The Potion Thickens

High above the dungeons where Severus and Hermione began to try ideas to increase the blocking potion's breadth, two young wizards lay naked in each others arms in the lone bed which graced the Room of Requirement. Limbs tangled together, pale skin meeting tan, black hair brushing against blond, Harry and Draco caressed each other as they waited for their hearts to stop pounding. Worried, Harry paused even after he had caught his breath before beginning a discussion he knew he must--no matter how much it frightened him. Eventually, Harry realized he could put it off no longer. Draco's lovemaking had been nearly frantic. As much as Harry had enjoyed it, he knew something was wrong.

"Draco," he began with a sigh of resignation, "what happened when you were at the Manor this weekend?"

"Why do you think something happened?" Draco evaded.

"Love, as much as I enjoyed that," here Harry paused to kiss Draco affectionately on the forehead, "surely you must understand that I can tell something has upset you."

It was Draco's turn to sigh. "Harry, I don't want to worry you for no reason. I don't actually know anything. The best I could call it is an impression."

"Snape always said the reason you made a good spy was because you have good instincts. You're very intuitive, love. If you've gotten wind of something, then there's good reason to believe that something is up."

Looking into Harry's eyes for the first time since the discussion had begun, when Draco spoke, his voice was so soft and hesitant that Harry barely recognized it. "Harry, as I said before...I know nothing for certain...but, by the way my father was behaving..."

"What did he do, Draco?"

"It's hard to explain. He wasn't himself. He was obviously a bit nervous but he kept smiling all the time. It wasn't a pleasant smile; it had a...manic glee about it. I don't know how to make you understand...I just think it will be soon..."

"What will be soon, love?" Harry asked, his voice gone as soft and strange as the blond in his arms.

"The final battle," Draco whispered. "Something big is about to happen, Harry...I think the Dark Lord has finally decided to come after you."

"Good," Harry said simply as he hugged Draco tightly to him, "I'm tired of waiting. We shall have to warn the others," he added, beginning to withdraw from his lover's embrace.

"Not yet," hissed Draco, refusing to loosen the arms wrapped tightly around Harry. "It won't be immediately, Harry...I've been given no instructions. Stay...please...for tonight, stay with me. Tomorrow is soon enough..."

This was the closest thing to pleading that Harry had ever heard the confident young wizard in his arms utter. He found that he could not deny him. Giving a brief nod of consent, he stared into Draco's pale eyes for an age before he lowered his head to crush Draco's mouth beneath his own.

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Monday morning came too quickly for Severus. The weekend had been an astonishing and joyous mixture of Potions research and lovemaking which he desperately wished would never end. Watching Hermione dress in her school robes as she prepared to go to class made him remember all too well that these were dangerous times, and his time in particular was short. If Hermione missed so much as one class it would draw unwanted attention to her. The last thing they needed was to have anyone curious about where Hermione disappeared to with such frequency. As long as they kept her disappearances to evenings and weekends, most would assume she was revising for her NEWTs and her roommates would assume she was meeting some nameless Slytherin boy. As much as Severus wanted to keep her close, Hermione had to keep up the appearance of her normal school life. With a resigned sigh, Severus kissed her goodbye as she promised to return after dinner in the Great Hall that evening.

Solitude was no stranger to the Potions Professor. The long day would give him plenty of time to explore the ideas that he and Hermione had brainstormed about what ingredient would be the best binding agent to increase the blocking potions breadth. Together they had created three options the previous evening using Linden flower, Balm of Gilead, and Pennyroyal. Those three cauldrons were still simmering and would be ready to bottle soon. As they had the three most likely herbal binding agents taken care of, the task Severus set for himself that morning was to explore other avenues. He began a fourth cauldron of the blocking potion in which he would add powdered Yppotryll tusk, which was not only a powerful binding agent but also had the added effect of giving the drinker a slight resistance to hexes. If it worked, it would be most useful, indeed.

Despite the fact that--for all his life--Severus was used to brewing completely on his own, he found, as the morning progressed, he missed Hermione more and more. The young witch was not only a balm to his very soul, but an admirable assistant as well. With an unconscious sigh, Severus lost himself in the calming familiarity of his brewing.

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Upstairs in the Room of Requirement, two young wizards woke in a bit of a panic. They had been awake most of the night and as a result of that they had overslept horribly.

"Damn and blast!" hissed Harry, as the two hurriedly dressed. "We've got to warn the others about what you suspected at the Manor! We've already slept through breakfast. Maybe I should skip Transfiguration..."

"Not on your life, Harry," Draco cut in. "Use your head! If what I suspect is true neither of us can afford to give the least clue that we are aware something is happening."

"But Dumbledore must be warned...and so should Hermione and Severus. They're working on that potion for Hermione's projection...they need to know they may be nearly out of time."

