Chapter Thirty-One
Potion Bottles
Zoë tossed and turned in her bed for quite some time before finally going downstairs to find Andrew and Zack sitting up as well, playing cards by firelight in the otherwise dark room. She sat down on the rug beside them, watching for a moment before Zack finally looked up at her.
"You too, huh?" Zack said.
"Yeah," Zoë said. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe he'd just step down like that. And that cheer from Eigil's group…"
"Yeah," Zack said, putting a chip in.
"This is all my fault," Andrew murmured, throwing his hand down despite the fact he had a full house.
"Well, maybe it is a little," Zack admitted, Andrew looking glumly up at him. "Look, your father's a big boy, he makes his own decisions. Besides…it's not like it really affects any of us, right? I mean, we're Gryffindors, it doesn't really matter to us, right?"
"It matters to him," Andrew said, dealing Zoë in and handing her some chips.
"I don't know. I thought he seemed almost relieved," Zoë said. "And from what's been going on, I'd think he'd be grateful for getting out of there."
"Well, it's not so much about the fact that he lost the house that bothers him, Zoë," Andrew says, "I think it's more about the fact he thinks he's failed at something. Father's a perfectionist nearly as bad as Mum is. Knowing him he's mulling right now over what he wasn't able to accomplish with that house and less about what he has accomplished."
The next morning, Zoë spent a lot of time thinking over Andrew's words, having mixed feelings about heading to her Defense class that day. She had gotten there early, just in time to see Aurelius making his way out of the office, looking even broodier than normal. Descartes was nowhere to be seen, but Rasputin's tail stuck out from under the table.
Alicia smiled at them when she came in, taking her seat near the back while Morfinn came up and sat near them in the front row.
"This is so depressing," Morfinn said, blowing his nose. "Did you know that depression makes one more susceptible to diseases?"
"Just don't pass any to me," Zack told him.
"Everyone is getting worried for no reason," Alicia said, just loud enough to be heard. "It's not going to change anything, you know."
But by the end of the class, even Alicia had to admit that things were wrong. After working on handouts most of the day, they went straight to reading, and although Severus had warned several students for various things during the course of the day, not one point was given or taken out by anyone. By midday, Zoë listened carefully as the other classes reported the exact same thing.
"I think Dumbledore must have put a gag order on him or something," Dana speculated. "I mean, what else would have caused him to clam up like that?"
"Well, he wasn't completely clammed up," Andrew spoke up. "I heard that Laurel was trying to take advantage of the situation in his seventh year class, and Snape was quick to put him his place then."
"I heard about that," Shelly agreed, "But so far, he's the only one I've heard of losing points all day, although I must admit it sounded like it was completely justified."
"Who does he have class with this afternoon?" Zoë asked.
"He doesn't, he's got a conference period," Andrew said, stacking up his sandwich. "If only I didn't have Runes today. I feel so bad about what happened."
"Yeah," Zoë said, then got up.
"Where you going?" Zack asked. "Aren't you going to study for Herbology with us?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you at the library," Zoë promised. "There's just something I need to take care of first."
Severus had every intention of using both his lunch hour and his conference to update as many of the Slytherin house students personal files as possible for Danny, frowning seeing how out of date each one of them was. But the busy work kept his mind off of things, so much so that he was almost reluctant to wave the door open with his wand when he heard what was obviously a student knock. He glanced up to see Zoë walk in, sighing softly and turning back to his papers as she closed the door.
"Hello, Zoë. Is this important? Because if not, as you can see, I have a lot of work to do."
"Actually, it is. But actually, what I have to say won't take long," Zoë said, feeling a bit uncomfortable as he kept to his work, not looking up.
"Very well, what is it then?" he asked, pulling out another file.
"Thank you," Zoë shrugged. Severus glanced up at her in bewilderment, opening the new file.
"For what?" Severus said.
"For all you did, and all you didn't say," Zoë said quietly. "For kicking my butt when I needed it even though you knew I'd always hate you for it… for bringing Gretchen here as much for my benefit as hers. And for what you did for Aurelius, too, when we all thought he was lost, and for however the hell you got Alex on your side, although I haven't heard that story yet. And, well, for all the other kids that you helped and never said anything, and all the things you've done for the school despite the fact it might have made you look like an egotistical brute who only stayed here because you liked to torture students and Dumbledore was the only person gullible enough to give you a job."
"Thank you," Severus said sarcastically.
