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Dianthus Stories	By : icewomin Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 3134 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Anything you
recognize belongs to someone else, namely, JK Rowling. Specifically, elements of
the HP universe, characters from same.
Sadly, I have no hope of publishing this story outside the fan fiction base, although I hope you enjoy the plot and the original
characters I�ve created. Feel free to
give me critical feedback, including flames and harsh criticism. I may delete it afterward, so as to reduce my
personal embarrassment, but I do promise to read it and incorporate it if I
feel it improves the story.

*****

This is Chapter
Fifteen. Smut begins in Chapter Twenty
Six, so if you�re only looking for that, feel free to skip ahead. Be warned that you may be confused about some
of the stuff in those later chapters if you don�t stick it out.

*****

Chapter Fifteen �
Owls

At breakfast the
next morning, Dianthus was surprised when a tiny Scopes� owl landed on her
shoulder. She tugged a small piece of
parchment from its beak and gave it a handful of bread crumbs as thanks. It nipped her ear. She unfolded the parchment and saw, written
in Snape�s tiny, cramped hand:

Send me your hypothesis by return owl.

Here was evidence
of one more thing that hadn�t changed about him. He hadn�t gotten any wordier over the years, or any less brusque in his written communications. It wasn�t even a request � it was a
demand. Arrogant son of a bitch, she thought. No greeting, no signature, only confidence
that she knew who it was from and would comply with his wishes. She snorted and glanced at the staff table. Snape seemed absorbed in his breakfast.

�What�s that,
then, Di?� asked Melanie, leaning in to look over her shoulder.

�Snape wants to
see my theory about the potion I was working on this summer,� Dianthus
replied. Ignoring Melanie�s suspicious
squint, she reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of parchment. She was able to write from memory her
original ideas on how the finished potion should look and behave. As an afterthought, she included the formula
she had been tinkering with over the summer.
Then she folded the completed parchment and handed it to the owl, which
had taken over her cornflakes. Dianthus
expected it to fly directly to the staff table, but it didn�t, and when she
glanced again at Snape�s usual seat, she saw that he had left the great hall
while she was writing.

The following
morning, the Scopes� owl was back, with a larger bit of rolled parchment
attached to its leg. Dianthus hadn�t
expected a reply, but she detached the roll immediately, and the bird rose into
the air.

�Why can�t he wait
until Tuesday?� scowled Erin, as Dianthus unrolled the
parchment.

�Does he have
anything useful to say, though?� asked Melanie.

Dianthus scanned
the parchment and stuffed it into her bag.
�No,� she sighed. �He thinks my
calculations are off, and he doesn�t see how I can achieve a useable potion.�

That night, she
quietly pulled the parchment from her bag after her roommates had gone to
sleep. Retrieving her wand from her
bedside table, she whispered, �Lumos,� and held the
parchment close to her face to read it in the shallow wand light.

Your ratio of aconite to miribilis is far too low, and your projections
regarding the physical attributes of the final potion are incorrect. Given the formula you wrote, the lethal
effects of the miribilis will not be neutralized.

Please review pages 370 and 726 in Nagithine�s Compendium of
Herbs. I think you may discover some
intriguing possibilities regarding the addition of burdock root or fringetree
bark, to help in counteracting the toxicity of the miribilis.

I do hope that your research methods are as sound as you have presented
them to be � otherwise you risk disappointing me, which would be unfortunate
for you.

He�d thrown in a please, but Dianthus wasn�t fooled. This was just as much an order as his previous
owl had been. At least he hadn�t waited
until class and then jumped all over her in front of the other students, and
that was something.

She knew a little
bit about fringetree bark and burdock root, but hadn�t considered them as
possible ingredients in her potion. And
of course, he hadn�t told her what specifically made him think these two herbs
would be any more effective than anything else she�d tried. She would need to go to the library first
thing in the morning to check out the book he mentioned, and probably a
half-dozen others as well.

Dianthus
considered his last sentence for a moment, and then pulled out a piece of
parchment and her quill.

I will review the information you referred to immediately, and will
consider incorporating the ingredients into the recipe, should they show
promise. If need be, I will submit a
revised hypothesis by Tuesday.

You will find that my research methods are indeed impeccable. Thus, unfortunately for you, you will need to
find another excuse for taking additional house points from Ravenclaw.

She smirked at the
parchment and set it and the quill on her bedside table. Then she remembered something from long ago,
and she turned to set her alarm clock for just before sunrise. Grinning to herself, she snuggled down into
the blankets and fell asleep almost immediately.

The alarm had only
just begun its quiet requests that she get up when Dianthus sprang out of the
bed. �Very good,� it murmured. �I think that might be a record, my dear.� She patted the top of the little clock
softly, and it reset itself. She threw
on her robes and grabbed the parchment from her bedside table, and then slipped
quietly from the room so as to not wake her roommates.

She trotted to the
owlery and attached the parchment to the leg of a convenient owl. �Professor Snape, please. Safe flight, but please hurry,� she said
softly to it as it lifted off her arm.
Satisfied, she made her way to the library to begin her research.

�Where�d you go so
early?� yawned Martine, when Dianthus sat down next to
her roommates in the great hall, several hours later.

�I had to go look
some stuff up in the library,� Dianthus said.
She was excited, having realized that both ingredients Snape had
mentioned might be useful in her quest.
�I think I might be getting somewhere with my potion,� she said through
a grin as she reached for the pumpkin juice.

