Unyielding (A Young Sirius and Snape Story)

Intro

Water drips down the sides of dry leaves and stem, soaking into the dusty soil that holds them in place. The plant stretches its brittle stems, and leans upwards in appreciation towards its savior. The circular windows along the upper walls bathe the various other plants in sunlight around the round room. "No one ever waters this one." A girl with long, curly hair sets down a small watering can neatly on the fireplace. "What did it do?" She asks herself, which is a very serious question considering the Hufflepuff common room was covered in unique plants, all with their own personalities. "Well, it seems alright to me." She sits on an armchair, watching the small plant dance in the sunlight, seeing water for the first time in what looked like weeks. Hogwarts plants are a mystery. A fellow Hufflepuff leaving her dorm room shakes the girl from her thoughts.
"Are you going to potions?" The Hufflepuff asks.
"Huh? Wait.." The curly haired girl glances at the clock on the wall. 12:51. She's late for potions, and Slughorn does not tolerate lateness, especially from a sixth year prospective auror specializing in potions. "Shit shit shit shit. Fucking plant."
"Shit, um, thanks Abby." The girl says as she rushes out of the barrel door. She has only a short distance to her potions classroom, as it's just down the hall from the Hufflepuff common room. Sighing, she opens the door, and slips inside as quietly as she can. The clock reads 12:53.
"Eight minutes late, Miss Elphick. Is everything alright?" Professor Horace Slughorn, the potions master himself, announces to the entire classroom of sixth year advanced potions students. The curly haired girl winces, inches away from her seat, she turns around.
"I'm fine yes, um.." her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink, "someone forgot to water a plant is all, I'm so sorry I'm late." She slides into her seat, placing her bag on the tall table in front of her, making more noise than she would like. Silent eyes in the classroom turn to the girl that most people usually pass by without acknowledgement, at least that was how it was before this day.
Slughorn's shoulders ease and he's back to his normal lighthearted self. "Alright then, take your seat and see me afterwards."
"Damn Billie." the girl in the adjacent seat whispers, stifling a slight chuckle. Billie nods at her professor.
"Yes sir." she bows her head in shame. The other students quickly turn towards Slughorn once they notice he has written today's potion on the chalkboard. Billie's disruptive entrance is no longer interesting.
"He's so old school. Flitwick has an enchanted piece of chalk." The Slytherin girl beside Billie whispers, nudging her.
"Shut the fuck up Anastasia. You'll get me in more trouble than I already am." Billie whispers back, attempting to decipher Slughorn's frantic scrawl.
"Oh please. He didn't even look slightly mad." Anastasia whispers back. She pulls her quill from her reddish brown hair, which always seems to be slightly disheveled. Billie writes down the ingredients to the potion of the day, although she already knows them by heart. This potion is one of her favorites.
"The Elixir to Induce Euphoria." Slughorn announces to the class. "One of my personal favorites." Billie smirks slightly, already organizing her station. A Ravenclaw in the front of the room raises his hand. "Yes, Simon?"
"Any particular reason you chose this potion for our first day, Professor?" Simon smirks, leaning back in his seat.
"I figured you lot could find a use for it." Slughorn answers without missing a beat. "Remember you will be working in teams of two."
"Yeah, and I'm sure you could make us a good one." Anastasia nudges Billie again, causing her open ink bottle to spill over both of their potion instructions. "Oh shit." Anastasia mutters a cleaning spell, but the instructions vanished along with the spilled ink. "Are you fucking serious?" Billie looks away from Slughorn's lecture to see the disaster before her eyes.
"What did you do?!" Billie scream-whispers.
"I-I ..I really don't know." Anastasia stammers, her hands waving in front of her. "I thought the cleaning spell would clean the ink I spilled, and it did but, I forgot that it would clean the written ink also....don't worry though, we got this."
"No we don't!" Billie replies, holding up her blank parchment page.
"I've known you for seven years, and that's means I know that you know that potion better than Slughorn." Anastasia explains with confidence, pointing at the now blank chalkboard. Billie's cheeks heat up.
"Okay not better than Slughorn." Billie retorts, feeling embarrassed. The other students had begun to gather ingredients, leaving the two girls looking out of place in the small dungeon room.