Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's only time."

Severus Snape (severus_or) wrote in hogwarts_or,
@ 2008-03-02 13:15:00

Current mood:

loved

Neville's Worst Nightmare: Brewing with Snape
"So ... what have you planned for the afternoon -- besides pining away for me, of course?" Severus asked, trying to keep the chuckle out of his voice and succeeding for the most part. They were just now approaching the T-intersection of the dungeons that led to the Potions classroom on the one end, and his Potions workroom on the other. He had his arm slung over Sappho's shoulders, while she had both arms about his waist. Walking wrapped around one another this way made things a little slow going, but he wasn't in any particular hurry. They'd left the common room early enough that they wouldn't keep Linton waiting.

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

(Post a new comment)

sappho_or
2008-03-02 07:19 pm UTC (link)

"I've been planning to take a bubble bath and wash my hair. You know, make myself look especially pretty for our date tonight," she lilted. Sappho gave his waist a squeeze. Doing things on her own wasn't much fun nowadays, but it wouldn't do to insist on being there for his Potions tutoring. His workroom would be rightly cramped with three people, and this boy was supposed to be nervous enough without a second stranger looking over his shoulder. Besides that, she had things she needed to get done, so she might as well make the most of her time away from Severus. They'd be able to make up for it that night, too.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 07:47 pm UTC (link)

"Well, you do deserve some time to pamper yourself, rather than always attending to your demanding boyfriend's needs first," Severus purred, smirking, before bending his head to peck her brow. "And speaking of ... why don't you wear those striped stockings that I like so much tonight?" It wasn't that the stockings themselves were exceptionally becoming, but rather that when Sappho wore them, the lines were always exactly straight. Which meant, of course, that she had spent a considerable amount of time making herself look perfect, just for him -- and that was exceedingly touching.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sappho_or
2008-03-02 07:51 pm UTC (link)

She returned the peck, but on his chin instead of his brow. Sappho then giggled at the irony of following up his statement about not having to attend to his demands with a demand. "If that's what my boyfriend wants, then very well," she whispered in his ear. They arrived at the door of the converted broom cupboard soon after, though Mr Linton was not yet there. She peeked over her shoulder to see if he might be behind them. There were a few other students walking about, but none appeared to be headed their way. "I hope this boy's memory isn't so bad that he plumb forgot your arrangement with him," she said.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 07:55 pm UTC (link)

"Or forgot the directions I gave him," Severus replied, frowning as he slowed to a stop. Either that, or he might still be too frightened to show up. But he hadn't seemed frightened when they'd spoken before, and he was a Gryffindor -- albeit a nervous one, according to Miss Lamb. Bloody frustrating is what it was, Severus thought, sighing softly as he pulled his wand to unlock the door. Then again, perhaps he was simply doomed never to make any friends apart from Sappho. Not that she wasn't a wonderful friend...

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-02 08:24 pm UTC (link)

Neville was running a little bit behind. And well, that was to be expected. He'd lost his quill...then his parchment. And when he'd finally found them? He'd forgotten where he was supposed to meet Snape. After looking around through his legens, he'd remembered. Scurrying down the hall, he stopped right around the corner from the room he where he was going to be working with the other boy.

How was he going to stay calm? What if Snape yelled at him? Or said something to him that would make him drop his ingredients? It had happened before. And well? He was terrified. But, he remembered what Luna said. That maybe by making friends with Snape, they'd be able to change things.

Taking a deep breath, he turned the corner and promptly dropped all of his parchment all over the hallway. "Good going..." Mumbling to himself, he bent down to pick up his dropped items and his potions book crashed to the floor. This was just not his day.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 08:32 pm UTC (link)

Severus leant back, craning his neck around the open door at the sound of rustling parchment and a book's landing with a thud on the flagstone. He squinted his eyes slightly, peering down the dim hall, and smirked at the sight of his erstwhile penfriend. "Do you need any help?" he asked, frowning ever so slightly when his conscience caught up with him. If he'd been caught like that -- books and parchments scattered all over the corridor -- he knew he wouldn't appreciate being smirked at, so he thought he'd best afford Linton the same courtesy.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-02 08:47 pm UTC (link)

Of course it would be Snape to find him. Go figure, huh? He braced himself for comments on his clumsiness. When they didn't come, he couldn't help but look up at him. The frown worried him a bit, but it was a miracle that he hadn't been laughed at or been the recipent of something that would make him feel like a fool.

