A/N - this is a late and short chapter, but I had most of this written for a while. I wanted to post it for those who have been following. I had a bit of executive dysfunction with this chapter, so i thought it was best to keep it short so I can get to the next one quicker! Enjoy, and thank you for the support!

Chapter 4

Pandora sat in the North Tower the morning of September 2nd, the first day of classes. The room was filled with thick incense smoke and tapestries detailing Gaelic mythology. Professor Odhar was sitting in his armchair in a trance. He was the descendent of the famous Brahan seer, practiced in druidic and celtic soothsaying. His hair, greying and wild, would almost light up in the presence of so many candles, but somehow it seemed impervious. Pandora surmised that he must use some kind of flame retardant potion, and so would experiment on her own time.

Divination was not a very popular class past the third year, so her class, in the fourth year now, had widdled down to two. She and Narcissa Black spent a large amount of time together, practicing cartomancy techniques. Narcissa happened to be a gifted artist, and so she would paint her visions upon cards and Pandora would interpret. Professor Odhar had very little input, truthfully, though he would answer questions regarding the nature of symbols they may not know with very little effort. His encyclopedic knowledge of these led to many successful readings. Even when the future was not predicted, the outcome's themes were often accurately depicted, symbolically and in some cases photographically.

Pandora peered at the three cards in front of her.

A deer wrapped around a fox, sleeping or dead.

An antler piercing a heart, bleeding over a rune.

A tree of ten torches, against a blood moon.

Innocence and cunning... or is it the death of innocence? She pondered. The Norse rune Kaun. Malady, death, torches... She tapped her lips and ran a finger gingerly over the rune. Ten of wands. A heavy burden...

"Professor Odhar?" She looked up.

He turned to look at her. "Yes?"

"To you, does this deer look alive or dead?" She held up the card. He stood to examine it closer.

"What is the difference between the two?" He asked cryptically. "Perhaps the deer is dead, allowing the fox to live."

"The death of the protector, of innocence, to allow for the survival of cunning?" She clicked her tongue. "That's a bit too literal. But perhaps the antler is the father, the deer the mother, and the burden to be held is that death?"

"Could be." Professor Odhar returned to his chair.

Pandora hums and writes on her parchment.

Severus had never really been a dreamer, his mind would close as he slipped into unconsciousness and the depths of his mind would leave him be. Maybe that was in exchange for the constant rumblings while he was awake, the doubt nagging incessantly and questioning his motives for every action and reaction. Severus was eleven years old, but he felt more like a tortured adult trapped in the helpless body of a child some days. He was mature for his age, but that just meant he was abnormally depressed and jaded. But who needed a childhood when you could have the tacit approval of the adults in your life?

Perhaps that is why Malfoy took an interest in him. Admittedly, he was not sure that he felt all that good about that. The Prefect had given him a time to meet and it was clearly to break rules. Severus was pretty sure that even if he was caught out of bed, he could use the mourning excuse; in truth it may have been the most useful thing his father ever gave him.

"Today we are going to be brewing a simple growth potion for your herbology class." Professor Slughorn tapped his round fingers on his table. "I've been working with Professor Prewett and Professor Crouch to put together a few lesson plans which will demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of an art like potions making. This potion's history can be found in chapter 2, though the recipe is located in the index at the back." He took out a few vials. "The potion calls for ground snail shells, which you can find here," He gestures to a bottle. "Or you can grind your own. Each brewer will be bottling their potions and using it in your Herbology class later on this week."

Severus began to read the history of the potion before beginning, figuring that there must be some trick to making it either the easy way, with pre-ground shells, or doing it himself. That's something he had noticed while going through the more advanced books; potion recipes were situational and often needed tweaks.

