'this must be for you [samantha snape]

[Gwen Lawrence]

Gwen could be found in her office marking the homework she had set the previous lesson, but she was getting a headache. It was clear that the students had no tried their best on the assignment and they would be in for a surprise when it came to the next lesson. Gwen was going to make sure that they were going to squirm. She knew there were a few talented in her classes, but the fact was that the students didn’t take it seriously. It was a dangerous subject, and if it didn’t have their full concentration, it could end badly and then she would most certainly be out of her job. Gwen ran a hand through her hair, but had been freed from its ponytail and now ran in loose curls down past her shoulder. If anything the students only ever saw her with her hair up. Hair and Potion did not tend to mix well, as she had found out in her first year of school. She was not in any hurry to repeat such an experience again.

Her office was located in the dungeons – it was Professor Severus Snape’s old office and of course she had changed so that it was her own as she found herself spending quite a bit of time in it. The décor was simple with the colour of green and silver since she was fond of those colours. Though she could not forget that they were the Slytherin colours, if she had attended Hogwarts rather than Salem then she would have been in Ravenclaw, but since she was not an old student of Hogwarts she tried to rise above it all. Then she thought of her ex-husband, he had been a Gryffindor. They had meant to be brave and yet he left without a single note that had crushed her and was not brave in her eyes. Sat on the long mahogany desk was three picture frames – one of Gwen and her two nieces Lucy and Amelia, then one of her and her younger sister who was the spitting image of her but Emma had blonde hair. The final one was of her and her parents just before they passed away – it was actually the night before her wedding.

Clearing her head she went back to her marking and took a sip of her coffee. The English coffee was not great, but it did the job she needed. Gwen was wearing a pencil skirt and a dark blue blouse, the discarded teaching robe lay on the back of her chair, and she only ever wore it when she was teaching. She much preferred muggle fashions rather than wizarding ones. Looking at the clock on the mantel piece she saw that the time was very near seven o’clock and she was waiting for a particular student, she just needed to see if she would be on time.

This student had expressed interest in being her apprentice, even at the young age was, and she never took them on until they had graduated. But what worried her the most was if the student only wanted to take the apprenticeship to impress her father. If that was the case, the she would have to politely refuse. Gwen saw Potions as a subject someone had to have a talent for and enjoy to even consider it something they wanted to do with their lives. She just hoped that Samantha Snape was one of those people because she certainly had a talent for it.

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[Samantha Snape]

As if an invisible signal had been given, Sam checked the clock on her bedside at exactly 6:45PM. Her few ?friends? in Slytherin had been hounding her about going to dinner with them, but she had refused. She just couldn?t be bothered to put up the act anymore; and besides, she had managed to not eat anything today, so she didn?t want to ruin all her hard work by eating just for show now. Well, that, and purging hurt, so she wasn?t eager to do it anymore than absolutely necessary. Thus, she had hidden up in her dormitory. Of course, she smirked a bit, it was a good thing all her friends were boys; otherwise, she would have gotten detention for hexing someone by now.

Removing the unneeded thoughts from her mind, she stood from her bed, and marked the place she had been in her book. It was called Wintergirls, and Sam found herself drawing strength from Lia, the main character. Despite being an American novel, she liked it very much, and hadn?t even stopped to think when she had bought it during her school shopping this past summer. She was enjoying reading it, but regretted that she hadn?t gotten to begin it until now. Again clearing her head of irrelevant thoughts, Sam placed the book on her nightstand, and then cast a cleaning/neatening charm upon her uniform.

Running a hand through her hair, the redhead grabbed one of the green hair bands from her nightstand. Noting that she really needed to cut her hair short at some point, the Chaser pulled it back, and tied it into a ponytail. As usual, a small percentage of her randomly, choppily cut blood-hued hair came out of the band, but as the majority remained in place, she didn?t think much of it. Taking note of the fact that she only had ten minutes left, the cross-dressing school girl left the fifth year girls? dorm. Quickly she crossed the Slytherin Common Room, and then exited. Once in the hall outside, she made her way to Professor Lawrence?s office.

She had often heard horror stories from older students about what it had been like with her father as Potions Master, but she had ignored them. She had to live with the man; he couldn?t have been any worse at school than he was at home. Of course, by ?worse? she meant any more distant, or any colder, but that was really neither here nor there at the moment. Quickening her pace, she wanted to make sure she wouldn?t be late; she ignored the stars and fireworks blossoming across her vision, as now really wasn?t the time to be fainting. Arriving at the door to the Potion Mistress? quarters, the redhead took a moment to compose herself.

