Chapter 50: Good Graces

Good Graces

The end of the semester was coming rather fast, and Sage was beginning to anticipate sitting for his OWLs. Not that he was not prepared, because he was more prepared than any fifth year was. His advantage was that he had been learning since he was seven years old, and he had spent much more time during those years actually studying than any Hogwarts student did during their seven years at school.

While Harry and Ron were playing wizard's chess with Hermione watching, Sage was sitting in front of planetary charts, trying his best not to become flustered. Astronomy had to be his least favorite thing and as such he found it difficult to study. It was even more difficult to pay attention with Hermione being right there. He had not so much as said more than a few sentences to her in weeks. All he did was steal covert glances at her, hopefully to catch her looking at him. He never caught her, however, she seemed to be much more concerned with Harry, Ron, and even Krum.

He sighed, he couldn't do this any longer. He felt as if things were getting back to normal with Professor Snape and now he felt that he needed to right things with her.

"Oi Weasley, want a little more of a challenge than Potter? I'm due for a good break."

Ron turned around, his mouth wide open, Hermione too. They looked at each other, then at Harry whose brow was completely furrowed.

"Yeah, yeah all right," Ron said, sounding slow, "D'you mind Harry?"

Harry glared at Ron, but then said, "No, not really. I have some Divination to make up anyway."

"I could use a challenge," Ron said, a smile on his face as he stared at the chess board.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.

Ron turned a bit red, "Well, Harry, I beat you all the time. I've never beaten him."

"Thanks, Ron, thanks a lot."

"Well it's true, Harry," Hermione said, coming out of shock that Sage had spoken to them willingly.

Sage looked at her thoughfully, then gave a very small smile.

"You should learn, Hermione," he said, his heart beating heavily in his chest.

"It's totally barbaric. Why would I even want to do something so, so violent?"

Sage tilted his head to the side, "I would have thought that was obvious. Chess teaches you a lot of things I would think you would appreciate. Strategy, patience, foresight."

She raised her light brown eyebrows at him, "I suppose so. I'd rather watch you guys play anyway. It's really not for me."

Sage shrugged and then one corner of his lips raised upwards, "You'd do well with it," he said. "Your intelligent and perseverant."

She stared at him strangely, "Er, thanks."

"Checkmate!" Ron declared exuberantly.

Harry shook his head. "All yours, Snape."

Sage stood up from the study table, leaving his charts behind him. He took Harry's seat.

"Um, don't you need to get your pieces?" Ron asked.

"Oh, yes, right."

He turned around in his chair and raised his hand.

"Duck, Potter," he said, as a small bag came flying through the air.

He caught it and dumped the black pieces out on the table.

"Sage, your wandless magic, it's back. That's so wonderful!"

His head immediately turned to face her, Hermione's sincere honey brown eyes catching his easily. The smile that crossed his face was genuine and easy. She looked so happy, so excited that he had gained some of his power back.

"Yes, some of it is back, but not enough. Soon though," he said, "Hopefully."

Then surprisingly she stood up, "I, erm, I have some studying to do. You know, for our Runes test."

She quickly turned and left through the portrait hole.

"Are we going to play," Ron asked him, impatiently.

Sage turned around and swallowed, "Yeah…yes…yes, white moves first, go ahead."

After two hours, Ron jumped up in his seat, knocking the pieces all over, "Checkmate! Checkmate!"

Sage stared at him, knowing that Weasley had been right, before he had toppled the pieces, he had Sage cornered. Ron had beaten him for the first time, and he would have been kidding himself if he did not know why he had been beaten. His mind had not been on chess.

Sage walked down the corridors aimlessly, trying to clear his mind. He had already tried meditating to no avail. He had too much energy, too much to fill his mind, and so much that he had no hope to clear it by meditating. Unfortunately he was not that strong, nor that skilled yet. He had been working very hard with his Uncle and very hard on his own, but these things took time and understanding. He had not yet had a sufficient amount of either.

He had gone up and down so many flights of stairs, and he was still restless.

Why did she get up and leave? What did I say? I mean, I was being nice, wasn't I? She said that I was changing and that she wanted the old me back, and I'm getting better. I'm not the same as last year, I can never be that way again, but I'm not the self-pitying destructive git that I was being… What can I do. How can I fix this, how can I make her see?

Hermione sat in the library, her Ancient Runes book open in front of her, but she was staring upwards toward the shelf of books in front of her table.

What is happening? He was staring at me. He looked so, so open. I musn't think this way. Things cannot have changed this fast. He cannot be different. If I get close again, he'll only hurt me again. He's a Snape. He's a Snape. He was right, he cannot be what I want him to be. I am only amplifying that small part of him, and trying to ignore the larger part, the harsher part.

