After eating a slice of bread with jam for his breakfast, Severus got to work. For his first day of vacation he had decided to brew The Draught of Living Death. It was quite an advanced potion and also a dangerous one. Not that he was going to use it of course. The black haired boy walked down the stairs leading to the cellar. He walked to the centre of the room where his cauldron was. He opened his Advanced Potion-Making book, which was normally used by seventh year. He read the recipe.
The Draught of Living Death
Cut up the Sophophorus bean. The sophophorus bean should be crushed, not cut, to get more juice from it.
Pour in 250 . of water and add 5 oz. of African sea salt to the beaker. Set the beaker aside after all the water has been added. Be very careful not to shake or move the beaker now.
Leave the water and salt to rest for five minutes.
Slowly pour all the water into the cauldron.
With your left hand use the graduated cylinder to obtain 40 . of essence of wormwood.
With your right hand hold the cauldron at a slight angle and pour ten drops (20 .) of essence of wormwood.
Now with your left hand hold the cauldron at a slightly different angle and pour another ten drops of wormwood essence.
Chop three Valerian roots into small squared pieces. After cutting place it in a beaker with water. Leave it to settle for five minutes. Your potion should now be resembling a smoot blackcurrant-coloured liquid.
Carefully pour the Sophophorus bean's juice into the cauldron
Add seven drops of the reduced liquid from the beaker; make sure there are no traces or fragments of Valerian root.
Stir the potion ten times clockwise; your potion should now be turning a light shade of lilac.
With your right hand stir the potion anti-clockwise until the potion turns as clear was water; every stir should take approximately two and a half seconds.
Slowly pour seven square pieces of Valerian root.
Stir the potion ten times anti-clockwise.
Add one hundred and fifty . of powdered root of asphodel.
Hold the cauldron with your right hand; with your left hand gently stir the potion ten times anti-clockwise and eight times clockwise. Stir anti-clockwise seven times and clockwise once instead.
Leave the potion to settle for two and a half minutes.
Add one small piece of Valerian root.
Your potion should turn to a pale pink colour; the preparation is now complete.
He had already made some notes in his book, after researching upgrades he could make to the recipe so that it would be easier to brew the potion. He started crushing his sophophorus beans carefully.
Potion brewing took him all of his morning and a good part of the afternoon. Therefore it was five when he came back up and decided it was time he went shopping. He picked some money from the kitchen table and left, locking the door behind him. He walked slowly. There was no reason to hurry and he quite enjoyed being outside. It was true he didn't look like the type to go outside much with his overly pale skin, but that was because he liked going out at night the most. He enjoyed moving amongst the shadows, liked walking the silent streets without people murmuring as he passed.
He arrived at the store and did his shopping quickly. He absolutely hated shopping. There was always some middle aged woman who would look at him with a wary eye. They always treated him like some sort of criminal, just because he wore cheap clothes and because he didn't have an ideal home. He absolutely hated these muggles!
He was relieved when he came out. The light was dimming but it wasn't quite night yet. Severus hesitated a few minutes. Should he go back home? But no one was waiting for him there and he wasn't particularly looking forward to going back in that house. Instead, he decided to go to the park and watch the lake as he had done the previous evening. He made his way across the street and in the park. As he approached the bench he had sat on the day before, he noticed a figure sitting there. As he walked closer he managed to see the person more clearly. It was her, Petunia. It surprised him a bit but he decided not to dwell on it. She had the right to sit wherever she wanted after all.
"Hi." he said as he sat down beside the girl.
The girl's head jerked upwards and she blinked at him.
"Hi." she replied after a moment of confusion.
Severus could feel the icy blue eyes on him as he turned his gaze towards the lake. It didn't feel uncomfortable though. After a few minutes, Petunia looked away.
"Do you live alone?" asked the girl.
"Yeah, my dad leaves when I'm on holyday." said Severus.
He had no idea why he was being honest with the girl. His Slytherin instinct was telling him he should give her the cold shoulder and not give her any information. But he was comfortable and felt compelled to reply.
"Aren't you lonely?" the blue eyes turned to look at the dark haired boy.
Severus turned to look at her and met her gaze. It wasn't such much of a cold gaze, as he had initially thought but rather a tranquil and patient gaze. And maybe, just maybe the tiniest hint of softness.
"Not really." said Severus looking away.
It was a lie. And he knew Petunia had felt it. The girl's eyes turned to the lake. They sat side by side, in silence, until the sky began to darken. Petunia got up. Severus expected her to leave and yet she was standing there without taking another step.
"Can I come and cook for you tomorrow?" asked the girl suddenly.
Surprised, the dark haired boy turned to look at her. There was a slight blush in her cheeks and she looked uncertain. Severus tried to evaluate the possibilities of it being a trap of some kind but found that he was unable to think.
"Sure." he found himself saying.
The girl looked surprised. Then she looked relieved and finally she smiled. It was a small and shy smile, but a smile nonetheless. Severus watched her leave, unable to turn away. It was after she had disappeared in the growing darkness that the information finally made it to his brain. He had just agreed to let her cook for him tomorrow. Severus tried to convince himself that it was a disaster but somehow couldn't quite manage it. He hadn't had had a decent meal since he had left Hogwarts after all…