Blood of my blood (Severus Snape & daughter)

17- Complicity between potions

February 11, 1997

The cauldron smoked happily over the fire, and Lily prepared the ingredients while humming to herself.

That day, Professor Snape had surprised her with a particularly difficult poison, and she had a suspicion that he had done it on purpose, because making antidotes was her specialty and the task she enjoyed the most.

And perhaps because of that, she was more animated than usual, murmuring singsong as she worked.

"You're not concentrating, Miss White," he commented with a disapproving look, but by now Lily was immune to the terrible effect of his dark eyes and shrugged. "You keep moving and shaking. What are you doing?"

"I'm dancing," she smiled, without a hint of shame. "It's because of that new Salem Witches song, haven't you heard it? It's very catchy," Severus saw out of the corner of his eye how thick white smoke began to come out of the cauldron and opened his mouth to scold her, but Lily waved a hand without looking and poured something into the potion that not only made the smoke disappear, but also completely changed its color. "Do you never listen to the radio when you work?"

"I prefer silence," he hissed, still eyeing the potion suspiciously, as if waiting for something else to happen.

"But it's so boring," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Music is a source of distraction."

"I think I will never agree with you on that, Professor," Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye and hid a smile, seeing his bewildered face. Trying not to laugh, Lily waved her hand again to add something else to the potion.

"What are you doing?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"Preparing the antidote," Lily put on an innocent face, earning a grumpy look from the professor.

"What did you add?"

"Wormwood root."

"Instead of crushed bezoar? Why?"

"Because it prevents the potion from boiling."

"Why do you do that?"

"To avoid the bitter taste, which is one of the big problems of this antidote."

Severus remained thoughtful while she continued working. That was... a good idea.

Curious, Severus walked over to the table and picked up a knife.

"Have you used that trick on any other potion?"

"I wanted to try it with the wolfsbane potion, because it has a similar problem, but obviously I can't test it," Lily saw how he began to cut the salamander tails, and without thinking she reached out a hand to stop him with a smack. "No! What are you doing? Those pieces are too small."

Severus shot her an indignation look that would have left any other student frozen in place, but Lily was more concerned with moving the ingredients out of his reach.

"Miss White, I remind you that I was already preparing this potion before you were born. I'm perfectly capable of cutting that," Severus growled indignantly. For Merlin's sake, he had only wanted to help her prepare the ingredients.

"I'm sorry to tell you, Professor, but your ancient wisdom does not eliminate the bitter taste and sticky consistency of the antidote," she replied, undaunted, taking Severus by surprise. Was she making fun of him?

And yet, Severus felt more displeased than angry. It was not normal for students to joke with him. Although of course, Lily was not a normal student...