Chapter 2

Sirius was not at all surprised to find that several anti-intruder-charms lay on Spinner's End, but after years on the run and in hiding, even the blackest one of them was a piece of cake for him to handle, and within less than half an hour, the door opened, creaking an invitation. It was obvious that no one had been living here for a while, a thick layer of dust lay on every surface and the air smelled stale.

Sirius didn't waste any time looking around, but, after casting a quick locating spell, followed his Patronus through a secret door in the tapestry into a dark cabinet. When he lit up his wand, his gaze fell on several high shelves full of potion ingredients and an enormous array of expensive looking books. It took him little time to understand the system in which they were organised, and soon he had found what he was looking for. He piled up the dusty volumes, minimized them and put them in a pocket in his coat. Then he left, dutifully restoring the anti-intruder-charms he had lifted earlier.

Back at home, he heard voices trailing down the stairs from the guest bedroom in the first floor where he had accommodated Snape. Apparently, they hadn't heard him come back, because he could hear them talking about him.

"Anyway, I'm not sure I trust Sirius alone with Snape. I mean, I'm sure he wouldn't do anything that might hurt him while he's that sick, but as soon as he gets better and starts arguing-"

"You're being unfair, Hermione! He has been really great when we needed him yesterday, and as soon as I had explained to him what Snape has been doing all those years, he said he wouldn't argue with Snape anymore!"

"Well, yeah, that's what he said, but…"

"Are you implying he's lying to me?" Harry asked furiously.

"Well, no, Harry, of course not, but you know how those two are! Remember our fifth year? Even when they try to be civil around each other, they end up shouting at each other!"

"Well I for one am not going to fall back into old habits." Said Sirius sharply as he entered the room. His three young friends jumped up from the floor where they had laid sprawled and Hermione hastily started to explain, "Sirius! I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Whatever you meant, I'm fully capable of behaving myself if I think it's necessary, which I do at the moment, and once Snape has gathered his strength again, he's not bloody likely to stick around anyway, is he?"

"I'm sorry, it's just-"
"Never mind that now. Help me look through those books I just stole. Anyone finds anything related to Cobra Draconis, Irisea, wound sealing inhibitors and the sort, speak up. Until then: quiet time."

Sirius gave the potions he had made so far one more try, and it seemed that Snape's wounds cleaned up in a way when he used them, but he still couldn't get them to grow back together. So he had to content himself with giving Snape the blood building potion once more and applying fresh bandages. Then he sat down on the floor with the others and started reading.

"Here's something, I think!" Ron said, and the others all looked up, intrigued.

"Cobras come in various degrees of lethality, the most dangerous one being the cobra inferna, which is usually found-"

"Cut to the chase, Ron!" Hermione chipped in.

"Well, it goes on for a while about Cobra Inferna… but look, here. Cobra Draconis, predatory beast… loves the dark and cool… enhanced night vision… maximum length, blahblah… here. Fangs are acutely poisonous. Effects of intoxication -getting closer now!- are prevention of wound healing, loss of primary haemostasis, whatever that is, along with sclerosis and scorched flesh…" Ron fell silent.

"SO? Keep reading!", howled Harry and Sirius in unison.

"I'm sorry. Article stops here. There aren't any remedies listed.", Ron replied crestfallenly.

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. They quietly returned to their books, and Ron angrily threw his into a corner before picking up another.

Kreacher brought up sandwiches in the late afternoon which they ate in silence, deeply immersed in their books. When Hermione squeaked, "HERE!", Ron choked on a piece of sandwich, and Harry had to get up and pat his back before Hermione could elaborate.

"It's a potion against cursed wounds with scorched and sclerotic edges…"
"Yes, exactly, what do we need?" Sirius urged.

Hermione didn't say anything but simply handed him the book. He scanned the page and his enthusiasm quickly faded.

"What is it?" Harry and Ron asked, irritated to be left out. Sirius handed the book over to them and stood up, pacing the room.

Harry started reading and understood what the others were on about immediately. The list of ingredients was incredibly long, it went on for almost three pages, and the description on how to prepare them went on for many, many pages after that. This was by far the most complicated potion Harry had ever heard of, and by the looks of him, Sirius felt the same.

"Where on earth are we going to get all this stuff? Dragon heart string? Rasps of Putchock… Thestral hoof… Tentacle of a giant squid... Human Eye! This is ridiculous." Ron said with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm afraid those aren't even the ones that are the most difficult to find.", Sirius muttered.

"Sirius?" asked Hermione shyly, unsure whether he was still mad at her.

"What is it?" he asked, absentmindedly, but never stopped pacing.

"Wouldn't Snape… have had an extensive collection of ingredients at home?"

"Yes, but some of those ingredients are not only rare and, of course, illegal, but almost impossible to find, and the rest of them is very exotic as well.. Putchock for example is a plant, but almost extinct, so you do the math."

"But Sirius… we have to try! You know that!" Harry said urgently.

