Don't Lie to Me

CHAPTER 5: THE CONTRACT

"Lumos!" It was Snape’s voice, calling from the doorway.

The dimly lit office was suddenly illuminated by the glow of various candles placed strategically around the room. Helena glanced towards the shelves again. In the bright light, some of the objects had lost some of their eerie otherworldly appearance. However, a fair number of them were even more ghastly in appearance, the augmented illumination allowing every hideous detail to be clearly seen. She did see to her relief that it appeared that there were no penises, or other recognizable human parts floating within any of the jars.

She heard him shut the door behind him, and the locks clicking into place as a result of his murmured spell. She heard a loud plopping sound as he passed by her chair, and she looked down to see her book bag sitting on the floor. As the bottom was no longer in existence, it was now sitting upside down on its zippered top. And through the ragged, melted ends of the ruined material she could see that all of her school supplies had been retrieved and stuffed carelessly inside of it. And that her wand was sitting on top of the jumbled pile.

She looked up at him. Snape paused to remove the sketchbook from underneath his arm and slammed it angrily down upon the desktop before seating himself. Then he crossed his arms and glared ominously at her. Almost a minute had passed before he broke the silence.

"I understand that you have evinced an interest in the field of Medical Wizardry, Miss Harrison?" His voice was dangerously quiet.

"Yes, Sir," she replied.

"That accounts, no doubt, for your inordinate interest in anatomical renderings at the moment?" he observed dryly.

She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Professor Snape, I am so sorry-"

Abruptly, he uncrossed his arms and held out his right hand, immediately silencing her with the gesture.

"Oh, I am sure that you are VERY sorry at the moment, Miss Harrison. People who have been caught doing something that they shouldn’t are usually sorry." He drew both elbows onto the table and leaned towards her. "Sorry that they were caught," he added, sardonically.

"No, really, Sir, I-"

Snape closed his eyes and hissed, "Miss Harrison!"

She clamped her mouth shut.

He opened his eyes and sighed. "I assure you that I do not have the slightest interest in hearing an apology or explanation from you." He smiled nastily and leaned back in his chair. "Not right at this moment, at any rate. In fact," he continued, cocking his eyebrow, "I should suggest that, unless you are answering a direct question, you remain silent. For your own good."

She nodded.

***Well, at least he’s back to telling me to ‘remain silent’ instead of to ‘shut up’. ***

He regarded her gravely, his dark eyes examining her intently. Helena had the definite feeling that he was still debating about what he was going to do.

"How old are you?"

She blinked. That was certainly not a question she had been expecting him to ask. "Eighteen."

He tilted his head and scrutinized her. "You have your birthday very early in the term," he noted, a faint trace of suspicion in his voice.

What, you don’t believe me? Simple matter to check the school records, isn’t it?

"It was last Tuesday, as a matter of fact", she replied slowly.

Ridiculous thoughts flew through her mind.

Yeah, I was really bummed that you didn’t send a present. Or at least owled me a card. But, that’s okay. Don’t bother throwing a party now. Let’s say we just shake hands and call ourselves even. Okay with you?

"Good," he noted. He bent down and opened one of the desk drawers. She heard faint rustling sounds as his fingers searched through a sheaf of papers. When he straightened up, she saw that there was sheet of parchment in his right hand. "Then you are legally of age to sign this," he commented, as he slid the piece of paper over to her side of the desk.

Puzzled, she reached out her own hand to pick up the document. With a furrowed brow, she read what was written upon it.

"I, ______________________, attest to the Ministry of Magic that I have given Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, my full and voluntary permission to administer to me a dose of __________________________, on ______________. I understand that I am cooperating in a study which is gathering data that is vital to the security of the government and that I am fully aware of the possible dangers inherent in my participation in this project. I further state that I absolve the Ministry of Magic, the School of Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore, and Professor Snape from any liability for any and all unforeseen side effects and consequences resulting from the ingestion of this potion.

Signed _______________________________________________

Potion Administered By:___________________________________

She looked back at Snape, her face troubled and bewildered. "What is this?"

He sighed and tilted his head back, clasping his hands in front of him. "Quite clearly, it is a consent form which is written in such a way as to constitute a legally binding contract."

"But-"

"Miss Harrison, I am certain you are aware that my title of ‘Potions Master’ refers to a level of expertise extending far beyond my mere teaching duties here at Hogwarts?"

She nodded dumbly.

"The Ministry of Magic relies upon my unique abilities for the brewing of a number of powerful and dangerous potions, the uses of which are strictly controlled. I am sure that you can appreciate that the Ministry finds many of these potions absolutely indispensable, particularly in these unsettling times. And that I am constantly seeking to improve and enhance their effectiveness."

