Bitterly Unrequited

Chapter 6 - Spells and Potions

Spoilers and warnings: ...oh, hell, I've spoiled and warned enough. Read the spoilers and warnings on previous chapters if you're that interested.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, etc. No profit is made, and so on...

A/N: Please, please, please review. I'm curious to see if anyone's interested in the story and if they like the direction it's going...thanks.

Severus sat behind the emerald green curtains of his four-poster bed, ignoring the noise caused by his roommates entering the dormitory. Wand in hand, he stared at his notes on a certain spell. He pointed his wand at his bare left arm, careful to cast the spell quite a bit above the sore forearm's tattoo of sorts, and said softly, "Furnunculus." Red, ugly boils appeared almost instantly upon his arm, and though they were large and would be painful if popped, they were little more than natural, easily-cured sores. He jerked the wand irritably above his arm, the flesh again becoming pale and smooth.

He stared at his notes on the spell and the textbook, sure that there was some way the spell could be more effective. The Dark Lord had commanded him to spend his time at school well, to learn as much as he could about the Dark Arts while there, and he intended to. He stared at the spell, an idea developing. He grabbed his dictionary of Latin and Latin-based languages, briefly found the words he needed, and again pushed up his sleeve. "Furondium brullicius," he hissed. He cursed under his breath as he felt an enormous, agonizing pain beneath his skin, as though there were invisible flames inside his arm. Huge, breath-taking painful welts soon broke out across his arm, and he found himself staring almost fondly at his new masterpiece, before releasing the spell and writing notes about it within the margins of his second-hand Potions book.

The dark curtains were jerked back angrily from the outside, and Severus looked up to see his roommates - Evan Rosier, Rabastan Lestrange, Nathan Wilkes, and a very irate-looking Rodolphus Lestrange. Lestrange was a tall boy, brawny and dark - a Beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team and easily twice Snape's size. He grabbed Severus by the front of his robe angrily. "I don't know who the bloody hell you think you are, Snape," he snarled, "but from now on I'd advise you to stay away from Bella. She's my girlfriend, you see."

"Really?" asked Snape, his upper lip curling slightly. "I had no idea, she never mentioned it - but then again, talking wasn't exactly the focus of our...shall we say...encounter."

The other boy was reaching for his wand in his robes, but Severus's wand was already threateningly close to Rodolphus's face. "Please, Lestrange, I wouldn't want to have to hurt you, especially not on the same day I fucked your girlfriend...it hardly seems fair, does it?"

"Touch her again and you'll be sorry."

Snape snorted. "I have no intention of touching her again. I would rather...cherish the memory than watch her grow boring and predictable. Besides, it's not as though I need...or want her, for that matter. There's another girl I'll have, if it's the last thing I do." With a last scathing glance, Rodolphus stalked across the room.
Rosier laughed. "Snape, I had no idea you were such a womanizer. Had I known, I would have respected you much more over the years." Snape looked at him, shaking his head slightly at the other boy's idiocy. "But you must tell us," he continued, "who this perfect lady you're so ardently determined to have."

Snape looked at them, smirking. "Only the best - Lily Evans, of course."

The others stared at him, unbelieving. "Come on, Snape," said Wilkes jeeringly, "we've roomed with you for the past five years, and, unless you're very conspicuous, you've never had a girlfriend. How exactly to plan to manage this feat of conquest with the most gorgeous girl in our year?"

Snape shrugged, returning to his bed and picking up his notes again, "Believe me, I'll find a way." He looked down at his potions book, flipping idly through it, until it landed open on page three hundred and ninety-four...the Polyjuice Potion.

It was the first official day of his sixth year, and Snape skipped breakfast as usual. He made his way to the dungeons, where his Potions class would be held. Slughorn was in there when he entered, and beamed at Snape. "A bit early this morning, Severus? Doesn't surprise me, of course, you never were the type to be late."

Snape nodded in acknowledgment, setting down his books in a seat near the front. Slughorn cleared his throat softly, looking a bit unsure of what to say. "I heard about your father, my boy - I'm very sorry for your loss."

"I...er, I'd rather not talk about it, sir," said Snape, a look of pain and mixed emotions flooding his face. "I was wanting to talk to you, sir," he continued, "about a few potions. Over the summer, I was studying the origins of the Polyjuice Potion in depth, because I was interested in using it as a research topic for your class this year. I tried to make it, but I had trouble locating some of the ingredients, especially the bicorn horn and lacewing flies. I know we haven't studied the potion yet in class, but I was really wondering if you could perhaps lend me the materials so I could go on and get a head start on it."

Snape tried to look nonchalant, but his heart was pounding nervously. If Slughorn would just agree...

"Why, of course, Severus, help yourself! I'm always happy to help ambitious potioneers with your natural intuition," Snape felt himself twitch slightly at the word, "of course, I have to ask whether it's purely for research's sake..."

"Oh, of course, Professor," he said smoothly.

"Well then, I see no reason as to why you shouldn't extent your knowledge in this area. As a matter of fact, you can go on and get the materials now, if you'd like. You know where my storeroom is, I assume? The password's 'gillywater'...so you can go now and get whatever you need."

"But sir, I might be tardy to your class..."

"Don't worry about that, my boy," said Slughorn with a wink, and Snape sped off the storeroom, quite pleased with himself and deeply considering his possibilities as an actor.

He returned to the Potions classroom forty-five minutes later, fifteen minutes into the class. The students were stirring away at potions, adding this and that to the bubbling cauldrons. He looked around and saw, to both his delight and annoyance, that Lily Evans was sitting beside his desk. He walked over to where he had set his books, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Severus," she said softly, her small hand resting on his shoulder. "Severus, I heard about your father. I was...I was so terribly sorry...I can't believe it...it must have been horrible for you."

He nodded. "It wasn't the best summer of my life," he said shortly, gathering his ingredients for the potion they were working on.

"And Severus," she said softly, "I wanted to apologize for...what happened last spring...all of it...I was being idiotic, Severus...the way I handled things between you and I and James...it was entirely disastrous."

"I see," he said, his face emotionless. "And are you still dating James?"

"Yes," she said faintly, blushing with what could have almost been shame.

"I see," he repeated. "Well, then, you can save your apologies, I have no real need for them. You see, I don't give a damn what you or that bastard do, Lily, and I doubt I ever will."

She looked away, her face burning red, and Snape went back to his cauldron bitterly, regretting the pain on Lily's face that he caused but burning with envious rage.