Chapter 40: The Apprentice
Severus reported to the Yaxley's apothecary at seven o'clock the following Monday. It wasn't the apothecary Severus was used to; this was just before the entrance to Knockturn Alley, and Sebastian and his mother had always been careful to steer him well clear of Knockturn Alley on their shopping trips.
The shop itself was much like the others in the alley—storefront windows displayed ingredients and ready-made potions, the lettering above the front door was weathered and fading, and the building leaned just a bit into the one next door.
Mr. Yaxley looked up at the knock on the door and flicked his wand toward it to open it. It slammed behind Severus as soon as he stepped in, locking again.
"Punctual. Good. We'll start with a tour of the shop. You'll need to be aware of what is kept where, and why. I imagine with your interest, you're able to tell your knotgrasses from your aconite, but don't get sloppy. One mislaid ingredient could ruin an entire shipment."
Severus smirked. "What could possibly ruin—"
"Wormwood, for one. Let a few leaves of that sit in a barrel of just about anything else long enough, and the whole barrel's useless for anything but hearth fodder." He exhaled sharply. "You should know this. It isn't advanced."
"We're taught not to mix ingredients when we store them, but I had no idea an entire barrel could go off from one or two leaves. I'll be careful," Severus stammered.
"Fine." Yaxley nodded once. "But if you aren't, you'll pay for the replacement."
"Yes, sir."
"All right. The back wall is all restricted. Containers are secured magically—when it comes time to refill them, Mrs. Yaxley or I will handle it. Should a customer want anything from that area, they'll need to present the proper paperwork from the Ministry. Direct them to me or Mrs. Yaxley if I'm not free. Up by the windows, Hogwarts student packs with ingredients, vials, and scales. They're labeled by year, and we limit to one pack per student through September first with the presentation of their Hogwarts letter. After that, we keep a few in stock for parents who want to send replacements."
He spun to the right, jabbing his finger toward the middle of the store, where shelves bisected the space. "Class x substances are in the center, containers stacked there beside them. Some customers like to bring their own—it's fine, so long as they're empty when they come in. We charge by weight for the bulk goods." Yaxley looked around the store, pointing out the rest of the supplies.
It made good sense, actually, the way the store was laid out. Those looking for basics could come in, grab what they needed, and get out quickly. Ingredients that tended to work well when paired together were in close proximity, and every barrel had a parchment plastered to it with potion ideas using that ingredient.
Severus was impressed. This was far better than the apothecary near the front of the Alley. He expected it would get quite crowded most days.
"Right. That's the front of house done. Go on through the door; Levina's waiting for you. As soon as she's shown you around the workshop, put on a set of work robes and start putting together Hogwarts packs. Students are going to start flocking in over the next month, and the last time we ran low, there was nearly a riot."
Severus raised an incredulous eyebrow. "For Hogwarts supplies?"
Yaxley winked at him. "Well, we tend to put a ready-made draught or two in with the supplies, should the children feel the need to pass one off as their own—on off days, of course—we don't condone cheating." He snickered as he spoke.
"And Melison hasn't caught on?" Severus asked, eyes wide.
"If he has, he hasn't spoken to us about it," Yaxley said. "And if he did, what would he do? Give us detention?" He snickered again. "Melison doesn't know as much as he thinks he does, boy. Now hurry up; I want a half dozen of those packs per year in the next hour."
Severus nodded and scurried through the door by the restricted goods Yaxley had indicated.
The storeroom was enormous; a workbench divided the room, a dozen cauldrons inset into the center of the surface. Every one of them had a fire going beneath it, already at work preparing ingredients and sending them along the line to the appropriate cauldron.
She barely spared him a glance when he entered, focusing on the ingredients in front of her. "Good. Work robes are on the hook beside you. Store cupboards are behind me—" She tossed her head back to indicate a row of towering cabinets along the side wall. "—cleaning supplies are in the cellar, through that hatch just by the alley door. You'll find the packaging and lists for the Hogwarts packs there as well. Bring an armload up here and get started."
Severus was still gaping around the workroom. Even Melison didn't have quite the collection of Potions volumes that lined the top shelves around the room.