But what if, what if I am making a mistake? It cannot be right to judge him to be like the Professor. I don't even know the Professor anyway.

Am I being stupid and stubborn? When I look at him, when I catch him look at me out of the corner of my eye, I feel something. But I promised myself that I wouldn't care anymore, after everything, after all I tried to do, after how much he pushed me away. It's his nature to not let people close, and I can't deal with that, I can't, and I can't change that either! Gods, but why do I feel that this is an opportunity? Why do I look into his eyes and remember the end of last year. Why do I remember how much he seemed to need understanding and attention? He certainly has made it clear that he does not need it now and that he is not capable of reciprocating it.

He's lying! HE IS LYING! HE IS CAPABLE! Merlin, Hermione, you heard it, you saw it at the Yule Ball. If THAT wasn't reciprocating, if that wasn't at least caring and friendly, WHAT IS!

What if he just needs someone, what if I just didn't ask. What if I just let him come to me. Ergh, Hermione, he ISN'T going to come to you! He's too proud, he's too self-reliant, to independent. He is a prat, plain and simple. Get it out of your head! You do not need any of this right now.

Besides, he has that Amanda girl, and he has made it clear that she gives him what he needs, whatever that may be

She growled and put a hand to her head.

This is ridiculous. I'm done. I am done! No more. Just concentrate, concentrate.

Sage was completing his round of the castle by passing the Entrance Hall and heading to the stairs to the dungeons. He needed someplace cold and dark, it suited his mood better. Or perhaps his Uncle would give him something to occupy himself with, or even coach him into his meditative state.

From the opposite end of the entrance hall, a door opened and Madame Pomfrey bustled out. Sage smiled slightly, as well as he could force, and nodded.

"Oh, Mr. Snape, perhaps you could do me a rather small favor that would make my day much easier?" She asked, her cheeks pink from walking so fast.

"Yes, ma'am, I will if I can." He said, shrugging. He's accept a job from anyone if it would get his mind off Hermione.

"It is rather simple, dear." She smiled up at him again. "Please give this list to Severus for me. The hospital wing has been very busy lately, and I haven't had time to speak with him, but there are quite a few potions that I am in need of shortly or completely out of."

He took the paper from her gently, "Of course I will. I was just heading that way myself."

"Thank you ever so much, it has been such a hustle lately. I'm glad to avoid more steps. You would hope that the staircases would not simply move locations, but would having moving steps to take you up or down."

He snorted, "I believe the muggles have some sort of invention like that. It's amazing what they think of, really, for being so beneath us."

She seemed to not appreciate the end of his statement, but looked genuinely interested in the first part. "Really now?"

"Yes, I believe they call them excavators, or evelators, something like that anyway…Escalators, that's it."

"Hmm, I should mention the idea to, Albus. Would make things much easier on the knees, you know. Well, good day to you. Don't forget to give that to Severus."

"I won't," he said nodding.

As soon as she disappeared, he heading down the steps, opening the paper as he went.

Severus, could you please attend to these potions soon as I am running quite low. Thank you ever so much, Poppy.

Dreamless Sleep

Valerian Infusion

Healing Sleep

Antibacterial Salve

Anti-scarring Salve

Chemical Burn Salve

Shrinking Solution

Skele-Gro

Skele-Heal

Fever Reducer

The list went on another page. Sage scowled. Severus had been very busy lately, forcing Sage to be very self-directed with his studies. The man was quite behind of brewing the antidotes to the potions he had his students make, which he preferred to have on hand in the classroom for his more advanced classes. A potion's accident in the upper classes and any students effected by it might not be able to make it to the hospital wing in time.

He stared at the list again. Most of these are rather simple potions. I've done most of them quite a few times as most are on the OWLs list. I know most of them from memory, and some of the others I've at least prepared so far. There are only a few I do not know. Perhaps I could do him a favor and brew up the simpler ones. I need a break from Astronomy and Hermione.

Sage wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his evergreen coloured shirt. It was already wet, as he had been wiping his forehead for quite awhile now. About six hours and he was well down the list, almost done with the potions he knew how to brew. There were only the three left that he was making. He wouldn't want to attempt the ones he didn't know as these would be used on actual students in the hospital wing.

Three cauldrons were going around him in the empty classroom and he kept having to hover over them constantly, timing everything exactly so that he would add everything at the proper time. He had it so that one would be almost done when another was simmering and when he was actually adding ingredients to the third. It was a fairly efficient system so long as he paid attention.

