The Catch

Chapter 5: Accidents Happen

So far, the potion looked good.

Ron brushed a drop of sweat from his brow as he stared intensely at the cauldron's contents in front of him. He adjusted the burner ever so slightly, lowering the flame just a little to prevent huge boiling bubbles from ruining the smooth texture of the liquid.

Quickly, he added an ounce of dragon nails, chopped finely with a diamond blade. He had slaved over the ingredients the past forty minutes just to get everything right. Carefully, Ron stirred the potion slowly clockwise for five minutes. Soon, it was simmering with a deep blue color.

"Excellent!" Snape exclaimed. He had watched the entire procedure and he had yet to see Ron make a mistake. "You're improving a lot, Mr. Weasley. This is a perfect healing draught for fractured patients."

Ron beamed with pleasure. "Thank you, Professor."

For a while, they did just that: smile over a cauldron-full of potion. Then, Snape's smile slowly disappeared as he realized just what he was doing. He was exchanging smiles with Gryffindors! What was the world coming to?

He cleared his throat, looking down and shuffling the notes around. "I'm very pleased with your work. So far, after just two weeks of extra work, you have improved your knowledge of potions vastly."

"I have you to thank for that, Professor. You are, after all, a terrific Potions teacher." Ron said quietly, meaning every word.

Snape raised his brow. "You actually sound sincere. I'll just assume you're not apple-polishing." It was the closest to a 'thank you' Ron shall ever receive.

The Professor frowned as he checked the time. "Goodness! It's after five thirty. You better go and attend your other assignments. I won't have you neglecting your other subjects just for my class."

"Right away, sir!" Ron gave Snape a small salute as he packed his things and left the room, whistling.

Snape shook his head as the boy's tune faded. He was letting the boy get to him. He must be losing his touch. They were actually almost friends.

Hmmm... not really. He decided. More like close acquaintances. Distance, Severus, distance.

He should never forget that. The last time he decided to find friendship as a boy, lonely and friendless in Hogwarts, he had ended up joining the ranks of Voldemort's faithful followers. It was all because of that charismatic bastard Lucius Malfoy. Snape had idolized the popular Slytherin in school and Lucius convinced him that the Death Eaters were merely a close gang of friends who did some stuff together. Somewhat like a fraternity. After a while, he discovered exactly what kind of "stuff" they did. By that time, it was too late to back out. He was neck deep in Voldemort's shit and it took Harry Potter's heroism (Hah! It was just luck!) and years of being the loner Professor in Hogwarts for Severus to partially recover from the deeds Voldemort made him do.

People who don't have friends are better off alone.

***

Ron twirled his quill as he tried to think of a way to finish his History essay on the disappearance of the orc species from the world. He was starting to get sleepy and was awfully bored with this homework. Luckily, he had already finished his other homework earlier so he won't really be in trouble in case he dropped off unintentionally.

Willing his hand to move, he scratched out a few concluding sentences on his parchment before finally setting it out to dry. Ron sighed contentedly and turned to Harry who was supposed to be doing his Divination chart.

But Harry, being Harry, was currently sleeping very soundly on top of his rolls of parchment, already drooling slightly as his abandoned chart fluttered with every little snore. Ron shook his head in resignation as he tried to poke Harry awake. The Hogwarts hero merely slapped his hand away and continued his snooze. Ron gave up on him and sat back to think.

To think about Snape in particular. He had been seeing Snape for tutorials and extra lessons for two weeks now. Ron knew that he was fast improving his grades on that particular subject so it won't be long before Snape would deem the consultations unnecessary. He had to move fast.

To clear his thoughts regarding the matter, he decided to make a list.

What I like about Professor Snape:

He's a great Potions teacher. I can really learn especially when I really pay attention.

He has a lovely, toned ass.

I love the way his eyes kinda flutter when he thinks. It brings attention to his lashes. A little girly there. Very pretty.

I love his skin. It's so pale, almost like a vampire's. It makes him look quite poetic.

