Heat, Light and the Properties of Plants

Disclaimer The characters and sheer genius belong to J K Rowling. Any smut is mine, but I don\'t make a penny/euro/cent from my warped imagination.

Chapter 1 Revival

Severus Snape slowly opened his eyes and gazed weakly up at the two figures standing beside his bed.
\"What happened?\" he muttered weakly.
Hermione gasped and moved quickly forward, gently preventing him from trying to sit up. \"Relax, Professor Snape, you\'ve been very ill.\"
\"Don\'t try to mollycoddle me, Miss Granger - \" Snape groaned and fell back. He frowned in confusion, trying to piece together recent events. \"The Dark Lord!\" he exclaimed, wincing.
\"It\'s okay, Professor, he\'s dead, everything\'s all right - thanks to you and Harry.\"
\"Harry?\"
The other figure blushed and slouched forward. \"Yeah, me, you - well, you and me, we - \"
\"Coherent as ever, Mr Potter,\" murmured Snape, a curious smile on his lips as he drifted off to sleep.

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When he next awoke he felt stronger, able to question Harry and Hermione about what had happened. But their stumbling attempts to explain annoyed him; he gestured Harry closer and gazed deeply into his eyes, using legilimency to access his recent memories. Snape\'s powers were weakened but Harry\'s memory of those last moments in Voldemort\'s stronghold was so strong.....

...He sees a circular room at the top of a tall tower, the room is shadowy, lit only in one corner by an eerie flickering green glow. In the middle of the ghoulish light Lord Voldemort sits in an ornately carved oak chair with a high back. Just behind the chair stands Severus Snape, guarded, watchful. Suddenly the door crashes open and in rushes a knot of furiously struggling people which resolves itself into Ron, Hermione and Hagrid battling with half a dozen Death Eaters...

Snape leans forward tensely, his eyes locked with Harry\'s; reliving the experience is draining the young man but he doesn\'t draw back...

...Three of the Death Eaters are lying stunned on the floor, Hagrid aims a killing kick at a fourth but is struck simultaneously by Avakadavra curses from the other two, he falls to the ground dead as Ron and Hermione manage to overcome the remaining Death Eaters. Meanwhile Harry steps quietly out of the shadows where he has been waiting. Snape moves from behind Voldemort\'s throne-like chair and confronts him...

Harry is breathing hard with remembered emotion.His hair tousled over his bright green eyes, his face flushed, he looks extremely attractive. Snape frowns, his gaze intensifies...

...Lord Voldemort raises his wand and points it at Harry. \'Give up now, Potter,\' Snape snarls. \'The Dark Lord has protection you cannot touch.\' - \'If you mean his Horcruxes,\' replies Harry, \'They\'re all destroyed - all except the snake, and there are five Aurors scouring your stronghold making sure she doesn\'t escape.\' With a terrible cry of rage Voldemort fires a killing curse from his wand at Harry, who manages to deflect it but staggers back under its force, his wand momentarily lowered. Voldemort gives a hiss of triumph and raises his wand to finish him off; but Snape, regarding Harry with a look of deepest loathing, nevertheless flings himself in the curse\'s path and drops unconscious to the floor. A bolt of pure white light erupts from Harry\'s wand and Lord Voldemort finally falls, dead.

