"Venomous voice, tempts me,
Drains me, bleeds me,
Leaves me cracked and empty.
Drags me down like some sweet gravity.
The snake behind me hisses
What my damage could have been.
My blood before me begs me
Open up my heart again.
And I feel this coming over like a storm again."
Tool "H."
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"I did not ask to help you with your potion, I thought I was doing you a favor. You can at least tell me what potion we are going to be brewing, and what you need me to do." Hermione' s eyes flashed with indignation at the black robed man before her. He had done nothing but glare at her since she had arrived promptly after his last class of the day had left.
He deliberately turned his back on her, and walked a crossed the room. Curse meddling Albus, he had been trying for years to make Severus take on an assistant, and he had a large suspicion that this was once again Albus' s intent in having Hermione help him today. But what could he have been thinking to have her help with this particular potion?
His only guess on that was that Hermione had told Albus that he had talked to her about his mark yesterday, and even shown it to hear. One moment of weakness, it would not end! He had wanted to reach out to her yesterday, make her understand on some strange level a little of what he had been going though, and now it was coming true in all to real a way. "Be careful what you wish for, Severus" She would see more than he wanted her to today.
"The potion we are about to brew does not have a name. I have never wanted to give it one. It is the sleeping draught for my Dark Mark." He finally answered her question as he unlocked his supply room, and went in to gather the ingredients he would need.
"Albus's spell keeps the Mark from its Master's power, and my potion keeps it in its state of slumber. What I require of you is an extra pair of hands when I need them, and three drops of your blood. Are you still willing?"
"Yes, of course. I would like to help." She answered, not one to ever back down.
He seemed disappointed.
A few moments later, Hermione stood quietly next to the cutting table watching Snape at work. His long nimble fingers first organized the ingredients that he would use. Then he started a fire underneath the heavy black standard size 4 iron cauldron, and brought the first ingredient out from a hidden pocket in his robes, with a graceful flourish of his hand.
The crystal phial sparkled even against his pale skin, seeming to posses it's own light. It was beautiful and Hermione could not resist asking, "What is that?"
Snape scowled a little at her, but decided that it would actually pass the time quicker if he told her what he was doing. He slipped easily into his teaching mode, and some of the tension between them eased.
"Stardust powder captured last July. It is obtained by setting a glass bowl filled with three parts water, one part diamonds under a clear, starry night sky for 7 consecutive days. The diamonds are then ground into a fine powder. It is a difficult process, but worth the effort." Severus carefully opened the phial, and tapped some of the powder directly into the cauldron.
Hermione was very surprised not only at the fact she had never read about stardust powder before, but at the fact that he had not measured the amount. She opened her mouth to comment, but he beat her to it.
"I realize I did not measure the powder, Miss Granger, but this potion is very particular, and it is more instinct to brew it correctly, than it is following directions." His voice dripped with pure Slytherin smugness. "As this potion is one of my own creations; there are in fact no written directions for it's brewing. There is also no written mention of stardust power, as I believe I am the only one who has discovered it."
Amazing, she thought to herself, followed by Ron's favorite word, wicked! They had always known Snape was a highly qualified Potions Master, so it made sense to her that he could create his own potions, and they might be very good. But the stardust powder- how could he have possibly discovered it? Potion ingredients were natural things like ginger roots, unicorn horns, and newt eyes. Stardust powder sounded like a potion in itself. She smiled at the fact a person of Professor Snape's looks and demeanor had created something so beautiful and given it a name like stardust powder!
Severus could once again see the questions ready to explode out of her. He was surprised at the smile on her face and her excitement and interest. It was greater than even her normal love of knowledge. She was very quick and perceptive. He had always respected her intellect, but would be the last person to admit it. He quickly made the decision to share another little secret with her, while he seemed hell bent on sharing so many others. Twenty years of pent up thoughts, emotions and feelings were a lot to hold in, even for one as reclusive as he.
"Finding new ingredients for potions has always been largely trial and error throughout wizarding history," he began, " I have told you this in class, and shared with you some rather tragic examples." A raised eyebrow accompanied the word "tragic."
"Well, I have discovered a slightly easier method. You know how magic is all around us. We use it every day. It is most highly concentrated in magical plants, creatures, and in wizards but it is everywhere." He emphasized the last two words as he added 2 drops of dragon's blood to the potion, turning it a deep purple color.
"A great many wizards learn this in magical theory class, and never think much about it, they just use it, magic is a natural part of them, after all. All they have to do is know the right words and wave their silly wands about. But there are some wizards out there, a very few, that can physically see the magic in the world around them. Sometimes very powerful magic can be seen in the most unlikely of places." Especially Dark magic, he thought to himself.
Hermione reasoned this, attacking it with her sharp intellect. Her brown eyes widened. "You can actually see magic?"
"Yes, I can. And even Albus Dumbledore admits that he cannot." Severus instantly felt a stab of guilt at talking that way about Albus, to who he owed his very life. So he admitted another fact about his strange power, though it was a blow to his ego. "There are a few muggles who have this gift. I believe they refer to it as "seeing auras". He widened his hands, palms up in a broad gesture that indicated what he thought of muggle beliefs.
"Yes, I had heard about that, but never really thought about it... It does make a good deal of sense. Seeing magic." A mischievous smile lit up her face. "What do you see when you look at me?"
