Disclaimer: Ichigo0-0Rose does not and will never own Harry Potter or any of the characters except her OC.
Ichigo0-0Rose: Hey guys! So sorry for the delay. It was supposed to be uploaded last week, but things got in the way that I didn't have time. Here it is, the next chapter!
Summary: Even an immortal can have mortal enemies, and what Jade (OC) wouldn't give to finally see Dumbledore's head on a pike for all to see. Looks like Tom Riddle maybe getting his wish after all. Starts at Harry's third year and goes up from there. This is a Severus/OC fanfic.
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Chapter 4- Converse With a Viper
It was a comfortable night for once to the man sitting in his chair by the fire. He tilts a glass of Ogden's Old Firewhisky into his mouth for a sip before lowering it and continue a slow swirl as he lets his mind wander. The woman named Jade had just replied to the mail he sent yesterday after his patrol. His mouth twitches upward when he recalls her saying that the girl from human resources was sadly "let go". Turns out, the girl hired her dudderhead of a boyfriend because he was desperately looking for a potion's job and no one else would hire him. Of course, when the evidence of his potion skill report came back as below adequate, it was easy to see. How he even obtained a masters in potions is beyond him. Maybe from his family influence?
It was funny how those two thought they could get away with it. Because, who can accuse them when they have the credibility of Crystal Clear backing them up. Jokes on them when that evidence came into the light not only two months later of his employment.
Jade even said she liked the girl due to her performance level at work. She just had to make that mistake to ruin her, and she was just talking about dating the idiot. Oh well. The girl had about three years at Crystal Clear, she can surely find another job elsewhere. The pay might not be as great anymore, and the job search maybe a bit difficult, due to the fact Jade told her that any reference letter she sends will say the same thing. "This girl not only has wonderful work ethics, but she hires the best money can buy for my company- an incompetent, potioneer of a boyfriend. She clearly makes the right choices, and will definitely help your company flourish under her experience."
He was just thinking of how to respond to her letter when he was brought back to reality when he heard someone call his name.
"Severus my good friend. Is this a bad time to call?" A man with long hair and a face of an aristocrat was seen through his fireplace. The man, Severus, puts down his glass of alcohol and turns his head towards the fire.
"Lucius." Severus nods his head in acknowledgement. "It has been a calm night as of so far. To what do you need that requires my attention?"
"May I come though Severus? I would like the opportunity to talk with you directly, in person." Severus heard his subtle hint. Don't know who might be listening in.
"But of course dear friend. I understand your preference. Please come on through." The fire suddenly turned green and enlarged, before diminishing back to normal. Lucius walks out arrogantly and walks towards the chair facing opposite of Severus. Each step, his serpent cane hits his floor with rhythmic precision.
"Would you like a glass?"
"Indeed I would." Severus nods and waves his hand to summon another glass to pour the strong alcohol in. His magic laid the filled glass on the table in front of them as Lucius takes a seat.
"So, Lucius. To what honor do I have to accept your presence?"
"Can't I just come in and enjoy a glass of top quality Ogden's Old Firewhisky with a good friend while having a riveting discussion?" Lucius says as he lifts the glass towards his mouth.
"Depends on the discussion you put on the table."
"Indeed." Lucius smirks as he takes a sip. "I have come because my son sent a letter to me a few days ago. The content in it had me amused yet curious."
"If it is about his grades, he is doing quite well this early in the year. So there is no need for concern."
Lucius chuckles a bit. "I already expect that from my heir. Plus, you are his head of house are you not? What's a little favoritism to go around to keep things in school balanced? No, what I've read, is that you've received a letter or two a couple of days ago that has pique the interest of the Malfoy family. It is not often you receive mail that can cause a man like you to chuckle. Narcissa has been speculating over this and has come to the theory that you have a lady friend she doesn't know about. Care to tell me if she is on the right track?"
