Ch. 8 – Elixir of Power, Elixir of Death
As far as they could tell, Dennis Creevey had told no one; Snape wasn't sure whether the boy was keeping silent to avoid the wrath of his potions master or out of respect for his fellow Gryffindor, and frankly, he didn't care. After the horrifying thought that they had been caught, he and Ginny had been much more careful. They only met very late at night, after making their rounds through the deserted corridors at Hogwarts, and then only in his highly fortified chambers.
A week after the "incident," Snape was summoned before the Dark Lord. Voldemort stood by the desk in the study of his Muggle family's old mansion. Nagini lay curled at his feet and his hand ran absentmindedly over the edge of the old oak desk. "I have a task for you my faithful servant."
"Yes, my lord?"
"I need you to prepare this," he said handing him a hefty leather bag, "for human consumption." Snape raised an eyebrow in response. "Well, go on, see what it is…"
Snape opened the bag carefully, in case the substance stored within had… unpleasant effects. He inhaled sharply as his eyes beheld the somewhat familiar black glow. "Black lotus? But, my lord…"
"I want it fit for consumption by the end of the week. I assure you that any failure on your part shall be met with a slow and painfully torturous death."
"May I ask who this is for?"
"No, you may not. Now go, Severus, and do not fail me."
"Yes, my lord." Severus apparated to Hogsmeade and made his way quickly to his private workroom in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Once there, he began to prepare to dilute the black lotus. First, he extinguished the fire roaring in the fireplace; the heat in the room would be unbearable once the heat of a boiling cauldron were added to it. He had to stand on a chair and stretch in order to reach the small window located near the ceiling, but after a few moments he was able to successfully ventilate the room by opening the window.
Next, he gathered his supplies: brass scales, beakers, sea salt, wooden spoon, and strainer. He stood back to survey the collection, attempting to discover the source of the gnawing feeling he was forgetting something – other than his cauldron, of course. As realization dawned on Severus' face, he opened a drawer of his storage cabinet and selected a small narrow-bladed knife with a hilt of gleaming moonstone. Continuing his preparation, Severus selected a smaller cauldron from among his collection and set it up in the center of the workroom.
Now he began to prepare himself. He changed into his lightest weight long-sleeve robes; the long-sleeves would provide protection against exposure to black lotus, but the lightweight fabric would still allow his skin to breathe. He pulled a hunter green ribbon from among the many pockets of his robes and tied back his hair – it was the same ribbon that Ginny had used on him for the Start of Term Feast – and a brief smile flashed across his face at the memory of that night. He pulled a pair of dragon hide gloves onto his long, lean hands and inhaled deeply – now onto the fun part!
As an afterthought, he covered an area of his work table with a large sheet of wax paper in order to prevent the contamination of every surface in his work room as black lotus pollen was notorious for flying everywhere. Severus began his task by weighing the bag of black lotus. Carefully he extracted the lotus from the bag, placed it on the wax paper and weighed the bag alone. After a few mental calculations, he filled the cauldron with enough water to dilute it to an 8 to 1 ratio and added salt to the water. Salt water tended to react best with black lotus, although the reasons were unknown. Early experiments with the plant revealed that it was less deadly if diluted in salt water than if dilute with fresh water.
He mumbled an incantation and with a flick of his wand perfect, evenly heated flames began under the cauldron. It was a cool fire, as it was best to bring the water to a slow boil. As the water heated, Severus began to slice the black lotus petals on the wax paper, careful not to allow any of the fine dust covering its petals to escape the boundaries of the paper. Just as he finished there was a light knock on the door and he heard Ginny's voice, "Severus?"
"Come in," he replied as he moved to the cauldron to check on the progress of its heating. "Ginny, grab that wooden spoon and stir this cauldron to make sure the salt dissolves evenly."
"Sure thing," she said moving swiftly to the collection of supplies gathered on the work table. She froze as her eyes traveled over the petals on the wax paper. "Black lotus?" she questioned. "Sev, who are you preparing this for?"
His eyes rolled at her new nickname for him. "I'll give you one guess."
She nodded as she moved to the cauldron and began to stir its contents. He kissed her forehead and went back to prepare the lotus to be added. He squeezed each petal gently, extracting clear oil from the sides that had been cut, and rolled the oil gently into the petal. Slowly, the dust and pollen resting on the petals began to form a gummy, sticky substance. An uncomfortable silence filled the workroom. Severus fought the thoughts floating through his mind. Why does he want this precisely? Who is going to give it to? What if it is for Ginny?
