Chapter Eight
Amorous Immunity
Severus leaned over the sink basin as he glided his razor's blades over his throat. Giving it a firm tap on the porcelain to dislodge the excess cream, he swished it around in the cloudy water and continued dragging short strokes over the underside of his jaw were white streaks remained. Running his hands over his face to check his work and finding it satisfactory, he drained the sink and grabbed his toothbrush. After vigorously scrubbing his teeth, he bent over to spit into the sink and rinse out his mouth, finding Evan groggily squinting against the light in the reflection of the mirror when he straightened up.
"You too?" He snorted when he turned around and saw the sticky mess clinging to the crotch of his sleep bottoms.
Evan wanked the air in response before flipping him off as he made his way into one of the shower stalls with an unintelligible grunt.
"No thanks, a particularly vivid dream of our little siren took care of that for me this morning," he laughed, slashing his wand through the air as Evan threw his sleep bottoms over the stall's door at him.
"I haven't had a wet dream since Clio manhandled my prick under the desk during History of Magic at the start of fourth year, and now this is my third fucking one in as many days," he complained after a moment over the sound of his shower. "If I didn't know any better I would say she's fucking with us."
"Just wait, we have Potions today," Severus warned.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Evan asked, stepping out of the stall as he wrapped his towel into place.
"Slughorn runs the first day of seventh year NEWTs like sixth. The first part of the term focuses on illicit and highly regulated potions with Amortentia being the one he likes to use for his little competitions since the fumes are so distracting."
"Shite," Evan swore, stepping up to a sink to finish his morning routine.
"It's going to be a fun morning," he replied sarcastically before leaving the bathroom to get dressed.
The spontaneous return of his nocturnal emissions had begun the morning following Hermione's full inclusion into their small circle. Had it just been him, he would have cast the notion off as a coincidence, which was what he had done for the past two mornings. However, knowing that it was affecting Evan as well made him think the two events were not as isolated from each other as he had originally thought, and he was willing to bet that Reggie and Rab were suffering from the same re-emerging occurrence as they were. While he agreed with Evan that it was seemingly impossible for their shy and inexperienced witch to be intentionally causing it, he wasn't convinced that she wasn't somehow at the center of it.
By the time Evan had come back into the room, Severus was mostly dressed with his shirt half-buttoned and the tails of his tie draped around his neck, his attention having been diverted to the scattered notes across his nightstand. He shuffled the sheets of parchment that were filled with various equations and questions together and stuffed them into his potions text, none too gently shoving the battered collection into his bag. Grabbing his robes from another corner of his bed, he tossed them over his bag and went to lean against Evan's desk waiting for him to finish.
"Finally, you're without Slytherin's little princess," Avery sleepily observed, sitting up from his bed beside Evan's desk. "We've been wanting to ask about her."
Severus re-shouldered his bag and crossed his arms as he looked at Avery with a blank stare, silently daring him to speak without a filter. From beside him, Evan dropped his textbook onto the desk with a loud thud and turned around to face him and Amycus who was also coming awake.
"Yeah, what's going on with that?" Amycus asked, scratching his chest.
"I don't think I know what you're referring to. Please enlighten me," Evan dared, the underlying threat going over their thick heads.
"People have been talking since she arrived, you know," Avery said, slowly becoming more alert. "I wrote to my father Thursday night and asked if it was true that she's His daughter since they were mates in school and apparently it is. Though he's hacked off that the Dark Lord didn't offer her to any of the firstborn sons of his original circle. What's worse, is that according to him, her arrival has everyone acting like bitches in heat offering their sons and vast fortunes up to him in hopes they'll secure his blessing on a betrothal contract."
"If you have a point, Avery, make it," Severus snapped, wanting to hurry him along so they could see Hermione before she went to her first class.
"Calm the fuck down Snape, we're getting there," Amycus sneered. Giving him the same dismissive look he had been receiving from the elitist pricks in his house for six years, Carrow looked to Evan and continued with a salacious smile, "My dad asked if she seemed like she was worth the trouble, and initially, I told him yes, that if he had seen her and with her prissy little shoes he would know that there was no way anyone had touched or even seen that little cunny of hers."
Severus slapped an arm over Evan's chest as he went to step forward, ineffectively holding his friend back who was vibrating with rage. Their two roommates were unknowingly digging their own grave and he figured he may as well allow them to pour some dirt over themselves before they each laid into them.
