Chapter 5 ~ Brewing Blue
"I thought he was very nice!" Muriel couldn't believe that Severus wanted to argue about Maverick, here in the library of all places. She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together.
He rolled his eyes, but didn't look up from his book. "Mur, he set us up, tested us, and then dropped his last name to scare us. He's a prat!" He thumbed through several more pages as she scowled at him from across the table. "Here it is!" he said suddenly.
She leaned forward, their disagreement forgotten, as he put the book on the table. The potion wasn't very complex, after all, it was in a practical joke book. He tore out the page when Madam Pince turned her back and returned the book to the shelf, still amazed that they'd even had it. He had been afraid he'd have to owl home for his own copy, and if his father had gotten the owl, there would have been all kinds of trouble.
It was late, but they wanted to start the potion right away, now that they had the ingredients. Mur knew they couldn't make it in the Ravenclaw common room. The older students usually turned a blind eye to her antics, but nightshade was easily recognizable, and that would lead to some awkward questions. The Slytherin common room was off-limits too. Most of them wouldn't actually hex her anymore, but they would certainly love a chance to turn her in. More importantly, Avery might be there, and she'd been taking special care to avoid him.
They stood warily outside the mirror on the fourth floor that Malfoy had mentioned to Severus, trying to determine how to open it. Severus tried every password he could think of. It wasn't until Muriel tapped it with her own wand and said, "Aperto," that they finally heard a click.
Severus smiled. Italian passwords in an English castle. Only at Hogwarts.
They looked around the crude room carefully. At the other end there was a tunnel, but they had no time for exploring tonight. Severus ran back down to the Slytherin dormitory for his cauldron, while Mur conjured candles and a fire. The potion was supposed to take two days to brew. What if the marauders used this tunnel too? Surely they would notice the cauldron over a fire in the corner.
When Severus returned, she asked him about it. "We'll just have to make sure they aren't in any condition to run around the castle," he said wickedly, smirking. She shook her head.
"One prank at a time, Sev. Let's spend some time figuring out how we're going to get them to drink it!" She propped herself against the wall to watch him as he began the potion, and promptly fell asleep.
Severus shook her awake around two in the morning. "Come on, we need to get back!" The potion was as close to ready as it was going to get, now it just had to simmer.
Potions class was particularly tense after Christmas. Their crowd of friends was annoyed that they hadn't come to the annual Christmas party. Severus and Muriel had nearly finished when something slimy flew in from the hallway and hit the edge of their cauldron before slopping messily into their potion. It made a nice high fountain that brought Professor Warrington over immediately. Avery had apparently taken Muriel's absence as a personal affront.
The professor was in a very bad mood indeed when he found that their potion, supposed to be a pale green color, was in fact an almost incandescent, florescent blue. Several people had seen what happened, but no one had seen who was in the hallway. As Professor Warrington questioned the rest of the class, Severus filled a small vial with the florescent liquid, winked at Mur, and put it into his pocket.
He definitely wanted to know what had gotten into their potion. He could test it later.
They met Wednesday night behind the mirror, and found their potion undisturbed. "Well, what color would you like them to be?" Muriel asked lightly.
Severus had come up with the perfect idea. "Well, our blue potion is an awfully nice color, don't you think?" he asked, pulling the half-filled vial out of his robes. Muriel looked at it warily.
"But what about all the other ingredients we added to that? Are you sure none of them will react and make this potion dangerous?"
Severus waved a hand impatiently. "Of course not. There wasn't anything dangerous in it!" Muriel raised an eyebrow before nodding.
"Alright. It is a funny color!"
Severus extinguished the charmed flame under the cauldron, stirred it several times, and poured in the vial's contents. The potion hissed and spit before turning a shocking shade of blue.
"Now, how do we get them to drink it?" Severus asked.
Muriel giggled, and produced a forged note from Madam Pomfrey. She'd been careful to curse all the boys, even Remus, with a hex that she and Severus had come up with when they were younger. It had given each of them a noisy ringing in their ears that they'd been putting up with all day, but when they'd gone to Madam Pomfrey, she couldn't help them. After all, no one had ever heard of that particular hex before. It was designed to wear off after 2 or 3 days.
Boys, I am sending up this potion with a house elf. It should help with your ears. There may be a small side effect, but the ringing should go away in 2 days or so. ~Madam Pomfrey
"Bloody Brilliant!" Severus exclaimed. Muriel beamed. Compliments from Severus were a rare treat indeed. They snuck down to the kitchens. Malfoy had taught Severus how to get in last year, so he wouldn't have to go for food himself. The house elves were more than happy to take the potions to Gryffindor tower to "help out the marauders. "
Remus awoke first, and blinked several times. The curtains above his bed were blue. They had been up very late sitting in the common room talking and he wasn't sure that his eyes could be trusted. He closed them again.
No, his bed hangings were definitely blue. In fact -
"JAMES! SIRIUS! PETER! Get up mates, we're in trouble!" Remus threw back his curtains to see that all the beds were blue. He went to the dresser to get something to wear, but when his hand touched the handle, the entire dresser turned blue. He swore loudly.
By now the other boys were awake too. Peter was looking from his own bright blue hands to Remus' blue face and back again. James was looking at the pile of blue robes on the floor. They had been black yesterday, he knew.
Sirius jumped up and grabbed the note from Madam Pomfrey, which promptly turned blue in his hand. His face was twisted into a snarl. "They got us again!" he spat, throwing the parchment away from him in disgust.
