Teacher's Pet | Severus Snape

Chapter 3 - A Sweet Scent

The next day started off as any other day does. Back to the Great Hall, eating breakfast. Snape wasn't around – he rarely was in the morning. Probably not that much of a morning person – I felt that. But I didn't care because I would get to see him plenty today.
    It was my favourite day of the school week, for we had a double lesson of Potions in the afternoon. It's fair to say, I was in a splendid mood.
    Given the fact that Potions was Snape's subject, and it gave me the opportunity to be somewhat close to him, I also happened to have a pretty good knack for the subject itself. I loved listening to Snape's explanations and instructions. He was very smart and incredibly skilled – which turned me on even more. I figured my best chances to get his attention would be if I could stand out of the rest of my class. So, I tried my very best.
    I spent a lot of my free time sitting in the library, looking up potions, learning about ingredients, so I could be as prepared as possible for his infamous hard questions.

    The day went by, and it was finally time for my beloved Potions class. We already sat in the classroom, when Snape entered the room and paced through the aisle as he always does, his cloak flying behind him – he loves a big entrance.
    He turned on his heel, crossed his arms in front of his chest and spoke with his usual slightly hoarse voice: "Turn to page 369."
    His voice gave me goose bumps. I opened my book and gasped at the title on the page. Snape must have caught my gasp, for his eyes flickered to me and he said: "Care to read, Miss Yaeger?"
    Of course, I did as he commanded. "Amortentia – the love Potion"
    Snape went on: "What do you know about this potion?"
    My hand was the first and only one to rise. Snape nodded towards me, giving me permission to speak.
"Professor, it is said that this is the strongest known love potion there is. Filling the person that drinks it with the strongest feeling of love for someone even if said person is not yet aware of their feelings themself."
    "Anything else, Miss Yaeger?"
    "... It is also said that the potion smells different to every person, depending on what is most precious to you."
    "Thank you, that was a very... romantic explanation of this potion." Snape curled his lips and looked down at me.
        He was by now standing directly in front of my desk, one hand resting on it. I blushed.
    He went on towards the class: "In reality, Amortentia has little to do with love as you may be picturing it in your young and flirty hearts. Amortentia brings out the lust in you. It fires up an obsession that perhaps unknowingly was already smoldering within you, and if you are one of the unlucky ones, the fire will burn and most likely eat you up. That's what makes it so dangerous.
    "Furthermore, although Miss Yaeger was right in saying it smells different to every person, it is not the smell of something that is 'precious' to you, but that one thing or rather person that awakens your deepest, darkest desires.
    "There was a time, when many careless young wizards and witches would brew this potion and give it to their beloved ones in hope to get them to return their feelings. It mostly ended disastrous to say the least.
    "For your N.E.W.T.s it is not required of you to be able to brew this potion, but to know its ingredients and functionality. However, I still held it crucial for you to at least try to brew it, to fully understand it. Though, I do not have great expectations many of you will prove being able to succeed in manufacturing a profitable
version of this potent potion; For it is very difficult to make. Nevertheless, hopefully some of you – after today's lesson, will be able to at least recognize it, if anyone should ever try to foist it on you."
    With that we went on brewing this liquid lust.

    It truly was a rather tricky potion to brew. You had to be incredibly careful, measuring everything twice and make sure to follow the instructions thoroughly. In the end, my cauldron was the only one filled with a liquid that had a mother-of-pearl sheen to it and the steam that rose from it formed characteristic spirals. The whole class gathered around my cauldron. The potion looked amazing. Some of the students were sniffing, others were blushing and giggling.
    My nose caught a very familiar smell. I closed my eyes and took in a deep, longing breath. Ink, parchment, summer storms and wood. The smell started something inside of me, I started to feel warm. Suddenly, the smell grew even stronger. My eyes still closed, I didn't notice him, standing behind me.
    He was leaning over my shoulder and whispered right beside my ear: "What does it smell like to you, Miss Yaeger?"
And then I felt a hand grabbing my waist. I shrieked out of surprise over that unexpected touch and him being so close to me and that smell that filled the air and out of clumsiness, I smacked down my cauldron from my desk and all the liquid lust was now spreading over the floor, where it quickly lost not only its pearly sheen but also its smell.
    All the students were cracking up over my incident, I turned bright red and heard Snape coldly say: "Detention, Miss Yaeger", behind me.