Path of the serpent
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Snape/Lucius
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
15,115
Reviews:
48
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Snape/Lucius
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
15,115
Reviews:
48
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Lucius and Remus meet again
Title: Path of the serpent
Author: ejab
Pairing : SS/LM with a little SS/RL and SS/DM on the side
Rating: story is slash and NC-17
Feedback: a true gift and highly appreciated
Disclaimer: yes, yes, J.K. Rowling still owns them. Sigh.
Warnings: none here
Category: all over the place
Summary: Lucius and Remus meet again...
A/N: betas are underlucius and silentpawz.
34/?
After a truly gruelling week of counting every second twice and constantly dodging an equally exited Lupin, the day of the hearing had finally arrived.
The hearing would be at ten. The potions master was up at five. Lucius Malfoy emerged at six..
“What are you doing here at such an impossible hour?” a stunned Snape greeted him.
“Yes, just as I suspected... “ Lucius closed the door behind him, giving his lover an amused look.
“What?” Severus frowned in irritation, continuing to dress himself again while Lucius casually leaned against the wall, looking him over once more.
“Up and about and on your way to a nervous breakdown.”
“I am NOT nervous. I always rise early.”
“True, but I’ve never seen you put on two pairs of underpants before - that’s new,” Lucius chuckled, clearly enjoying the sight of a half dressed potions master.
“Two pa – oh, bugger.” Severus removed one of the underpants, sighing and mumbling to himself as he did so.
“Calm down, you blabbering idiot. There really is no need for you to worry.” As much as the sight of a highly agitated potions master amused him, Lucius knew he could not tolerate that. He walked up towards his lover and forced him to stop what he was doing by strongly cupping the man’s face with both hands, forcing him to make eye-contact at the same time.
“Easy for you to say! My reputation’s at stake here! This is a long-lived dream! My one and only change for true acknowledgment! Something I stroved for! My-“
The only way to shut the almost hyperventilating potions master up was to distract him, Lucius decided, so he shoved his tongue in the open mouth and with one hand squeezed his balls. Hard. Severus groaned, not sure he liked it THIS hard, and grabbed his husband-to-be by the shoulders.
“Lucius, I am-“
“Sshhh... there really is no need for you to worry.” Lucius cupped his face again. “You will get the title, I have absolutely no doubt at all.”
“But if I-“
“Shut up and listen to me, you idiot. You will go to that hearing and explain and answer all their stupid questions. Look at it as just another class to teach – which, in some way, is exactly what you will be doing. They are obviously too stupid to figure it out themselves and you will have to enlighten them. Business as usual, really. Just restrain your normal disdain somewhat. Yes?”
“A class. Yes, that is a good comparison.” Severus smiled faintly, calming down a bit and taking a deep breath. “You really think I’ll get the title, then?”
“Absolutely,” Lucius assured him, inwardly vowing that he would ‘help’ make that decision if need be.
“Yes, of course.. after all, I AM a genius,” the potions master mumbled. He shook his head and sighed again, thanking his lover with a deep, long kiss for his early arrival and support. No need to say that out loud. Lucius would deny it anyway.
Almost four hours later Severus and Lucius entered the hall of the Office for the International Confederation of Herbologists and Potion Masters.
“Spare neither pains nor expense,” Lucius mumbled, obviously unpleasantly surprised by the frugal furnishing and decorations. He gave his lover a disapproving look and sighed.
“This institute represents intelligence and knowledge, Lucius. Wealth from within,” Snape said snidely, using a tone of ‘as if you would understand’.
“As if-“
“Master Snape?” A very old-looking skinny wizard appeared in front of them, bowing gracefully before the potions master. Snape nodded.
“This way, please. The High Council is awaiting you.” The man escorted them to the left wing of the building, into a large room where absolutely everything seemed to be made of wood. Very old wood. Expensive wood, Lucius noticed.
Four long benches to the left of the room and in front of them a single desk, all facing to the right, towards the gallery, which seated six wizards on ground level. Behind them, on a raised platform, were the paintings of the four, at the moment rather bored looking, potions masters ever rewarded with the title of Grandmaster.
