Chapter Fifteen
The days began to blur together as Severus entrusted Rose with more work. She was thankful that he trusted her to any capacity, but she felt drained: both emotionally and physically. She missed Ella and Ximena.
And she missed the true Severus. This irritable, rude Severus was all a mask, a barrier; now, she was left with solely permission to interact with a façade.
All week Rose had been pre-brewing potions for lessons. Some upper-level lessons involved taking an already brewed potion and adding multiple ingredients to attempt to figure out what the potion was composed of. As a result, Rose was left to brew about one hundred of these simpler potions for lessons.
The solstice had more than one effect on potion brewing: it made potions made on the solstice day much stronger, but also ones brewed within a week of it slightly more potent. It also sped up the pace of brewing, cutting brew time by about three-quarters on the solstice day.
Rose was thankful that at least Severus had the foresight to have these potions brewed early; this would save her a lot of time in the future.
On Friday morning Severus threw open the door to the Dungeons classroom when he arrived, the door smacking against the stone wall. Rose started.
She was already preparing to brew the last of the potions that she had been assigned.
"Good morning," she mumbled, turning back to her work.
"Come with me," he ordered.
"I have too much work to do, Severus. Do you want these finished or not?"
His tone grew curt. "That wasn't an invitation."
Rose sighed, snuffing the cauldron burners with a wave of her wand and gathering her bag and cloak before following Severus out of the Dungeons.
They made their way to the meadow north of the castle. Many of the flowers there had bloomed early and were already beginning to seed. Severus stopped suddenly, nearly causing Rose to bump into him.
He turned to her quickly, handing her a folded piece of parchment. "Collect from that list. Focus on Moss Mimics and any species of violet seeds."
Before Rose had unfolded the piece of parchment, Severus had already started off towards the east end of the meadow.
The list he had given her was considerably short: he had scrawled the names of only five different ingredients. Surely, he had much more to collect for his solstice plans. But she didn't feel like pondering that for too long. If he had made a mistake, it was his doing. She was going to enjoy the leisurely pace of the morning.
Rose started at the castle to search for Moss Mimics. Severus' list said that he only wanted two, which would be easy enough. She found them quickly, plopping them into a small terrarium. She wondered if the ones she had given to him at the beginning of the summer were dead now, feeling guilty for not checking on them more throughout the summer.
After collecting the Moss Mimics, she moved toward the wooded edges of the meadow to find violets. Finding violets seeded out would be exceedingly difficult if not for magic.
"Accio violet seeds," she whispered. She held her hands cupped. A multitude of at least 100 seeds flew into her hands. They were brown and smooth, like minute pebbles.
She placed a quarter of them into a vial, before strolling along the woodland edge and scattering the rest at intervals. She didn't like to use summoning charms because of its inability to discriminate between plant species (even when the name was spoken fully); luckily, this wasn't of consequence when collecting violet seeds. Plus, there was no way of knowing how much of an ingredient you would receive when you summoned it. Best to try to not overharvest.
The remaining three species of plant seeds she required she had seen in passing whilst walking to the woodland edge. She returned to the center of the meadow, collecting an appropriate amount of each in just under an hour.
Once finished, she looked around for Severus. He was sitting on a hillside in the east portion of the meadow. She made her way to him.
He was lounging on a green wool blanket with a tray of cheese, bread, and fruit spread out beside him. Rose frowned at this unexpected picture.
His gaze swept to her before returning to the horizon. "Join me," he told her.
"What is this?" Rose asked, still standing at a wary distance.
"It's lunch. Don't overthink it."
She sat gingerly, folding her hands on her lap. This felt worse to her than having to scramble to brew more solstice potions.
She studied Severus when it seemed like he wasn't looking. He was leaning back on his elbows, surveying the expanse of the dark forest.
"What are your plans for the solstice?" He asked her stiffly.
"Why? Do I have to work that day, too?" Rose returned.
Severus cast her a sidelong glance, before turning back towards the forest.
"No. I wouldn't expect you to."
