Do you have a bad relationship with Mr. Snape?

The classroom quieted down after the door closed.

Only the faint sound of the flame under the cauldron and the silver light spots of moonlight on the floor remained.

Lucretia returned to the cauldron, a silver spoon drawing standard arcs in her hand.

The potion rippled with her movements, its surface shimmering.

She occasionally paused to frown and observe the color change, then continued stirring.

Sirius stood still, his fingers beginning to tap lightly at his side.

The sound of James's incessant chatter and laughter from The Three Broomsticks still echoed in his ears.

The ease he usually felt with his friends was gone, and the quiet of the empty classroom gave him an unfamiliar sense of tension.

His gaze drifted around the room.

First to the window outside, then to the floor, and finally settling on Lucretia's profile as she focused on stirring the potion.

This was the first time he was alone with her as a person.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Sirius walked towards the table, his movements a little slower than usual, his fingers pausing on the surface of the Butterbeer mug...

Confirming the temperature, confirming the icing, confirming that everything was exactly as he remembered she liked it.

"Um, I brought some things. From Hogsmeade. I thought since you've been busy here for so long, you might need something."

Lucretia put down her small spoon and reached out to take the drink, her fingers stopping just as they touched the rim of the mug.

She raised an eyebrow, her voice laced with surprise: "Double icing? How did you know I liked this kind?"

Sirius's mind went blank.

Damn it, how could he not have anticipated her asking that question?

Who would remember someone's drink preferences before reaching that stage?

He should have prepared a plausible explanation beforehand, like choosing randomly, or Rosmerta recommending it, or...

The words squeezed out of his throat with difficulty.

"Uh... Lucky guess? Rosmerta highly recommended it... I remember you drinking it like this last time at The Three Broomsticks too."

Merlin, this explanation sounded even more suspicious.

Lucretia took a sip, the smile in her eyes making him more nervous: "It's true about The Three Broomsticks. But you and Barty got into a fight with Mr. Potter afterwards, I thought you wouldn't have noticed."

Sirius felt his ear roots begin to burn: "You and Regulus were sitting in the corner then, I saw."

But the moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself.

It sounded too much like an admission that he had been secretly watching her throughout the entire commotion.

Even though that was indeed the truth...

Even while wrestling with James, his peripheral vision was still on her, checking if she was scared, if... she was looking at him.

He quickly changed the subject, walking over to the workbench and looking at the slightly silver-glowing liquid in the cauldron.

"How's the potion coming along?"

"The base is mostly done."

Lucretia took a couple more sips of Butterbeer, casually placed the mug aside, and adjusted the flame intensity.

"I'm adding the auxiliary ingredients now, and then comes the blessing of the unicorn tears. Did Lupin tell you the specifics?"

Sirius replied, his gaze shifting from the potion back to her face: "Enough for me to understand the potion's importance. And thank you for being willing to help him. Not everyone would put in so much effort for someone... you know."

Lucretia lowered her head slightly, embarrassed: "You're welcome. He's a good person, he shouldn't have to endure this, and I'll do my best to make it as effective as possible."

Sirius looked at the neatly arranged herbs on the table, his finger lightly touching a leaf.

"Need any help?"

"Can you help me process these ingredients?"

Two voices spoke at almost the same time.

They both stopped and looked at each other.

Then Lucretia was the first to laugh.

Sirius followed suit, his tense shoulders relaxing.

Lucretia pointed to several herbs: "It seems we thought of the same thing. They need to be cut in a specific way."

Sirius immediately picked up a small silver knife and began to cut the herbs.

All the herbology books he had read these past few days were finally coming in handy.

Lucretia glanced at his skilled knife work, looking somewhat surprised: "Your knife skills... are completely different from what Regulus mentioned about your performance in Potions class."

Sirius's cutting motion paused, and he looked up at her: "What did Regulus tell you?"

Lucretia suppressed a laugh: "He just mentioned an accident once. Said Professor Slughorn had to end the class early, and then your whole class went to Madam Pomfrey's."

Sirius defended himself, resuming his movements, but the corners of his mouth also turned up. "It was an accident. I was aiming for Snape's cauldron."

Lucretia asked curiously, "Do you not get along with Mr. Snape?"

This question seemed to hit a nerve.

Sirius's knife stopped mid-air over the silver leaves, and his lips twisted into a disdainful smile.

"Snivellus?"

The word blurted out, and his hand tightened, the blade cutting into the medicinal herbs.

But he couldn't stop, like a dam bursting, all his suppressed disgust surged out.

"We've disliked each other since first year. He's always lurking around, his mind full of dark..."

Then he saw Lucretia's expression.

The spoon in her hand stopped, and she froze.

Not out of fear, but shock.

Shock at the undisguised malice in his tone, shock at the contempt with which he uttered that nickname.

The words caught in his throat.

Lucretia lowered her head and continued stirring, but her shoulders were tighter than before, and her movements became cautious, as if avoiding something.

