Chapter 33

Severus collected his samples and his wife. After a brief visit with Molly and Arthur, they returned to Hogwarts to start their work.

Minerva listened anxiously as they told her of the Weasleys' plight, and she gave them permission to work nearly non-stop. She assigned Albus and Scorpius to them during their entire school day.

All Severus' patrolling was cancelled, much to Filch's dismay. He was realizing he was no longer capable of keeping up with his duties. He asked Minerva to assign several of the older students to help him.

Hermione and Severus awaited the boys in the classroom. She was rubbing her arm subconsciously where Ron had given her a bruise.

Severus took her arm and pulled the sleeve up. With a few incantations and a wave of his wand, the bruise started to fade, and the pain stopped. He said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I should have vanished the bruises earlier."

"It's okay, Severus. I should have done it myself. I've just been worried about Arthur and Molly. They are like my parents now. I cannot think of losing them." She slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her face to his chest.

"We will help them, Hermione. As soon as we talk to the boys, I would appreciate it if you would go to the library and research the restricted section for this sort of curse. Anything even remotely related may give us the spark we need to head us in the right direction."

She started to protest, but he held his hand up. "Please, Hermione. I know you have the Potion skills to be of great use in the lab. Right now I need a researcher, and no one in this entire school is as thorough and as fast as you are. I will keep you up to date, and if anything occurs to you, send me word. When the research is done, I would welcome you working with me. I will also share what I am doing with you. After all, I'm 15 years rusty on new discoveries."

She said, "Alright, Severus. I agree with you about the need for research. I do love it."

"That's my girl." He held her close, trying to stop his own fear from overwhelming him. Being touched by Voldemort's evil again was disturbing. The only reason Molly and Arthur where still alive was because the monster was dead. His curse had lost some of its potency, but it still continued to ravage their bodies.

The door opened, and Hermione and Severus moved apart. Scorpius came first, and Albus followed. Their faces were alight with curiosity.

Severus said, "Gentlemen, come into my office. We have some serious work ahead of us."

Albus asked, "Are we going to start the project?"

Severus said, "No, Albus. Something has happened, and we need to postpone the contest for a time."

He asked the boys to sit, and Hermione came to stand with him behind his desk.

"Albus, your father asked me to tell you what has happened. Your grandparents are gravely ill because of a dark curse left over from the war."

The boy jumped to his feet, saying, "I must go to them." He turned to dash from the room.

"Albus, please stop," Hermione called. She came around and took him by the shoulders. "They are in St. Mungo's and are being well cared for. Severus and I need you to stay here. He will begin work in a few minutes to try to solve the problem."

Albus turned to look hopefully at Severus. "Can you help, sir?" the boy asked with fear in his eyes.

Severus came around the desk, "Yes, I think we can." He squeezed the young man's shoulder and then glanced over at Scorpius, who was looking confused. "Scorpius, I asked you to come because I want you and Albus to help me. Madam Snape will go to the library and do research for us. We will begin the process of developing a potion that will cure the malady or at least slow it down. We will work simultaneously with staff at St. Mungo's. Will you help me, boys?" he asked the astonished young men.

Albus nodded, his eyes still wide with fear for his grandparents.

Scorpius exclaimed, "Yes!" with excitement and then looked back at Albus apologetically.

Albus gave him a wan smile. "I understand."

"Well, let's go to my lab and get started. I will fill you in on the symptoms. Then we can do some brain-storming."

Hermione gave Albus a tight hug, and the boy held on to her for a moment. "It will be okay," she said, running her hand over the back of his head. "We will all make sure it's okay." She released him and stepped back. "You and Scorpius are gifted Potions students. You will be able to assist Professor Snape, and we will save them," she said with confidence that she did not feel in her heart. "Now off with you. I must get to the library."

The boys watched with embarrassed smiles as Severus leaned and kissed her gently and then said quietly, "Keep me informed."

She nodded and left the office.

Severus said, "Come with me. The lab is attached to the Headmistress office. It was Albus Dumbledore's lab when he was Headmaster." They followed him from the classroom. Their eyes were enormous. They had heard about this lab and had talked about it before, thinking they would never get a chance to see it.

"You two will be preparing ingredients. It's grunt work, and I want you to share anything that occurs to either of you, no matter how unlikely. You boys have a gift for Potions, and I need that to work in our favor. We are in a contest of sorts with the staff at St. Mungo's. This will be good practice for you when working toward the contest goals. We will bounce ideas off each other, and Madam Snape will be sending us information as quickly as she can find it. We will be testing these theories and sending the information to St. Mungo's if anything looks promising. They in turn will share their research. If we all work together, we will come up with an answer." Severus thought to himself, I hope it's in time.