"I would have even been willing to bet that she's never rubbed one out," Avery added, smacking his mouth in a way that made Severus's lip curl. "That is until Saturday at the pitch of course.
"See everyone's noticed that you two, along with Black and Lestrange, are already trying to piss ownership on her but we all know for the right price and connection her father will sell her off like any other well-bred bitch, so it wasn't a concern, especially where Snape is concerned. However, for the prices that are being thrown around, I expect her goods to be in pristine condition and we know I won't be the only one, which is why we have to ask: What the fuck is going on between the four of you and her? People are saying they saw Black kiss her, while others are saying Snape was rubbing his dirty paws all over her. Are you all just trying to ruffle her up enough so no one else will want her?"
"Or does Slytherin have a new broom to ride?" Carrow asked with evil glee.
With a heavy sigh, Severus muttered, "You two really do have more money than sense don't you?" Louder he asked with feigned politeness, "Evan, you want to be hands on with this one and I'll take whatever shite is inevitably going to be said in Potions?"
"Works for me," he smirked, yanking his tie off his neck.
With a quick draw of his wand, Evan shot a perfectly square and silent Petrificus Totalus into Amycus's chest. Shoving the desk chair out of his way with enough force to knock it over, he stalked over to Avery who was fumbling around in his sheets for his wand.
"Avery, do yourself a favor and listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you," Severus drawled, coming to sit on the edge of the scrawny wizard's bed as Evan grabbed a fistful of his ash-blond hair.
"Hermione is ours and as you know, we don't particularly play well with others so that means she is off limits," he stressed. "You, and everyone else, will back the fuck off. And if you know what's good for you, you'll be sure to keep any mention of our witch's cunt out of your mouth and any thoughts beyond paying her your due reverence out of your head. Do we understand one another?"
Trying to nod his head against Evan's grip, he stuttered, "Y-y-yes."
"Wonderful," Evan declared before slamming Avery's head onto the flat surface of his nightstand with an audible crack.
Moving across the room to where Carrow had been launched off his bed by the spell, Severus's gaze flickered to his clock. Seeing the time he swore under his breath.
"If we want to see her, we need to leave now," he informed Evan. "She and Eloise have to be down at the pens in less than an hour."
"Leave him then," Evan decided, picking up his bag. "He can either work on his nonverbal and wandless casting or hope Avery stops moaning like a little bitch long enough to help him out."
"Fine by me," Severus agreed, looking down to start on his tie as they went to walk out of their dorm only to realize he had never finished buttoning his shirt.
Evan laughed as he swore again, hastily threading each button through its hole as they climbed up the stairs to the common room.
"I swear you are the most absent minded genius I have ever met."
"If you can name one other genius, whether you've met them or not, I will eat this tie," Severus mocked.
He had already forgotten what he said as they reached the top of the stairs and hurried across the open stone and glass structured common room, when Evan confidently replied, "Hermione."
"Fair enough," he chuckled, tugging the uneven knot of his tie into place.
Even though Severus knew the list of potential betrothals for Hermione was exceedingly short and despite his social shortcomings that he had made the list, it had still tainted his morning with a sour edge to hear his dorm mates talk of her like a prized mare. The old money, traditionalists that made up the majority of Slytherin alumni were entirely too hung up on the idea of collecting her like another one of their priceless artifacts that were only brought out to insight mass envy among their peers at social gatherings.
He liked to think that those vying for favor weren't as daft as their children whom he had the displeasure of attending school with. However, given that the only questions Avery or Carrow wanted to be answered pertained to the state of her virginity he didn't believe they were. It was as if everyone saw her as another well-bred witch, who had been raised with a life's ambition of marrying exceptionally well and providing their husband with a son or two to carry on the family lineage. They saw her and knew her to be the Dark Lord's daughter and yet each of them seemed to somehow miss that she was the Dark Lord's daughter.
On the surface, she looked every bit the well-groomed and well-mannered society witch they all wanted her to be. Severus did not doubt that like most, she could easily float from one circle to the next and seamlessly fit amongst them. That she knew the appropriate flower for every occasion. And that in a home of her own she would always be ready for an impromptu dinner party. But beneath her docile persona was a spine that had been forged by goblins for all its strength. She had yet to back down from a single challenge, of which there had been many in her four short days since arriving at Hogwarts, putting each person who so much as thought to cross her within their place. All the while she maintained a graceful poise no one but a masterful manipulator would have been able to manage. She had all the trappings of a trophy wife but was in no way ornamental.
