Chapter Text
~In the Library~
James snuck through the library wearing the invisibility cloak, actually remembering to mask his scent and silence his shoes. He was determined to catch Remus off guard this time. He’d checked the map before entering the library and saw Remus was seated in a back corner as usual. Ugh, why was Moony in the Library anyway? Classes and exams were over. Thankfully. NEWTS really lived up to their name, but all that was left was to wait for their grades. They should be out on the Pitch with Sirius and Peter. They needed to make the most of what little free time they had left before leaving school.
As James passed through the charms section, he saw a small group of sixth and seventh year Slytherins clustered together behind a shelf of books, He was fully prepared to pass by them without causing trouble for once, solely focused on Remus. But a seventh year’s words stopped him short.
“The Dark Lord … Snape … task himself … down in the dungeon … potions will prove … halfblood like him.” The boy’s words were cut up, but the message was clear.
Snape had finally shown his true colors. The Slytherins looked excited by this idea, although why they would be happy to spend time with Snivellus was beyond James. He considered jinxing the lot of them, but decided against alerting them to his presence. Staying as still as possible, he contented himself with memorizing their faces and names. Dumbledore needed to know who was joining the Death Eaters after graduation.
James once again moved toward Remus, no longer intent on pranking his friend. The Marauders had bigger things to deal with.
~ In the Potions Classroom~
Severus carefully measured out the correct dosage of the last potion into an unbreakable vial, barley daring to breathe. The simmering blue liquid looked innocent enough, but he knew the truth and suppressed a shiver at the thought of what he had created. Severus placed it next to the others, one was almost clear with a faint red tinge, and the last a bright yellow. He double checked the seal all three vials and with a long sigh he turned to his teacher. “The easy part is done.”
Slughorn chuckled from where he stood splitting his focus between five cauldrons, Each of them contained a different potion for restocking the Hospital Wing.
“Creating and brewing new potions that would be up to Voldemort’s high standards was the easy part, huh?” Slughorn motioned for Severus to stay quiet as he finished counting the last of the stirs for this batch of Acne Remover and bottled the concoction.
Severus worked on finalizing the notes in his journals. Both notebooks had meticulous notes about the potions and Slughorn knew better than to try to distract the young man while he was working so intently. One mistake regarding which journal he was writing in could cost them the entire plan. Out of the corner of his eye, Slughorn watched Severus close both journals. One was of good quality, made with black leather and thick parchment: a gift from Voldemort when the boy was given his task. Severus placed the leather book next to the vials. The second one, a cheap muggle journal with crumpled and stained pages, was shrunk and disillusioned. Severus carefully placed it in an inner pocket of his robes.
When Severus finally looked up at his teacher, Slughorn nodded to the last cauldron at his work station. “You finish up the Bone Strengthening Potion while I take this batch of potions up to Poppy. The other three need to simmer for a while. We will talk about the rest of the restock as well as the next step of the plan when I return.”
“Yes, Sir” was all Severus said as he took over the brewing. It was a simple potion, but that would allow him to think as he worked.
With a wave of his wand, Slughorn levitated the carts of potions behind him and started the trek up to the Hospital Wing, leaving his student alone. Severus noticed the door stayed open for a few seconds longer than it should have but quickly dismissed it as a draft and refocused on the potion.
“Incarcerous!” Heavy ropes materialized from behind Severus, binding, gagging, and tripping him, causing Severus’ head to hit the floor with a sickening crack. He tried to blink away the confusion and blurred vision to look around the empty room. Potter and Black threw off a shimmering cloak, twin smirks covered their smug faces. Potter quickly grabbed Severus’ wand from where he left it on the table as Black reopened the door to let in Lupin and Pettegrew. All four stood over him once again with looks of gleeful victory. As usual, it was James who started speaking first.
“We’ve caught you now Snivellus! You and Old Slugy are brewing dark potions for Voldemort and we caught you red handed.” He glanced at his friends and started giving orders. “Padfoot, take a look at his journal, see what those potions do, Moony, see if you can figure out what he was brewing here. Wormtail, keep an eye on the map and watch for Slughorn.” The three spread out to do as they were told. Pettegrew stood by the door; his eyes trained on a piece of parchment. Black flicked through the journal half-heartedly while Lupin looked over the ingredients at the workstation, stepping over Severus to do so.
Severus tried to maneuver out of his restraints. He had to stop this. There was no way these idiots could be trusted with the plan, if they even believed him in the first place. He needed to get out of here with the potions before anything else happened.
“This looks like a simple Bone Strengthening Potion, probably for the Hospital Wing,” Lupin sounded unsure, as if second guessing the entire mission. But he was quickly distracted by Black.
“Maybe,” Black blurted out. “But these are more interesting. This red one binds those with the Dark Mark closer to Voldemort, the yellow one will ‘restore Voldemort’s full range of power’ and the blue will increase his magic core immensely.”
“Restore Voldemort’s power?” Lupin furrowed his brow. “The evil bastard doesn’t have all of his magic and he’s still winning?” Pettegrew seemed to whimper from the door and shifted around nervously. Potter and Lupin joined Black to get a closer look at the journal’s notes, which gave Severus a chance to attempt to break free of his bonds.
Before Severus could make much progress, Potter grabbed the blue potion, unsealed it, and raised the vial in mock toast.
“Might as well help ourselves boys, there’s enough here for us to each get a mouthful.”
“NO!” Severus' voice was still muffled by the gag, as he frantically tried to break free. Without hesitating, Potter flipped him off and took a swig before he passed the potion to Black. Black barley got a hold of the vial before Potter fell to the ground screaming in agony. Black and Lupin were by his sides immediately yelling helplessly.
Thinking quickly, Severus quietly summoned Slughorn’s personal house elves. “Ipy! Ity!”
The two popped into existence in front of Severus. Ipy saw chaos in a potions classroom and did as he was trained, popping away again to retrieve Slughorn, Madam Pomfrey, and possibly Dumbledore himself. Ity snapped her fingers and freed Severus.
Severus composed himself for a second before he summoned the journal and two remaining potions. Black screamed his name and threw a curse at him, but Severus ducked, and placed a hand on Ipy who popped them both out of the room.