Snape slumped back on his pillow and frowned at his two former students. \"Yes, I remember now\" he said. \"But I don\'t understand - I should have died.\"
\"You nearly did, Professor,\" said Hermione. \"We tried everything and nothing seemed to work. Then I - \" she stopped and blushed.
\"Hermione was brilliant,\" said Harry warmly. \"She sat in the library for hours researching obscure potions. Eventually she came across this one in Saclore\'s \'Revival Potions\' - \"
Snape hissed in surprise. \"Miss Granger, please tell me you didn\'t turn me into a zombie!\"
\"No of course not Professor,\" muttered Hermione, refusing to meet his black gaze.
\"Saclore is notoriously unreliable, and I cannot think of any other of his potions which could bring back someone as mortally wounded as I evidently was...\" his voice trailed off and a horrified expression came over his harsh features. \"Except, perhaps...\"
Hermione twisted her hands together on her lap. \"It was an emergency,\" she said quietly. \"It seemed the only chance.\"
Harry was looking from one to the other of them, confused. \"What\'s wrong?\" he said. \"It worked, didn\'t it?\"
\"Oh yes, it worked, Mr Potter,\" whispered Snape darkly. \"But at what cost?\"
\"I don\'t understand,\" said Harry. \"We are talking about the Essences potion here, right? Hermione said all it needed was for a willing volunteer to provide, er, vital essences, and -\"
\"As I feared,\" sighed Snape, closing his eyes. Harry and Hermione exchanged worried glances. Snape groaned, as if an even worse thought had occurred to him. \"Might I enquire,\" he murmured dangerously, \"which of you -?\"
\"Well we tried adding some of Hermione\'s blood to the basic potion to start with,\" said Harry, \"but that had no effect, so we tried some of mine.\"
Snape had reopened his eyes and was staring at Harry curiously. \"But blood alone wouldn\'t - \"
\"No, we realised that eventually,\" said Hermione. \"But it seemed to help, you stopped tossing about and groaning and it brought the fever down a bit. So I went back to the library to try and find out more information about the potion and Harry stayed with you.\"
Snape\'s gaze remained locked with Harry\'s. \"And what did you do then, Mr Potter?\"
Harry looked away. \"Well, I just sat there for a bit,\" he muttered, \"and then I got to thinking about things, about how I\'d hated you and that it looked like you were going to die.\" He looked defiantly back at Snape. \"And I suddenly realised I didn\'t want to be without you in spite of everything, and I - \"
\"Yes?\" Snape\'s voice was a deep growl.
\"I started crying,\" whispered Harry shamefacedly. \"And the glass of potion was still in my hand from when I tried to get you to take more of it, and - and - some of my tears just - fell into it.\"
Snape stared at Harry as if he couldn\'t believe what he was hearing. \"But that still wouldn\'t - \"
\"But it did, Professor,\" said Hermione eagerly. \"I got back from the library then and Harry told me what had happened. The potion had changed colour which Saclore had mentioned, so we thought it was worth a try. When you\'d drunk a few sips more you fell into a very peaceful sleep and I thought - \"
\"You thought wrong, Miss Granger,\" Snape sneered. \"That was a sleep from which I would never have awakened without further - intervention - on someone\'s part.\"
\"Oh, no,\" Hermione began, but then broke off as Harry shook his head. He was blushing furiously. \"Yes, Hermione,\" he whispered. \"You didn\'t know, because you went off to get some rest. But something else did happen.\"
\"Tell me, Miss Granger,\" Snape enquired poisonously, \"did you manage to FULLY research the Essences potion?\"
Hermione tugged at her hair, looking worried. \"I tried, Professor. But the only other reference I could find was to a book in the Restricted section of the library, and I couldn\'t get access to it.\"
Snape glanced at Harry, who was still blushing and determinedly avoiding looking at the older wizard. Then he regarded Hermione blankly for a moment. \"Well in that case I suggest you continue your research.\" He groped on the bedside table for his wand. \"This note - \" he flicked his wand weakly at her and a small piece of parchment appeared in her hand - \"will allow you access to the Restricted section of the library. I recommend you read Nicholas Dittander on Potions; Saclore is rather, er, mealy-mouthed at times. Dittander is far more reliable.\"
Hermione stared at him. \"Go on, Miss Granger,\" he said. \"Mr Potter and I have things to discuss.\"
\"Oh, right,\" said Hermione blankly. She glanced at the parchment in her hand and marched over to the door.
\"Oh, and Miss Granger - \"
Hermione turned, her hand on the doorknob.
\"Pay particular attention to the potion\'s - ah - consequences.\"


TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>