Penny's reading load was at crisis level by the time the afternoon rolled around. It would likely require an all nighter with her first drama club meeting of the term and then detention with Snape. It was a highly inconvenient time to be in trouble, especially when all she wanted to do was devote her time to the rewriting of her essay. It needed to be perfect, her OCD was getting the better of her and she made very little progress in the library.

Autumn days were always sunny and only mildly chilly which meant the production would meet in the courtyard with professor Flitwick to brainstorm what they would perform for Christmas. Fred and George always managed to steal snacks from the kitchens, and everyone spent a better part of an hour laughing and engaging in various forms of improv while others scribbled the ideas on piles of parchment.

"Madam" George said, taking Penny's hand. He was wearing very old, emerald robes made of velvet, and a crown.

"Are we going to do a rendition of King George then," Penny grinned, pondering how well all the beheadings would go over at Christmas.

"The one man cast would bore our audience to death, we both know I have the acting talent in the family," Fred said.

Penny turned to look at him, he was laying various delectable treats on a table in the middle of the courtyard, a pile of costumes sitting next to him. The props were always Penny's favorite part of their shows. Fred and George had a serious talent when it came to stage managing. She relied on them more than anyone else to ensure everything went smoothly and everyone was entertained. They had been first to sign up for her club and were the reason they had a fanbase now. Naturally, everyone liked them with their ability to become so many different characters.

"Let me snack early, I missed lunch," Penny said, snatching a pumpkin pastry from George.

"Better get used to it, in your 5th year you will never have time to eat with preparation for OWLs." said George, jumping onto the cement ledge near the table.

"I don't envy you," said Penny.

"Like we worry ourselves with OWLs, we are too busy working on an aging potion," said Fred, nonchalantly.

"You two actually want to compete?"

"Of course," they replied in unison.

A group of 5th year Ravenclaws entered the courtyard before Penny could respond, they were laughing boisterously. Moments after them, more students began trickling in until there were about 50 or so interested students in the courtyard. Professor Flitwick arrived last, squealing with glee when he saw so many students. For the first 20 minutes they all snacked and chatted, Penny finding a place by Cedric Diggory, a handsome 7th year Hufflepuff. Penny liked him, he was charming and made for the stage. Unfortunately, so did everyone else, he was very popular, especially with the girls. He liked chatting to Penny after they played leading roles together in their last production. They had probably spent more time bursting into hysterical fits of laughter than actually reciting their lines. They had been cast as Matteous Conway and Paisley Prue in a play named Carrying Conway, a somewhat alternate universe Romeo and Juliet where Paisley is raised in a pure blood family, but is not pure blood herself and falls for Matteous, who is set to wed a very high ranking pure-blood woman.

Cedric and Penny had a hard time taking their romantic lines seriously, and spent much of their time pranking each other. Even Fred and George believed the show doomed until the day of their full run through before the actual performance. As it turned out, Penny and Cedric had amazing chemistry, a chemistry a lot of people murmured about. Their performance had been so convincing that Penny had been exiled by Cedric's fan club, who were distraught at the thought they were dating. It didn't matter that Penny and Cedric had no interest in dating and returned to their absurd shenanigans as soon as their roles concluded.

The group spent the better part of 20 minutes laughing at the recounting of Cedric's very interesting summer and his silly father, but were forced apart by George, who dragged Penny over to Flitwick to begin working out who had musical talent and would be relegated to the choir, allowing for a count of available actors. The process actually ate up a lot of time, as names were taken, preferred roles written down, and availability determined. In the last five minutes, students wrote down and passed to Flitwick, any suggestions they had for what they should perform. With the hope being by their next meeting they could firmly agree on their show and then begin divvying up roles and writing the script. The thought of all the work made Penny want to groan, but she was always excited. Being back at Hogwarts, being creative, it made everything feel right and enthused her. She completely forgot the irritation of her morning and was happy to get plotting with Fred and George about how to blow the show out of the water, after all they had two foreign schools to impress, everyone would be bringing their best.

By the time dinner rolled around Penny was desperate, but also starving. She needed to get reading her transfiguration text or she would not be ready for the next day's lesson. Cedric agreed to help her hide from the Gryffindor table and her brother, who would, no doubt, not allow her to read. He threw his cloak over her and invited her to sit at the Hufflepuff table. The other boys in his year greeted her with handsome smiles (she had not realized that so many attractive people were sorted into Hufflepuff,) and left her alone when Cedric informed them she was hiding.

