"Come in."
"I… I was told you wanted to see me, Professor."
Severus Snape almost huffed irritably at the sound of terror in the student's voice. However, he held back. Teddy Williams might have been a wimpy eleven-year-old, but he was a Slytherin, after all, and therefore, Snape was responsible for him. It was also possible that sending the Bloody Baron with the invitation hadn't been the best idea, especially after what Teddy had been through less than an hour earlier. But Snape quickly dismissed that thought. If Williams was going to spend the next seven years at Hogwarts, it was time he stopped shivering at the sight of the Slytherin house ghost.
"Sit down." Snape waved his wand, and the chair on the other side of the desk obediently moved back.
Teddy uncertainly slid down to the edge of the seat, still staring at the teacher, his eyes open wide. Snape sighed inwardly. The school year had only started three weeks ago, so he hadn't had the chance to get to know the new students well yet. However, with Williams, it didn't take much to figure him out. A perpetually scared, cowering, extremely shy kid, whose last name had recently appeared in the Daily Prophet several times in connection with his father's trial. Just before the end of the summer, Williams Sr. had ended up in Azkaban for some serious scams, and since his company had been thriving so far and had many clients, the wizarding world was buzzing with rumors.
Snape narrowed his eyes and studied the hunched, pale boy for a moment. Teddy constantly gave the impression of someone who wanted nothing more than to blend into a wall, and knowing his family's history, Snape wasn't too surprised. Still, for some reason the Sorting Hat thought Williams Jr. was the perfect Slytherin material, and there was no point arguing with the old hat. So now that Teddy was in his house, it was Snape's job to make sure he grew up to be a fine young man one day, as Dumbledore would have put it. Or at least that the kid wouldn't end up with a nervous breakdown before he graduated.
"Mr. Williams, would you mind telling me what you were doing outside the dormitory at this late hour?" Snape asked in a dispassionate tone. At the same time, he produced the boy's glasses from a drawer and slid them across the desk towards Teddy as evidence.
The boy swallowed hard.
"I... It's because... A friend from Ravenclaw had my books and I… I had to get them back," he stammered.
"I see." Snape nodded slowly. The kid wasn't lying, he was simply able to extract just enough truth to create a perfect excuse. Or would be, if Snape hadn't already known all the facts. Maybe there was a trace of a real Slytherin in Teddy Williams, after all?
"Do you use sugar, Mr. Williams?"
This out-of-the-blue question was meant to lighten the mood but instead, it only made Teddy turn even paler as he sent the teacher a puzzled look.
Snape sighed.
"In your tea?" he clarified mercifully.
Teddy continued to stare at him wide-eyed, so after a moment, Snape impatiently waved his wand twice. When a cup of tea and a saucer with three sugar cubes appeared in front of him, the boy nearly fell off his chair. Even as the teacher gestured for him to drink, Teddy just kept staring at the amber-coloured beverage as if it could turn out to be poison.
This time, Snape couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"If I wanted to use a potion on you, Mr. Williams, believe me, I wouldn't need to camouflage it with tea," he pointed out sarcastically.
Teddy swallowed again and reached for his cup with a trembling hand. He took a sip, grimaced, dumped the sugar inside and sent the teacher a questioning look. Snape nodded approvingly, then waved his wand again to conjure up a spoon for the boy and a second tea for himself.
They drank in silence for several minutes, and Snape surreptitiously watched as the boy gradually relaxed and began to look curiously around the office.
"You've never been here before, have you, Mr. Williams?" Snape finally asked, trying to sound as friendly as he could.
The boy shook his head, not taking his eyes off the shelves lined with jars full of various potion ingredients.
"You see, Mr. Williams," Snape continued. "There are two kinds of students I usually invite to my office. Those whom I deem worthy to study the difficult art of potion-making beyond what is covered in the standard curriculum. And those who make up for their misdeeds by cleaning up after the former. If you work hard, Mr. Williams, one day I may invite you to my extracurricular classes. And in the meantime, I intend to invite Mister Pembroke and Mister Walker, and I guarantee you that the only thing they will have a chance to learn here is manners and decency, which they obviously failed to learn at home."
Teddy paled and turned his startled gaze back to the teacher. The Potions Master smirked and leaned over the desk.
"Yes, Mr. Williams, as Head of Slytherin, I know everything that is going on in my house. So next time someone decides to treat you like those two, spare both of us the trouble and just come to me right away. I assure you that after a month of scrubbing cauldrons night after night, even the dumbest bullies will run out of energy to torment other students. Is that understood?"
Teddy nodded wordlessly.
"Good." Snape leaned back and lifted his cup to his lips. "Now, finish your tea and go to bed. In case you forgot, you have a Potions class first thing in the morning, and I'm not going to tolerate any lateness."
Teddy gulped down the remainder of his tea and jumped off the chair. When he reached the door, he turned and sent the teacher a long, serious look.
"Yes, Mr. Williams?" Snape raised his eyebrows.
"Thank you for the tea, sir." For the first time, Teddy's voice sounded loud and confident.