He still wasn't sure how to act around Snape. He was sure that he was going to slip up and call him Professor. But it could be worse. Shaking his head, he gathered his items and stood up. He couldn't let Snape help him, something about it just made him uncomfortable. He had to remember to call him Severus to his face. Snape was okay for when he was talking about him to his friends from home - here it would seem rude.

Standing up, his items in a disarray, he smiled nervously. "Hi."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 08:58 pm UTC (link)

"Hello," Severus answered, returning Linton's smile, though he couldn't help noticing the other boy's expression looked a bit forced. He tried not to frown again, however, lest he frighten Linton even more. After pushing the door all the way open, he held out his hand to shake the other boy's. "How do you do? It's nice to meet you in person, finally." Then he jerked his head in Sappho's direction. "This is my girlfriend, Sappho Duncannon. And this--" He gestured toward Linton. "--is Neville Linton, my pen friend."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sappho_or 2008-03-02 09:12 pm UTC (link)
	Not accustomed to shaking hands, Sappho waved cautiously at Neville. "Hello, Mr Linton. Severus has told me a bit about you," she said in a meek tone. Biting her lip, she gave a deep sigh. "I suppose I ought to be going and leave you two to your Potions practice. As much as I'd like to stay, I'd only be in the way." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	severus_or 2008-03-02 09:34 pm UTC (link)
	"Ah ... excuse us for a moment," Severus murmured to Neville, and then, as the idea struck him, he suggested more loudly, "Why don't you go inside? I won't be long." Taking Sappho by the elbow, he walked her a little ways up the corridor, so that they could have a bit of privacy when they said their goodbyes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-02 09:37 pm UTC (link)

Neville tilted his head, trying to remember if he was supposed to know who she was. Was she someone that he'd met in the future? Someone who'd impacted their future? But for the life of him, Neville just didn't know who she was.

Smiling at her - she couldn't be too bad if he'd never heard of her - Neville nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Duncannon." He understood why she was going to leave. After all, he couldn't blame her. But at the same time, the thought of being alone with Snape - Severus - made him even more nervous.

Turning back to Severus, he shook his hand. "Indeed. It's a...pleasure to meet you too." It kind of was nice to meet him. It was weird to see him in the light of someone other than a teacher. He wasn't used to it - he'd always been scared of this man. But now? He was actually younger than Neville.

Nodding, he walked into the classroom and leaned against the door, trying to calm himself down so he wouldn't embarass himself too much.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 09:47 pm UTC (link)

Once Linton had gone inside, Severus pulled Sappho closer, rubbing his cheek against hers. "You wouldn't be in the way," he whispered. "You'd never be in the way." He pulled back, smiling softly, and pecked the end of her nose. "It's just -- he's probably nervous enough as it is, without the three of us trying to jostle around in a converted broom cupboard." Severus shrugged a little then and gave her an apologetic smile. "But I'll see you at dinner, all right?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sappho_or
2008-03-02 09:58 pm UTC (link)

She embraced Severus and gave him a kiss. "I feel that way about you," she purred. Reluctantly, she let go and stepped back. "All right. I shall be missing you till then. And I'll keep my fingers crossed, so hopefully there won't be any disasters." Sappho smirked to show she was teasing, the way he often did with her. "I'll meet up with you in the Great Hall tonight." Waving again, she headed off for the Slytherin Common room.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 10:16 pm UTC (link)

He couldn't help grinning when Sappho said she felt 'that way' about him. At the Valentine's Ball, he'd told her that he didn't want her to say she loved him until he'd said it first, but that hadn't entirely solved the problem. She still wanted to say it, and truth be told, he still wanted to hear it. So, they'd come up with a compromise: she would say she felt 'that way' about him, and so she could still honour the letter of his request, if not the spirit. "I know," he whispered, smiling softly, though he couldn't help sighing when she pulled away.

"I appreciate the sentiment," he said, smirking himself at the disaster comment. "Though you might find it a bit difficult to wash your hair with your fingers crossed, so perhaps it would be better if you simply wished us well?" When she turned, he waved back, and he kept watching until she'd rounded the corner and was out of sight. Finally, he turned and headed back to the workroom. "Sorry about that," he said quietly, with an apologetic shrug. "It seems like the more time my girlfriend and I spend together, the more trouble I have saying goodbye."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-02 10:50 pm UTC (link)

It was odd to see Snape smile. Had he ever actually seen that before? It made Neville relax a lot. After all, how mean could anyone be with a smile?

"Oh, don't worry. It's not a big deal. I mean, you're taking your time to help me. And I really appreciate it. In case I forget to tell you that later, I mean, I guess I should say it now." And yes, he knew he was rambling. But could you blame him? This was one of the men that made his life so horrible later.

