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Unquestionable Love	By : CRMediaGal Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 3380 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyrighted to and belongs to JK Rowling. I own none of her associated characters. New characters belong to me. No money/profit is made from this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
A/N: There are small strides to be made here...

Many thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Brittny.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyrighted to and belongs to JK Rowling. I own none of her associated characters. New characters belong to me.

Chapter 16: The Potions Assistant

Hailey made the slow, tedious walk from the Gryffindor common room down to the wretched dungeons for what felt like the thousandth time. It had been several weeks into her Potions assistantship, and every time she entered that frigid place, the young girl felt progressively worse. Her frustrations were mounting every day, every week, every hour.

Her father had made her stock the ingredient shelves for weeks, without once letting her use magic or her wand. The work was not only monotonous and uneventful, but Hailey was gathering a clear sense of the Potions Master's ulterior motives. Either this was some sort of test of wills, or it was deliberately for cruelty's sake. Hailey wanted to suspect the latter, but her conscience told her otherwise.

Hailey kicked the stone floor as she reached the dreaded spiral staircase that would lead her down to the Potions lab, where she would no doubt spend the next four hours in boredom, agitation, and sheer agony. She wanted to scream in protest at every step she made and gripped the stone wall for balance.

Why can't I just quit this rubbish? she berated herself as she reached the bottom.

The corridor was deserted as usual, and an eerie, unsettling sense of oppression lingered in the air all along the dark hallways. Hailey truly hated this part of the castle. How could her father stand it? Did he not think it cruel that Hogwarts had placed him here instead of some higher part of the castle in a room that at least let in some sunlight?

The confused, tormented child recalled the words her mother had written to her a week before, urging her to try to 'mull things over,' that 'holding in her anger and hurt would only prolong a much-needed talk that needed to transpire.' But Hailey was finding it all more difficult than she anticipated. Although her initial rage had subsided significantly, she was still nursing that festering wound and defining shock from weeks ago, when Severus had displayed such unsettling behavior. She was reaching the point where she could consider forgiving him, but there were far too many questions yet to be answered, and a lot of damage yet to be accounted for.

Hailey sighed as she reached the heavy oak door that would lead her inside. She gripped the door frame and swallowed hard, gathering her strength and necessary composure, before finally entering the space within.

Severus peered up as she entered. He was standing over a very large cauldron on the side of the room near his desk, in the midst of brewing something unknown. Hailey could see the steam rising from the cauldron, and her ears listened to the soothing, rippling sounds of the liquid boiling within. It was a sensation that Hailey used to enjoy immensely, and she found herself glued to the spot where she stood.

She had not seen Severus brew a potion in a long time, not since the past summer at home, anyway, and her curiosity overpowered her will to move. She knew that he made potions on a daily basis, having often caught sight of him starting one as she was getting ready to leave for the night, but never found him in the midst of it all. One thing was certain: he was always busy and never took it easy. Not once.

Hailey waited, surveying the dark wizard intently to see what he might do next. He had been intensely focused on his work when she had entered the room, and that concentration was still deeply etched in harsh lines in his face. Then Severus's deep, silky voice interrupted her curiosity.

"Good evening."

Good evening? That's rather formal, isn't it?

Hailey tried to remain cordial, though she had a sudden innate desire to roll her eyes. She resisted the urge, however, and, instead, cleared her throat.

"Hi."

Severus masked his inner hurt at their formal communication. It had been ongoing for weeks, with little to no progress being made. But he simply did not have time at the moment to reflect upon their awkward exchange, so he grumbled under his breath and cast something into the cauldron that Hailey could not see.

"There are several new shipments that arrived this morning. Over there."

He motioned with a curt nod of his head towards a pile of overstuffed parcels in the far corner of the room. Hailey could not gather how many boxes there were since the room was poorly lit as always, only that there were at least a dozen and they covered the length of four desks. Her heart sank as she took them all in.

"You may stock them where they belong."

Hailey let out a moan and threw down her bag in a heap. The sound pierced the air as it landed on the stone floor with an obnoxious thud. Severus whipped his black head around and uttered a low hiss of annoyance, but Hailey ignored it, completely unfazed by his irritation. She unexpectedly took a few steps closer to him and crossed her arms, eying him up and down with an impatient glare.

