HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

They left the classroom noisily, with Severus surrounded in the middle, the silver badge on his chest gleaming faintly in the torchlight of the corridor.

Several passing Slytherin upperclassmen cast complex glances at him, some scrutinizing, some surprised, and some thoughtful.

Avery and Moorselber walked over from the opposite side and saw Severus surrounded in the middle with the badge on his chest. Their expressions darkened, but this time, they said nothing and stepped aside to make way.

The noise of the auditorium was left behind as they walked down a secluded corridor lined with portraits, with Kevin leading the way, humming an off-key tune.

Ian followed behind, his arm around Severus's shoulder.

"Over here!" Kevin stopped in front of a huge painting of a fruit bowl, reached out and carefully scratched the bright green pear in the painting.

The pear twisted and turned into a brass doorknob.

Kevin pulled it open, and the warm aroma of food and the clattering sounds of busy activity immediately rushed out.

"Dear little gentlemen! What would you like to order? Freshly baked raspberry pie? Warm chocolate? Or something else?" one of them asked in a shrill voice, its long ears twitching excitedly.

"Pies! And hot chocolate! Preferably something salty... uh, anything will do!" Kevin exclaimed immediately, his eyes already glued to a mountain of golden, glistening pies piled up on a long table in the distance.

Soon, they found a clean little table in a corner of the kitchen and sat down, with food laid out in front of them.

The house-elves around them continued to busy themselves, but curious glances occasionally stole their way, especially at the gleaming silver badge on Severus's chest.

"Cheers!" Kevin raised his steaming glass, nearly spilling the chocolate. "To Severus! To the Potions Prodigy! To escape Professor Slughorn's nagging, 'Oh, my dear children, if only you were half as careful as Mr. Snape…' for at least a month!"

Ian laughed and clinked glasses with him, and Aris also raised his glass in greeting, but this only dampened Kevin's spirits.

"You might be overestimating that. Statistically speaking, Severus is used as an example almost every two lessons."

Kevin let out a funny wail.

Severus didn't touch the cup; he simply cut off a small piece of pie with his fork and put it in his mouth.

The sweet jam and crispy crust melt in your mouth, warm and sweet.

He chewed slowly, listening to Kevin chatter on about the details of the competition, Ian occasionally cracking jokes, and Aris calmly analyzing the mistakes of the other participants.

He was surrounded by the warmth of the kitchen, the aroma of food, and the noisy yet genuine voices of his friends. The badge on his chest was heavy, yet strangely, it didn't feel like a burden.

Ian nudged him with his elbow as he stuffed ham into his mouth: "How does it feel, Mr. Nova? Slughorn looks at you like you're a walking gem."

Severus swallowed his food, took a sip of water, and then said in a low voice, "He just likes talented students." Especially those who can bring him honor.

"That depends on whether you have the talent to make him like it." Ian said dismissively, his gray eyes gleaming. "Seriously, when did you figure out that improved stirring technique? It didn't seem like that when I saw you processing the 'drowsy soy milk' last time."

"Last week," Severus said briefly, without elaborating.

"Cool." Ian nodded and stopped asking questions, instead arguing with Kevin about whether the pies made by house-elves or the pies from Honeydukes of Hogsmeade were better.

The celebration lasted for nearly an hour, until Kevin clutched his stomach and groaned, "I can't eat anymore," at which point they said goodbye to the house-elves and returned to the cellar.

……

The common room was noisy, and when Severus entered, many eyes immediately focused on the silver badge on his chest.

There was envy, scrutiny, and a few still-cold gazes, but no one said anything publicly anymore.

Severus ignored all of this and went straight to his bedroom.

The next few days seemed no different.

Classes, homework, library, and the Room of Requirement.

But subtle changes were happening: in Potions class, Slughorn asked Severus more questions, and his tone became more amiable; occasionally, when they encountered students from other houses in the corridors, some would cast curious glances at the silver badge.

On Friday night, Severus went to a slug club party.

He returned close to curfew, carrying a faint, sweet fragrance and the lingering scent of some high-grade spices, and holding a small package tied with a silver ribbon.

"How is it?" Ian was still awake, leaning against the headboard reading a book about magical plant hybridization.

Severus placed the package on the bedside table and unbuttoned it.

"Many people, many... conversations," he said briefly, a hint of weariness in his voice, but his eyes shone brightly in the dim light.

"Professor Slughorn introduced me to several healers at St. Mungo's, and a witch who worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. She mentioned a new method for treating dragonpox using moongrass and African tree snake skin, completely different from what was in the textbooks, more effective, but also risky..."

He spoke such a long string of words, which was unusual for him, and although he stopped quickly, it was clear that the gathering was not entirely fruitless.

He opened the small package, which contained several beautifully packaged strange candies, a small bottle of an unknown liquid that shimmered with a pearly luster, and a roll of parchment that looked quite ancient.

"The professor gave it to me." Severus picked up the roll of parchment, carefully unfolding a corner. It was covered with dense ancient runes and complex potion diagrams. "It's a variation of some medieval remedies. He said it 'might work for me.'"

"A big spender." Ian leaned closer to take a look. Even though he couldn't read runes, he could feel the age the parchment carried. "Looks like he thinks highly of you."

Severus didn't speak, but simply ran his fingers very lightly over a complex symbol on the parchment, his eyes focused.

It was late at night, and Kevin and Aris were already fast asleep. Ian also closed his book and lay down.

In the darkness, he heard a faint rustling sound of parchment being rubbed together from the opposite bed, knowing that Severus was still looking at the recipe.

After an unknown amount of time, the rustling sound stopped.

Severus's voice was low and hesitant as it broke the silence: "The recipe... requires 'luminescent spores of the Night-Shining Mushroom,' fresh ones, and the processing must be completed within two hours of harvesting, otherwise more than ninety percent of the medicinal properties will be lost."

Ian opened his eyes, adjusting to the darkness, and looked at the outline of the bed opposite him: "No greenhouse?"