Author's Note: I just realized that I never told you how to say Osiris' name. So here's how it goes. Os-eye-rus or Os-eye-ris, then you slur it together all nice. ;-) For future references, his brother's formal name is Heru'ur (Egyptian), you say that Hair-oo-er, except Osiris who calls him Heru.

Chapter 10

Delirium

When the bell announced the end of class, Osiris was breathing deeply through his nose while every muscle in his body tensed and released repeatedly in a strange dance. The feeling was as sickening as it appeared to an onlooker.

He groaned deeply at the sound breaking through his head, knowing that not one person in the class had been efficient enough to brew the antidote before the end of class.

Professor Snape, however, did not seem bothered or surprised by it in the least.

"Since no one has finished, bottle a sample of your antidote and leave it on my desk," he said from his position behind his desk.

Osiris wiped his forehead and put his head back against the wood of the large chair he had been pushed into earlier in class. The pain was immeasurable and constant, pulsing through his body, leaving him so drained that he could no longer clench his fists but could only clench his teeth.

"Professor Snape, I'm almost finished and I have a free period after this, can I continue so that you can give Mr. Silver the antidote?" Hermione Granger said tentatively.

Osiris groaned lightly for her, because he knew what the answer to her question would be and he was not disappointed.

"Miss Granger, your potion was not completed in the allotted time, so no you may not finish it. Mr. Silver will survive, I assure you. Now get out of my classroom."

After hearing her take a deep breath, Osiris heard her continue, "Please, sir, he's not looking very well."

This disobedience prompted the Professor to stand up quickly, nearly toppling over his chair.

Hermione took a protective step backwards.

"Since you persist in this fruitless line of discussion Miss Granger, do you think me to be negligent?"

She looked like a fish for a brief moment before answered, "No, sir."

The Professor was now three feet in front of her, towering over his tense form, Osiris breathing heavily in the background.

"Then you should realize, Miss Granger, that I would not have ordered him to take that poison if I did not have the antidote here. However, if he had done as he was told, perhaps you would have had that extra time to finish, so he will have to suffer the consequences of his hesitation."

She squeaked, "Please, Professor Snape, he's really sick. If you have it why don't you give it to him?"

"You've earned yourself a detention, Miss Granger, now get out."

Osiris jumped when the door slammed behind her retreating form and then locked shut. His eyes were bloodshot and the color of green-yellow mucous when he looked up at the form of the towering Potion's master standing over him.

The man's scowl was dark and firmly planted on his stony face, his eyes piercing.

"I told you barely three hours ago, Mr. Silver, that you did not have any latitude whatsoever about following my orders. Is your brain that feeble that you forgot in such a short time?" He hissed.

Osiris swallowed, "No, sir." He took another deep breath. "I was not going to object, sir." He barely managed to rasp the end out.

"But you did object, your hesitation was your objection, Mr. Silver, actions are not meaningless. You questioned me with your inaction and your silence. I will not tolerate that from someone in your position. When I ask you to do something, you will do it or you will learn very quickly to do it when you suffer my displeasure."

Closing his eyes, Osiris looked to the side, his lips a peach-purple shade. "Yes, sir," he said quietly, wanting nothing more than to say what the Professor wanted to hear so that it could all be over.

His lip curling with distaste, the Professor said, "You disappointed me today, Mr. Silver. This was a test that you most blatantly failed, aside from identifying the poison, and now you will learn the consequences."

Opening his eyes slowly, Osiris said, "Please, Professor, the dose was too high. My tolerance won't-."

Leaning down into his face, he spat, "Don't whine, Mr. Silver, I know you are stronger than that. The dose was meant to be high for this specific reason. You will not forget this lesson. As for your tolerance of the poison, it matters very little, as you said yourself the treatment window for this particular poison is large. If your tolerance is too low to counteract its effects, I will have plenty of time to administer the antidote."

"I won't do it again, sir," he said, hoping to say something that would satisfy the man.

"When I said that you did not have the latitude to be hesitant because that could very well mean death. When I said that you needed to follow my instructions immediately or risk death or injury to us both, I was very serious, Mr. Silver. Perhaps you will understand exactly how serious I am now that your inability to follow my instructions immediately has resulted in injury to yourself. You are lucky this was a test."

Osiris knew that he should have known from the beginning that the man was not going to give him the antidote anytime soon, even if he prostrated himself on the floor and begged for it. Hearing it come out of the man's mouth was an entirely different story.

When you built up tolerance to poison, the purpose was to make sure it had no effects on you whatsoever, even at a high dosage. Accomplishing this was not a fast and easy process. Successive doses were to be taken, gradually getting larger. Each new dose should only have mild effects on you, if you were doing it properly and slowly. Osiris was undergoing moderate to severe effects and would likely suffer from the entire symptomology if Professor Snape allowed this to drag on. His body was not going to be able to counteract it.

The Potion's Master stared into Osiris' eyes and watched as they transitioned from entreating to forlorn. The boy had finally realized that he was going to have to suffer it out.

"You've already gotten through the first two hours, Mr. Silver, perhaps you will find that you are stronger than you think."