"Yes?" Severus growled, too distracted with what he was doing to be bothered with his daughter's displeasure.

"You've had me restocking the shelves for weeks now. Why?"

Severus ran his fingers through his hair and turned away from her. "Isn't it obvious?"

Hailey sighed, trying to ignore her father's slight remark. She knew he was engrossed in what he was doing, but it did not change the unsettling anger she picked up on in his disgruntled tone.

"No, it's not. What I'm doing could easily be done with a wand and in no time at all. Why aren't you giving me something to do? Something that would actually be useful to you?"

Severus had his back turned to Hailey as she relayed her questions and was moving swiftly, with elegant precision, his entire being focused on the potion he was brewing. When it finally dawned on the active professor that his daughter was no longer speaking, he whipped his robes around dramatically and stared her down, his dark eyes narrowed, as if trying to focus.

"What?" he asked, looking her over in a daze.

Hailey knew he had not heard a word she said; the stress written on his face and in his tired eyes confirmed it all. Try as she might, Hailey could not help but grow alarmed at examining his fatigue, and she tried to swallow her hurt at the strained relationship they now had. She took another calculated step towards him, her demeanor no longer cross. To Severus's surprise, there seemed to be a gentleness emerging, perhaps even a longing that he had not witnessed from the adorable, bushy-haired child in weeks.

"I thought you wanted me to help you?" she whispered imploringly. "I thought that was the whole purpose of this assistantship, so that you wouldn't be so overloaded. Why won't you let me assist you?"

To Hailey's dismay, Severus did not answer right away. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, trying to formulate the right answer. Or maybe, she lamented, he really did not care and did not want to be bothered by her inquiries. His thin lips parted, but his visage was mangled by an odd sort of frustration, something he either wanted to say or, she concluded, more likely did not want to explain.

"Hailey—"

"Isn't that why I'm here?" she pressed on. "To help you? Why did you ask me to do this if you don't want my help?"

When her father said nothing but continued to gaze with a presumably blank stare, Hailey knew better than to take his disposition at face value. A mixture of vexation and yearning loomed behind his supposedly unemotional stare, and she sensed it all.

Hailey turned around and gathered up her belongings off the floor. As she placed her hefty bag onto a nearby desk, she glanced over at him with a relaxed, collected expression that Severus recognized. It was entirely her mother.

"I'm going to put these supplies away," she stated calmly, "with my wand, and when I come back, you're going to start teaching me how to make these potions you're always working on."

Severus's eyes searched the newfound stillness in her composure, but then her head turned away from him and she marched over to the boxes in the corner, whipped out her wand and muttered the moving spell in a hushed voice that immediately levitated all the parcels into the air. Severus shifted his attention away from where she stood, although his concentration had now been entirely distracted by the petite Gryffindor who spoke with such assurance and determination. He had expected Hailey to quit the assistantship weeks ago, but now she actually wanted to learn something from him, wanted to help, even if he truly did not want any. It was all rather endearing coming from the little girl who seemed to despise him.

Perhaps she doesn't hate me after all, Severus pondered silently, as he resumed stirring the cauldron.

A few minutes later, Hailey returned. She quietly stepped over to where Severus was hunched over his cauldron and inspecting its contents, his dark eyes fixated on his work. He did not glance up when she reached his side, and Hailey took the silence as an opportunity to observe their surroundings. She glanced over at his desk where a handful of already-filled phials were stacked, and her brown eyes slowly scanned a pile of loose papers nearby. Her astute senses immediately gathered that they were newly arrived potion orders, and her mouth dropped as she took in the large stack, her curiosity leading her to get a closer inspection at the staggering number of requests.

"Please don't touch those," Severus mumbled faintly, still hunched over the cauldron.

Hailey jolted at the break in the stillness, but her intrigue did not wane. She glanced over them with a puzzled brow. She eventually respected Severus's wishes though, and took a step back.

"Do you always have these many orders?" she inquired with surprise.

"Yes," came Severus's mundane reply.

Hailey ignored the formality and inched closer to the cauldron. She tilted her shaggy mane to one side as she watched the liquid turn a deep, scarlet hue.

"What are you making?"

Severus peered over at her with his eyebrow raised. He remembered that probing, wondrous look...

