Author's Note: Time for a brief update. All things considered, I've actually started writing Olivia's fifth year and am very excited to post it. I just have to catch up with myself first. I have to finish writing the first year before it starts getting really good. Be excited, be very excited. And please don't get too mad if it seems a bit rushed. Oh and thanks for all the lovely reviews! You all are wonderful! It's readers like you who help keep my stories interesting. Love you all!
~TheVampyre13
Snape's POV
The months seemed to fly by after that with Olivia purposely trying to get me to give her detention, which I found both exasperating and amusing. Before I knew it, it was time for the Christmas holidays and I had to go around one morning at breakfast and take down the names of those who were staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. When I reached Olivia and her friend Mari Pirelli, they both turned to face me, grinning.
"Are either of you going home for Christmas?" I asked reluctantly.
"Hell no," Olivia replied, grinning, "Hogwarts is awesome."
"Language, Olivia," I said warningly, "Don't make me take house points."
"You could just give me detention," she said hopefully.
"I think not. What about you, Pirelli? Are you staying as well?"
"Sure, why not," she replied with a shrug.
I wrote down both their names and continued down the row of students. I had just written down Alexandria Daae's name when someone tugged on my sleeve. I looked down at Olivia.
"What?" I asked her.
"I could help you take names," she offered.
"Will it get you to leave me alone?"
"Temporarily," she replied smartly.
I sighed and handed her a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Go," I told her, "Do the other side of the table."
"Right-o," she said and hurried off.
She was just finishing up as I reached the end of the table. She handed me her list and proceeded to follow me out of the Great Hall and down into the dungeons.
"Don't you have a class or something to go to?" I asked irritably.
"Potions is my first class today," she replied brightly.
"Of course it is. I should make you wait outside the door."
"Oh come on Snape, let me help you prepare for the lesson. Please. I'll do whatever you say and I'll be extra quiet."
"Fine," I said, holding open the door to the classroom for her.
I retrieved the teacher's edition Potions book and opened it to the page we were working on today. I set Olivia about the simple task of writing today's lesson on the board, which she began to do with such enthusiasm her writing was hardly legible. I sat down at my desk and pulled out some papers to work on.
"Write slower," I said to her, "Your classmates don't have time to decipher your chicken scratch."
"Hmph," she said as she erased what she had written, "It's surprising any of them can even read. Stupid blighters. Did you know Alan Makinney exploded a frog in McGonagall's class the other day? He exploded it! It was horrible. Of course McGonagall didn't even take house points or anything-"
"I thought you were going to be quiet?" I said without looking up from my work.
"Hmph," she said again and I glanced up to see her making a zipping motion with her hand. I shook my head and forced myself not to smile.
The last day of term came as a relief to students and teachers alike. The day after term ended the castle was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I slept late and awoke just in time for lunch. I was making my way out of the dungeons when I saw Olivia and her friend making their way down the staircase. Olivia had something hidden behind her back and she swore when she saw me.
"What're you two doing?" I asked her. Olivia turned her back to me and set down what appeared to be a box. She opened it and turned it on its side.
"Run free, little mice!" she cried. I watched as several small, white mice scampered confusedly down the staircase and down a corridor. Surprised, I stepped aside and allowed the mice to pass me. Then I crossed my arms and glared up at Olivia.
"Crap," she said and hurried back up the staircase, dragging her friend with her. By the time I reached the Entrance Hall, the girls had disappeared.
I just shook my head and continued on to lunch, where I had to endure Minerva complaining about how someone had stolen her transfiguration mice.
"Perhaps you misplaced them?" I suggested, fighting a smile. She shot me a death glare and I began to eat quickly to keep myself from laughing. Then it occurred to me- I hadn't felt like laughing in ages. Perhaps having Olivia around wasn't such a bad thing after all. She was amusing at least.
After lunch I went for a walk around the grounds, which were covered with snow. I spotted Olivia and her friend down by the lake, building snowmen- or in Olivia's case, a snow puppy.
"Olivia!" I called to her, and made a come here motion with my finger. She looked guiltily around, said something to her friend, then walked over to me, attempting to look casual.
"Hey Snape. What's up? Having a good holiday?" she asked innocently.
"You stole the Transfiguration mice."
"Well…I…uh… It's animal cruelty!" she exclaimed, "Keeping them trapped in a cage just so kids can practice magic on them. And what about the frog that Mikenney exploded? What if one of the mice ended up like that?"
"What do you think is going to happen to them in the dungeon?" I inquired.
"…Something along the lines of a mouse-society…"
"Dream on. Most likely they're going to be eaten by Filch's cat or one of the other cats that frequent the dungeon."
