Chapter XVIII: Of Boys and Girls

Severus let his gaze wander through the classroom. It was unusually quiet. No rustling of parchment, no hushed conversations, nothing. All the eyes were on him, and they were filled with curiosity and excitement, even apprehension. He was teaching girls only that afternoon, girls from every House, all fourth-years. They had been all giggly and chatty when they had arrived, as girls their age normally were, but as he had swept into the room, scowling and with his trademark black robes billowing behind him, telling them what this special lesson was going to be about, they had all fallen silent.

He narrowed his eyes and frowned. Children, they were all still children, certainly still far too young to be instructed in brewing contraceptive potions. Merlin’s beard, Eydis was most definitely far too young. But there she was, sitting in the front row beside her best friend Sarah O’Mally, eagerly awaiting his lecture.

‘Just because you know how to brew a contraceptive potion does not mean you absolutely have to start using it just yet,’ Severus began in a tone that suggested that the girls better not be thinking about any kind of intercourse for at least ten more years. ‘And just because you know how to brew the potion does not mean that the responsibility for birth control lies with you alone. That responsibility lies with the man just as much as with the woman.’

That kind of speech was usually Poppy’s business, but Severus felt that he wanted to get the message across as well. After all, his little daughter was part of this class as well. And he was certainly not going to encourage those children to have sex. That was why he deliberately used the terms man and woman instead of boy and girl. Sexual intercourse was something for adults, for grown-up, responsible people, not chattering, giggling fourth-years. If it were up to him, he would not be teaching this class at all. But after last year’s unfortunate incident involving a sixth-year Ravenclaw and a fifth-year Hufflepuff, teaching the students how to take precautions was most probably advisable.

‘Your male peers have been instructed in how to make their potion for this very reason,’ Severus went on, hoping that the message would sink in. ‘They, too, need to take responsibility for their actions. However, I strongly advise you not to trust any teenage boy when they tell you that they have taken their potion. You should not trust them as they are generally so desperate for copulation that they would tell you the world is flat if it meant gaining access to your underwear. And I would not trust them because I have seen them brew their potions this morning. Let me assure you that it was not a pretty sight.’

He sneered and groaned inwardly as some of the girls giggled at his comment. Teaching the boys had been a nightmare. Every time he had as much as mentioned girls or the word intercourse, the boys had blushed, giggled, or worse, snuck their hands under the table and tried to look innocent for a couple of minutes. Three hours and five melted cauldrons later, only two of them had managed to hand in a potion that would actually work. The rest of the potions would make the drinker lose their hair, sprout fangs or render them infertile, which, in Severus’ opinion, wasn’t the worst of effects considering what kind of dunderheads those boys were. Some people should just not be allowed to reproduce.

The girls, to Severus’ relief, were much calmer. They were interested and actually seemed to be prepared. They knew about smartweed leaves and cotton root bark, and after half an hour, Severus had rewarded both Ravenclaw and Slytherin House with ten points each, and the potions were well underway. With some luck, the girls would be able to hand in effective contraceptives before the afternoon was over. And with even more luck, there would not be another Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff-incident.

~ ~ ~

‘Daddy, when does a girl know that she’s ready to have sex?’

Severus almost choked at his tea. He had taken Eydis to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast on the weekend after her fifteenth birthday and had planned to be spending a nice father-daughter-day with her. Discussing her sexuality had, however, not been on his agenda.

He cleared his throat and put on his most impassive face. ‘Would that girl in question be you?’ he asked, folding his napkin and putting it onto his lap in order to have something to hold on to.

Eydis blushed slightly. ‘Well, um, might be,’ she mumbled.

The first thought on Severus’ mind was: ‘When I am dead and buried!’

But he took a deep breath, clutched the napkin tightly and went for a more pedagogical approach.

‘I assume that you are interested in a specific boy.’

The colour on Eydis’ cheeks went from pink to dark red. ‘Hm,’ was the only sound that came out of her mouth.

‘Hm?’ Severus repeated. ‘Does that mean yes?’

‘Yes,’ Eydis blurted out. ‘Yes, it means yes. And yes, it is James I am interested in. And yes, I know that you don’t like him. But I cannot help it, I fancy him anyway.’