She knocked once, firmly, and waited for a response, not wanting to be impolite and just walk in. She just hoped she wasn?t late, as that would have made a bad first impression ? rather, given off the air that she didn?t take this seriously, which she did. Very much so, in fact. While it was true she wanted to impress her father a great deal, it was also true that this was something she wanted for her own sake as well. Sam couldn?t really describe it, but it felt like potions called to her, as if she had been meant to want ? to long ? to know each and every secret about them, and to have an insatiable hunger to know everything she could about potions and their making.

It was almost as if God Himself had decreed that she would desire so fiercely to know all that she could.

[Gwen Lawrence]

Gwen Lawrence watched the clock, the one thing she wanted in her apprentice was to make sure that she was punctual, it was important because it would be a good trait and if a potion needed stirring at certain time, she had to make sure that she would be there or could easily be ruined. She had to admit she was a little shocked when Samantha had approached her about a possible apprenticeship; she was not sure why she had not gone to her father about it. But sometimes there were no right ways to go and one just had to try and choose for themselves. But she was willing to give Samantha a chance and she knew that she had a gift for the craft of Potions which very few people had and it was good to see that she wanted to go into the subject at such a young age; it would give her an advantage in the field when she was older. Plus it would be nice to have another female in the world of Potions since it was very male dominated as many professions were within the world – both magical and muggle.

It had been quite a shock when she had received the owl from her asking for the chance, and it had taken her a while to consider it because it was something that could not be rushed into. She had to ask Samantha whom she was doing it for – her father or herself. If she had said her father than she would have politely turned her down because she would need to do it for herself and no-one else; because it was a life career to go into. For example, Gwen had gone into potions because her mother had influenced her love for the subject, and it had grew when she attended Salem, it was her best subject at school and it had continued to develop. For a while after she had left her apprenticeship she had worked alongside her mother who was another of the few female Potions Mistresses in the world. Gwen had learnt so much from watching people and listening, she enjoyed passing that love, passion and knowledge onto other people that wished to learn because there was no better feeling than that.

Then she heard a knock at her door – looking at the clock, she saw that she was in time, a smile was on the face. “Come in.” She spoke softly but loud enough for her to hear. The professor watched as she walked in. “Please take a seat, I am glad to see that you are so prompt.” She said as the young Slytherin took a seat. “Now since you do want to study with me in the art of Potions and you do have a natural gift in it, you do know that it will not be an easy road?” Gwen told her then asked the question. “Is there anything you would like to know before we continue?” Her hands were folded on the desk in front of her.

[Samantha Snape]

When entrance was granted, the skinny redhead reached out a gripped the door handle firmly. Taking all of a moment to compose her raw nerves, she opened the door and stepped into the office which she knew had once been her father's. Though Sam herself had never had him as Potions Master, she knew from stories told that he had been somewhat of a fright to the students. She snorted mentally at that, as she took the seat she was directed to.

Yes, she knew he could be cold and distant and harsh and exacting, but really, he couldn't have been that bad... For goodness sake, she lived with the man, and she had turned out alright (mostly) so she just thought the others were being wimps about it. She was taken from her musings when the professor spoke, wanting to know if Sam had any questions before they began. Blushing lightly at the compliment about her natural talent, the redhead mulled over her answer for a moment.

She could tell that there was something else the woman wanted to know, but she herself really wasn't completely sure of the answer – no, she was sure, she just didn't really know how it would be received. Most things she did were for her father's approval and pride in her, but this... Wishing to be Professor Lawrence's apprentice... It was something she wanted for herself. She loved Potions, and one could almost say she thirsted for knowledge on the subject.

In all truth, she devoured anything she could on the subject it just as passionately as she refused to consume food. That, of course, also led her to a small portion of her reasons for this. She could keep herself healthy by self-medicating, but would never risk addiction or otherwise harming herself (like say via an overdose) if she had the knowledge and practical know-how to do it correctly. All of that aside, however, she truly wanted to pursue Potions as a career for her own sake. She told the professor as much, along with mentioning that, no, she really didn't have any questions at the moment.

She really just wished to begin learning as much as she could, as soon as she could.