“If you would be so kind to take a seat here?” The skinny wizard led Snape to the desk and gestured Lucius to just take place on one of the benches. Clearly power nor titles were of any importance here. Lucius pressed his lips together, gave the old man one of his notorious Death Eater glares and sat down on a hard wooden bench. One swift look back and he stared at the smiling face of the Headmaster. Next to him sat the DADA teacher and the bloody rug had the nerve to give him an undaunted (or should he say ‘challenging’?) glare. At seeing the werewolf, anger immediately rose to the surface, but Lucius maintained a civil face and gave them a curt nod before quickly turning around again.
“All please be seated.” The skinny wizard also seemed to be some sort of bailiff. He walked to the front of the gallery and coughed. “The High Council now will judge the approval of application no. 1.054, brought forward by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, school of wizardry and witchcraft, and professor Remus Lupin, currently working as the DADA teacher at Hogwarts. The application requests the granting of the title Grandmaster of Potions to Severus Snape, the current potions master at that same Hogwarts.” The portraits behind him were all still looking anything but impressed and one wizard even yawned impudently. “This court is now in session.”
A tall wizard with a tiny beard slowly stood up. “Thank you, Meadur. Please let me begin by introducing our members.” He pointed at the row of portraits. “Beginning at the right – Grandmaster Jose Efrain Veddar from Chile, Grandmaster Per Kristiansson from Sweden, Grandmaster Liam Dennehy from Wales and Grandmaster Ismail Tapinar from Syria. ” All of the portraits just gave a short nod. “Then, beginning at the right again, we have Master Heinrich Webler from Germany, Master Remy Clerc from France, Master Paolo Naninni from Italy, Master Arpad Slotzly from Hungary and at the end is Master Mehmet Urdu from Turkey. And my name is Master Jonathan Merble and I come from Ipswich.” The wizard sat down again and looked through his papers before straightening up and bending slightly forward, eyes piercing at Snape.
“Master Snape... I must say we unanimously were very impressed by your research and findings and we’d like to ask you some questions, if that is all right with you? Master Urdu?”
And with that the hearing started. Painstakingly thorough, ruthless and always paying great attention to even the smallest detail.
Lucius listened and watched intensely, even when it got too technical for him to understand it
all. Which was surprisingly quick. But he consoled himself with the thought that even Dumbledore would be lost by now. Severus, on the other hand, kept answering all their questions with remarkable ease and clearly started to enjoy the whole procedure more and more with every passing minute. Lucius couldn’t help but feel proud. And intrigued. Seeing Sev that focused and in his element always made him realise just how beautiful his dark angel was; his intelligence always managed to capture and fascinate him. Time and time again. But he was no fool. That same intelligence which made his lover so irresistible could also be Lucius’ deadliest enemy. He never forgot that. Not even when Sev played along with his games and took on the role of the submissive. His lover was an extremely dangerous enemy to have. And that thrilled him beyond belief. He sighed softly and relaxed a bit as it all seemed to go very well.
“Thank you so far, Master Snape. Professor Lupin, if you would be so kind to step forward?” Master Merble, obviously the chairman, turned his attention to the DADA teacher. Remus quickly stood up and walked to the front, stopping just before the desk where Snape sat.
The potions master quickly turned around, his eyes searching for Lucius. After finding him, he smiled faintly. Lucius nodded approvingly and chuckled, noticing the excited sparkles in his lover’s eyes. Yes, the man was indeed in his element! The potions master smirked and turned back again, in order to focus on Lupin’s testimonial.
The werewolf calmly gave his statement and also underwent a relentless cross-examination.
“So ief I understand iet correctly, zee only thing that ies still to be improved ies getting through zee successfully suppressed metamorphosis stage completely painless?” Master Slotzly looked at both Snape and Lupin. The two of them nodded simultaneously.
“Judging on your last try-out, do you believe you could now walk freely and participate in society without being or becoming a danger to anyone, Professor Lupin?” Master Merble frowned. “There is no hidden trigger that can set the werewolf free? Even if you wanted to?”
“Absolutely not, sir. I may have all the senses of the wolf but I have full control over him,” Lupin assured him, not without pride.
“Very well, you may be seated, Professor Lupin.” Master Merble exchanged looks with his colleagues and stood up again. “The members of the Council will now shortly suspend the hearing for a deliberation. If you will all please be so kind and step outside of the room? You can wait in the hallway and Meadur will come and get you when we are ready to proceed.”
