Heart-shaped Box

black magic

"Take a sip of my secret potion,
I'll make you fall in love.
For a spell that can't be broken,
One drop should be enough.
Boy, you belong to me,
I got the recipe
And it's called black magic
(and it's called black magic)

Take a sip of my secret potion,
One taste and you'll be mine.
It's a spell that can't be broken
It'll keep you up all night
Boy, you belong to me,
I got the recipe
And it's called black magic
(and it's called black magic)"
Black Magic – Little Mix

After talking and just lying in the grass for two hours with Niklaus, I decide that he's a nice guy. He makes me laugh and he's very normal despite his status, and I like that. Classes pass quickly, and after dinner, I find myself waiting in front of Snape's office. I knock three times, taking a deep breath.
"Come in."
I open the heavy door, gently closing it behind me. I find Professor Snape sitting behind his desk, looking through some tests. I can see the loads of red ink from here.
"Miss Leroy, what on Earth are you wearing?" He asks when he looks up, startled.
"Oh, I- I thought since it was after school hours, I didn't have to show up in my robes. I can go change if you'd like..." I mutter, surprised.
"No, it's fine. I was merely surprised. None of the other students show up wearing bright yellow socks." He says, waving in dismissal.
"There's alpacas on them as well." I mutter quietly, looking down at my feet.
"Alpacas..." He trails off, shaking his head as he looks down at his papers briefly before putting them aside. His desk was surprisingly neat, considering all the paperwork. I did find the cabinets stacked with dead animals in jars on liquid a bit gross, but I just tried not to look at them. I hadn't expected him to be so surprised by my clothing choice, but then again, I was wearing a bright yellow sweater, wide soft black pants and my yellow alpaca socks, so.
"Do you know why you're here, Miss Leroy?" He asks after a moment.
"Because I suck at Potions?" I ask, shrugging helplessly as I lock eyes with his.
"Because you've never had a Potions class before. You can't expect a student to be able to keep up with fourth year potions class if they haven't ever brewed a potion before." He corrects, getting up from behind his desk.
"I've spoken with our Headmaster, and we agreed that you need extra lessons in order to be able to be able to get a good grade for Potions. I'll be giving them to you after hours." He explains, grabbing certain things from cabinets, putting them down on his desk, stashing away all his papers safely.
"Alright, let's get to work. Are you ready?"
I take a deep breath, nerves wrecking through my body, but nod anyways.
******************************
"There you go. Now gently crush the bezoar." Snape orders, surprisingly gentle for his doing.
"I thought you were supposed to cut it?" I ask, surprised.
"This way you get more liquid out of it." He explains, making me hum thoughtfully.
"Here, you have to turn the knife, then gently crush it with the flat side." He adds, placing his hands over mine before doing as he says, making me watch as he makes me crush the bezoar. I smile as the liquid comes out of it easily, gathering at the bottom of the bowl.
"They get this from goats, right?" I ask, frowning in concentration as he orders me to crush the stone even more.
"It comes from their stomachs, yes. Do you also know what it's used for uncrushed?" He asks, sounding pleasantly surprised that I asked. I think deeply for a moment, recalling hearing about it in Romania when I was with Charlie Weasley. Someone had been burned... no, poisoned!
"Antidote for poison?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder in uncertainty.
"Very well. It doesn't work against all potions, but it's effective against most, so it's easy to always have one close by." He nods, giving me an approving look. It surprises me, but I try not to show it. It did make me feel proud, getting that right.
Snape turns out to be a lot nicer than I expected, helping me with patience and without being mean to me. I think he's a lot better one on one than in front of an entire class, maybe because I really try to keep up with him and actually pay attention to every word he says. I find his instructions a lot clearer now than when they're written down onto a blackboard.

After a few hours, the potion's finally ready. I've crushed the bezoar, added something called Standard Ingredient (I have no clue what it actually is), a pinch of unicorn horns and mistletoe berries. What confuses me is the part where the potion needs to boil in different cauldrons after the other, but I just do as I'm told.
"It's..." I watch nervously as Snape inspects the potion before putting it into a vial.
"It's great. You've successfully made an antidote against common potions." He decides, throwing me the tiniest smile. I grin at it, unable to help myself.
"Thank you for the help, Professor." I say honestly, shrugging.
"You're welcome. It won't be easy to catch up with four years of Potions. The Headmaster and I decided it would be best if you got extra classes at least once every two weeks." He states, looking down at me.
"Alright. I really wanna pass this class." I answer with a shrug.
"And you will. I'll see you in two weeks, same hour. You're dismissed, Miss Leroy." He answers, less harsh than usually, making me smile.
"Bye, Professor." He bends back over his papers. I quietly slip out of the door, sighing deeply in relief.
That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.