The torrent of words that came tumbling from his daughter’s mouth made Severus smirk, and he quickly picked up his teacup to hide his face behind it. He did not want Eydis to think that he was laughing at her. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.

‘James Sirius Potter?’ he asked slowly. ‘The captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who you accidentally knocked off his broom with a Bludger last Saturday?’

‘Hey, he was about to score against us! Something had to be done.’ Eydis was grinning now, and the colour of her face had returned to normal. ‘And yes, James Sirius Potter is the boy I fancy.’

‘I cannot say that I am surprised,’ Severus went on, clutching his napkin again. ‘You threatened with marrying Pot... James already when you were three years old. But I have to admit that I was hoping you would get over it in due time.’

‘Yeah, why’s that, Daddy?’ Eydis had crossed her arms in front of her chest and was now looking at her father with a mixture of mischief and defiance in her blue eyes. ‘Why do you not like James? You seem to get along nicely with the other Potters. All except Uncle Harry, perhaps.’

‘Because,’ Severus started but broke off.

What was he going to tell his daughter? That he still held a grudge on the boy’s grandfather? It was the truth, but when he thought about it, it was highly ridiculous, not to mention childish. As much as he had hated the late James Potter, he could not transfer that grudge onto the grandson. And James Sirius – to everybody’s surprise – was not up to half as much mischief as his father and grandfather had been. Even Severus had to admit that James was actually a nice kid.

‘Imagine you had a daughter, Eydis,’ Severus mused, trying to give Eydis an example that she could grasp. ‘Imagine she was fifteen years old and telling you that she is seeing Scorpius Malfoy’s son. What would you do?’

‘A Malfoy? Merlin’s pants, I would ground her for life!’

‘Language, Eydis,’ Severus chided her half-heartedly. He had anticipated a reaction like that. Eydis and Scorpius had been sworn enemies since the spring ball in Eydis’ first year. Scorpius – true Slytherin as he was – had tried to regain Eydis’ favour, but so far the girl had done nothing but show him the cold shoulder.

‘Am I correct to assume that you would not want your daughter do be courted by a Malfoy because you do not like Scorpius?’ he went on.

Eydis started chewing her lip and seemed to contemplate her answer very thoroughly. ‘Yes, I think so,’ she said after a while. ‘But that would be somewhat stupid, wouldn’t it? I mean, the boy couldn’t help that his father is a troll.’

Severus smirked, and for some moments, silence settled over their table. He could see Eydis frown, could almost hear the wheels in her head turning, but he was not prepared for her next statement:

‘I think I would tell my daughter to listen to her heart.’

Severus gasped. The words Eydis had just spoken reminded him of something her mother had once said, that true love was powerful enough to overcome anything. Her love for him had made her face her biggest fear, and she had returned to the Wizarding world with him. What kind of advice would Cassandra give her daughter now? What kind of advice would she give him?

‘Daddy, are you alright?’

The sound of Eydis’ voice made Severus return to the present. ‘Yes,’ he answered and cleared his throat once more. ‘I was just thinking about your words.’

He bent slightly forwards and fixed his eyes on his daughter. ‘What does your heart tell you, Eydis?’

‘The problem is my heart doesn’t tell me the same thing my brain does. My brain tells me that I should wait until I am truly ready. But my heart tells me that I am ready.’

Severus bit back a comment about it not being her heart that was talking but her hormones. Her very pert hormones that had no say in this whatsoever.

‘I assume James and you are – what is the correct expression – going steady?’ he enquired instead.

Eydis laughed. ‘Yes, we’re going steady, Daddy. Since the Christmas feast, actually.’

Blasted mistletoes, Severus thought and made a mental note to make sure there wasn’t a bloody mistletoe hung up anywhere in the castle next Christmas.

‘Then I assume you have kissed?’ he went on, trying to sound relaxed. ‘Made out even?’

Eydis blushed. ‘Daddy!’

‘Are you uncomfortable discussing this issue with me?’ Severus asked, almost hoping that Eydis would say yes. Because he was more than uncomfortable. ‘Maybe you should turn to a woman for advice. Ginny, perhaps?’

‘Ginny said that if James is anything like his father, he won’t kiss me until we are engaged.’

Now Severus had to oppress the urge to vomit. Hearing anything about any Potter’s sexuality was enough to make him nauseous. Hearing the words Potter and engaged in one sentence just made it worse.

