Potions and Prophecies

Sixteen (and a half) years later…

'Miss Snape! Mister Lupin!'

Mr. Snape glared at us and wended his way through the work desks towards ours.

'I expect your Draught of Peace is ready and perfectly well done since you're having so much spare time to gossip during my class.'

I knew by my side Jaz was putting all her effort to conceal a snigger and keep a straight face.

'It is ready' she answered, hastily adding 'sir'.

Well, she might not be afraid of her father, but I was.

'I'm sorry, Professor' I apologised in a low voice 'we'll keep it quiet, sir'.

He came to a halt in front of us and peered at our cauldron contents.

For a split second, it seemed he was going to curl his lips in a smile. But instead, he threw a warning look at us and walked back to help another student whose concoction gave the impression of a jelly monster coming alive.

Our potion was perfect, of course. Jaz could have done it with her eyes closed. And although I didn't have her dab hand for potion-making, it was by far the subject I dedicated myself the most to. Mr. Snape had promised me he would start teaching me how to prepare the Wolfsbane Potion next year if I achieved an O.W.L. in Potions.

It was February, and everybody was freezing at the dungeons. Jaz and I had our gold and crimson scarves up to our chins. Fifth years Gryffindors had double potions Friday mornings together with the Hufflepuffs. A few minutes later, the class was dismissed. We had a free period before lunch on Fridays, so we usually stayed behind and hung around. Mr. Snape beckoned us inside his office, where he lighted the fireplace.

'Oh, thank heavens, it was ice cold in that classroom' Jaz protested as we approached the mantelpiece and took off our gloves to warm our hands. Her father didn't replied, busy brewing some tea. A minute later, he handed us smoking mugs and then kissed the top of our heads as he always did.

'I was very proud of your work today' he smiled.

'It didn't seem like it' Jaz complained 'why do you always have to act the tough one around us?'

'Jaz!' I hissed 'don't talk to your father like that.'

He ruffled my hair. 'Well, Jasmine, I've seen you two successfully concoct a Swelling Solution at the age of eight so you could feed it to Teddy's neighbor's cat and make, in your own words, a tiger' we almost spilled our teas, chuckling 'so of course I will demand more of you'.

'It was Eileen's idea!' Jaz retorted 'she persuaded us.'

'Oh, I believe that, I know you sister can be very convincing. It's almost as if she was your mother's daughter…' he sneered.

The Snape twins were less than a month younger than me, and they had just turned sixteen. Jasmine looked like her mother, brown hair and eyes and tanned skin, in addition to being a Gryffindor. Eileen, on the other hand, had her father's black hair and eyes, his pale skin and belonged to Slytherin house.

However, funny enough, Jasmine inherited Mr. Snape grumpy and sarcastic personality, his natural skill for potions, and they also had a very special bond; just as Eileen possessed her mother's extrovert and diplomatic traits, and she and Mrs. Snape seemed to understand each other just by exchanging looks.

Jaz and Eileen had their similarities, though. They would frown at you exactly the same way Mr. Snape did when you annoyed them; and they would as well bat their long-lashed eyelids at you in the precise same manner their mother did when they weren't understanding something you just said.

We grew up together, since our parents are friends. In fact, because I don't have any siblings, I consider them a little bit as my sisters too. Eileen is very funny and lighthearted, and we always have the best laughs together. And Jaz and I, well, being in the same house and in the same year at school made us a pretty inseparable pair. She knows me like no one else does. Actually, she is the only one that can recognize me even when metamorphing, just by spotting little gestures.

Half an hour later, we were leaving the dungeons and climbing the stairs to the Great Hall. We run into Eileen in front of the marble staircase.

'Let me guess' she rolled her eyes at us 'perfect Draught of Peace?'

Jaz and I glanced at each other and grinned at her.

'Mine seemed more like a Draught of Disturbance… Oi! Jacob!' Eileen waved to someone behind us.

Jake shuffled his feet towards us, his head low.

'I suck at Transfiguration' he groaned.

I pat his shoulder 'that's not true, mate, we all struggled to turn that teapot into a tortoise'.

Jake was a third year Slytherin. He had Mr. Adams golden hair and Mrs. Adams bright golden eyes. Similar to the twins, I saw him a little as a younger brother, although we didn't get to spend so much time together during our childhood since he lived in France up until he came to Hogwarts.

'Let's eat, I'm starving' my stomach was growling.

'You're always hungry these days' Jaz grumbled.

'And you're always complaining about something. Now, come on. See you after lunch, Eileen' we had Divination with the Slytherins in the first period of the afternoon 'take care, Jake'.

We headed to our table as the other two joined theirs.

'At least this is our last year of Divination' Jaz sighed.

I put on a resentful expression.

'I thought you were really enjoying interpreting my dreams' I mocked 'mostly because you've predicted my death five times already since the beginning of the year'

'Shut up, Ted'.

...

After lunch, we started dragging ourselves up to the North Tower. As we climbed the marble staircase together with Eileen and Jake, who was heading to the Charms classroom, we heard someone behind us call 'Jasmine!'. We turned around.