"Or I can just void the contract and send you to Fawley instead," she snapped, glaring at him without pausing in her ingredient prep. "Don't stand there like a gaping fish, Snape. Get started."
"Mr. Yaxley said you wanted to show me around—"
"I told you where everything was. We don't have time to take you through an inventory, child. Cellar. Hogwarts packs. If you're unsure, ask—though I'm not fond of a lot of prattle."
Severus didn't know whether to say yes madam or no. So, he ran to the hatch by the back wall and hefted it open. A ball of light flared to life when he descended the stairs—the basement was heaped with ingredients, boxes, bags, and what looked like half the store's other wares. But he found everything easily enough—just as the layout upstairs made perfect sense to him, so the basement organization did as well.
"Where should I work?" he asked when he lumbered back up the stairs, arms dangerously close to overflowing with supplies.
"There." Mrs. Yaxley flicked her wand, conjuring another worktable. She still had her eyes on the cauldrons in front of her.
For a moment, Severus watched her work. She seemed to float along the worktable, her ingredients never missing their mark despite the speed at which she flicked her wand. Would he be that sure-footed by the end of the summer? From what she was throwing in, they couldn't be twelve identical potions. He was impressed.
He shook himself before she had a chance to chastize him again, sorting the supplies into piles and setting in on the first year packs.
By the time Mr. Yaxley came back to check on his progress, Severus was putting the last potion into the final Year Seven bag. His body ached from bending over the table, but the approving nod from Mr. Yaxley and the mumbled, "Might be all right," pushed the discomfort away.
"Go on, then, set them up in the shop window."
Severus scooped up the packs and backed through the door, setting up each year above its respective sign. Mr. Yaxley followed a few minutes later, turning the sign to open and unlocking the door with a wrist flick.
The rest of the morning was spent scurrying back and forth from the storeroom to restock anything that was running low. Mr. Yaxley greeted nearly everyone that came into the shop by name, some of who asked about Mrs. Yaxley's new apprentice. By lunchtime, Severus had been introduced to so many new people that his head swam with names he struggled to memorize.
Mr. Yaxley released Severus to the workroom at noon, and the teen collapsed into a chair beside the workbench with a relieved sigh.
Mrs. Yaxley snorted. "Not used to hard work, Snape? I suppose hanging about Malfoy Manor in all of your free time will soften you." She pointed a finger at him. "We'll cure you of that, at least. Abraxas think to send you with any food?"
Severus shook his head.
Another snort. "Well, these are all stable for the moment. We'll nip across the street and grab a bite. Hang up your work robes and be quick about it."
She was already out the alley door before Severus could throw the shop robes back onto the hook. He hurried to catch up to her, eyes scanning the restaurant they entered. It was literally just across the street—a bit further into Knockturn Alley than he thought his uncle would like—but it was just as busy as any of the other eateries on the main street.
But the crowd parted for Mrs. Yaxley. She walked right through the mass of people, Severus at her heels so as not to be swallowed by the throng, and nodded to a server before taking a table in the corner, away from most of the bustle. She sat with her back toward the wall, surveying the room. Her gaze stopped, and she narrowed her eyes.
"The Carrows," she muttered. "Idiots, but they have their uses. Say nothing."
Severus frowned and turned to see a young man and a young woman approaching the table across from them.
"Levina!" the man said. "You crawled out of your workroom to mix with the peasants? How very modern of you."
The woman with him smirked. "This that new apprentice, then? The one nobody can stop chattering about?" She leaned in close to Severus, her foul breath washing over him. He grimaced and leaned away. She laughed. "Don't look like much to me."
"Well, Alecto, your opinion of him has little bearing on his service. It's only his first day, but I've already been approached by others wanting to share his apprenticeship, so I'd say he's doing rather well for himself already. Where did you apprentice—oh, I'd forgotten. Nobody would have either of you, even after you somehow managed to scrape by with a NEWT or two between you." Mrs. Yaxley sniffed.
Alecto's face went red, her hand twitching towards her pocket, but her companion put a hand on her arm to stop her. "My sister and I do just fine."
Mrs. Yaxley smirked. "I'm well aware. A machine cannot work without each of its gears. Speaking to that, I understand you're looking for a contract?"
