20. A demand for Potions

By next morning the 'Daily Prophet' had gotten a hold of the story and Filius got up from his place on the teachers table and handed the section of the paper over to Severus. After Severus was done reading the article he laid it onto the table and said, "That is just what I needed, people demanding that potion."

He had just enough time to finish his sentence when the door of the Great Hall flew open and Kingsley and Harry walked in. They walked straight up to Minerva and Severus. Kingsley said, "Good morning! Have you read the newspaper?"

"Good morning! Yes, we did!" Minerva said while Severus just nodded.

"Seems we have a bit of a problem on our hands," Kingsley stated to Severus. "I brought Harry. I was hoping he could take over your classes again today so you can do some brewing. I Flooed to the bureau which is handling monopolies. They are going to put a rush on your application."

"I haven't applied for it yet," Severus said.

Kingsley said with a grin, "But I did."

"Thank you! - I suppose...," Severus said with a surprised look on his face.

Then Minerva spoke up, "How are we dealing with the situation at hand?"

"The newspapers will print something by tomorrow that only a few vials are available because it is still in the test phase. We are telling them it will be on a 'first come, first serve' basis," Kingsley said. Then he looked around and saw that the students who were closest were trying to listen in and he asked, "Can't we go somewhere private?"

Minerva looked at her watch and said, "I think it is time for classes anyway. Let's go to the teachers' lounge."

"Thank you Harry, for taking over my classes again. It seems to becoming quite a habit," Severus said before the teachers went to their classrooms and he, Minerva, Kingsley, Poppy and Bobbie went to the teachers' lounge.

"No problem!" Harry said and left for the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. "I'm just going to ask Ginny and Luna how far along you have gotten with your teaching."

After they sat down Kingsley said, "I had no idea there were so many folks who had been driven to the Cruciatus insanity. I know there are 6 or 7 more at St Mungo's but this is crazy. My guess is there are a good many of them with the same malady in the Muggle World, only no one knows what it is or where it is coming from. I think I have to contact the Muggle Minister and let him know there is a cure."

"I think you should do that Kingsley, if you know how to contact him," Minerva said.

Kingsley nodded and then went back to the previous subject. "Like I said, the 'Daily Profit' will write that it will be 'first come, first serve' and we have to make sure that only hospitals, Mediwizards and licensed Potion Masters will be able to get their hands on it." Then he asked Severus, "Did you have time to brew any last night?"

"I have and the ingredients are about 5 Galleons because of that rare one I have been telling you about." Severus said.

"Well, that can't be helped. If it is needed, it is needed. What about your time?" Kingsley asked.

"About 3 hours all together. There is about 30 minutes of simmering when I haven't to attend to it though." He glanced at Bobbie trying not to smile and Bobbie looked at him trying not to look embarrassed.

Everyone looked at them and there was an awkward silence for just a few seconds before Kingsley cleared his throat noisily and drawled, "Riiiight...!" He again cleared his throat and continued, "So three hours. An excellent Potion Master earns about 20 Galleons an hour, which makes 60. Plus the 5 Galleons for the ingredients are 65. Ooookaaayyy... I'd say no less than 75 Galleons, maybe more... How about 80?"

"Are you serious?" Severus asked.

"Have you checked on some of the potions that are out there? When was the last time you had to buy one?" Kingsley argued.

Bobbie, Severus and also Minerva who knew about Anton's potion looked at each other and Minerva said, "80 Galleons is too cheap."

Poppy said, "You have been working and thinking about this potion for years, Severus. You should get compensation for that also."

Severus said, "No, that would not be right. In the beginning it was more or less to overcome my boredom from sitting by myself in that dungeon at night or in Voldemort's hellhole."

"So what? Nobody needs to know. Do you want to make some money or not? It is a specialized potion, Severus. We aren't talking about Pepperup or Calming Draught. Thankfully you are brewing potions like Blood-Replenishing and Skele-Gro for the infirmary. We would go way over budget if we would have to buy them," Minerva said.

Then Kingsley said, "You know this is only the beginning of selling the potion. We from the Ministry need to make a living too and eventually have to receive taxes for it." He grinned. "But, we can let it slide during the testing phase."

"Government at work, no matter in what world you live," Bobbie said with a grin.

They finally settled on a price that sounded outrageous in Severus's opinion. Since he never had to buy a potion before he had no idea how much they were marketed for. When Kingsley had left, Bobbie and Poppy went to the infirmary and Severus and Minerva were left alone in the lounge.

