#16 Hope This Goes Well

After charms class had ended, Saoirse wasn't quite feeling up to another duel just yet. Although she had a burning desire to go for another try- a bizarre feeling that somewhat frightened her- she felt her body deserved a break. Her mind, however, was about to suffer considerably.

Saoirse was going to request the presence of Professor Snape, something she never thought she'd do. She wasn't sure who was worse, him or Pince. At least he seemed to somewhat care about students learning, whereas Pince seemed to hate anyone interrupting her love affair with her books.

Saoirse needed a potions kit, and multiple ingredients. She was eager to get the hairs, but figured that the other ingredients would keep her busy enough in the meantime. She couldn't remember the last time she had so passionately thrown herself into a project.

It was for that reason that Saoirse found herself approaching Snape's office. Another student was there- Jaxen Ashworth. Saoirse had never spoken to him, but knew his face quite well after the previous day's tournament. Evidently, he needed to see the professor as well.

"Hi," she said.

She wasn't sure if a fifth year would be keen on speaking to her, but Saoirse had been impressed by his duelling abilities. However, she had no idea how to give a compliment, so she awkwardly left it at that.

Jaxen was beginning to wonder if Professor Snape was in his office as a long minute passed and he received no answer. He wasn't waiting alone for long, however, as a first year soon made her way along the corridor and came to a stop beside him. How unfortunate- not that he was being made to suffer the company of a first year, but that she had to endure the unpleasant ordeal of asking Snape for something.

He smiled at the young Gryffindor, a gesture that he hoped would be encouraging. Then the door swung open and caught him by surprise. He had been a student at Hogwarts for five years, and still hadn't managed to warm up to the potions professor.

Leading the way into the office, he glanced at the pile of books that lay on the teachers desk and swallowed down a bout of nerves. Were those books on subjects he could expect to find in his potions exam? All of the teachers seemed to be hyper-focusing on the end of year exams and he wasn't enjoying it in the slightest- and he'd barely been back a day.

"Good morning Professor" Jax greeted Snape politely, offering him the warmest smile that he could muster. "I was wondering if I could have access to the student laboratory? With exams coming up I feel like I could really benefit from practicing brewing potions outside of lessons" that was a good enough reason, right?

Surely Snape wouldn't deny him the opportunity to work on his skills before it came time to take his life altering examinations.

Professor Snape scrutinised the students in turn, almost as if he was reading their minds. He drew out the moment, letting them be nervous and unsure.

'Very well, Ashworth. I shall grant you a chance to prove you're willing to dedicated yourself to the task at hand.' He summoned a scroll to the front of his desk for him to grab, which listed ingredients and their locations around Hogwarts.

Snape did not grant the Gryffindor such permission, and just ignored her for the moment.

'Bring me five ingredients you've collected yourself,' he explained to Jaxen, sorting some papers under candlelight. 'Only then shall I consider your request.'

With the Ravenclaw all set, he glanced at Saoirse, who apparently decided to piggyback onto Jaxen's requested without so much of a word from her. Minimal effort, and Snape wasn't about to simply ignore it in favor of removing them both from his office as soon as possible. Tempting as it may be.

'And, pray tell, why do you deserve the same consideration or to what purpose?' he asked her, eyes narrowing. 'Your reasoning?' Snape requested.

Turning his attention from the young Gryffindor, Professor Snape eyed her classmate peering around the open doorway. The younger Ashworth boy, which wasn't entirely unexpected if Jaxen was already here. The Ashworths had a habit of finding each other, even accidentally, which probably spoke volumes of their bond.

Or their overt dependency on each other.

'Yes?' Snape directed his tone at Ezra. 'Enter.' Unintentionally sparing Saoirse a chance to consider her answer, he awaited Ezra's own explanation as to why he was there -- and if it was worth his time.

Saoirse had been hoping that Jaxen would be completely finished and out of the room before she had to speak to Snape, but evidently he wanted them cleared out as soon as possible. She hesitated, suddenly remembering that what she wanted was for illegal purposes. Would he somehow be able to figure it out? He seemed to be a mind-reader at times.

As the gears turned in Saoirse's head, another first-year burst into the office. Saoirse recognized Ezra from charms class. Snape immediately rounded on him, giving Saoirse some more time to breathe. She sighed quietly in relief. Somehow, having another first-year there made it easier to ask Snape for something.

"I'm just here because I'd like a potions kit, professor." Simple and to the point.

Ezra grabbed the offered items and scrambled to follow Professor Snape as he walked out of the office, shooting a smile at those still there as he passed. He placed them safely in his bag along with his ingredients as he walked, only just avoiding hitting his elbow on a door jamb in his distraction.

Did the Professor giving him items and taking him to the Potions classroom mean that he had done it? That he had achieved his goal of gaining access to the student labs? Awesome!

That made his snotty nose worth it.

Ah, wait, what was Snape talking about? He had gotten slightly distracted celebrating in his mind. Oh, cleaning cauldrons. The least fun part about potions, he thought and just about managed to stop himself making a face at the dirty cauldrons. He would do it though! No way was he going to risk losing permission so fast.

"Will do, Professor!" he nodded, sounding cheerful even as he sniffled his snotty nose and was faced with a not very good task.

He moved over to the row of dirty cauldrons and after a moment, picked one to haul over to the sink. Did the cauldron standard have an influence on the potions made in it? He couldn't remember, but it sounded like something that would make sense. He didn't think that Professor Snape would keep subpar cauldrons around though, so his taking a moment to decide rather than just grabbing the first one, probably meant nothing.

As he carried it, he peeked over at the Professor who seemed to be sticking around to supervise. Was he just making sure that he did not cheat with magic or was he going to judge his cleaning abilities? Ezra was not sure, but decided to put that out of his mind either way and just clean his cauldron.

Once he had set his cauldron down as gently as he could for such a heavy weight and having the strength of an eleven year old, he turned the hot water on to fall inside it. With his sleeves rolled up and some soap and a cloth found, he turned to look at the grimy cauldron.

Ugh. Definitely not fun.

There was nothing to do but start, so that he did, plunging his hands into the water to scrub the cauldron with the soap and cloth. Bubbles quickly started to form and the warmth of the water on his hands relaxed him, making it slightly more fun that he had thought it would be.

Only slightly though, since it still seemed to drag on for a very long time, especially when the water cooled and got hard to see through from all the muck off the cauldron. Maybe more water would help him.

He just about managed to tip the water out of the cauldron without splashing it everywhere and then had it quickly refilled with warm water again. Able to see what he was cleaning once more, he went back to his scrubbing.

As he scrubbed all over the cauldron, Ezra wondered if he was ever going to finish. It seemed like every time he thought he was done, he noticed a bit that he had missed and had to dive back into it.

Finally though, he could spot no more dirty spots and so he set his soapy cloth aside.

He took a moment to pause and rest his tired arms, before he reached into the sink to haul the cauldron out to put it to dry. Once the cauldron was safely placed upside down, he looked over at Professor Snape in question. Was he supposed to pat it dry too or was he done?