Chapter Four – Onwards!
… or I finally leave the Dursleys

We left the house in silence and strolled down the street in a similar way. I was actually enjoying myself for a change as I breathed in the fresh morning air and thinking of how differently Snape was acting just by me being a girl and looking like Lily.

"I apologize for not introducing myself earlier," Snape finally spoke. I already liked his voice. It was calm and steady, with just a bit of softness hidden behind it.

"I am Severus Snape, one of the professors from Hogwarts. I was sent to answer any and all questions you might have and to help you buy your school things at Diagon Alley before returning you to your relatives. I find myself extremely reluctant in doing the latter."

I could understand why he was reluctant, knowing the things I did about his childhood. It must have been an unpleasant shock to see how similarly we were treated.

"Pleased to meet you, professor Snape. My name is Adaline Potter," I went and introduced myself in turn, even though he knew what my name was. I figured it was only polite to reciprocate the introduction.

"I am aware," was all he said in return and I quirked an eyebrow at him. There was no trace of hatred in his voice.

He was really different from what I was expecting.

"What subject do you teach?" I asked him even though I knew the answer. It was expected of me to ask this question, though.

"I'm teaching Potions," was the short answer.

"Is that anything like cooking?" I asked and saw a sneer appear on his face. Ouch, he must hate Potions being compared to cooking. I did too as a matter of fact, but seeing as they didn't expect me to know the difference, it was a logical question.

"Potions is nothing like cooking," he replied with a voice a smidge louder than before. I could almost hear his silent you dunderhead.

"Brewing potions is an art," he continued in a softer voice, "I will teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even how to put a stopper to death."

He was clearly in his element and didn't disguise his love of his subject.

"Potions is vastly different from cooking insofar as you have to measure ingredients extremely carefully because if there is even a gram more or less of an ingredient, the potion mostly ends up being useless," he continued and I listened in awe with – I admit it – my mouth gaping a bit.

"There are also different methods of preparing ingredients which are also important in producing a working potion instead of blowing it up."

He paused there and took a look at my enraptured face. His own face softened a bit as he found out that he wasn't boring me like he was probably expecting. Instead, I think he found a rare person that was as interested in what he was talking about as he was in discussing it.

I gave him a big grin and skipped beside him from excitement.

"Is the temperature also important? Like not letting it get to a boil, or letting it simmer?" I asked him – because I was genuinely interested and not just because. The books didn't go into many details when classes were mentioned after all, and getting to actually brew Potions made me actually giddy.

And oh my God! Or should I start saying Merlin now?

Merlin's saggy left testi- you know what, I don't care, I'll keep saying OMG, I don't feel like mentioning the unmentionables in this story.

Anyway, the reason I just did this was because Snape lets his lips quirk up a bit. It wasn't a chuckle, nor was it a smile, but it was a small quirk which meant that he was pleased with the question. It meant the world to me.

And no, I am not harbouring a crush on Severus Snape. And even if I did, there would be nothing I could do about it, seeing as he was the same age as my father and still loved my mum. Also, I was older than him. Though I probably shouldn't think about that right now, seeing as I was only eleven at this moment.

"Yes, the temperature is also important," he replied to my question and then went on to rhapsodise about what different temperatures would mean to some ingredients and how they interacted with each other.

And so we spent the short stroll towards Little Whinging's train station talking about potions. I learned a lot and Snape promised to find me a few books for extra reading material on Potions when I asked him.


Author's Note: Hello and thank you for reading this story of mine! As you probably already noticed the chapters I post are short. This is because I quickly loose my thinking process if I try to write longer chapters. But this way, with shorter chapters, I can update somewhat regularly instead of getting headaches trying to write longer ones. Hope you understand, and also - if you notice any grammatical or spelling mistakes, please let me know so I can edit the chapters. One other thing, I'm trying to write in British English, so if you read colour instead of color, that's why. Have a nice day!