K – Ok, someone explain to me just what "Mary Sue" means? Because I've seen that term other places and have no clue.
Shahrezad1 – Draco? Do something bad? Surely you jest… heh heh heh.
Mademoiselle Morte, Peikkolapsi, Lillypotterfan, and Kurtfan – Thanks for the encouragement! Never fear, all, the mush of the previous few chapters is about to get 'stirred' a little… Can YOU find all the foreshadowing? Lol.
Chapter 18
Sonora stood in Dumbledore's office and took a deep breath. The old man was sitting at his desk, eyes intent and focused. That merry twinkle she was so used to seeing was gone, and instead there was the bare hint of a fierce eagerness that was almost frightening. Merlin, she hoped she'd succeeded. Dumbledore wanted this potion. He wanted it badly.
She uncorked the small vial she'd brought with her, and hesitated, glancing behind her. "Are you sure you want to stay?" she asked, biting her lip.
Severus' face was impassive as stone, his eyes cold and flat. "Just get on with it," he snapped. She could feel his tension coming across the room. It was going to hurt him more than her, she thought, before taking another breath and tipping the vial in a silent toast. Then she swallowed the clear, sparkling liquid in two gulps.
It was pleasantly flavored, she decided, feeling a light buzz behind her eyes. "Rather like strawberries," she said aloud, knowing Severus would file every nuance of voice and action in that sharp mind of his. "There's a little bit of… fuzz, I guess, after I swallowed it."
Dumbledore spoke softly. "Do you feel it has impaired your senses at all?" he asked.
Sonora considered for a second. "No," she said slowly, "and yet everything is a little off , if you understand my meaning."
"What is the proper dosage of dark water in a Rubberizing Potion?" Severus' voice came harshly.
Sonora blinked. "Four drops," she said, turning to look at him in surprise. He gave a short nod, and then with his face still impassive, conjured a small rubber ball to appear in his hand. "What…" she began before ducking as the ball came flying at her.
She sputtered a bit as Severus turned to Dumbledore. "It would appear her reflexes are sufficiently normal," he said in that cold, blank voice. "We would need to perform further tests with a more athletic subject, of course."
"Of course," Dumbledore said, eyes still intent on Sonora, who had stopped sputtering and was instead shooting irritated glares at Severus. "Sonora, my dear, do you feel ready to test this against cruciatus?"
Sonora gave up glaring at the tall dark man who'd thrown a ball at her, and turned back to the Headmaster. She felt a flutter of nervousness begin in her stomach. She took a deep breath. "Yes, sir," she said, voice a little thinner than she would have liked.
His eyes were intense and blue, and she felt herself getting sucked down into the depth of them, the ageless wisdom and power that was lurking just there under the surface. "Very well, then," Dumbledore said, and lifted his wand.
"Crucio!"
Severus' muscles had coiled tightly from the moment they'd walked into the Headmaster's office and Sonora had begun to relate her story. He'd known what was coming, known what Sonora was about to insist on, and yet he had to grip his fingers tightly together, nails digging into his palms as Dumbledore raised his wand.
The familiar light of the Unspeakable spat forward and Severus had to brace himself not to leap away, or contradictorily, in front of it. Sonora should not be the one testing the potion. HE should.
Fear and panic for her clogged his mind for a bare second, before he regained a measure of control. Sonora was still standing on her feet, he realized, a weird, pale blue glow enveloping her. The light of the curse bounced off and around that glow, being finally absorbed into it.
Dumbledore held his wand steady, his lips moving silently under that thick white beard. Severus forced himself to think like the Potion Master he claimed to be, and turned his attention once more to the small figure before him.
She looked calm, although a little apprehensive, he noted. Clearly the curse was not hurting her. "Walk away," he barked at her, and she turned her head to look at him, surprise lifting one dark eyebrow. He glared, covering his nerves with temper. "Dammit, woman, to see what your mobility under the effects are. If we are to test this, let's test it properly."
One corner of her mouth slid up, and then she did as she was told and began to limp towards him, Dumbledore keeping a steady beam coming at her from his wand. Severus studied her movements. He could detect no sign that her mobility was in any way different from what it was normally. He scowled. They should have tested it on himself.
"How long do you intend to keep this up," he snapped over her head at the Headmaster. "For the entire length of the hour?" Dumbledore merely looked at him, and Severus shoved back his instinctively defensive reaction. "Dammit, she can't handle the curse," he growled.
Sonora shook her head. "Severus, I'm fine," she said through that blue haze. "We really do need to see how long the effects last."
He switched his attention back to her. "NOT on you," he growled. She was already too damn fragile; he wouldn't have her body subjected to the tortures of the Unforgivable.
Somewhat to his surprise, she glared back at him. "This is MY research, dammit," she told him, looking for all the world like a small, angry kitten, albeit one currently glowing blue. "And I'll be damned if I'll hand the risks over to anyone else."
His chest constricted at the image that immediately shot to the forefront of his mind; of Sonora writhing uncontrollably on the floor as he had seen so many times before. As he himself had done so many times before. Her words registered, a moment later. And something in his chest tightened unbearably.
