Destiny of Souls

Chapter 11: The Vaccine

He stumbled into his office after breakfast at 10am. He hadn't slept at all, she could tell this much. Draco Malfoy was following him around like a lost puppy. Snape brought her fresh croissants from the kitchens knowing she had skipped breakfast.

She gave him a puzzled look when he walked in the room.

"Eat," he commanded as he gave her a look that indicated she should play along.

She put down what she was working on - shredding several Prixel berries, washed her hands and ate a croissant. Snape reached in his desk and pulled out what looked like term papers. He read through them while Draco sat nearby. Occasionally Draco would shoot her a look and when she met his gaze he would quickly turn away.

"Mr. Malfoy I see nothing that indicates Weasley cheated," he said.

"But sir, I overheard them. Granger said they were constantly copying off of her work," Draco argued.

"Well, if that is the case it did not happen on this paper and there is nothing I can do. Thank you for bringing it to my attention however," he said in a finalized tone.

"You're welcome Professor," Malfoy said.

"Now go. Professor Lynch and I need to speak I private." He closed the door behind Malfoy and locked it.

He walked over to where she was working. His eyes had dark circles under them, and they were red. He sat on a stool and put his head in his hands. He was clearly suffering emotionally.

"What is the status Kara?" he asked in a harsh voice without looking up at her.

"As expected the first antidote batch was unsuccessful. I believe Prixel forgot to mention you have to saturate the Prixel berries in ethyl alcohol first, as he indicates in the recipe that they should smell like alcohol prior to putting them into the potion."

He had walked over to her and read the text over her shoulder. She could feel his warmth behind her.

"I put the second batch to fire over an hour ago. We'll know by midnight whether I was right."

She continued working on the Prixel berries in her hands. She was preparing them for a second round with the vaccine in a few days. It would no doubt fail the first time as the antidote had. Snape just paced the room, deep in thought. He finally snapped out of it.

"Here is how we are going to proceed. Over the next month, Malfoy and Potter will spot us on four separate occasions. The first will be innocently walking by the lake. The second will be an interruption in the lab. The third will be in my quarters and the fourth will be in the Great Hall in front of all the students. They will be subtle and non-risky, but will give a clear indication to them what may be happening in here," he said nonchalantly. He had no doubt prepared for this speech.

"Why Potter?" she asked.

"Because Draco is always listening to Potter gossiping with his friends. It will verify what he is already thinking," he replied.

"Fine. When do we start?"

"The walk around the lake will be just after the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch game in a few weeks. I will fill you in on the details prior to the game."

She nodded. "I must sleep. I will be down for dinner and will tend to the antidote when it is finished."

* * *

He wasn't at dinner. She made a plate of food for him and carried it down to the laboratory. As she expected he was there. After eating the food she had brought him they worked in silence. She knew what he was preparing. Small bottles of red liquid were lined up on his desk. It was an Alabasor poison. They had agreed he would make the Alabasor poisons and she would mix the Prixel ones.

Her tiny hourglass erupted into soft chamber music announcing the birth of the second batch of Prixel Fury antidote. Snape raised his head at her to acknowledge the noise and then went on with his work. One of the three remaining mice flew from the cage and dangled in the air as she poisoned it with Prixel Fury and gave it the antidote immediately after.

"Got it," she said, a slight smile on her face.

The mouse lived. Snape's head snapped up and he raised his eyebrows in an inquisitive manner. "I'm surprised it only required two attempts. How much of it do you want?" She asked.

"Half. The rest will go to the Ministry," he said. There was a strained look on his face. Whatever he was working on was not going well.

When she was finished cleaning up the messy cauldron and work area she made for the door.

"Where are you going?" he snapped as he broke out of his tense concentration.

"I'm finished for the evening. Unless you need me for anything I have papers to grade."

"No. I do not. Goodnight Professor Lynch," he said.

She left and returned to her quarters.

* * *

She made a point to avoid him for the next two days except to check on the vaccine in the laboratory. The new term would start in a few days and she had a lot of work to do in order to prepare. Snape was doing his best to show his usual side to the students. He attended breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as kept up his usual bat-like presence around the school. She couldn't help but respect his dedication to maintaining his cover within the school and with Voldemort. She knew internally he must be suffering greatly and suffering from sleep depravation.

