A Potion

Previously in 'A Potion':

Voldemort would pay. That stupid, evil bastard would pay if it was the last thing Harry ever did. Harry would make sure he suffered, like he, himself, had suffered. It was time to stop fooling around. Harry couldn’t just let Voldemort have his way. Next time Voldemort or his goons were dumb enough to show their faces, Harry would find them. And he would destroy them.

Parsletongue is in bold.

Chapter 5

Hermione sat with the air of a stone. Her face was blank. She stared quietly out across the lake, silent as the grave.

“’Mione?” Ron asked nervously. He was terribly worried, but who wouldn’t be? Harry had told him last night about Hermione’s parents. It was horrible, yes, but if it made him feel that bad, then how would it affect Hermione? He knew now that it would be even worse than he had previously imagined. As he stared helplessly after his silent friend, he knew she would never be the same.

Harry said nothing. He merely stoked Hermione’s stiff back comfortingly. He knew what it was like to lose your parents.

Suddenly, Hermione tore away from Harry’s grasp with an agonizing cry. She ran away across the grounds, wailing with such a pained emotion such as Harry or Ron had never heard before.

“”Mione!” Ron shouted hoarsely, turning to Harry, “We have to stop her, Harry!” Harry nodded and they took off without another word towards their distressed companion.

Hermione ran haphazardly past Hagrid’s hut and into the Forbidden Forest. Ron groaned and Harry ran faster.

“Hermione please!”

Hermione clenched her fists tightly as she ran, her tears streaming rapidly down her face. She had known, or at least she had feared. She knew that being Harry’s friend, especially such a close one, came with a price. She knew that she, herself, had been in danger, but her parents? She had never thought, never expected… She choked out another sob and closed her eyes. Before she could catch herself, she tripped over a protruding tree root and fell violently down towards the ground. She landed on her elbows with a crunch and winced as she felt her skin rip open.

“Hermione!” Ron and Harry ran up next to her, helping her up carefully. They didn’t ask if she was okay, for they knew the answer. She wasn’t okay. How could she be? No one in their right mind could possibly be okay after this. She would recover, eventually, but this would always haunt her for the rest of her days.

And it was Harry’s fault.

It was all his fault.

Because of him, she was in this pain.

Harry cursed himself angrily and shuddered as he felt fresh tears fall across his cheeks. He had caused Hermione pain. He couldn’t bare it. He couldn’t stand himself. He grimaced at his overflowing emotions; the anger, remorse, and pain. Why him? Why he have to be the hero and the villain at the same time? Dammit! Why! He bit his lip, accidentally causing it to bleed. He pulled Hermione’s arm over his shoulder and waited as Ron did the same.

They supported Hermione, who was once again quiet and expressionless, as they walked in silence back to the castle, both praying that they could do something to help their hurting friend.
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Harry rest lightly against Severus’s scarred, white chest, savoring his warmth and pulling the covers more closely around them. Severus stroked Harry’s hair absently and gazed off into the flickering fire lit distance, lost in thought. Suddenly, he chuckled softly.

Harry started. “What is it Sev?” he asked lethargically. After much debate and a lot of Severus throwing him out of the dungeons, Severus had finally agreed to let Harry call him Sev.

Severus smiled, a sight that a very small few have ever been lucky enough to witness. A secret joke glowed mirthfully in his dark obsidian eyes. “I was just thinking…” He said slowly, “Of the look on the Headmaster’s face if he were to walk in right now.”

Harry giggled as he pictured the image. Yes that would be quite a sight. “Yeah,” he snickered, “Imagine what he would do if he saw his precious Potter in the arms of Severus Snape.”

Severus’s eyebrows rose. He had never heard Harry refer to himself in such a manner. He let it pass. “I was thinking more a long the lines of me actually stroking someone and not choking them.”

At this Harry laughed. He fell into a pensive silence. Severus knew he wanted to ask something. He also knew that Harry had to offer the question. He didn’t like it when people pried.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“Sev?”

“Yes?”

“Why?”

“Why what? Be more specific Harry.” Severus gazed down into his lover’s eyes, not being able to hold back a slight look of curiosity.

“Why did you… kiss me? The first time, I mean. In the corridor,” Harry sputtered out nervously.

Severus thought on this a moment. Why? He supposed it was because he loved the boy. No, he hadn’t known that back then. “Besides the constant ogling and the potion you made?” he inquired teasingly.

“I did not ogle!” Harry huffed defiantly, “And what do you mean the potion? That pink one? What did the color represent anyways?”

“It represented lust and love,” Severus replied, “I found that rather… disquieting at first.”

“Both lust and love?” Harry looked dubious.

Severus rolled his eyes. “The potion can represent more than one emotion you dimwit.” Although it was an insult, he said it lovingly.

Harry nodded.

“So as I was saying,” Severus continued, “If you mean besides the constant ogling,” Harry’s face flushed but he did not speak, “and the potion, then I would have to say it was simply because I wanted to. Honestly, I had never been more attracted to anyone in my entire life, and I didn’t know what to do. It was beyond my control.”

