Chapter 2

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Severus had found the girl to be extremely mature by the way she had handled the situation earlier that day. After he showed her the room where she would be staying in for the next two weeks she hadn't come downstairs, but he assumed she was just tired, which was perfectly fine with him. He couldn't think of anything he would want less than a blabbering teenager at the moment.

Just then the living room door opened and Emilia shyly stepped in.

"Eh…excuse me, Severus. But, could you lend me a few lemongrass pods, please?" "I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can. It's just that I've lost my potions kit and…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at the professor expectantly with her deep chocolate-brown eyes.

"And what, if I may ask, do you plan on making with them, Emilia?" He inquired with a note of mockery in his voice.

Emilia told him she needed them to brew a Pepper up potion for her sore throat.

"Pepper up potion is an advanced potion to just "fix-up", Emilia. Most trained wizards and witches don't bother and just buy the stuff" He answered.

"Yes, but I find mine works for longer. Plus, I have already got the hang of it; I've been brewing my on for more than two years now"

Emilia didn't fail to notice the flicker of amusement that crossed his eyes, but his face stayed as unexpressive as it had been since they met.

"Could I keep a sample of it when you are done?"

"It would be my pleasure, Severus"

It had been years since anyone had said his name with a smile that wasn't a mocking one. Severus found his lips curving faintly, mirroring hers. He stopped himself before she could notice.

XXX

The potion had been perfect, and Severus seemed to have found someone with the same talent for potions that he had had at her age. They brewed various potions together and there didn't appear to be any that was too complicated for the young which to follow.

"My parents stopped teaching me potion making when I was 14. By then I could brew any potion they could. I've since bought a few books on the subject and just taught myself!"

The Potions Master found he actually enjoyed spending time with her, something he didn't imagine could be possible with a student.

One night after their usual chess game, Severus asked the young witch how much she actually knew about Hogwarts.

"Well, my dad studied there but my mum was homeschooled like most Spanish wizarding families"

That much he was aware of. After the Spanish Inquisition not many wizarding families were left in the country, too few to have their own school, so their children were homeschooled or sent to either Hogwarts or Beauxbatons.

"I know the students are sorted into 4 houses; everyone on my fathers side of the family has always been sorted into Slytherin. I think the bad blood between them and my father started when he was named a Hufflepuff…"

Emilia's father came from an ancient line of pureblood wizards, closely involved in the dark arts since the very beginning. They had disowned her father after he married a Spanish muggle-lover and went to live with her.

"I don't know how he would feel about me if I were sorted into Slytherin. But with the amount of Slytherin blood in me I'll probably end up in that house."

Severus could see tears were building up in her eyes. He knew the sorting was a big deal in ancient families and that children sorted into other houses were often removed from the family. He realised this was the first time they had spoken about her family. All their other conversations this past week had been around potions or books.

"Emilia Malfoy, the house you are sorted into doesn't determine the kind of wizard you will turn out to be. And houses don't run in family blood, your father most of all should know. You have the mind of a Ravenclaw, the heart of a Hufflepuff, the bravery of a Gryffindor and the ambition of a Slytherin, whichever house you are eventually sorted into will have earned a great young witch."

Severus was surprised how naturally those words had flown out of his mouth. Over the past week Emilia had shown him her good heart and never judged him for being a Slytherin. She knew when to speak and when the professor would rather share her company in silence. Snape felt that they had bonded in a way that he hadn't bonded with anyone before; he felt an almost fatherly instinct to protect and reassure her.