"I know, Harry. Well, I guess that leaves us no choice. We split up. Kreacher will stay here to baby-sit Snape, Ron and Hermione are going to Hogwarts, see if the dungeons are still intact and check Snape's and Slughorn's personal storage cupboard if they are. See if you happen to find that healer if you're there, as well! Harry, you come with me. We break into Snape's house again and visit Slughorn's old mansion afterwards. You guys take this," he conjured up a replica of the page in the potions book, "And get everything from the list you can find, better two of each than none. We meet here as soon as we are finished. Now hurry!"

Ron and Hermione hurried downstairs and out of the house to apparate to Hogsmeade, and as soon as Sirius had instructed Kreacher to come find him if anything changed with Snape, he and Harry left as well.

This time around, Spinners End lacked the air of silence and abandonment Sirius had noticed earlier, and he had a feeling that he was not the only one to have tried breaking into Snape's house today. He was sure he had recast each and every one of the spells Snape had put on his house after he had left it only a few hours earlier, yet there was definitely evidence for an attempted break in. No obvious signs, of course, but small details, like the feel of the force field, the ragged edges of the repelling charm, the inconsistent distribution of magical energy along with a few more details that he couldn't quite put a finger on.

He considered getting Harry home and to safety first, but decided against it considering no one had actually managed to get in and besides, he had no time to lose.

So he lifted the anti-intruder charms again, which didn't take as long as it had the last time since he knew exactly which ones had been cast and where. Then he opened the door and led Harry inside. While Sirius headed straight to the hidden cabinet, Harry was awestruck by all the magical items in Snape's house, and Sirius finally just lifted the anti-summoning charm Snape had put on his precious ingredients and accioed and packed the ingredients on his own, while Harry stayed back in the sitting room to glare, fascinated.

"I'm done, Harry, thank you for your help!" said Sirius, but he winked at Harry while he said it, and Harry grinned guiltily, following his godfather outside.

"Snape has some really awesome stuff in there!" he breathed, while Sirius put the Anti-intruder charms back in place.

"I'm sure he does, Harry, but he have to get moving. Although I found quite a few useful ingredients here, there are a whole lot of things missing, so we're headed to Slughorn's now."

He restored the protective charms on the house once more, then stepped back, held his arm out to Harry and they apparated again. This time, they landed in the shadow of a tall sycamore tree on a fairly neglected lawn.

"This is where Slughorn lives?" Harry gasped, staring at the villa before him.

"Used to be, before he fled from the deatheaters. You remember he likes his luxuries?"

"Well yes, but- wow. Anyway, how did you know where to find it?"

"I used to be a Slughorn favourite once, too, you know" Sirius grinned and walked towards the door, face strained, as if trying to hear something.

"What are you..?

"Shhh!" Sirius took a step towards the door, hands outstretched before him, eyes closed.

Finally, he took his wand out, mumbled something and immediately, the lights inside the house went on and the door swung open.

"Awesome." Harry grinned, and followed his smirking godfather into the Mansion, expecting more exciting magic utensils, but was disappointed to find an entrance hall that might as well have been taken out of a Muggle movie. A great Hollywood movie with a ridiculous budget no less, but still, he was a little crestfallen.

"So. Where'd you reckon his lab would be?", Harry asked, determined to be of help this time.

"Dunno, let's find out, shall we?" Sirius sent his Patronus out to guide them, and they followed it through the hall into the kitchen and from there to what would have been the garage in a Muggle house. Slughorn had apparently put an extension charm on it, it was two stories high at least, and there was an entire library upstairs. A giant storage cabinet took up half of the downstairs. Sirius got to work summoning the remaining items while Harry packed and them. But he noticed that more often than not, Sirius would summon something and nothing happened.

"So what do we do about all the missing ingredients?", he asked, as soon as they were through.

"First of all, we'll go home to check with Ron and Hermione, who knows what they've found. Snape's collection there was extensive, and Slughorn may have added several things that I was surprised not to find in his personal storage cabinet."

When they got home, Ron and Hermione weren't there yet, so Harry started preparing the ingredients following the instructions Sirius gave him while Sirius himself tended to Snape once more, changing the bandages, instilling some more of the blood builder and such. Harry turned around when he heard Sirius curse under his breath.

"What is it?", he asked alarmedly.

"Nothing. Bleeding got worse again. And there's close to nothing I can do about it."

Sirius tried the remedies he had used before once more, but the effect was even less significant than the first times.

"We better make this potion work…", he mumbled, and they both continued to work even more determinedly, until eventually, they ran out of things to do.

"I hope everything's okay over at Hogwarts…" Sirius mumbled, eyes fixed on the clock.