He paused. She made no response.

"The brewing and testing of these potions is a great responsibility, and it is one that I do not take lightly. After all, the Ministry must be absolutely sure of the efficacy of the potions before they are administered to certain ‘noncompliant' or ‘unsuspecting’ individuals. And therefore," he gestured at the paper, "I require the assistance of volunteers to help me in the testing of these potions before I release them to the ministry."

She glanced back and forth between his face and the paper for a moment. She appeared shocked and faintly ill. "So, you’re not only going to poison me, you’re going to do so with my own permission?", she gasped.

Snape snorted. "Oh, I assure you, Miss Harrison, I was not planning on poisoning you."

She looked unconvinced.

He smiled malevolently and leaned forward. "As a matter of fact, I have recently experimented with a new formulation for Veritaserum. And I am very interested in seeing how well it works." His smile broadened. "Something tells me that you are the perfect candidate to test it on."

She stared at him and gulped.

Truth Serum. Snape. Uh, maybe poison wouldn’t really be so bad, after all.

She looked back down at the paper and read through it again. And then she looked back up at Snape and noted that he was no longer smiling. In fact, to judge by his expression he was reaching the end of his rather limited patience.

"You can’t legally administer the Veritaserum to me unless I sign this paper," she said slowly, still trying to buy some time as she tried to figure out exactly what it was that he was after.

"No."

"And you can’t force me to sign this paper," she added, just a touch of defiance in her voice.

Snape smiled coldly. "Of course not, Miss Harrison. If you do not wish to proceed, you may leave my office immediately."

She looked at him suspiciously.

Snape shifted his eyes to look at the sketchbook, which stood on the table between them. "However, if you do, I shall be forced to retain possession of this most interesting little collection of drawings."

She glared at him.

"Did you know, Miss Harrison," he continued on in a friendly, conversational tone, "That Madam Pomfrey has already asked all of your teachers to support you in your endeavor to be directly accepted into the Mediwitch Program at the University?"

The surprised look on her face assured him that she had not been told.

"Of course Flitwick and Vector are quite enthusiastic about the idea. They’ve been pestering all the rest of us about it for days. Even McGonagall is beginning to warm up to the idea." A malicious glint was shining in his cold, black eyes. "In fact, she suggested that we put the matter to a formal vote next week at the staff meeting. An enthusiastic endorsement of you, signed by all of the Hogwarts staff would practically guarantee you entry, would it not?" These last words were enunciated slowly and carefully, each syllable meticulously coated with with insincere solicitude.

He deftly flipped open the notebook so that it fell open to the page where she had drawn the Transfiguration Professor and Binns. "Care to guess how kindly she and the rest of the faculty are going to feel towards you after I show them this?"

She stared at him. "You’re blackmailing me," she finally managed to gasp.

"Nonsense, Miss Harrison. I am bestowing the ultimate honor upon you of allowing you to decide for yourself how you wished to be punished for your transgression. The fact that you don’t seem to care for either option is regrettably unavoidable."

He snapped the sketchbook closed and again leaned back against his chair. "But I suggest that you get used to the idea. Like most of us, I have no doubt that you will find that you will go through life making decisions not because you want to make them. Or even because you think you should make them. But because you are forced to make them."

Snape’s philosophy on life. Gee, can I copy that down and put it in a fortune cookie?

She chewed on her lip and considered her options. She gestured towards the book. "And what happens to that if I do sign the paper?"

He shrugged. "After the completion of the two sessions, it will be returned to you."

"Two?" she asked, startled.

"Think of them as detentions, Miss Harrison. One for your failure to prevent your scatter-brained partner from nearly liquidating the entire school and one as punishment for your-" He paused and curled his lip disdainfully as he continued, "artistic indiscretion."

She stared down at the floor, her hands clenched angrily upon her knees. The seconds ticked by.

"I am breathlessly awaiting your decision, Miss Harrison."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his long, thin finger tap down upon the paper and begin drawing it back towards him.

She raised her head. "Stop."

He looked at her questioningly.

She sighed and put her own hand out. He released his finger and she pulled the paper back towards her.

"I’ll sign."

He pushed his quill and ink well towards, an unpleasant gleam in his eye. "That may be the wisest decision you have made all day, Miss Harrison."

Which just goes to show you how crappy my whole day has been.

She carefully printed her name in the first space and then wrote her signature at the bottom. She pushed the paper back towards him.

He took the paper back and wrote in ‘Veritaserum, Formulation SS-LW1’ in the space after the words ‘dose of’ and wrote his name with a flourish at the bottom. He returned to the one remaining blank and filled it in with the current date.

"You’re going to do this right now?"

 He smiled at her coldly. "No time like the present."