White Heather for Protection

Amortentia Lessons

It had taken Heather some time to come to terms with her conflicted feelings regarding Severus.

Forgiving him for his part in relaying the prophecy to Voldemort had actually been the easier part. He may have been a loyal Deatheater at the start, but he had realised his mistake eventually and switched sides. Even now he was putting his life at stake to bring Dumbledore information about Voldemort's movements. Not to mention the number of times Severus had protected her brother and her.

Her otherfeelings, on the other hand... Well, they were a little more difficult to admit to. It wasn't that she thought such feelings for Severus were outrageous. On the contrary, if she had been a little more self-aware, she would probably have come to such a conclusion much earlier. She had always been a little daft when it came to her own emotions.

No, her reservations stemmed from the fact that her little infatuation was likely to be unrequited. Severus had been her teacher for years, was still her mentor in potions. He was older, wiser, worldlier than she could be. There was simply such a huge gulf between the two of them that she couldn't imagine Severus ever returning her feelings.

Thus Heather resigned herself to nursing her love for the man quietly. Perhaps her feelings would fade in time. Though she couldn't see that happening anytime soon.

For the most part, their interactions hadn't changed much. Severus had been a bit more awkward for a while after their little heart to heart, but thankfully he didn't withdraw from her. In fact, he actually seemed more relaxed, now that he had unburdened himself of a few secrets.

Heather didn't fool herself into thinking that Severus had totally laid himself bare (and didn't that metaphor make her flush to the tips of her hair). He was a spy – a brilliant one, at that – and that meant he had secrets he couldn't share with anyone. However, she liked to think that she was the one who knew the most of them – barring, perhaps, Dumbledore.

Hadrian had been utterly insufferable since then, of course, teasing her nonstop about her 'crush'. His insinuations always made it seem like he knew exactly who she was thinking about. She wouldn't put it past him, but if he did, she wasn't confirming anything. It all made her almostregret needling him so much about Cedric.

She had told Fred and George as well, though she almost regretted doing so. The teasing had tripled after that. She thought she'd seen galleons exchange hands as well, but she ignored that for the sake of her sanity. She didn't want to know.

Thankfully, they were much too busy these days to take things much further, catering to the rush of Hogwarts students flooding Diagon Alley for last minute school supplies. Business was going marvellously for them, and she was ecstatic, but she was dreading all the mayhem she would face once the school year started in a few days' time.

A brisk knock on the laboratory door alerted her, clearly so that she wouldn't be shocked by someone barging in while she was brewing something sensitive. The full moon was approaching, and since Severus had no more pressing tasks for her to complete before school started, he had given her time to brew Wolfsbane today.

Only Severus came to the potion labs, so Heather continued to stir her cauldron. Four, five, six, seven clockwise stirs, there! Blue swirls began appearing within the liquid, ready to form the vapour that was the distinguishing feature of the potion. She immediately set the timer for half an hour and put her glass rod on the table. Now the potion just needed to simmer before she started the second part of the process.

"My oh my, is that the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Heather jumped a little at the exclamation from an unfamiliar voice. She twisted around, seeing a portly and balding old wizard staring with great interest at the contents of her cauldron. Next to him was Severus, wearing a put-upon expression.