The man's eyes shone, but Alecto shook her head at him with a scowl. He ignored her. "Always looking for a contract. Don't have to be friends to take your money."
"We can't talk here, obviously, but come to the workshop this evening after we've closed. I believe we'll reach an agreement beneficial to us both."
Severus watched the exchange, eyes darting between the three adults. What had he been thrust into?
Lunch was silent and quick. Only when they'd returned to the shop and Mrs. Yaxley warded both the alley door and the door leading to the front of the shop did she turn to him.
"Have you brewed a Numbing Solution before?"
Severus froze, his breath catching in his throat. How had she known? How much did she know?
"Well? It's a simple question."
"Yes," he said quietly.
"Good. Give those three cauldrons at the end a counterclockwise stir each, and they're done. Bottle them, mark them as Wit Potions, and start three batches of Numbing Potion. We seem to go through a vat a day, so that's always going to be your first brew when you come back here. When it's done, it will be about time to start something new down this end."
Severus grabbed his work robes and pulled them on, giving each of the cauldrons indicated the proper stirring motion before bottling their contents. He labeled them and put them in the storage cupboard. By the time he returned to the worktable with the ingredients for the Numbing Potion, Mrs. Yaxley had the cauldrons cleaned and ready to go.
It had been a while, but every detail, every step, was etched into his memory. He worked quickly and efficiently, and was so intent on getting everything perfect that he didn't realize she'd been watching him until her voice spoke next to his ear.
"A job well done, Snape. I kept expecting you to ask for the recipe, but it's clear you don't need one."
He jumped, his face reddening. "N-no," he stammered. "I've memorized it."
She cocked her head to the side and studied him. He didn't stop working; an extended pause would mean he'd have to start the potions over.
"Your choice of recipes is interesting," Mrs. Yaxley said. "The addition of hellebore isn't something that's usually found in texts."
Severus fidgeted. "No. But it makes the potion last longer. Sometimes—" he cleared his throat, "—sometimes that's helpful."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Severus finished the potions and bottled them before turning to her.
"You've tested this?" she asked.
"Yes, Mrs. Yaxley."
She waved a hand and grimaced. "Levina. Do you test all your potions?"
"Yes, Mrs-Levina. How else am I going to know if they work?"
"Well, let's put your potion to the test, shall we?" She grabbed a bottle of Numbing solution from the shelf and set it next to one of Severus's. They appeared identical. Levina picked up the new bottle and sniffed at it, nodding appreciatively. She drank the contents in one long swallow, then looked at her watch. "Immediate efficacy, good. We'll see just how long this lasts. In future, you follow my recipes. This shop has a reputation for consistency, and it's going to keep it. If you have an idea for improvement, we'll discuss it and test it before you commit to making a batch—or several—that may not be of use."
Severus nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry, I know this one works—"
She waved her hand again. "Don't apologize. I expect precision work from you, Snape. But I'm not above admitting when someone else has improved on something I've done for years. Now, the first recipe to learn is another you'll be making quite often. A common herbicide, we can't keep enough of it on the shelves during the summer."
She flicked her wand, and a book sailed down to her. Severus didn't recognize the title. Levina flipped through it and propped it open in front of them. There were notes and strike-throughs all over the page. Severus gaped at her. "Are these all your notes?"
"Some of them. Some were my father's. I inherited this shop from him." Her fingertips brushed some of the writing, hovering for a moment before she cleared her throat. "Think you can manage this?"
Severus read over the instructions and nodded. They were clear enough. His finger hesitated over a scrawled addition. "Why flitterby wings?"
Levina smirked. "Some plants, particularly in wizarding gardens, develop a taste for regular herbicide. But they despise the taste of flitterbys. Crush up a wing or two and toss it in, it works in nearly half the time."
He nodded as he read over the rest of the notes. Small changes that, alone, wouldn't have meant much of a difference he saw would improve the efficacy and duration of the potion. Despite the exhaustion of the morning, he was now alert and eager.
By the end of the afternoon, Levina had set him to brew four more of her signature potions. As he hung up his work robes at the end of the day, she called him back to the bench.
"Francis Fawley has been pestering me over the last week and a half to share you." She eyed him. "I initially refused; I don't want an incompetent child to be coerced into revealing my proprietary draughts. Especially to someone who's expanding into a shop steps away from this one."