Hermione had been groomed to sit at her father's side and lead his army. Her husband, or husbands if they were to be lucky enough, would not be superior to her or even her equal. They were to be her guards, her protectors and were expected to lay their lives down for hers without hesitation.
The fools that made up the patriarchy thought it was her name that made her worth something and that drew them all to her but it was her power. It rolled off of her slight frame in continuous waves and at only seventeen was still growing. Which, when he thought about it, was mildly alarming to Severus that this witch's father thought she needed an entire guard of wizards to protect her. Not only that but that Hermione seemingly agreed with him, only objecting to the number of wizards that would bind themselves to her as her husband.
When Severus and Evan finally ascended the last staircase that would put them on the ground floor, they saw Eloise and Hermione leaving the Great Hall with Reggie and Rab by her side.
"Fuck, they're already leaving for the pens," Severus swore with disappointment.
He went to make his way across the entrance hall to join their small group when Evan drew him up short by putting his hand out in pause.
"What?" Severus asked.
"We need to be sure," was all Evan mumbled in reply.
Looking over to where Hermione stood with Reggie and Rab, Severus noticed Eloise had begun walking ahead to afford the trio a modicum of privacy.
Hermione was closely sandwiched between Rabastan and Regulus, her small stature highlighted by their taller, broader frames, despite the small addition to her height afforded to her from the Oxford-like heels she wore with her uniform. She stood facing Rabastan with her head tilted back to meet his eyes while they spoke, her free hand playing with his as she laughed at something he said. From behind her, Regulus kept his hand resting just above her hip, contributing to their conversation from above her head.
After a moment Rab released her hand and cupped the side of her face bending down to place a lingering kiss on her forehead before stepping back from her. When he did, Regulus took a hold of her free hand and used it to spin her around to face him, his arm coming to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. He threaded his fingers through her hair and caused her body to slope backward as he leaned down to kiss her.
As quickly as it had begun, Regulus ended their kiss and pulled back from her bending down to pick up the purse she had dropped when wrapping her arms around his neck. When he handed it off to her she quickly scampered back to Rabastan and gave him a fast kiss on the cheek before darting off to Eloise.
"Do you feel anything?" Evan questioned, his face blank.
Severus chewed on his answer for a moment, replaying the sight of Hermione with Rab and Reggie over in his head. Instead of reexamining what had transpired between the three of them, he focused his query more internally reading and deciphering his own self and how he had felt during and after.
Coming up with nothing more than an odd happiness at seeing her so comfortable between his two friends, he shook his head and murmured, "No."
"Me either," Evan confessed. "I may have thrown out the idea to share but I didn't think it would feel so-"
"Natural," Severus finished.
"Exactly. I expected there to be at least a few growing pains, especially after wanting to send Avery and Carrow to the Hospital Wing minus their tongues and pricks, but it's like she's always been there. Like she's already-"
"Ours," Severus interrupted again, finishing Evan's thought.
"And if she still only chooses one of us?" Reggie asked, coming upon them with Rab.
"She won't," Evan answered confidently, nipping Reggie's train of thought in the bud.
Taking the opportunity of having the other three with him without Eloise or Hermione around, Severus pointedly asked, "Have the wet dreams begun plaguing the two of you as well?"
"Yes!" Rab answered emphatically. "Third fucking morning in a row!"
Pulling the shoulder of his messenger bag over his chest, Severus told them, "I need to go to the library. Evan, get the girls from the pens when it's time and I'll meet the three of you in Potions," before turning to run down the corridor to begin his research.
He was certain something had connected them all to Hermione on Saturday and was determined to figure out exactly what it was and what it meant. He remained even more determined to not think on the idea that her dreams had turned just as erotic as theirs had.
The hour and a half free period Severus had, had gone far too quickly. Before he knew it, he was having to pick and choose what books from Madam Pince's precious collection to re-shelve and which to shove into his bag for later. Unable to make the choice, he strengthened the featherlight charm on his bag and took all eleven that he had already pulled, grabbing several more as he raced out the library with the strict librarian hissing after him for his lack of decorum.