Severus sighs internally. Just what he needs, a nosy Slytherin to break his calm, quiet night. "So, just because Draco says I chuckled, you believe it was because of a woman after my heart? Don't be absurd. I just received a message from a potioneer, and what they said entertained me. What does this have to do with your personal visit?"
"Ah, I would have really thought nothing else of it and let you be. Narcissa might not have, and would have insist that I invite you to the next family meal for more information if I don't return home without enough to satisfy her for a week or two. She has been trying for ages to find you company. No, what caught my eye was the rare bird- a black, shadow phoenix that made an appearance to send you that letter. Quite the scene it made to everyone in the Great Hall no doubt. Makes me wonder what other powerful friends you know that we do not Severus."
"Who I know and who I don't has nothing to do with you to stick your head into. It caught me by surprise as well."
"So it is a woman. You must have just met a few months ago. Interesting. I am guessing since you didn't tell me her name, I am assuming you don't want the world to know who you collaborate with, let alone let us meet?"
"Can't have all the cards in my hands be seen."
Lucius smirks, "Who says it can't be the deck in your sleeves? A Slytherin always has one or two Aces to hide, while everyone else only sees the hands. However, it seems to me that you have more than the given four Aces. How many I wonder you already showed to your fellow friends? And how many you keep hidden close to your heart?"
"The required two to defeat an opponent has already been revealed. Why are you so worried?"
"Because I believe that your deck of Aces have a few Jokers disguised as them."
Severus gives Lucius a pointed stare. "We all have a wild card no one notices until it is too late. Even you dear friend."
"I know, but why does it feel like you contain more than the given set? Am I not a friend you can put your whole trust in?" Lucius gives him a sharp look. Predatory eyes awaiting the fate changing answer.
"I put in the same trust you put in me."
Lucius eyes loses its gleam. "I see. Let's leave it there then."
"Yes, let's." Severus nods in acknowledgement and switches the topic to something more mundane.
"How is your wife anyway? I haven't heard from her in awhile."
"Doing her job as the Lady of the Malfoy house. She organized a charity with a few other ladies for the children in St. Mungo's hospital a month ago. However, if you wanted me to go on about her sideline hobby besides worrying over Draco, she has been trying to find the "prefect" match for you. She says you need some company besides ours."
"Tell her she has nothing to worry about. Your wife needs to know what line she can stick her nose in and which line she cannot cross."
"Narcissa just doesn't want you to live your life in solitude, and I agree with her. You need someone who can allow your mind to keep going, not let it rot. It would be a shame to only allow your brilliant mind contained."
"I understand her concerns, but I am happy the way I am now."
Lucius gives him a pointed look. "Because working here at Hogwarts is such a delight to someone like you. You are a genius in potions Severus. Why are you here at Hogwarts with that old coot, when you could be traveling the world researching and coming up with new potions or spells? Didn't you always say that you could brew glory?"
"What I choose for my life is not something you need to dive into Lucius. I don't invade yours, so please don't invade mine." Severus says sharply.
One of Lucius's eyebrows shoots upward as he looks at Severus questioningly. There must be something more than the eyes see for Severus to be here. I just don't know what it is yet. Lucius thought.
"I understand." Lucius said out loud, acknowledging Severus's plea for the end of that topic.
"Is there anything else you would like to discuss, or is that all." Severus's left hand twitched to be clenched, but can only be seen if one looks closely at it.
"Yes, one last thing before I go."
Now it was Severus's turn to allow his eyebrows to rise in astonishment. What else could there be to talk about?
"Did you really state in front of the whole school that the old coot should stick his nose somewhere else other than your business?" Lucius smirks.
Severus could only chuckle. "It appears I did so. If that is all you have to say, then I wish you and your wife a good night. It is getting late, and I have class in the morning."
"Indeed." Lucuis chuckles as well. "This was a good conversation Severus. I bid you good night. I'll talk to you some other time."
Severus nods his head as he watches Lucuis floo away back to his mansion.