He poured an acid green solution into a bottle and corked it, repeating the process until he had ten bottles filled. He waved his hand at the cauldron and the remnants cleared out. Without a glance backward, he moved to another one of the cauldrons, looked at it for a moment, before checking a timer, then slowly dashed ground Valerian Root into the cauldron, stirring slowly as he went.

In a few moments he was scooping up the other potion, a strong healing salve, and putting it into a large jar while his Valerian potion was simmering to thicken into a syrup.

Severus stood in the doorway to his classroom, which he had been led to by the obvious odor of potion-making going on unsupervised. A puzzled expression had crossed his face when he realized that it was Sage, although he should have know that. Sage was the only person who knew the password to the locked classroom, and any other student brewing something they should not brew, would certainly not do it right under the Potion Master's nose. Raising an eyebrow is appraisal, he leaned against the doorframe and watched. He knew better than to startle Sage while he was trying to manage more than one potion, and he had no idea what the potions even were.

As he watched he took notice of how easily Sage worked. He also took notice of two entire worktables full of bottle and jars and phials. What is he doing. This is something that I would do when my mind is full of things I'd rather not have it full of.

When Sage banished the flames under the last cauldron and began bottling what was in the cauldron, Severus stepped into the room and cleared his throat.

"And what do you think you are doing?" He asked curtly.

Sage turned around swiftly, holding the bottle he had been filling.

"You snuck up on me, sir," he said, almost breathlessly.

I must have startled him anyway Severus thought.

"Could you please tell me, Sage, what possessed you to brew unsupervised?"

Sage opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and put the bottle down first.

"I know I should have asked permission first, sir, but you were not around, and I know you have been busy. Madame Pomfrey gave me this list," he said holding it up, "of potions she needed restocked. I knew how behind you were already, so I thought it would be all right if I brewed the ones I was practiced with for you."

Severus's eyes visibly widened before quickly returning to their normal size.

Sage quickly added, "I would not have brewed anything that I had not done a few times already, Uncle. Most of these I've done by myself before, with your permission, to prepare for my OWLs."

Severus put up his hand to stop Sage from carrying on as if he were going to be in trouble. "Enough, that's enough. Let me see the list."

Sage handed it to him, giving his Uncle an uneasy sort of smile.

Severus read it and raised an eyebrow. There were many potions on the list. He most certainly would not have gotten any sleep during the next week if Sage had not taken the initiative to brew those potions to help him out. It felt strangely foreign for Sage to do something like that. He raised his glance to Sage, who was still looking at him surprisingly without apprehension. He furrowed his brow.

"I only wanted to help, sir," Sage said, responding to what he thought was a negative look from Severus.

"Oh stop, I'm not aggravated with you."

Sage's eyebrows hid under his hair, which was falling into his face, "You aren't?"

"No, I am not. I would have liked for you to have asked first, but you did not make any bad decisions on your own. You are quite capable of doing the majority of these by yourself. Those that you are not, I see you have not done. Specifically, the more difficult poison antidotes."

Sage continued to stare, slightly in surprise. "Well I wouldn't want to make those wrongly, sir. That'd be rather dangerous."

"Yes, it would have been, but there is not anything on this list that you could not handle. But it is wise not to test your first brew of anything on unsuspecting students." He smiled cunningly, "Unless those students are Gryffindors."

"Neville Longbottom," Sage said insidiously, raising his eyebrow twice in quick succession, a smile playing on his face.

Severus snorted with a brief bout of amusement, "Now I have my nephew plotting to rid me of the bane of my existence," he muttered. "How dutiful you've become."

"Well, sir, your happiness undoubtedly makes my life easier."

"Ah, I see, so this was entirely self-interested?" he asked sarcastically.

Sage shrugged, "I think you are berating me jokingly, but anyway it was a bit self-interested. I needed something to get my mind off something."

"That is understandable," he answered, lowering his eyes back to the list. "You've helped me with these two before. Would you like to try them on your own? I will make sure that you do not make any mistakes."

His blue eyes narrowed for brief second, wondering if the Professor was serious. The man's behavior felt strangely comforting and familiar, as if they were at home and not at Hogwarts where the man had to keep up a formidable appearance. Perhaps he had finally succeeded at making his Uncle pleased with him. It surely sounded like it. The Professor was definitely behaving differently. He sounded pleased, even proud?

Sage smiled honestly, "I'd like that. Perhaps get a head start on my NEWTs."

"I believe I could find a book with the instructions in it, or I can just instruct you myself…"

"Don't bother finding a book, sir, I don't like reading instructions while I am trying to do something anyway. You could be reading when you should be doing something."

Dear Merlin, the first student to realize why I ask them to read and memorize instructions before class without me telling them myself. Astonishing. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. He comes from a long line of Potion's Masters afterall. He has to have inherited some good sense.

