HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

Severus put down his quill, stood up, and walked to the long table. He looked at Biarris more closely, his gaze sweeping over the slender stem, the icy petals, and finally settling on the pearly stamen.

He certainly knew the value of "Open for the King," not only in the Galon sense but also in the sense of potionology. It was an irreplaceable core ingredient for several top-tier remedies, soul stabilizers, and even some legendary ancient elixirs.

"You…" he began, his voice a little hoarse, "How long did it take?"

"From when it sprouted its first bud?" Ian thought for a moment, "about one hundred and twelve days, four days earlier than the most optimistic literature estimate."

His lips curved into a slight smile, a hint of smugness in them, but the smile quickly faded as he became serious.

He moved the flowerpot forward and handed it directly to Severus.

"Give."

Just one simple word.

Severus froze, staring at the flowerpot handed to him, then looked up at Ian. "...What?"

"Here you go." Ian repeated, his tone as casual as if he were handing over a bag of candy. "You found the seed, so it was meant to be yours. I just... casually took care of it."

The room was completely silent.

Kevin's mouth dropped open. He looked at the flowerpot, then at Ian, then at Severus, and finally turned to Aris, mouthing silently, "Fifty thousand Galleons!"

Aris also showed a rare moment of stunned silence, but he quickly recovered, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes, followed by gentle agreement.

He gently tugged at Kevin's sleeve, who was still in shock, signaling him to be quiet.

Severus did not answer.

He stared at the priceless plant in Ian's hands, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Ian, this is too..."

"Too much what?" Ian interrupted him, his gray eyes staring straight at him. "This thing is more useful to you. Your research, your thesis, everything you'll be doing in the future... I don't know exactly what it is, but it definitely requires top-quality materials. If you leave it here, it'll just be an ornamental plant at best. I might kill it one day, or Doraemon might pull it out as a weed."

He tried to ease the tension with jokes, but his eyes were serious. "In your hands, it can become something of real value, and that's where it should be."

He paused, then lowered his voice, making it almost audible to only the two of them: "Besides... you found it, so I think... I should return it to its rightful owner."

Severus's fingers curled unconsciously.

He remembered that dim afternoon, among the clutter piled up in the back alley of Bogin-Bock, that inconspicuous seed.

He simply noticed the lingering magical energy fluctuations on it and picked it up casually. Later, after researching it, he was quite surprised, but he didn't have much hope of successfully cultivating it. He just gave it to Ian, knowing that his mother had a greenhouse and that Ian might be interested.

He never expected that Ian would actually grow it and cultivate it, spending a full 112 days of his hard work, and then present it to him like this.

The name "For You" is quite fitting.

That familiar bittersweet feeling welled up in my chest again, more intense than ever before.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the icy sepals, and after several seconds, he slowly reached out his hand.

His movements were very gentle; his fingertips carefully avoided the slender stems, supporting the bottom of the flowerpot.

The plant in the pot seemed to sense the change of ownership, and its clear fragrance seemed to intensify for a moment.

"Thank you," he said softly, his voice a little hoarse.

Ian released his grip and watched as Severus steadily took the flowerpot, letting out a slight sigh of relief.

His nonchalant smile returned to his face, and he shrugged.

"If you really want to thank me, just send me a sample of any potions you make with it in the future, so I can see what it's like."

"Of course," Severus replied, carefully placing the flowerpot in a corner of his usual workbench, where the light was just right and it was far from any potential risks.

He looked at it for a while before turning away.

The atmosphere seemed to relax immediately.

Kevin finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Merlin! Ian! Fifty thousand Galleons! You just... gave it away?!"

"It's not yours, why are you so upset?" Ian rolled his eyes at him, walked back to his armchair, and slumped in as if he had just given away a bag of snacks.

"I'm... amazed by your friendship!" Kevin exaggeratedly clutched his chest, then curiously moved closer to Severus's workbench, observing Wei Junkai from a safe distance.

"But seriously, Severus, what do you plan to do with it? Pick it now? Or wait for some special time?"

"A magical stabilization treatment is needed first, which will last for at least three days to ensure its activity after being removed from the soil."

Severus had regained his usual composure, but when his gaze swept over the plant, it still carried a focused gentleness.

"The specific application... depends on the compatibility of subsequent experiments."

Aris also came over, maintaining a scholarly distance, and analyzed, "Its stabilizing properties are probably the most priority for application, especially for damage involving the spiritual or magical source. If you can make a breakthrough in this area, it will be of great significance."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood the unspoken meaning. In the current situation, a potion that could effectively treat certain "special" injuries was far more valuable than Galon could measure.

Ian leaned back in his chair, listening to their discussion, his gaze fixed on Severus's profile.

Seeing him re-immerse himself in professional thinking, the slight unease and tension completely disappeared, leaving only a calm satisfaction.

Kevin quickly steered the conversation back to Quidditch, and Aris, while refuting him, subconsciously began tidying up the parchment on the table.

Severus sat down and began sketching out preliminary plans for the garden on a new parchment, occasionally glancing up at the plant on the corner of the table.

Ian picked up the book he had been reading for a while, but found it hard to concentrate.

He recalled the two intertwined star trails from his arithmetic and divination class, and the fleeting tremor in Severus's eyes when he handed him the plant.

It's not 50,000 Galleons.

He carefully caught that accidental seed, then poured his time and effort into letting it grow and bloom, before returning it to the person who found it.

This feeling... isn't bad.