Hullo there! And welcome to the blooming and forming idea in my head/crazy house. I'm not going to waste too much of your time but some disclaimers need to be in order. JK Rowling owns everything and I, to my discontent, don't gain any money off of this. ^_^ Also if you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to contact me or, if you are reviewing, stick it in there. And now, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of The Potions Masters Incubus.
The Potions Masters Incubus Chapter 1:
The vein in Severus Snape's forehead throbbed uncontrollably. His lips twitched slightly in pain, as he was literally holding his tongue in between his tinted yellow, razor sharp teeth, as a last gesture of self preservation. The beginning taste of salty rust didn't bother him in the least, for this was a reoccurring practice when in the presence of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Severus swore to himself that he would have long been dead of blood loss had he not taken a Blood Replenishing Potion every two months. He relished in the irony of it all- he bled more because of the head of the "Light" side than he ever had being with the Dark Lord. Granted, in the categories of visible blood or blood drawn that wasn't of the self-inflicting manner, the placement was switched and had a tremendous increase on the Dark Lords part; nonetheless, the fact still made him role his eyes on an almost daily basis.
"Please excuse me, Albus," Severus hissed between closed teeth. "But I believe all these years of dealing with obnoxious, adolescent teenagers have finally taken a toll on my strained ears. Surely I've heard you wrong."
Albus smiled brightly and Severus cursed all things on Earth to hell. He knew he'd not been mistaken. He knew his hearing ability was beyond perfect, though he'd hoped for the first time in his life that it was anything but. He held his breath and bit down harder on his tongue as Dumbledore spoke in that wretchedly cheerful tone of his. "I assure you, my boy, you're hearing is just fine. There is no need for concern or a trip to Madam Pomfery or Saint Mungo's."
No sooner had the calm-mannered sentence ended was Severus out of the comfort of the cushioned chair, fists seething with fury and eyes as lethal as a Basilisk starring straight into the headmasters' soul.
" Then where did you get the idea that I would be a suitable caretaker for Mr. Potter? Has it ever occurred to you that our history has anything but an unfathomable amount of detentions, deduction of house points, general malcontent and a bitter loathing which is completely reciprocated on both ends? Or have you forgotten who I am, Dumbledore?" Severus spat the name, his tongue was no longer held captive by pains tight clutches. "Why in Merlin's name do I, yet again, find myself in charge of taking care of that arrogant, insolent brat? I was under the impression your reasoning and deduction skills were better than even the most ingenious of Wizards, but apparently I was extremely misled! Even a complete dunderhead such a Cornelius Fudge wouldn't have been stupid enough to put the two of us in a room together for more time than the time necessary to conduct a class! But even those are a waste of time and space! The brat refuses to learn anything that could be labeled 'useful'! Instead he spends his days pranking and laughing like a bunch of moronic buffoons with the Weasley twins! And you expect me to allow such behavior in my house?
Severus's chest heaved, his normally shallow paled cheeks were sparked with an angry red and his venomous eyes had never strayed, only gained intensity as his speech went on. The room was dead silent, not even Fawkes battered an eye for fear of getting hexed into oblivion. Each breath that was drawn was a long, held one and exhale was released through flared nostrils on a hiss. After a number of lengthy, tense moments, Severus's glare finally dropped along with his head. He placed his body back into the cushioned chair, his slender fingers running through his raven hair with a deep sigh. "I've fulfilled many of your expectations and requirements to the best of my abilities over the years. I've rarely ever hesitated in accepting a challenge and my results have always been 'beyond what you expected'…" He looked at the headmaster with weary, dark circled eyes. "So beyond what you expected that I don't believe your expectations have limits anymore, Albus."
Albus's normally twinkling blue eyes slowly concealed themselves behind pale eyelids. He sighed deeply. "Severus, the situation has changed-"
"With that boy- when doesn't it?" Severus groaned. Dumbledore held out his hand and Severus growled but submitted to silence with a roll of his eyes.
"Thus," Dumbledore continued. "The way in which we normally go about caring for the boy over the summer has changed. I would not put this task upon you if I didn't feel it was absolutely necessary, Severus."
"May I ask, for the second time," Severus tried to feign politeness but his voice was rather obviously strained by anger. "Why I am assigned to such an atrocious task? Surely, Mrs. or Mr. Weasley could take Mr. Potter in with open arms…"
'…Rather than a strangled neck.' Severus added mentally.
Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Try to keep your thoughts to yourself, Severus." Snape scoffed and looked at Dumbledore, clearly waiting for an answer.