"Blood-Replenishing."

Hailey glanced up at Severus with what appeared to be a fresh interest, her eager eyes darting all about his face, searching for something. Then Severus saw the brown irises fall to his cravat, lingering there for a time, so he cleared his throat to distract her unwanted attention.

"For St. Mungo's. Their supply is running low."

Hailey nodded in understanding, but her eyes still traced her father's neckline timidly. "How many do they want?"

Severus grumbled in a low voice and began searching around him, eying the various papers scattered on his desk as well as another table behind him. Hailey's eyebrows rose as she watched the brilliant Potions Master fumbling about, looking all around with a tight grimace in utter confusion. He was never like that, not that Hailey could ever recall anyhow, and was usually prepared and on top of everything. But not now. He whisked hastily through the various orders, searching for the one that he needed, then snarling in annoyance when it was not the one he required.

Hailey tossed aside her lingering hurt for the time being and, without thinking, began aiding Severus in his search, though she was momentarily distracted by the contents of each paper she picked up. Most were from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but there were also several requests from the Ministry of Magic, an Apothecary or two, and a few from Madam Pomfrey in the Infirmary. Deflating Draughts. Wound-Cleaning Potions. Calming Draughts. Pepperup.

Hailey's eyes surveyed the requests in amazement. The lists were long, the amounts stupefying. She had no idea how her father was able to make all of these. No wonder he doesn't sleep, she reflected to herself, a twinge of pity seeping through her consciousness.

"Here it is," she called out, locating the order Severus needed. It had fallen underneath his desk, lost amongst a few other loose orders on the ground.

Severus adjusted his coat, his body growing rigid and reserved again in a flash, and took the request from Hailey's hand. Hailey watched him run a pale hand through his hair several times as his beady eyes glanced over the order thoroughly.

Hailey turned towards the boiling cauldron. She rolled up her sleeves and, without asking permission, began stirring the red liquid in a slow, counterclockwise motion. She did not know what she was doing, but that did not matter. To her, it felt invigorating to be doing something far more productive for a change.

"What are you doing?" she heard Severus whisper, his voice soft and containing none of the harshness he usually bestowed in class.

"Helping you," she offered back, not looking at him. "That's what I'm supposed to be doing, is it not?"

Severus slithered closer to the small first year, his black eyes looking down on her with a mixture of trepidation and rare compliance. His hands were clasped behind his back, his towering frame very still as he observed her quietly. He could not read her expression since her face was cast downwards and her thick bangs covered her eyes, but Severus could sense a returning interest radiating through the girl's tough exterior, and it brought him private relief. That mechanical, disinterested behavior from class was gone, replaced by the youthful thirst for knowledge that Severus had greatly missed seeing in her.

When Hailey did not receive an answer to her question, she whipped her head up to stare Severus in the face and was shocked by the calmness that emanated back. She had half expected the weary man to argue with her, push her away, or at least try to dismiss her help, but he simply stood back and inspected, allowing Hailey to stir the potion, even though she had no clue if that was required.

"Will you show me how to make this one?" she asked, with a hint of excitement.

A heavy sigh fell from Severus's lips and it took only a moment for him to reach her side. The steam and reflection from the red pool of liquid danced across his colorless face, making the dark bags under his eyes less pronounced than before.

"Very well," he replied, reaching out to take the stirring rod from Hailey's hand. He moved it in the opposite direction but did not take his eyes off of her. "Stir clockwise as well as up and down and much slower. Like this." He demonstrated a few times with a swift, elegant flick of his wrist before handing the rod back to Hailey, who copied his instructions with ease.

Severus continued to watch her thoughtfully for a time as Hailey stirred the potion in a gentle fashion, focused entirely on the task before her. Her fixed concentration reminded Severus so much of himself that it was almost unnerving. Still, he enjoyed her intensity. It was very much like home...

"What's next?" Hailey inquired, after a few minutes of uninterrupted silence.

"It's nearly complete," Severus answered in his dry tone. "Just a few more minutes of stirring and it should be ready."

"Oh." Severus could sense the disappointment in Hailey's voice, but then she piped up, "Can I help with the next one?"