Severus bristled. "I'm not incompetent."
"No, you're not. In fact, I think you could be even more useful to me going to his shop once or twice a week." She looked over the volume of potions he'd completed. "Perhaps just once. You stay with the Malfoys; you know the value of discretion. And the value of information."
"You want me to tell you about Fawley's recipes?" Severus asked.
She snorted. "The only recipes he has he's taken verbatim from books, or else stolen from others. No, Severus. What I want is names."
He frowned. "I don't understand."
"You don't have to understand. Keep your eyes and ears open; tell me who stops by to chat and what you happen to overhear. I don't care if it's Abraxas Malfoy in talking about the weather; any conversations get back to me. If you can promise me that, I will allow Fawley his time trying to prise my secrets from you. Well?"
Severus hesitated. Did he care about apprenticing with Fawley? It seemed he'd get more of the experience he wanted, right here.
"If you don't think you can do it, say so, boy."
"No, it's not that. I—"
"You don't want to spy on poor Mr. Fawley, then?"
"I don't care about that, either. I just dont think I'll learn anything there. Not like here."
Levina laughed. "Don't worry, Severus. I'll make sure you learn everything you need. Do a good enough job, and I'll see about you spending all day back here."
That made him perk up.
Her grin widened. "Up for the challenge, then?"
"Yes. I think I am."
"Excellent."
#
The first week flew by, with Severus spending all day at either the Yaxley's or the Fawley's apothecary in London, and every night he came back to Malfoy Manor exhausted. Before he knew it, it was the last week of July, and he had yet to overhear anything resembling interesting at Fawley's.
"I don't know what she expects. He's suspicious enough of me because I won't give him any of Levina's notes, so he sends me into the storeroom whenever a customer comes in. How am I supposed to hear anything useful?"
He and Lucius were in the Library, looking up protective spells for his duel with Goyle.
"Figure it out. Levina Yaxley's not known for her patience, Severus."
But the only way Severus could see Fawley trusting him enough around customers was to give him something. So, when he went into Fawley's Apothecary the next morning, and Fawley set him to brewing sleeping draughts, Severus stopped him before he left the storeroom.
"Sir?"
"What, boy?"
"Well, the recipe we use is a bit—outdated. There have been a number of improvements, just in the last few years. I—" he stopped, as though he was rethinking what he was going to say. "I recently learned that adding just a hint of asphodel improves the longevity by almost twenty percent."
Fawley's face pinched into a mistrusting frown. "This one of Yaxley's tricks?"
"Sir?"
"Feeding me false information so I end up killing someone?"
"No!"
"Adding asphodel without a balance of bezoar—"
"Excuse me, sir, but the potency is cut by the flobberworm mucus."
Fawley squinted at him again. "Why are you suddenly opening up with her recipes?"
Severus made his eyes widen. "No, sir. This isn't—you aren't going to tell her, are you?" Of course it wasn't one of Levina's recipes—not exactly. And it would last longer—and give the imbiber incredibly vivid dreams.
Fawley's greedy eyes glittered. "Hmph." But he waved his hand. "Add it, then. If it causes anyone so much as a stomachache, I'll point the Aurors to you."
He left for the front of the shop, and Severus grinned. Fawley was so eager to get any leg up on Yaxley that he'd believe anything that sounded even half-true.
The next time Severus reported to the shop, Fawley grinned at him. "Can't keep the damn things on the shelf," he crowed. "Stock up from the back, and get started on another three batches."
While Severus was stocking the sleeping draught, customers started to trickle in. And for the first time, Fawley didn't send him away.
Severus hurried back and forth between the storeroom and the shop all day, sneaking out any time there was a pause in the brewing. He was finally able to report several conversations, none of which he felt merited repeating, back to Levina the following day.
"Well done, Severus," she said. "Although I did expect you to have something weeks ago. Still, this will be useful. Thank you."
He frowned. Six conversations overheard. Of those, he only caught the name of two of the customers, and they spoke to Fawley about finding potions for pest control. Fawley had sent them away with boxes of Doxycide.
"Now, then. I'm assuming you finally broke down and gave him one of my recipes? The word is his new sleeping draught is flying off the shelves."