What did he see when he looked at her? He fought back some nasty comments about frizzy hair and muggle clothes, and tried really looking at her. Eight years had passed since he had first seen her sitting beneath the sorting hat. He had not been surprised then when the old thing had shouted "Gryffindor", and she had jumped off the chair with a smug smile.
She had gown up a lot, but her face was still young and delicate. Hair was frizzy as usual. Maybe if they mixed his greasy hair with her frizz they would both look more presentable. He brushed the idle thought aside.
Her expression was expectant, examining him back like she would any intriguing subject she would like to study. He moved his gaze down. Her muggle shirt was low cut and reveling. A twinkling crystal pendant sparkled above her breasts; he lingered there. A brief rush of blood through his cold heart, and something long dead stirred inside him. He instantly cursed his body's reaction, and his self-loathing rose in him once again. Who was he to be looking at one of his students like this? "Ah, ex-student" a rebellious part of his brain whispered.
Then, fortunately, he thought, his "other sight" and the pendant itself sidetracked him. No mere pretty, it was a powerful magical artifact, and flashed brilliantly when he looked directly at it. How odd. He told her so.
"For starters I see your taste in jewelry is far more than I would have expected from you."
She nodded, flustered and slightly red cheeked, caught between being angry with him, and being impressed he could tell what the pendant was. It was supposed to be well disguised. And for a second she had thought he was staring at her breasts. She was embarrassed that she had thought that, and even more embarrassed by the slight tingle that had gone through her when he had first looked at her. Professor Snape was not checking her out, unless it was to pin point every fault she had. At least her teeth were straight now, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with her chest, if it came to that.
His gaze moved on, he would inquire about the pendant later. It looked like a very intricate variation on a portkey. He took in her muggle jeans, down to the tips of her sneakers. The physical taken care of, he could now concentrate on the magical.
What he saw did not surprise him. She was a very powerful witch, even more so now than when she was a young student. Not surprisingly the magic within her was strongest around her head, pointing like an arrow to her sharp intellect, and after that to her heart. Her magic "aura" pulsed brightly, bluish silver. His own magic he knew pulsed a greenish silver, how conformingly Slytherin. It resided the most in his hands, and then his head.
He carefully explained all he was seeing to her, play by play. She nodded, and smiled briefly when he mentioned his own greenish silver magic. She was surprised that he did not make any sarcastic remarks. That must prove he was telling her the truth.
"I wish I could see it too professor, it sounds beautiful. I would love to study it, I can't believe I've never read of it before"
"So you admit to not knowing everything."
Snape turned back to the cauldron. He had not been keeping as careful of an eye on it as he should have, but the color was almost right. The deep purple potion had turned ink black after several minutes of boiling. Time to add the adder scales, and wait until the potion turns yellow.
"Miss Granger, it is time for you to assist me. When the potion turns yellow I need you to take that knife," he pointed to a short knife with an intricate pattern of intertwining snakes carved onto it. "And press it lightly to your skin. Three drops of blood is all the potion needs. You must stir them in yourself. Twenty times, clockwise, then the potion should turn crimson and stop bubbling." From prior experience he did not repeat his directions, or ask her if she understood. She always got directions right the first time, and if she had a question she would ask it. He knew she would not make a mistake.
Hermione was surprised at herself as she cut into her own skin, lightly, and bleed the required three drops neatly into the cauldron. Blood magic was very closely connected to the Dark Arts, and she had never even thought about using it before this. The drops hissed as they hit the yellow mixture, and the potion began to turn a dark red. Even if she could not see the magic, she could tell this was a very powerful potion.
"That was twenty." She stirred the last circle, and the potion immediately stilled.
Snape took the heavy caldron off the fire, and hung it on another rack to cool. Then he rolled the sleeve of his robe up to the shoulder of his left arm. The mark was violently twitching under his skin.
He sat down, and stared straight ahead, pointedly not looking at Hermione. "Now I need you to take a ladleful of the potion and pour it directly on the Mark. Do it quickly, please."
She dipped the ladle into the cauldron, and poured the still warm mixture onto his mark. Her hand did not shake, but she felt her stomach jump around inside of her like a frightened rabbit. Snape did not flinch when she applied the potion, but he did close his eyes. She stared at him, unsure of what would happen next. The potion on his arm made it look like it was bleeding, and where it was over the mark it bubbled, and dried up almost instantly. The snake stopped moving. Severus opened his eyes.
"Thank you, Hermione." He said simply.
She was moved by the change in his face. It looked years younger, as if a great burden had been lifted momentarily from his shoulders.
An invisible barrier fell from between them. She felt a strange connection to the tall dark haired man sitting next to her. She saw him for the first time as someone she could help, had helped, someone she could care for as she had always cared for Harry, Ron and Neville. He actually smiled at her. She smiled back.
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Thank you to cinnicl for reviewing, and appreciating my tool excerpt! I look to music a lot for inspiration. And tool is certainly fitting for Severus, dark, moody and sarcastic, but so seductive and addictive at the same time! I would love to do a songfic, I thought about trying that before I started writing this story. Picking the song will be the hard part…
Eternal Queen- I hope to break away soon, it is much too easy to slip into "potterworld" after watching the movie again!
Thank you also to labrisa and bluestarfish for you support! *Hugs *