Dumbledore seemed to hesitate. "It would seem…Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's arms were never as open as they would appear to be…"
"What do you mean, Albus?" Severus raised an elegant brow.
"I'm afraid before I tell you of the Weasley's true identity; you must first be made aware of Harry's situation and how dramatically it has changed." Before Snape could again question what Dumbledore meant, there was the creaking sound of the brass door hinges opening which immediately led Snape to his feet, wand drawn and his mind on high alert. There was no sound or movement following the opening of the door.
Albus smiled brightly, the twinkle returning to his blue eyes. "Harry, my boy, please come in. Don't be afraid."
'Afraid?' Snape mused. 'A Gryffindor, afraid?'
Slowly a trembling pale hand appeared on the side of the door, and instead of the small, unruly haired boy with a dominating lightening scar on his forehead that Severus was expecting, the door opened and revealed a hooded figure. The figure stepped one hesitant foot at a time until it was in the middle of the room. The only similarity Severus could link to the figure and Potter was the nervous twiddling of his hands which started instantly when he found his position to stand. It wasn't a dementor, but it was much too tall and broad-shouldered to be Potter. On top of that, his head seemed to have grown two balls on top of his head and Severus could have sworn he saw something swish behind the figure.
"This is not Potter." Severus stated and then immediately turned his head to Albus, though his wand was still pointed, and ready to fire between his slender fingers. He raised an elegant brow as he once again questioned the headmaster without using straining his vocal chords.
Albus chuckled softly. "I can see how you might think so. Harry, could you please be as kind as to remove your cloak so Professor Snape may see you?"
"Hewon'trunwillhe?" The figure mumbled in a rushed tone. Severus frowned. The inability to use the English language and his diaphragm for diction and pronunciation- the figure was clearly one of his insufferable students. A male student, judging from the deepness of the voice.
"Speak clearly, boy!" Severus hissed.
"You…" More of the figures incessant twiddling. "You won't…run…will you?"
Severus sneered. "Why would I run from something that can't even reveal itself? I assure you, the coward in the room is not me. Now remove the hideous cloak at once!"
The figure stood, twiddling its hands for a moment more before it grasped the hem of the cloak with a shaking hand and slowly pulled it over his head. First Severus's eyes widened as he saw that there was indeed something swishing behind the figure. It was a long, slender, black tail with a bush of gray locks at the end- much like a lions except it was shaped like the edge of a spear- much like a demons. Second Severus noticed how muscular but lean the boy was- looking toned and healthy yet underfed and malnourished- as if he'd grown abundantly in a short amount of time. Thirdly the professor noticed there seemed to be a slight flapping coming on either side of the males back, and without even realizing, his body crossed over to inspect. He mouth stood agape with a silent gasp as his eyes fell upon the two medium sized, black, bat like wings peering out of ripped gashes in the boys shirt. Each wing had a different pattern of veins, pulsing heavily as if to prove to the potions master of their authenticity and one dome shaped talon met the top-edge of each arched wing. He reached out with one finger, to trace one of the pulsing veins but the figure shuddered deeply when he got close. The fearful shuddered seemed to break Severus out of his trance for a moment before he peered up at the back of the male's head and was drawn back into another trance. Severus once again crossed back to the front of the figure, his feet once again moving instinctively rather than consciously. The fourth thing Snape noticed was the absence of familiar human ears that usually poked out from unruly black hair. Instead there was a pair of pointed elf-like ears, each encaged by a demons curled horn. And last Severus noticed the unmistakable, combined features of two people from his past- one he bitterly hated with every inch of his soul and the other he loved unconditionally and irrevocably. The bright green eyes shown now more than ever without the mask of bulging round glasses.
'Lily…' Severus thought breathlessly.
But there was no mistaking that the figure in front of him, despite all the added appendages, was definitely of the male gender. And despite the inheritance of creature-like qualities, there was no mistaking the resemblance to James. No…the figure standing before him was none other than Harry James Potter.
Hullo there again! :3 Thank you for reading, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. And umm...yeah...rawr...
(I dunno how the updating thinger works, but if you guys can see that I've updated a chapter, here is why I did: I've made a gio-mistake, at least in my opinion. I've always thought ivory was green, but apparently it's white. Why I thought ivory was green my whole life, I have no frackin idea. Perhaps it's because the only time I ever heard of ivory was 'the ivory laced forest' which to me, just made sense that it would be green. Either way, I'll be updating all the chapters to change this mistake. If you come across it, would you be so kind as to message me and tell me where it is is? God I feel like an idiot at the moment. THANK YOU PERSON WHO BROUGHT THIS TO MY ATTENTION!)
See ya soon :3
~ Rising Nightengale