"Well…at least that's part of nature," she muttered.
"And they're used to being fed. They won't know what to do for food. The ones that don't get eaten will starve to death," I said bluntly.
Her face turned pale.
"What if…what if I go recapture them?"
"Then you would be saving them from a terrible fate. Only don't let McGonagall see you putting them back."
"I won't," she said and hurried back to where her friend was waiting. I watched as the two of them hurried back towards the castle.
I found myself walking over to where the girls had built the snowman and the snow puppy. I smiled at the snow puppy, which was surprisingly good considering I hadn't seen her use any magic. It wasn't finished though- it had no eyes or mouth.
I walked along the edge of the lake for a while, peering out over the water at fish that jumped and down at the merpeople basking in the shallows. I happened to notice several small, black rocks that had been rubbed smooth by the lake. Without thinking about it, I picked up two stones and walked back to the snow puppy. I used the rocks to make eyes and used a stick to draw the puppy's mouth. Then I caught myself- what the hell was I doing? I dropped the stick and quickly started back towards the castle. The last thing I needed was for Minerva to spot me building a snow puppy- or worse, Albus.
On Christmas morning I awoke late and when I went out into my office, there were two presents on my desk. One was from Albus, who always gave me a gift, this year's being a large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The other gift was a luxurious eagle-feather quill. There was a tag attached that said 'Merry Christmas, Snape! ~Olivia.'
I was surprised at the gift- I hadn't expected anything from her and I certainly hadn't bought her anything. What would I have bought her? A book on Potions most likely. But now I'd only be giving her a present because she got me one. I didn't want to do that. And I didn't want her to actually think I cared.
When I headed up to the Great Hall for lunch, I saw Filch crossing the Entrance Hall with Ms Norris close behind him.
"Professor Snape," he said, his voice sounding hoarser than usual, "Just who I wanted to see."
His eyes were rimmed in red, his nose was running, and his cheeks were flushed. He was quite obviously sick.
"What can I do for you, Filch?" I asked, resisting the urge to take a step backwards.
"I need a Pepperup Potion, sir. I've been sick something awful."
"Have you asked the nurse?"
"She hasn't got any left."
"…Very well. I shall be around your office later this evening."
"Thank you, sir," he said. Then he sneezed loudly and skulked off towards the dungeons. I curled my lip in disgust and continued into the Great Hall.
I went and sat at the staff table and began to eat lunch. I could see Olivia and her friend Mari sitting at the Slytherin table. While I ate, an idea began to grow in my mind and when I had finished eating- and Olivia appeared almost finished as well- I stood and made my way over to the Slytherin table. She saw me approaching and looked curiously at me.
"Happy Christmas, Snape," she said with a smile.
"Right. …Would you like to help me work on a potion?" I asked quickly, before I could change my mind.
"Yeah, of course!"
"Meet me in the Potions classroom in ten minutes."
Olivia's POV
Once Snape had left the Great Hall, I said goodbye to Mari and hurried out. I was outside of the Potions classroom five minutes earlier than what Snape had told me. I stood outside the door, bouncing on the balls of my feet, excited that he was letting me help with a potion. The door opened suddenly, startling me, as I hadn't even knocked. Snape peered out at me.
"I had a feeling you were out here. Come on," he said, stepping aside to let me in.
"Yay! What are we working on?" I asked excitedly.
"A large cauldron of Pepperup Potion for Madam Pomfrey," he replied, "Here's the directions. The ingredients listed are for a size 2 cauldron. This is a size 10. Ergo-"
"We need five times as much of everything," I said promptly.
"Right. Take the book and go to the supply cupboard and get the ingredients."
I happily did as asked and when I returned with the ingredients, we laid them out on the desk.
"Now, I want you to do exactly what I tell you," Snape said, "No questions."
"But of course," I answered with a smile.
We got started, with me chopping, slicing, or pounding ingredients under Snape's direction. He made suggestions every now and again, like how I was holding the knife wrong, which I accepted with a small nod and changed whatever he had said to. I barely spoke for the next two hours. I didn't even look at the recipe in the book, just did whatever he told me to. When it came time to add ingredients, he stirred the potion while telling me which ingredients to add when. He made some remarks about why it was important to stir it a certain way or why it was necessary to pull the wings off of the lacewing flies before adding them.
Finally, the potion was finished. Snape peered into the bubbling cauldron while I stood eagerly nearby.
"It's perfect," he said somewhat grudgingly as he stood.
"I couldn't have done it without you," I said flatteringly.
"Humph," he said with a small, twisted smile, "Go get one of the small, empty vials from the supply cupboard."
