J.K. Rowling owns H.P. I own OC and the plot. thanks :)

Alone No More

CHAPTER FIVE: potion

5

Professor Snape paced in front of his teaching platform, the newly brewed potion in a vial clenched tightly between his fingers. He had dyed the vial to be a translucent violet so the potion inside was the exact shade of her eyes. He kept telling himself that their connection was only because of their service to the Dark Lord and ultimate allegiance to the Order. He also tried to rationalize his attraction to her. He was, after all, a man and she was a minx of a witch.

Suddenly a knock sounded at his classroom door. His gaze shot to the slowly turning door knob. "P-professor Snape?" Lumora inquired before opening the door further and coming to a stop just inside the room. He looked extremely dashing this morning, both his long coat and voluminous cloak were gone. He wore a very interesting jacket with buttons running up the sides and down the sleeves. It reminded her of something a noble prince would wear. Again his stance was the same, but this time he did not look at her quite so coldly. Something glittered in his eyes, and could have been characterized as a smile if it has reached his lips. Determined not to let him see her sudden loss in self confidence, she strode swiftly to the front of the classroom.

She looked even more divine in person than in his heated dreams. Snape was not one to over do it on compliments, but he couldn't help it she literally took his breath away. "Good Morning," She said giving him a slight smile.

"So it is," He thought with a nod. Focusing on keeping his face clean of any emotion, he handed her the vial. "Take this directly before you eat." Snape spoke, his voice louder than he wanted it to be. Lumora had jumped again at the sound of his voice. He cleared his throat, swallowing the apology he had for scaring her realizing that it would have embarrassed her.

"Thank you." Lumora nodded, slipping the vial inside the delicate pocket of her vest. Instead of a matching violet-almost black shirt, she wore a stark white collared shirt, emphasizing the delicious curves of her torso. She also did not wear a skirt this morning but wore pants tucked into her boots. Her hair was swept back from her face by a silver clip, revealing three sparkling earrings on each of her delicate ears, sans the very bottom one on her left ear lobe was a medium sliver circle. She looked like a gypsy or no, maybe a pirate. Yes, a sexy, alluring pirate. He liked it. What? He could like sexy, deliciously alluring things, after all, he was a man.

He turned away from her to hide the lust building in his chest. He took a deep breath, he wasn't used to someone having this much power over him. Voldemort thought he controlled him, and he supposed the Order did too. Little did they know but he only ever answered to himself and what he thought was best. A soft hand came to rest on his upper arm, he could feel her tremble slightly. He turned back to her, allowing the desire for her to reach his eyes.

Lumora stared into deep smoldering pools of black, wanting desperately to look away. She could feel him searching for her thoughts, this was another confirmation that he had under estimated her. Effortlessly she blocked him. His brow furrowed in frustration. Suddenly she threw her mind at him, searching his thoughts. She exercised control, only searching for memories of the potion. Knowing that she would not want to break the fragile trust growing between them she attempted to only see what he was showing her. Because she had surprised him she caught glimpses of him kissing her feverishly, and snap shots of him pinning her roughly against the wall. He quickly blocked those from her and she did not attempt to pursue, she waited.

Snape glared at her. How did she do it? Dumbledore also failed to mention she had a talent for Occlumency. How dare she seek out his lust? Then he realized that when he blocked her she did not press, but simply waited. She possessed control, seemingly something that he did not, as he was the one to initiate this little escapade. He let out a swift sigh of frustration which she took to mean he was angry.

"Don't be angry, please." Lumora whispered, the last word barely audible. Her gaze dropped to the floor as a soft blush crept across her cheeks.

Snape stared at her in wonder. She had done perfectly, prevented him from entering her mind. Slowly it dawned on him that she was embarrassed by her power. "It seems there is more to you than I originally calculated Professor Ollivander." Snape heard himself say. Surprised by his own statement, he tried to recover, "If I am going to keep you out of trouble I must know what you are capable of."

Lumora looked up to meet his gaze, "I believe that I can take care of myself, Professor." She shot back, daring him to challenge her. They stared at each other for a few minutes, their defenses in full force. The electricity in the air was undeniable. Lumora took a deep breath, trying to think. The logical solution would be for them to work together. Looking at her hands she spoke, "But, if we look at this logically-"

"Logically?" Snape sneered at the mere suggestion of looking at this logically. The very nature of their mission defied logic.

