"You, just how many people have you looked at?" Snape instinctively pulled his wizard robes tighter around himself.
"I've looked at a few before," said Moaning Myrtle, her eyes glimmering with mischievous interest. "But recently, only yours."
"Ugh, you filthy-minded ghost girl," Snape snapped, picking up a golden cauldron from the table and setting it on the ground. "Am I supposed to feel honored by that?"
"I haven't seen yours either, Severus," Pandora chimed in suddenly, stepping closer to join the mischief.
"Would you like to see it now then?" Snape rolled his eyes irritably while flicking his wand, casting Aguamenti.
Crystal-clear water streamed steadily from his wand, filling the cauldron to the brim. He then tapped its bottom lightly with his wand, and a cluster of blue magical fire sprang to life beneath it.
"That won't be necessary," Pandora said quickly, sticking out her tongue. "Now that I think about it, there's nothing much to see anyway." She spun around and ran toward the workbench, fiddling absentmindedly with her wand and occasionally poking at the magical ingredients beside her.
The two fell silent. Myrtle floated up and perched lightly upon the chandelier, watching everything with fascination.
"First, the main ingredient," Snape took a deep breath and pulled two small, frost-covered eggs from his bag. "Two Ashwinder eggs from Professor Kettleburn's private collection. Shells removed, chopped into one-inch cubes..."
Once he'd finished preparing the materials, Snape finally began the actual brewing.
He poured a vial of goblin wax into the boiling cauldron. Instantly, thick dark-green smoke billowed upward.
Exactly nine minutes and thirty-two seconds into the brew, Snape tossed in the chopped Ashwinder egg fragments, then stirred the mixture three times clockwise and seven times counterclockwise.
After another seven minutes of boiling, he added a precise amount of minced fluxweed, garlic bulbs, Aconite, fairy petals, honey, finely ground dried ginger, and powdered calamus root that had been petrified before grinding.
The liquid in the cauldron gradually turned into a soft, pale pink suspension. After maintaining that consistency for several minutes, Snape added the final ingredient, two bay leaves.
Now, the potion began to release faintly shimmering lavender vapor that carried a pleasant fragrance.
"How lovely it smells," Myrtle murmured. At some point, she had drifted over the cauldron, lowering her transparent head so close that her ghostly hair nearly brushed the potion's surface. "It's been so many years since I last smelled anything."
"Ah!" Snape jumped in fright, nearly knocking the cauldron over.
"Next time, don't sneak up on me like that!" he scolded, glaring up at Myrtle.
"But I don't make any sound when I move," Myrtle said, pouting in wounded innocence.
"Then at least say something when you're coming closer," Snape said, still shaken. "Don't scare me half to death every time."
The potion needed to simmer gently overnight.
Early the next morning, Snape and Pandora returned once more to the entrance of the Room of Requirement.
Standing before the blank white wall, they repeated the agreed-upon code several times before Myrtle finally appeared, slowly opening the door.
The moment it opened, she floated eagerly toward the cauldron, her face lighting up in simple delight.
By now, the potion had lost its pink hue and turned into a pearly pale beige liquid that emitted delicate spirals of steam.
"I know what this is," Pandora said as she leaned in, taking a deep sniff. A dreamy, lazy smile spread across her face.
"Why does it smell like you, Severus?" Myrtle suddenly asked, turning toward him, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Ah, does it?" Snape blinked, snapping out of his daze. He had just been inhaling the many pleasant scents rising from the cauldron. "You're starting to make me nervous."
"Why?" Myrtle tilted her head. "What is this?"
"Amortentia," Pandora answered before he could. "The most powerful Love Potion there is. What are you making this for, Severus? Isn't this one of the potions banned at Hogwarts?"
"It's not for me," Snape said calmly, drawing out a crystal bottle and pouring the shimmering potion into it with care. "Let's just say I have a bold idea that might require it. Besides, since when do you care about school rules?"
"That's true," Pandora said with a grin. "As long as we don't get expelled, it's fine."
After bidding farewell to one girl and one ghost, Snape pocketed the Amortentia and left the castle, striding down the grassy slope toward the Quidditch pitch.
The weather was bright yet cold, it was the middle of the Quidditch season.
Cheers from the field were already audible in the distance. Today's match was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw.
Of course, Snape hadn't come to watch the match, nor to imitate Quirinus Quirrell by trying to jinx Potter.
Although James, acting as a Chaser, had once stolen a Golden Snitch just to release it and then dramatically recapture it to show off, Snape saw no reason to risk making a spectacle like that.
However, as Snape squinted at the pitch for a long while, he failed to spot James anywhere. He seemed to be absent from the game entirely, and none of his friends were in the stands either.
Even after the roaring crowd finally dispersed, Snape still hadn't seen Sirius.
Leaving the Quidditch pitch, he wandered aimlessly around the castle grounds until, at last, he spotted Sirius Black sitting alone beneath the tall beech tree by the lake.
That beech tree had stood beside Hogwarts for generations. Snape approached it slowly.
Sirius heard his footsteps and looked up. His long black hair was disheveled, hanging limply over his forehead, stripped of its usual grace.
"You," Sirius said sharply, springing to his feet. His wand was already in hand, his dark eyes filled with hostility and suspicion. "What do you want now?"
"There's no need to be so hostile," Snape said, raising both hands to show he meant no harm. "This time, I'm here to help you."
"Help me?" Sirius's anger flared instantly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You've already made a mess of James's life! If you're planning to blackmail me about being an unregistered Animagus, I swear I'll take you down with me!"
"Hey, easy," Snape said apologetically. "I admit, last time I went a bit too far. I'm sorry for what happened to James, it wasn't my intention to humiliate him like that. I came to see you because I want to make amends."
As he spoke, Snape slowly reached into his robes and drew out the crystal bottle. The pale beige potion inside shimmered softly as it sloshed. "I thought... maybe this could make things better between you and James."
"What is that?" Sirius demanded coldly, his eyes locked on the bottle.