Dumbledore, Lupin, Lucius and Severus walked to the hall. Meadur followed and offered them all a cup of tea after which he quickly left again.
“I am very proud of you, Severus.”The Headmaster gave his potions master a fatherly pat on his shoulder and grinned. “There really was no question you had no answer to. Outstanding!”
“Thank you, Headmaster.” Snape mumbled, a bit taken aback this public show of appreciation. “But it is not over yet.”
“I know, Severus, I know, but I have complete confidence in you and your skills. I was also delighted to see old Remy Clerc again; hopefully I can chat with him after the hearing. It would be nice to share some fond memories with an old friend.”
“Where do you know him from, Headmaster?” Remus asked curiously.
“Oh, we go back a long way together. He came to Hogwarts during his second year after his parents moved from Canada. We became good friends but lost contact after school, when he moved to France. It would be interesting to know if he still collects egg-cups.”
“Ah... “ Remus did his best to stay serious and suddenly noticed a nasty spot on his jumper.
“And you, Lucius... you must be very proud of Severus too! Some last encouraging words for our future Grandmaster before we are called back again?” Dumbledore asked cheerfully.
“Words? Yes, as a matter of fact there are some words I would like to express... “ Lucius slowly turned towards Lupin. “You are extremely fortunate that my future husband needs you in good mental and physical health in order to continue his final testing.” He gave the DADA teacher a knowing and also very threatening look.
“I know you prefer me dead, Lucius.” Remus stood his ground, not for a moment dodging the murderous glare Malfoy sent him. Both Dumbledore and Snape exchanged worried looks.
“Such a nice rug you would make... “ Lucius again kept a civil appearance but inside he was raging with anger as it was more than obvious that the werewolf understood the warning but refused to step back and renounce his claim on the potions master.
“Boys, boys... where are your manners? We are here for Severus, remember?” the Headmaster quickly stepped in between the two and managed to separate them before things could escalate.
Luckily, Meadur arrived at that point and escorted them all back to the room. The members of the High Council were already waiting. Severus took his place at the desk again, feeling strangely confused about the confrontation he’d just witnessed.
“Master Snape,” Master Merble spoke softly, “this potion is revolutionary. Truly revolutionary. Therefore we have decided to await the results of your upcoming refinements. When Professor Lupin is scheduled for his next metamorphosis, we ask you both to come back here. Before he takes the new potion, that is. We can then witness it all with our own eyes and do some tests while he is under the influence. The moment Professor Lupin can report to us that his suppressed metamorphosis is absolutely painless and we are also convinced that he is telling the truth AND is indeed completely harmless for his environment, we will be extremely honoured to grant you the title of Grandmaster of Potions.”
“You do know that the potion will also be inspected by the Ministry?” Master Slotzly gave the potions master a questioning look.
“No, I wasn’t aware of that, sir. Is that a problem?” Snape suppressed a sigh.
“Not where your craftsmanship is concerned, but maybe from the ethical point of view.” The man got several warning looks from his colleagues but happily ignored them. “Many people will get pretty nervous when werewolves are suddenly able to fully participate in society all the time. It makes them difficult to... er, detect, and-“
“Yes, we get the idea, Master Slotzly. Thank you.” Master Naninni said determinedly.
“It will certainly be seen as highly controversial by many people,” Master Webler nodded.
“My whole life is controversial,” the potions master blurted out.
“So I ‘ave ‘eard.” Master Clerc chuckled and gave Snape an amused wink.
Severus smirked. “Is the judgement of the Ministry of any influence on your final decision?” he then asked politely.
“Merlin forbid!” Master Merble frowned. “We are an independent organisation and proud of it. We always have been. And not always to the liking of the Ministry, I can assure you. Grandmaster Tapinar here, for instance...” the wizard on the portrait straightened his back proudly, “...has been rewarded the title of Grandmaster of Potions despite the fact that the Ministry immediately banned his potion and labeled it as Dark and therefore illegal.” He rose and the five other members of the High Council did the same. “Master Snape and Professor Lupin, we will see you back when it is time for your next metamorphosis. Until then... gentlemen...”
