The One With The Toad Face

5

The one time Edan wanted Severus to be a complete asshole was the one time he didn't. "What're you doing here?" She asked, trying to keep an even tone.

"After class got out I looked all over for you. I didn't expect you to come here straight away. How's the Skele-Gro going?" George questioned nodding at the empty table before her. It was obvious Edan wasn't in the middle of brewing anything. There was no aroma in the room indicating a potion has been recently brewed. Her lie had completely fallen through. "Did you turn down my invitation to willingly spend time with Snape?" George narrowed his eyes at her.

Edan hesitated once again. "Not exactly."

George threw his arms into the air. "What happened to it being a silly crush? I'm trying to make this thing a reality while you're running off to spend your free time with him instead. I feel like I'm wasting my time here."

She leapt to her feet and shushed George, fearful that Severus would return any moment. "I wasn't lying! I got nervous about your offer to sneak off during dinner so I made up a lie to spare your feelings."

It wasn't the response he'd expected. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Edy. That wasn't my intention. We don't have to do anything you don't want or are even uncertain about. As long as this isn't about your weird crush on Snape I'm okay with things as they are."

Before Edan could answer Severus reentered the room with an armful of potions ingredients in his arms. "Time to go Mr Weasley. I don't particularly care for you intruding on our impromptu session. I gave you more than enough time. Edan, we're brewing a Wolfsbane Potion on Dumbledore's orders."

Edan flinched at the sound of Severus addressing her by her first name. Never had he addressed her as Edan in front of other Hogwarts students. As far as Edan was concerned he'd never used the first name of another student at all. George glared openly at Severus. "I'll see you later, Edan, in the Common Room?" She nodded then watched as he disappeared.

Severus placed the jars on the table in front of her. Without a word Edan grabbed a cauldron, lit the blame beneath it and placed the cauldron on top. Did Severus overhear the details of her conversation with George? It made her incredibly nervous wondering whether or not he was now aware that she fancied him. "Are we brewing this for Remus?" She finally broke the silence with the only thing she could think to ask.

"Unfortunately. Dumbledore will be delivering it to him." Severus responded measuring out the ingredients. "How did your talk go?"

"Did you overhear any of it?" Edan asked quietly.

Severus smirked at her. "Why would I reveal that information to you?"

Edan rolled her eyes at him. "You're so frustrating. Our talk went just fine." She took out one of the notebooks Severus had gifted her for Christmas. It had more detailed notes on the Wolfsbane potion that she found easier to follow compared to those in her textbook. The rest of the evening was spent brewing. The only conversation they shared was that related to the potion. By the time Edan returned to the Common Room Fred informed her George had already settled in for the night in their dormitory.

George was now avoiding Edan. While she understood why he was upset with her it did not lessen the disappointment she felt. He hadn't given her the opportunity to explain her hesitation about them had nothing to do with Severus. The apprenticeship was the perfect excuse to use in order to avoid hurting his feelings. Clearly lying was a huge mistake. Edan wasn't dishonest by nature and she did not want George to think of her that way.

By the time the weekend rolled around Edan had no idea whether they were going on the date they planned or not. Friday evening she finally had the opportunity to corner George in the Common Room. "Are we going tomorrow or not?" She demanded in a harsher tone than she would have liked.