Severus grinned. "I added a gram of asphodel for each gallon of draught."
Levina laughed. "He didn't test it, did he?"
"No."
"Idiot. Did you tell him about the dreams it would cause?"
"No, but the customers seem to enjoy it."
She snorted. "I bet they do. All right. Let's get to it, then."
The next morning, The Daily Prophet had a headline.
Prominent Muggle Protection Advocate Found Dead
The renowned wizard, Trevor Lincoln, was found murdered in his home last evening. Lincoln was the face of the Muggle Protection Agency in the Ministry. The Ministry had no comment.
Next to the article, a photo showed a somber wizard staring intently into the camera, turning as another flash went off. Severus recognized him as one of the wizards who'd come in for Doxycide at Fawley's.
He would have thought it strange, but a possible coincidence, if The Evening Prophet didn't have a similar story, buried halfway inside, of another wizard death. Another of the men he'd told Levina about.
His blood chilled as he re-read the papers. Both men had worked toward higher protections for Muggles, the second as a liaison between the Muggle government and the Ministry.
When Lucius and Abraxas returned that night—they were increasingly absent from the manor—Severus marched into Lucius's room.
"Another mention in the paper?" Lucius asked, nodding to the clenched fist in which Severus held both of the newspapers.
"No. Well, not of me. Lucius—I think I may have gotten some people killed."
Lucius narrowed his eyes and grabbed them from his hand, scanning the pages quickly.
"All I see here is the death of a couple of Muggle-lovers," Lucius said. "So if it was you, no worries."
Severus gaped at him. "No worries? Two men were murdered!"
"Maybe they were doing something they shouldn't." Lucius sniffed and handed the papers back to him. "This wasn't you, Severus."
For a moment, Severus was silent. "Was it you?"
Lucius's brows furrowed in anger briefly before he smoothed them out again, looking disinterested. "Don't be stupid. I'm not an assassin."
"Then what are you? You and Abraxas are gone all the time—where do you go?"
"I told you," Lucius said with a sigh. "Do well at the Yaxleys, and everything will be clear by next summer. Father and I are going out again tonight—why don't you hole up in the library and find a proper finishing curse for your duel? I have the perfect way around those pesky underage wizardry rules."
For a brief moment, the two men were forgotten, lost to the prospect of besting Goyle once and for all. "Really? How?"
"Just put together your list of spells; I'll talk to you about it tomorrow."
Only after Lucius left again that evening did Severus's guilt return. There was no way Lucius could say for certain that it wasn't Severus's fault, not unless he'd done it himself, which he'd denied. And Severus believed him. He'd have to confront Levina when he went back to the shop on Monday; if his telling her who was at Fawley's meant she was having them killed, he wanted no part in it.
His stomach grumbled, protesting his lack of anything edible since lunchtime. He was halfway down the stairs when voices drifted up from the dining room. Severus froze, backing against the wall and making himself as small as possible. Were Lucius and Abraxas back already? If so, this could be his chance to get answers. Swallowing his fear and ignoring his racing heart, he inched further down the stairs.
He stopped just shy of the doorway. A mirror in the hall showed Lucius was back, but it wasn't Abraxas he was with; it was Narcissa. She had a hold of the front of Lucius's shirt, a coy smile on her face.
"Your father won't be best pleased if he finds us," she said.
Lucius nuzzled her neck. "Won't be home for ages. He's been summoned again."
"And Severus? He's only upstairs—"
"No doubt with his head buried in a book," Lucius murmured, lifting his head and pushing her blouse from her shoulders. "Stop talking about Severus, Narcissa. You'll put me off altogether."
She giggled.
Naricssa Black giggled.
Lucius lifted her to the dining table and stepped between her legs.
Severus turned his gaze from the mirror, his back pressed against the wall, the blood rushing in his ears.
From the room just behind the wall he was leaning against, Narcissa moaned.
I shouldn't be here. His eyes darted to the mirror again, darting back just as quickly, before he could see anything.
Merlin, Severus, just go!But he was frozen. If they caught him out here, Lucius would be furious. But if he moved, he'd make noise, and they would catch him anyway. He shut his eyes tightly, wishing he could close his ears as well.