"Don't mention it," Zoë said with a grin, but then nodded. "You know, when Corey and Essie first told us they thought you were the best teacher in the school, we all thought they were nuts. And I know it probably doesn't make all that much difference but the majority of us agrees with them now. Especially me. I just thought you ought to know, that's all. And don't worry. Alicia will figure it out eventually," she added, heading for the door.
"Zoë," Severus said, pausing when she turned around as if thinking over his words before looking up. "You are free to come to me, you know, if you need anything, even if it's something you wouldn't normally go to an advisor about."
"Thanks," Zoë said with a smile, Severus nodding to her before turning back to his work.
Zoë stepped to the door then, her hand on the doorknob but then hesitated, staring at it as if it torn about something. She looked over at him, wondering if she should burden him with it, but as she stared at the door, she knew she couldn't open it without saying something.
"Professor…there is one thing I'd like to ask you," Zoë said slowly.
"Yes?" Severus said, a bit impatient to get back to work.
"I just wanted to make sure you knew…I mean, well it's obvious to me, but if you don't know, you really need to…" Zoë said, Severus frowning at her and tapping his fingers against the desk. "About… about Aunt Jennifer using all the pain killers, I mean."
Severus stared at her as if struck by lightning, his face pale but a dark realization marking his expression of shock. "If you don't believe me, you should look at my and Morfinn's homework sometime," Zoë said, searching in her pockets for a rolled up piece of paper and walking back to his desk, handing it out. "Here's our last lab. Go ahead take it. I think you'll believe me."
"I already believe you," Severus said. He stood up and took the lab anyhow, glancing at it. "How long has this going on?"
"I don't know, at least since Yule," Zoë admitted. "Maybe longer. I'm sorry, Uncle Severus…"
"No, no… thank you for telling me. It explains… well, nearly everything, actually. Excuse me, Zoë, but I really need to look into this," Severus said, hurrying them both back to the door. "Keep it to yourself, though, please? I'll take care of it."
"I already knew that," Zoë said sincerely as they walked out of the office.
By the time Jennifer's last class ended, she had felt completely exhausted again, slipping in her office long enough to grab a quick bottle of something before heading into the passages and up to her room. Even her lumpy couch seemed inviting in her mind as she yawned, tiredly rubbing her eyes to remember what password she was using at the moment.
"Defiance, Dewhurst," she told the Raven with a yawn. But as the door opened she stared in complete terror at the ransacked room. It literally looked as if it had been turned upside down, and in the center of the room was a large pile of phials and potion bottles, some empty and some full. "Oh, no," Jennifer murmured, hurrying towards the bathroom. But in the doorway to the bedroom she stopped short as she saw Severus dumping the last of the contents of the empty bottles from her Puzzlebox on her bed. "Stop it, Severus! That's mine!"
"So it is," Severus said. "And it seems we are even more overdue for a talk than I thought we were. How long has this has been going on, Jennifer?"
"How long what's been going on?" Jennifer asked warily. Severus picked up one of the empty bottles, holding it up. "So I don't clean out my Puzzlebox often, so what?"
Severus stared at her then grabbed her by the arm despite her protests, pulling her back in her sitting room before going over to the pile.
"I found these in your desk…behind the book case…in the cushions of your couch…AcheBeGone… Relief Draught… Instanumb… Instanumb? Have you any idea just how dangerous that one is?" Severus said, the look of pure worry on his face easily readable.
"Severus, I know…I know how this looks, but it's not what you think," Jennifer said.
"Fine, I'm listening," Severus said, folding his arms and looking incredibly attentive. Jennifer gazed back at him, feeling a lump in her throat. What could she possibly tell him that he would believe? How could she possibly consider lying to him now? She thought again of the consequences of telling him the truth and slumped down on the couch.
"Never mind," Jennifer said, lying down.
"You are not going to get out of it that easily," Severus said. "I don't know what started this, but it is now going to stop. Get up! You're going to St. Mungo's."
"What?" Jennifer said in surprise. "I'm not going there!"
"You are if I say you are!"
"Like hell I am! They can't treat me unless I give consent and I'm not giving consent!"
"You will."
"I will not!" Jennifer said angrily. "I am staying right here! And don't expect me to give consent in the hospital wing either, because I'm not giving it!"
"And just what makes you think Dumbledore will let you stay here when he hears about this?" Severus asked her. Jennifer got up then, going over and putting an arm on him.
"Please don't tell Dumbledore, Severus! Please. I'll stop, just…"
"No, Jennifer. Even if I want to believe you, I can't possibly allow you to continue teaching Potions considering what's going on here, the temptation is far too great. Dumbledore has to be told. But first thing's first. We're going to go through your office."