Her feet on the bench, she leaned back against Cedric, absorbed in her book, a pastrami and tomato sandwich in her hand. The noisy Great Hall seemed to fade into the distance and for a short-while. But then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure walking towards the staff table, and her gaze turned. Snape was making his way briskly to his seat. He looked less angry than he had before, but by no means did he seem to be in a good mood. His black eyes trailed over the Great Hall, landing on the Gryffindor table. His lip curled, indicating his eyes had fallen upon her brother, he reserved that look only for Harry. But then he moved from the right to the left, searching for something. Was he searching for her? Penny wasn't sure why the thought gave her satisfaction. She liked knowing she wasn't the only one who went through these meal time rituals. She wondered vaguely if he would locate her, and whether he would give her a disapproving look. Glancing at the time, she quickly returned to her book, Snape would eat for a good thirty minutes and then she would be expected for her detention.

"If Ced isn't the champion I'll eat my hat," one boy said loudly, jostling Cedric and knocking Penny's book from her hands.

Cedric leaned down and grabbed it for her, "Sorry about that," he said.

"No worries, Are you going to put your name in the cup?"

"Of course," he grinned.

"I hope you get beat by a girl."

"No chance of that, you're too young to enter."

Penny rolled her eyes, poking him in his side, "There aren't a lot of girls in your year, are there?"

"No, there aren't" Cedric replied in a sulky voice, causing Penny to burst out laughing.

"Well, I'm sure all us younger girls will gladly cheer you on as our champion, just don't let us lose the cup!" Penny said, handing him back his cloak and packing her bag.

Snape was already headed towards the double doors, and if she did not follow closely behind him he would no doubt consider her late.

"You cheering me on instead of telling me what to do? I could look forward to that," Cedric said, waving as she sprinted after Snape.

The damn man was so tall, making his strides much longer than hers. She only managed to catch him when he reached his classroom, waving the door open. He glanced sideways at her and then entered without a word. Penny's heart leapt in her chest, was she afraid to follow after him, or excited? The two emotions seemed so easily confused when Snape was present. He stood just inside, holding the door open, waiting for her. When she entered he snapped it shut behind her and walked to the table piled with all the old ingredients she had seen the night before.

"You will be sorting these to determine what is still of use. Then you'll wash and re-label them with no magic ," he said.

"Is that all," Penny replied sarcastically. The pile was ginormous and she did not much fancy trying to determine if they were past their expiration date.

"I can always find more for you to do," he said delicately, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Let's just start with this."

Penny began her slow work. Most of the ingredients looked rancid, but she had to uncork them to be certain. The smell of many of them was awful enough to make her sick. Yet, some of them were ingredients she had never heard of and she found herself intrigued.

"Erm, Professor," she said tentatively.

He looked up from what he was doing, indicating he was listening.

"Can I have some parchment and a quill,"

"Why?"

"I'd like to make a list of some of these ingredients, to look up later."

With a flick of his wand he obliged her, sending a quill and parchment soaring in her direction. With it in hand, Penny began her list, writing several notes about the texture, smell, and physical appearance of many of the ingredients. Penny worked meticulously, sorting the one's she thought she could identify and those she did not recognize. Then she worked through subcategories of 'expired,' 'possibly expired,' and 'obviously good.'

When she had labeled and cleaned the ones she knew, she collected the one's she didn't and headed towards Snape's desk, parchment also in hand. She dumped the pile and sat down.

"Ms. Potter, these were on that table so as to contain the mess that you have now poured all over my working space," Snape said looking unamused.

"You looked like you needed a break from the paper you were scowling at," Penny said with a shrug.

"They are from your year, not a very bright lot you are," he said smoothly, pushing the papers aside.

"If you can find something wrong with my essay, I'll date Malfoy."

"I was under the impression you already were, did he find out about you and the Diggory boy then?"

"The only relationship I am in is with my school work," Penny said, offended. She really wanted her Malfoy problem to go away, but her bargain loomed over her head, reminding her Draco would have his chance.

"But really professor, Cedric Diggory? I thought you were more observant than that."

"It is you who are disillusioned, but it's probably for the best, it is evident you have no talent for romance. The boy will find another girl to amuse him once he gets over you," Snape said in a bored tone, reaching for one of the bottles.

"Be careful not to project your own feelings towards women on Cedric," Penny replied coolly. His assumption she was a play thing had irritated her.

