Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter eight- A Gift for Potions

Song: My immortal - Evanescence


That summer I went back to my own house. I needed to give Reggie some space, and now that we were both teens her parents might not be too happy about her bringing a boy home with her.

She still wrote a lot though, and I responded to every one. Sometimes she even sent pictures witch I proudly showed to my mother, who said that Reggie was a very pretty girl, but she found the pictures strange because they didn't move, and I'm not even sure that in her state of mind she could tell witch of the people in the pictures were Reggie. Still my mother enjoyed her job as mail interceptor and kept my father from learning I had friends.

Malfoy also wrote quite a bit that summer. He and Bella had broken up, so he was now, and these are his words, not my own, "playing the field." I wrote back to him too, but letters from Reggie were more looked forward to.

For her thirteenth birthday I sent her a Silver Arrow Broom, even though I wanted to buy a better one if was the best I could afford, even with some help from my mom, which was kind of dorky I admit but still. It would at least be better then the Shooting Star Broom she barrowed from the school for quidditch games.

She seemed to enjoy it because she sent me back pictures of not only her riding it, but also teaching Georgie to ride it. She wrote long stories about her summer and I sent her back questions I had, stories from Malfoy's summer, and if anything interesting ever happened to me I'd send her those stories too.

"Your friend sent you another letter," my mother said, taking a gulp of one of her homemade potions.

"Thanks, you can put it on the dresser," I said, concentrating hard on a fly perched on the windowsill. I was practicing my aim, shooting flies in my room; there were plenty of them. Small plies of the dead ones were collecting on the floor where I would sweep them outside tomorrow when I cleaned the rest of the house.

"I would open this one now," my mother persisted.

"Why?" I asked hardly interested.

"Just a feeling," she said placing it on the dresser and walking out of my small room.

I stood up kicking a pile of dirty clothes out of my way as I made my way over to the dresser. The top of my dresser had paint peeling away and I had to brush some of the stray pieces of paint off the letter before opening it, but when I came to the top to tear it opened it just flopped open as if it had never been closed.

My mother had read my mail!

But I wasn't angry for long. She was right, I shouldn't ignore this letter. It was from Reggie, reporting that Georgie was sick, and if he wasn't better in a couple months she wouldn't be coming back to Hogwarts for her third year. I couldn't believe it, not that her brother was sick, but that she would leave me. I know it was selfish, but I didn't want to loose Reggie. I packed a bag that night, not telling anyone. Sneaking out would be hard, my father didn't miss much. And this would just be another reason for him to start throwing things, so I kept quiet about my plans and waited for night to fall.

I tucked myself into bed that night my bag under my pillow, ready for the right time to leave. Unfortunately I would need a pretty big distraction to keep my dad from noticing I was gone.

At 10:00 my mother came into my room with a sad look in her eyes.

"Good night honey. I hope you'll be asleep soon because I sense a huge fight coming between me and your father around oh, lets say ten-thirty?" she kissed my forehead and turned to leave the room.

"Mom?" I called after her, "do you know something?"

"I know plenty of things," she said, winking before leaving my small room.

Sure enough my mother and father started yelling and throwing things at 10:29, and the noise was so loud I was able to open my window and climb out into the night. From here I found a bus to Reggie's address and got out in front of her home.

I wasn't sure how to proceed from here.

Did I just go up and ring the doorbell? Eventually I went around the back of the house and climbed up the deck until I was looking into Reggie's room. The lights were still on but she lay face down on her bed with her head in her hands. She was crying, something I had only seen her do once, something she had seemed too strong recently to do.

Without thinking I pried open the window, it was unlocked, I would have to warn her about this later, and headed over to her still form, as she lay there motionless.

I walked over to her bed and put my hand on her shoulder. She jumped at first because I had startled her, but when she saw it was me she wrapped me in her arms and pulled me close to her. She didn't say anything, she just cried, until eventually she fell asleep on her bed.

I silently tucked her in to bed and kissed her on the forehead. I sat there in her room for a while till I was sure she wouldn't wake up and then I snuck in to see Georgie.

His room had been cleaned out so that his bunk and his feverish body was all that was left in it. Ben and Jake had been moved to another room.

I slowly stepped over to his bed and sat down cross-legged on the floor next to his bed so my face was even with his.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Severus," I responded.

"Oh," he said as if he understood, "Why are you here?"

"I heard you were very sick," I said.

"Oh. Am I going to die?"

"I don't know, maybe. Everyone dies eventually," I said, which wasn't something you normally said to a nine-year-old boy, but I couldn't bring myself to lie to him.