"I thought he was very nice!" Muriel couldn't believe that Severus wanted to argue about Maverick, here in the library of all places. She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together.
He rolled his eyes, but didn't look up from his book. "Mur, he set us up, tested us, and then dropped his last name to scare us. He's a prat!" He thumbed through several more pages as she scowled at him from across the table. "Here it is!" he said suddenly.
She leaned forward, their disagreement forgotten, as he put the book on the table. The potion wasn't very complex, after all, it was in a practical joke book. He tore out the page when Madam Pince turned her back and returned the book to the shelf, still amazed that they'd even had it. He had been afraid he'd have to owl home for his own copy, and if his father had gotten the owl, there would have been all kinds of trouble.
It was late, but they wanted to start the potion right away, now that they had the ingredients. Mur knew they couldn't make it in the Ravenclaw common room. The older students usually turned a blind eye to her antics, but nightshade was easily recognizable, and that would lead to some awkward questions. The Slytherin common room was off-limits too. Most of them wouldn't actually hex her anymore, but they would certainly love a chance to turn her in. More importantly, Avery might be there, and she'd been taking special care to avoid him.
They stood warily outside the mirror on the fourth floor that Malfoy had mentioned to Severus, trying to determine how to open it. Severus tried every password he could think of. It wasn't until Muriel tapped it with her own wand and said, "Aperto," that they finally heard a click.
Severus smiled. Italian passwords in an English castle. Only at Hogwarts.
They looked around the crude room carefully. At the other end there was a tunnel, but they had no time for exploring tonight. Severus ran back down to the Slytherin dormitory for his cauldron, while Mur conjured candles and a fire. The potion was supposed to take two days to brew. What if the marauders used this tunnel too? Surely they would notice the cauldron over a fire in the corner.
When Severus returned, she asked him about it. "We'll just have to make sure they aren't in any condition to run around the castle," he said wickedly, smirking. She shook her head.
"One prank at a time, Sev. Let's spend some time figuring out how we're going to get them to drink it!" She propped herself against the wall to watch him as he began the potion, and promptly fell asleep.
Severus shook her awake around two in the morning. "Come on, we need to get back!" The potion was as close to ready as it was going to get, now it just had to simmer.
Potions class was particularly tense after Christmas. Their crowd of friends was annoyed that they hadn't come to the annual Christmas party. Severus and Muriel had nearly finished when something slimy flew in from the hallway and hit the edge of their cauldron before slopping messily into their potion. It made a nice high fountain that brought Professor Warrington over immediately. Avery had apparently taken Muriel's absence as a personal affront.
The professor was in a very bad mood indeed when he found that their potion, supposed to be a pale green color, was in fact an almost incandescent, florescent blue. Several people had seen what happened, but no one had seen who was in the hallway. As Professor Warrington questioned the rest of the class, Severus filled a small vial with the florescent liquid, winked at Mur, and put it into his pocket.
He definitely wanted to know what had gotten into their potion. He could test it later.
They met Wednesday night behind the mirror, and found their potion undisturbed. "Well, what color would you like them to be?" Muriel asked lightly.
Severus had come up with the perfect idea. "Well, our blue potion is an awfully nice color, don't you think?" he asked, pulling the half-filled vial out of his robes. Muriel looked at it warily.
"But what about all the other ingredients we added to that? Are you sure none of them will react and make this potion dangerous?"
Severus waved a hand impatiently. "Of course not. There wasn't anything dangerous in it!" Muriel raised an eyebrow before nodding.
"Alright. It is a funny color!"
Severus extinguished the charmed flame under the cauldron, stirred it several times, and poured in the vial's contents. The potion hissed and spit before turning a shocking shade of blue.
"Now, how do we get them to drink it?" Severus asked.
Muriel giggled, and produced a forged note from Madam Pomfrey. She'd been careful to curse all the boys, even Remus, with a hex that she and Severus had come up with when they were younger. It had given each of them a noisy ringing in their ears that they'd been putting up with all day, but when they'd gone to Madam Pomfrey, she couldn't help them. After all, no one had ever heard of that particular hex before. It was designed to wear off after 2 or 3 days.
Boys, I am sending up this potion with a house elf. It should help with your ears. There may be a small side effect, but the ringing should go away in 2 days or so. ~Madam Pomfrey
"Bloody Brilliant!" Severus exclaimed. Muriel beamed. Compliments from Severus were a rare treat indeed. They snuck down to the kitchens. Malfoy had taught Severus how to get in last year, so he wouldn't have to go for food himself. The house elves were more than happy to take the potions to Gryffindor tower to "help out the marauders. "
Remus awoke first, and blinked several times. The curtains above his bed were blue. They had been up very late sitting in the common room talking and he wasn't sure that his eyes could be trusted. He closed them again.
No, his bed hangings were definitely blue. In fact -
"JAMES! SIRIUS! PETER! Get up mates, we're in trouble!" Remus threw back his curtains to see that all the beds were blue. He went to the dresser to get something to wear, but when his hand touched the handle, the entire dresser turned blue. He swore loudly.
By now the other boys were awake too. Peter was looking from his own bright blue hands to Remus' blue face and back again. James was looking at the pile of blue robes on the floor. They had been black yesterday, he knew.
Sirius jumped up and grabbed the note from Madam Pomfrey, which promptly turned blue in his hand. His face was twisted into a snarl. "They got us again!" he spat, throwing the parchment away from him in disgust.