The six wizards bowed towards Snape. He stiffly returned the gesture and watched them disappear as they entered a room at the back of the gallery. Meadur covered the portraits of the Grandmasters and then escorted Lucius and Snape to the exit. Dumbledore stayed behind to talk to his old friend again and was wise enough to keep talking to Remus Lupin for as long as Lucius was still somewhere around. He kept the conversation light but his eyes betrayed concerns once more.
“Just say it, Headmaster.” Remus grumbled, not fooled by the light-hearted conversation.
“You boys with all your raging hormones and need for dominance... you make an old man feel very tired and sad sometimes... “ the Headmaster shook his head, eyes fixed on the floor before he looked up again. “Nothing good can come out of this, Remus. Not with Lucius Malfoy as your opponent.”
“Maybe and maybe not. But I have one advantage over Lucius,” Remus smiled.
“And what may that be?”
“Patience.” And with that the DADA teacher left.
Phobos – yes, you misunderstood, I’m afraid.The snake (= Slytherins) has its fangs in the lion (= Gryffindors) and Lucius sees that as some kind of metaphore for the neverending rivalry between the two Houses AND the pranks he and Severus played on those loathing Gryffindors. For him it represents the goold old days where he and his lover had their fun ‘playing’ with the Gryffindors and it also represents the beginning of their love for each other. Severus, however, can only think of those days as the one time he was truly happy and have that destroyed the moment he found out his Lucius was to marry Narcissa. Which meant that he lost his lover to a woman. And being in Hogwarts reminds him of that fact every day. So basically Lucius remembers the fun and Severus only remembers the hurt – a hurt that never healed. Makes sense now?
Now that the pleasantries are out of the way ;) – I can’t help but notice a certain urge to experience an ’Avada...’ here (*she polishes her wand fiercely*). You dare to threaten AND insult me?! I ALWAYS finish my work! ALWAYS! Granted, I was behind schedule a bit. Okay, a lot. But threatening me doesn’t help. Threatening me also has NOTHING to do with the fact that chapter 35 is suddenly going very well and is almost finished (pay attention to the word ‘almost’). Pure coincidence! How dare you! You...! You....!
I HAD plans for a sequel... (*she grins wickedly*). Hmpf.
Author: ejab
Pairing : SS/LM with a little SS/RL and SS/DM on the side
Rating: story is slash and NC-17
Feedback: a true gift and highly appreciated
Disclaimer: yes, yes, J.K. Rowling still owns them. Sigh.
Warnings: none here
Category: all over the place
Summary: Lucius and Remus meet again...
A/N: betas are underlucius and silentpawz.
34/?
After a truly gruelling week of counting every second twice and constantly dodging an equally exited Lupin, the day of the hearing had finally arrived.
The hearing would be at ten. The potions master was up at five. Lucius Malfoy emerged at six..
“What are you doing here at such an impossible hour?” a stunned Snape greeted him.
“Yes, just as I suspected... “ Lucius closed the door behind him, giving his lover an amused look.
“What?” Severus frowned in irritation, continuing to dress himself again while Lucius casually leaned against the wall, looking him over once more.
“Up and about and on your way to a nervous breakdown.”
“I am NOT nervous. I always rise early.”
“True, but I’ve never seen you put on two pairs of underpants before - that’s new,” Lucius chuckled, clearly enjoying the sight of a half dressed potions master.
“Two pa – oh, bugger.” Severus removed one of the underpants, sighing and mumbling to himself as he did so.
“Calm down, you blabbering idiot. There really is no need for you to worry.” As much as the sight of a highly agitated potions master amused him, Lucius knew he could not tolerate that. He walked up towards his lover and forced him to stop what he was doing by strongly cupping the man’s face with both hands, forcing him to make eye-contact at the same time.
“Easy for you to say! My reputation’s at stake here! This is a long-lived dream! My one and only change for true acknowledgment! Something I stroved for! My-“
The only way to shut the almost hyperventilating potions master up was to distract him, Lucius decided, so he shoved his tongue in the open mouth and with one hand squeezed his balls. Hard. Severus groaned, not sure he liked it THIS hard, and grabbed his husband-to-be by the shoulders.