"Then I shall take myself off, as I am clearly not needed to assist with your research," he snapped stiffly. He turned and managed to stalk out the door of the office with a reasonable swirl of black robes, designed to intimidate and annoy. The door closed with a sharp click behind him, and he started down the steps to the hallway below with a sick feeling in the back of his throat. He couldn't picture what would happen in that office. He might truly be sick then.
Such was Snape's preoccupation with his thoughts that he missed the dark shadow standing behind a gargoyle as he strode thunderously down the hall, muttering under his breath. The shadow stayed still and motionless, and he continued on, completely unaware.
Sonora was feeling angry and guilty and more than a little irritated as she turned back to Dumbledore, who was still holding his wand steady, muttering the words of the curse under his breath as he watched her carefully, eyes deep and dark and knowing. She sighed.
"Fine, so I shouldn't have said that," she said, grumpy. "But he can be positively stifling at times." The Headmaster said nothing, of course, he had to maintain the spell. But Sonora could practically hear his voice in her head.
She grimaced. "You're right of course," she said, beginning to wander about the office, peering through the blue glow. "He's, well, sensitive on this subject. And I probably shouldn't have let him watch. I just, well," she shrugged a little. "I wanted him to be a part of it."
She snorted. "I probably should have left off the bit about 'MY' research, then, huh?" She grimaced, squinting up at the titles of some of the books on the shelves before her. "This glow is a bit disconcerting to see through, by the way. Much like that little buzz was after I drank the potion." She stopped and considered. "Not inhibiting, but rather like putting on someone else's glasses for a moment."
Sonora ran her finger tips over the spine of one of the books in front of her. The Secret Lives of German Vampires, it read. Did French vampires have secret lives as well, she wondered. And what about British or Czechoslovakian or Romanian vampires?
She let herself wander around the room, touching things gently, leaning a bit on her cane for support as all the standing began to tire her. Even as she tried to keep a part of her mind clear and focused on her reaction to the curse, a corner persisted in showing her the bleak look that had flashed through Severus' eyes as she'd snapped at him.
She began to feel a prickle in the tips of her fingers and glanced swiftly at the clock. Half an hour. Not as long as she had hoped, but still… "I think the potion's starting to wear off," she said, turning to face Dumbledore, the prickling starting to spread. "I'm beginning to feel like pins and needles in my hands."
Dumbledore gave a flick of his wand then, and the light issuing from it immediately ceased. "A bit more than a half hour," he said softly, and Sonora stared at the look on his face. "My dear girl, let me congratulate you. This potion may begin to turn things our way. You have created something truly amazing."
Sonora blushed a little. "Thank you, sir," she said. "I'd hoped it would last longer, but…"
Dumbledore cut her off with a wave of his hand as a smile sprang to his face. It went all the way deep down into his eyes. "Make no apologies, Sonora," he said. "You have achieved a tremendous thing. Be proud."
She smiled. "I will," she said, feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
The twinkle suddenly sprang back to the Headmaster's eyes. "And now, don't you have a Potion Master to placate?" he said.
Sonora groaned, feeling that warm fuzzy feeling disappear. "Dammit," she muttered, and shot Dumbledore a glare. "You couldn't let me bask in success a little bit longer."
His smile widened. "Now, now, success is all the sweeter for being shared," he said, wiggling a finger at her. "Off with you. See to Severus, and get plenty of rest. We shall talk again tomorrow."
Sonora bit back a sigh. "Yes, sir," she said, turning and beginning to limp out of the room. "Thank you, sir."
"No, my dear," she heard softly behind her as the door began to close. "Thank you."
Severus sat before his fire in his chambers and brooded. His thoughts were dark and foul and the glass of Ogden's he sipped did nothing to change them. He had been shut out, closed off from Sonora. She had turned on him with that angry look in her eyes and it had been as if he had lost something.
A rational corner of his mind said that Sonora had done nothing wrong in getting a bit snappy, after all, did he not treat her that way on a fairly regular basis? But the darkness and the Ogden's and his black mood pushed that voice aside. She said she loved him. And yet she could turn away from him.
He swallowed again, and then nearly choked as a sharp pain lanced through his arm. Dammit, of all the things to make tonight complete, he thought, clutching his arm in reflex. He was to be blessed with a visit to the Dark Lord.
Setting the tumbler down with a sharp click on a nearby table, Severus rose and crossed to his closet to extract his thick, black cloak. Even as he swirled the heavy fabric about his shoulders, he heard the soft shuffle of approaching footsteps. His mood, already dark, became blacker.
Sonora appeared in the doorway, her face hesitant. Severus could not prevent himself from
scrutinizing her carefully, seeking any sign of pain or distress. He saw a bit of fatigue, a bit of upset
emotion, but other than that she seemed fine.
He turned away.
"I have been summoned," he said in a cold voice, crossing the room and opening the passage from his room to the grounds.
"I…" her voice was hesitant behind him. "Severus…"
He cut her off, feeling the weakness inside of him and not entirely sure what he could do about it. He could not have it, not now, not when he had to face the Dark Lord. "I will return when I can," he said, voice unfeeling. Without looking at her, he stepped into the dark passage, and let it shut behind him.
Alone in the dark, he took a deep breath and began to pace forward down the cold stone passage. As he pushed the door in the outer wall open, overhead the dark shape of an owl took flight, gliding on silent wings over the cold night-covered grounds.