Severus said, "Minerva, I don't feel right using the schools lab for my personal gain while the Ministry has to pay Harry for doing my work."

Minerva smiled at him and patted his hand for a moment, "Remember what you told me yesterday, about Bobbie's family and how they are helping each other out? We aren't family by blood but I think we know each other long enough and also well enough for this to apply. And on top of it you are also using the lab for potions for the infirmary. As for Harry, he is getting paid whether he is out arresting some hoodlums or if he is sitting around waiting to arrest them. If I would have to wager a guess, I would say he would rather by busy."

She got up and next thing he knew she was out the door. He was stunned and looked at the door for quite some time before making his way to his lab.

888

Severus had three cauldrons going simultaneously. This way he had 36 vials of potion by the time it was lunch time. When he told Minerva that he could actually make the potions cheaper because he could make three batches at once she said, "Nonsense, you have more work preparing and you have more stress."

In the afternoon he finished another 36 vials. Watching each cauldron like a hawk he was exhausted by evening and was ready for a shower. He had to wash his hair three times to get all the greasy fumes out. He put on fresh clothes and then he and Bobbie went to the Great Hall for dinner where he was almost falling asleep in front of his meal.

Minerva looked at him and shook her head. "You can't keep up like that, Severus. Go to bed and tomorrow is business as usual. Kingsley had Miss Granger notify the apothecaries around the area that some of the potion will be available tomorrow and that they have to put in a request for how many they want to buy, but that it won't be for sure that they will get that many in their first order. St Mungo's wants ten, seven for their remaining patients and three for storage. They will send someone over tomorrow. I think it would be a good idea to send them their full order, since they are a hospital. The ones for the apothecaries we can owl."

Severus sighed deeply and nodded tiredly before eating a few bites and then going to bed. Before he fell asleep he thought about the trouble he used to have sleeping and if he actually did fall asleep he usually was awakened by nightmares. He hadn't needed any Dreamless Sleep Potion ever since Bobbie came into his life. He smiled and pulled her closer to him and was asleep soon after.

888

The next day the 'Daily Prophet' promised that there would be a small amount of the potion available. It also said that if the potion would be bought at an apothecary only a Mediwizard or a licensed Potion Master would be able to buy and administer to those patients who were cared for in their home instead of being in a hospitals insanity ward.

When Severus and Bobbie arrived for breakfast in the Great Hall Filius gave the section with the news about the potion to Severus who read it and nodded in agreement. He didn't want to have his potion getting into the wrong hands and being used for something unrelated, like someone who was in a coma that didn't have anything to do with the Cruciatus insanity, since that might even kill the person.

They were about halfway through their meal when a plethora of owls flew into the Great Hall and all dumped their notes on Severus. At first he was a little annoyed because he had to fish them out of his tea, his juice and his breakfast. He finally just held up his plate for the owls to come and get a little treat from it for delivering the mail. They were swarming around him in a frenzy so that Severus wasn't even visible anymore underneath all the birds. By the time they were done with grabbing a treat and were out of the Great Hall again Severus looked like he hadn't touched a hair brush in weeks. His hair was all over the place from the 'tornado' of about a hundred of wings.

Everyone, teachers and students, looked at him and froze. One could have heard a pin drop with the silence that spread over the vast room. They all remembered their acerbic Potion Master and that no one better laughed at him without feeling his wrath afterwards. Unfortunately his wife didn't seem to have gotten this message and when she saw him she burst out laughing. He looked at her and his face showed a moment of disappointment because of the feeling of betrayal that overcame him. Then he thought about how her cousin Geronimo would have acted in a situation like that.

He stood up from his chair with an expression of gratitude and bowed several times in front of everyone, just like an artist in a theater would have done during the applause he received, after having just played the best performance of his life. Suddenly the whole hall was roaring with laughter including Severus.

After he sat back down Bobbie grabbed his hand underneath the table and said so only he would hear it, "I'm sorry Baby but I couldn't contain myself. Let me tell you how proud I am of you. The way you handled the situation was priceless. I know your students will love you for it. 100 points to Slytherin."

Severus first took out his wand and 'fixed' his hair and then said quietly with a smile, "Anything to make you laugh."

"Liar!" she said and winked at him.

Then he felt Minerva pat his other hand and said, "Severus, that was one of the funniest performances I have ever seen. You did great my boy."