"And I can't say I blame you. She seems rather nice." It made him think of Luna. If they started dating, would he feel like that about her? He could see how he would. After all, even now when they were just friends, he hated saying goodbye to her. She was one of the only people that understood him.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-02 11:03 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, it's no trouble," Severus answered, shaking his head, as he reached up to take a mortar and pestle down from the shelf to grind up the scarab beetles they'd need for the Wit-Sharpening Potions. "The least I can do, really. Especially since you're going to show me how to keep from killing my plants, right?" He turned his head toward Linton, raising an eyebrow, and smirked as he got down jars of beetles and ginger root and his only half full bottle of armadillo bile.

"Nice enough to lend us her cauldron, you mean?" he added, smirking. "Sappho is very nice, actually. To me, at least." He shrugged again. "But then, I try to be nice to her, as well. I've seen her be exceptionally nasty to people who are nasty to her, though I suppose one could say that about anyone, really. I know it certainly holds true for me." Now he bent down to get a cutting board and knife off a lower shelf. "And speaking of nice girls ... how are things progressing with Miss Lamb?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-02 11:47 pm UTC (link)

Shrugging, Neville smiled. "Well, she didn't seem like she was going to throw things at me, so how bad can she be?" Trying to take note of the things that Snape was taking down to use, his quill was moving over the parchment sloppily. He wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to read all of this later. When Severus talked about being nasty, Neville bit his tongue to keep from saying that he knew how mean Snape could be. After all, this Snape wasn't mean.

The mention of Miss Lamb confused him. Who was that? Tilting his head, he almost asked before he remembered their made up names. Smiling, he thought of Luna and blushed a little. "Well...they aren't. Not really. We haven't really talked about anything yet. I'm going to ask her tonight though. I think. If I don't chicken out." Laughing a bit, his mind was racing. Here he was, actually relaxed in Snape's company. It was amazing.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-03 12:32 am UTC (link)

Severus finally noticed that Linton was writing frantically. "You don't need to copy all this down," he said, frowning slightly as he waved a hand toward everything he'd laid out on his worktable. "Just write this down: Elementary Brews, by Arsenius Jigger. They have it in the library, and I believe the recipe is on page 217. We did the Wit-Sharpening Potion in 4th year, and I'd point you to our OWL-level text, except it says to slice the ginger roots thinly. I've had better results from mincing them, myself, and that's what the Jigger book says to do, as well."

Obviously Linton needed some sort of memory potion -- and badly -- if he had trouble remembering his own girlfriend's name. "Well, good luck," he said, bracingly. Just then, he rather wished he knew of a bravery potion to help the other boy out. There was always Felix Felicis, but he hadn't any on hand at the moment. "I hope it works out all right, because I have a feeling you're going to need somebody to remind you to take you this potion for the first few days, at least. I could, of course, but I think you'd be more likely to read a Legens entry from Miss Lamb."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-04 02:29 pm UTC (link)

When Snape told him about the book, he wrote that down too. He figured that it would help - if he could remember that he'd written it down. It amazed him because he even remembered which page it was on! It was no wonder that Snape taught Potions most of their time in school. After all, the guy practically invented his own recipes here! Shaking his head, knowing he'd never be that good at it - he was too nervous about messing up so he always did.

Laughing a bit, Neville nodded. "Yeah...I tend to forget to do things. I lose everything. The only reason I haven't lost my legens yet is because I've not taken it off my desk." If he ever did, the book would be gone. "And thanks for the luck. Luna is a dear friend - and well, I never thought she'd like me as more but I think she does!" So sue him. He was excited. And not just about Luna. About being able to remember anything!

"So...what should I do?" He wanted to help, but he knew he'd just make a mess of things like he always did in Potions.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-04 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"Nothing today," Severus answered, shaking his head as he poured some scarab beetles into the mortar. "Just watch me." He'd got seven out, just as he intended, but one was a little larger than he would have liked, so he put it back and selected a smaller one. "I daresay it won't do you much good to go through brewing this yourself if you're not going to remember the process. This way, you can see it done properly first, and then when you read the recipe in the Jigger book, hopefully it will make more sense.

"Speaking of ... the recipe in that book is for a size 2 cauldron, so you need half as much of everything for a size 1: seven small green scarab beetles instead of fourteen, 1 ginger root instead of two, and a cup of armadillo bile instead of a pint -- though you still fill the cauldron to the bottom of the rim with water, in either case. It gets more complicated when scaling the recipe up for a size 3 cauldron, but you probably know all the cauldron volume conversions already, don't you?"