"Maybe," She began, looking at him again. He glared at her, one of his eye brows lifted in mock interest, "w-we can work together and keep each other out of trouble?" she offered, afraid that he might really be angry now.

Snape turned away from her. He wanted to scream at her, to make her understand the pain and agony that awaited her. He wanted to rip the dark mark from her arm, freeing her from this damning mission. He didn't want to share this burden. It was not fair to begin with for him to have to carry it, let alone for him to place it on someone else too.

She could tell this was not going to be resolved in one conversation. Taking a deep breath, she allowed her usual mask of composure to take over her features. "Thank you for the potion Professor Snape. I will not keep you from breakfast." She whispered, her voice as cool as the first time he heard it.

Snape turned to see the door of his classroom click shut, and the door knob slowly turned as if she still held onto it. Then it stilled and he could hear her retreating footsteps echoing in the hall. He slammed his fist hard down on the desk. Why did he have to be such stubborn, prideful man? It literally hurt to think about the look on her face when he had questioned her idea. Regardless of what he had been doing alone obviously wasn't enough. The Order had decided he needed help. Feeling extremely defeated he headed towards the great hall for breakfast.

Ron Wesley shoved the third sausage in his mouth over the course of less than a minute, causing Hermione Granger to roll her eyes in disgust. Harry Potter, her other best friend, elbowed her sharply in the ribs. "That's her!" He whispered. Hermione shot Harry a scathing look, then turned to see who in the world he could possibly be talking about now. Harry was motioning to the doorway. Professor Lumora Olivander had entered the Great Hall, and was striding swiftly up the center aisle.

Immediately Hermione whirled back to face her tousled haired friend, "You can't be serious!" She whispered back as the professor took her seat at the high table. Professor Olivander didn't seem like the type to be a death eater. Yes, she was quite dark, as her position at the school warranted. But Lumora, after all, means 'to give light.'

"Sirius told me," Harry divulged with a snarky smile. He also said she was an alluring blonde vixen of a witch. His calculations seemed to be correct...

Hermione's mouth formed a silent, "O" which signified she was currently processing the probability of the truth of the statement he had just said. She came to the conclusion in just mere seconds, "Well, then it must be true. Lumora Olivander is a spy for the Order, just like Snape. How did it happen, I wonder..." She trained off, her brow furrowing with the effort of how in Merlin's name that Lumora Olivander had been recruited by the Order to spy on You Know Who.

"Lumora's family was killed by death eaters. Besides, she's an animagus. You Know Who's always interested in those who can "hide in plain sight." Dumbledore recruited her for the same reason, she's a very powerful witch." Ron explained between bites of sausage. Hermione and Harry started at him, both of their mouths agape with disbelief. "Oh, shut it you two!" Ron exclaimed, "I can know a thing or two now and again."

"But Ronald you are-"Hermione protested but Harry cut in.

"Brilliant," Harry smiled at his friend, giving him high five, "bloody brilliant." Hermione 'hrmumphed' and got out a quill and parchment to take down some notes of their newest development.

Even the potion seemed to glare at her. Lumora held the intriguingly purple vial in front of her face. Pushing away the thought of him poisoning her, she popped the top off and downed the contents. Seated at the high table she closed her eyes shutting out the world around her. The warmth of the liquid settled into her stomach and went immediately to her aching arm. She pursed her lips together to stop herself from giggling, goodness Snape was an amazing potioneer. Not only had he made her an anti-inflammatory healing potion, he had added a dash of bottled flying. Bottled flying is the feeling one gets on a broom stick, or as she truly knew it, when she transforms into an eagle. Feeling thoroughly refreshed, Lumora opened her eyes and looked around the room. The students were all eating rather noisily, their plates mirroring the one placed in front of her. She thought for a moment, and smiling to herself she waved her hand over the food and the plate next to her. Grabbing her fork with new resolve, she dug into the steaming eggs first.

