Status: Finished :)
Taking Down the Sunrise
Two
"Severus... brilliant as always," Slughorn beamed as he looked down into Severus' cauldron. Slughorn moved on around the classroom, making less cheerful comments until he reached Lily's cauldron. He let out a low chuckle, "Severus, it looks as though Lily is trying to give you a run for your money! Amazing potion, Lily, simply amazing."
Severus caught Lily's eye and she smiled at him. Of course her potion-making was brilliant with him as a tutor, but it would never be better. She was still adamant about following the instructions to the letter instead of taking his shortcuts. It was one of the many things he loved about her: she never cut corners.
Stirring his potion, he absently made a note in his potion book. It wasn't much of a change to the original, but it had definitely helped the colour change from a dark green to a brilliant yellow. Severus could feel her eyes on him as he added the next ingredient and he knew that she was silently trying to tell him to follow the instructions. She was always afraid that he was going to make a poison by accident.
Mulciber swore under his breath and Severus glanced towards him, "You forgot to add Wolfsbane. Add it now and stir counter-clockwise until it turns the right colour. It might last for longer than it’s supposed to, but it will work." Without another word, he went back to his own potion.
"For a Mudblood lover, you are pretty damn brilliant."
He shrugged off the compliment since it was mixed with an insult. As he turned up the heat on his cauldron, he couldn't help but smile to himself. If he had been able to do this that easily that morning, Lily would have never curled up to him for warmth. He could feel her sitting next to him as he added the next ingredient, so when Avery cursed next to him, he barely gave him a second thought.
"You need to put some peppermint in that and then it might turn purple again. But you really shouldn't have added the Doxy venom yet, it unstabilized the entire potion," Severus said calmly, "Try crushing up a bezoar and putting that in there too, it should offset the poison. More likely than not that's going to kill someone though."
Avery spat, "I thought you could fix any potion problem?"
"I can fix it if you forgot an instruction or added in an extra step. It's very hard to fix a potion that on top of having several instructions skipped and came back to is at the wrong temperature, hasn't been stirred the right amount of times and is bubbling when it shouldn't be." Severus snapped at him as he stirred his cauldron one last time. He took a whiff of it and then said to himself, "That should be good..."
He bottled the potion and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily doing the same. Her concoction wasn't quite as bright as his and he could tell that she had only added five drops of dragon blood when it was, in fact, six that would make the potion perfect.
They reached Slughorn's desk at the same time and set down their vials. Lily looked up at him and asked, "What are we going to do now? There's still half an hour left of class and, well, my friends aren't as horrible at potions as yours are. So what are we doing?"
Severus blinked. Was it his imagination, or was there something flirty about the way she was looking at him? Shaking his head, he replied, "Well... Slughorn asked me to reorganize the potion cupboard for this year... do you want to... I don't know..." The last word was stuck in his throat and she was looking at him expectantly. Why did she all of a sudden make him so nervous? "Help?" He squeaked out.
Lily smiled and nodded before heading out the door. A minute passed, and then he realized with a start that he was expected to follow her. As he did, he could have sworn that he heard Mulciber say something about 'that Evans bitch' before he swung the door closed.
She was waiting for him in the cupboard, staring up at the countless ingredients that lined the shelves. Severus closed the door and she turned around, barely concealing a smile. "So, umm... how do we organize these ingredients?"
"Well, most of it should be done already, it's just sometimes they get messed up. They have to go alphabetically you see... so Wolfsbane obviously shouldn't be here..." He took down a jar from the shelf and moved it to the far side of the room. "It's usually pretty easy to tell when things are out of place, unless they're just one to the right or left, then you've really got to..."
Severus trailed off as he realized that she didn't seem all that interested in the potions cupboard. His heart was beating twice as fast as normal as he looked into her green eyes. She was shaking, whether it was because she was nervous, scared or cold, he did not know.
Instinct took over and he reached up a hand to tuck a lock of her red hair behind her ear. He half expected her to giggle girlishly as he pulled away, but she simply held his gaze. He let his fingers slide through her beautiful red hair and when he reached the end, he tugged it just slightly. She did not move.
It was almost as if there was a barrier that was blocking him from getting closer to her. Here he was, seconds away from kissing her, and it felt undeniably wrong. They were in a potions cupboard for one thing and for another, she seemed scared.
"There's something labelled with a 'D' over there if you can see it," Severus commented, pulling away from her, "Hand it over here and I'll put it where it belongs.”
She obliged and they went back to sorting through the ingredients. They finished quickly and left without another word. As they entered the classroom again, they went their separate ways and Severus swore as he reached his friends. Avery sighed.
"Nothing? All that time alone in the potions cupboard where Slughorn isn't going to check on you, because he trusts you immensely, and nothing?" Avery said, sounding disappointed.
