After lunch that same day, Severus and Florence were on their way to their Herbology review class when Dumbledore intercepted them.
"Hello, Headmaster," greeted Florence.
"Good afternoon, Miss Delacour, Mr Snape. Go on to your class, Severus, I need to have a word with Florence," said Dumbledore.
Severus nodded and resumed walking after glancing at his friend, a little concerned about what the Headmaster could want with her.
Dumbledore waited until the boy was into the Greenhouse to speak again:
"I'll go straight to the point, Florence: are there any special abilities you may have forgotten to tell me?"
"No," she lied.
Being that that was the answer he had expected to hear, Dumbledore shook his head and continued: "So explain to me how did you and your friend clean all those dirty cauldrons last night in less than an hour?"
She put on a poker face and replied: "We just scrubbed them really fast and efficiently, Headmaster."
Dumbledore laughed, "You're really your father's daughter. It was very convenient of you to forget to tell me such an interesting ability as wandless magic."
She crossed her arms, "Even if I did what you're accusing me of doing." she neither denied nor confirmed his suspicions, "It was really unfair that we had to clean all those disgusting cauldrons as a punishment for teaching those big-headed Gryffindors a lesson! They started it! They deserved what they got!"
"Do you really think Sirius Black deserved to be hit by a tree?" Dumbledore looked at her over the rim of his glasses.
"And you think he didn't?" She huffed indignantly, "Severus said Black and Potter have been terrorising him since his first day in Hogwarts. And no one has never done anything-"
"Ah, so you've decided to take matters into your own hands," Interrupted the Headmaster, making her fall silent. "I won't pry, my dear. But I might say I'm starting to understand what's be happening between you and Severus."
Florence blushed, but didn't say anything.
Dumbledore sighed and continued: "Make sure it doesn't happen again, ok? No more duelling, and no more wandless magic inside the castle."
"All right. I promise I'll behave, as long as those two Gryffindors don't mess with Severus again- or me," she quickly added, feeling her face heat up redder.
Dumbledore just looked at her for another moment and decided not to comment on her obvious growing feelings for her classmate.
"Prof. McGonagall will deal with James and Sirius," he finally said, "Now, go into the Greenhouse, I've kept you from your class long enough."
As she walked into Greenhouse #4, Florence saw Severus was already working side by side with a Ravenclaw girl.
So the teacher, Prof. Sprout, paired her up with a Gryffindor boy.
"I'm a great at Herbology," said him, "Not so good at Potions though," he lifted a large bag of dirt from the floor, putting it on the table, "You're Florence Delacour, right? I'm Frank Longbottom."
"Yes, I am. Pleased to meet you, Frank. I'm sorry for asking this, but isn't this class supposed to be of Slytherins and Ravenclaws?" she looked at his uniform where a lion was embroidered.
"Yes. But Herbology is my passion, so I come here to help Prof. Sprout whenever I have time to spare."
She just nodded, not really relating to his love of Herbology – she knew plants were useful but she didn't love the subject – she could read between the lines, though, and tell he liked being around plants more than around people.
They began working together in comfortable silence. Florence put on her gloves and held the bag of dirt for Frank as he scooped some and added it to a large brown pot that contained a grey cactus.
"Isn't this a Mimbulus mimbletonia?" asked Florence, getting a little concerned.
"Yes, it is! Prof. Sprout lets me care for her plants when she's too busy; she knows I'm respectful to each plant's characteristics and I always handle them with care."
As Frank spoke, he lifted the empty garden scoop away from the pot and accidently touched one of the plant's boils, making awful-smelling Stinksap ooze onto the table and stink up the whole greenhouse.
Students all around them started to complain and ran towards the doors and windows with their hands on their noses.
Florence rolled her eyes at them and quickly cast: "Scourgify!" and the table turned as clean as if it had never seen dirt once in its life. Next she cast: "Abluo ventas," and the foul smell was replaced by the scent of fresh air.
Prof. Sprout was impressed by her, "Miss Delacour! That was amazing! Twenty points for Slytherin! Did you all see how quickly she thought on her feet and solved the Stinksap problem with two simple spells? That's what I expect to see in your O.W.L.s! Outstanding, Miss Delacour, absolutely outstanding!"
All around the greenhouse students were looking at her, some happy, some envious, making Florence feel very uncomfortable – she was used to attracting attention by her looks but rarely by her abilities.
She glanced at Severus and he was, too, looking at her, but he had a soft smile on his face, making her blush.
"Go back to your worktables!" ordered Prof. Sprout. "You squeamish lot!"
And everybody resumed working.
"Sorry about that," said Frank as Florence helped him carry the mimbletonia back to what was its usual spot in the greenhouse.
"Don't worry. It happens. At least it wasn't Aconite, or we'd be on our way to St. Mungus right now."
Frank chuckled and showed her the next plant from the professor's personal collection that they had to tend to.