The next thing that happened was that the children who were closest to the teachers table got up and picked up all the owl notes that had fallen off the table and brought them to Severus with a friendly smile. He nodded at them as a thank you and then he stacked them all up in a teetering tower. He opened the first three on the top and said to Minerva and Bobbie, "These are all orders for the potion."

Minerva said, "I figured as much. You just worry about your classes. Bobbie can get the vials out of your lab and then she and I can work on those orders for a little while." She pointed at the stack and said, "By the amount of those it looks like we will have to disappoint some apothecary owners but we will do our best. Eventually you can brew some more and then we can send out the backorders."

By then everyone else had left the teachers table and were getting ready to start the day.

"I owe you Minerva!" Severus said.

"Well, if it means that much to you, the two of you can take me to that new restaurant that the Greyborow's built for an evening out." Minerva waggled her eyebrows.

Severus looked at her and started laughing and said, "Can you do that again?"

"Do what?" Minerva asked.

"What you did with your eyebrows...," he said.

"I didn't do anything with my eyebrows. Now you better go to your class," she said in feigned indignation and shook her head.

Severus turned abruptly on his heel with his robes billowing about him and started walking to his first class of the day with a smile on his face.

888

While Bobbie and Minerva and also Poppy who had a slow day were filling orders, the courier from St Mungo's arrived and picked up the ten potions they had ordered. When Minerva asked him how the Longbottoms were doing he answered that they were doing great mentally but they had trouble getting back up on their feet because of the disuse of their muscles for such a long time. He said they had tried a Strengthening Solution but it was only a short term fix and finally had decided that they would just have to build their muscles up slowly by exercising.

Bobbie knew that Severus had added something that would strengthen the muscles. Maybe he needed to up the amount of whatever it was. She resolved that she would run it by him when she would get a chance.

Even though Bobbie had gotten all of the vials out of the lab, the six batches Severus had brewed the day before and the one batch he had brewed the evening before that, which made all together 84 vials, they ran out of potion quickly. They tried to spread it out by only sending 2 of them to apothecaries who wanted many more but there were still some who didn't get any.

When lunch time came around there were more owls for Severus. This time he ducked under the table when they came in, which got him a round of applause and more laughter. He had figured it out by now that his colleagues and the students weren't making fun of him and instead laughed in approval. One of the owls he recognized as the owl from the Ministry. He opened this note up first and found a letter from Kingsley who was letting him know that in light of the situation the bureau that is working on his monopoly for the potion has given him a temporary monopoly until the paperwork is completed.

Minerva who had put the other notes into a neat stack chuckled and said, "Looks to me like you need to hire a secretary."

"I had no idea there were so many people who were down with Cruciatus insanity...," Severus said quietly. "Merlin, what have we done...?"

"What do you mean with 'what have we done?' You haven't done anything. How many people did you put under the Cruciatus Curse until it fried their brains?" Minerva asked him.

Severus didn't say anything and just stared at all the orders for the potion in shock, which made Minerva ask an insisting, "Well, how many?"

He finally looked at her and whispered, "None!"

That's what I figured. So, don't even go there." She pointed at the stack of orders. "All these are people you are going to help. I think that is more than enough restitution. I know that you have told Albus that you wanted to atone for your sins. Look at this stack... Don't you think you're doing enough when it comes to atonement? Also, all these apothecaries know who is brewing this potion and people still trust you."

Severus was astounded at Minerva's outburst. He looked at her and slowly nodded. Then he said, "I better get to my classroom."

While he got up Bobbie looked at Minerva and mouthed "Thank you!" to her.

888

In the early evening after his last class, Severus wanted to run off to the lab to brew another batch of the potion. Bobbie grabbed him and said, "No, you are going to eat something first."

"Winky can get me something and I can eat it during the time the potion has to simmer," he argued.

"Please Baby, you need a break. You just had a full work day and now you want to run off and brew potions for another three hours, or even longer if you do three batches because you have to start those 10 minutes apart."

"Don't patronize me," he snapped.

"Hey, where is this coming from?" She cradled his face and made him look at her. "I love you. It is no use running yourself into the ground. You brew potions for Poppy, you have classes and now this Cruciatus potion has come up. You won't do anyone any favors if you exhaust yourself. I need you and so does this little baby of ours. I only want the best for you."

He relented, "Forgive me. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just want all these people to get well. I can't help it if I feel guilty. Yes, I never have put anyone in this position but it is guilt by association."

"Sev, many of these people have been out of their minds for years, what is another two or three days, or even ten. They will be healed eventually," Bobbie pointed out.

