Chapter XIII - Potions

The sound of bubbling liquid and soft hisses filled the room, and every so often the cauldron toward its center belched a plume of vapors. A man paced, stopping every now and then to peer down at the cauldron's contents and then add an ingredient to the concoction.

He had heard privately from Narcissa Malfoy that something strange had happened with Lauren Black, something extremely similar to what he thought he saw before. At the time he warned her to keep such a dangerous notion to herself, that the Dark Lord expected her to do as she was told, care for this woman whom he loathed so much, and not to go assuming something as simple as a look was anything Voldemort should be worried about. Deep down, however, the man knew this was something very important indeed.

He and the rest of the Order had decided to go on the notion that Voldemort was controlling her with the necklace she always wore, which meant that if it could be removed- provided that doing so didn't have a nasty effect such as killing the wearer- she might be able to be saved. There was, however, the problem of getting her to such a point in the first place. What better than a potion to dull the effects of whatever incantation was over her?

Despite his long-lived hatred for her and her friends, he decided to help. Not only could she be a great danger to Dumbledore and possibly the determining factor in who won this ever-quickening war, she could be a danger to Snape himself. If she knew that he was a spy for the Order and she was still under Voldemort's control, she could very well prove to be an extremely big problem.

But it was not only that thought that made him do what he was doing now. It wasn't that he owed her husband anything, either- quite the contrary, in fact. It was that somewhere in the recesses of his being he sought to right a wrong from over a decade ago.

As the potion in the cauldron belched one last time before simmering peacefully, he leaned over it once more. He reached for a vial nearby and filled it.

Severus Snape made his way into the Library, past hordes of students, some of which were already beginning to prepare for their end-of-term OWLs or NEWTs. A pair of first years pushed past him and he glared, but continued on his way toward a roped off section. With a wave of his hand he moved the rope aside and continued on into the dark shelves, intent on discovering what he could.

Past a shelf here, a turn at this stack, and he was there- at the potions section. But what he saw just past the potions intrigued him.

"DiNozzo," he said quietly, contempt clear in his voice. She turned and looked his way, looking a little startled.

"Sni- Snape," she said before returning to her search.

"Looking for something?"

She paused and turned again toward the shelf. "Yes, actually. If you'd be so kind as to excuse me..."

"A bit of personal research, I presume?" A thin hint of a smirk curled his lips.

"Yes," she said, lowering her voice to barely above a mutter. "And I presume you know what about."

"I'd be careful about how much of your time you spend playing with schoolbooks rather than teaching- someone might grow suspicious."

Rosemary stopped again and stepped toward him, close enough for him to hear her harsh whisper. "I am here to teach, Severus. What I do in my free time is none of your concern, or anyone else's. Go away before I tell Dumbledore you're interfering in Order matters."

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Your lot has always been so brave, hasn't it? Running to Dumbledore to handle your matters..."

"Oh- shut up!" She glared before grabbing a book from the shelf and storming out.

Snape took a calm step toward the shelf from which she had taken the book and inspected the two around it. They were both about curses, which naturally meant the one she had taken was about curses as well. He was slightly surprised. If Dumbledore knew what they were both up to he might suggest they collaborate. Of course, Snape had no intention of collaborating on this, at least not with her and her lot. A certain curiosity struck him, however. He wanted to know just what it was she thought she could accomplish by rifling through books in the Restricted Section.

But Snape headed for the section that held the potions books, the ones he initially came here to find, and turned his thoughts to the potion he was trying to develop.