‘Let us not be hasty,’ he said, more to calm himself than Eydis. ‘You are not getting married just yet.’

When Rosmerta cleared their table half an hour later, she could not help but wonder why one of the napkins had been shredded to pieces.

~ ~ ~

‘How about I do not refill you teacup but give you something stronger instead?’ Ginny suggested with a kind smile.

Severus just nodded. Yes, alcohol might just be what he needed to survive this conversation. After his stroll through Hogsmeade with Eydis, the little one had gone to meet some of her classmates, and he had Flooed to the Potters’. He needed some female advice

‘Our two lovebirds are thinking about getting serious then?’ Ginny asked as she pushed a glass of Odgen’s into Severus’ direction. ‘Well, I cannot say that I wasn’t expecting something like that.’

Severus emptied his glass in one go. He knew that it was probably not a good idea, but to hell with it.

‘There, there, Severus. It’s not that bad,’ Ginny said as she took a seat opposite him. ‘I think the fact that both James and Eydis are asking for our advice in the matter proves that they are quite mature. They are not just going to do it for the sake of it.’

Severus flinched. The idea of his daughter, his little girl, doing it was just horrid. She was just a ...

‘Eydis is not a little child anymore, Severus,’ Ginny went on as if she had read his thoughts. ‘She is slowly but surely becoming a woman. And she is getting concerned because almost all of her friends seem to have had their first sexual encounters while she hasn’t.’

Severus felt his stomach clench. The idea of Eydis throwing herself into her first sexual encounter because her peers – allegedly – already had had sex, made him nauseous.

‘She’s seeing right through them, though,’ Ginny tried to calm him and re-filled his glass. ‘You taught her to think for herself, Severus. And that’s what she’s doing now. She is not asking her peers for advice but us. Me, you. And I think she has been talking to Cassandra as well.’

Severus nodded. Of course Eydis had been talking to her mother. The words follow your heart could only have come from Cassandra. And it had been well-meant advice, for sure. But Severus wished she had been more precise. And he wished that she were there, by his side, advising him as well as she was advising their daughter.

‘What am I to tell Eydis then, Ginny?’ he asked. ‘I cannot forbid her to explore her sexuality. And at the same time, I have no intentions of encouraging her either.’

‘Tell her that,’ Ginny suggested. ‘Tell Eydis that it is her choice, and that you will be there for her if she needs your advice. The worst thing you can do is make her feel guilty about her choice. Step back, and let things unfold.’

Severus downed his second glass of Odgen’s and looked right at Ginny. ‘And what kind of advice are you giving your son?’

‘James?’ Ginny smiled. ‘I am telling him exactly the same thing, with the addition that the final decision lies with the girl – with Eydis – and that a no is a no and not a maybe. We have to show our children that we trust them, Severus. Otherwise, they might sneak off and have sex in a dark alley in Hogsmeade or a shabby room at the Hog’s Head. And we don’t want that, do we?’

No, they certainly did not want that. And as corny as it sounded, Severus wanted his little girl to enjoy her first time. And if it happened to be with James Potter, then it would at least be with a boy she cared for. And with a boy who cared for her as well.

When Severus returned to their Hogsmeade Cottage, he found the door to Eydis’ room closed. She had obviously already gone to bed.

He thought about knocking on her door for a moment but decided against it. If she should take up the topic of her first sexual encounter once more, he would listen to her and advise her as best as he could. But for now, he would take a step back and let things unfold, as Ginny had put it so nicely.

He did, however, leave a phial of the strongest contraceptive potion he had ever brewed on his daughter’s doorstep and attached a note to it: One tablespoon every month on the first day after your period. And remember: just because you have access to the potion does not mean you have to start using it.

When he got up the next morning, the phial was standing on his doorstep instead. And on the back of his note, Eydis had scribbled a reply: I know that, Daddy.

---

A/N:
Smartweed is used as a fertility regulator all over the world. It contains rutin, quercitin and gallic acid, all of which interfere with normal pregnancy. Infusions of smartweed leaves are said to bring on a missed period.

Cotton root has the effect of shutting down the corpus luteum’s (a temporary endocrine structure in mammals) ability to produce progesterone, which is needed to maintain pregnancy.

Do not go dabbling with these ingredients on your own! Practice safe sex!