But he didn't go back to normal the next day, or the day after that. In fact, he seemed to hate her more and more with each passing day. To add to it, every time Ginny saw Draco, he was with Pansy.
After a week of watching him with her, Ginny finally stayed after her potions class to talk to Snape. She stood at his desk, waiting for him to stop writing on what seem to be someone's essay- or at least that what it looked like under all the red ink. She was starting to wonder if he would ever say something when he let out a sigh.
"Miss Weasley, are you going to stand there all day and grace me with your unwanted presence, or do you actually have a purpose to this interruption?" He never looked up from his paper, in fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he spoke; it was like she wasn't even there.
"Sir it's about the potion- powder- the stuff that was in the necklace sir." He finally stopped writing and put down his quill with another sigh. Elbows on his desk and fingers steepled, he looked at her impatiently.
"And what exactly about this stuff did you want to talk about?" He was making a dig at her and she knew it. It made her wonder if the Snape she saw last night was nothing but a delusion.
"It hasn't worn off sir. If anything it's gotten worse. He acts like he used to last year. Sneers at me constantly, and he always has that- I mean- Pansy with him. And he still has that glassy, far away look that he did that night. I thought that maybe you were mistaken when-"
"First of all, Miss Weasley, I am never mistaken when it comes to potions. However there is a possibility that the powder had other concoctions put into it as well as my original analysis of the substance." He got up, and went over the one of the doors that led to his storeroom. "If you will close the door, as to ward off any visitors, I will go get it, and figure out what exactly out little scarlet gave the young ferret." Ginny was amazed at how he was talking about Draco, but she went and closed the door, put her bag on one of the desks and waited for Snape to return. I wonder why he changed his attitude towards me. It was like another person was talking.
The professor walking back into the room carrying the container holding the powder, and some other instruments she had no names for, interrupted her thoughts. She silently watched as he set up and started testing the powder. It seemed like he had just started working on it when his voice came out low and quiet.
"It's just what I thought…" He looked over his shoulder at her, and for just a split second, she could have sworn she saw pity in those hard cold eyes. But before she could figure out why, he turned around and showed her the beaker in his hand, containing what looked like a black, ominous looking liquid. Without a word, he lifted his other hand, and using a spoon, he put in a couple granules of the powder. She watched in amazement and horror as the beaker started filling with thick smoke, before clearing, and showing that the liquid was now red. "Do you know what you're looking at Miss Weasley?" Without a word she shook her head, trying to sake off the eerie feeling on the back of her neck, as she watched the red liquid start to crawl up the glass.
"It is aegritinis caecus, or simply, Blind sickness. It is a very old formula- one thought to be forgotten, and very, very, lost. Its intention is to cause a mental blindness- blindness only the creator, or the person it was created for, can change." Ginny jumped as his hand suddenly moved over the container, corking it just as the potion was about the reach the top. "Think of it as a liquid form of the impervious. The person how administers the potion has the power to cloud the victims mind with the knowledge they chose- or erase it." He put down the container in front of her and went to his desk, getting out a stick of wax from a drawer. Using his wand to melt the wax, he sealed the entire cork, and put the remaining wax on the table, along with his wand. He watched as the liquid tried to crawl up trough the cork, but was stopped by the wax.
"It is highly volatile as you can tell. It is why it is the hardest potions to reverse." He moved his eyes from the container to look at her. Ginny felt cold, and felt the blood drain from her face as he continued speaking. "It acts like an animal, seeking tissue, and absorbing through it, into every cell, every fiber. Removing the potion is a hefty thing, and very dangerous, even with the proper antidote. If what you say is true, then Miss Parkinson has been putting this into his drink every night since then. Which means, that his body should eventually build a resistance to it. In time he will need stronger and stronger doses just for her to get him to walk with her."
"With time? But-"
"Do not worry, Miss Weasley, I do have the antidote to this, though I will not trust it to a student. The antidote itself has other… qualities than just reversing the aegritinis. I will bring Draco down to speak to me, at which point I can see for myself just how far this little game has gone. You may watch if you wish." With that he waved his wand and all the equipment, including the container in front of her disappeared, and he walked towards the door next to the one he came out of. He opened it and looked at her. She took it as her cue to go inside.
His office was very different to what she would have imagined, furnished in dark oak, and a couch in front of a lit fireplace, covered in Black suede.
"I suggest you sit down on the couch and try to stay as invisible as possible until I tell you to come up." She sat down and had to turn her head almost completely around to watch him walk out the door. He hesitated as he started walking out, "And don't touch anything, or else I won't be so helpful next time around." With that cheerful note he walked out and went to fetch Draco.
Who would have thought- Snape; couples counselor extraordinaire.