Sirius stared at the small silver knife in his hand, realizing how ugly he had just appeared.

He remembered her collaboration with Snape, the potion that helped her roommate with her headache.

And his own reaction just now was like... like a spoiled pure-blood noble young master, attacking someone with a vicious nickname, expecting her to agree.

Merlin, he had messed up.

He took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I know you two are working on a potion together. I saw you delivering medicine to your roommate in the Hospital Wing that day."

Lucretia nodded, her tone becoming a little more cautious. "Yes. He is indeed very helpful with potions."

Sirius pursed his lips, lowered his head to continue preparing the herbs, and deliberately softened his tone. "I guess he's got some skill in that area. Is her headache any better?"

Lucretia breathed a sigh of relief, grateful he didn't press the topic. "Much better, thank you."

A brief silence fell in the room, punctuated only by the occasional gurgle of potions and the sound of the knife chopping herbs.

Sirius frowned in annoyance, glancing at Lucretia's silent profile, then back at the herbs in his hand, as if struck by an idea.

"Speaking of potions, I've been poring over Herbology books lately, studying the properties of different ingredients. Professor McGonagall almost thought I'd poisoned someone when she saw me with so many Herbology books in the library the other day. James reacted even more strongly, saying I must have been possessed."

Lucretia pictured Professor McGonagall's expression and chuckled, "Lupin also said you were only interested in prank books before, but now you're spending all your time in the Herbology section. Don't you find it boring?"

"Of course not, because..."

Sirius's knife stopped on the leaf, not continuing to cut.

He stared at the leaf for a long time, as if searching for an answer in its veins.

His earlier lapse regarding Snape was still churning within him.

He realized he had to say something, not to salvage the awkwardness, but because... she deserved to hear the truth.

"I'm starting to understand why some people are so fascinated by it. Why a leaf can make such a difference between clockwise and counter-clockwise. Why the same ingredients can produce completely different effects in different hands."

He looked up at her, his gray eyes holding something she rarely saw, a sincerity close to vulnerability, much like when he had been so open in the corridor last time.

"When you truly understand someone's world, that person is no longer just what you see on the surface. Like... like when we first met, we only saw you as Regulus's adopted sister, Miss Crouch. But now..."

He forcibly suppressed the matter of his Animagus form and rephrased.

"But now I know you'll brew complex potions for a friend's pain, you can talk to plants, and you can become so focused in a late-night classroom that you forget time."

His voice grew softer, eventually almost a murmur.

"I'm starting to understand how people like that become who they are."

Lucretia's hands completely stopped moving. She watched him quietly.

This wasn't the first time Sirius had spoken words that were deeper than everyday conversation.

From their training in Godric's Hollow to their talk after the Hospital Wing, the seriousness and thoughtfulness he occasionally displayed always surprised her, yet felt natural.

Her gaze returned to the potion in front of her, and she said softly, "I understand. People tend to judge everything by their first impressions, overlooking that everyone has different layers. Just like I never thought of plants as mere ingredients; every flower and herb has its own unique life and essence."

Sirius smiled, a little sheepishly. "Sounds a bit silly, doesn't it? The Black family rebel talking about wanting to understand people."

Lucretia shook her head and smiled at him. "Not silly at all. I like hearing you talk about these things. It's much more interesting than Mr. Potter's prank stories when we were at Headmaster Dumbledore's house."

The atmosphere between them became a little lighter and closer than before, and they continued their work with a comfortable understanding.

The potion's color deepened with each ingredient added, more sparkling points appeared, and a silver halo began to form around the rim of the cauldron.

Lucretia pointed to a silver-green root. "This Mandrake root needs special preparation. Although it's usually cut clockwise in ordinary soothing agents, this time we need to cut it counter-clockwise to preserve its clarifying properties."

Sirius's knife paused over the root.

He seemed to recall reading a detailed description of Mandrake root's properties in the library, and remembered why cutting it counter-clockwise would alter its effects.

But more importantly, he remembered Lupin.

"So that Lupin can retain more consciousness during his transformation."

He slowly adjusted the angle of the knife, his movements more careful than ever before.

"So it's reverse operation, prioritizing lucidity over soothing."

Lucretia looked at him with some surprise.

He understood too quickly, so quickly that she realized his thoughts on the subject were much deeper than she had imagined.

Sirius resumed cutting, each stroke more deliberate than the last.

He still remembered what Lupin looked like after returning to the dormitory from the Hospital Wing after a full moon night, a long time ago.

Covered in wounds, exhausted, but most painful was that blankness, that fear of complete ignorance of what he had done.

"If he can remain even a little lucid in those moments, it's worth enduring more pain."

Lucretia's hand paused over the spoon as she watched his focused profile.

She took a deep breath: "We will try our best to balance it. Soothing the pain while maintaining lucidity. Unicorn tears should help us find this balance point."