He could hear the clock tower begin to chime the three-quarters hour marking the official start of Potions as he rounded the staircase and sprinted for the lab at the end of the corridor. Skidding to a halt just as Slughorn went to close the door, his head of house raised a disapproving eyebrow at him but allowed him to slip in.
"Try not to make a habit of this, Severus," he lightly admonished.
"Apologies Professor, it won't happen again," he promised, though after six years they both knew it would.
"There you are," Hermione whispered in relief as he dropped his bag down on the open spot at the lab table that she, Evan, and Eloise were at.
"Are you okay? You're breathing heavily," she observed, leaning in closer to him as she added, "Did the gag curse flare up again?"
Without any thought to his actions or the audience they were about to incur, Severus wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her into him, kissing the crown of her head.
"I got caught up in the library is all," he reassured, oddly touched by her open concern for him. "I'm fine."
"Promise?" She quietly demanded, forcing him to look into her brown eyes as she poked at his mind.
Fighting a smile, he hissed, "Would you stop that?"
"No... But if you want, I can teach you, and then we can really play," she teased, slipping out from under his arm to resume her place.
The idea of playing anything with her, made a rush of blood travel to his cock, his mind enabling him as it assaulted him with images of taking her against the stacks in the far reaches of the library.
Fucking hell, we're going to have brew a damn love potion and I'm already half hard, he internally swore, trying and failing to find a way to discreetly readjust himself.
"Now that we're all here, we can begin today's little lesson," Slughorn excitedly started. "If you all would please gather around the front of the demonstration table... that's it you all know the drill and for those of you who don't I'm sure you'll catch on quickly," he said smiling at Hermione.
"Just like last year, I am going to start today off by giving you all a chance to earn up to forty-five coveted house points by revealing these cauldrons' contents one at a time and having you all race to identify them. Nothing like a little spirited competition to get the term started, yes?"
Hermione looked positively gleeful as she stepped around him to get closer to the table, giving him a cheeky smirk over her shoulder as she settled into her new place with her journal clutched to her chest. She bounced ever so slightly on the tips of her toes as they waited for Slughorn to lumber his portly self over to the far left side of the table, her enthusiasm for the class infectious.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Severus leaned down to her ear and purred, "Care to make things interesting?"
She turned her head slightly to him, her cheek brushing against him as she breathed, "What do you have in mind?"
"If you can rack up more points for us than Lily will and beat me at brewing afterward I'll give you unfettered access to my head for five minutes," he offered.
"And if I can't?"
"I get my turn at snogging you senseless."
"Hmm..." she hummed, slowly canting her head from side to side as she pondered his offer. "Make it seven minutes and we have a deal."
"That's agreeable," he said, offering his hand to her to shake on it.
Her small hand slipped into his and gave a gentle squeeze.
When he was about to pull back she tightened her hold on him and murmured, "Just so you know Severus, you're shite at bargaining. You're supposed to get leverage for something I wouldn't ordinarily give to you so willingly."
And there's our confident witch, he thought, smirking at her.
"First up," Slughorn finally announced, lifting the lid off of a standard sized cauldron to reveal a swirling purple potion.
Dreamless Sleep, Severus silently answered as Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Yes, Miss Granger-Riddle."
"Dreamless Sleep, Professor," she supplied.
"Wonderful, five points to Slytherin! And who can tell me its purpose?"
Again Hermione's hand shot in the air, beating Lily out by a fraction of a second. Slughorn excitedly nodded for her to answer, his mind already clearly turning over the idea of adding another student to his collection.
"As its name suggests, Dreamless Sleep when brewed and administered properly, will cause the drinker to become drowsy and fall into a deep sleep where they will rest undisturbed by the brain's activity that creates dreams."
"Very good," Slughorn congratulated making her preen under the praise and making Severus take note of how she opened and bloomed under it. "Take another five points and for the final five associated with this potion, why is Dreamless Sleep a heavily regulated brew?"
Once again Hermione's hand shot up and Slughorn gave her the floor, sending Lily into a snit that made Eloise and Evan snort from beside them.
"Dreamless Sleep is highly addictive and like with all addictive medicinal potions, the more you use the more you need for it to continue being effective. When compounded with the irreversible corrosive damage it can do to the liver, it can cause a very slow and painful death for the drinker."
"Marvelous, Miss Granger-Riddle, an additional five points to Slytherin."