As they worked on feeding some rats to a baby Venomous tentacula, Florence couldn't stop herself from looking towards Severus from time to time; he looked annoyed, and it seemed the Ravenclaw girl working by his side hadn't noticed his irritation for she spoke non-stop – about what Florence couldn't say, for they were almost on the other side of the long greenhouse.
Frank noticed his co-worker was risking getting her fingers bitten to look at Severus.
"Never thought I'd pity Severus, but…" whispered Frank, "Rosmerta is such a pain in the ass. She's been telling whoever wants to hear that they are a couple and that they're going to go together to the Ball."
"Ball?" That got Florence's attention, she quickly turned to look at him, "What Ball?" she had no idea what he was talking about.
"The End Of The Term Ball," explained Frank, "It'll be in three days. We'll have the O. for the next two days and then the Ball on the third. If I hadn't already invited Alice to go with me, I could invite you, but I thought Severus…"
"Can I go by myself?" she interrupted him, not wanting to think why Severus hadn't even mentioned the existence of said Ball to her.
"Sure you can," he replied, smiling.
Florence stooped looking at the other end of the long table for a while, focusing on the baby carnivorous plant in front of them. Frank respected her silence, so they worked a bit without talking.
"Since when does that girl say she is dating Severus?" Florence asked him as they carried the asleep and content tentacula back to its place.
"Since we were in the third year, if I remember correctly," said Frank, "She says their destinies are inter-woven or some other divination shit. She believes in prophecies and stuff like that."
Florence looked at where Severus was and her heart lost a beat.
Is it possible he has already invited Rosmerta to go with him to the Ball? And, if he has, is there anything I can do to change that?
When Dumbledore returned to his office after speaking with Florence, he found two men in there, waiting for him.
"Mr Avery. Mr Black. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" said him, cordially, as he sat on his chair behind his desk.
Orion Black looked at Dumbledore with obvious contempt, "We're looking for my niece. She's been missing since the night Durmstrang had dinner here in the castle."
"Your niece," repeated Dumbledore, making it clear he was not buying that, "Well, I'm not hiding anyone here. Your family problems are your family problems. If she is a Durmstrang student, she isn't my responsibility. You should go to Durmstrang and demand an explanation for her missing status," Dumbledore paused, looking from Black to Avery and noticing the second man's eyes had no spark in them, as if a dementor had robbed him of his soul, "Anyway, search the castle if you must, I have nothing to hide."
Black seemed to be about to say they'd do just that, but Avery spoke first:
"That won't be necessary, Headmaster. If you say you haven't seen her-"
"And I haven't," confirmed Dumbledore.
"We'll be going then," Avery completed.
"Let me know when you find her. So that I don't worry," said the Headmaster while watching the two men disappear through the door of his office, concern filling him up. If they didn't find Florence – which he knew they wouldn't – who was to say Tom himself wouldn't come looking for her?
Dumbledore couldn't have Voldemort showing up at his school. He had to think about what to do.
Florence was by the greenhouse door, waiting for Severus to clean up his worktable so they could go to the library together to study before dinner.
When he finally showed up at the door, they walked side-by-side towards the castle in a weird silence.
He seemed angry and Florence didn't know what to say, she wanted to ask him about the Ball, but an unfamiliar fear of rejection stopped her from opening her mouth.
"Quick thinking back there," Severus said, trying to break the silence between them, "Cleaning up the Stinksap," he added when he noticed she looked confused.
"Oh, yeah yeah," she nodded, "I even got my first points to Slytherin."
"What was that spell you used to get rid of the smell?"
"Abluo ventas? It's a spell I created to help clean up the air in my Potions lab."
He looked at her, impressed: "You created that spell? To clean up your lab?"
"Yes, it's very useful for when I brew something with stinky fumes."
"In your own lab?" He asked, still surprised.
"Yes, I have my own lab. Well, I used to have, now I guess I'll have to have one built, if-"
They were passing by the Great Hall double oak doors when Florence disappeared midsentence, hiding behind a statue.
"What are you-?" Severus began to ask, confused by her sudden disappearance act, when he heard his name called:
"Severus Snape."
It was Orion Black, accompanied by Elric Avery, both men stopped in front of him.
"Good Morning, Mr Black, Mr Avery." Severus greeted them respectfully.
"Feeling ready for your… O.W.L.s?" asked Black, clearly meaning something other than just the exams.
"Yes, sir."
"Good," said Black, smiling, "We'll see you soon. We are very impressed so far by your abilities."
Severus thanked him and bowed his head in deference; then the two men kept walking to the Entrance Courtyard to leave the Castle grounds.
Florence came back from behind the statue as soon as the two men were out of sight.
"What was that?" Severus asked her.
"What was what?" she played dumb.
"That! You hiding! Why would you hide from Messrs Black and Avery?"
"Well, you know, they are... You-know-who supporters," she uncomfortably replied.
"So?" He frowned, "That's not enough reason to hide from someone."
Florence stared at him, "You cannot be serious, Severus. Are you telling me you see nothing wrong in what they do and preach?"
"I am not saying anything," he deflected, turning around and walking towards the first floor to go to the library.