Harry chortled agreeably. “You’re telling me the great, dark, Potions Master Severus Snape lost control?” He grinned.

Severus sneered his customary sneer and glared down at Harry. “Yes,” he said, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” He kissed Harry tenderly for a moment. “And I would have it no other way.”

Harry smiled broadly and wrapped his arms around Severus’s neck, kissing him languidly. He leaned back onto the pillows and sighed.

“What’s wrong now my ever-buggered beauty?” Snape asked softly.

“Hermione” was the blunt statement.

Snape nodded understandingly. “Yes, Granger’s parents. It must be very hard on her.”

“You have no idea.” Harry groaned, turning into a pillow and smooshing his face deep within its feathery goodness. He relaxed a little. “She’s broken. Ron and I see it every day. She barely speaks. She doesn’t beg us to do our homework. She still does hers… sure, but when it comes to everything else in the world she just… stares. She had no idea her parents could be hurt. She didn’t care if something happened to her, but…” Harry paused and took a deep breath, then continued, “I know what it’s like to lose your parents, but I was a baby. I didn’t even know them. She knew them for years. She had memories with them. It’s different.”

Severus continued to listen silently as his lover spoke. He knew perfectly well how Granger felt. He too had been older when his parents had died. He had watched them die right before his eyes. He had watched them be murdered. Granger had it better. She didn’t need to suffer something as traumatic as that. If she was feeling bad now, imagine how she would have felt I she had witnessed something like that!

“I just want to help her,” Harry muttered, “I can’t stand to see her like this.”

“You just have to talk to her,” Severus answered, “Be there for her. It’s all you can do. You can’t change the past, unless you want to seriously fuck with the future. She’ll live, but for now, she has to grieve. Just be there for her.”

“Excepting the part about fucking with the future, you sounded a lot like Dumbledore when you said that.” Harry grinned into the pillow.

Severus scowled. “That’s Professor Dumbledore, Harry, and don’t you ever compare me to that crazy old coot.”

“Fine, fine…” Harry grumbled.

“Get going. You’ll arise suspicions if you’re down here much later. They’ll think I chopped you up into potions ingredients.”

Harry chuckled and sat up. “You’re right.” He got up and began pulling on his boxers. “And quit admiring my arse,” he said, not turning around. He heard a grumble and yelped as he felt Severus’s strong arms encircle his abdomen, pulling him into the older man’s lap. He twisted his neck and gave way to a sloppy kiss before standing up and resuming dressing.

“I can look at your arse any time I please,” Snape grunted, “I have dibbs.”

Harry laughed at this. “Don’t try to use the new slang Severus. It just sounds creepy.”

Severus’s eyes sparkled. “I suppose so. I did it for your benefit. But I do have claim over your beautiful arse. And believe me, I’ll be making that perfectly clear the next time your down here.”

“I look forward to it,” Harry replied deviously, sauntering provocatively towards his partner. Leaning down, he claimed Severus’s lips in a heated kiss. Severus ran a hand through Harry’s hair, pulling their heads closer together. Their tongues battled impressively and they began to get more excited.

Severus pulled away. “Don’t need a problem like that when you go upstairs,” he said, nodding down towards Harry’s bulging pants.

“Yeah.” Harry was flushed and breathing heavily. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”

With another kiss, this time chaste, Harry was out the door. Severus quietly watched him go, a soft smile gracing his lips ever so slightly.

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It was cold, dank, and frightening. A dungeon deep within the middle of emptiness. It was someplace that no sane man would go, and it was the meeting place of a few select death eaters and there snake-like master.

“Come, my spy,” Voldemort hissed into the wretched darkness. A cloaked and hooded man walked slowly over to his lord, bowing his head humbly, his face blank.

“Have you found any useful information?” Voldemort purred, placing a deceivingly tender hand on the chin of the stony-faced man.

The man shook his head. “No my lord,” he replied calmly, “I am afraid that I know nothing as of yet. No more than what I have told you.”

Voldemort’s lips twisted into a soft smile and he nodded slightly. “Yes. And we will have to take care of that soon enough. We shall test the traitor. Bring one of the Order of the Phoenix here; one that the pitiful group of Dumbledore’s will miss. I will call all of you to this. We shall see if your information is correct my dear, loyal servant. We will see if there is truly a traitor among our midst. Until then, return to Hogwarts. Watch him, and Potter.”

“Yes my lord,” the man mumbled. The other death eaters nodded in response, keeping their eyes lowered to the cold ground.

“Good. You are all dismissed.”

There were sound of muttered “Yes, my lord” or “Yes master” and the hooded figures popped with a loud crack out of sight.

Voldemort turned towards his loyal snake, grinning. “Nagini, go to Hogwarts. I wish to know what is happening from a more consistent point of view. Go, my love.”

Nagini hissed in understanding and slithered off out of sight.

Voldemort smiled to himself. His servants had done well. They had found very steady information. It had been of great use to him. He snickered. It would be fun to break that traitorous Severus Snape.

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Ah, so has he discovered Severus? So it seems…..