Unfathomable Desire

Chapter 4

I collapsed onto the bench beside Mack in the Great Hall. Mack had an open textbook in front of her and was slowly eating from her plate.

"Tough day?" George asked from across me.

"I hate Snape." I replied, bitterly.

"Only took 3 hours, did it?" Fred asked me.

I collapsed my head into my arms, which were crossed on the table.

"You should eat," Mack said as she brought a plate towards me and set it in front of my arms.

"I'm not hungry," I pouted. I knew I was being dramatic, but for some reason, I really wanted Snape's approval. If I couldn't get it with making great potions, then what else was I supposed to do.

"You know, you brought this one yourself," Fred said. I glared at him and raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to take potions. You can still drop it."

"I'm not going to do that, I uprooted my life for this potions class." I didn't mean to tell them why I had come here, but at this point, it didn't seem to matter anymore.

"You did?" George asked. The twins looked at me as if my head just exploded. "Why the bloody hell would you do that?"

"Maybe because she likes it," Mack stood up for me.

"I don't know if I do anymore," I said grumpily.

"Cheer up," Mack put her arm around my shoulders. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"No thanks," I got up from my seat. "I'm going to go sulk where there's less people." I glanced up at the teacher's table and saw Professor Snape deep in conversation with another teacher I didn't recognize. As if he would feel my gaze, he turned his eyes toward me. I quickly looked away.

"Do you want me to come?" Mack asked sincerely.

"That's okay, enjoy your food." I walked away.

The rest of the week went as well as it could have. I thoroughly enjoyed most of my classes, but I dreaded potions. I liked making the potions, but Snape never gave me credit for doing well. Instead, he continued to look at me with skepticism. I even caught myself making mistakes on purpose so he wouldn't think I was cheating.

"Hmm," Snape stood over my table, observing my potion with deep focus. "How disappointing."

"What is it this time?" I sighed.

"I thought better of you."

"I know it's not perfect." I agreed, eager to convince him I wasn't cheating. I knew I forgot one key ingredient that completely changed the texture of my potion.

"Clearly," Snape said. He eyed me with suspicion. "You almost had me convinced there was no potion you couldn't master."

"I guess you were wrong," I said defiantly. "I don't know this potion very well."

Snape continued to eye me. "See me after class, Miss l/n."

I made my potion disappear with my wand as Snape continued his rounds. After class, I met with him at his desk. Snape pushed a cauldron towards me.

"Make it again," he commanded.

"Sorry?"

"Make. The potion. Again." He pronounced each word carefully, as if I was too stupid to understand him.