Severus looks at the clock. Just past 12:30 in the morning. "Just one more day until the weekends." was Severus's final thought before heading to bed. A flick of his hands clean the two glasses and sends them both and the bottle back into the cabinet.
Jade was humming as she stirred the second to final ingredient to her potion. She just needed to wait until tomorrow to capture the last one, then all that is left to do is test it on a subject. Good thing she had one willing.
Jade sighs as she turns off the flame and puts a stasis charm on the potion. It's been a long month. Already with the drama between her two coworkers, she had to find a new human resource manager and a new potioneer. Maybe she should have joined the interview for that potioneer applicant group that had the idiot in it. It would have saved her this hassle. But who could blame her, after so many come and go, she just left it to her HR to take of it. It gave her more time for research and exploring, than listening on and on why this potioneer candidate believes he or she is the best for her company.
It wasn't hard to get applications to flow in, but the interview process was a nightmare. By the time they interview 30 qualified applicants, she started to get cranky. So forgive her if she snapped at the rest and led at least 10 good ones either scarred or ran out crying. One of her workers had to slowly pull her aside as if trying to tame a furious, wild beast. They would be right. It took her an hour of just sitting in her office calming down; after another hour of destroying and repairing everything beforehand. Why didn't Severus apply? Did he not hear about the job opening? Or did he really like that school to stay there after so many years?
They finally came down to their decision on the HR. Her name was Cindy. Lovely girl. She had a little experience from a small clothing company in France, but decided to venture out and go big. She got very lucky to receive a big corporation job.
For the potioneer, they got someone who came from a rivaling branch of potions. Although, Jade never considered them a rival as they were too small compared to her company. They were just slightly better than the others that tried to compete against hers. That was until she snatched one of their underappreciated intern potioneer right from under their noses. They didn't see the potential this guy, Arthur, had. He was working on a potion that could dilate certain poisons. While the potioneers at that company didn't see why as they could just shove a bezoar in the infected person's mouth. She saw a chance to stop the progress of poison flow. If they couldn't see something as obvious as that, then the wizard community's intelligence as really gone down each generation.
Right now, he is working on the basic poisons of mushrooms and snakes. Jade couldn't wait when they start branching out further to the snakes that can kill someone in less than a minute. Oh the excitement was getting to her even though it wasn't her project, she still funded him.
In the end, Jade was happy with her choices. Double points, there hasn't been a commotion or explosion in the last two weeks. That was a good sign. Hopefully they can reach a month. Sadly, their personal best was four months. Why did that idiot have to spill cauldron water onto the floor and not clean it up?! It takes just one spell!
Jade looks at the time. It just past two in the morning. Wow, that's pretty late. Maybe I should skip work tomorrow. Jade thought. She did have a right hand man named Johnny to cover for her. She trusted him at least 10% more than her coworkers, and that is saying a lot. He could at least prevent explosions and deal with almost any problems that have a common time reoccurring in the lab. Yes, she'll do just that and send him an owl in the morning. Plus, she has to finish putting in the crucial ingredient of her new potion tomorrow. Can't forget that!
Jade walks upstairs to her room. There she sees stacks of parchment on her desk. She'll get to those later- even Severus's letter. Now Severus, she thought, he is an interesting fellow. He was a man who you didn't want to meet in a dark ally, yet you would feel grateful he was there at the same time. She kind of got the dark guardian angel vibe from him. Weird.
Either way, he was someone you should never underestimate, and Jade was thrilled to have met him. It's been a long time since someone could keep up with her brain. The last one had died in an unfortunate accident many years ago, and she already cried her tears of grief.
With the last thought of her agenda tomorrow, she flops onto her bed and instantly falls asleep.
Author's Note: Oh I hope I am getting Severus's personality right. Mirror didn't make an appearance in this chapter, but she probably will next time. I am also working on another story, so thank you for your patience. See you next time. :)