"Well… the Death Eaters are mostly dead, and the remaining ones fled from the Aurors days ago. You don't think Ron and Hermione would be in trouble, do you?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, Harry, they've been forever, and at the very least, there's still the creatures from the forbidden forest. I'm not sure whether the charm keeping them inside the borders of the forest is still intact… I think we better go look for them." They rose to their feet and Sirius made to summon Kreacher, when they heard the front door opening and closing, Hermione giggling in a rather non-Hermione-ish way, as well as footsteps approaching.

Finally, Ron and Hermione appeared in the door, slightly out of breath. Ron, whose ears were a violent shade of pink, sported a dopey grin.

"Oh come on. Seriously?" Harry shouted suddenly, by way of a greeting.

"What the-" Sirius started but was interrupted by Harry, who was apparently really mad.

"You do realise that Snape might be dying here! That we might be his only chance! If you don't want to help then say so and don't go wasting our time! This is ridiculous, what were you thinking?"

Finally, Sirius caught up with him, and shot Ron and Hermione an appraising glance, before squeezing Harry's shoulder and murmuring, "There now, no need to shout. Get back to the ingredients."

Hermione looked thoroughly embarrassed and handed Sirius the bag with the ingredients without looking at him.

Ron, however, glared at Harry. "Listen, mate, it's not like we didn't do everything you told us, the entire time. It's just, now that it's over, we just wanted a few-"

"While Snape lies here, dying!" Harry shouted, voice trembling with anger. "Don't you think I would like some peace and quiet, too? I haven't seen Ginny for more than a few hours in months, and we have a hell of a lot to make up for, yet you don't see me abandoning anyone just so I could get some!"

"Hey, watch it, that's my sister you're talking about!" Ron glared back at Harry furiously.

Hermione started to say, "Harry, we're sorry, It's not that we don't want to help, we just-"

"Don't you apologize!" shouted Ron, agitated. "Where does he come off making us out to be the bad guys when all we did-"

"Enough!"

Sirius hadn't shouted, but the harshness in his voice made them all flinch.

"We have no time to lose, least of all by arguing. Ron and Hermione, there's some floo powder on the kitchen mantelpiece, go to the Burrow, I'm sure your mother will be glad to see you, Ron, and you, Hermione, could surely use the break as well. End of discussion."

Ron spun around on his heels and stormed outside, towing an unhappy looking Hermione behind him.

"Sirius. We could really have used their help." Harry said accusingly.

"Don't worry, Harry. We'll manage. Scratch the ingredients from the list when I call them, will you?" Harry hesistated.

"Look, Harry. You remember what happened last time when Ron was in this kind of mood, don't you? It just doesn't make any sense to argue with him now, and I didn't want a distracted Hermione messing up any of the ingredients, either. Besides. I like working with you most, anyway. You seem to understand what I want from you much quicker than the other two. Beats me why you haven't gotten an outstanding in potions in your OWLs. All right, now. Grindelow warts."

Ron and Hermione had been rather successful, and when Sirius had emptied the whole bag, only six more ingredients were left.

"I knew they wouldn't find squid tentacle." Harry murmured. "So what now?"

"One more option. Diagon Alley. Was hoping to skip that one, though. You don't happen to have your invisibility cloak, do you?"

"Always." Harry grinned and nestled the tightly rolled cloak out of the extension charmed moleskin pouch he was used to wear around his neck at all times and threw it over his shoulders.

"How very wise of you. That's all right then, I guess. People just wouldn't leave you alone if you were striding down Diagon Alley in plain sight these days. And I'll just…" he tapped his face, turning his hair and beard grey, his nose long and knobbly, his eyes wrinkly, his skin yellowish and sickly looking, then gave himself a slight hunch.

"Good?" he asked, wiggling his now wild, grey eyebrows at a spot a little left from invisible Harry, who snickered. Sirius called Kreacher and, for the umpteenth time, asked him to sit with Snape. They left the house again, Harry gripped Sirius's arm and they disapparated.

The Leaky Cauldron was averagely frequented, not crowded, but not devoid of life either, so Harry and Sirius were able to pass through without standing out.

Diagon Alley itself however was rather empty, still every other shop was closed and barred. They quickly made their way to the Apothecary's, but when Sirius, still disguised as a ugly old man, asked the batty saleslady for the ingredients, she just squinted at him suspiciously and said: "Very powerful dark magic you're dabbling with, there. What do you need these items for?"

"Never you mind that. Do you have any of the things on my list?"

She considered him for a long minute, then waved at one of the top drawers in the endlessly high shelves behind her, and when it opened, a little brown package came flying down.

"The Squid you can have. It's gonna cost you, though."

Sirius paid without flinching, which seemed to make the saleslady even more nervous. When they left the shop, they could hear her locking the door behind them.

"People are still scared… Anyway. One down, still several more to go." Sirius sighed.

"and where are we going to get them?" Harry asked, worried.

"Well… since you're invisible and I am unrecognisable, we might as well make a detour to Knockturn Alley. Dark Magic and the supplies can usually be found there."

"What else do we still need?" Harry asked, unable to recall the items although he had read the parchment a dozen times.