Professor Slughorn moved to the second cauldron, this one made of glass, and lifted the lid with a flourish, using it to waft the fumes in their direction to help them identify it. Severus's lip curled as the pungent coopery odor assaulted his nose, prompting him to cast a Bubble Head Charm with the rest of the class. In front of him though Hermione wasn't as quick as she started to gag. She slapped her hand over her nose and mouth as she darted around the table with her eyes watering and made a break for the wastebasket in the corner of the room, puking into it.
"Shite," Severus sharply swore when he realized why the scent was triggering such a violent reaction from her.
He was sure the professors had to have known what happened to her mother, after all, there was no way Dumbledore would have allowed her into the school without first verifying the story himself. Yet here was their own head of house, offering up a potion that smelled of those dying from exsanguination with no warning in front of someone who just two months ago had come home to that very scene.
Excusing himself from the demonstration table as one of Lily's friends called out, "It's called a Bubble Head Charm, dear. Surely you must have heard of it," causing Eloise to snap at her and her brother grab a hold of her wand hand as she went to jinx the girl in the middle of the classroom, he went over to Hermione, picking up her discarded journal on his way
Stating the obvious and with his usual oblivious fashion, Slughorn continued with the lesson, "Nasty stuff, this one is. It's been known to knock many a brewer on their you-know-what's."
Not wanting to startle her, Severus announced his presence, "I'm coming up behind you."
She groaned in response, falling back onto her heels. He conjured a handkerchief for her and handed it over, watching her blot at her eyes before wiping her mouth and vanishing it. She steadfastly avoided his gaze as she cleaned her mouth with a silent charm before affixing the Bubble Head Charm over her mouth and nose.
"Tenebris Reductus," Hermione muttered in response at the same time Lily answered. "A generalized potion for aiding in the removal of most dark curses. Highly regulated due to the staggering amount of dark magic that has to be imbued throughout the brewing process, along with the ingredients of questionable origin. Chief among them being the seven pints of freshly spilled blood which is what gives it its unique odor. If it wasn't so useful it would be illegal given the use of the Cruciatus curse to burn the blood into the brew."
Helping her back up to her feet as she primly brought her legs to cross at the ankle in front of her, Severus asked, "Are you sure you want to go back over there?"
"And let your bitch of an ex-girlfriend and her friends have the satisfaction? No thank you. I have far too much pride for that," she answered flatly, making him laugh.
"You're showing your hand there, Riddle," he teased, using her own words against him. "But if you must know, Lily is not my ex-girlfriend. I can't even say I'm capable of mustering up respect for the friendship we once had."
"Oh good, then you won't mind me telling her to keep her filthy hands to herself the next time she touches you," she commented offhandedly, walking back to the demonstration table with all the grace of someone who hadn't just lost their breakfast.
I think I could get used to seeing her all puffed up with possession...
Back at the table having lost all fifteen points to Gryffindor, everyone was removing their Bubble Head Charms in preparation for the third and final potion before they were released to brew. Down at the far end of the gathering, the snickering renewed when Hermione reappeared at the table with muttered comments about her delicate sensibility that set Severus on edge. Looking over to Evan, he saw he too was fighting a rapidly losing battle with engaging with them while Eloise snapped at them.
"What the hell is your problem Evans?" She hissed, taking a step towards them.
With her eyes trained on the third cauldron and her face neutral, Hermione softly commanded, "Don't bother. By engaging with her you are giving her exactly what she wants." Tilting her head back to look at him and Evan she added, "Same goes for the both of you with her wizard counterparts."
"Now the final potion is one that only recently became patented. It is so new in fact, the textbook publishers did not even have time to make a new edition to include it. We will be living in an exciting time if this potion becomes more widely accessible," Slughorn explained.
Leaning over Hermione, to examine the contents of the waiting cauldron closer, Severus brought his left hand to her waist. He could feel more than hear her breath hitch at the contact and gave her a gentle squeeze that made her rigid posture melt fractionally against him. He hadn't had her this close to him since Saturday morning at the pitch but as the bouquet of jasmine flowers, roses, and peonies filled his nostrils more than the faint blue curls of smoke in front of them, he longed to bring her closer. Giving in to the clouding desire, he gave a soft tug on her waist and was quietly delighted when she acquiesced by backing into him. With their position temporarily undiscovered while the rest of the class examined the potion trying to identify it, he allowed his arm to snake further around the front of her body and used it to press her closer to him in an intimate hug that had both relaxing further into each other.