He cleared his throat uncomfortably at this thought. "I don't need to remind you how dangerous this particular plant is, do I?"
"Of course not."
"If he offers this to you, don't drink it… unless you have no other choice," he said firmly, a sense of foreboding filling his body.
"I would never…"
"Don't say that, Ginny. He has ways of making you do things, and I don't want to think that you ever lied to me,"
"Severus, I would never lie to you intentionally."
"I know that," he said. Their conversation was interrupted by the bubbling cauldron. "Thank you for watching the cauldron for me, but I need to continue on my own."
"But…"
"'But' nothing! You are distracting me, and I need to concentrate on getting this correct… just in case."
She didn't argue any longer and quickly left the workroom, a pained look on her face. Severus fought the sense of panic filling him. If he muddled this, and something happened to her, he wouldn't survive it. He couldn't face loosing someone he loved again.
XXX
Severus handed over a dozen 2 dram doses to Voldemort early the next morning. He hadn't slept at all the night before, not because he was preparing the black lotus, but because he could not sleep no matter how hard he tried. Every time he closed his eyes he saw an image of Ginny dead – either through a mistake he made or from a curse cast by his own hand. In one horrifying vision, he had aimed the Avada Kedavra at Voldemort and Ginny had stepped in to block it. At some point in the night, he had come to the decision that he must end it with Ginny once and for all. He sighed wearily as he stood to head to the Great Hall. He was not going to be in a good mood today.
He was nibbling on toast when Ginny joined the head table for breakfast; she smiled cheerily at him, and he scowled in return. Her smile faded immediately and she cast her eyes down to her plate. "Could you pass the pumpkin juice please?" she asked softly.
Without as much as a glance he passed the carafe of juice to her. They continued to eat in silence. Glowering, Severus pushed his chair away from the table. "Ms. Weasley, you have become horribly lax in your duties as an apprentice. I expect you to spend the day cleaning and organizing the entire store room. If I find so much as a speck of dust present, you will be scrubbing the entire room again. Do I make myself clear?" he whispered vehemently.
She turned to look at him. "Perfectly clear," she said in an emotionless tone.
"I don't need to remind you that you cannot use magic around the components as they can be extremely volatile."
"No, you don't, Professor. May I inquire as to why I am being asked to do this?"
"You may not. I am the Potions Master and you the apprentice after all. If you do not begin to show me the respect that I am due, we may have to explore further options for punishment."
"Yes, sir," she replied softly, her eyes aflame with anger. She hated him in that moment. He didn't need legilimency to sense that. With an evil smirk, he turned on his heal and left the Great Hall, cloak billowing behind him.
XXX
As the first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws entered the classroom a din of excitement filled the air. "Where's Ms. Weasley?"
Snape scowled in the general direction of the question. Of course, they didn't know that he was currently trying to forget the feeling he had about he, but this was the second class that day whose first question had been about the young lithe redhead currently scrubbing the shelves in the storage room. This time, as before, she stuck her head out of the storeroom to explain that she was organizing and cleaning it, and would hopefully be returning soon.
"But, Ms. Weasley, I just alphabetized the entire storeroom for a detention last night," replied a Ravenclaw girl with the last name of Harding.
"Then maybe I should help you learn your alphabet, Angie. I just found a jar of lacewings next to aconite, and unless you know a different alphabet than I do I can think of at least 20 ingredients that should come between them."
"I can think of 100," replied Snape. Ginny frowned at him in response, then ducked back into the storeroom to complete her work.
She emerged two hours later ready for lunch, covered from head to toe with some strange mixture of dust and soapy water. "I've finished, Professor. I'm sorry that I haven't been performing to your expectations," she said sarcastically.
Cold obsidian eyes locked with fiery brown. "Ms. Weasley, when I walk into that store room, everything had better be perfect, or…"
"Or what?" she said bristling at his idle threat. Severus' scowl deepened. He hoped that he seemed as emotionless as he was trying to feel. He moved to the storeroom, without a response. He stared at the storeroom, gleaming bright in the light from the classroom.
"You had help," he accused. "There is no way you finished this already."
Her eyes narrowed at him. "I had no help whatsoever. I would lie to you, Severus. Now, will you please tell me what I did to piss you off?"
"You were born Ms. Weasley. You are not to speak to me with that tone of voice."
"I was born? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"That was your final warning Ms. Weasley. For your insubordination, you will be confined to your room, where you will stay until you complete 14 essays for me. You are not to leave, except to eat and to go to the library. You will find a complete list of approved topics in your room after lunch. Do I make myself clear?"