“Lucius, I am-“
“Sshhh... there really is no need for you to worry.” Lucius cupped his face again. “You will get the title, I have absolutely no doubt at all.”
“But if I-“
“Shut up and listen to me, you idiot. You will go to that hearing and explain and answer all their stupid questions. Look at it as just another class to teach – which, in some way, is exactly what you will be doing. They are obviously too stupid to figure it out themselves and you will have to enlighten them. Business as usual, really. Just restrain your normal disdain somewhat. Yes?”
“A class. Yes, that is a good comparison.” Severus smiled faintly, calming down a bit and taking a deep breath. “You really think I’ll get the title, then?”
“Absolutely,” Lucius assured him, inwardly vowing that he would ‘help’ make that decision if need be.
“Yes, of course.. after all, I AM a genius,” the potions master mumbled. He shook his head and sighed again, thanking his lover with a deep, long kiss for his early arrival and support. No need to say that out loud. Lucius would deny it anyway.
Almost four hours later Severus and Lucius entered the hall of the Office for the International Confederation of Herbologists and Potion Masters.
“Spare neither pains nor expense,” Lucius mumbled, obviously unpleasantly surprised by the frugal furnishing and decorations. He gave his lover a disapproving look and sighed.
“This institute represents intelligence and knowledge, Lucius. Wealth from within,” Snape said snidely, using a tone of ‘as if you would understand’.
“As if-“
“Master Snape?” A very old-looking skinny wizard appeared in front of them, bowing gracefully before the potions master. Snape nodded.
“This way, please. The High Council is awaiting you.” The man escorted them to the left wing of the building, into a large room where absolutely everything seemed to be made of wood. Very old wood. Expensive wood, Lucius noticed.
Four long benches to the left of the room and in front of them a single desk, all facing to the right, towards the gallery, which seated six wizards on ground level. Behind them, on a raised platform, were the paintings of the four, at the moment rather bored looking, potions masters ever rewarded with the title of Grandmaster.
“If you would be so kind to take a seat here?” The skinny wizard led Snape to the desk and gestured Lucius to just take place on one of the benches. Clearly power nor titles were of any importance here. Lucius pressed his lips together, gave the old man one of his notorious Death Eater glares and sat down on a hard wooden bench. One swift look back and he stared at the smiling face of the Headmaster. Next to him sat the DADA teacher and the bloody rug had the nerve to give him an undaunted (or should he say ‘challenging’?) glare. At seeing the werewolf, anger immediately rose to the surface, but Lucius maintained a civil face and gave them a curt nod before quickly turning around again.
“All please be seated.” The skinny wizard also seemed to be some sort of bailiff. He walked to the front of the gallery and coughed. “The High Council now will judge the approval of application no. 1.054, brought forward by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, school of wizardry and witchcraft, and professor Remus Lupin, currently working as the DADA teacher at Hogwarts. The application requests the granting of the title Grandmaster of Potions to Severus Snape, the current potions master at that same Hogwarts.” The portraits behind him were all still looking anything but impressed and one wizard even yawned impudently. “This court is now in session.”
A tall wizard with a tiny beard slowly stood up. “Thank you, Meadur. Please let me begin by introducing our members.” He pointed at the row of portraits. “Beginning at the right – Grandmaster Jose Efrain Veddar from Chile, Grandmaster Per Kristiansson from Sweden, Grandmaster Liam Dennehy from Wales and Grandmaster Ismail Tapinar from Syria. ” All of the portraits just gave a short nod. “Then, beginning at the right again, we have Master Heinrich Webler from Germany, Master Remy Clerc from France, Master Paolo Naninni from Italy, Master Arpad Slotzly from Hungary and at the end is Master Mehmet Urdu from Turkey. And my name is Master Jonathan Merble and I come from Ipswich.” The wizard sat down again and looked through his papers before straightening up and bending slightly forward, eyes piercing at Snape.
“Master Snape... I must say we unanimously were very impressed by your research and findings and we’d like to ask you some questions, if that is all right with you? Master Urdu?”
And with that the hearing started. Painstakingly thorough, ruthless and always paying great attention to even the smallest detail.
