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DUMBLEDORE WAS FINALLY back to being the headmaster of hogwarts much to lily's delight. though the girl did not know what happened to umbridge, she did not care, as that woman was a heck of a storm.

though lily would be lying if she said she didn't constantly miss cedric and her favorite twins, fred and george.

since the three have graduated, everything's been a bit more serene and calm, just like snape's classroom when he started lectures.

though one thing that changed was snape's position. he was now the defense against the dark arts professor and lily was delighted, as her father had finally gotten the position he longed for.

horace slughorn took the job of being the new potions professor, as he was quite the jolly man and used to work at hogwarts quite a while ago.

lily happily skipped to potions with draco as he had not been replying to the little girl's letter for all of summer, even though she had specifically asked narcissa to ask the boy to respond.

"oh! and who is this little one?", slughorn asked, smiling at lily.

lily smiled back as she curtsied.

"lily phoebe snape at your service professor!"

"snape. as in severus snape's daughter?"

"yes sir!"

"well ms. lily, I'm not sure if this class is appropriate for your ag—"

"I'm sure I can handle myself sir", lily interrupted, making draco grin.

slughorn sighed. "alright, then—"

harry and ron swiftly stumbled into the potions classroom, really not wanting to be there as technically they should be enjoying their free period. but professor mcgonagall had persistently insisted on both of them taking an extra class to prepare for their n.e.w.t.s.

"ah! well it's nice of mr. potter and and his friend to join us today", slughorn smiled. "why don't you both grab a textbook from the cupboard over there".

harry and ron just nodded as they both headed towards the cabinet, pushing each other aside as they each tried to get the newest one.

lily chuckled as she then tugged on draco's robes so that he could pick her up and give her a better view of the potion that slughorn had started talking about.

"now can anyone tell me what this potion is?", slughorn asked.

lily took a waft of it and immediately raised her hand, just like hermione.

"oh? what is it that you think it is, ms. lily?", slughorn asked.

draco raised a brow at the girl, a bit worried she wouldn't know the answer. slughorn had expected the girl to stutter or perhaps guess, but her answer was spot on.

"it's amortentia; the most powerful love potion in the world. it is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. amortentia also smells differently to—"

"okay! thank you for your input ms. lily", slughorn interrupted, making the little girl widely smile in satisfaction.

"how'd you know all that?", draco whispered.

lily cupped her mouth as she whispered back.

"papa goes on and on about potions and even talks about them in his sleep. it's really hard not to know almost everything about them when you've been sleeping near him for six years of your life", lily explained, making draco lowly chuckle.

"like ms. lily said, amortentia is indeed the most powerful love potion in the world. however, it does not create true love, only intense obsession", slughorn lectured.

"would someone like to volunteer and tell us what they smell?"

hermione raised her hand as slughorn called on her. the girl cleared her throat as she hesitantly answered.

"I smell...freshly mown grass...new parchment and spearmint toothpaste...", hermione answered. the girl was about to add on something else until she had stopped herself, and glanced over at ron, who was busy elbowing harry in the stomach.

lavender brown—a fellow gryffindor—sighed at the sight of ron weasley, completely fawning over him as she smelled more of the amortentia that was brewing into the air.

lily confusingly looked over, wondering when ron had become so popular with the girls.

"and do you smell, mr. potter?", slughorn asked.

"treacle tart...a broomstick handle...and gin—ginger", harry coughed out, making lily grin.

"he was about to say ginny wasn't he?", lily whispered to draco, who just nodded.

"these are all great things! now, can someone tell me the one special thing about amortentia?", slughorn questioned.

lily eagerly raised her hand once again, though slughorn had hesitantly called on her.

"yes ms. lily?"

"amortentia was created by laverne de montmorency. she created many love potions that earned her a spot on the chocolate frog card", lily proudly explained, making some of the sixth-years roll their eyes in annoyance.

though hermione seemed very proud, as lily was almost like a mini her.

"did you also learn this from your father?", draco mumbled.

"no. I just eat a lot of chocolate frogs and when I get the cards, I usually build my collection like ron", lily smiled.

"very factual ms. lily, but sadly, that was not what I was hinting at", slughorn said, making the little girl slightly pout and lay her head dejectedly on draco's shoulder.

"I was going to say that, if conceived under the love potion (amortentia), the child cannot feel love", slughorn chuckled.

"though that's not very important to what we're about to do. so let's get on with making the draught of living death shall we?"

the students hurried over to their lab tables, with lily sitting next to draco's bubbling cauldron. she observed as everyone had trouble cutting up the sopophorous bean.

"try smushing it with your blade", lily advised as she watched draco struggle.

the proud boy would've usually refused to listen, but since he had acknowledged the girl's talent in potions, he had tried it for himself. successfully getting the bouncing bean to stop, draco gave lily a ghost of a smile as he dropped it in the cauldron.

lily carefully watched as draco did each step. the little girl wondered if that was how juliet faked her death, using the draught of living death.

but she was soon brought out of her trance as harry had finished brewing the concoction in the mere hour given.

slughorn dropped a leaf in the pale lilac-like colored potion, seeing the leaf disintegrate.

"wonderful job mr. potter! I believe the prize of the felix felicis belongs to you now", slughorn announced as everyone in the room started clapping except for draco.

"show off", draco bitterly muttered.

lily took a piece of chocolate out and handed it to draco, smiling widely.

"come on now dray. your potion's looking just as good too", lily complimented, making the boy sigh.

draco patted lily's head, appreciating that at least someone acknowledged his efforts and accomplishments.

the little girl just smiled even wider as she hopped down the stool and followed draco to his next class, history or magic, her least favorite.

//❁//

"did you have fun today?", snape asked lily as she creeped back into their shared room in hogwarts.

"yes", lily sighed as she failed once again at attempting to scare snape.

"we learned about amortentia in potions!! I answered professor slughorn's questions correctly! well...most of them at least", the girl muttered the last part.

"I see...and what did you smell?", snape curiously asked.

"I smelled...mmm...it was like bitterness from the dark coffee mixed with old shoes. like the kind that is over worn but the owner refuses to throw it away because it still works, you know?", lily explained, making snape's brow raise ever so slightly.

lily then smiled as she ran over to snape, crawling into his lap.

"you're getting quite heavy phoebe", snape commented, making lily pout.

"are you calling me fat, papa??"

"no, just simply saying that you're growing", snape answered, combing through lily's hair with his left hand as he continued to grade papers.

lily watched as she mentally kept note that hermione and luna excelled at their studies.

"papa, do you like teaching d.a.d.a?", lily asked.

"I find it more intriguing than potions", snape answered.

"but if you had to pick between potions and d.a.d.a, which one would you choose?"

though lily's question required only a simple answer, it meant much more to snape than it should have. it was like making him choose once again, back when he had attended hogwarts.

"perhaps potions...if things were to have turned out differently", snape softly spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

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