"But I'm tired, Severus!" Jennifer protested.
"Gee, I wonder why. It couldn't be because you've been taking more painkillers in one week than an Alchemy supplies in a month!" Severus snapped, grabbing her arm again and pulling her off the couch. "I can't leave you here alone."
"You've been leaving me alone for over a month, Severus, a few hours isn't going to change anything," Jennifer said grumpily.
"On the contrary, a few hours going through this room today changed everything for me," Severus said, dragging her out and down the back stairs, snapping at Ted Gaffney who was patrolling the halls. "Find Dumbledore and tell him to meet us in Professor Craw's office," he said, and then continued. By the time they were in the dungeon, Jennifer had obviously worn out to the point of complete exhaustion, curling up in her chair and falling asleep before Severus had finished pulling out the last desk drawer and began going through the depleted shelves, shaking his head between them and his wife, banging his head lightly against the shelf for not seeing it sooner. When the knock came, Severus left Jennifer to sleep and went out to speak to Dumbledore. They had a lot to talk about.
Jennifer awoke up the next morning in so much pain from her thigh wound that she didn't notice at first she was in her own bed. Her futile attempt at sitting up caused a sharp pain across her chest, and in desperation she fell out of bed and crawled to her wardrobe to get her corset out. How she managed to get dressed, Jennifer wasn't quite sure, but somehow she managed to get into the bathroom. She found it quite bare; the cabinet containing little more than extra soap, her toothbrush, and the jar of Invisibility Cream. She took it out and stared at it, laughing at the ludicrous idea of attempting to go on with just that now when she couldn't even stand without a wave of pain hitting her. Would wrapping up the leg help? Minimal at best, she knew. One thing was certain; Severus was about to become the worst adversary she ever had, for nothing would stop him from searching out and destroying any potion she might come in contact with. But how could she possibly expect herself to keep up without any? The pain in her leg throbbed so badly now, drowning out many of the small aches and pains out of sheer intensity.
There was a quick knock before Severus peered in, gazing at her searchingly where she stood staring at herself in the mirror.
"Feel up to teaching?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Jennifer snapped angrily.
"Fine. You'll be teaching Defense then. I'll go get you my lesson plans," he said, stepping back out. Jennifer sighed, taking one last look in the mirror and shaking her head. She didn't know that this was going to work, but did she really have a choice? There was one other alternative, she mused as she stepped out…a safer one for everyone. It didn't take her long after classes began to realize just how bad staying now would be.
Just after dinner, four Snapes and two Blacks met under the Elf Willow, the young tree welcoming them warmly under its budding branches. The soft glow from the buds was the only cheerful thing that evening, for every face was solemn as they sat down in a circle.
"Can anyone make any sense out of what has been happening?" Alex said distressfully. "First Father steps down from Slytherin house, and now all the sudden he's teaching Potions while Mum is teaching Defense from her desk chair, while a random ghost watches the classroom. I mean, I know what happened with the Slytherin thing," she said, looking at Andrew who looked unusually glum. "But who got Father kicked out of Defense?"
"He requested a transfer," Aurelius said. "He didn't get kicked out."
"Well to hear Eigil's gang tell it, that's what happened," Alex said.
"That just goes to show they don't know everything," Zoë said curtly. "Look, I know why they took Aunt Jennifer out of Potions, and I seriously doubt I should be the one to tell you this, but you really ought to know. I think Aunt Jennifer is addicted to pain killing potions."
"What?" Alicia said, glancing at the others. "Why, that's ridiculous! Mum wouldn't get involved in anything like that."
"I agree, Mum knows better than anyone the dangers of stuff like that!" Andrew said.
"I understand why it might be hard for you to accept," Zoë said with a sigh. "But I've been in her office nearly every day and I've caught her taking potions nearly every time I've been in there."
"I don't care, I still don't believe it," Zack said, "Any more than I believe that Snape is seeing Delacour."
"Well, I can tell you that you're right in Father isn't seeing Delacour," Aurelius said to Zack. "And Zoë, at the same time, regardless what it might look like, I don't think Mum would just get addicted to pain killers out of the blue."
"It's not as hard as you might think. In fact, it happens to professionals all the time, doctors, even," Zoë said.
"I know, but there's more to it than that," Aurelius said. "Remember when Father had all of that trouble with the snoop chain going off at seemingly random times? Well, I don't think it was all that random. I think someone's spying on us… and more specifically, on Mum."
"What makes you think that?" Alex frowned.