Lucius listened and watched intensely, even when it got too technical for him to understand it
all. Which was surprisingly quick. But he consoled himself with the thought that even Dumbledore would be lost by now. Severus, on the other hand, kept answering all their questions with remarkable ease and clearly started to enjoy the whole procedure more and more with every passing minute. Lucius couldn’t help but feel proud. And intrigued. Seeing Sev that focused and in his element always made him realise just how beautiful his dark angel was; his intelligence always managed to capture and fascinate him. Time and time again. But he was no fool. That same intelligence which made his lover so irresistible could also be Lucius’ deadliest enemy. He never forgot that. Not even when Sev played along with his games and took on the role of the submissive. His lover was an extremely dangerous enemy to have. And that thrilled him beyond belief. He sighed softly and relaxed a bit as it all seemed to go very well.
“Thank you so far, Master Snape. Professor Lupin, if you would be so kind to step forward?” Master Merble, obviously the chairman, turned his attention to the DADA teacher. Remus quickly stood up and walked to the front, stopping just before the desk where Snape sat.
The potions master quickly turned around, his eyes searching for Lucius. After finding him, he smiled faintly. Lucius nodded approvingly and chuckled, noticing the excited sparkles in his lover’s eyes. Yes, the man was indeed in his element! The potions master smirked and turned back again, in order to focus on Lupin’s testimonial.
The werewolf calmly gave his statement and also underwent a relentless cross-examination.
“So ief I understand iet correctly, zee only thing that ies still to be improved ies getting through zee successfully suppressed metamorphosis stage completely painless?” Master Slotzly looked at both Snape and Lupin. The two of them nodded simultaneously.
“Judging on your last try-out, do you believe you could now walk freely and participate in society without being or becoming a danger to anyone, Professor Lupin?” Master Merble frowned. “There is no hidden trigger that can set the werewolf free? Even if you wanted to?”
“Absolutely not, sir. I may have all the senses of the wolf but I have full control over him,” Lupin assured him, not without pride.
“Very well, you may be seated, Professor Lupin.” Master Merble exchanged looks with his colleagues and stood up again. “The members of the Council will now shortly suspend the hearing for a deliberation. If you will all please be so kind and step outside of the room? You can wait in the hallway and Meadur will come and get you when we are ready to proceed.”
Dumbledore, Lupin, Lucius and Severus walked to the hall. Meadur followed and offered them all a cup of tea after which he quickly left again.
“I am very proud of you, Severus.”The Headmaster gave his potions master a fatherly pat on his shoulder and grinned. “There really was no question you had no answer to. Outstanding!”
“Thank you, Headmaster.” Snape mumbled, a bit taken aback this public show of appreciation. “But it is not over yet.”
“I know, Severus, I know, but I have complete confidence in you and your skills. I was also delighted to see old Remy Clerc again; hopefully I can chat with him after the hearing. It would be nice to share some fond memories with an old friend.”
“Where do you know him from, Headmaster?” Remus asked curiously.
“Oh, we go back a long way together. He came to Hogwarts during his second year after his parents moved from Canada. We became good friends but lost contact after school, when he moved to France. It would be interesting to know if he still collects egg-cups.”
“Ah... “ Remus did his best to stay serious and suddenly noticed a nasty spot on his jumper.
“And you, Lucius... you must be very proud of Severus too! Some last encouraging words for our future Grandmaster before we are called back again?” Dumbledore asked cheerfully.
“Words? Yes, as a matter of fact there are some words I would like to express... “ Lucius slowly turned towards Lupin. “You are extremely fortunate that my future husband needs you in good mental and physical health in order to continue his final testing.” He gave the DADA teacher a knowing and also very threatening look.
“I know you prefer me dead, Lucius.” Remus stood his ground, not for a moment dodging the murderous glare Malfoy sent him. Both Dumbledore and Snape exchanged worried looks.
“Such a nice rug you would make... “ Lucius again kept a civil appearance but inside he was raging with anger as it was more than obvious that the werewolf understood the warning but refused to step back and renounce his claim on the potions master.
“Boys, boys... where are your manners? We are here for Severus, remember?” the Headmaster quickly stepped in between the two and managed to separate them before things could escalate.
Luckily, Meadur arrived at that point and escorted them all back to the room. The members of the High Council were already waiting. Severus took his place at the desk again, feeling strangely confused about the confrontation he’d just witnessed.
