After a quick trip to the Apothecary, Freddie spent the rest of the afternoon in her office working on potions for the hospital. When 7 o'clock rolled around she placed stasis spells on her cauldrons and quickly cleaned up her workstation. Hawkins had left for dinner so Freddie let the night shift of interns know she was leaving before Disapparating with a pop.
She appeared outside the Hogwarts gates and could hear the sound of voices as students were leaving the Great Hall after dinner. She knew a number of them would be headed out onto the grounds so she quickly shifted into her Animagus form. No one paid any attention to the kneazle streaking across the grounds or winding her way past them through the Entrance Hall, down the stairs into the dungeons. The crowd thinned as she passed the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room and by the time she reached Snape's office the hallway was deserted. She shifted back into her human form, smoothed her hair down absently, and knocked.
"Enter," called Snape's voice after a moment.
Freddie pushed the door open and stepped into Snape's office to find the hidden entrance to the Brewing Lab open. He was standing in the doorway to the lab and his face softened a bit when he saw her.
"I just finished gathering ingredients for the Calming Draught Madam Pomfrey requested," he said as she shut the door behind herself. "Start preparing the ingredients while I set up the cauldron."
"Yes sir," she said with a smile, following him into the lab. She put her bag down beneath the workstation and shed her cloak, draping it over the chair. "How was your day?"
"Uneventful," he answered as he selected a cauldron. "Yours?"
"Why don't you test my Occlumency?" she suggested. She had already decided to hide the memory of Dumbledore's visit for the time being, just to see if he would be able to find it. She was supposed to be practicing her mental skills so she had fabricated a couple of cases and reworked the memory of her trip to the Apothecary so that it appeared Hawkins had come to her to request the crocodile hearts. She thought she'd done a good job, but wouldn't know for sure until Snape tested her. She felt him enter her mind as she began to slice bloodroot stems lengthwise with a knife.
"Looks uneventful," he said as he rifled through her memories of the day. Freddie nodded as she scraped the fibrous material from inside the stems. She was reaching for the mortar and pestle to crush the stems when Snape came across the false memory she had created, where Hawkins had summoned her to her office to request Freddie go and fetch her some crocodile hearts from the pharmacy.
"Why would she send you and not one of the interns?" Snape asked aloud, sending a jolt of alarm through her.
"Uh, they were all busy," she answered quickly, hoping her lie with a smooth one. "And she was working on something she didn't want anyone to know about."
"What was she working on?"
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"Hmm," he said and his eyes narrowed slightly. She felt him draw the memory back to the surface of her mind. She concentrated on the physical action of grinding the herbs with the pestle, letting him scrutinize the details of her mind. She was careful to keep her real memories and feelings hidden firmly behind her Occlumency. The repetitive task at hand kept her shield firmly in place. Eventually, Snape withdrew from her mind.
"I have a feeling that you're lying about something, but I can find no deception in your mind nor flaw in your recollection of events," he admitted and she grinned broadly.
"Would you like to see my real memories now?" she offered, feeling quite pleased with herself.
"Why don't you just tell me," he said as he joined her at the workstation. He grabbed a Valerian root and began to chop it.
"Dumbledore brought the werewolf to visit me," she said slowly. Snape froze midway through slicing a root. "He wants me to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for him."
Without asking he slipped back into her mind and began searching. She dropped her Occlumency shield and pushed the memory at him. She studied his face carefully as he watched the meeting play out. She expected to see some flicker of annoyance, but his face was a mask and his emotions were blocked from her behind his own Occlumency.
He let out a noncommittal grunt as he withdrew once more and resumed chopping the Valerian on the table before him.
"Well?" Freddie asked expectantly.
"You did well creating your false memories. There was no sign your memories had been tampered with. Well done."
"Thank you," she acknowledged. "But...is it okay? What Dumbledore asked me to do?"
"Better you than me," he scoffed, mincing the root into smaller pieces.
"You're not upset?"
"It needs to be done," he said, shaking his head. "And as far as assignments go, at least it is not dangerous. Not for you. As long as the beast takes his medicine."
"He will," Freddie said. "I'll make sure of it."
"Go ahead and add your bloodroot stems to the cauldron. Albus wants us on patrol in two hours."
"Yes sir."