"Mom says I'll be fine. Dad says only time will tell. Ben and Jake both say that if I die I should start saying my prayers now," he said rolling over onto his back.

"And what does Reggie say?"

"She can't come see me. Mom says it's because she is very sick too, but Jake says it's because she is just too sad. Severus, what's wrong with me?"

"I don't know Georgie, I'm not a doctor," said shrugging.

"But you are magic. I thought magic could fix anything."

"Not everything Georgie, sometimes nothing can stop fate." And that's what it took. This small nine-year-old boy who was dieing. That's what it took to make me realize that magic wasn't the answer to everything. Sure I could create my own spells, and create what I felt was power, but was it really power if I couldn't save this boy? Had Reggie already tried to save him?

"I need to sleep now," Georgie said.

"Ok, sleep, and I promise Reggie will come see you in the morning."

"I would like that," he said as his voice trailed off into sleep.

I slowly pulled out my wand and waved it around, opening Georgie's mind up like a new book for me to read.

I expected to feel the emotions like I did with Reggie, and how I had found him when I first met him, and that's how it started out.

There was a deep sense of clam that had washed over him in his sleep, but a bit of panic too at the back of his subconscious that he wouldn't wake up, then something strange happened.

Can he really make Reggie come? That would be magic!

I was stumped had his mind just changed from emotions to words, and just when I had come to terms with that it changed again and I saw pictures.

He was reliving a memory of when he was little. Reggie was about nine and was pulling him down the street in a small red wagon. Ben and Jake chased after them wearing wizard hats and screaming things like abracadabra and hocus-pocus!

There was something wrong with his mind, that's why he was so sick, he was changing under what I assumed had been a magic spell or curse. That must be why the muggle doctors couldn't fix him.

"Sevy?" Reggie moaned from the other room.

"In here," called and watched her waddle into the room looking not at me but at her brother.

She slowly sat down in my lap and watched her brother sleep intently, no tears coming to her eyes. I stroked her back as she watched him, and we just sat there until the sun came up and Georgie woke up.

"Reggie?" he asked

"I'm here Georgie," she said grabbing his small hand in her own.

"Severus? You really are magic," Georgie said smiling at me.

I didn't know how to tell Reggie what I knew, but someone needed to or Georgie wouldn't get better. But I wasn't quite sure I trusted her with knowing I could read minds. She could take it all sorts of ways. The one I was most scared of was that she would think I was a freak, and I was, but she didn't need to know that until I was sure she wasn't going anywhere. The second one which was almost as bad as the first was that she would be offended I had been listening in on her brother's thoughts, and assume I had been doing the same to her, which I had, but again she didn't to know that. But the last was the option I was hoping for. She thought me writing my own spells was cool when everyone else didn't, maybe she would think this was cool too.

We were sitting by a lake in the woods behind her house and she was sketching a frog while I sat next to her, listening to her emotions. It was like a music that played in my mind.

She was trying to be clam, trying to look cool in front of me, but she was shaking, and I could see it, though I pretended not to. She was also frustrated, at several different things. The most superficial was her drawing. Since her hand was shaking she couldn't seem to get it right, but she was also frustrated with the doctors that were supposed to be treating Georgie, and sadly she was frustrated with Georgie for being sick in the first place. There was sadness deep down, that she her self couldn't fix him. Was she under the same impression that Georgie was? That magic could fix everything, because it couldn't. If it could I would have been a much happier child. But magic can't fix the important things.

"Stupid frog!" she finally screamed, scaring the creature away, she threw down her pencil and sketchbook. I felt bad; it had been my suggestion that she tried to do something normal. I sighed and pulled he into my arms as the sadness engulfed her mind once again. I didn't need to say anything; I just needed to be here. And that's when it happened.

Why isn't he getting any better?

I started, breaking the spell and closing out of her mind. She hadn't noticed and I continued to keep her in my arms, but I raised one hand to her forehead and she did feel a bit warm. If Georgie were dieing, then Reggie would be next.

"Shhh," I whispered, "this is important Reggie, what is something you and Georgie have in common?" I didn't need to read her emotions to see the anger flash in her eyes. Why was that important now?

"We both hate vegetables," she said the tears slowing and then she let out a very fake laugh. She was tired, and I was willing to bet that she hadn't gotten much sleep since Georgie fell ill.

"No, Reggie, something important."

She glared at me, and then hiccupped.

Please Reggie think hard, I wished, this was important.

"We are both adopted," she said.

Ok, that was a start. Now the next important thing was to get her to go back to sleep. I hated to do it, but this was something I wanted to do on my own, and Reggie really did need to rest. I told Suzie, her mother, that I thought Reggie was coming down with a fever. Well, that's all it took for Suzie to go flying around the house, and make sure Reggie was in bed and had most of the family in with her. I felt bad about doing this to Reggie, who didn't really went to be around people, but I was going to do this alone.

