#

The next month passed by fairly quickly. Freddie's grades improved inside the classroom after she'd followed Snape's advice. She spent her free time in the lab or helping him in the classroom. She now had a gaggle of younger Slytherin students who sat with her at mealtimes, pestering her for help with their Potions work, but she didn't really mind. She liked that they called her 'ma'am'.

Freddie woke early on the morning of February 13th. Her birthday. She'd had a rough night, tossing and turning through most of it. As silly as it seemed, she found herself imagining that Daniel might show up for her birthday.

Eventually she gave up on sleep and sat up. It was too early to go down to breakfast. She pulled open one of the curtains around her bed so she could look out under the lake. The giant squid was resting just outside her window.

"Good morning, Inky," she said softly, waving to the squid. "...I don't suppose you've seen Daniel?"

The squid didn't answer, of course, just blinked slowly at her. She sighed softly, then pulled a piece of parchment from her bag to pen another letter to Daniel.

Dear Daniel,

She paused briefly, trying to figure out what to say.

It's my 17th birthday today. I wish you were here. Part of me hopes you'll still show up. Maybe you will. I can imagine you waltzing into class with a birthday cake, grinning at me like everything is fine.

She paused again, her hand trembling slightly. She took a steadying breath.

So I'm 17 now I guess. I'm finally of age. I can Apparate, I can use magic outside of school. I don't really feel any different.

I wonder if Snape remembers it's my birthday today? Wonder if he'll do anything for me? We drank together and brewed a potion on his birthday, maybe we could do something like that tonight.

She put her quill down and thought a moment. Drinking alone with Snape sounded like the best way to spend her birthday, short of Daniel showing up.

And I'm of legal age now, she realized. If there's any chance of anything happening between us, my odds just increased.

She chuckled to herself and picked up her quill.

He's been flirting with me, I think. Although it may be all in my head. He's so hard to read. Is he flirting or is he just being nice to me because Dumbledore told him to? I wish I could read his mind.

I wonder what you would think of all this? Do you have any advice for me? Maybe you could send me a letter?

She stopped again and sighed. The more time went by the less confident she felt that Daniel would turn up.

Maybe he really is dead...

She hated herself for even thinking it. She balled up the parchment in her fist and got up to throw it into her trunk. She paused when she saw a small package sitting on top of her trunk. It hadn't been there a moment ago.

She picked it up and looked it over. Plain brown paper, no note. Her mind immediately went to Daniel. She shoved the balled up letter into her trunk and sat down on her bed with the package.

She unwrapped it carefully, hoping to find some clue as to who it was from. There was no note, just a small black box. She opened it to find a pair of silver earrings. They were shaped like snakes – cobras to be exact – and the tails formed hooks.

She smiled slightly to herself and took them to the bathroom to put them on. She returned to her bed and looked the package over for clues. She doubted it was Daniel. Any gift he'd ever given her had been wrapped in brightly colored paper with an elaborate bow.

She sniffed the brown paper curiously – it smelled of herbs and parchment. Her smile grew wider. She knew who had sent the gift.

Freddie got dressed and headed down to breakfast. She was one of the first to arrive in the Great Hall. There were a few Hufflepuffs, stuffing their faces, and a few Ravenclaws with books spread out in front of them while they ate. She turned her back to them as they looked up to glare at her.

She sat at the end of the Slytherin table and poured herself a cup of tea. She put some eggs and bacon on her plate and picked at it while she flipped through a new Potions book she'd gotten in Hogsmeade last weekend.

Eventually she was joined by her third and fourth year flunkies.

"Morning Miss Gray," Amelia said, sitting down next to her. "This is for you."

She slid Freddie a box of chocolates from Honeydukes. She marked her spot in her book and closed it before picking up the box.

"Why?" she asked, looking down at the girl.

"My cousin – Christine Gibbs – she told me it's your birthday today."

Freddie looked down the table at her classmates, then back at Amelia.

"What else did she tell you about me?"

"That they used to call you Potions Princess," she answered brightly.

"And now they call me 'murderer'," she said darkly.

Amelia's face fell and the group around her got quiet.

"The way I see it, ma'am," the girl said softly. "Regardless of what you did or didn't do...Slytherin is about loyalty and we should stand by you, no matter what."

Freddie stared at her but the girl's blue eyes showed nothing but the truth. Slowly, Freddie smiled.

"Well," she said slowly. "You've got a better handle on that than most it seems."

"Hey Miss Gray," said a boy across the table. "Are you any good at Transfiguration?"

"I'm good at everything, O'Neil," she said dryly. "Show me what you're having trouble with."

#

Freddie didn't see Snape at breakfast and she didn't have a Potions class that morning. She didn't see him until that afternoon, when she showed up to help him teach his class of third years. She waited to see if he would mention her birthday, but he didn't. He didn't mention her earrings either.

Maybe they weren't from him after all, she thought, touching her earrings thoughtfully.

"Can you handle them alone today?" Snape asked her as she wrote the recipe on the chalkboard.

"Of course," she said, surprised. "Why?"

"I have something to do," he answered, standing up from his desk.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"I do not owe you an explanation, Miss Gray," he said in a low voice. "Will you teach my class or not?"

"Sure. Whatever," she said with a nonchalant shrug.

He inclined his head slightly in thanks before leaving the classroom. Freddie finished writing the recipe for the Shrinking Solution on the board, then sat down at Snape's desk with a sigh. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She tried not to pout as the third years began to drift into the room. Once they were all seated, she stood up.

"Good afternoon," she said to him. "Professor Snape had a personal matter to tend to-" she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "-so I'll be leading this lesson alone today. Last year you were assigned an essay on the Shrinking Solution, correct?"

"Yes ma'am," said a few while others nodded.

"So you should be able to tell me the effects of this brew?"

A few students raised their hands.

"Miss Sykes?" she said, calling on a young Slytherin girl.

"It causes creatures to revert to a younger form," she answered.

"Correct. In the 1500s esteemed potioneer Zygmunt Budge developed his own version of the Shrinking Solution, a much more potent version that numerous witches and wizards across the globe still use today. Can anyone tell me what for?"

She looked out over the class, at all the uncertain faces. Then one Gryffindor girl's hand shot way up. She didn't know her name so she pointed at her.

"Farmers use it to transport livestock over long distances. They can shrink a whole herd of cows and carry them in their pocket," she answered and gave a quick grin. "I grew up on a farm."

"That's very good, Miss-?"

"Glaspell," she answered. "Laura Glaspell."

"Very good, Miss Glaspell," she said, wishing she could award house points. "Now, the recipe is on the board, you know where the ingredients are. You have one hour. Begin."

Freddie sat back down at Snape's desk as the students began gathering ingredients. She watched them for a while, absently doodling on a piece of parchment on Snape's desk. Eventually she pulled out her books to work on her homework, thinking to herself that this was the worst birthday ever.

Author's Note: I have three more chapters typed up so far (and many more to go) and i was planning to post them over the next couple days but they are soooo good I kinda want to share them with y'all all at once, especially since so many of you have been reviewing and I know yall love this as much as I do. So what do yall want - post em now or spread it out? I know yall wanna know how Freddie spends the rest of her birthday! 😍

PS to the reviewer who asked why the other teachers wouldnt be suspect about Snape letting Freddie help teach...my answer is that since she's his apprentice she is capable of teaching the younger students. And the students themselves dont complain because she isnt as hard on them as Severus - even the Gryffindors 😉