Inside my head, I rolled my eyes.

Jaz's perfect boyfriend, Dante, was at the foot of the stairs, flashing his Witch Weekly magazine smile and messing his flawless hair. He somehow managed to be Headboy and Captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team, in addition to being the most muscular seventeen-year-old I had ever seen.

Yes, I admit I was envious of him. I reckon me and every other boy in the entire school.

Eileen and Jake blushed - even he got nervous around Dante. It was a punch in my ego that Jake idolized him so much. I was the one supposed to be his role model.

Dante climbed the stairs and politely greeted each one of us before turning to Jaz.

'So, Hogsmead tomorrow?'

'I – well, I thought you had quidditch practice tomorrow…' she began to answer.

'I had, but I rescheduled it. It's Valentine's Day, we should spend it together'.

Ugh. So polite and so thoughtful. A part of me was happy that Jaz had such a great bloke by her side. But why did he have to raise the standards so high and make us mortals feel like gits?

'Nice to see you, Dante' I nodded and ushered Jake to walk with me 'let's get going, lad'. We left the girls discussing their plans for the other day. I knew Eileen was going with her Slytherin boyfriend as well. Both couples had been together since the girls were asked by them to the Yule Ball last year.

'How can someone be so brawny at seventeen?' I mumbled, grudgingly, once we were out of earshot.

'Well, you could, if you wanted to' Jake smiled wryly 'at least you're as tall as he is now' he sighed 'I noticed girls started laughing twice as hard at your jokes since then'.

Finally, I thought to myself. After two years being half a head shorter than the twins and speaking in a higher pitch than them, last year I had at last deepened my voice and grown one head above Jaz and Eileen, reaching my father's height. I looked even more alike him now, since I also had his light brown hair, his blue eyes and the same crooked smile.

'Oh, please, have you met you father? I will need to raise my head to talk to you in two years' time, Jake' I comforted him.

'I hope so' he groaned.

'Hey! Wait for us!' the twins were running to catch up with Jake and I, drawing level just as my father opened a door on our left and allowed a line of second years into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Mrs. Snape was standing beside him, and they seemed to be discussing some serious matter, but they stopped and beamed at us when they saw our group. We already knew that when they interrupted themselves like that, it was always something about the Order they had been talking about.

They shared the DADA lessons since me and the girls were born, each one teaching a different year. Jake was learning about magical creatures with my dad this year, and us fifth years were being prepared to our O.W.L. by Mrs. Snape. I loved her, really, but it had been hell lately; she pushed me the most since I was the only one in our class aspiring to become an Auror.

'Well if it isn't our favourite ones' Mrs. Snape winked, smirking. Dad pat my back 'Jane was just telling me you did great in class yesterday' he smiled. I knew they were not just talking about that. I wish they would fill us in on the Order affairs since we would be of age in less than a year and then we would undoubtedly join them. But I had no time to complain about it or we would be late for Divination, so I just grinned and wished them a good afternoon.

Professor Trelawney tortured us for a whole period. Jaz and I had no clue about what mysteries beyond the mundane the Orbs should be showing us, so we just made up our own predictions as usual. Once the class was over, we lazily stowed our Unfogging the Future copies back into our bags and waited for Eileen to do the same. As the three of us headed to the spiralling staircase, golden wisps of hair appeared at the top of it.

'Why are you still here? Our class starts in five minutes' Jake asked. He came to a halt in front of us and, in that moment, we heard someone choking by the fireplace. Professor Trelawney seemed to be having a seizure, grasping the mantelpiece in order to support herself. We run to her. There was only the four of us around.

'Professor, are you alright? Should we take you to the Hospital Wing?'

She didn't answer right away. Her eyes appeared to be out of focus. When she opened her mouth, it wasn't her usual voice that came out; she sounded like a thousand different people shouting at the same time.

'Two sons and two daughters

Children of the light that fights the dark

When two of them let the truth slip out

The two others shall fall in love

And they will surrender to it

Just as everything around them falls apart'

One second later, she came back to herself. She looked around at us, puzzled.

'Professor, are you alright?' Eileen repeated the question.

'Of course I am, dear' she gasped 'what are you still doing here? The third years class starts in a moment. Off you go'.

We exchanged perplexed glances. Two students from Jake's class emerged at the top of the stairs. The twins and I nodded to him and wended our way to the corridor downstairs.

'What the hell was that?' I whispered to them.

'No idea' Eileen's eyes were even wider than usual 'do you reckon that was a real prophecy?'

'I don't know' I replied 'what do you think, Jaz?' I turned to look at her. She was oddly quiet. 'Hey, are you ok?'

'I'm ok' she mumbled 'I… I just…' she shook her head 'I thought she was going to die in front of us or something, I got scared'.

I grinned. 'Well, you will need to get used to that in order to be a Healer'.

'Yes' she smiled gloomily 'I reckon I will'.

I frowned at her. What an unusual reply.

I was expecting she would tell me to shut up.