Chapter Text
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, looking at the stubborn man in front of him. He had noticed that his Potions Master was having some...hard time teaching the….other students who didn’t care much about the class, but wanted to pass. And now that he was trying to help, Snape was declining the help. He sighed as he leaned forward. “Severus, please understand that I’m only trying to help.”
“And I want you to understand that I don’t need help. I’m perfectly fine teaching those brats alone.” The Potions Master said coldly. “It’s bad enough you hired a werewolf as your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, one who tormented me during my school years might I add, but now you’re deciding to hire two people to help me, just so you can torture me?”
Dumbledore ignored the comment about Remus Lupin. There would be a better time where the both of them could talk about him. But right now was not the time. “As far as I see it, it’s not about being tortured. It’s about getting some help. Everyone needs help every once in a while, Severus,” The old wizard said softly.
“I certainly don’t, Albus,” Snape said. “I don’t need these people to ruin everything.” He was starting to lose his patience with Dumbledore and wanted nothing more but to retract into his quarters. “And if that’s all, then I’ll be going. I have things to prepare before the term starts.” He stood up and smiled coldly at Dumbledore. “Good night, Albus.”
Dumbledore chuckled as he looked at Snape. “It’s not up for debate. You’re going to have assistance either if you like it or not.” He motioned for the Potion Master to sit down once again and noticed the glare Snape sent him. Dumbledore smiled slightly. “After all, it’s not like Miss Haywood and Miss Blackthorn are going to disappoint you. I do recall that Miss Haywood was at the top of your class, and you did consider her one of your best students. While Miss Blackthorn might have not been as talented as Miss Haywood, she did extremely well in your class as well.”
Snape froze at the mentions of Haywood and Blackthorn. Did Dumbledore really say their names, or was that just him finally snapping? Dumbledore seemed to notice because a small grin appeared on his face. The wizard leaned back into his chair and glanced over at the stack of parchments waiting for him.
“I’ve sent letters to both of them asking for their assistance. They were both more than ecstatic to help you out. Sadly, they’re not going to be available the first week of the year, but both promised to be around for the second week.” He picked up the girl’s letters and passed them to Snape. The professor snatched the letters with a growl.
“Albus, this is ridiculous. They only graduated about three years ago. They have to be about twenty years old by now. They’re too young to even teach.” Snape sneered.
“Oh no, you’re the one acting ridiculous, dear boy. And I do believe I hired you when you were only twenty-one,” Dumbledore pointed out. “They’ll be able to help you out, and then you won’t have to constantly complain about the students.” He chuckled to himself. “Now, you’re able to leave. I do believe that’s all I had to cover.”
Snape stood up and bid Dumbledore a good night before sulking out of the office. He could hear Dumbledore’s amused chuckle, which put him in an even more sour mood than before. He made his way to his quarters and slammed the door shut. “I can’t believe he hired those twats!” He yelled as he paced around the bedroom. “With them, Potter and his friends and Lupin around, I’m going to have my hands full.” He sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Talking about Lupin…” He groaned as he realized he would have to start brewing the Wolfsbane Potion in the morning since the Full Moon was approaching at an alarming rate.
“And here I thought I had gotten rid of them forever.”
~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~
“Can you believe that Professor Dumbledore hired us? Us, who’ve only left Hogwarts three years ago?” Penny said excitedly, to her roommate.
Penny Haywood and Jupiter Blackthorn were sitting in the living room of the small house they had rented. Jupiter was sprawled across the couch in her PJ’s while Penny was sitting on the black fluffy carpet, holding the letter that Albus Dumbledore had sent them half a week ago. Ever since the girls had gotten the letter, Penny couldn’t stop talking about the big chance they were getting.
“Oh calm down, Penny. It’s not like we’re going to be directly teaching the kids. Dumbledore said we were going to help…” She paused as she looked down at her best friend. “Who exactly are we helping?”
The blonde-haired girl looked up at Jupiter and sighed. “Seriously, Jup. It’s like if you haven’t read the letter.” Jupiter rolled her eyes. “For the last time, we’re going to be helping out the Potions teacher.”
“Wait, does that mean we’re going to be helping out Professor Snape?” She asked with wide eyes. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need help. Hell, he’s more than capable of teaching two classes at once.”
Penny hummed as she put the letter on the coffee table. “I’m not sure. After what happened during our years at Hogwarts, I wouldn’t be surprised if Professor Snape decided to retire.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “Though it wouldn’t be bad if we had to help him.”
Jupiter scoffed as she pushed her messy light blue hair away from her face. “Easy for you to say. He adores you. You were one of his best students, and you were at the top of the class.” She paused and frowned at Penny’s laughter. “Seriously, he did. Unlike you, I’ve caused him enough headaches to last a lifetime. I doubt he’ll be too happy to see me again.”
“Nonsense. Sure, Professor Snape might be a little peeved that we’re back, but it’s not like he’s going to go out of his way to intentionally make you fail. And this is, if you assumed right, that Professor Snape is still teaching at Hogwarts.”
Jupiter sighed as she got off the couch. Her shoulder-length light blue hair seemed to glow in the dim room, and there was something about her emerald green eyes that almost seemed magical. She let out a yawn as she stretched her arms out. “Well, I guess you’re right.” She paused and smiled at her roommate. “Anyways, I think I’ll head out to bed. I assume you’ll be staying awake to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for Chiara?”
“I’ll be getting the ingredients ready, but I won’t make the potion just yet.” Penny sighed as she rubbed her eyes and let out a small yawn. “This might be the last potion I make for her in a while. I’m starting to run low on ingredients and I simply don’t have the money to keep buying more.”
She felt guilty that she wouldn’t be able to provide her werewolf friend the Wolfsbane potion after the month, but there wasn’t much Penny could do. And the ingredients for the potion were really expensive. She stood up and said good night to Jupiter, and then she made her way to the garden, where they had built a potions lab. As she entered, she made sure to close the door and started taking out the ingredients. She sighed as she looked up at the moon. It was going to be a long night.