Severus glared at them, "I thought you two didn't approve of her?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"We don't," Mulciber responded simply, "But maybe if you do her, you'll get over her and we can find you a nice pureblood wife so that your children won't be almost completely non-magical. So, hurry up and do it already so that you can finally just leave her alone."
Severus caught Lily's eye and she smiled at him. Of course her potion-making was brilliant with him as a tutor, but it would never be better. She was still adamant about following the instructions to the letter instead of taking his shortcuts. It was one of the many things he loved about her: she never cut corners.
Stirring his potion, he absently made a note in his potion book. It wasn't much of a change to the original, but it had definitely helped the colour change from a dark green to a brilliant yellow. Severus could feel her eyes on him as he added the next ingredient and he knew that she was silently trying to tell him to follow the instructions. She was always afraid that he was going to make a poison by accident.
Mulciber swore under his breath and Severus glanced towards him, "You forgot to add Wolfsbane. Add it now and stir counter-clockwise until it turns the right colour. It might last for longer than it’s supposed to, but it will work." Without another word, he went back to his own potion.
"For a Mudblood lover, you are pretty damn brilliant."
He shrugged off the compliment since it was mixed with an insult. As he turned up the heat on his cauldron, he couldn't help but smile to himself. If he had been able to do this that easily that morning, Lily would have never curled up to him for warmth. He could feel her sitting next to him as he added the next ingredient, so when Avery cursed next to him, he barely gave him a second thought.
"You need to put some peppermint in that and then it might turn purple again. But you really shouldn't have added the Doxy venom yet, it unstabilized the entire potion," Severus said calmly, "Try crushing up a bezoar and putting that in there too, it should offset the poison. More likely than not that's going to kill someone though."
Avery spat, "I thought you could fix any potion problem?"
"I can fix it if you forgot an instruction or added in an extra step. It's very hard to fix a potion that on top of having several instructions skipped and came back to is at the wrong temperature, hasn't been stirred the right amount of times and is bubbling when it shouldn't be." Severus snapped at him as he stirred his cauldron one last time. He took a whiff of it and then said to himself, "That should be good..."
He bottled the potion and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily doing the same. Her concoction wasn't quite as bright as his and he could tell that she had only added five drops of dragon blood when it was, in fact, six that would make the potion perfect.
They reached Slughorn's desk at the same time and set down their vials. Lily looked up at him and asked, "What are we going to do now? There's still half an hour left of class and, well, my friends aren't as horrible at potions as yours are. So what are we doing?"
Severus blinked. Was it his imagination, or was there something flirty about the way she was looking at him? Shaking his head, he replied, "Well... Slughorn asked me to reorganize the potion cupboard for this year... do you want to... I don't know..." The last word was stuck in his throat and she was looking at him expectantly. Why did she all of a sudden make him so nervous? "Help?" He squeaked out.
Lily smiled and nodded before heading out the door. A minute passed, and then he realized with a start that he was expected to follow her. As he did, he could have sworn that he heard Mulciber say something about 'that Evans bitch' before he swung the door closed.
She was waiting for him in the cupboard, staring up at the countless ingredients that lined the shelves. Severus closed the door and she turned around, barely concealing a smile. "So, umm... how do we organize these ingredients?"
"Well, most of it should be done already, it's just sometimes they get messed up. They have to go alphabetically you see... so Wolfsbane obviously shouldn't be here..." He took down a jar from the shelf and moved it to the far side of the room. "It's usually pretty easy to tell when things are out of place, unless they're just one to the right or left, then you've really got to..."
Severus trailed off as he realized that she didn't seem all that interested in the potions cupboard. His heart was beating twice as fast as normal as he looked into her green eyes. She was shaking, whether it was because she was nervous, scared or cold, he did not know.
Instinct took over and he reached up a hand to tuck a lock of her red hair behind her ear. He half expected her to giggle girlishly as he pulled away, but she simply held his gaze. He let his fingers slide through her beautiful red hair and when he reached the end, he tugged it just slightly. She did not move.
It was almost as if there was a barrier that was blocking him from getting closer to her. Here he was, seconds away from kissing her, and it felt undeniably wrong. They were in a potions cupboard for one thing and for another, she seemed scared.
"There's something labelled with a 'D' over there if you can see it," Severus commented, pulling away from her, "Hand it over here and I'll put it where it belongs.”
She obliged and they went back to sorting through the ingredients. They finished quickly and left without another word. As they entered the classroom again, they went their separate ways and Severus swore as he reached his friends. Avery sighed.
"Nothing? All that time alone in the potions cupboard where Slughorn isn't going to check on you, because he trusts you immensely, and nothing?" Avery said, sounding disappointed.
Severus glared at them, "I thought you two didn't approve of her?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"We don't," Mulciber responded simply, "But maybe if you do her, you'll get over her and we can find you a nice pureblood wife so that your children won't be almost completely non-magical. So, hurry up and do it already so that you can finally just leave her alone."