"No guesses?" Slughorn asked with feigned disappointment.
He had stumped them all and he was proud of it.
"It's Wolfsbane sir," Eloise confidently answered, ending Severus and Hermione's moment as he quickly stepped back from her with everyone's attention coming to Eloise who stood beside them.
The shocked look on Slughorn's face made Hermione chuckle into her hand while he and Evan snorted from behind them.
"Uh... Why yes Miss Rosier, well done. Fifteen points to Slytherin. I must admit, I did not expect anyone here to know of it," their professor stuttered out. "Can you tell us what it does?"
"Certainly Professor," she beamed, making Evan and Severus roll their eyes as they realized she was about to go on a long-winded explanation of her werewolf research.
If only she knew half way down the table there was one taking classes among us, he silently sneered. She'd probably try to tame the damn thing and brush its matted fur every full moon if she did.
"Wolfsbane, invented by Damocles Belby only a few months ago, was developed to aid in the relief of symptoms associated with lycanthropy. While it is not a cure, if brewed properly and taken with adequate time before the full moon, it does allow the afflicted witch or wizard to retain their human mind during the transition, rendering their wolf harmless.
"Those that had been a part of Belby's case study, gave mentions of feeling especially drowsy going into transition and barely being able to retain consciousness after assuming their wolf's form. It was determined in ninety-three percent of subjects that the potion put the drinker to sleep for the duration of their transition. Upon their waking in the morning, that same ninety-three percent were only mildly sore but otherwise unharmed having noted a very restful night's sleep.
"The ingredients and brewing process currently remain unavailable outside of those who hold a mastery in Potions or a Ministry registered apprenticeship due to the extremely difficult and volatile nature of the potion. The name in and of itself gives us a rather large clue as to the main ingredient and cause for such control. Wolfsbane, also known as aconite or monkshood, is one of the most poisonous plants in existence. So much so that it is said the oils from one flowering stalk are enough to kill adult witches and wizards.
"If brewed improperly, the werewolf in question could die within minutes of taking their first sip," she concluded ominously.
"Simply marvelous Miss Rosier! I had only intended to award a total of fifty points for this portion of the lesson but take an extra ten in addition to the remaining twenty for such a thorough answer. While I was not expecting any of you to have kept up with the exciting developments in potion making this summer, I am pleasantly surprised though I shouldn't be given Miss Rosier's extensive research into werewolves as part of her NEWT term project. As a further reward, Miss Rosier I shall contact Damocles Belby on your behalf and see if he will ask those who participated in his case study if they are willing to privately meet with you over the winter holidays since your meeting this weekend did not go as you had hoped."
"Thank you, Professor!" Eloise gushed. "You don't know what this means to me, thank you."
Severus looked across the other students in their class to Lupin, who was watching Eloise with a quiet adoration. More unsettling than the confirmation that Reggie's long held belief on the matter was correct about him carrying a torch for El, was that Severus could clearly see the wolf was contemplating approaching her about helping with her research. He couldn't tell any of them what Lupin was without triggering the gag curse but that didn't mean he couldn't warn the beast off of Evan's sister. Despite her flirting, she was like a little sister to all of them and he would be damned if Lupin came anywhere near her, especially in regards to her werewolf research.
"Now for the remainder of class, I wish to have all of you partake in a little brewing challenge much the same as you did last year. While Draught of Living Death's intricacy made it uniquely difficult, today's brew has its own merits of difficulty. With the remaining hour, you will each attempt to brew Amortentia, without the use of a Bubble Head Charm. The stakes are the same, one vial of Felix Felisis and bragging rights from now till the winter holidays at having bested your classmates. Go on, begin, begin," he ushered, shooing them from the table in a scurry to collect their ingredients.
The class passed by with the white noise of chopping blades, clinking glasses, and tinkling scales. The humidity slowly increased in the room and the further along each of them got in the brewing process the heavier the room became with the alluring scents of the potion they were brewing. The process was broken into three stages that made up the base, middle, and top notes of the fragrances and as each cauldron progressed at its own speed in accordance to the brewer not a single pocket of air remained untainted.
