On 8/28/2020 I created a document titled "Penny" and started this story having no real concrete plan for what I wanted it to be. All I did know is I wanted to find a way to give Snape a second chance, and his story a different view from someone who was not as biased against him as Harry. I wanted to push Snape's character out of his snarky comfort zone and see how he'd react in a world where someone not only cares for him but needs him, and thus Penny was born.
I have put so much of myself into writing this story for the last year. I've laughed and sobbed with this story, made myself write things I hated, and tried to create a web of meaningful relationships that were exactly what I needed to escape some of the worse aspects of this last year.
I never imagined the community of readers and writers I'd discover on this journey, and have found such immense joy in writing for you, hearing your thoughts and discussing this! So thank you for that, for sticking with me and giving me feedback. It's kept me going and helped me make this story what it is.
In honor of this very important anniversary to me, I decided to write a little throwback to the moment Penny met Snape and their lives spiraled into the ever evolving circumstances they find themselves. There is much to come that I won't spoil, but I think at the heart of this story is their desperate quest to better understand the other.
Sending you lots of love, and stay safe! xxx
Hogwarts was so massive that it filled Penny with such excitement to search it's every crevice. It was so unlike the Dursley's where Penny could find no place to be alone to do her writing or reading. If her aunt or uncle ever saw her sitting down they immediately demanded she do some chores for them. And if Penny were in Harry's presence, he distracted her to no end.
But Hogwarts offered a whole new kind of life for Penny, one where she finally felt like she was able to commit her time to the things that interested her most. And after her first week at this school of witchcraft and wizardry, the thing that she was thoroughly absorbed in was Potions.
Their Potions Master, Severus Snape had made quite the impression in their first double potions lesson with the Slytherins. Being easily distracted, Penny had almost been late and crept into the back of the class, finding a seat next to a nervous Gryffindor boy, named Neville Longbottom. Harry was already seated toward the front of the classroom with his new found friend, Ronald Weasley, and beside him was the girl most called bossy, but Penny found to be extremely clever, Hermione Granger.
Her first glimpse of the surly Potions Master intrigued Penny, who had only ever had grizzly old and extremely dull teachers in school. Severus Snape however, was tall, wearing long black robes, the stiffness of which matched the shoulder length black hair that fell like curtains around his sharp, angular features. But it was his eyes that caught Penny's attention. They had the air, much like Professor McGonagall's, of clearly being unwilling to tolerate any disorder within his dim, dungeon classroom. But beyond the expression of utmost cynicism, Penny saw a quick analytical gaze that gave her the impression the man was extremely intelligent.
When he began talking in his low, almost bored tone, as though he already knew that all of those present would offer him nothing other than a headache, Penny found herself immediately challenged into competitiveness, and ensnared by his every word. Severus Snape was shaping up to be a mystery that Penny was determined to solve.
However, she found herself a little put off when his eyes settled on her twin, Harry and proceeded to harass him with such contempt, Penny felt they must have known each other in a past life. He even went so far as to take several points from Gryffindor and left her twin seething. It was a truly peculiar interaction that annoyed Penny. For the rest of the lesson, she remained unnoticed and preoccupied with the Wiggenweld Potion they were learning the method of. For the weekend they were to write one piece of parchment on the correct technique in preparation of their first attempt the coming week.
By Monday, Penny had read everything she could on the potion and fell down several rabbit holes on best brewing practices she found in the dozens of books located in the library. Her first weekend at Hogwarts was spent buried beneath a pile of these books, while everyone else enjoyed the last lingering days of warmth before the rain and cold showed up.
One tentative step at a time, her paper clutched in her hands, Penny made for the dungeons while her peers enjoyed their freetime now that classes had ended for the day. Penny had debated with herself whether finding Professor Snape outside of class hours was the right decision or not and decided it was the best option seeing as he swept out of the dungeon before Penny could catch him the previous week. She figured even if he did not want to answer her question and sent her away, he would at least know to expect her on Friday afternoon. In reality, Penny was morbidly curious about her Potions Master, and annoyingly frustrated he did not know she existed.
For several days, she'd watched him at meal times, the way he sneered at the students as he passed and looked thoroughly bored by the pleasantries forced upon him when the other Professors dared sit beside him. Whether her question was a stupid first year question or not, Severus Snape would know from this day forward who Penny Potter was.
She knew his office was located near the classroom and found it as she entered the hallway, finding the door wide open and the room seemingly empty. She stepped inside the dim cold room, looking first at the empty fireplace. But her eyes were quickly drawn to the shadowy walls lined with shelves of large glass jars, in which floated all manner of fascinating ingredients, some of which Penny already recognized from the reading she'd done on the weekend.