"Uncle Severus?" He asked, jolting the man back out of his thoughts.

"Right, well, almost all cures to poison are begun with the base for the Draught of Living Death, because it is usually imperative that the person's body not exert any efforts not needed to rid the body of poison. Hence, they should be asleep. So start with that, and I will get your other ingredients."

"Okay, easy enough."

The Professor left the room to gather the other ingredients. I must say, this is a pleasant turn of events. Weeks without incident. I can hardly even blame him for losing his concentration with Karkaroff in the room awhile ago. It is almost a relief from everything to be around him, to watch him. It has taken many small steps, but the difference is readily observable. He is doing well with his wandless magic as well, rarely getting sick, merely getting tired. An improvement to say the least, and promising for the future. He is stronger and seemingly happier?I have not felt that from him in quite some time, since Quidditch perhaps.

He returned to the classroom with a box of ingredients and found Sage adding the powdered root of asphodel.

"You should know how poison antidotes work?"

Sage looked up, "They neutralize the poison in the body in any number of ways, depending upon the type of poison, I believe."

"Correct, so if you had to guess about an antidote in a life or death situation, how would you guess," Severus asked. He could not help his curiousity about his nephew's innate aptitude

Stirring, he responded, "Well, generally there are two or three ingredients in a poison that are what makes it harmful, the others merely determine specific forms and mechanisms that are not important to the antidote. So I would probably examine those key ingredients and then make something that would neutralize each one of those. Even if it was not a complete cure, it would probably prevent the poison from killing the person until I could find a proper antidote."

Severus raised his eyebrows, "Well done, have you been reading about this?"

Sage shrugged, "Not directly, sir. You've had me read on poisons and antidotes before, so I am familiar with it, but I've never read anything about the specific question you asked. It was an educated guess."

"So, what would you suppose an ingredient in the antidote for snake venom would be?"

"A neurotoxin snake venom, or another sort?"

Severus stared at him, he had forgotten how much his nephew really knew, how smart the boy really was. He had given him such a head start when he had started teaching him so young. Sage could nearly be considered a prodigy.

"Neurotoxin, it is more common."

A/N

Xiomara – Happy with Sev in this chapter? Things are going to be a bit different now, for awhile at least.

Rinkrat – glad that you love the fic! Let me know what you think!

VD – I was going to say something about Sage putting the extra stuff on and I still might, but there was a reason for it. Whether or not I remember to write it in, fickle me. Anyhoo, if you want to know what the reason was, email me and let me know bc it will change your feeling about Sage thinking that he is smarter, bc it didn't have anything to do with being smarter. ;-)

Eline – It is rather strange to write Sage swearing too, but it is much better to swear a bit, or a lot, than run around with no control or do things that he shouldn't. ;-) You review of chappie 45 was great. Yeah, Harry had a pretty good reaction, wanting to go get dumbledore and then realizing that Sage could die during that time. Dumbledore was unfair to sage too, what did you think of what Dumbledore did in chapter 47 when he talked to Sage. You had said that the Moody chapter didn't quite flow with the next and that was because I still had to write chapter 47, so make sure that you check it out and let me know what you think of Dumbly. ;-P And Severus will not be soft in my fic, perhaps understanding, perhaps supportive, but not soft or lovey or cushy or mushy. ;-) I love Linkin Park too if you couldn't tell.

Lady J – As to what is going on with Moody, remember what happened in book 4. ;-) There will be more Moody to come too, though not as detailed. Keep the 'sticking to decisions' in your mind as you keep reading, It'll come to you. And yeah, I particularly enjoyed writing the argument between Sev and Dumbly. ;-) I have mixed feelings about Dumbledore. I think that in book 5 he might have come to a realization about his manipulations and his wrongs, so 6 will be interesting. Dumbledore will be an ass until something happens… You'll see. Dumbledore might have a very good reason, an even better reason than Sage being a Magi, to side with him, kinda. Yeah, well, sorry if I confused you. The Convo between Sage and Dumbly is a huge plot bunny, so keep that in mind too. The first few chappies of my fifth year Sage thing will go into that, so save it in your brain. ;-) As to why Harry spilled the bile, that's in book 4 too. He just wanted to see what Kark and Snape had to say to each other. He thought that they were up to something; he had guessed wrong but doesn't figure that out right away.

VD – Better than before? Hmmm. These last few chapters will tell the tale won't they. They will be different, in a way. Let me know if the fic goes down hill or anything with the way Sev and Sage are acting. I hope I did not take things too quickly to a more normal relation… ;-) You'll tell me!