Severus was surrounded by a tempting cloud of the floral scents he had smelled on Hermione earlier making up the unsurprisingly new base notes of his own draw. Glancing up from his cauldron he saw Evan was struggling to contain himself, his hands constantly stopping in their work as they flexed out whatever urges he was feeling. He was sure that if he wasn't constantly taking deeper breaths in through his mouth he would be in much the same stage.
On the other side of them, Eloise was dreamily brewing away, occasionally stopping to just rest her chin in her hand and take massive whiffs of her cauldron that ended with longing sighs.
In a rare moment of clarity since the fumes had become clawing, Evan teased his sister, "What do you smell over there El? Wet dog?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," she laughed in good nature at the jest. "I find nothing more alluring than the scent of a freshly bathed pooch."
"What about you Hermione?" Evan asked, ignoring his cauldron as he turned his full attention to their witch, slowly moving along the side of the table to come closer to her.
Severus and Eloise both tried to suppress their laughter at Evan's increasingly infatuated behavior but lost it when Hermione turned to swat him away with her book, making him look even more lovesick with her violent outburst.
"Fucking love potions," she muttered angrily. "Stupid, vile creations if you ask me! Why on earth the Ministry thinks teaching them to a room full of hormonal teenagers is a good idea, I haven't the foggiest. Stupid, reckless, irresponsible, politicians who haven't seen the inside of a classroom since their own school days," she ranted, aggressively throwing each ingredient into the cauldron.
"What did those pearls ever do to you?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow and his voice growing seductive as she forcibly ground the stones into dust.
With a huff, she dropped her mortar and pestle onto the table and groaned, "I hate brewing love potions." Scooping out her pearl dust, she continued with an increasingly shrill voice, "I mean look at the way everyone is acting from the fumes alone! Evan here is about to start waxing poetry in my ear, Eloise looks as if she's lost in a daydream of Prince Charming, and you..."
"I..." he prompted, drizzling the rose oil into his cauldron before placing the lid over it to simmer.
"You and that voice of yours has about every witch in here ready to drop her knickers for you," she spat.
Sitting on his stool, Severus moved closer to her to examine her methodical work as he drawled, "Hermione, you jealous?"
"What? No!" She squeaked out not meeting his eye.
He counted out the leveled scoops of powder she added and watched as she stirred for the required amount of time, wholly unaffected by her work as the swirling mother of pearl fumes began to rise from her brew. Leaning over the table, he took a deep inhale of her potion and examined its color, finding both to be an identical match to his. Holding out his hand, he gestured for her stirring rod. When she handed it over, he checked the viscosity and found it too was perfect.
Why then is she not reacting... He wondered.
"What do you smell?" Severus asked on a hunch, handing the rod back to her as he tried to hold himself back from running his nose up her neck.
She further couldn't meet his eye as she mumbled something he didn't catch.
"Sorry, what was that?"
With another exasperated huff, she tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear and looked around the classroom before closing the distance between them to whisper in his ear.
"I don't smell anything... I know the top notes should be comforts of home, the middle something you associate with your favorite pastime, and that the base notes should remind you of the person who holds your true affection but I don't smell anything."
Her confession was like being plunged into the lake in the middle of January. Severus had a startling moment of clarity as he looked around the room and noticed that students would occasionally look at her with confusion before the fumes drew their attention back. Across the class, Black and Pettigrew especially were fighting the lure of the potion trying to watch her.
She's immune, he hypothesized, before realizing the danger she could potentially be in.
"Fake it," he hissed. "People are starting to notice and unless you know you're immune to the potion as well, which is even more unlikely than not being able to smell a single thing from the fumes, you're opening yourself up to being dosed and attacked."
Her brown eyes widened a fraction in alarm as she nodded her head. In an instant, her fear melted away, and in its place was a serene expression as she gazed into his eyes. She reached out and pushed his hair back from his face before bringing her hand around to his cheek, tracing the bone across to his nose where she gently rubbed at the long ridge. After a few more moments of giving her attention to him, she turned to Evan and smiled dreamily at him as she started to paint her fingers over his lips and giggled at something he whispered in her ear.
She again turned her attention back to him, giving his lips the same treatment as she murmured, "Thank you."
As her finger glided over the seam of his mouth, he nipped at the pad before giving the sore a quick swipe of his tongue, in response. The soft moan she let out made his eyes glaze and his cock harden painfully against the zipper of his trousers.
Kissing the same abused finger, he wickedly murmured, "You can thank me properly with that snog I won later."