The kissable lips. They shouldn't be legal. I have to resist the urge to kiss him silly every time we're alone. I wonder if he'll like the way I kiss?

He's really nice beneath that thick hide. I hope.

Everything! Well, almost... He's not so friendly. I don't think he likes me. Bummer...I just want to know him better...and shag him while I'm at it! =)

Ron slapped the quill down as he thought about this last item. Two weeks and still no progress. Granted, Snape wasn't as snappish to him as before. He only deducted unjust points form Harry and Neville most of the time in class. Also, he was more generous with compliments and encouragement. But was that really progress? That could just be professional appreciation from a teacher to a student.

Ron wrote Severus Snape on the paper and drew a heart around it. He sighed for a while, head in the clouds, before he realized exactly what he had done. He immediately regretted his sappiness and stuck the list in his Transfiguration book. He'll have to get rid of it later before Hermione or, worse, Harry sees it.

Severus Snape. He was just so hard to reach. Ron chuckled as he thought of the old cliché: So near yet so far. That was definitely Severus Snape.

***

Ron walked to Potions classroom with Hermione and Harry as he blearily tried to arrange his notes on the way. He had woken up late, barely had time to shower and change before they had to walk to the dungeons for their early class.

Now, where was that list? Ron rummaged through his book bag and several stray sheets of parchment to look for it. He swore he put it in between the pages of his Transfiguration textbook last night. Unable to find the goddamned list, Ron figured that he must have thrown it away with his drafts of the History essay.

A little calmer, Ron entered the classroom and took his seat. Each table had a tank with water and a glob of deep green seaweed.

"Class," Snape began, "we are going to have an practical lesson today so I trust that you've all brought your activity notebooks."

After a collective nod by the class, Snape continued. "We are going to observe the petrocalus lumii, the Gentra, a rare breed of seaweed from the Caribbean. This plant has natural defenses against pollution and quickly adapts to any ph level or atmosphere of the water. Now, I want you to test the plant yourselves by injecting into the water one by one, several substances that are provided there on a list on your tables. You have to procure the said substances yourselves, they're very simple to make. I want you to list your observations carefully on your notes. This is very important as, next meeting, we shall try to recreate the Gentra's natural defensive chemical and base the testing of your project results from your notes. Now, begin. As usual, split into pairs."

Ron paired with Hermione which was a good thing since he was hardly paying attention to the Gentra. He kept on sneaking peeks at Professor Snape all the time. The Potions Professor was seated on the front desk doing some work, occasionally checking the progress of the class. Ron figured that he could just copy Hermione's notes, sure that they were accurate. He didn't have the same confidence when partnered with Harry.

Speaking of Harry, the wayward Golden Boy was partnered with Draco Malfoy, and the two were in the middle of a heated argument regarding God only knows what. They tried to keep their tones hushed but it wasn't long before they got noisy enough for Snape to notice the ruckus and deduct ten points from Gryffindor. Harry growled at Malfoy when Snape went back to his desk without even deducting any points from Slytherin.

After a while...

"Okay, class, put all your notes here in front as I will be checking them. You'll have them back next meeting in time for the activity."

After submitting their notebooks, the students filed past the door on their way out.

Snape brought the notes to his office. He was more able to concentrate there than in the classroom. As he sat down on his stuffed leather chair ready to check them, he rifled through the notes and picked one at random.

Hmm... This one seemed accurate enough. He scanned the student's work and wrote a comment of approval at the end. Before he put it aside, a stray sheet of parchment caught his eye. It appeared to have been inserted in between the pages. He must've loosened it when he brought it here.

Snape took the sheet from the book and read it. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he read the first line. "What I like about Professor Snape." Interesting. His brows just traveled higher as he progressed. When he reached the doodle of his name surrounded by a heart, Snape felt himself blush uncharacteristically. He wondered who the lovesick girl was. She was obviously mistaken if she thought herself infatuated with him of all people.

He quickly checked the note book for any label.

This belongs to Ron Weasley.

For the first time in many years, Snape nearly passed out.