AN: Slightly longer, I especially had fun with the recipe. I couldn't find one, so I was a little creative. Have fun.
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Blimmchen: Me too, me too. Thanks for reviewing.
Intelligent Witch: There are far too few of that around. Time to do something about it. Enjoy.
Natsuyori: Maybe you should reed some more ADMM? It's an even more wonderful ship than, well than this one.
Greeknelo: You're right, it's not. I'll try not to try to talk you into it, but ADMM really is a wonderful ship. Even the great Dame Maggie Smith thinks it's true... But well, at least you say it's not bad. That's a start... (Damn, and I so thought I wouldn't try...;) )
Luva: My dear, please don't fidget over details like that. I know that, really I do, and I tried, but I really needed a kind of difficult potion for her to make and I couldn't find another one. If you can't live with it, pretend he provided her with the basic thing he made a month earlier, or else that you can make all of it and then just leave it be for a month like I wrote. I hope this little major issue doesn't keep you from liking the rest of the story...
To all of you, thanks for reviewing, you make me haaaaaaaaaappppppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
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Chapter three:
Lunch passed by quietly, and half an hour later they were back in his dungeon, picking all the ingredients for the Veritaserum they were going to mix.
"Alright, we've got Asphodel, Jobberknoll feathers, Belladonna and Hellebore, bezoar to neutralise those two, fluxweed, dragon horn, scurvy-grass, leek and snakemilk." He mumbled.
"Is that it? And why do we use leek? That for making soup, not potions."
"That was my reaction at first too, but wait until you see the recipe."
"Maybe you're right, let's get going then."
"Hermione, I want you to understand this very well." He said suddenly. "This is a highly regulated potion, and not just anyone can brew this or even look at the recipe. I'm permitted, and I can give you permission, but either I'll have to erase you memory afterwards, or you'll have to become my apprentice. It's your choice, please choose carefully."
'Did he just ask me to be his apprentice or what?' she thought...
"I fully understand professor, and it would be an honour to become your apprentice." She said after considering what would happen if Ron and Harry and the rest got to know this.
"Fine, then from now on please call me Severus, and let's get started."
He walked over to a door in the back of the room, which she thought led to his private rooms, and came back a minute later with a very old looking, very thick book. It must have had more than three thousand pages, but without even checking the table of contents, he opened it on page two thousand four hundred and forty-two.
"Here it is. One of the five potions of all potions."
She came a few steps closer and looked at it. It was far from easy:
To begin with, take the leek and chop it fine. Make a soup of it, it calms the nerves and you'll need it.
Then put apart the Belladonna and the Hellebore. As you know they're poisonous. Slice the Belladonna, making slices of precisely a half by four centimetres and two millimetres thick. (Otherwise your potion will be ruined.) The Hellebore must be cut into triangular pieces, side seventeen millimetres and three millimetres thick. You need seventeen pieces. (Be sure to make your triangles as equilateral as possible, or your potion won't be colourless.)
After that, plait the scurvy-grass with the fluxweed like shown on page two thousand four hundred and forty-one.
Now cut the dragon horn in two, and take out all the soft parts. Put them apart, certainly not in a glass vial. From the rest, you break four pieces, preferably without cutting yourself or you won't be able to finish this due to the cause of dropping death within the second.
Further, peel the Asphodel, and cut it in four parts. (Don't peel of more than half a millimetre or you can start over.)
Finally, there are the Jobberknoll feathers, the bezoar and the snakemilk, be happy for a sec, cause those don't need to be prepared for the potion.
Preparation:
Take a sip of soup.
Start by heating the snakemilk. Don't boil it yet, that's for later on.
When the milk is hot enough, add two pieces of the broken dragonhorn, five centimetres plaided scurvy-grass and fluxweed, and seven pieces of Hellebore. NOT together, in this order and with fifteen seconds in between.
Stir anti-clockwise fourteen times.
Take another sip of soup.
Add another two pieces of broken dragonhorn, another five centimetres plaited scurvy-grass and fluxweed, and another seven pieces of Hellebore. Again NOT together, but in the OPPOSITE order and with ten seconds in between.
Stir anti-clockwise fourteen times.
Add the bezoar, two Jobberknoll feathers and the four pieces of Asphodel, with exactly twenty-five, ten, fifteen, five and twenty seconds in between.
Stir anti-clockwise five times.
Time for some soup.
Make your brew boil, but be careful not to spill a drop of it.
Add the soft parts of the dragonhorn and the remaining three pieces of Hellebore, together.
Stir anti-clockwise four times.
Drink the remainder of your soup.
At precisely the right moment, add the Belladonna.
