"Remus! Come in!" Clarice invited the man into her home. "Sorry! Eli is running off of sugar right now. Going through a fussy eater phase."
"Not to worry," Remus looked towards the room littered with toys and Elio jumping on the furniture.
"Evening Severus." Remus greeted the man who was chasing the boy around trying to catch him.
"Ergh!" He grumbled in response.
"Right well, Sev said he'll watch Eli while I'll make dinner. Come sit in here with me and we'll chat while I cook." She guided him to the kitchen. He sat down in the chair nearest to the stove.
"Here," She handed him her journal and some blank parchment. "I'll need you to take notes while we talk this out."
Clarice prepped dinner and thought before speaking.
"I need you to write this down. Aconite, black quicksilver- pulverized, giant moonwort, myrrh- pickled in carrow spider ichor. Underneath- double space this, Ashwaghanda root, shankhpushi, valerian, echinacea, and henbane." She paused. "You get all that?"
"Uh yes," Remus said as he repeated it all back to her to make sure.
"Are you familiar with all of these?" She asked.
"Few, not many."
"Hm."
"What?"
Clarice placed five teacups in front of him all filled to the brim.
"Drink."
"What? All of them?"
"Just a few sips." She said.
Remus took a sip at the first one to the left of him.
"How's that taste?"
"Sweet."
"Next."
"Still sweet." He put it down.
"And the next?"
"Slightly bitter."
"Continue."
"Tastes like hot mucky water."
"Right, and the last?"
"Hot sweaty socks," He made a face.
"Great," She sautéed some onions. "Cross out the first two. Circle the three underneath. Valerian, echinacea, and henbane."
"Weren't those the bad tasting ones?" He asked.
"Yep," She laughed.
"Why?"
"It's trial and error Remus. You have to trust me on this. None of these outcomes will kill you at least." She played with the necklace.
"You better hope it doesn't. I'll haunt your ass." They laughed as she placed the dishes on the table. "Why doesn't your house elf cook?"
"Oh Pip's on holiday visiting her relatives and I enjoy cooking. She likes to help out every now and then," Clarice spoke before poking her head into the family room. "Sev, dinner's ready."
"Yay! Food!" She heard Elio yell followed by a loud thud.
"I told you no more jumping off the furniture!" Severus said sternly. "You're going to break a bone."
"You'll just heal me anyway," Elio said and climbed up to the table next to Remus.
"Eli, you need to listen to your father. Broken bones aren't something to gamble with." Clarice dished out spaghetti bolognese.
YOU ARE READING
The Herbology Assistant
FanfictionClarice Bates is just your average witch, at least that's how she sees herself. She finds herself a new position at Hogwarts as Professor Sprouts new assistant after doing plenty of study around the world with different plant species and even some m...