Osiris focused as if out of a daze and answered, "I hope so, sir," in a dejected, withdrawn voice.

The Professor went back into his classroom, after moving Osiris out of it and to the couch in his quarters. The slight smirk on his face spoke to what further he had just done to Osiris. He replayed it in his mind.

"By my estimation Mr. Silver, you have seven more hours before you'll need the antidote, but just in case I have overestimated I will leave this on the table here in front of you."

He placed a small flask down on the table next to the couch, which Osiris eyed with his eyebrow raised.

"If you begin to go into shock, take it in case I am not here. However, Mr. Silver, I am trusting that you will not take it before that point."

Coming out of the replay in his mind, he looked down at the notebook in front of him and thought, If he takes that antidote, he'll be sorry. He'll not fail two of my tests in one day. We'll see if he's really learned anything or if he's still just thinking about himself.

Smirking softly, he opened the notebook and ran a hand over the first page to smooth it out. He began reading the neat, flowing, cursive.

"I've decided to start anew today with Essence of Keb and Kiefer's root, as they can be safely combined and should have some countereffects to the necrosis. However, I must remember to keep Horus out of the lab as he secured a rather nasty, bulbous chemical burn from the undiluted Essence – a mistake Osiris would never have made even at age ten."

His brow pulled down and his cheeks pressing upward, he stared at the writing for a few moments. I must have exchanged notes or had a short correspondence with this woman about poisons. Her writing is slightly familiar. Although most women have fancy cursive writing. He continued reading.

"I've decided upon a one quarter ratio of Essence (diluted to a one to ten solution with water) to root, which seems to ensure that the root with dissolve but not burn and give off the most horrid stench."

Severus snorted. Only a woman would keep such a narrative research journal. His research journal looked nothing like this.

"Adding this solution to the Asildis Antidote for neurotoxin poisoning resulted in a stable potion, however, two drops from a ten milliliter micropipet given to a rat killed it within twenty seconds, so I will be forced to start all over again tomorrow."

He continued reading the journal for hours, until a noted stiffness in his chest pulled him away. After closing the book, he massaged his temples, sighing deeply. Being alone for so long had not lessened the pain, even though he did not consciously think of it often, his body remembered for him. His body had remembered while reading the journal of this woman and reading the asides she inserted about her two sons: Osiris and Heru'ur.

It had been so many years, so many years that he could not remember what it was like to have direction and a future, and an absense of the Dark Lord and war. It had been more than ten years he was sure, but he was not sure if it had been fifteen years yet he so rarely dwelt upon it now.

He had been sitting in this very chair when it had happened, when a confusion and fear struck him that had not been equaled yet in his life following. As if being stuck by an altered form of killing curse, he felt half of himself rip away violently, sending him to the floor in agony. The confusion that followed was not knowing what that was or why it had happened, but within one breath, the fear had crashed down upon him. The bonding was gone, the connection was gone, the warmth was gone.

He remembered pulling himself up from the floor, sweat pouring down his face as he stared at the one test which would tell him for sure. He had not wanted to know.

Now, he stared at his naked finger, remembering how he had grabbed the ring hoping that it would not come off, but it had – as he knew that it would.

And when it came off, he was forever changed. His life was forever changed. That one occurance had thrown him into his current role, seeking revenge and redemption all at the same time. Not necessarily caring if he died doing so, because then he could be with her.

When that ring came off his finger, he knew that she was dead. He knew that the feeling he had experienced was the result of her life force being ripped away from him, from their wedding bonding dying. Once that was ripped away, he was left with less than he had originally, and felt more measureable lost and alone than he had when his father had abused him or even when his father had killed his mother.

He remembered the newspaper articles, he remembered the other professors, and he remembered their funerals. So many details of them were lost inside of his mind. He must have repressed them so violently that they were no longer accessible.

Officially, it had been an overwhelming explosion in the lab at his home, obliterating everything in the basement floor. Including his wife and his son. Unofficially, he had many theories about what had happened, but there was only one that he chose to stay with for his entire life. He had not wanted to bring his wife to serve Voldemort and the Dark Lord had killed his family as punishment.

The notes of this woman had reminded him, but his own wife had never been given the chance to finish her apprenticeship. She had only been twenty-two years old. He had only been twenty-three. His son had only been four.

He slammed his fist down on his desk, a growl more like an animal than a man escaping his lips.

Osiris' eyes darted to the door some four hours later when the Professor came back in looking drained and tired and agitated. Osiris was having trouble moving now, sharp pains shooting through his muscle fibers, but the poison had yet to take its final step.

The Professor walked back into his room, almost having completely forgotten about Osiris. The first thing he looked for was the small flask on the table. Next, he turned to look at Osiris, whose face was sunken in and his hair stuck to the pastiness of his face.

He looked back to the flask on the table, still full of a dark teal colored liquid. He strode up to the table and picked it up, noting that Osiris was following him simply with his eyes.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Silver?"

Osiris gave a small huff that sounded half like a cough and half like a scoff, "Like shit, sir."

"Unless you are delusional, which you are not, or really think that you are going to die and not have to deal with me anymore, I would refrain from the cheek and the melodrama."

