Okay, so, a note: this chapter, and twenty-six, will be the last for at least a day or so. I'm back at home from college, and it sucks, to be quite frank. So, yeah.
Tender Hooks
By: Bucket/Replacement for the Stars/filthyfreedom
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Books and Laws
The antidote for a blended poison will be
equal to more than the sum of the antidotes
for each of the separate components.
Golpalott's Third Law
(O.o)
Year: 1970
Date: April the Twenty-Ninth
Severus tenderly traced the caldron on the front of his mum's Advanced Potion Making book and crawled his fingers up to gently touch the letters forming the words. It was the only book she had been able to bring with her when she escaped her father, and she had finally given it to Severus three days prior. He had barely been able to touch it ever since his mum had trusted it to him. After all, what if he broke it or bent the cover or tore some of the pages? He'd never forgive himself. Cautiously, he turned to somewhere near the front of the book and stared at the page: Draught of Living Death: an extremely powerful sleeping potion that induces a trance and mimics the state of death.
Long, thin fingers danced over the list of ingredients and Severus cautiously whispered out a few: valerian roots, wormwood, crushed snake fangs—Severus wondered what kind of snake, exactly—sloth brain, a single Sopophorous bean, to be sliced for the juice. Severus frowned at the last ingredient and carefully set down his mum's potion book; he darted over to his small trunk and opened it, riffling through his own meager stash of potions books for the most important one: a self-updating list of all the known plants that had properties for potions. Quickly, Severus flipped to the section on the Sopophorous beans and frowned down at it. He dropped down onto his bed and looked between the two books.
Both of them said that to produce the most amount of juice, the bean had to be sliced, but that didn't make any sense, because Severus had read somewhere that Sopophorous beans reacted well to silver…when he got to school, Severus would have to test it.
Severus heard a small yawn and looked up to see Nessie floating above him, staring down at the large words. Nessie made sure Severus was touching the book—he was—and turned the pages; he pointed to a word, "wh't's th't on', Sevvie?"
Severus smiled as he responded, "Burning Bush, Nessie. It's also known as Dittany; if taken directly afterword healing a wound, it can prevent scarring." Nessie grinned widely and ducked around, lying directly on Severus's back and resting his tiny chin on Severus's shoulder, his thin arms wrapping around Severus's neck. A fine-boned hand slowly turned the pages of the book of ingredients and Severus leaned his cheek against Nessie's, briefly closing his eyes as he held in the scent of his beloved.
Ch24 Review Responses:
Gondegoogoo: Checking your phone every hour (or two)? Hot damn. *grin* Anyway, to answer your question…let's say that witches and wizards are born with affinities, and the affinity is genetic. So, affinities can be inherited, like teeth. Thank you for the review!
Badbonita: Huh, I see your point. Then again, canon says that Severus was a loner, and kind of a loser. He did hang out with a group of Slytherins that later became Death Eaters, but I don't believe that Severus would have regarded them as friends; canon Severus had only one friend: Lily. Severus was bullied to an enormously painful extreme by the Marauders and the only note of his treatment by the Slytherins is that Lucius Malfoy greeted him with a pat on his back when he was Sorted into Slytherin; I think that the Slytherins didn't really pay all that much attention to a poor half-blood, except for the usual mocking insults about his heritage and etc. *grins* Thank you for the review!
-Replacement