Hailey glanced over at him, but his expression was inscrutable as usual. She was still innately surprised that he was not fighting her off or insisting he did not need any help. It excited her. Maybe he did want her assistance after all.

"Sure," Severus muttered quietly, stepping back and taking a seat rather carefully at his desk, all the while never removing his unwavering gaze.

Hailey turned away to her brewing again, and, before long, Severus told her to cease, which she did reluctantly. There was something inherently soothing about Potion-making, though she could not quite put her finger on it. But she could see how her father had been drawn to the art and careful science of it all. It was challenging and required a very careful set of hands, was intellectually stimulating and fairly dangerous—which Hailey wickedly enjoyed, although she would never let her parents know—but, at the same time, had a calming, almost therapeutic effect to its practice.

"Hailey?"

She turned to him again, her sleeves still rolled up, ready for another task. He motioned with his index finger towards something behind her but remained quite still in his chair, his body braced in a severe manner that Hailey thought rather odd. It actually looked painful.

"Could you hand me those bottles?"

Hailey whipped her head around and saw at least a dozen small glass jars in a box on the floor a few feet away. She swiftly picked up the box and brought the contents over to him, taking them out of their secure slots one by one, placing them on the table nearest Severus and moving some clutter out of the way in order to make sufficient room. She was relieved when Severus made me no objections to the liberties she was taking. He had not asked her to remove the jars or set anything up for him, and though she was still a little surprised when he did not try to stop her, she kept going.

When all the bottles were lined up and ready to be filled, she dashed back over to the cauldron, which, to her amazement, was not boiling, the fire underneath no longer lit. She knew her father must have taken care of that while she was preoccupied with the jars and admired how fast he had accomplished both tasks, likely without the use of his wand; he had barely stirred or risen from his position when she was next to him only moments before.

"I'll fill them up," she offered politely, her tone not hinting at any previous bitterness.

"Be careful, Hailey." Severus watched her with his intense raven eyes. "It's still quite hot."

Hailey nodded and carefully began the delicate process of filling up the jars, just as her father had shown her at home. It took her a considerable amount of time to accomplish, and she knew that, for Severus, the process would have probably been done a lot quicker, but he did not seem to mind her delayed pace. When all of the jars were filled to capacity and placed back in the box, Severus gave Hailey the task of packaging them appropriately.

"Do these need to go to the Owlery tomorrow?" she asked, as she set the now securely fashioned box on a desk.

"No, tonight," Severus replied, shifting slightly in his seat, "along with the rest of these orders."

Hailey glanced over in surprise just as Severus was removing something small from his pockets. He swiftly turned away from her in his chair. Hailey's curious eyebrows rose at seeing his dark head lean back to take whatever was in his hand to his mouth. Severus swallowed it quickly before turning around to face her again. He placed the strange item—an abnormal-looking phial—back into his front pocket and met her eyes. A realization dawned behind the stark pupils that he had been watched, and he was not pleased.

Hailey cleared her throat awkwardly and shifted her gaze. "You're going to make all those orders tonight?" she asked quietly, pretending the strange exchange had not occurred.

Severus gradually rose, stumbling a little with his balance, which Hailey tried to ignore, and peered over at the stack of requests still on his desk with an unreadable scowl. "Yes, I am."

"But that will take all night," she breathed, a little flustered at her father's plans. Did he not still have papers to grade and a number of other things to do as always?

Severus let out a low growl, and she could not tell if it was in agreement to how she felt about his insane workload, or if it was in protest to her comment. He grabbed the next order in the pile and stared her down, looking even more tired than before.

"You have a couple more hours and then you're free to go for the evening. Until then, I can show you how to make a few more of these, if you'd like."

Hailey nodded willingly and trotted over again to where he stood. She unexpectedly reached up and took the order from Severus's hand, while he surveyed her with a curious look.

"Pepperup," the Hermione lookalike uttered, looking over the request, "for Madam Pomfrey. Forty phials." She glanced up at a befuddled Severus, her dark, brown eyes lighting up with an enthusiasm he had not seen in a long time. "I made this with you before. I think I remember how. Can I try?"

"Of course," Severus murmured encouragingly, trying not to smile at the determination in his daughter's face. For the first time since the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts several weeks ago, Hailey offered him a meek grin.