Forcing himself to think more rationally, Osiris pushed out a "yes sir."

"So, you are feeling quite poorly?" The Professor asked, a snide tone present in his voice.

"Yes, sir. I'm feeling like I learned my lesson, sir," he answered, his voice waivering considerably.

"You did not take the antidote."

"No, sir."

The Professor wheeled around and walked away from him, carrying the precious antidote in his hands.

I don't know how much longer of this I can take, Osiris thought, on the verge of a breakdown.

A few moments later, the Professor came back holding two flasks. Without saying a word, he sat down on the table in front of the couch and held out the teal colored one to Osiris.

Holding his breath, Osiris began to reach for it before deciding that there was no way he could hold it.

"Could you do it, sir, I don't think I can hold it?"

Nodding, the Professor said, "You'll have to drink all of it."

He held it up to Osiris' purplish colored lips as he struggled to breath and drink it all without coughing it up.

"What's that, Professor?" Osiris asked of the second flask when he could manage.

"It will put you into a deep sleep for a few hours, but you will likely wake up and be violently ill."

Osiris dropped off into sleep within a few minutes, still very much looking dreadful.

The Professor levitated him off the couch and dropped him back down in his room, where he could rest in his own bed. After making sure a trash bin was by the side of the bed for when Osiris woke up, he went back into his rooms and poured himself a large glass of cognac.

Osiris did not know how many hours he slept for but he was very certain he had been throwing up for at least an hour before passing out again. Now he was feeling slightly more coherent in his mind, but achy all over his body. It was as if every muscle in his body had been intensely overworked. The nausea was fading, but still there.

Slowly, he changed out of his school uniform and put on some more loosely fitting clothes.

When he emerged from his room wearing slate grey cargo pants and a black tee shirt, with his hair pulled back, he saw the Professor sitting on the couch.

Severus blinked a few times to focus himself when he heard a noise and then frowned at the form of Osiris standing there.

"What are you doing, Mr. Silver?" He said, his normally harsh and succinct voice, sounding a little slurred but still very harsh.

Osiris frowned, "You gave me a detention today, sir."

A little slow himself, Osiris just noticed the half empty bottle on the table and the half empty glass in the Professor's hand. He had never seen him drink before.

"Tomorrow night, Mr. Silver, we'll take care of that tomorrow night," he answered, shocked that Osiris would remember something like that after what he had already gone through that day.

Osiris pursed his lips tightly before asking, "Are you okay, sir?"

"I'm fine, now leave, go back to sleep."

"Yes, sir," he answered before turning around and leaving the man to himself.

After he closed his door, Osiris licked his lips and sat down on his bed, wondering what was going on.

A/N

Last chappie I forgot to thank Golden Essence for her review too, so thanks

Dave – This fic is going to turn out to be quite a bit darker than Sagey's, so it does allow me to do some different things with Severus. But Osiris himself is also a bit more dark and dodgey than Sage. ;-). Thanks for saying that Sev's aside was well done. Sev is the type that gives enough info but doesn't explain things and has to be cryptic. Perhaps Osiris will eventually find out why. You are right about him testing Osiris to see whether or not he is trustworthy, but not necessarily about the spying stuff. Severus would not want to put anyone else in that position. ;-) But, because of what Severus is, he needs to know that Osiris will always do as he says, even if that decision might be couched in difficult circumstances.

Ibk – I hurried! Isn't this fast enough. 3 chappies in a week?

Lucius and Snape Rock – I'm glad you like it and there is some foreshadowing, but not that much, at least I don't think†You may be reading into things too much, lol. There is some tho, but it's up to you to decide what and what it means. ;-)

Linden – I hope you gget some sleep and feel better! You were right about sev having the antidote but not necessarily handing it over right away, lol. Also, you were right about something else in your review but that doesn't come until later, ;-) If you remember, Osiris is seventeen, so he can legally apparate, which he does to get the ingredients. You were right about the apprenticeship making him a little different than a normal student. At some point in tie, and I won't give away the circumstances, dumbledore will tell him that he must take his NEWTs as he can no longer be considered a student.

Lady M – yupo, tremors are yucky. Watch Venom ER on TV and you'll know what I mean, and that's just mild. Fullblown is gross.

Oihane – Yup, snape did have one on him and Osiris will be for saying that I write a wonderful snape. ;-)

Duj – You were right about Snape not doing that to a normal student but being able to do it with osiris because of Osiris being his apprentice. He'll do many other things that may be questionable throughout this, but you'll find that Severus is very good at detaching himself from feelings. You were also right about Hermione being a contender, sort of. It would have been hers if she had finished, but Snape still wouldn't have let Osiris take it right away.

Fcuking Cathy – Sorry about the cliffie, but it was quickly resolved

Emma- You were entirely right about how much snape was going to push and he even says so, kudos to you!

Interested reader – I will email you when I update! Glad youa re so captivated by the story. ;-)

Aellyr – I'm glad it was tense, because that's what I was aimming for. So I'm not predictable, huh?

Thanks to everyone else who read the last chappie and didn't review. ;-) Glad you keep reading.