Her feet moved forward without her consent, drawn to investigate, but the snapping of a door just to her right startled her. Professor Snape had apparently been in the store cupboard, and did not so much as look at Penny when he stepped out and made his way to the shelf just behind his desk, his hands full of several more jars.
"Do all of you first-years have the brain the size of a pea? Did I not make myself clear that if you are useless enough to forget the password or location to the common room, then there is nothing I can do to help you. Find a prefect, perhaps they will take pity on you," Snape said before Penny could even introduce herself.
"I beg your pardon?" Penny said.
"Did I stutter?" he said, condescendingly.
Penny tried hard to contain the amusement that wanted to force her into a fit of laughter and pressed on. "I'm not in your house, sir, I'm a Gryffindor."
"Then you should know you are not my problem, your head of house is located on the first floor, so get out of my sight," Snape said, absentmindedly as he began finding homes for his new jars.
He still had not so much looked at Penny, irritating her thoroughly. But she would not give up, not until he acknowledged her.
"Are you not the Potions Master?" Penny asked, an edge to her voice.
"If you cannot answer that yourself, I will not waste my breath on such an idiot."
"I wonder how it is that the Potions Master seems unable to conclude that a student, traveling to the dungeons, where potions is taught, would not be in search of the potions master," Penny said, trying hard to squash the snark in her voice.
"Who are you? Because I will warn you, I do not tolerate backtalk," Snape said, his voice getting lower as he pushed aside two more jars to fit a particularly large one in.
"I'm Potter, Penny Potter," Penny said, puffing her chest proudly.
"There is only one Potter at this school, the famous self-absorbed brat. He's obviously an only child," Snape sneered, the distaste evident in his voice.
"It's curious to me why everyone seems to think that. But I suppose next to the famous Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world, I am nothing but the other Potter. But I assure you he has a sibling, I am his twin," Penny mused, tapping her foot impatiently.
Finally and almost comically, the man turned from his shelf to look on Penny, an annoyed sneer plastered to his pale features. He looked on the verge of giving her detention, but when his eyes had finished scanning her and finally met her gaze, the anger evaporated, to be replaced with shock. What little color he had in his face drained away, his eyes widening alongside his mouth, which hung stupidly open. The jar in his hand slipped from his grasp, shattering at his feet. He recoiled, stepping away from Penny as though she were something grotesque.
The reaction was truly peculiar, even to Penny who had already endured Professor Flitwick's, who had burst into tears as soon as she stepped into his charms classroom, taking her hands in his soft, shaking ones, and enthusiastically told her how she was the spitting image of her mother, Lily, who apparently had been one of his favorite students.
"You're a ghost," Snape accused, in a strained voice, looking suddenly irrationally furious.
"Are you serious right now?" Penny said, openly laughing at the man's absurd reaction to her. "You live at Hogwarts, I feel confident assuming you must have seen an actual ghost before. I'll go out on a limb here and assume you also knew my mother. I am told I look like her, but I would not know, my aunt has never shown me a photograph."
"Why didn't I know Potter had a twin," Snape demanded, his eyes narrowing and his voice harsh.
"I don't know? Why didn't I know you were this weird? Probably because we've never met before. . ." Penny said, pressing her lips together in an attempt to stop her giggling.
"You look nothing like Potter," Snape said, his voice accusatory.
"We're both Potter, but I assume you mean Harry? We aren't identical twins, apparently he looks like my father, Ja-"
"Enough!" Snape practically screamed, cutting Penny off before she could finish her sentence. "Why are you here, what do you want?"
"Well...I was getting to that. But because you are the Potions Master, I assumed you would be the person to bring my potions questions to," Penny said, in a slow condescending tone that made the vein in Snape's temple throb
"It's barely week two, how can you have a question," Snape said, looking more paranoid by the second.
"How? Well I did some reading and formulated a thought I could not find the answer to, and poof, a question!"
"I warned you already Po-Po-P. . ."Snape began, struggling ridiculously with Penny's last name. Watching him reminded her of a child trying hard to eat some disgusting food their parents forced into their mouth and spitting it out before it reached their throat. Something about her last name was despicable to the man while his eyes were glued to her face. "I will not tolerate snark," he finally spat out, obviously deciding to forgo her last name altogether was the better option.
"Sorry, sir, it's just, you're acting a bit strange, don't you think?"
"You barged into my office during my free time, how I responded is not the point. Questions are for class time. Knowing who your father is, it does not surprise me in the least you would expect special treatment, but you'll receive none from me," Snape said with such vehemence, Penny took a step away from him, as though hit.
"How can you say that with any conviction after just telling me you didn't even think I was Harry's sibling? You don't even know me!" Penny demanded.
"I know enough, now get out and stop wasting my time."