"Severus!" Florence held his arm to make him stop halfway up the Marble staircase, "Are you planning on joining them?" she asked, worried about his answer.
"Maybe," he shrugged as if what they were discussing was as relevant as the weather, "They can give me a good job; I could make a lot of money working for them."
"Money made over the expense of muggles and half-bloods!" She hissed, remembering the meeting she'd witnessed by accident, "How can you even consider joining them?"
"It's easy for you to dismiss them!" He was suddenly angry, "You look like you come from money: brand clothing, expensive school supplies, posh-manners; saying you have your own Potions lab. Not to mention Durmstrang is not a cheap school! You reek of inheritance money, Florence. You don't know how shitty life can be!" He finished, bitterly.
She was surprised by his harsh words, but she could see where he was coming from: his second-hand clothes and books let her know he had, most likely, never had the financial security she'd always taken for granted; he looked at the opportunity to join her father's ranks as a way to climb up socially, making a fortune on the way.
"I hear what you're saying," She finally spoke as they resumed walking upstairs to the library, "But I still disagree of your decision to join them, there are other ways to make money. You're a brilliant wizard, you can-"
"And who are you to tell me what a can and can't do?" Severus snarled, annoyed by that whole conversation, feeling torn between keeping defending his plans and apologizing for calling her a rich heiress with no sense of reality.
"I'm your friend!" Florence replied, a little voice in her mind immediately adding that they could even be something more than just friends in the future.
He sneered: "I met you yesterday, Florence. Don't think so highly of yourself."
She stopped walking, letting him continue down the corridor by himself.
She didn't need to listen to that; she didn't even need to study for the stupid O.W.L.s! She was only going to the library to spend time with him.
So she turned and went down to the Slytherin Common Room; if Severus wanted to be an idiot – so be it! She wasn't going to go after him.
He can take the stupid Ravenclaw girl to the stupid Ball! See if I care! She lied to herself.
8 p.m.
Florence didn't go to the Great Hall to have dinner, she wasn't that hungry and she didn't want to chance seeing Severus with the Ravenclaw girl again.
She stayed in the Common Room, enjoying an advanced Herbology book Frank Longbottom had recommended earlier that day.
Severus sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall and toyed with the food on his plate.
He was under the impression the food that night was not as good as the previous nights – but he knew the kitchens had nothing to do with that.
Something about Florence affected him, it was exciting and terrifying at the same time. The words he had used to hurt her earlier were things that had been weighing on his mind since day one: the two of them were clearly from different worlds; she was the kind of girl that would date a rich guy like Regulus Black, not a nobody like him.
But Severus was going to be somebody one day – he'd sell his soul to achieve that, if necessary.
I need to focus. He reminded himself. All Outstandings are imperative in my O.W.L.s and Florence is a distraction!
He reached the conclusion that if she never spoke to him again, it'd be for the better.
No matter how attracted he was to her, he couldn't afford to have her – in more meanings than one.
But Severus dinner decision to no longer pursue a friendship with Florence was quickly forgotten the moment he walked into their Common Room and saw her sitting on an armchair by the fireplace reading a Herbology book.
He stopped between the entrance door and the boys' dormitory questioning his life choices.
What the hell is happening to me?
There seemed to be a pull, some magnetic force field around her that pulled him to her.
Fuck.
Fifteen minutes ago he had decided not to even look her way, but the minute she was within eyesight his resolve turned to mush.
Florence noticed when Severus walked into the Common Room and stopped on his way to his dorm.
He seemed to be having an argument with himself; probably pondering whether to talk to her or not.
She kept reading the book, although not being able to remember a single line of what she was reading now that he was in the room.
He finally made up his mind and walked towards her.
"Are you still mad at me?" Severus asked.
Florence closed her book and looked at him, her heart immediately beginning to beat faster.
"I am not mad at you, Severus… I'm just upset," She sighed, "I get what you said, I look... posh. I inherited my mother's fortune when she died, I could live my whole life without working a single day and my kids would still have an inheritance," She looked away, "But that doesn't mean I'm not as worried about the future as you are. That doesn't mean I don't have problems. I hid today from those men for a reason."
Severus nodded, understanding, "I see what you're saying. And I'm sorry I hurt your feelings…"
"Look, if you don't see anything wrong with the likes of Orion Black, that's your problem," as Florence spoke, he could see sadness in her beautiful emerald eyes, "Just know this, Severus, outside of Hogwarts, there are no detentions with dirty cauldrons to clean when you misbehave. There's no Dumbledore out there to cover your ass. You said I don't know how shitty life can be – I lost my mother when I was eight, so I think I know a little about the shitty side of life. I have seen first-hand how mistakes can cost a life; every decision and action has an impact not just on your life but on other people's lives too," she got up from the armchair, "Do you want to be one of them? Fine. Just don't expect to be forgiven once you start regretting your choice."
And Florence walked past him to the girls' dormitory without another word.
Severus stayed there in the common room, sitting on the same armchair she had been occupying before, his eyes lost in the flames in the large fireplace, and his thoughts on her words.