"My snoop chain has been going off a lot too, and at first it seemed to be random except for in the classrooms," Aurelius explained. "That's when I first noticed it. It goes off at least once every time I'm in her classroom, and sometimes it goes on for the entire time I'm there. But it doesn't happen in any other class; just hers. That's when I realized that most the time, she's present when it happens."
"Most the time? Not all?"
"Well, no, but I figure that's probably related to other snoops in the building. I don't think I need to name names," Aurelius glowered. "But what I do know is that business in her classroom with someone spying and this potion thing is not a coincidence. If she's taking potions it's for a reason, and not just a common addiction problem."
"Then explain the assignment she set Morfinn and myself up with to rotate out different pain killers to keep our mice from dying. Some of them being the same ones I know she's taking," Zoë said.
"She could just as easily been looking for a non-addictive way to take them and she could have been debating the long term effects of each one," Aurelius mused. "It's hard to say. But let me ask you this. Has anyone besides me noticed symptoms of momentary pain, wincing, flinching, and that sort of thing?"
"Yes," everyone said, glancing at each other.
"I've seen her hold her side from time to time, coming down stairs," Alex said.
"She's had some moments where she's just stopped cold in her tracks for no apparent reason," Zack said. "Always claiming a dizzy spell."
"I touched her shoulder when I was trying to get her attention in the library the other day," Alicia said. "She flinched and jumped up so fast I wasn't sure what I'd done wrong, but afterwards she just said I startled her."
"I saw her limping in the passages today, when she thought no one was there," Andrew murmured quietly.
"They could all be psychosomatic," Zoë said slowly, "or even bad effects from taking the potions too long."
"Maybe," Aurelius said. "Or maybe we… the whole family, Father included, have been wasting time explaining away everything odd happening around her when we should be comparing notes. Look, maybe it is all in her head, it sounds reasonable enough by itself. But when you add in the fact someone is spying on her on top of it, then it starts to sound fishy. And if the cause of this thing is an outside source, it's just as possible that it's real pain we're dealing with here. And, on top of that, there's the secret she gave me, which makes me think that Mum is in a lot more trouble than even we suspect at the moment."
"What do you mean?" Alex frowned. Aurelius sighed, putting his hand out.
"Everyone put your hand in to promise me you'll keep this new Pact, and I will tell you," Aurelius said, and without hesitation they all did, each hand stacking on the next. "I wasn't told the true secret, only a part of it to seal the secret off so no one could read her," Aurelius told them softly. "And the part she gave me was that if she told any of us the real secret, it would put the entire family in great peril."
"Well," Andrew said, taking his hand back after they had thought about that for a moment. "That doesn't sound real promising, does it?"
"Do you suppose she knows something about the Ivory Skull?" Alicia asked.
"Maybe it has to do with Ciardoth, or more likely, Lucius Malfoy," Alex said.
"I don't know," Aurelius said. "In fact, I don't even know if we should be asking all these questions and yet…" his thoughts trailed off, but even when the others looked away, Andrew continued to watch him carefully.
"Do you think… do you think maybe someone's hurting her somehow when no one knows about it? Like a voodoo doll or something?" Zack said.
"Oh, Zack, I seriously doubt anything like that, it went out of style hundreds of years ago," Alex said, but her voice was a little worried.
"That would explain why they would be spying on her, wouldn't it?" Andrew said. "Although we haven't even talked about how they'd be able to do that in Hogwarts."
"Well, let's worry about that later," Aurelius said, suddenly getting up. "I think there's something I want ask Mum about first."
"Rel, can I talk to you for a moment?" Andrew said getting up as well. "I'll walk him back, all, if you don't mind."
"Sure, just don't forget to check in at the common room," Zack agreed as the other four got up to head to their rooms.
"What is it, Andrew? Not about Hauk, I hope?" Aurelius said tiredly as the headed towards the back passage.
"Oh, no, nothing like that. I don't think he'd dare touch me now, honestly," Andrew said. "No, I was just wondering if you… well, if you've like sensed anything off Mum you haven't told us about." Aurelius stopped, staring at his brother for a long time before walking further down the passage.
"I don't know what you're getting at, Andrew."
"I think you do," Andrew said, following close behind him. "You see things sometimes now, don't you? Sometimes, just out of the blue, you pick up things from people, and you don't know if it's real or not?"
"Andrew, don't be stupid. I'm no more telepathic than you are," Aurelius sighed. "I just have a way of using logic and a little deductive reasoning to figure out what people are up to. Anyone with half a brain can do that."
"Yeah, I guess," Andrew said, but grew thoughtful and quiet after that.