Severus watched in silence as Hailey sauntered away to grab a couple items from one of the storage cabinets, including bicorn horn and Mandrake root, her wild curls bouncing up and down as she went. He sat back down in his chair and waited patiently as she set everything up at the table near him again, her focused eyes scanning it all thoroughly, before lighting a fire under the cauldron with her wand to begin. She walked over to the cauldron but then hesitated, peering over at Severus and waiting for his guidance to continue.

"You're doing fine." His lips curled into a faint smile. "Go on. I'll watch to see how you do."

Hailey gulped and gave a nervous twitch. "But it will take twice as long, and there are still all those other orders to get through—"

"Don't worry about that. Just focus on the one at hand."

"Dad," Hailey pleaded, forgetting that she was angry and had not called him such in a while, "I don't want you to stay here all night. We need to move faster. Please, just tell me what to do?"

Severus, though slightly disappointed, took a deep breath and obliged with a slight bow of his head. He remained seated, however, and began instructing Hailey of the next steps in the process, all the while eying her intently as she worked.

Hailey's precision was entirely different from her sisters, exhibiting none of the agonizing hesitation Lily had, or the ill-confident progress Surina displayed. She was precise, yet quick, for a first year, her moves cautious but purposeful, and Severus could not help but be impressed as he guided her along. He had forgotten in such a short span of time what a natural Potion-maker she was.

Although Hailey had long expressed a greater interest in Potion-making than her siblings, she was still the youngest. Tonight, however, she was proving the Potions Master wrong in all her skills, which were far more advanced than he had given her credit for. Had he really taught her that much in the past few years?

No, he concluded thoughtfully, a warm heat permeating the center of his chest. That's all Hailey...

"If you performed in class the way you're performing now, my dear, you would have an Outstanding," Severus whispered, trying to break the barrier between them.

Hailey glanced over at the dark wizard questionably, her eyes widening, secretly enthused by his unexpected compliment. But then her liveliness waned, replaced by a miserable realization.

"If we were in class, you wouldn't be saying that."

Severus winced, a crease forming between his eyes. "Not in this manner of speaking, no," he confessed.

Hailey let out a frustrated sigh but continued stirring the potion. "Why not? Is it because I'm not a Slytherin like you?"

There was no animosity in her question, but Severus drew back a little in his chair, dumbfounded by what he considered to be a crushing inquiry. His ashen visage became increasingly defeated, and Hailey felt herself recoiling in guilt at asking the question, which had spewed out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"That has nothing to do with it, Hailey," he answered very softly, his voice unnaturally thin. "I am exceedingly proud of you for being placed into Gryffindor."

"You are?"

Her voice sounded entirely unconvinced and rather amazed, causing Severus's black frame to stir in his seat. He gave a grunt of discomfort before speaking again to her, as a father rather than a professor.

"Of course, sweetheart. Why would that matter to me? I wouldn't have cared if you were placed in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, for that matter. Just because you aren't in my house doesn't mean I love you any less or am somehow any less proud of you, Hailey. Please don't ever think that."

Hailey abruptly stopped mixing and stared at him. Her youthful face was downcast, but there was a gratefulness lingering in her eyes. She swallowed as she surveyed his fatigued state, remembering with a newfound regret how she had struck him with such contempt and force just weeks ago. In that brief moment, she wanted to apologize but struggled to find the words, so she bit her lip instead.

"I - I was afraid you were mad at me for not getting into Slytherin. I thought maybe..."

Severus gazed at her with an unmistakable longing in his eyes. He wanted to hug her but gathered that that was probably not what she wanted from him just yet. Regardless, it took every ounce of restraint he had not to scoop her up in his arms and reassure her.

Severus leaned forward in his seat, his face cringing in protest to his body's sudden movement, and Hailey jolted, inching towards him to help. She stopped herself before she reached him, not entirely ready to make contact.

"Never, sweetheart," he implored in a hoarse voice.

Severus molded his frame back in his chair again, and, for a time, the young Gryffindor and the Slytherin professor stared at one another with a new understanding. Hailey finally tore her gaze away to continue the Pepperup Potion silently, while Severus looked on in a tormented silence.

A/N #2: Well, at least they're on speaking terms again, right?
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Unquestionable Love