Finally dressed, Draco sat on the bed for a moment trying to gather his thoughts. "We can warn Hermione in class. I have a half hour free before lunch and I can speak to the Headmaster then, but I simply can't think of a way to get word to Uncle Severus until after dinner. Because he's in hiding, his chambers are warded against owls and even his Floo has been taken off the Network."

Harry's eyes fairly lit up with a sudden idea. "Remus is in class this morning, but Sirius is staying in his chambers. I can Floo him from here!" As he spoke the words, the obliging room produced both a flaming hearth and the necessary pot of Floo Powder.

"That will have to do, but tell him to be careful. Uncle Severus has been a complete beast lately," the blond added with a grin.

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Severus' morning was going peacefully, though he did find himself strangely lonely. If the prickly wizard had known how this loneliness was going to be broken, he may have reached for the Firewhisky, research be damned. As it was, he was completely unprepared for his unexpected visitor. Standing in indecision as to whether he should start his next experiment or wait to bottle the first of the herbal-bound potions nearing completion, Severus was startled by movement at the door leading into his private lab.

Face contorting into a reflexive sneer, he regarded Sirius Black with obvious distaste. His hand automatically twitching toward his wand, a sudden thought stopped Severus from completing the action. His mind took him back to a dark night in Azkaban. A smiling Hermione withdrew from his embrace to walk towards the cell door. Her voice echoed in his mind, "Before you even think about letting one nasty comment fall out of your lovely mouth...I want to make it very clear to you that I would not have gotten here safely without his help."

Damn and blast! He would never like the thrice-damned mongrel, but even the bitter Potions master could not ignore the facts. Black had ventured into that hellhole in order to get Severus out, and he had undeniably kept his Hermione safe on the journey. Knowing he could not, in good conscience, hex the unwelcome intruder, Severus' mood became even darker as he resigned himself to attempting to be somewhat civil. Forcing himself to relax, Severus crossed his arms over his chest and did his best to regard Black calmly before he spoke.

"Black," he said with the barest nod of his head. "May I ask you how you have managed to gain access to my rooms?"

Though the question was anything but friendly, Black was nevertheless discomfited by Snape's manner. He had fully expected the prat of a man to hex first and ask questions of his smoldering corpse after. Opening his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by a chittering voice at his feet.

"No time for fighting, you sanfri bitch!" barked the excited jarvey bouncing at Black's feet. "Dog's bollocks here was knocking at the study door. It's important, Syphilis, so I let him in."

Though Severus sent an unhappy scowl at his agitated familiar, he realized something like this had been bound to happen. Turpin had told him about the conversations he'd had with Black while Severus was in Azkaban. It displeased him to admit it, but it was obvious to Severus that Turpin had struck up a reluctant friendship with the scruffy wizard. Sighing inwardly, Severus realized that Black's kindness to his familiar was one more reason he must attempt to be civil to the irritating Animagus. Honestly, some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.

"I see," Severus said evenly. "We will talk about it later, Turpin. In the meantime, why don't you go play with Crooks and leave us to our discussion."

Turpin hesitated for a moment, but he knew his master well. It was obvious to the jarvey that Severus was not gearing up to do battle. With a happy chortle he sped out of the room to go visit his friend.

Not able to hide another resigned sigh, Severus used every atom of his self control to attempt to be pleasant. It was not a resounding success, but it was so far from the venom he usually spouted at Black that the scruffy wizard made an equal effort not to be offended.

"Actually, Black, you have interrupted me in the midst of a quandary. I am anxious to start my next attempt at the blocking potion, but that green potion needs to be bottled. Perhaps you could bottle it while we talk. I know that Potions was never your strong suit, but I imagine even you could manage such a simple task."

"Yes, I can manage it. Go on with your brewing." Black said simply.

While one wizard brewed and the other bottled, Sirius told Severus what he had learned from Harry and Draco not a half hour ago. Severus agreed that if the sneaky young Slytherin thought something was up, then he was probably correct.

"How is the research going, then?" Sirius asked. "Have you come up with anything useful?"

"Yes, indeed," Severus replied. "Hermione and I had quite a breakthrough yesterday. There is still work to be done, but I have high hopes we will have the answer we need soon."

Noting the use of Hermione's given name--as well as the odd hint of a smile which played briefly around Snape's lips--Sirius realized whatever had been the trouble between the odd pair, they must have gotten past it. He wasn't certain how he felt about that, but the image of Snape kindly comforting a distraught Hermione after Sirius' first disastrous visit to the study came back to haunt him. Snape was a strange man, yet it was obvious he cared for the girl. Equally obvious was what the young witch felt for the sarcastic wizard. "Well," he thought, "it could've been worse...it could've been Filch."