“Master Snape,” Master Merble spoke softly, “this potion is revolutionary. Truly revolutionary. Therefore we have decided to await the results of your upcoming refinements. When Professor Lupin is scheduled for his next metamorphosis, we ask you both to come back here. Before he takes the new potion, that is. We can then witness it all with our own eyes and do some tests while he is under the influence. The moment Professor Lupin can report to us that his suppressed metamorphosis is absolutely painless and we are also convinced that he is telling the truth AND is indeed completely harmless for his environment, we will be extremely honoured to grant you the title of Grandmaster of Potions.”
“You do know that the potion will also be inspected by the Ministry?” Master Slotzly gave the potions master a questioning look.
“No, I wasn’t aware of that, sir. Is that a problem?” Snape suppressed a sigh.
“Not where your craftsmanship is concerned, but maybe from the ethical point of view.” The man got several warning looks from his colleagues but happily ignored them. “Many people will get pretty nervous when werewolves are suddenly able to fully participate in society all the time. It makes them difficult to... er, detect, and-“
“Yes, we get the idea, Master Slotzly. Thank you.” Master Naninni said determinedly.
“It will certainly be seen as highly controversial by many people,” Master Webler nodded.
“My whole life is controversial,” the potions master blurted out.
“So I ‘ave ‘eard.” Master Clerc chuckled and gave Snape an amused wink.
Severus smirked. “Is the judgement of the Ministry of any influence on your final decision?” he then asked politely.
“Merlin forbid!” Master Merble frowned. “We are an independent organisation and proud of it. We always have been. And not always to the liking of the Ministry, I can assure you. Grandmaster Tapinar here, for instance...” the wizard on the portrait straightened his back proudly, “...has been rewarded the title of Grandmaster of Potions despite the fact that the Ministry immediately banned his potion and labeled it as Dark and therefore illegal.” He rose and the five other members of the High Council did the same. “Master Snape and Professor Lupin, we will see you back when it is time for your next metamorphosis. Until then... gentlemen...”
The six wizards bowed towards Snape. He stiffly returned the gesture and watched them disappear as they entered a room at the back of the gallery. Meadur covered the portraits of the Grandmasters and then escorted Lucius and Snape to the exit. Dumbledore stayed behind to talk to his old friend again and was wise enough to keep talking to Remus Lupin for as long as Lucius was still somewhere around. He kept the conversation light but his eyes betrayed concerns once more.
“Just say it, Headmaster.” Remus grumbled, not fooled by the light-hearted conversation.
“You boys with all your raging hormones and need for dominance... you make an old man feel very tired and sad sometimes... “ the Headmaster shook his head, eyes fixed on the floor before he looked up again. “Nothing good can come out of this, Remus. Not with Lucius Malfoy as your opponent.”
“Maybe and maybe not. But I have one advantage over Lucius,” Remus smiled.
“And what may that be?”
“Patience.” And with that the DADA teacher left.
Phobos – yes, you misunderstood, I’m afraid.The snake (= Slytherins) has its fangs in the lion (= Gryffindors) and Lucius sees that as some kind of metaphore for the neverending rivalry between the two Houses AND the pranks he and Severus played on those loathing Gryffindors. For him it represents the goold old days where he and his lover had their fun ‘playing’ with the Gryffindors and it also represents the beginning of their love for each other. Severus, however, can only think of those days as the one time he was truly happy and have that destroyed the moment he found out his Lucius was to marry Narcissa. Which meant that he lost his lover to a woman. And being in Hogwarts reminds him of that fact every day. So basically Lucius remembers the fun and Severus only remembers the hurt – a hurt that never healed. Makes sense now?
Now that the pleasantries are out of the way ;) – I can’t help but notice a certain urge to experience an ’Avada...’ here (*she polishes her wand fiercely*). You dare to threaten AND insult me?! I ALWAYS finish my work! ALWAYS! Granted, I was behind schedule a bit. Okay, a lot. But threatening me doesn’t help. Threatening me also has NOTHING to do with the fact that chapter 35 is suddenly going very well and is almost finished (pay attention to the word ‘almost’). Pure coincidence! How dare you! You...! You....!
I HAD plans for a sequel... (*she grins wickedly*). Hmpf.