Severus sighed and nodded. He took her hand and put it on his chest right over his heart and said quietly, "I love you too." Then he kissed her hand and they made their way to the Great Hall.

On the way Bobbie said, "By the way, the healer who picked up the potion for St Mungo's said that the Longbottoms are still not able to walk because their muscles are so badly atrophied. Didn't you say that you put something into the potion that would counteract that?"

He stopped and looked at her, "I did! It also should have been the right amount. They should be up by now."

"Maybe you should hold off making more of this potion until you know why it doesn't work," she said.

"I need to look over my notes when I get back to the office," he said.

"Or brew the potion without the muscle strengthener since it doesn't seem to work anyway. I don't know enough about it but maybe it could shorten your time of brewing? People don't know that it is supposed to be in there. They seem to be happy just to get out of the insanity," she said.

They were about halfway through the meal and Severus had been deep in thought and very quiet the whole time. All of a sudden he dropped his fork and said, "I know why...!"

He put down his napkin and the next thing anyone knew he hastened out of the Great Hall with his robes billowing behind him.

Minerva looked at Bobbie and said, "Looks like he just had an epiphany..."

"Yeah, I was actually wondering how long he would sit there. I already had to drag him here to begin with," Bobbie said. She shook her head and finished up before saying 'Good night' and walking to the dungeons.

888

Bobbie found Severus sitting behind his desk poring over his notes. When he saw her come in he said with a smile," I know why the part of the potion that is supposed to restore the muscles isn't working."

"Okay, can you fix it?" she asked.

"No! I had thought some more about what you had said while we were on the way to the Great Hall. I have to leave that part out. One of the ingredients that is helping with the insanity is counteracting another one that is helping with the muscles. We have to get people out of the insanity first and then we can give them something to stimulate muscle growth." He got up and took her into his arms and kissed her. "I am glad you brought that up."

"I didn't bring up anything. It was just gibberish on my part. You are the one who did all of the brain work," she said and then stroked his cheek and slid her forefinger down the side of his neck and caressed him there with a seductive look on her face and said with a very alluring voice, "I think I want that brilliant husband of mine make love to me tonight."

Her words went straight to his groin. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom to do just that.

888

The next day Severus had a free period right before lunch. He told Bobbie he wanted to take the opportunity to go to the lab and brew the potion for muscle growth. She didn't even try to dissuade him of the idea because she knew he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer since he was too excited to get it done. He said he wanted to go to St Mungo's in the evening and give it to the Longbottoms. When Bobbie asked if he didn't need to test it for side effects he said there was nothing in there that would give anyone any problems. The only thing that could happen was that it simply didn't work. Severus was still confident that it would.

Bobbie decided she was going with him and called Millie when they were in the lab to bring them a couple of sandwiches they could eat while they were working. Bobbie helped with the preparations and then watched him brew. It turned out to be a somewhat complicated potion but with a very short brewing time. It took all of Severus's concentration but he was done before lunch even started and they decided to take the sandwiches out to the lake and eat them there. They also decided to take the dogs.

As soon as Bobbie grabbed the leashes the dogs were excited to go. They led them outside the castle and then let them run. Hagrid who had a class outside had his dog lying beside him and when Fang saw Benton and Bella he came running over. The three dogs played in the sun while Severus and Bobbie sat under their favorite tree and ate their sandwiches.

Severus looked at them play and shook his head, "I think in my next life I want to be a dog. They don't have a care in the world."

Bobbie snorted and said, "Only if you can pick the owner. There are plenty of dogs who have a miserable life."

They walked back into the castle just before lunch time was over. Severus intercepted Minerva before she was going to her office and told her about their plans. "Minerva we will Apparate to St Mungo's tonight, so don't wait up for us. We will eat a bite there in the cafeteria."

"Where were you just now? We noticed you two were missing at lunch," she asked.

"We had some sandwiches down by the lake. Bobbie told me about what the healer from St Mungo's said when he picked up the potion. I brewed a separate muscle growing potion and we will take it to the Longbottoms tonight," he said.

"That is fantastic, let me know how it goes," she said.

He gave her a short nod and said, "You will be the first one outside St Mungo's who will know. If that potion is working I am hoping it will also work on people with a genetic disease where people have underdeveloped muscles."

Minerva shook her head and said, "My word! You really don't miss a beat, Severus. I am proud of you and I am so glad you are finally able to use your talent to its full extent."

"Thanks you!" He checked his pocket watch and said, "I have to go. Class is starting in 5 minutes."