As she spoke to Blackfoot, Mahou looked over her notes and texts, tests and quizzes. Almost all of them had A's on them. There were a few where she had to miss class because of one thing or another, but she still managed to pull B's or C's. She had never failed anything to do with potions; and for that she was glad.

"Well, Blackfoot," she said in English, "looks like we get to see Lord Snape today. Aren't we lucky?" She laughed. "I hope I get into Alchemy..."

Nimue Hawkwood entered the Gryffindor dorm looking for Mahou.

It was mid-afternoon and she'd promised to escort Mahou to Snape's office. Her morning with him had gone well and she knew the Potions Masters was in a fairly good mood.

"Oh there you are Mahou. Are you ready for our visit to Professor Snape?"

Mahou looked up as Nimue entered the room, and she smiled. Throwing her papers aside, she leapt up and twirled, having changed from Quidditch. She was now wearing a midnight black with silver trim. It set off the red in her hair like a light.

"Lady Nimue!" she cried happily. "I am ready to see Lord Snape." She looked at her Firebolt by the wall. "Isn't Quidditch great? Isn't potions great? This be jus'.." She couldn't contain herself and swung Blackfoot in a circle, giggling. The half-elf was wearing a black velvet hat to hide her ears, which were safely tucked inside. Looking at the other girl, Mahou walked to her, setting the red fox on the floor to teeter back to the bed.

"I be so excited abou' seein' Lord Snape. What -is- his first name, anyway? I be sure ye ken. I mean, ye've been here, after all." She grinned and walked back to the bed, slipping on a pair of soft black slipper-shoes and tidying up the bed.

Stacking her books up, Mahou spun around again, looking very chipper and excited, a diary lying open on her pillow.

Nimue sat on her bed for a minute. She wasn't sure whether to change or not and decided against it.

"I'm glad you enjoyed your practice. I heard there were a few exiting moments. Anders' Meteor Shower was something of a handful it seems. I would have loved to see that! I enjoy flying when I can but not the game."

She bit her lip slightly. Had her casual use of Anders' name been noted? She certainly had every intention of stealing whatever time she could with him today but he'd been in demand both on the field and off with various students wanting to speak with him about Quidditch.

Although her long term roommates - Yvette and Madison were aware of she and Anders' history and Shinrei knew of the incident in the woods even if the Japanese girl had not registered their closer connection. However, neither Amy nor Mahou were privy to it.

"His first name? Professor Snape's - oh yes well of course I know it. He and my father have known each other for years and years. It is Severus - Severus Snape."

Mahou did, indeed, notice the oh-so-casual use of Anders' name, and she wanted to ask about it.. but didn't know if she should. "Um.. I've heard someone call him 'Professor Grimalkin'," she said, "so why do ye call him Anders?" Blackfoot laid down by the window. "I mean.. wha' be he ta ye?"

At the mention of Snape's first name, Mahou grinned in spite of herself.

"Severus? Sounds a lot like severe, nae?" she confided, but she couldn't stop smiling. "I like tha' name.. Severus.. hm.." She looked up at the mention of her father. "Ye Da kenned him b'fore? I wonder wha' he was like.. I wonder wha' made him so sour.." She sat down on the bed, stacking some papers in a pile. "I mean.. I donnae think he was always so sour... but then again, I could be wrong."

She looked up at Nimue from her perch. "Me own Da doesna ken anyone aroun' 'ere. He nae be normal, ta ye own standards."

At the question about what Anders was to her, she blushed slightly - it was a very direct question but then she had realised Mahou was very direct in that way.

"It's a little difficult Mahou.... yes he was a teacher here at Hogwarts last year. I guess you may have noticed that he is quite young and well...." she arranged herself on the bed and then changed the subject.

"You asked about Professor Snape about my Father knowing him. They were at school together though my Father was a couple of years behind Professor Snape. I don't think they were friends or anything back then - I don't know when that happened - you know grown-ups they don't take kindly to such questions if they think you are digging."