He gave each of the scarab beetles one good stab with the pestle to crush them, and then he turned and held the mortar out for Linton to watch him grind them. "Some people will tell you that it doesn't matter how you handle your pestle, but that's rubbish. Grinding is all in the wrist." Holding the mortar in his left palm, he started to grind the beetles by rotating his right wrist clockwise by ninety degrees. "I suppose it actually doesn't matter in terms of getting the job done, but this way is much more efficient."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-05 09:12 pm UTC (link)

Looking at him, Neville tilted his head. Was it just him or did Snape just start speaking in a foriegn language? One that apparently Neville didn't understand and they didn't offer classes for. Was this why he'd always done so bad in Potions? Shaking his head, he couldn't help the confused look that covered his face. He was supposed to know all of this...cauldron conversions, recipes done in fourth year. But all he could remember from potions was an urge to do everything right so he didn't get laughed at or worse.

It reassured him that Snape talked like this - like everyone should know what he was talking about even back in school. Figuring it was better to pretend like he knew what the other boy was talking about, Neville nodded and tried to put on a face that said that he knew what the heck was going on. How well it worked was beyond him. He'd just have to make sure to get this book.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-05 09:38 pm UTC (link)

Severus stopped, frowning, when the beetles were only coarsely ground. They needed to be medium fine, so that wasn't what halted him in his grinding. Somewhere along the way, Linton's eyes had taken on a rather glazed look, and he was nodding distractedly, as if he was no longer listening. Either that, or he was listening, but he still didn't have the foggiest notion of what Severus was on about.

"You look confused," Severus said, still frowning, as he set down the mortar and pestle on the table. "Where did I lose you? Was it the cauldron conversions, or before that?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-05 09:55 pm UTC (link)

Neville had thought that he was doing a good job at pretending like he knew what was going on. Well, it was no wonder that Snape hated him. He'd been prepared to be yelled at for not following along or something like that. But...he actually seemed like he cared about what had confused him. That was new and honestly? Threw him so much for a loop that he had no clue what to say for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, he shrugged. "Honestly? I'm not sure." He'd always thought that the reason he did so poorly in Potions was because of this man. Perhaps it wasn't after all. Perhaps it was because Neville himself wasn't meant for it. "Like I told you, I'm not very good with Potions. I've never done well in that class and perhaps I retained even less then I thought I had."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-05 11:36 pm UTC (link)

Severus nodded, still frowning, as he wondered how it would be best to proceed. He'd been operating on the principle of giving a man a fish would feed him for a day, but teaching him to fish would feed him for a lifetime. Linton, however, seemed to need to be taught what a fish was, and where would one might be located, and things along those lines first.

"I suppose we'll simply have to go back a bit, then," he said finally, picking up the mortar and pestle again to resume grinding. "I'll go ahead and make this cauldronful of Wit-Sharpening Potion today, but we'll start smaller." He frowned again, though this time it was clearly in thought. "Perhaps a first year potion. Did you ever make a boil cure at your old school?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

neville_or
2008-03-06 12:39 am UTC (link)

Boil cure? He was sure that Snape had taught them that. Right? How was he supposed to know. He could barely remember his own name half the time!

Shrugging, Neville sighed. "Honestly, I can't remember. I suppose it can't hurt to do it again." He couldn't believe that Snape was being so nice to him! Maybe Luna had been right. If they befriended a young Severus, perhaps he wouldn't be a mean Professor Snape. "I appreciate it, though. Any help you can give me." How could he tell him why he didn't know these things? "See...my teacher? Well, he made me really nervous. Made me feel rather stupid, really. So, I tended to forget what I was doing and make some kind of mess." There. As long as Snape never found out that he had been their teacher, it would be okay.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

severus_or
2008-03-06 01:07 am UTC (link)

"I'm sorry," Severus said, frowning worse this time. He certainly knew what it was like to try and brew with a teacher he didn't like, even if Slughorn didn't make him nervous, exactly. "If it's any consolation, I understand -- to an extent, anyway. Slughorn makes me so furious so often that it's difficult for even me to stay on task most days, and I know precisely what I'm doing."

Clearing his throat, he held out the mortar and pestle for Linton to take. "Here. Why don't you try grinding these beetles?" He shrugged, giving the other boy a small grin. "We'll just work on some basic techniques today. After all, you have to learn to fly before you can play Quidditch. Grinding is difficult to botch, so I'm confident that you can do it. And if you have a problem, I'll be right here to help."

(Reply to this) (Parent)