They entered Headmistress McGonagall's office, and she greeted them enthusiastically. "It's good to see you, Albus and Scorpius. I am going to give you a password that will allow you to come into the office and lab at any time of the night. I will insist you spend at least 6 hours a night sleeping. I will not have you becoming sick. Perhaps you can work out a schedule with them, Severus, so that you are covered. I want you and Hermione to sleep as well."

Severus protested, "I am well able to stay up days at a time."

"That may have been true years ago, but you have been sleeping a long time Severus. You may find it's not as easy as it used to be. Never the less, I will expect you to know your own limits. I have spoken to several teachers, and they will take Hermione's classes. They will also send her several seventh-years to help her gather books and do research. Filius and some of the other teachers will assist her. The Weasleys are very much respected in our community. Everyone wants to help."

"Thank you, Minerva." He turned to Scorpius and Albus. "Boys, let's get into the lab and get started." He waved his wand at the far wall, a door opened, and the boys craned their necks to get a glimpse.

The room they entered must have been three stories high. It had shelves upon shelves of the most fascinating potion jars full of ingredients. It was like a three-story library with sliding ladders reaching to the shelves. There were cauldrons of all shapes, sizes, and metals already over burners. The room was huge. Scorpius looked closely at the instruments on the tables. They were clean, well organized, and in excellent condition. His fingers itched to touch them. This was a Potion master's dream lab, and a boy's fantasy world. There were instruments for testing everything imaginable.

"Wow!" the boys said simultaneously.

Severus couldn't help but grin at them. It had nearly been his own reaction upon seeing it many years ago. "I know you're excited, but we really need to get to work."

The boys sobered and nodded.

"Scorpius, take this station and dice the ingredients that I have laid out for you. I know you know to make sure the entire surface is clean before working on another ingredient, but I want to stress that. We need to be careful with what we have. Some of the ingredients are very volatile. Albus, you take station two and grind the ingredients I laid out for you. Scorpius, when you have completed that task, take the 3rd station and sliver those items. Albus, you'll take the fourth and pulverize those items. If you have any questions...no mater how insignificant you might think they are...do not hesitate to ask me. This is not the time to make an educated guess, ask," he commanded. "We have no time for mistakes."

The boys donned aprons and got to work. Severus watched for a moment always amazed at how gifted they were with their hands. Then he turned and began to light the fire under the cauldrons he would use. He selected more ingredients and then added them, carefully studying the colors and scents they produced. Eventually, he began to add some of the things the boys had prepared and watched the potion as it brewed.

There was a thought nagging at his mind, and he tried to dismiss it. They needed help from someone who had known Voldemort better than he did, but Severus could come up with only one name. He kept rejecting the idea, and yet his thoughts dragged him back to that one person...the one person who had shared his home with Voldemort, one who'd lived with him far more that any other Death Eater: Lucius Malfoy. Severus never wanted to see his 'old friend' again. He could pretty much be assured that Lucius would not want to talk to him. Their friendship had disintegrated over the years. It had gotten so bad that he'd had to watch his back around the man. Granted, Lucius had been shamed and beaten down by Voldemort in those last years. There was so much anger in the man, as he'd demonstrated when he'd taken Hermione. As the day wore on and the potions proved to be useless, Severus knew he would have to go see if Lucius would tell him where Voldemort might have kept his books and records.

Severus finally sighed. He turned the fire off and told the boys, "I must go see Hermione. Please clean up and get some food and sleep. We will start again in the morning. If you have any ideas in the meantime, write them down, and we can discuss them when I get back."

"Yes, sir," they chorused and set to cleaning up.

Severus left the lab and went directly to the library. He found Hermione nearly buried under a pile of books.

She glanced up when he came close and did a double take, "Severus? Did you find anything?" The hope in her eyes died when he shook his head. He stood looking down at her with a steady, uneasy look.

She stood took his hand and pulled him into an alcove with a deeply set window. It had a window seat below, and she pulled him down till they were knee to knee. "Tell me," she demanded.

Severus sighed. She knew him so well now that she could almost read his mind. "I must go to Azkaban to see Lucius."

"What!" she cried out as her face paled.

He turned his hand to hold hers tightly. "I don't want to lay eyes on him either. but he may know something. He may have heard something we can use."

Hermione could see the pain in his eyes, so she swallowed her fears and said, "Go, Severus. Do what you must. Be careful and come let me know when you're back."

"Go sleep, Hermione. I promise I will come to our rooms when I get back. There is no danger. Lucius is under magical dampening fields and can't harm me."

Hermione slipped into his lap. "I know. I just hate when you leave without me."

"I feel the same," he said, pulling her against him. He kissed her deeply, running his tongue against hers, tasting her, feeling a part of her. It calmed his ravaged nerves.

"Hermione, go sleep, and I will be back."

He pushed her to the seat and strode out quickly without looking back.