"You want ice cream?" Ophelia asked, "my treat."
"I don't like ice cream," Snape answered as he looked at anything but her.
"Come on, everyone likes ice cream," Ophelia laughed.
"I don't," Snape spat.
"I'm gonna get you one anyway, so you might as well tell me your favorite flavour."
"I told you, I don't like it," he snarled.
"I'll just have to guess then," Ophelia sighed.
Ophelia's father had asked her to assist Snape in an errand he had to run in their muggle town. She had refused at first, but when her father became aggressive she reluctantly complied. They were sitting in a muggle cafe, waiting for the store to open.
"Here, it's blueberry," Ophelia handed him the cone.
"You are insufferable," Snape huffed.
Ophelia rolled her eyes but decided to ignore the comment. "You don't think I know why you're doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Letting me come with you, taking me to get ice cream."
"If I remember correctly, it was you who took me to get ice cream," he replied and she thought she saw a smile playing on his lips. "Besides, your father was the one who wanted you here with me," he said and took a bite, yes bite, out of his ice cream.
She watched him closely as he swirled it around in his mouth, trying to decide if he liked it or not. He swallowed slowly and then took another bite. She smiled at him, satisfied.
"So, what are we doing in the store?" She asked and put a spoonful of her own ice cream in her mouth.
"We are not doing anything," he sneered, "you will stay outside and wait for my return."
She frowned, "you dragged me all the way out here just so I could wait outside like some dog?"
Snape nodded.
"So in reality, you're just babysitting me," she huffed.
"I will not deny, nor confirm, anything," Snape said and finished his ice cream.
"Well, I'm not going to sit around and wait for you," Ophelia stood up and threw her empty cup in the trash. "So you can either bring me to the store, or I'm going to leave right now and you can explain to my father why I didn't come home with you."
"I believe, Miss Delisle, that is called blackmailing," Snape scoffed, a little surprised of her slytherin qualities.
"No, Professor, I prefer to call it an agreement," Ophelia smirked and followed him out of the cafe. "You let me come with you to the shop, and I won't leave your ass out in the cold," she said and she swore she heard him chuckle.
Snape cleared his throat, "fine."
She put her hand through his arm as they walked down the street, catching a few strange looks from muggles who probably thought they were a couple. Snape wasn't that much older than Ophelia, however, the lines on his face probably made it look like he was. Ophelia bit her bottom lip, trying to suppress her laughter as she watched him frown in irritation.
"You have three seconds to remove your hand before I do it for you," he hissed under his breath.
"Come on, Professor," Ophelia grinned, "it's just a bit of fun."
"I do not believe that any of this is funny, Miss Delisle," Snape growled.
"Come on," she groaned, "loosen up, will you?"
"No, I certainly will not," he rolled his eyes.
The sound of a small bell could be heard as he held the door open for her. She stayed firmly by his side as Snape whispered something to the woman behind the counter. Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at him, making Ophelia feel the tiniest bit uneasy. The woman then turned around and walked down the hall, Snape quickly followed her and Ophelia struggled to keep up.
At the end of the hall, the woman muttered a few words before pushing the wall open. Inside, the trio was met with an almost identical, slightly smaller store, a potions store. Snape disappeared immediately to get whatever it was that he was in need of. Ophelia was left to stroll around the store, observing the different ingredients and instruments.
"Oh, this is pretty," Ophelia mumbled to herself and picked up a bottle of light blue, light purple and white shreds of what looked like paper.
"That, Miss Delisle," Snape said as he came up behind her, grabbing the bottle from her hand, "is Mendrane, and in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous."
"So?"
"So, let's not wipe out the human kind, yet," he snapped and put the bottle back.
She raised her eyebrows, "geez, sorry."
"Do not, under any circumstances," Snape paused, "touch anything."
Ophelia rolled her eyes, "yeah, yeah."
"I will just be a moment, try not to get yourself into trouble."
"When do I ever?" She smiled sweetly.
Snape glared at her one last time before disappearing behind the shelves. Ophelia kept wandering around the store, keeping an eye on Snape, making sure she knew where he was and where he was heading.
Forty five minutes later, Snape was still picking up ingredients, inspecting them, and then either putting them back down or placing them on the counter. Ophelia had settled down on the floor in one of the corners, reading in a book she found shoved in between two floorboards.
She was so engrossed in the book she didn't notice when Snape called her name. It was only when he stepped in front of her and she could see his black shoes, did she tear her attention away from the words.
"I was starting to think you'd left," Snape crossed his arms over his chest.
Ophelia shook her head, "just trying not to get myself in trouble," she smiled.
Snape rolled his eyes and motioned for her to stand up, which she did, placing the book on one of the shelves. The woman behind the counter followed them with her eyes, staring daggers at Ophelia, who smirked. She took a hold of Snape's hand as they were walking out of the store, pulling him down to her and whispering in his ear.
"I think she likes you."
Snape stared at her in horror before quickly turning his head to the woman, who looked very annoyed.
Ophelia's smile widened as a frown appeared on Snape's face. He angrily pulled his hand away from hers and stormed out of the shop. Ophelia followed him out, waving and smiling sweetly at the woman behind the counter who only glared at her in return.
Ophelia covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the laughter, the day didn't turn out to be such a disaster after all. She had to run to catch up with Snape, he was walking faster than usual and was clearly in a bad mood.
"Hey, what's with you?" Ophelia frowned as she came to walk next to him.
"What exactly was that little stunt you pulled?" His voice was strained and he refused to look at her.
Ophelia rolled her eyes, "come on, I was just having a little fun."
"I do not care what you do, but I will not have anything to do with it," he paused, "or with you."
He snapped his head in her direction and glared at her. Ophelia raised her eyebrows and put her hands up in surrender.
"Alright, Squidward, I'm sorry," Ophelia said, tucking her hair behind her ears and frowning, "I'll leave you out of it from now on."
"For some reason, I highly doubt that," Snape growled.
When Ophelia returned home that evening, her father was locked in his study and her mother was preparing dinner. She called her into the kitchen as soon as she heard the door open.
"Did you have a good time?" She asked while cutting tomatoes for the sallad.
"I guess," Ophelia shrugged, "I mean, as good of a time you can have with someone you don't really know."
"I hope you were nice, and not causing the man any trouble."
"Why does everyone think I cause trouble everywhere I go?" Ophelia frowned and popped a tomato in her mouth, "why is he so important, anyway?"
Her mother's eyes went wide and then she shook her head, "no reason, go set the table."
Ophelia rolled her eyes but did as she was told. The dinner was mostly spent in silence, her mother being the only one trying for conversation. When the food was gone and the table was cleared, Ophelia's father finally spoke.
"Next week, you start your training with Professor Snape."
Ophelia almost choked on the very air that was keeping her alive.
"What?" She frowned and stared at her father.
"He will be teaching you for the rest of the summer," her father said lazily, leaning back in his chair.
"Teaching me what?" Ophelia spat. "Technically, I've already graduated, I'm only going to Hogwarts because you're forcing me."
"Do not start, Ophelia," her father sighed heavily. "It does not hurt to keep your brain active during summer, you still have a lot to learn," he looked at her in a way that said not to fight with him, but she did anyway.
"Like what?" Ophelia scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.
Ophelia's parents had trained her well. So well, in fact, that she sometimes thought they had been preparing her for the second wizarding war.