Nimue indicated the picture in the frame above her bed. It was a static portrait not one of the moving ones. The young woman in the portrait was clothed in red and gold of Gryffindor House had a grave beauty. One could see the family resemblance between her and Nimue immediately.

"Gwenddydd, my aunt, was at Hogwarts with Professor Snape in the same year but different Houses. They obviously knew each other but..." she shrugged her shoulders, "again no one ever says anything in front of me."

Mahou smiled a sneaky little smile and looked at Nimue. "So.. ye be quite taken wi' this Anders, eh? Are ye already involved?" She was quite blunt, yes, and wouldn't let the subject lie until Nimue was blunt with her.

"Oh, wow," Mahou breathed, looking at the picture. "She's so pretty. looks kinda like you. Only older, of course."

Turning back to Nimue, she slid a piece of paper over a doodle of Snape with surly look on his face and little hearts around his head. "Do you think I'll get into Alchemy? Potions was my favourite class in Cerrydwin's.. an' I would hate ta nae make it in here.." She flicked the paper over the doodle more..

Nimue looked at Mahou over the question of Anders. In a sense there was no real reason to hide her friendship with Anders from Mahou. It was going to be fairly obvious that she was involved with him to anyone in such close quarters.

"Yes, we are courting." Her mind flew back over the previous months. "I knew we were destined to be together from the first moment I saw him and he felt the same but it was just impossible." she shrugged, "and we did try to fight it for all kinds of reasons. It is not something that could be condoned - a teacher and a student - even if I were in my final year. We kept it as platonic as we could and anguished quite a lot."

She sighed, "I guess we might have kept on like that or done something crazy like run away together but events intervened. Someone wanted to Anders to be imprisoned or worse and they lured us into the Forest and planned to murder me and make it seem like Anders had done it."

Nimue shuddered at the memory of Dafydd. "Anders saved me and the dark wizard died in the process but also it all came out about us as it had to be proven in court what had happened. In addition, Anders had already declared his feelings for me to my father as well as that his intentions were honourable. My father was very understanding - about the destiny part as well - he could see that it was all part of a larger pattern and he also liked Anders very much."

Again she paused, "Naturally Professor Dumbledore had no choice but for Anders to leave Hogwarts and no longer teach here though it's wonderful that he is now helping out with the coaching.

Over the summer my father gave his permission for Anders to formally court me and that is where we stand at present. Having to be very patient but it is wonderful."

Her whole being radiated her love for Anders. It was obvious that there was part of Nimue which longed to break out of these formalities yet a greater part recognised that in the culture she had been born to there were forms to be observed if they were to marry in due course.

"So now you know..."

She smiled at Mahou's worry about Potions. "Well we all have to take Potions - it is required and I am sure that if your grades are fine there won't be any problem with your getting into his Alchemy option. It isn't practical though - we don't actually do any alchemy it's more about studying texts on it. People of our age lack the discipline, as well as mental and spiritual maturity to undertake such endeavours."

This was obviously Professor Snape's stated opinion.

"Are you about ready to brave the dragon's lair then?"

Mahou couldn't stop smiling throughout the whole of the story that Nimue told her. Destiny and True Love.. it all sounded like a Faery tale. "It sounds ta me like ye an' Anders be Soul Mates, Lady Nimue," she confided. "It be beautiful what ye an' he share, truly it is."

"Thank you Mahou." said Nimue quietly. It was true that she believed that she and Anders were soul mates.

Standing, the half-elf stretched.

"I suppose tha' I'll ha'e ta rely on me own mind ta get inta Alchemy," she said. "I love ta read abou' potions, an' all things about anything ta do wi' potions." Smoothing the black fabric down, she smiled slyly at Nimue. "B'sides, bein' in more than one class wi' Snape isn't too bad, eh?"

She giggled. "Anyway, I be ready ta brave whate'er ol' Sevvy has fer me!"

