Lesson of the Week

That was it, Severus thought, as he once again saw the Weasley twins out of a detention. Next time, he would teach them a very valuable lesson.

He knew, as soon as they had walked out, that he needed to teach them something they would never forget and it was perfect if he said so himself. Since he had them for detention every day for the rest of this week, it was even better. They'll never know what hit them.

Quickly, he set in to motion the plans he had for tomorrow night and their next time with him, all the while a smile of satisfaction on his face.

Yes, this was going to be spectacular!

The twins were 15 minutes late. But that was to be expected. Instead of scowling and getting angry like they were expecting him too, he smiled. Now, these two boys had never been afraid of him, mainly because they made a living of annoying people and therefore were used to the occasional scowl their way, but him smiling was obviously weirding them out just a bit. The next step will take them completely unawares.

"Tonight I want you to brew something for me. Correctly. No extra ingredients, no mucking it up and no extra time. Get started."

And with that, he put the ingredients list on the board, opened up the student cupboards and left them to it, while he got on with marking useless papers about the different properties of unicorn hair in potions.

He never told them what the potion was used for, but he knew they knew the material. They liked to pretend they didn't, but the two boys had talent. So much of it, and it was wasted during class because they refused to behave.

This was the only alternative he could think of to get the two of them truly engaged.

"Sir, do you mean this to be a joke?" one of them asked, though his head was down so he didn't know which.

"Mr Weasley...since when have I ever made a joke?"

He knew they understood exactly what he was saying, and he heard them snickering to themselves as they, for once, went along with the exact formula. They finished it perfectly on time. And, as his own powers of deduction told him, it was perfectly brewed too.

He knew they knew their potions.

These two were pranksters after all, not bullies in the disguise of pranksters as the marauders in his school days were, but purely exactly what it said on the tin. Everything they did was for the laughs and enjoyment of all with the exception of the staff of course, and then even some of the professors found them funny. Students actually paid for their products, and they tested them all on themselves before testing on others to perfect the joke item in question.

He had seen the potential, but it was being wasted because they refused to learn the subject fully.

He'd change that. Oh yes, he would.

Better yet, no one would ever suspect. Who, after all, would believe the Weasley Twins of all people that mean Professor Snape was the one who was helping them with their tricks.

"Once a week and you can make anything you want in here, with two rules. One, I am here, and Two, you tell me who when and where, understood?"

"Yes professor," they parroted back at him, twin grins on their faces.

"And another thing, you need to learn the theory. Rest of the week, that is what will be done, understood. If you shirk these detentions, no more free time in my lab, got it?"

"Got it, sir!" they said together, saluting him with no seriousness and yet fully meaning it. Perfect.

"Good, dismissed. Leave this one with me." With that, he snatched their brew, made for the express purpose of turning hair bright pink, and stalked to his office.

They were gone less than a minute later and he grinned as he hatched his own simple plan.

Somehow the Weasley Twins weren't surprised when, during breakfast the next morning, their hair turned bright pink. They looked at each other, burst out laughing and high fived the other.

No one would believe it if they told them Professor Snape was the one behind this one.

By the end of the day, everyone was sure they had done it to themselves as a test run for a new joke product they had started planning. They let the rumour spread, for what better way to let the school know they were truly in business for another year.

They'd have to thank Professor Snape for planting the idea in everyone's heads later that night.

It was the beginning of a wonderful partnership.