Martine�s face
fell. �Oh, bloody hell, I wish I had
chosen something else to research.� She
looked around swiftly and said in a low voice, �You guys, I think I�m going to
break up with Grant.�

�What?� Melanie
gasped. Dianthus snorted. She had been wondering when Melanie would
tire of Grant.

�Yeae gee getting
a little possessive, and besides, I think he�s interfering with my study time.�

�Well, that�s
true,� snorted Erin.
�Come to think of it, all that bloody snogging
in the common room is interfering with my
study time.�

�Maybe you should
change your research topic,� Dianthus urged, as Martine smacked Erin
on the arm.

�I don�t know what
else to study!� wailed Martine.

�Well, he let
Jenny White from Hufflepuff research unicorn tail hair, for pity�s sake,�
Dianthus reminded her.

Just then the post
owls arrived, and Dianthus was not surprised to see the owl she had used this
morning land in front of her. It held out
its leg and she removed the parchment it carried, then it flew off without
waiting for a reward.

�Another owl?�
asked Melanie, looking a tad scandalized.
�Di, I don�t think Professor Snape should be writing you notes.�

�Oh, come on,
now,� protested Dianthus. �It�s only you
guys who know they�re from him, after all, and it�s not like they�re � well,
we�re just writing about my Potions work, that�s all.�

�Ask him if I can
study something else,� said Martine quickly.
They all laughed, and then Martine said, �No, really, will you ask him,
please?�

�Show some balls
and send your own owl, Martine,� teased Erin. �Why don�t we all write him? I�ll tell him all about my Herbology work,
and Melanie can ask him about Care of Magical Creatures � ouch, Di, that hurt!�

Dianthus unfolded
the parchment, and had to suppress a grin when she read it.

You test my patience. I
distinctly remember asking that you not owl me this early.

I look forward to hearing your revised theories, once you have fully
absorbed the implications of your reading.
As it may take some time for you to understand those implications, I
suggest you begin researching immediately, or Ravenclaw house points will
indeed suffer � despite your unconvincing assurances to the contrary.

On impulse, she snatched
a blank piece of parchment from her bag and wrote:

Melanie is unhappy with her research topic. Perhaps you could come up with some suitable
choices for her to pick from? Obviously,
I do not want to overburden you. Please
feel free to decline if you feel the task is too much for you.<
<
�I�ll be right
back,� she yelled to her staring roommates, and she stormed out of the great
hall. Ten minutes later she was back,
panting, having sent the note.

�What the fuck?�
said Erin nonchalantly.

�I just sent Snape
an owl asking him about Martine�s topic.�

Her roommates
looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted whiskers. �You didn�t,� Martine whispered. �I was just kidding about that!�

�I did,� said
Dianthus, looking gleefully toward the staff table. �And look, there�s the owl.� They all watched, Martine looking agonized,
as the owl dropped to the staff table in front of Snape and the Potions
instructor took the note from its beak.
He scanned the parchment, then closed his eyes and tipped his head back
to look at the ceiling. After two
seconds of this, he looked over at them.
Her roommates quickly busied themselves with their breakfast, and so it
was only Dianthus who saw the amused gleam in his eye as he smirked at her,
then glanced quickly away.

Martine, after her
initial horror wore off, decided that maybe it had been a good idea to ask
Snape for suggestions on her N.E.W.T. research.
�Do you think he�ll do it, though?� she said in the Ravenclaw common
room that Monday night. �I mean, he
didn�t owl you back yet.�

�Oh, he�ll do it,�
said Dianthus grimly. �You might not
like what he comes up with, though, so we�d better come up with some ideas on
our own. Maybe you should do something
that has to do with medi-wizardry. What do you think?�

�Uh-unh,� Martine
grunted. �I�m going to get enough of
that after we graduate. I really want to
do something fun � that�s why I decided on love potions in the first place.�

�I know, but it
has to be something that�ll give you enough to do this year,� Dianthus reminded
her. �You might as well do something
that�s going to be useful after you get out of school.�

Martine
sighed. �I don�t know. I�ll think about it.�

�Maybe you should
just stick with love potions,� said Erin, sounding
bored. �That way you can give it to
Grant, so he can get a new girlfriend and quit mooning about.� She glanced scornfully at the hearth across
the room, where the boy in question was looking at Martine with an anguished
expression on his face.

�Oh, shut up, Erin,�
said Martine dismissively.

The following
morning, it was Martine who received an owl from Snape. She choked on her pumpkin juice when she
realized who the note was from. �Here,�
she gasped, holding it out for Dianthus to read.

Miss Evariste:

Options:

Continue with the love potion

Research and discuss potential uses for one of the
following:

Burn Bane

Emerald Tulip

Fringetree Bark

Samayle Root

You may advise me of your decision in class.

Professor Snape

Dianthus
frowned. �These are all really rare herbs,
Martine,� she said. �Even Grandpa is
only able to grow a few Emerald Tulips every year.�

�Oh, crap, you
were right,� said Martine. �These�ll be really hard to research, huh?�

�Well,� said
Dianthus slowly. �It�nny.nny. I may be using fringetree bark as part of my
potion. It�s a small piece, but I don�t
know much about it. I�m going to have to
research that one myself, to figure out how best to use it.�

Martine�s face lit
up. �Then we could work together, and
share our research,� she said, beaming.

�That�s what�s
funny,� said Dianthus. �Snape knows I�m
thinking about using fringetree bark.�
She glanced up at the staff table, where Snape was inhaling his
porridge. �It�s too convenient. It�s not like him to make it easy on us.�

�I�ll take what I
can get,� declared Martine.
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