His stores were completely stocked with poisons and antidotes. The Ministry had written her this morning to let her know the extra tests they had performed with the antidote were successful. It put her mind in a righteous mood. This evening she would test the vaccine for the first time.

Just after dinner she headed to the laboratory and found him sitting at his desk, his head resting against a hand, quill in hand. He was grading Potions papers and ignored her as she strolled in and locked the door behind her. His brow was furrowed and he would frequently shake his head and angrily scribble comments on them. It was nearly time to test the vaccine, but she had to wait for the timer she had set to go off. She paced the room nervously.

She was used to working in this manner with Polishnikov. Often she would come into his private laboratory where he would be studying or grading papers. They would sit in silence, often one of them pacing. Tonight was no different except that she was with Snape. She enjoyed this time they spent together. It was familiar and comforting to know they could be with one another without needing to speak.

The hourglass went off. She silenced it quickly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He did not react. She smiled inwardly at the thought he had gotten used to this pestilence in his laboratory. "Wait until Potter has his next Potions lesson, Severus." She said to herself.

She levitated a mouse in the air and fed it the vaccine. It didn't die, which was a good sign. She pulled the test bottle of Prixel Fury out of her robes and fed it to the mouse. Again, the mouse didn't die. Her eyes popped wide open and her mouth stood agape.

"Severus..." she said. Her voice attempting to hide her excitement as she gasped for air.

"What?" he sounded angry.

"Can you get me a Class B and Class C Prixel poison from your stores. Please," she replied in a hurried voice.

"In a minute Kara." he barked.

"Now!" She looked up at him. A wicked smile was on her face. She looked deranged.

His brow furrowed as he caught on. The desk moved and out of the secret compartment came two phials. He carried them over to her. She fed them to the mouse. The mouse showed no signs of poisoning.

"I don't believe it..." she said. She was shaking ferociously. It was cold in there, and she was extremely excited. A look of shock was on her face. She looked at him. He was wearing a look of pride on his. It was the same sort of look that Polishnikov would give her when she finished a difficult assignment. With record speed she bottled and labeled the solution and they hid it in Snape's private stores.

"I need to go for a walk. I will see you later Professor Snape," she said.

"I will go with you," he replied.

They wandered the halls of the castle for nearly an hour in near silence. Discussion of their work outside of the laboratory was unwise. They just pretended to be patrolling.

They caught Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown near the Prefect's bathroom. Seamus, who was a Prefect, had snuck her down there. Just exactly what they were up to, Snape and Kara did not want to know. No doubt, Seamus would not be a Prefect long if Snape had his way, however.

When they had finally come full circle back to the dungeons he said. "You are still cold. Let me make you some tea."

She nodded in agreement and she settled in a big leather chair in his sitting room. She hadn't been here since the night he had come to her. He handed her a black fur blanket that she covered herself in as she drank her tea.

"I'm sure Polishnikov would have been extremely proud of you." he said, echoing her thoughts from earlier in the evening.

"He would have yelled at me for following the recipe actually. He knows as well as I do how ridiculously imprecise Prixel was. Sometimes I am glad I don't follow his recipes, even if it does come from the grave," she said, smirking a bit.

They sat in silence for quite some time, and before she knew it she had fallen asleep in the warm comfortable chair.

A few hours later her mind awoke from sleep. She kept her eyes closed and habitually reached under her pillow with her right arm to make sure Prixel's book was still there. She froze when she realized there was no book under her pillow. It was at this moment she realized there was something in her left hand. It was someone else's hand. She squeezed it. The fingers were thin and long.

She opened her eyes. The room was dim. She could see dark velvet curtains hanging over her. The bed was extremely soft and warm as three layers of blankets covered her. She looked to her left and there laid Snape. He was still in his work robes and was lying on top of the covers. His face looked so peaceful as he slept. She rolled onto her side and looked at him for several minutes before reaching up to push a lock of dark hair out of his face.

His hair was soft and cool and not greasy at all, as its appearance suggested. His cheeks were warm and she brushed a finger along it. Out of nowhere a hand came up and grabbed her wrist.