The Herbology Assistant

Chapter One

"Hi Archie," Clarice greeted her bowtruckle and let it crawl up her sleeve into her blonde hair. Satisfied with what she had done with her place, she let magic put away her clothes and hang up her robes and pretty much do the dirty work for her. Her watch said it was 4:55 so she thought it would be best to head up to the great hall for dinner. She walked out the door and immediately bumped into the person she didn't exactly want to see.

"Watch where you're going," Professor Snape said quickly and rushed passed. What a tosser, Clarice thought and followed him up to the great hall. Apparently, they were the last to arrive for dinner, so she was stuck sitting next to Mr. Happy. Some of the other professors were arriving tomorrow, so it was only a handful of them having dinner.

Dumbledore greeted Clarice as if she was an old friend and introduced her to the staff which made her turn a bright shade of red. She continued eating her food through the silence even though everyone around her was chatting with one another and catching up on what happened over the summer. Wanting to at least make conversation with someone, she turned to Professor Snape.

"What class do you teach?" She asked him and he looked shocked that she had even spoken to him.

"Potions." He replied and took a small bite of food.

"Did you go to school here too?" She asked.

"Yes." Was all he said.

"Did all of the professors go here?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Professor Slughorn was a great professor. Reckon I only had him for a year, I learned more from him than my four years at Ilvermorny." She said and waited for a response, but he said nothing. Finally taking the hint, Clarice stopped bothering him and left silently with some other professors who were dipping out.

"Ms. Bates?" Clarice spun around to see a short, plump woman walking towards her.

"Hi," Clarice said awkwardly.

"I'm Professor Sprout, but you can call me Pomona. I'm the herbology professor. I just wanted to catch you before the students come. Do you know where the greenhouses are?" She asked.

"I believe so... well I remember where one, two, three, and four are, but I've never been to the others." She replied.

"That's alright. I just wanted to make sure you knew where you were going for your first few classes. I have you teaching first, second, and third years, so you won't be in the other greenhouses very often. I'll show you sometime tomorrow. Anyways, I'll let you go. Enjoy your night!" Pomona said cheerily and walked away. At least she was friendlier than the potions professor... At least she wasn't a potions assistant. She wandered the castle a little bit to try and recall where some things were when, once again, she bumped into her favorite person.

"You again? Are you following me?" Professor Snape questioned the petite blonde.

"No sir, just trying to learn the castle before the students come." She replied and walked alongside the professor.

"So..." He started and Clarice perked up at him actually starting a conversation. "Ilvermorny?"

"What about it?" She asked back. He seemed to walk fairly quickly. In fact, she nearly had to skip to try and keep up with him.

"How was it?" He replied.

"Not as fun as here, I'll be honest."She chuckled slightly. "But more fun than Beauxbaton."

"Beauxbaton?" He questioned.

"I was there for a year as well." She answered.

"Why?"

"My mother travels a lot. I bounced between Ilvermorny, here, Beauxbaton, and Castelobruxo as she traveled." She replied again.

"Castelobruxo? That's the Brazilian school, correct?" He asked.

"Yes, it was okay. Everything was in Portuguese, so it was really hard at first, but I was able to learn a bit of it too." She replied.

"Interesting," He replied. Normally Severus wouldn't care about new teachers, seeing as they always come and go while taking no effect on his life. Yet, somehow he felt drawn to this professor. She seemed... different and... unreadable. He couldn't get in her mind. He snuck a peek at her and noticed something in her hair move.

"What's in your hair?" He questioned.

"You ask a lot of questions, for someone who doesn't like answering them." Clarice giggled and took Archie out of her hair.

"This is my bowtruckle, Archie." She said and showed him off. Snape looked at him curiously.

"He's... ." He gave the bowtruckle an odd look and Archie looked back at him with the same expression. "Kind of odd."

"He comes in handy. They're really good at picking locks." She said. "And he's not odd. Don't insult him or he'll never forgive you."

"You don't say?" Snape said while still watching Archie. "Do you have others?"

"Not other bowtruckles, but creatures yes." She replied.

"And Dumbledore said you could let them live here with you?" He asked another question.

"Yes, he met them prior. They aren't dangerous." She replied. "I can show you, if you'd like?"