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Old 10-24-2008, 08:02 AM   #3 (permalink)
chaostori1985
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Kentucky, USA
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Cool Chapter 2

Well, I guess I'll post chapter 2 and see if any of you respond. Please let me know what you think.

-Tori

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2: The Analyticum Potion


They started the very next day. No time to waste!

Tori thought they might be working in the Potions classroom, but Snape lead her further down the dungeon hallway to a lab she had never been to before. It was his private lab. He explained to her what they were going to do, very much in a professor-like way.

“Before we can begin research for its counterpart, we will examine the sample. We need to brew a powerful Analyticum Potion to identify the several ingredients and – if brewed correctly – the formula will write itself from the liquid on a piece of parchment.”

“Sir…” she began hesitantly, afraid of vexing him by interrupting.

“You have a question? Please ask.”

“Well Sir, couldn’t we just research the potion books for a counterpart? There’s bound to be several recorded through history.”

“Of course we will search in books, Miss Bloom. And yes, the answer will most likely be in there, I’m sure you like hearing that. After all, Voldemort was never a skillful potion brewer, so he must have gotten his recipe from somewhere. However, since we are dealing with a very powerful substance, it is advisory to examine what we have first.”

His tone had been calm and monotonous, but she somehow feared he had expected more from her.

“I’m sorry sir. Where would you want me to begin?”

“We will work in this lab. It is connected to my private chambers, which includes my personal library. There we will find all the references we will need and we will be able to work uninterrupted. Does spending your days in a dungeon still look appealing to you Miss Bloom?”

The last question took her a bit by surprise, and he continued without giving her a chance to answer.

“I know that you Gryffindor’s like to reside in more ‘comfortable’ environments.” He smirked.

She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but decided not to give in to his sarcasm.

“Very well, let’s begin.”

The rest of the day was spent in silence while they were preparing to brew the Analyticum Potion.

They soon established a certain routine over the next days and worked together without ever saying a word to one another. Most likely because they had little to say except for work related matters and Tori feared that she would not be able to control her temper if he would engage in his usual sarcasm. He was her boss after all and she would do anything to keep her job.

There wasn’t much difference with her school days, except that it was the summer holidays and she hadn’t seen one ray of sunshine. Spending so much time in the dungeons did not leave her many opportunities to go out and sit in the sun. Oh well, keeping out of the sunlight would benefit her in the long run: fewer wrinkles!

She hadn’t heard from Hermione, Harry or Ron, but one evening when she was working late in the lab, she could hear Snape talking to someone in his private quarters, and she swore she knew that other voice! Curious, she stepped closer to the door and saw Harry’s head in the fireplace.

“…not sure Severus, but it might be good to think about it.”

*My, my, since when was Harry on a first-name basis with Snape? Then again, saving someone’s life did create a certain bond and it was not like they were still his students.*

Suddenly Snape turned towards her and, not even surprised in seeing her there, invited her in.

“Hello Harry.” Tori said softly.

“Ah, so you’re keeping her after hours!” Harry laughed.

It was a friendly little tease, but she noticed Snape stiffening and…was she seeing that right? Was Snape blushing? How odd. No, it couldn’t have been. It must have been the light.

Harry didn’t seem to notice any uneasiness from Snape and continued.

“Well, I’ll see you both at Dumbledore’s meeting next Saturday, Alastor is unable to come, but I’ll be there. See you then!” At that, his head disappeared.

“Do you wish to return to your quarters?” Snape asked, raising his eyebrow.

“No sir, I think we are very close in producing the Analyticum Potion and I would like to continue.”

“Let’s do so then” and with that they returned to the lab.

Tori began to stir her cauldron, while Snape added the ingredients. They had wasted some of the sample in an attempt earlier that week, but had learned a lot from it. Therefore, they were quite confident.

The cauldron had now been heating or several hours and Tori began to sweat. A few strings of her brown hair began to escape from the knot it was tied in and she had loosened a few buttons of her blouse. Her robe had long been disposed of, since it had been hindering her standing over the cauldron. Finally all ingredients were put in the cauldron and all they had to do now was stir and wait until it had boiled long enough.

Suddenly, she noticed Snape standing behind her and she could feel his breath in her hair as he supervised her stirring.

“Aren’t you getting tired?” his deep voice seemed to tremble inside her body and she could feel a cold shiver running down her spine. She shook her head and just continued stirring, leaving a heavy silence in the dampened air.

A few minutes past, Snape standing behind her all that time, when he laid his hand on hers in a joint stirring effort. He made her make wide circles at a very slow pace.

She couldn’t tell how long they had been there like that. The fumes coming from the cauldron somehow seemed to affect her thinking abilities and when he finally said that it was ready; it was like coming out of a trance. This was sure to be a very potent potion!

He took a drop of the sample and dropped it into the cauldron. This resulted in loud hissing and some red sparks were emerging from the cauldron. Snape seemed pleased and took a piece of parchment and a quill. He levitated the quill and let it suck some liquid from the potion. Immediately it began to write a formula on the parchment.

Unicorn Blood
Melted Iron
Pepper Powder
A Black Rose Petal
1 Tiger Nail

Tori smiled and had a feeling of intense joy, like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She looked up ad her eyes locked with his. She felt completely absorbed by his black gaze and could almost feel his excitement about their results. It was like they connected in a very spiritual manner and could actually sense each other’s feelings. They stood like that for a while, very much wrapped in their emotions, when he broke off the connection.

They both looked at the floor and were lost for words. He seemed to recover first, cleared his throat and still a bit moved, he murmured:

“How clever, it’s simple enough, but very difficult to counterpart.”

Then he continued in his usual tone:

“We must not let ourselves be carried away by this little triumph. A lot of work still lies ahead.” With that said, the magic of the moment had abruptly come to an end.
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