Rose exhaled shakily. This felt like a peace offering of sorts, one that Rose clearly wasn't ready for. She cut a piece of gouda for herself to nibble on, simply for something to do.
Severus turned to her slowly, watching her. "You're angry with me."
Rose felt tears begin to form in her eyes but blinked rapidly to push them away.
"Of course I am. The things you said …" She trailed off.
Severus scoffed. He wouldn't look at her now. "None of which I meant. You know that."
Rose felt her emotions shift into something fiery. "And how am I supposed to know that? You barely show who you truly are to me. I get a few glimpses and then you're gone."
"I think I've shown you exactly who I am," he said solemnly.
Rose shook her head, looking at her lap. "I don't want to do this again. Can I just get back to work?"
Severus nodded, waving his left hand towards the castle. A pained expression passed his face before disappearing. "By all means," he told her.
-o-o-o-
Rose worked dutifully all of Friday afternoon and evening, then woke early to work more on Saturday.
By supper time on Saturday, Rose had finished all of the tasks Severus had given her for pre-solstice week planning, as well as any solstice-affected brewing she had been entrusted with.
She was free. There was no excuse for Severus to keep her from enjoying the holiday now with her friends. There had been a posted announcement that all teaching assistant training would cease from Monday through Wednesday for the holiday. A great feast followed by live music would be held on the solstice night. Then, training would resume on Thursday.
Rose hadn't expected Severus to listen to these arbitrary guidelines, so she ensured that he had no reason to pull her away from her free time and her friends.
Just in case, she scrawled a note on a piece of scrap parchment she found in the Dungeons:
Severus,
I finished all solstice tasks that you asked of me.
I'm taking Monday through Wednesday off, as Dumbledore allowed.
Happy Solstice.
Rose
She was beginning to feel giddy. She missed her friends and couldn't wait to hear about their solstice plans. Plus, she really needed a distraction. Badly.
She exited the castle from the east and walked briskly to the owlery. It wasn't sunset yet, but it was nearly so: the sky had dissolved into melted lavender and marmalade tones. Somewhere, she smelled smoke from a wood fire being burned.
The owlery was just beginning to liven up, as the resident owls began to awaken for an evening of hunting. A few owls preened, while others coughed up pellets from yesterday's dinner. Others hooted and cackled at one another: a little evening conversation.
Rose scanned the owls for Onyx, finding him almost immediately: he was the only Eagle Owl in the owlery, standing out by his sheer size. He blinked at her sleepily, as if saying, "Really? Right now?"
Rose laughed. "C'mon, you! The sooner you deliver this to Severus, the sooner I'm free for holiday," she called to him.
Onyx snapped his bill temperamentally but flew down to a closer perch. He took the parchment dutifully and flew off to locate Severus.
-o-o-o-
The first thing Rose did was find Ella. She was at her flat, alone, when Rose knocked.
She looked exceedingly surprised. "Well, well. Thought I'd about seen the last of you."
Rose laughed. "I've been locked in the Dungeons. Finally, I'm free."
Ella opened her door, holding out her hand in welcome. "It's about time. Hurry, get in here before the old bat steals you away again."
Ella made tea after laying out a tray of biscuits on the small sitting room table. Rose chose a soft chair to lounge in.
Bringing their tea, Ella sat, mixing in a heap of sugar and a dash of milk into her mug. Rose took her tea plain, holding it in her hands to warm them. Ella was being unusually quiet.
"I'm sorry I haven't seen you in a while," Rose said.
Ella didn't look up at her, stirring her tea loudly, the spoon clinking.
Rose continued. "I could have stopped by here or even the Great Hall for a meal. I missed you."
Ella leaned back on the couch to face Rose, putting her legs up. She looked at her fiercely. "I just wish you would have stopped by, even once. If you needed something, I could have helped you."
Rose nodded. Without having to explain herself, Ella understood. "I'm sorry."
Ella nodded. "Apology accepted. Stop isolating yourself or you'll end up like Snape. Anyway," Ella cast her eyes around the room. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "We're going to get up to some real witchcraft this solstice, Rose."