Walking to Nimue, Mahou looked more serious. "Lady Nimue.. there be somethin' abou' ye tha' intrigues me.. I donnae ken wha' it be.. but.. ye remind me o'.. me." Touching her shoulder with a finger, Mahou traced an intricate design on it, smiling as she did so. "Can ye hear some things tha' others canna? Can ye hear wha' th' plants be sayin'.. be thinkin'.. wha' I be thinkin'?" She smiling mysteriously and walked to the door to the Common Room. "We'd better no' keep Sev waitin'."

Nimue smiled at Mahou's suggestion that she was similar to herself. "No I don't know what others are thinking - though I sometimes can be a little empathetic. Professor Dumbledore says I do have a 'way' with things - trees more than plants but it's not something I really can put into words. An affinity perhaps."

She shrugged, "There was a boy here last year whose mother was a Floramancer and he was probably one as well. Being friends with him sort of assisted in my realising that and the danger we were in."

Getting up and smoothing her own dress for the return to Snape's dungeon, she smiled at Mahou's words.

"You'd better tuck that first name of his well away. The only people whom I have ever heard use his first name are his peers. If a student did he would be most offended. I dare not think what he'd do!"

Nimue didn't mind spending time with the Potions Master. The system she had set up for him pleased her as much as him for it was very ordered and if her life was getting complicated spending a few hours updating his records settled and focused her mind in a place where she knew she would not be disturbed by other students. Plus, her grades in Potions were much improved and that in itself a bonus. Grades were an issue for her this year. She wanted to pull her average up and that meant work!

"Right then." she led the way down the stairs to the Common Room and beyond.

Mahou laughed at her words about Snape's first name. "Och! Donnae worry, Lady Nimue!" she cried. "I willna use his first name ta his face. Only ta ye, an' in private." Smiling, and holding back more musical laughter, Mahou touched Nimue gently on the middle of her forehead. "Ye donnae ha'e ta worry abou' me."

Mahou, again, smoothed out her dress and fixed her hat, making sure that her ears were tucked well away. She smiled as Blackfoot followed, looking aghast at being left behind. She was haughty, that fox.

Following Nimue, Mahou left the Common Room and began her trek to Snape's Lair.

The object of some of the discussion taking place was sitting in the Potions classroom, a sour look of impatience on his face. There was something unnerving about the Amberstone girl, and he didn't quite know what it was. And if there was one thing Severus Snape didn't enjoy, it was not being in control.

He'd briefly wandered outside during the Quidditch shenanigans, but had been easily bored and had returned to the gloom of the dungeons which seemed somehow so much more fitting for his mood.

Flipping through a few notes, he found himself feeling uncharacteristically enthusiastic about discussing alchemy. He checked himself and his face smoothly reverted to its normal dour expression as he sat, drumming his fingers impatiently on the table, his cold gaze fixed on the door.

Just...waiting.

Nimue had been pleased to hear that Mahou would be careful.

They made their way down to the dungeons. Approaching Snape's office Nimue gave a confident rap upon the door and then entered. She knew he was expecting them and got straight to the point.

"Professor Snape, I have brought Mahou Amberstone to see you about her grades and request to join your Alchemy class."

She wasn't sure what the Professor's intentions were - should she go or should she stay? She would as always take her cue from him.

Stepping into the room, Mahou found that she could hardly breathe. She was nervous, but didn't show it on the outside. Her face was calm and collected, her posture that of what Cerrydwin's would have been proud of: back erect, hands folded neatly before her in a dainty fashion, and her chin not held too high to seem haughty. She prided herself in her posture when in formal situations.

But Mahou didn't move, though. She waited for Snape to make the first move.

Snape stared at Mahou for a few brief moments, then his attention turned to Nimue. "Miss Hawkwood," he said. "You are perhaps better qualified than I to discuss with Miss Amberstone just what I expect from Alchemy students. However."

He turned his sloe-coloured eyes on Mahou thoughtfully. "I expect only the best - academically and in performance - from those who attend my Alchemy class," he said. "It is neither an easy nor frivolous subject and is not to be entered into lightly. Tell me, Miss Amberstone. Just why do you feel the noble art of Alchemy calls to you?"