I did as asked. When I brought him the vial, he ladled some potion into it.
"Now, take this down to Mr. Filch."
I didn't complain but couldn't suppress a groan. Snape raised an eyebrow at me and crossed his arms. I said nothing, just shook my head and left the classroom, taking the vial with me.
I made my way to Filch's office and knocked. There was no answer. I knocked louder. Still no answer. I hesitated a moment, then pushed the door open. Much to my relief, there was no Filch. His office was dark and dreary- well-oiled chains hung from the ceiling. I grimaced and set the potion on his desk, then high-tailed it out of there.
I made my way back to the Potions classroom, but both Snape and the cauldron of potion were gone. I supposed he'd taken it up to Madam Pomfrey. Slightly disappointed, I went to the Slytherin Common Room, where I found Mari playing with a deck of cards.
"Hey Livvy. Want to play a game of Exploding Snap?" she asked me.
"Sure," I replied, sitting down across from her.
"How did it go with Snape?" she asked casually.
"I brewed an entire cauldron of Pepperup Potion," I said brightly.
"Was Snape bitchy?"
"Well…he was a bit critical and he did snap if I did something he didn't like, but I kept my mouth shut and did whatever he told me to."
"Think you could do that everyday? If you were the apprentice?"
"Sure," I replied with a shrug, "…Probably."
"Did he give you anything for Christmas?" she inquired.
"Well…no, but- I think letting me help him brew the Pepperup Potion was his subtle way of giving me a Christmas present."
After a few games of Exploding Snap, Mari and I went out onto the grounds to have a snowball fight. After that we went out to the Quidditch pitch to practice flying. We were eventually joined by a few of the other older students from Slytherin and Ravenclaw and we had a miniature game of Quidditch. All of the older students agreed I was an exceptional flier and more than one suggested I go out for the Quidditch team next year.
Once it started to get dark out, Mari and I went back up to the castle, shivering, our robes wet from the snow. We dried off in front of the fire in the Common Room, then headed upstairs to the Great Hall for dinner. I ate quickly, then conjured up a thermos under the table and filled it with hot chocolate and marshmallows.
After everyone had left the Great Hall, Mari and I slipped out of the empty Entrance Hall and went back out onto the snow-covered grounds. We went back out to where we'd been having our snowball fight and sat inside of the snow-fort I'd built. I made a small, smokeless fire in the middle of the enclosure and we sat around it, drinking hot chocolate.
"Do you think anyone can see the light of the fire from the castle?" Mari asked, peeking her head over the wall to look at Hogwarts.
"Nah," I said reasonably, "It's only a small fire."
We sat there a while in silence, drinking hot chocolate and staring at the flames, which Mari used a Color- Changing Charm to turn from red to blue to green.
"Can you teach me that?" I asked her.
"Sure. It's easy."
Mari explained the charm to me and after a few tries, I got it. I found great delight in being able to change the fire all the different colors of the rainbow. All of a sudden-
"What are you doing?" said a voice. I looked up to see Snape peering down at us from over the edge of the snow fort. He looked highly annoyed.
"Mari's teaching me the Color-Changing Charm," I replied innocently.
"I told you not to go sneaking around at night anymore," he said irritably.
"But Snape it's Christmas," I said appealingly.
He said nothing, but continued to look down at me, frowning.
"…Care to join us?" I offered.
Mari slid me a look and Snape scoffed.
"No," he said sneeringly, "…be back inside by midnight."
"Yes sir," I said brightly.
He turned and started back up to the castle. I peered over the side of the fort, watching him go.
"Hey Snape!" I called rather loudly, "Sure you don't want to give me detention?"
He didn't so much as stop or glance back at me, just shook his head. I scooped up some snow and quickly formed a snowball.
"Olivia, I don't think you should-" Mari began.
I ignored her and lobbed the snowball at Snape's back. Without looking back, he raised his wand and the snowball changed direction in midair and zoomed back towards me. I ducked and it landed harmlessly on the ground.
"Cheater," I called after him.
I turned around and sat back down on the ground, smiling at Mari's stunned expression.
"Anyone else would be strung up in the dungeons by their ankles," she said in amazement, "You really push the limits, don't you?"
"He's fond of me," I replied with a grin, "He used to look out for me when I was a kid. I don't know if he knows I remember, but I do. He never let anything bad happen to me. He wouldn't let Filch string me up in the dungeons."
"You're lucky to have him on your side."
"I know," I said, still smiling.
Author's Note: That's all for now, folks. Please leave me some lovely reviews and I'll have my next update ready as soon as possible. Thanks!