It didn't take long to find out which orphanage Reggie and Georgie had come from, and I also learned that Ben and Jake came from the same orphanage. Under this pile of adoption certificates was Reggie's acceptance letter to Hogwarts and a collage the kids had made for Suzie on mother's day of all their faces. I hadn't thought about it much, but comparing these younger pictures of Reggie to her now there were definite changes happening.

I took off alone for the orphanage with some spirit. I didn't know why I felt I had to do this for Reggie. Maybe it was because I had seen what a happy family she had and I didn't think Reggie could survive in an unhappy one. Whatever it was I found the orphanage and slipped inside the lobby.

"Excuse me sir, may I help you?" asked a nice middle-aged woman.

"Yes," I said waving my wand. She thought in sentences, which was great, exactly what I was hoping for.

"I was wondering if you had any pictures of Georgie Berlinson, for a gift I'm making for his family," I said, remembering the collage.

Georgie? Hmmm, that doesn't seem familiar.

"I'm sorry sir, but most of our children are adopted when they are very young and given names by their adopted parents. I'm very sorry," she said turning to walk away.

Berlinson, now that does seem familiar some how…

"Ma'am, what about a Regina?"

The woman froze, and I had hit home.

"What about her?" the woman asked.

"Do you have any pictures of her?"

What a strange little boy she thought of course I remembered Regina. We had such hopes for her; she was adorable with her red hair, oh but what a frightening child… "I'm sorry, I don't remember a Regina."

I looked at her suspiciously. What had been frightening about my sweet Reggie? I didn't even pause to think that I had just referred to Reggie as mine.

"Now you seem like a nice child, Ruth might remember her, but I doubt she'll help you much, her office is right down the hall there."

"Thank you ma'am," I said hurrying down the hall.

When I entered the office there was an old woman sitting at her desk, she pulled on some glasses and gave me an appraising look.

Neither of us spoke we just stared. This was the woman I was looking for. Definitely a witch. I was practiced in Legilimens, but she was practeced in Occlumency, and equal match.

"I was told you knew something about a Regina Berlinson?"

"Ah, my little queen. How is she now?"

"Um, not good. It seems something is wrong with her…"

"Mind?" the woman said, not sounding surprised at all or even the slightest bit worried.

"Well, yes."

"I had to do it you know… she was such a beautiful child, but she would have never been adopted if I had just let her go. She set one couple on fire once and the other women here started to get suspicious, so I put the spell on her, yes. How is she other then that?"

She set one couple on fire? Why was I not surprised?

"Well, it's not really her I'm worried about. She has a little brother named Georgie, he is even sicker," I said, startled at this woman's frankness.

"Ah, Georgie, how is my little piggy? Oh, right very sick. He must have been a muggle then. I was just so worried that when he came to us the same way Regina had, and the dreadful boy Tom started showing an interest in him, well I put the calming spell on him too. Apparently I guessed wrong, I was just worried. I should have known when he didn't have any teeth."

"Well, by any chance, could you… um… take the spell off?"

"You're a wizard? Shouldn't you know things aren't that simple? How is your gift at potions?"

"It's adequate but not the best by far."

"Well, then my dear boy, its time you learn," she said, handing me a pile of papers. "Oh, and I was told you were looking for pictures."

Once I got outside the orphanage I looked through the papers. This potion seemed anything but simple, well, it was time I learned. And at the very bottom was a picture that most would have found disturbing, but the witch back there had seemed a bit twisted, and it reminded me a bit of my own past.

In the small square picture was a two-year-old, chewing on a shoe, bright orange hair, which was now browner then that, flying around her as if by an invisible wind, her complete set of teeth was clamped down on the shoe. Two long scratches ran down her cheek, like an animal had attacked her. As her eyes gleamed with green steel, in the front of the picture was a cat, hanging by its tail, and turned a very odd shade of blue. Apparently Reggie had hated cats as well.

The potion took forever to make, and I was finally glad when it was done, praying I hadn't done anything wrong. It turns out I hadn't. Georgie and Regina recovered about a week after I gave them the potion, under false pretenses that it was some sort of smoothie. Not a week after that I helped Reggie pack her bags and we were off to Hogwarts for yet another year of our ever-changing life.


I seem to remember this chapter having a point, but I don't remember what it was now. Also I originally had more chapters with Snape's mom, because she was a fun character to write, but I cut those out for being too weird. Or pointless. I wish I could figure out what the point of this super long chapter is…