The morning proceeded apace. When Sirius finished bottling the first of the herbal-bound potions, the next had been ready, so he stayed and began bottling that. The two toiling wizards spoke only a little; most of their comments dealing with either the work at hand or the battle ahead. It surprised both men that--while they still didn't especially care for each other--being civil was not as difficult as they had anticipated. The lunch hour arrived and, since Black had volunteered to continue assisting Severus until Hermione returned, Severus felt he had no choice but to feed the irritating man. The wizards retreated to Severus' study to eat sandwiches brought by a brace of House Elves.

They ate in silence. After a while, Severus realized Black was practically biting his tongue in an attempt not to say something. "Spit it out, Black," he growled. "Your fidgeting is most annoying. If you have something to say, then say it."

Irritated by the black-eyed man's manner, Sirius blurted out a question that had plagued him for years. "Why did you join the Death Eaters, Snape? Was it...well...was it because of what I did?"

At first the question angered Severus; when he glared at the offensive man, he found the transparent Gryffindor's sincerity all too easy to read. Damn and blast! A little token civility and this ridiculous situation was getting completely out of hand. "That's a bit presumptuous of you, Black, to think you could have such effect on anything I decide. There was no single event which determined my choice." Hopefully that would be enough to placate the nosy arse. His hopes were dashed as Black continued.

"But I just don't understand it, Severus. I know we hated each other in school, but even I had to admit that you were dead intelligent. What could have made you do such a fool thing if I didn't push you into it?"

"For fuck's sake, Sirius," he snapped, "I was eighteen bloody years old! I don't suppose you can accept that I made a foolish, bone-headed decision and leave it at that? I'm certainly not the only person at Hogwarts that made an idiotic choice when young."

"No...that you are not," Sirius said with a sigh. "It seems like most of us made some fool choice at one time or another. But I can't accept that as the end of it. What were you looking for Severus? Power? Acceptance? Revenge?"

"Trust me, Sirius, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Black fairly growled.

Dropping his head into both hands, Severus' voice was so low that Sirius could barely make out the single word Severus spoke. "Justice."

"What?" Sirius practically shouted. "You went to a pack of Death Eater's looking for justice? Were you mad?"

"I was eighteen!" Severus snapped back. "I knew nothing of justice...I had never experienced it in my life! I went from a hell of a childhood where I had to learn curses to protect myself from my own father, to a school career that was little better. When Dumbledore didn't expel you for what you did, it was the last straw. Malfoy and Riddle knew just how to play me. They preached to me a vision of a world where justice ruled and offenders were punished. I know I was a young fool, but at least give me credit for realizing my mistake almost as soon as I took the blasted mark!"

Shaken by the honest outburst, Sirius spoke in strangely calm tones. "I do give you credit for that, Severus. I never understood why you became a Death Eater, but I understood why you turned spy."

"Thank you for that, at least, Sirius," Severus muttered. Pulling himself together, Severus managed a small sneer as he said, "I haven't got time to listen to any more twaddle. I suggest we get back to work immediately."

"Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" Sirius teased.

Severus sighed yet again. It was going to be an awfully long afternoon. The two wizards made their way back to the potions lab. Neither one had noticed that they had slipped into the habit of addressing each other by their given names. Later, both wizards would realize this with a touch of horror, but the damage was already done.

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Hurrying through the corridors in Harry's invisibility cloak, Hermione was relieved dinner was over and she could get back to work...and back to Severus. The day had seemed eternally long; Hermione had sat in class after class barely able to concentrate and sneakily scribbling ideas about the blocking potion project onto a spare bit of parchment. It was a relief to reach Severus' study and throw off the cloak. Striding briskly through Severus' chambers, the young witch stopped so suddenly at the threshold to his private lab that she almost lost her footing completely.

The two wizards she least expected to see in the same room with one another were making awkward small talk while they both worked. Sirius bottled a potion while Severus cleaned up the equipment used by his completed potions. For a moment, Hermione simply stared at the two men in astonishment. At last finding her voice, she said, "Now here is a sight I never thought I'd see. Severus Snape and Sirius Black, alone in the same room--apparently of their own free will--and I see no evidence of hexing, no sign of blood or bruises. How do you two explain such a thing?" she finished lightly, arching her brow in obvious imitation of one of the men now scowling at her.

While Sirius seemed too flustered to talk, the ex-spy said coolly, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Stalking up to Hermione to give her a short, possessive kiss, Severus continued. "Now, Miss Granger, if you are finished with your gawking, we have some potions to test."

Hermione simply smiled at him. She laughed out loud when Sirius left with a less than formal, "Goodbye, Severus," and her love responded in kind.

"Not another word!" Severus threatened after Black had gone. Humoring him, Hermione remained silent but could not quite hide a pleased grin.