Disclaimer: No I don't own Harry Potter etc. J K Rowling does. Elianne is my own character though. And the poetry is definitely mine, and only mine.

Author's Note: another hogwarts chapter my pretties. Chapter 11 "First Impressions"

She'd heard very mixed things about the professor of potions at Hogwarts.

First thing after breakfast she'd actually be able to judge for herself. Much to most gryffindors dislike for her year their timetables were marked as double potions for today's mornings lessons.

For Elianne however it was a treat. Potions was her forte, she knew already. Not so far removed from cooking in a way. And if potions was likened to cookery, professor Snape would be the worlds best chef, who tolerated no deviation from the recipe.

They all got to the class earlier than stated, knowing Snape would be the likeliest of all the teachers to knock marks of gryffindors if they weren't exactly precisely on time.

He ushered the quiet line on students into the potions lab.

They all sat down in perfect silence.

He smiled, in the way which most would call barely lifting the corners of his mouth.

His eyes shone in anticipation. He began his speech. The speech that every year of Hogwarts knows since he started teaching.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

The class was in fearful silence. A few students even from slytherin gulped.

The lessons began well. Nothing much happened until they got to the actual potion making.

It would have been alright if only everyone read the instructions properly.

But no one seemed to. At the end of the lesson Snape had taken off about 20 points from gryffindor. Not that anyone cared as they filed out of the room, they all wanted to get away from the potions master.

Though she did not share their fear of him she was leaving the classroom eager not to be late for her next lesson by missing lunch.

Snape suddenly and not so loudly announced

"Miss Potter, please stay behind."

She gulped. Had she done something wrong? Her not being afraid of him was mainly based on her knowing she was good at potions, that he had nothing to criticise her on.

 What was it? The potion had worked out fine. He certainly hadn't taken any points off for hers and Joshua's potion.

Snape looked idly and unamused at her. She sat down at a desk, with him towering over her in black. Ten years on and he did not look that dissimilar to what had been described to her. His hair was lank and for the main part black, now with a few specks of grey hair.

"Miss Potter. You may have noticed I did not deduct any points off of you in today's lesson. Do you know why that is?"

She shook her head unable to suggest a good reason.

"Despite my history of not being too fond of gryffindors and in particular your father when he attended this school, I find myself being what some would call pleasant to you. Your father was a trouble-maker, no doubt about it. You however are an exceptional student. Your potions work is beyond what I'd expect for a normal dunderhead of a first year student. You have surpassed my expectations. That does not happen very often.

For this she had at least a small reply

"Potions is my favourite subject, sir"

She smiled weakly. Wondering what he'd make of that.

He smiled somewhat too.

 "Not many students would agree with you on that. May I ask who you were brought up by?"

"Hermione Granger"

"Miss Granger. That does explain a lot. You're recital of the textbook should have led me to that conclusion myself. Now it seems obvious."

Again the infamous Snape, smiled, at least in his own way.

Something of the past amused him. She was aware that didn't happen often either.

So she took the opportunity. He was in a relatively good mood. She was good enough of a student of his. One question wouldn't hurt. Maybe he'd answer.

"Did you know my mother?"

Snape seemed to sour at this. Any hint of a smile faded as quick as lightning. And his voice too, there left that inflection of humour.

"I was…fortunate…. enough to have met her once. Though I did not know her. She acted very much like an archetypal slytherin, in my opinion"

Elianne didn't know what to make of that comment.

"Was she at Hogwarts?"

"Not to my knowledge, no. I doubt it."

"Why did you say she was like a slytherin, was she good at potions?"

His pale face reflected back at her before replying sullenly

"Possibly. Who knows"

He stormed out of the room without a further word.

Elianne walked out confused by Snapes words.

It was almost like she didn't like or trust her mother.

Could it be because he thought it was one more defeat.

A gryffindor and slytherin romance.

Uniting of the houses, goes against his principles. Snape was slytherin house head. And he did think her mother would have been a slytherin. Maybe that was what bugged him.

Who knows.

She slunk off to lunch, pondering what to include in her letter home.

The food would have provided a good opportunity to think about it but a strange announcement captured her attention better.

She seemed to have missed it but the whole hall was buzzing with excitement. The gryffindor girl next to her suddenly burst out into a great smile and pronounced

"Isn't it great"

"What's great"

"There having a Pax Omnia ball, for all the years above four."

If she hadn't been more distracted by what it meant she would have thought more closely about not being able to go to it

"What's Pax Omnia day/"

The girl looked at her like she was crazy

"Pax Omnia, all peace day. You know, they declared it a day of celebration when you-know-who was proclaimed dead. It's next week. Such short notice for a ball. Still, it'll be great fun. Well not for you, you can't go. But I can. No idea who I'll ask. Or who'll ask me"

The girl rambled on and on, to her and the others near her seat.

Elianne just sat thinking about it. Why didn't she know about it?

She'd never been told, not in all the explaining everyone she knew had done in the past month or so. Not at all. What was so special about the day really? Why hide it.