Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its copyrights.
The second in the series! Takes place in 1995 (5th book; OoTP) and follows directly after the first one-shot. BTW, in my mind, like Hogwarts, the "University of Britain" caters to the entirety of Britain as a Continuing Ed. Kind of establishment. The "University of Britain" is fictional and made up by me let me know how it goes guys!
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Serena made sure that she was composed before she entered the kitchen. The Weasley's were all gathered in the kitchen talking and laughing loudly. When she entered, it seemed that all of the Weasleys stopped talking and looked at her. She smiled if a little awkwardly at them, and then proceeded to make her way to a corner of the kitchen that appeared darker than normal.
"Good afternoon, Professor Snape," she said.
"Yes. I trust your summer is going well?" he asked, after ensuring that the Weasley's had returned to their boisterous activities.
His comment nearly broke her resolve, but she shrugged, not looking him in the eye, and admitted, "There've been some hiccups, but its ok."
"Good. There is something important I need to speak with you about. Is there somewhere a little… quieter we can go?"
"Uh, yeah. This way." She led him up the stairs and into the hallway, paused, looked around and chose a door at random.
It was a dusty room, and all the furniture was covered with sheets. Cabinets containing strange and most likely dangerous objects lined the walls, and the heavy curtains covering the windows buzzed and moved. Serena grimaced, but turned to face her professor, taking care not to touch anything but the floor.
"What did you need to talk to me about, Professor?"
Snape cleared his throat; "Every year, I am approached by a representative of the University of Britain's School of Potions to get names of students whom I think could do well with them. As you know, very few people choose to pursue a career of Potions Mastery, and the School of Potions is very small, but very good. Very rarely do I give him any names at all, but I told him that I think you would do well there. I've given him your name and a file containing all of the work you do with me."
"Oh, wow. Professor, that's amazing. But, I don't think I could afford to go to the University of Britain," she said. She sorely wanted to, but realistically knew that she and her father couldn't come up with that kind of money, and financial aid was hard to come by.
"If you would let me finish, Miss Black." Serena looked appropriately sheepish. "After he looked through the file, he came back to me saying that with your grades, you would do very well. When I brought up the subject of financial issues, he said they could offer you a fellowship. You could take classes and stay on the campus, but you would have to do work and research in the lab to help pay for it."
It was too good to be true. Sure, she was good at potions, and enjoyed them immensely, but really? A fellowship at the University of Britain's School of Potions? Inconceivable.
"Really?" she asked in shock.
"No. I made this whole thing up just to see that horribly crushed look on your face," Professor Snape said, rolling his eyes. This is when Serena squealed, and started jumping around happily.
"Oh my goodness! This is so cool! I can't wait!"
"You will have to come up with a project that you will work on during the year after hours that I will oversee, and that you will present to him and the board at the University in June," he added.
"That's fine. Awesome!" Serena squealed again. "Thank you so much!" She would have hugged her favorite professor if the look on his face didn't tell her that he was incredibly uncomfortable with her spontaneous display of extreme emotion.
She got herself under control with a deep breath.
"Thank you so much for letting me know, Professor. I have to go tell my dad," she said; she couldn't stop smiling.
She lead the way out of the room, unfortunately, they ran into Sirius in the corridor. The smile instantly dropped off of Serena's face, and she heard Professor Snape make a disgusted noise in his throat. Sirius's eyes immediately found Snape and his visage darkened. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he looked at Serena. His mouth snapped closed, and he quickly turned and left.
When he was out of sight, Serena turned to move toward the kitchen.
"I take it he doesn't like that you're a Slytherin," Snape remarked.
"No, it was kind of like your reaction when you found out that I of all people got into Slytherin, except you know, his was louder," Serena said. Snape was silent while they entered the kitchen, then he melted back into the shadows. Serena immediately sought out her father.
"Dad!" she exclaimed. He was standing with Arthur and Bill Weasley, talking.
"Sweetheart," he said, pulling her to his side and giving her a kiss on the temple, "How did your talk with Professor Snape go?"
"Fantastic; I was offered a fellowship at the University of Britain's School of Potions!"
"Oh wow! That's great, Serena! This is fantastic: you love Potions. You'll have to tell me all of the details after dinner," he looked so happy for her. Fred came up to give her a hug, and they all sat down at the table to enjoy Mrs. Weasley's fabulous cooking. She took a look around the table. Fred to her right, and her dad on her left; the rest of the Weasleys, even Professor Snape and a couple of other people Serena had yet to make the acquaintance of integrated into the group nearly seamlessly.
Here eyes landed on the only empty chair at the table as the door to the kitchen creaked open. It was situated behind her, but she knew just who it was when everyone stopped talking to stare at the figure still lurking in the doorway. She turned slowly, and finally met the contrite eyes of her biological father.
He stared at her for a moment, before taking a step forward.
"Serena, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive my stupidity?" he asked. She knew he meant it by the slight shine in his eyes.
"Of course. Now, come on; sit down and have dinner with us," she said, turning back to the table. He smiled and hurried to his seat as conversations slowly resumed. Serena smiled; her family was together for the first time ever, and it was nice. Even if it was a little dysfunctional.