"You can't do this!" she growled.
"Can't I? Don't press your luck Ms. Weasley. Perhaps you would like to try to find another Potions Master to teach you after you have been dismissed as my apprentice."
"You wouldn't…"
"Oh yes I would. Now get out of my sight."
"I hope you realize what you are doing, Severus Snape. I will warn you only once… you get one chance with me, and that's it," she spun on her heal and left the room, door slamming behind her.
Severus sighed, what precisely am I doing? He thought.
XXX
Ginny had been working furiously ever since the essay topics had been slipped under her door. She would show that bastard, she would not give in to being dominated. She stretched her aching back and inhaled sharply as the familiar tingling sensation began in her left arm. Without thinking, she grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the green flames, "Riddle Manor," she whispered.
She stepped into the study quickly, surprised to find only Nagini present. "Where is he?" she asked the snake softly.
"Talking to snakes, Gin? I thought you couldn't speak parseltongue."
"You know I can't speak parseltongue, Tom, I can only understand it."
"Don't call me Tom," he said absentmindedly as he wrapped his arms around her.
"What am I to call you then? My Lord? I thought I was your equal! Voldemort? That just seems wrong…"
"Gin, you worry too much. What if you were to call me… I have something to ask you," he said pulling away from their embrace. He reached into his pocket. "I know that you have already consented to be my Queen, but… I want to know if you would make it official… that is, Ginny, will you marry me? Will you call me your husband?"
No! the portion of her guarded mind screamed. "Yes," she said aloud. "Of course."
"I have something for you," he said pulling a ring from his pocket. Two intertwined snakes wove their way around the ring, one ruby red and one emerald green. They seemed to dance in the firelight. "It's a worry ring and a permanent portkey. Turn the center to the right and you will come here, no matter where you are, to the left will take you to your room at Hogwarts. No more floo powder or walking to Hogsmeade to apparate."
"I… it's beautiful. Thank you."
"It's the least I can do for my Empress."
"Wouldn't that imply that you are ruling an empire? I thought you were only taking over the wizarding world."
"I've decided to have more ambitious plans. Ginny, I think it's time you know why I have delayed the war and what part I plan for you in all of this. Please sit," he said motioning for her to sit on a nearby sofa. "For the past year I have been infiltrating Muggle society. Ginny, I am less than six months away from pulling off a coordinated attack against both wizarding and Muggle Britain. With careful planning, I should be able to succeed in taking over all of Britain. My ties in the British government assure me that the transition shall be an easy one. Think of it Ginny… first Britain, then the UN, next… the world. They will be powerless to stop me… and you will be by my side for it all, the most powerful witch and wizard in the history of the world."
"The world?" Ginny whispered, heart pounding. "Surely you are joking. Do you have that many followers?"
"That's not the point. Muggles are greedy; all I have to offer them is a slice of the power and they lap it up, agreeing eagerly to help my cause. They are too stupid to realize that I will kill them the moment they step out of line."
"So… so what is my roll in all of this?"
"I need you, Ginny, to kill Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore."
"What? That's impossible! I'm no where near strong enough…"
"You will be," he said crossing to the desk and opening a drawer. Carefully he held up a vial of semi-clear black liquid. "You only have to drink this."
"Black Lotus? Merlin, are you crazy?" she said unable to stop herself.
"Drink it Ginny. With it, you will have the strength to help me take over the world."
Quickly, Ginny weighed her options. If she drank it, she would die immediately, become addicted, or suffer no ill harm. If she didn't, he would kill her. The odds were better if she drank it. Without hesitation she took the vial, uncorked it and drank. As the liquid traveled down her throat a fire ignited in her stomach and filled her limbs. Every nerve ending in her body was alive. She felt instant power, ten times more than she had felt the night she witnessed the sacrifice. A smile involuntarily passed over her face. Severus would kill her if he ever found out.
XXX
A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. Working 12 hour days has left no time for writing. Hopefully, I will be able to get another chapter posted next week as tomorrow is the last day of summer school. I am happy to report that all 23 of my students passed with a C or higher!
I am already working on the next chapter and I look forward to all of the reviews from this one. Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers… you keep me motivated!
I also wanted you all to know that I will continue this story, even though HBP moved it from the "slightly out-of-canon" category firmly into AU. As I see it, I have come too far and have too many interested readers to stop now.
I promise the next chapter will be longer and will come sooner. Thank you for your patience!