Taking a small, but a wee deep, breath, Mahou glanced at Snape in the face, then thought twice about it, and averted her gaze. It was rude to look a teacher in the eyes unless told to do so. She thought for a moment why Alchemy called to her so. It was in her blood to do things with potions, and reading. Her father.

Looking back up into Snape's eyes, Mahou's lime-green gaze didn't waver. Her voice didn't shake. Her body didn't move save for her breathing.

"There be rather many reasons Alchemy calls ta me, m'Lord Snape," Mahou began. She was caught in the Cerrydwin's state of mind. "It be in me blood, both potions an' Alchemy. E'er since I was little, Da would sit wi' me by th' fire an' read books o' Alchemy, o' th' people who used ta perform such an art, an' o' many o' th' myths about it."

She paused for a moment, wondering how to really convey her feelings to.. well.. Snape.

"Another reason is.." she seemed rather unwilling to talk further, but if anything might help her get into the class she desired, then so be it.

"Another reason is wha' nae any book can give me, nae any person can give me. The desire." She looked away from his eyes, knowing that it wasn't helping her to do so, but this was something she rarely revealed. "Th' Art o'Alchaemy calls to me.. through books, through words, through me. Th' main reason I want ta learn more is to.. learn more. If I nae put this knowledge ta use, at least I shall ken o' the Art. At least I shall ken wha' me heart feels it should learn th' most."

She looked around, and, seeing no one but her, Nimue, and Snape, reached up and took off her hat.

The girl's ears were rather long and pointed, but elegantly so, not so grotesquely as the House Elf. They seemed to make the girl seem more complete than when she had her hat on, her ears tucked safely away. She didn't know what this would prove, but she felt more comfortable with her hat off, than with it on.

Nimue had remained quiet during both Snape's question and Mahou's response. She had nodded at him in acknowledgement that she, like Morticia Lagrand, had gained experience of Snape's approach to alchemy and would be in a position to advise Mahou of his expectations.

That class had been in the form of tutorials rather than taught lessons and she was a little unsure what his plans were for this year if the option went ahead for the Fourth Years.

Nimue felt slightly uneasy knowing how interested Mahou appeared to have been in the Potions Master when they were in the dormitory. Now she appeared to be seeking to engage his personal interest. Then the girl elected to remove her hat and Nimue wasn't sure how this would be received.

Severus Snape had always been quite cordial to her but she knew he could be acid-tongued when he felt inclined. This girl was so open and trusting by this act, she just didn't know it might be received.

She watched him closely herself.

Snape's expression did not change one iota when Mahou removed her hat, apart from maybe a slight lifting of one eyebrow. It appeared he was neither surprised nor shocked by her revelations and simply glanced down at the papers in front of him.

"Your reports seem...moderately favourable," he said, not looking up. "If you are prepared to give your all, then I am prepared to teach you in my Alchemy classes."

At this point, he did look up, and the coolness in his expression was almost icy. "Should I feel at any time that I have made a mistake, Miss Amberstone, you will be out of the class faster than you can say 'Hogwarts'. And one other thing. Please desist in your usage of the term 'Lord' when you address me. It is not an honorific I have had bestowed upon me, nor is it one I intend to have bestowed on me. 'Professor' will suffice."

He steepled his fingers together and looked at her over the tops of them. "Any questions."

Nimue did catch Mahou's intention in the glance and was glad the girl was behaving a little more restrained around the Potions Master.

"Thank you for your consideration, Professor." said Nimue. She prepared to leave though she knew from experience that Snape would expect to be the one who dismissed them from his presence.

Snape's glittering eyes passed from Mahou to Nimue and a slow smile crossed his face. "Very well," he said, shortly. "You are both excused. And I will see you in the next Alchemy class."

With that, he returned to his work without so much as looking up again.

They had been well and truly dismissed from his presence.