The first potions class of the day was always horrid, and Severus was going through his calming ritual beforehand. He woke at five that morning, and pulled out his potion making kit in his office. He carefully slipped out to the classroom, leaving a Super-Sensory charm on Silvia to keep an "eye" on her. He carefully opened the leather pouch and withdrew a magically sealed bronze jar. It was latched with a simple pin, but the complex locking charm he had set on it kept the scarabs safe. A few slashes of the wand and a muttered "Patefacio" and the pin slid out into his hands. The pin itself was a shrunk pestle, that when removed grew to normal size. The lid then unscrewed, and Severus laid three scarab beetles on the lid and began to grind. Each flick of the wrist drew more green, glittery dust to rest on the lid, and less of the beetle yet to grind. When the solid chunks were gone, Severus pinched some dust between his fingers and rubbed it, feeling the warmth that came from the rubbing he had done. He measured carefully the dust into the cauldron of water, letting measuring take over his mind and his thoughts slowly dissolve into peacefulness. The beetles dissolved in the water, turning the cauldron's contents a dark green, much like Lily's eyes. He then let it simmer while his silver knife slit through the ginger root, releasing a strong scent over the room. The smooth slicing sound prepared Severus for the classes ahead. Letting the knife slit each layer without slowing, the pale hand guiding the blade barely applied pressure - he knew what exactly would cut. The ginger root lay in paper-thin pieces on a cloth, and the smell was all you could think about if you weren't prepared. The strength of mind Severus had learned to use without thinking gave him pride and prepared him to intimidate the insolent children. As he slid the root into the potion, the potion bubbled and began to lighten, until the potion was bright green. This step was the fastest one you had to complete - the ladling out and dumping in of the armadillo bile had to be done faster than any other step. He set the bottle in motion with his wand and picked up the ladle. When the potion finished simmering, he took one look and was proud of himself. It was perfect, down to the last drop of bile and the smallest grain of beetle dust. He heard a small whimper and quickly ran to pick up the child. Silvia reached for him and promptly went back to sleep when she was lifted up. Severus groaned and slid the sling over his head before returning to bottling the potion with Silvia asleep against his chest.
Breakfast was a boring affair. At the end of it, he passed Poppy Pomfrey Silvia and whispered, "Love you baby girl, be good now!" before swooping away to the dungeons to lay out his lesson.
A/N: Kinda short, but I need ideas for the best first potions class I could write! Also, the first person to answer which potion he was brewing gets their name in as a student! Still don't own anything except Silvia and the Plot.