I hope you are all well! I've been very much enjoying writing more content for this story, so I hope you like it!

Thank you to BlueberryMuffin5 for your encouraging review on the last chapter :)

Neville frowns down at his cauldron. "I'm not sure if this is right."

I stand and make my way to him, peer down at the colour of the concoction in his cauldron, then smile. "It's great Neville! Have a little confidence. You're doing it exactly right."

He doesn't look reassured. If anything, he looks even paler than when we began. "Snape always said-"

"I know what Snape said," I interrupt sharply. "He was wrong. There's no such thing as a lost cause, Neville. Snape just didn't want to try."

Neville had once tentatively told me, upon seeing me testing students' work, that he wished he was better at potions. It would help him with his Herbology work, he said, if he was better at more than just theoretical Potions.

That had been all I had to hear. I'd offered him lessons that would be gentler, kinder, and better than those offered by the bitter man who'd belittled us in school.

(While Harry might have been able to forgive Snape, I still found it difficult to understand all of his cruelty.

I still dealt with first years who were terrified of their first potions lessons, after the horror stories they'd heard from their parents. It would take more to convince me that he was a good man than hearing that he was a double agent.)

I think I've managed to do better. At the very least, Neville no longer shakes when he enters the dungeons.

"What's next?" I ask.

Neville hesitates. "Lacewing flies."

"How many?"

"Five."

"And?"

"I need to stir counterclockwise for two minutes, then clockwise for five."

I smile widely, pat him on the back. "Get to it then. Don't need me here at all, do you?"

Neville smiles a little, a tentative thing, but it's a start. He portions out the Lacewing flies and then drops them in.

I return to my desk and my marking, lighting the candles above us with my wand. I'd found the place so unbearably dreary when I'd first started that I'd taken the liberty of making the place more appealing. Candles hovered above the students in much the same way they do in the great hall; class photos hung on the walls.

Students who had attended muggle schools hated the familiar ritual with a passion, especially because they weren't warned. Students who had not found it odd, but fascinating to see static images instead of moving ones.

"Did Harry get around to teaching you the Patronus charm yet?"

I smile down at my paperwork, shake my head. "No, but I've already told him he's on a countdown. He's got until Christmas to at least start me with the basics."

"I see." He's quiet for a moment. "Looking forward to it?"

"Of course." I send him a deliberately wide smile. A warning. "I've always wanted to learn how to cast a Patronus. I missed out on your secret classes."

Neville fixes me with a knowing look. "That's not what I meant."

Goddammit. "Neville."

"Audrey."

"Please," I say softly. I could never lie to him. It was like he could see right through me. I didn't want to say it out loud.

He presses his lips together, sighs. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I know. It's just…" My hands shake, quill hovering over parchment. "I'm not the first girl and I'm not the last. It's almost embarrassing. Like having a phase that's not cool anymore."

"But you feel it?"

I don't look at him.

Neville nods slowly, jaw working as if he's trying to find the right words. "You should tell him."

"Absolutely not," I say sharply. "I'm not a teenager anymore. While I'm not afraid of telling someone if I'm interested in them, I'm not about to ruin a good friendship because of it. We work together. I comforted him after his girlfriend broke up with him. It doesn't feel right." I swallow thickly. "Anyway, enough of this. You'll ruin your potion if you get any more distracted."

"Okay," he says quietly. He is still for a moment before returning his attention to his potion. "I'm here, though. If you need me."

I smile a little down at the O.W.L work in front of me, even though it is most definitely going to get a T. "Thank you."

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