The Growth Potion is used to hasten the germination process in simple plants. This solution may be adapted in different ways to better suit a given plant. However, it should be noted that the preparation of ingredients, from the grinding of shells to the capturing of stink bug essence can affect the final product. It is recommended to use fresh ingredients, as often the process of potion brewing is time gated; certain properties of ingredients are lost when stored and preserved. In some cases later on in this book, however, there are certain potions which call for dried and preserved components for the best results. To aid fresh, living, growing things, a potion should match its intent. In general, common sense and the brewer's intuition are the most important ingredient!

Aha. Severus smirked slightly, looking up as some students took the ground shells. Mary looked at him and shrugged. "You want me to grab them?"

"Sure, if you can find the freshest ones you can find, I'll grind double while you measure out the stink bug essence."

She nodded and retrieved what was necessary while he lit their cauldrons to the proper heat, stirring the fresh water clockwise as it heated.

He ground the shells carefully, noticing the difference in these shells was likely the remnants of snail mucus. He spoke low to Mary. "So I think in this case, any ingredients we use should be as fresh as possible, like the book explains." He showed her his shells that were in the middle of being ground up. "That mucus itself will potentially brew a better potion."

They weren't the only students grinding their own shells of course, as most of the Ravenclaws read the excerpt from the book. Though their Slytherin classmates had largely sought expediency. In the end, all potions sparing one had the correct color, a light taupe, though those who had used fresh shells seemed to shimmer more. One potion, however, brewed by the Slytherin student Walden Macnair, was teal in color.

Slughorn peered at the potion and tilted his head, sniffing it. "Ah, did you use sea snail shells instead?"

Macnair placed a hand on his forehead and murmured, "Bloody hell..."

Slughorn chuckled and gave him a reassuring shoulder pat. "Now bottle these up and they will have to rest overnight before use. Once your stations have been cleaned up, you are dismissed."

Severus filled his bottles and labeled them, taking his and Mary's to the shelf while she began cleaning up the stations. It's really nice to have a partner... He thought with a half smile. He had usually been on his own while attending literacy classes as a small child. The odd child out, in truth, especially when it came to group work. Finding someone to help do any work at all was a nightmare, and he preferred, by far, to do double or triple the work on his own than involve anyone else. But working with Mary was different, and Sev felt working with her was like having a second pair of hands.

The rest of the week went by without too much incident, Severus kept to himself mostly, trying to avoid the thoughts spinning around with respect to his father and mother. By the end of the week, the news had spread and faded into the background. Students weren't staring at him anymore, though the professors still had to hide their looks of pity. The invitation from Malfoy gnawed at him as time went on. He was admittedly curious, and it ate at him. There was anger there too, a shame that crept up on him unexpectedly. Avenging his mother sounded like the valiant thing to do. Maybe even the righteous thing, but he was not keen on the messenger. Prefect Malfoy had snake painted all over him, metaphorically and... literally speaking. Severus knew he could not under any circumstances trust him.

In the end, Sev decided that he could not let his curiosity eat him alive, but that he would be cautious about it.

"Xeno?" He whispered that night at dinner.

"Hmm?" Xeno leaned in, his attention rapt. Severus didn't speak all that much, so this must be important.

"Tomorrow night I am going to the dungeon after hours. Malfoy wants to talk."

"Delightful. Brilliant. The worst idea I have heard in a week and I am all for it." Xeno says a little loud for Severus' taste. "I'll cover for you." He took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. "And by that, I mean, ensure any blame is lain on Malfoy if things get out of hand." He then quickly added. "Assuming they don't lock you in the crypt."

Severus grimaced. "Thanks...I knew I could... count on you." He said warily, taking a bite of a buttered roll. "I figure I've got some pity points left to milk... so if they do not work, your, ah, ingenuity, may be useful..."

"Depends on who catches you, but yes, I think you have not quite finished that teat." He grinned slightly. "I can forge you a pass that may stand up to some scrutiny. Just don't try to use it on McGonagall or Edgecomb. Might work on Slughorn, he'd probably not even read it."

Severus nodded. "Thanks." He replied quietly.