The first thing Snape noticed upon entering the Great Hall was that Lumora looked completely radiant. Her aura was on fire. Obviously his little dose of bottled flying had its desired effect. A small smile of satisfaction pulled at his mouth. He walked up the center aisle, nodding to Dumbledore as he crossed in front of the table to take his place on the right. Lumora met his stare boldly. In that moment he realized she was right. Of course knowing what the other was capable of would help them both in spying for the Order. He was just stubborn and unwilling to let someone in on the dirty work. "Professor," He said by way of greeting, settling in his chair. He gazed down at the breakfast before him. It actually did not look that bad. Maybe it was just because he was hungry. Nonetheless, be picked up his fork and began.

The food was better than he remembered it being all last term. He glanced over at Lumora. She was looking away from him, her fingers playing absently with her glass. "Your talk with the house elves went well," He teased, he knew she had charmed the food in response to his potion. Lumora looked at him, at first she was shocked he was teasing, then she let the potion bubble to the surface again. A fit of silent laughter shook her shoulders as she turned her gaze to her plate and back to his profile. Snape let his mouth relax into a smirk. He took a deep breath and spoke so only she could hear, "I have obviously not been doing a satisfactory job for the Order. I shall tolerate your help."

Lumora shook her head, her eyes wide with shock. "No!" She hissed back. He looked over at her, his eyes questioning her response. Wasn't this what she wanted? "I do not have time to discuss this with you Professor Snape." She let out a sigh. "I have an appointment and then the Quidditch match." She thought for a moment. "Are you a referee for Quidditch this afternoon?"

"No."

She was silent for a moment. "I did tell Minerva I would watch the match with her." She paused again to think, looking over to meet his cold gaze. "I, uh, can we continue our conversation afterwards?"

Snape's only response was a slow nod.

She let out a sigh of relief. Lumora got up from the table and fled down the center aisle. Students were also milling about and making their plans for a Saturday afternoon free of classes, so no one noticed the urgency of her departure, except a trio of rather overly curious Gryffindors. Snape let himself lean back in his chair for a moment. He had almost suggested they watch the match together. Then he realized she would want to sit in Gryffindor's cheering section and he in Slytherin's. How foolishly out of character. Shaking his head to clear the bothersome thoughts away, he then decided a trip to Hogsmeade was in order. He was after all, low on bottled flying.

Lumora quickly made her way to her room in Gryffindor tower where Elliott was. She was supposed to report to Remus and Sirius today. She had fought to include Snape in their little covert operation. From her days at Hogwarts, she knew him to be rather harsh and cruel. News and stories of his long heroics for the Order had changed her mind. Sirius and Remus still baffled her, she couldn't understand how they could hate him so. He may be a formidable man, but he was a warrior, a hero in darkness for their very breath. She wanted to give Snape and her the chance to talk things out before giving them an assessment on the situation. She grabbed a quill and a roll of parchment from her desk

Dear Sirius and Remus,

I am doing well at Hogwarts. My first week of class was most exhilarating. Professor Snape and I have started a dueling club. I am currently working on getting Snape to accept my position as a spy for the Order.

We are going to continue talking this afternoon after Quidditch. Gryffindor is playing Slytherin. I just hope Snape can deal with Slytherin losing for the sake of our forced partnership.

Because our conversation from this morning is not finished, I wish for us to meet at the end of next week as planned and just wave todays. Thank you.

Lumora

She set the message down on her desk to stare out the window. Part of her wanted to add a bit about the bottle flying in her potion this morning. But she knew they would only tease him. Deciding to keep this tasty morsel of his character to herself, She picked up her wand, waving a concealing and gag charm over the ink. It disappeared. Anyone who was not supposed to read it would be mocked and ridiculed by it instead.

Rolling the parchment she called Elliott to her, "Elliott, this is important. Please deliver this to the Order for Remus and Sirius. Please hurry. Thank you." She patted his head and kissed it. Then he was off, his wings spreading in a flurry of feathers. Lumora moved to the window to watch Elliott fly away into the cloudless sky. Then she decided a trip to Hogsmeade would be just the ticket. She wanted to pick up a broom stick. Sirius told her that it was a most magnificent way to travel long distances.

She barely remembered flying on a broom, the memories of her independent flight over powering them. After gathering her coin purse and cloak, she stepped back to the window. With a deep breath, she changed, the coin purse tied to her foot. This was when she felt the most freedom, when she was flying.

Dearest Readers,

A fantastic potion it was! Snape is really beginning to surprise her. Maybe this will continue?...please review and let me know what you think, thanks for reading :)

Up next is "flying."

xoxo

Lumora the White