A Difficult Man

[Opossum My Possum]

Atropa's first day back at Hogwarts was today.
Classes would start in about an hour, so she got up, got in the shower,
and washed.
She quickly dried her hair with a simple spell, and put on her school uniform.
The dining hall was filled with students eating breakfast, and Atropa joined her table.

She grabbed a piece of bacon, some eggs, and some toast.
The orange juice and milk went nicely with it, and she was full and ready for her classes.
Class would start in a few moments, so Atropa got up, wiped crumbs off her shirt,
and made her way to her first class of the day- Potions.

Potions was Atropa's favorite class, as it had been since she'd had it first year.
She excelled in it, and though she was good at most of her classes,
Potions was still her best.

Most students were a bit afraid of the professor, Snape, but she wasn't.
She actually liked him, he was an interesting fellow, and he was straight forward.
He wasn't friendly or anthing to his students, he was all about the work,
which is what school was for, really.
Although he did seem a small bit nicer to Atropa than the other students,
Atropa never tried to be best, or tried to draw attention to herself.

She was just good with Potions.
Along with respecting him, she also had a little crush on him.
He was a good deal older than her, but she didn't mind.
Besides, nothing would come of her crush, and she didn't let it interfere with her work,
so all was well.

The Potions room was in the dungeons, so it was dark and a bit chilly.
Atropa always wore her cloak down here.
A few other students were inside the class, but they were fooling around-
never a good idea in this class.

Atropa sat down and got her things out right away, seeing the potion on the board,
"Felix felicis"
Or, liquid luck.
Atropa had been studying this, and many other potions over the Summer, so she was sure she could make this.
She smiled softly to herself, and began to grab the many things needed for the potion.

 

[Jho]

The beginning of Severus's day didn't go as planned.

In his efforts to maintain his personal stock of charms and potions, Severus made sure to keep an accurate measurement of each potion and to record and restore whatever potion that's been used. But as of yesterday afternoon, he didn't have time to refill any of the potions that were used by the nurses the other day from the Quidditch match. If the bumbling women of the infirmary had cared to tend to their own stock of the Blood Replenishing Potion, they wouldn't have been in the mess they were in. But as it were, they required his assistance. Or rather, access to his personal stock.

In the end, he relented, and the Quidditch players were safe once more while his stock was left bare. Trying to not mull over past events to further sour his mood, Severus took the extra time that he had in the morning to work on restoring his cabinet before classes began. He moved as quickly as he could, but only managed to make two bottles before he could hear the rumble of the students outside of his office. He was late, and his goal was only partially completed.

Severus wasn't born a sour and angry man. But as he slammed open the doors to his Potions class that morning, the students around him could only assume so. Not that he cared, he rather liked that he had such a reputation in the school. It made directing a stern and practiced class, than much easier.

"If you have not already noticed, your potion of the day is Felix Felicis, or better known as liquid luck. You will be given instructions on personal sheets of paper and I will write some guidelines on the board. Though I expect none of you to actually complete this potion, you will be rewarded for your efforts..." Severus's last sentence faded out as he looked over his class. The lot of them looked sleepy or inattentive. "Or failed for your incompetence. Begin."

With a deep breath, Severus watched as the students went to work. He took his mind off of the potion cabinet and began writing down the guidelines for the class. When he finished, he began to patrol the classroom, looking over the heads of his class to make sure that his lazier students weren't spending their time chatting rather than brewing.

When he got to one corner of the room, he had allowed his dark eyes to linger over Atropa longer than normal. He had favored her over most of his students. Not only was she a member of his house, but she was diligent in her work. It eased him to be around her, having small confidence that she wouldn't blow a hole into the wall if he decided to turn his head from her. And it wasn't an exaggeration. If he even gave Hubert Rory an inch to breathe-

"Rory, put that damned knife down!" Severus roared across the classroom, catching the careless student about to cut an eye of newt rather than crush it. If he had added the ill-prepared contents into the cauldron....

Severus sighed softly to himself when he saw the alarmed Rory drop his knife at the boom of his voice. Again, this is why Severus favored Atropa. He never had to watch over her like a mother hen and it's irresponsible chicks. And for that reason alone, he was able to be a little at ease when he was around her.

 

[Opossum My Possum]

Atropa tried not to chuckle when Rory was caught off guard-
he usually wasn't very good at this class.

She noticed how the professor lingered around her,
his gaze sometimes staying on her for quite a while.
She wondered what he thought of her.

Class was about over, and Atropa had just finished her potion.
Knowing what to do, she poured some into a little vial and brought it to the front desk,
then sat back down at her seat and began to clean up.
The potion was a beautiful golden color, and she desperately wanted some for herself,
but she wouldn't steal it.

Once she cleaned up, she sat in her seat and pulled out the notes from this class,
she was adding a few of her own,
just things she's noticed worked better than others here and there.

 

[Jho]

The class went by fast for Severus. He was lucky that most of the studentss had followed through with the guidelines and Rory himself had given up after his third attempt. When the students placed their bottles on his desk, he carefully marked them with the student's initials before he stored them away for further examination. When the rest of the class had left and Atropa was still lingering behind with her notes, he gave her a few more minutes before he kicked her out to prepare for his next class.

When he was younger he loved taking notes to further improve his potion making, and seeing his past efforts mirrored in Atropa had cooled his impatience, if only for a moment. As she still continued to scribble down notes, he had to call her attention sooner or later.

"Atropa." His deep voice remained stern in his reminder of her time left in his class. His dwindling patience with her had inadvertently raised the alertness in his voice, almost changing the meaning of his statement to one that called for her presence, rather than her dismissal.

 

[Opossum My Possum]

Atropa looked up and noticed that class was over.
She blushed bright red and gathered her notes together, then put them in her bag.
Standing up, she walked to his desk, her head bent down.

"Sorry Professor. I forgot the time, please excuse my absent mind."
She looked up and smiled at him slightly,
then without another word, walked out of his class quietly.

She was quite embarrassed, and she hated that it was Professor Snape she'd
gotten embarrassed in front of.