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A PERFECT MATCH
Chapter 2: The analyticum potion
They started the very next day. No time to
waste !
Hermione thought they might be working in
the Potions classroom, but Snape lead her further down the dungeon to a lab she
had never been to before. It was his own. He explained to her what they were going
to do, very much in a professor-like way.
“Before we can begin research for it’s
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
Granger. And yes, the answer will most likely be in there, I’m sure you like
hearing that. After all, Voldemort was never a skilful 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, including my library. There we will find all the
references we need and we will be able to work uninterrupted.
"Does spending your days in a dungeon
still look appealing to you miss Granger ?”
The last question took her a bit by surprise.
And he continued without giving her a chance to answer.
“I know you Gryffindors 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
Hermione 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.
And so 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: less wrinkles !
She hadn’t heard from 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 lying in the
fireplace.
“ … not sure Severus, but it might be good
to think about it.”
My my, since when was Harry on 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.” Hermione said softly.
“Ah, so you are 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. 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 !”
And gone was his head.
“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 they returned to the lab.
Hermione 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 for
several hours and Hermione began to sweat. A few strings of her brown hair
began to escape from their knot 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 on 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 effect
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.
½ unicorn blood
¼ melted iron
¼ pepper powder
a black rose petal
1 tiger nail
Hermione smiled and had a feeling of
intense joy, like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She looked
up and her eyes locked to 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, scraped 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.”
And by that, the magic of the moment had
abruptly come to an end.
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