Chapter 8

"Severus! … Too soon, go back to sleep."

"No, no, my sweet, listen. What if I add yarrow to the completed potion. It would give the other ingredients a direction. Instead of a shotgun blast, it would be pinpoint specific. I've been throwing everything in there but the kitchen sink, but the ingredients were not working together. Yarrow will harness them into a single potency. Wake up! I need you to do the arithmancy on it."

Hermione reluctantly shook off the lovely sleepiness of their post coital happiness to consider what he was saying. She deliberated where he was going with his rant. "It just might do it. We need to get home so I can work it out on parchment."

Sadly, he returned their clothes and packed the picnic up into the hamper. They apparated home and she began the calculations. After about an hour Hermione looked up into his anxious face and smiled. "I think it will work. Has your last batch warmed yet?"

"No, I just tested it, another hour or so." He stood and began to pace. "Did you ever ask at the clinic if they had seen anything like this?"

Hermione nodded sadly. "They have had several cases of unusual deep burns. Mostly words though. Never a portrait, and never one that moved. So far they have been treating it with standard healing potions. They do fade, but are still visible. Severus, if this works we could be helping scores of people return to normal. It will be a godsend."

The waiting was unbearable. They sat next to each other and read to pass the time. Neither one of them really paying attention to the pages. Hermione grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. "It's almost time Severus. Let's check again." He agreed and they both went to the lab. The black crusty cauldron sat on the workbench in a puddle of condensed water. He gingerly lowered a glass rod into the center. It stood on its own, the potion was ready.

"Okay Hermione, get the infusion." She walked to the prep bench and got the flask, approaching the cauldron cautiously. She didn't want anything to go wrong. Hermione stood next to the potion. "Now when I tell you, slowly pour into the side of the potion. I'll be mixing it in. When I say stop, you must not let a drop more go in, understand?"

They both took a deep breath and steadied themselves. Severus started stirring waiting for the exact right moment. Then suddenly, "Begin" Hermione tipped the decanter slowly until the yellow liquid dribbled out. Severus had sweat on his face as he concentrated on the color, scent and viscosity of the potion. It began to change color from a non-descript brown to a bright blue and then a deep lavender. "Stop!" Hermione caught the last few drops in her hand as she stepped away from the cauldron. Severus took three more complete stirs and removed the stick gently. "Hermione! I think it worked, look!"

The potion was stable, instead of quickly evaporating as the others had done. Hermione's eyes were wide as she looked inside. "How can we test it."

"There's only one way." Severus took out his wand and pointed it at his own arm. Repeating the curse he had heard in Draco's head, the wand burned a mark on his arm, and then another.

Hermione was near panic as he aimed for a third. "NO! Stop! No more Severus please. We can test it on the first mark. You don't need to do more."

Severus was in terrible pain but tried to calm her. "We need more than one test. I'm not sure if it will work on older or deeper wounds. I'll need to have a few to make a comparison. It's alright beloved. Please go in the house and bring me a pain potion." She didn't want to leave him alone. "Please, It will be okay." She looked at him with worried eyes but did as he asked. While she was gone he burned three more lines into his flesh. One very deep one almost made him pass out. When she returned, she saw what he had done. He was slumped over the table nearly unconscious. Hermione grew angry and took his wand away from him. "No more!" She tilted his head back and fed him the potion.

As he began to recover he saw her take some of the liquid and put it into a vial. It seemed to swirl and move of its own accord. "How do you apply it?" Hermione was determined to heal him as soon as possible.

"Not out here." He croaked the pain still unbearable. "Help me into the house." She corked the vial and put her arm under his and then around his back, putting his weight on her hip. They walked slowly back to the house. Hermione sat him at the kitchen table and put a towel under his wounded arm. The skin was not just burned. It looked as if it had been liquified, allowing for a faint swirl pattern to emerge. Almost as if the skin had been turned into paint.

Hermione took the vial from her pocket and removed the cork, wanting to pour it on him. "No." He pulled away. "We must wait for the skin to solidify before we try the potion." The first draft of pain potion hadn't even touched what Severus was experiencing. She went to get two more and gave them to him. She felt so helpless as Severus suffered in front of her. She then imagined what Narcissa must have felt watching Lucius go through this every day for Merlin knows how long. And poor Draco, having to be strong for both of them or die. It was inhuman, but that was no surprise considering who had inflicted this on them.

After twenty minutes his skin had settled into a more solid state, ready to try the potion. Severus knew that it may or may not work. It's possible that it could even cause more injury. It was also possible that it could get into his bloodstream and poison him. He had to prepare Hermione for the worst. He tried to smile at her and offer words of encouragement, but she wasn't stupid. Far from it, she knew the hazards of inventing new potions. He realized there was nothing he could say to make this easier on her. Instead he held his hand to her cheek and kissed her. "I love you Hermione. No matter what happens, remember that." She was trying to be strong for him, but her tears told him everything she wanted to say.

He took the vial from her and poured it on his first wound. It was like pouring on molten metal. Severus screamed and nearly passed out again, but after a moment it began to have a welcome cooling sensation. Severus sighed in relief. As they watched, the potion turned a brilliant white as it flowed along the line of the wound. He could feel a pleasant tingling on his skin and then the potion slowly evaporated. The skin beneath where the potion was applied was completely healed. No trace of the burn remained, except that the hair on his arm was gone.

"We did it!" Severus was ecstatic. They jumped up to embraced each other. He picked her up off the floor and spun in a circle. Hermione had never seen him so elated.

They tried it again with the same results. Severus was confident they could help Lucius now. The dark curse that animated the portrait would need to be neutralized first, but the portrait would be gone if Lucius had the nerve to withstand the pain.

Before they contacted him Severus wanted to wait at least several days to try it on an older scar. After two weeks had passed they tried again. All three had healed the same way, even the deep burn was gone without a trace.

It was time to tell Lucius.