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“Like this,” Severus said, stepping behind her and readjusting her grip on the knife. “If you hold it this way, you can get a cleaner slice.” With his hand guiding hers, he sliced the knotgrass in the smallest slivers imaginable.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get to be as quick as you,” she muttered as he stepped back and let her try on his own.
“I’ve had a few more years of practice,” he replied. She could hear the smirk in his voice and shook her head. The fact that he had even taken her on as an apprentice still boggled her mind some days.
“I could do like my Master did me,” Severus commented lightly when she was finished with the knotgrass.
“He made me prepare every ingredient for a potion perfectly, a hundred times before he would let me brew.” Severus’s arms were folded over his chest as he leaned back against the worktable.
Hermione found she quite liked him like this. Relaxed, his outer robes off, and him just in his frock coat in his private lab.
“That does sound tedious,” she commented. “Why don’t you do it?”
“For exactly that reason, it’s tedious and unnecessary. Perfection in preparing ingredients is important, don’t get me wrong, it’s just not necessary to teach apprentices that way. Most apprentices come into the job already knowing how to prepare ingredients. No need to make them hate ingredient preparation.”
“You did stress on it quite a bit at Hogwarts,” Hermione said. “‘Proper ingredient preparation is half of potion-making,” she quoted, dropping her voice as deep as it would go to mimic his.
Severus barked a laugh. “Yes, well, I’m not wrong.”
“I know,” she grinned up at him. “Thank you for not teaching me like your master taught you.”
“Oh, there will be plenty of other things he made me do that you’ll be repeating,” Severus replied with a glint in his eye.
“Can’t wait,” Hermione said, and she meant it. Her apprenticeship with Severus was one of the best things that had ever happened to her.
~Fin~