Plants & Potions

Chapter 1

"Longbottom. What brings you down to the dungeons?" Professor Severus Snape's eyebrow arched in the direction of the younger professor standing in the doorway to his office. Merlin, but he could make Neville feel like a first or again with only a sentence and a look.

"May I come in? I was hoping I could get your professional opinion on something for me. A... research project, you could say."

Severus gestured minutely toward the chair in across from his desk. "I can hardly offer my opinion if you give me no information on the matter."

"Right. Okay." It had taken a full week to psych himself up ask for the potion master's help in the first place; he was relying on his Gryffindor bravery to help him follow through. Neville pulled three stoppered potion vials from the pocket of his robes and set them on the desk in between them. "Would you be willing to do a full analysis of these potions for me."

Severus resisted—barely—the urge the rub the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Longbottom," he sighed, "did you brew these? I didn't realize you replaced me as the school's potion master."

"I– yes, I brewed them. And I know what you're going to say; I remember my utter lack of skill in your class as well as you do." Neville paused, trying to find the right words without saying too much too fast. "Please, sir. I'll explain everything after you do the analysis, if you agree to do it."

Severus scanned the other man with appraising eyes. "Has anyone been subjected to these... untested... brews?"

"I've taken one of them; it worked very well. The others are untested."

"And what are these brews supposed to accomplish, precisely?"

Neville hesitated. "I was hoping that could be part of the explanation after you work your magic. I would prefer if you go through the analysis process without any preconceived notions. Aside from those you have about my brewing skills, which I suppose are unavoidable."

After a few minutes of silence, which Severus spent flicking his gaze between the potions on the desk and the man in front of him.

"Very well. If you return here after dinner, I should have results for you." Normally, Severus would require longer for a thorough potion analysis, let alone three of them, but that was usually because he simply prioritized his other responsibilities. Right now, however, it was only his remarkable self-control that kept his hands from twitching with eagerness to get started; his curiosity was piqued.

"Thank you, sir. I'll see you then."

~~~

Neville was enjoying his cottage pie at the staff table in the Great Hall when he felt a tall shadow fall over him. He gulped nervously before turning to face the potion professor staring imperiously down at him.

"Longbottom, I believe our... conversation... tonight will be much more thorough than I originally anticipated. If you are amenable, you may join me in the sitting room of my quarters rather than my office. It is more suited to long conversations."

It took Neville a few moments to find his breath, but he was quite proud of himself for managing a "sure, professor" without stammering.

Severus simply gave him a firm nod before sweeping out of the Great Hall. As soon as the edge of his cloak whipped through the large doorway, Neville slumped in his seat with a groan.

Sarai Flutterby, who had replaced Minerva as the transfiguration professor when she steeped into the role of Headmistress, waggled her eyebrows at him with a playful nudge of her elbow.

"Got a date with Severus, then?" She teased playfully. "I've worked here two years longer than you and I don't think I've ever heard him invite someone to his quarters. I think Minerva might be the only one of us who has actually been there, and I don't think she gives him much of a choice."