screwed up, Mr Segrest?" she asked.
He took a moment to re-read the directions on the board, then looked across his workstation.
"I think I used too much moonstone, ma'am."
"You are correct," she said, and pulled out her wand. She vanished the contents of the cauldron. "Start over, Mr Segrest, and be more aware of your actions this time."
"But I won't have enough time to complete it," he protested.
"I will ensure you are graded on your ability and not on your final product," she said. "Now, start over."
"Yes ma'am," he said and went back to the supply cupboard.
Freddie continued making the rounds around the desks. She noticed that the students seemed to be growing more at ease with her. A few of them even raised their hands to ask her questions and even though they were stupid questions, she answered them.
"It is important no to be too heavy-handed with ingredients in this particular brew," Freddie said as she circled back to the front of the classroom. "If the ingredients are not measured precisely, they can leave the drinker in a deep, irreversible sleep, often resulting in death – if they are lucky." She sat on top of Snape's desk and faced them, legs crossed. "Otherwise they'll spend the rest of their lives asleep, their loved ones weeping at their bedsides as they waste away."
Some of the Slytherin students grinned wickedly at her. Freddie smirked slightly and continued to watch them work.
Snape didn't return until about 15 minutes before the bell rang. He looked more rested and alert. Probably took an Invigoration Draught, Freddie thought as she got up from his desk. She'd finished grading the essays for him. He didn't approach the desk but instead walked around the classroom. Freddie followed close behind as he inspected their work.
He made a few snarky comments but there were no complete disasters. He gave them a homework assignment which they quickly copied down before the bell rang. When the students were gone, Snape closed the door and turned to face her.
"You look like you feel better," she commented. "Invigoration Draught?"
"Did they behave?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"Yeah, they weren't so bad. They asked a few stupid questions but I didn't mind answering. It was actually kind of fun."
"You would not be saying that if you'd been teaching the class for nearly a decade," he said dryly.
"Probably not," she agreed with a chuckle. "Are you okay now? I could stay and help you with the next class."
"Go to Transfiguration, Winifred," he said, witting down at his desk.
"Yes sir," she said, picking up her bag and walking towards the door. "You're welcome."
He scoffed at her and she grinned at him before leaving the classroom.
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Author's Note: The more yall review the more it makes me want to update! Thanks everyone!