Stir clockwise three times. Wait twenty seconds.
Stir anti-clockwise two times. Wait fifteen seconds.
Stir clockwise once and very fast.
Congratulations, you managed to make a batch of Veritaserum.
"What do you think?"
"Nice potion. I knew that that leek wasn't meant to go in it!"
"And further?"
"They don't tell when exactly to add the soft parts of the dragonhorn and the Belladonna. They also don't tell how much Belladonna you have to add. It's not in the list of ingredients, and it's not written in the preparations."
"So how many will you add and when?"
"Precisely the exact amount at precisely the right time for the Belladonna, and right before the brew boils so hard it spills for the soft parts."
"Exactly, you're a fine Potion maker you know Hermione."
"Thanks Professor Snape."
"Thanks who?"
"Thanks Severus."
"That's better. Let's get started now shall we."
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They started cutting, chopping, slicing, plaiting and peeling.
He did the dragonhorn while she plaited the fluxweed and the Scurvy-grass,
he sliced the Belladonna while she peeled the Asphodel,
he set aside the snake milk while she made the soup,
and finally he watched her cutting Hellebore triangles.
The first one went fine, the second one too, and even the third, but from the fourth on, the shape started to be less flawless and when she came to the seventh, he decided to give her a hand.
He put his hands over hers and started guiding her in the cutting.
She almost audible gasped. 'What the hell is happening to me?'
Luckily he had lots of experience with cutting Hellebore, cause otherwise these would certainly have not been perfect equilateral triangles.
'Man she has soft hands, I wonder if her face feels like that too. Argh, I don't like her that much, it can't be.'
When the cutting was done he let his hands linger on hers. She turned around and met his eye.
'She's close, I could kiss her right now, ... she's still your student Severus, keep cool...'
At the last moment he stepped aside and looked at the results of their work.
There were seven stacks of ingredients, a stone bowl with soft parts of the dragonhorn, a cauldron with snakemilk, and two mugs of soup.
"Fine work I'd say."
"Indeed Severus, but without your help I wouldn't have managed."
"It's only your first time Hermione, don't ask too much of yourself. But enough talking now, let start mixing the damn thing."
'Oh I so love the way he pronounces my name... sigh '
"That's the spirit." She managed. "No need to keep chattering, on to the task at hand."
She walked over to the cauldron, and started a low fire to heat it up.
"Hermione, some soup?" he said holding up her mug.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot. That would have made a fine start."
He chuckled. 'She's so cute when she thinks she does something wrong.'
He took the dragonhorn, the plaid, and the Hellebore and handed it to her.
"You're making the potion..."
"Uhm yes, if you say so Severus."
'Ah, insecure again...'
She added them, one by one, and stirred fourteen times anti-clockwise.
While drinking some more soup, she checked the recipe.
Exactly the same in the opposite order.
Then came the bezoar, the feathers and the Asphodel.
All the while he was looking at her.
'Anti-clockwise, don't forget.'
He heated up the fire.
Sipping her soup she watched it boil.
Just when he though it was all going to boil over, she threw in the soft parts and the Hellebore.
"That was close no?"
"Yeah, but I knew what I was doing."
She finished her soup.
"You still need to stir Hermione."
Some soup dripped from the corner of her mouth, "Oh yes, thanks, I almost forgot."
She reached for her wand and was about to stir.
Don't ask how, but he knew she was going to stir clockwise while it had to be anti-clockwise and he almost jumped over to her. He grabbed her arm and made her stir in the correct direction.
"You almost ruined it." he said simply.
They were standing close, so close...
"I know, I'm sorry." She said looking at her feet.
He put his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him.
"Don't be mad at yourself Hermione, you're still learning. Believe me, you're the best student I've seen in my whole career."
She couldn't resist. They were still looking at eachother and she did the most logical thing that came to mind. She kissed him.
He didn't respond and she pulled back mumbling "I'm sorry."
He finally realised she felt the same. "Don't." he whispered, and kissed her again.
This time it worked, the kiss developed, soon growing into a full-blown snog, the potion forgotten.
Many seconds later, she remembered the damn mix. She untangled a hand from his hair, grabbed a handful of Belladonna from the table behind her, and chucked it in the cauldron.
He realised what she was doing and gave her a hand. He finished the stirring and after the last stir, the brew gave a hiss, a small cloud coming out of it, and the potion turning completely colourless.
"It's perfect." He said to her.
"Thanks, both for the help and for saying that. And also for this." She said, kissing him again.
"I love you you know." He whispered.
"I do, and I love you too."
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I loved writing this, I hope you liked reading it? Please review people, you make me so happy with those little pieces of text.
Sara