The Herbology Professor ~ Severus Snape x Male Reader

Young Apprentice

"Cure for boils. It is the very first potion every witch and wizard learns at Hogwarts. Now, stand up on this stool so you can better see everything." Severus motioned for Max to come up to the table and pointed out each individual thing on the table.

I'm surprised he was this patient with Max. Usually, he wouldn't spend much time describing every little thing to his students. But with Max, he acted like a parental figure would with their own child. It was sweet.

I watched from my seat at the table as they prepared each ingredient just as Severus directed. Max truly was invested in doing everything correctly.

The final part was to stir, which Max had to do 5 times in a clockwise rotation. Then, Severus took his wand and tapped it against the cauldron once. The potion settled and looked exactly how it should at this point in time.

"Can I try it?" Max asked trying to stick a finger in, though Severus snatched his hand away quickly enough to keep him from burning himself.

"Do you have any boils on your skin?" Severus asked, still holding his little hand away to make sure he wouldn't do it again.

"No.." Max answered.

"Then you don't need to try it. Though, if what you want to know is how it tastes like, imagine your least favorite cough syrup and combine it with carbonated water. It's got a prickly touch to it." Upon hearing Severus' description of the potion, he immediately made a disgusted face and leaned back from the cauldron.

Severus had already let go of Max's hand, knowing he wouldn't dare to stick it in the cauldron this time.

"Way to follow Severus' directions, Max. That's very grown up of you." Max smiled at my compliment and hopped off the stool,

"I'm going to color in my coloring book now."

"Of course! Go ahead and do that." He went off into the living room after I gave him the green light to do so.

"He listened well, I have to admit. Unfortunately, better than most of my third years ever could." Severus bottled the potion as he spoke, not wanting to waste it.

"Yeah.. He's attentive when he's interested in something." I explained.

A moment of silence later, I offered to help clean, which Severus gladly accepted.

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~In the Evening~

A few hours had passed since Max and Severus had made the potion. The three of us were now in the living room playing Wizard's Chess. Though Max was mostly just watching, hoping for me to win. The game ended with Severus checkmating me and having his queen destroy my king.

In that moment, we heard the doorbell.

"Is that Mummy?" Max asked me.

"Probably. Let's go check." He came with me to the door.

I opened it to see Heather there. She looked a bit better than when she was here a few days ago.

"Mummy!" Max ran up to her, getting picked up by Heather for a hug.

Severus had come over to the door as well, resting a gentle hand against my lower back.

"Thank you again for taking him on such short notice, (M/N). That was really helpful." She thanked me as she set Max down.

He went inside to grab his things, which I'd already packed up for him a few hours ago.

"No problem! Max was great." I reassured.

"Got my things!" Max came running over again and gave his bag to his mom before turning back to us.

He gave me a hug and then looked over at Severus before hugging him around his legs.

Severus was surprised, but not opposed to it.

"Can we come again in the Summer, Mummy?" Max asked.

"If (M/N) is ok with it." She said, even though she knew I'd say yes.

I nodded and Max seemed happy.

"Will you be here too?" He asked Severus.

"Of course." Severus responded.

"Yay!" Max exclaimed.

"Alright, well, we need to get going. Sun's beginning to set. I'll call you sometime soon, (M/N)!" Heather spoke as she picked Max up.

"Great! Talk to you soon!" I waved at them and so did Severus.

They left in her car and you could see Max looking out the back window to wave at us one more time.

I turned to walk inside, but stopped when Severus didn't come with.

"You coming inside, Sev?" I asked.

"Yes." He seemed to snap out of his thoughts and came inside.

"Are you alright?" I inquired, having a hunch about why he was so spaced out.

"Yes. I'm alright. Why do you ask?" Severus put up a front and acted like nothing was up.

Instead of continuing the conversation at the door, I nodded in understanding and gently led Severus by his wrist to the sofa, having him sit down. I sat beside him and swung my legs over his lap, leaning sideways against the sofa to face him,

"Something's on your mind."

Severus looked down at his hands which rested atop my knees for a moment before I continued,

"Would you like to share with me what it is?"

Severus needed some coaxing to respond, so I took his hand into my own and rubbed over it gently with my thumb. Severus seemed to calm down a bit at the gesture.

"I.." Severus stopped momentarily to sigh and think,

"I found solace in the time that we spent with Max. I'd always told myself that I despise children, but yet, with Max.. I couldn't bring myself to think of him in that way."

"Well, it's clear that he enjoyed spending time with you too. Even though your students may not think so, you're good at getting along with children like Max." I complimented.

Severus smiled a small bit and looked over at me momentarily before looking back at his hands.

"Well, I'm going to go upstairs and get dressed for bed." I winked at Severus before walking away.

Severus in turn, shamelessly looked me up and down as I walked up the stairs.

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