"Fine, sir. But first, take your essay," Penny said, marching around his desk. He looked startled at first, but he pulled himself back together when she shoved her paper into his folded arms.
With an exaggerated eye roll, he snatched the paper from Penny, his eyes never leaving her face. For a long moment, green held black, Penny feeling an odd pull towards the man that she did not fully understand. Her forehead crinkled in confusion as she was sucked into the deep, dark wells that felt so eerily familiar to her.
Penny was accustomed to feeling linked to someone else, having always had the ability to share thoughts with Harry. But the aura of vibrations coming from Snape, singing to Penny like a lullaby was something she had never experienced before. It intrigued and unsettled her. It wasn't until Snape cleared his throat that Penny pulled her arm away, rather awkwardly, and turned away, realizing the effect had long since died.
Her brain fueling the embarrassment rising in her cheeks, Penny was overly conscious of every step she took toward the door, trying hard to retain her dignity but not appearing as though she were running away from the man.
"You wrote this?" his skeptical voice stopped her.
"Yes," Penny said through gritted teeth, turning back to the unconvinced look on his face.
"Sit," he said, pulling out his own chair.
Utterly taken aback by his sudden change in attitude, Penny glanced around looking for another person, fully expecting that he was beckoning someone other than her. When her eyes met empty space, she made for the desk, pulled out the chair and sat stiffly across from him.
"Prove it," he said, his eyes darting back and forth as he continued to read her work.
"How would you suggest I go about doing that?" Penny said, exasperated.
His dark eyes peered over the top of the parchment to look down his hooked nose on her. "How does the third paragraph begin?"
Penny blinked, uncertain if he were serious or not. When the silence continued, she scrambled to remember what she wrote. "While Professor McGidden makes a good point regarding some of the usefulness of using lavender, he misses the mark when he over exaggerates its abilities," Penny replied.
Snape set down the paper and interlocked his long fingers, resting his chin on them, surveying Penny absentmindedly.
"The assignment I gave was on the proper method to brew the Wiggenweld potion , so tell me why it is that you produced this," Snape said, his voice unnervingly soft.
"Well, I assumed that was obvious, he wrote the chapter on the Wiggenweld potion, did he not? And he calls for the use of lavender in this case, but it makes no sense for what he is suggesting it is doing. Sure, lavender is a marvelous calming agent, but it does not, what was it he said, 'un-excite' electrons, whatever that means. Anyway, isn't the point of the potion is to re-excite those electrons? So unless one really feels like lavender makes it smell better, I do not see the purpose of this ingredient," spewed from Penny's mouth before she could stop herself.
All the while, Snape watched her, one finger running the length of his mouth as he did so. When she finished, he remained silent for several minutes.
"You are quite correct, but your fourth paragraph is complete rubbish, all potions masters know, regardless of the moon cycle, you must stir counterclockwise before stirring clockwise to make it viscous. Look into the use of flobberworm mucus and see if you can't replace that, then bring it back to me," Snape said matter-of-factly, handing the paper back to Penny, whose brain was whirring a thousand miles a second as it absorbed everything that spewed from his mouth.
"You want me to come back?" Penny said, dumbly, her brain finally catching up.
"You came to improve this essay, did you not?" he said with an eye roll.
"I mean yeah, but you'll understand that I'm a bit confused by these bipolar messages you seem to be sending," Penny said, reaching for her essay, her fingers brushing Snape's and causing her to freeze.
"If you don't want the feedback, then don't take it, I'd give this a C at best," he said, delicately, dropping the paper and pulling his hand away from hers.
Distracted by the strange electric shock she thought she'd felt when his cool skin met hers, Penny raced to salvage the interaction.
"That's not what I meant, sir, of course I'll make the changes," she stammered, collecting her paper.
"Then get, " he breathed, his eyes lingering almost hungrily on her for another moment, before he rose abruptly from his chair, looking down in irritation as though he just noticed the jar he broke.
Scrambling to her feet, Penny watched him pull out his wand and clear the mess with a lazy flick. She wanted very much to continue the conversation with the fascinating and bizarre man, but she knew she had already overstayed her welcome and the sooner she made her edits, the sooner she could return. So she hitched her bag onto her shoulder, gave Snape a wide grin and then hummed her way toward the door.
"And Ms. Potter, you'll sit at the front of room come Friday so I can ascertain whether any of this knowledge translates into any capability," Snape called after her, amusement twitching at the corners of his mouth when she nodded and scowled at him in response.
Feeling extremely motivated to make Professor Snape eat his words, she marched the rest of the way out, completely unaware of how her Potions Master could not keep his eyes from her, watching her in angry disbelief that shifted into desperation when she rounded the corner and disappeared from view.