"Am I to endure another lecture on the worth of women? If you do not wish to be an object, stop hanging off all the boys in the castle as one," he said with a contemptuous smile.

"It's the boys who look pretty on my arm, and the more the merrier."

He studied her down his hooked nose. His vein throbbed in the side of his head. How he was mad was beyond her, he had basically slut shamed her when she hadn't even kissed anyone yet. It was always a power struggle with him, but at the same time, his anger also appeared conflicted. His dark eyes examined her face, searching for something she knew nothing of.

"This is Devil's Flower, it is normally a vibrant fuchsia, but the longer it sits the more the vitamin c is released, diminishing the color to this state. It is virtually useless like this and is normally only good for 2 years after harvesting," he said, choosing to ignore her remark.

Grabbing her parchment, Penny wrote furiously. "What does it look like when it's harvested?" she asked, glancing back up.

Rubbing his temples, Snape sighed. He gave into her curiosity and reached for her quill, his soft fingers brushing her own. Again, she felt the jolt of electricity between them. He did not seem disturbed by it and began sketching for her. But she could not shake the feeling, or the need to know what it was and if he felt it too.

"Didn't you feel that," said Penny.

"Feel what," Snape said, not looking away from his drawing.

"This!" Penny said, reaching for his hand.

The quill dropped from his hand as she took hold of it with her left hand, her right stroking his pale, smooth skin tentatively. It was cool, but the vibration gave her a sense of warmth. Staring at his hand intently, as though she would be able to suddenly see the source of the feeling, she continued to brush the delicate skin. Snape said nothing, his body very stiff in his chair. Penny flipped it over and began tracing the lines on his palm. The sensation reminded Penny of a whisper, but she did not understand it, she'd never heard anything like it before. Why did she feel it only with Snape? Why had it never occurred when anyone else touched her? It surely couldn't be her teenage hormones, plenty of attractive young men had been in her space before and she'd never felt anything life this. No, this was something else, something she couldn't explain.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she trailed her fingers towards his wrist, touching the bright blue vein that pulsed with life. Before she could move any further towards the forearm hidden beneath his long sleeve, a pincer-like hand grabbed her roughly, stopping her in her tracks.

"That's quite enough of that," he said in a low voice, prying her off him.
He sat straighter, putting distance between them. He looked angry and also a little unnerved.

"You didn't answer me," Penny said, rubbing her wrist. Angry red marks had popped up where his fingers had grabbed her unkindly.

"Am I to understand you expected me to not feel you touching my hand."

"That's not-'

"What's the matter, your boy-toys not giving you enough to satiate your ego? I have zero interest in entertaining your attention seeking," Snape said, looking down at her with contempt.

"Are you that afraid of vulnerability that you could say that with any conviction," Penny fumed.

"Are you so self-absorbed you cannot even see yourself and your ridiculous behavior!" he said, his face as red as a cherry tomato.

"You would let a grudge against my dad make you this petty? I've spent more hours here than anywhere else in this castle!"

"I am well aware of all the hours of my time that have been wasted on indulging your pretentious pursuits of learning," Snape spat, his voice cutting.

The pain his words evoked cut across her chest, stinging her at her core. His face was contorted, more irate than she had ever seen him. He was almost scary to look at, and more than anything, he emanated a hatred that made her want to run out of his office and put as much distance between them as she could. She nodded, swallowing hard against her emotions. Standing, she looked down at the table, no longer able to look at the man. And then she turned and moved wordlessly towards the door. One foot in front of the other, back straight, trying desperately to leave with what was left of her dignity, but a moment later she was sprinting, unable to stop herself.

The door swung open, Snape yelling something behind her that she couldn't make out. She just kept moving, letting her loud heart and aching lungs distract her from the feeling in her chest-the horrible empty sensation. She had seen what he thought of her, how he had perceived all the time she spent with him. Penny existed in some delusion, was it ego, as he accused? Every moment they shared felt like some sort of lie, a lie that ate away the parts of herself she thought she understood. When Hogwarts felt lonely, when her brother was busy and there was no one waiting for her, there had always been potions. Snape was a distant and surly man by nature, but he had never turned her away. Had she always just intruded on his time and been willfully ignorant of his feelings about it? Penny pushed the thought aside, trying to force her humiliation from her heart. She laid down in her four-poster bed, the other girls already asleep. It was likely past midnight and all was silent, except for the sound of Penny trying to choke away her emotions, refusing to let them surface.

She never wanted to go back, something felt broken inside her-Snape had never been her friend.