Bugger this, he thought as Lucius began to grunt. Trusting the noise the couple were making would be enough cover—and that they were too preoccupied to notice—he forced his legs to move and fled back up to his room, face flushed with embarrassment.
#
At breakfast the next morning, Severus stared at his plate, unwilling to look at Lucius, or for that matter, eat off the table he knew his friends had—
"Not hungry, Severus?" Abraxas's voice sliced through Severus's memory, frowning at the flush in his cheeks. "Are you ill?"
"No, sir. I'm not hungry." His stomach growled loudly enough to echo in the room, and Abraxas raised a stern brow.
"I don't tolerate lies, Severus, you know this. What is going on?"
Severus flushed again as he looked at the table. Was it his imagination, or was there a mark now, just past Abraxas's plate, that hadn't been there before?
"He read some disturbing news last night, Father. I'm sure that's all that's happened. About Lincoln and Conley."
Severus chanced a look at his friend. Lucius had his head tilted, an amused smile twitching on his lips. He'd had no problem clearing his plate, Severus noted.
"Yes, such a—loss—to Wizard-Muggle relations, wasn't it? I'm sure this will set the Minister back a decade, at least."
Severus didn't answer. He was too busy staring at his plate again.
"Of course, a murder is always distressful," Abraxas went on, "but why should these two worry you so?"
"He saw them in Fawley's shop, Father. Just this week. It's always jarring when someone you've just seen turns up dead. May we be excused? I think Severus could do with some fresh air."
"Fine, fine." Abraxas waved his hand at them and picked up his copy of The Daily Prophet.
"So," Lucius said when they were outside. He flashed Severus a grin. "You're a voyeur, are you?"
Severus's face was on fire. "No! I didn't—I mean, I didn't mean to—"
"I appreciate your not saying anything to Father. It ruins the deliciousness of it, him eating off the same table—"
"I have to eat off that table, too," Severus muttered with a stab of irritation.
"So sit on my left instead of across from me from now on." He grinned. "We didn't use the entire table."
Every time he spoke, Severus's face got redder. Lucius laughed again and clapped him on the back.
"We'll be more discreet in future," he said.
"I won't say anything to Abraxas," Severus said.
"I know you won't. Not that it's any of his business what Narcissa and I get up to. We're of age, and we'll do what we please. That includes getting married as soon as she graduates."
Severus stopped walking, mouth dropping open. "You're getting married?"
Lucius smirked. "That's the plan. Father's against it, but I've already given her Mother's ring, and I've Mother's inheritance now, so to hell with him. He won't dare disown me, not now."
"Just because you have your own money?"
"Because I've proven myself useful," Lucius corrected. "With Lord Voldemort. Why do you think I took a job at the Ministry? I certainly don't need the money."
"But you're just a clerk—"
"In the Department of Mysteries." He emphasized the department name, as if that would clear things up for Severus. Lucius made an annoyed tsk and went on. "All of the great unknowns of our world are kept in there, Severus. And clerks see all the paperwork about what's in there and what's known about it—and sometimes, how to access it. And there are some very interesting artefacts down there."
"Like what?"
Lucius side-eyed him. "Like none of your business. You focus on your apprenticeship, and whatever else Mrs. Yaxley sets you to. But enough about this. We don't seem to get much time together anymore, do we? So let's get to it—do you have your list of spells?"
Severus pulled them out of his pocket and handed them over. Lucius perused the parchment, nodding and muttering.
"Right. These should be fine to practice."
"But I'm not allowed—"
"Bugger what you're allowed, Severus. Did you bring your wand?"
Severus nodded. He always carried it, even if he wasn't supposed to be using it.
"Good."
"But what about the trace?"
"The Ministry can't determine who casts magic," Lucius said. "Not unless you're the only wizard in the area. They just tell you they can to scare you into being a good sheep. They'll see magic was performed at Malfoy Manor, and let's face it—they wouldn't dare send anyone here, anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am. Now do you want to practice these, or not?"
"Yes," Severus said, a thrill shooting through him at the possibility of getting away with breaking the rules. And if this worked, he'd be able to do spellwork when he was stuck at Spinner's End.
Wait until I tell Lily.