Spark of a Great Idea

Spark of a Great Idea

Summary: Severus Snape gets the brilliant idea that later becomes his mastery dissertation, set partially in the year of the fateful schism between himself and Lily, and in the following years.

This story fits entirely within Canon (does not conflict with Canon) but includes original material/ideas which are exclusively my own... unless you 'count' SeverusSnape-Muse's whispered tale-telling. All characters are Canon.

Author's Notes: This story is a stand-alone, but I wrote it after I wrote "Better to Ask Forgiveness Than Permission".

Thanks to my great beta, SwissMiss!

      For the hundredth time, Severus Snape mentally kicked himself. He could think of few places he wished less to be than the hospital wing, and he knew that when Madame Pomfrey returned with the burn-healing paste, he was going to have to listen to a lecture about being more careful.

      He also knew that the mediwitch wasn't the only staff member who was going to be annoyed. Professor Slughorn was going to have something to say about one of his students brewing potions alone in his dormitory. Even worse, because Severus was a Slytherin, Professor Slughorn would also probably be angry about such goings-on in the Slytherin dormitories. No doubt, if Headmaster Dumbledore heard about this (and Severus had no doubt that he would), he too would lecture Severus about brewing potions without proper supervision and how dangerous that could be.

      The irony about this whole event was that the potion that the potion he was brewing wasn't even dangerous: It wasn't controlled, it wasn't a rare potion, and it wasn't unstable. It didn't even require working with unsafe ingredients. But it did require a fire underneath the cauldron to heat it, as did nearly all potions. Severus did not own his own dragon hide safety garments because they were quite costly. He always had to use those from the student stores in the Potions classroom, and he had forgotten to surreptitiously borrow such a pair of gloves when he was leaving class yesterday.

      Severus had been careful when he used the Incendio charm, only using a few twigs since he could keep the fire going magically once it was started. He'd worked carefully while preparing his ingredients and brewing. He still didn't know quite how he'd managed to set the sleeve of his school robes aflame. If he didn't know he had been quite alone, he would have suspected a classmate's hex... but he knew for a fact that no one else had been there. He'd checked that before beginning with a Homenum revelio spell, and then he'd warded the area carefully. He knew that his wards were solid. Few at Hogwarts knew enough complex Dark magic to be able to break them, and no one could do so without his being aware of it instantly. No. He had somehow set his own sleeve on fire. He must have let it get too close to the flames.

      Because he was not wearing dragon hide gloves and the fire was a magical one, his entire hand and arm had been burnt. Most distressingly, it was his wand hand. He'd be lucky to be able to use his wand at all for a couple of weeks, now, and that would make him very vulnerable, especially to Black and Potter. Severus cursed himself once more as Madame Pomfrey re-appeared, holding a large jar of burn-healing paste in her hands.

      "Mr. Snape! I asked you to remove your robes and your shirt! How do you expect me to dress your burns with your arm still encased in several layers of cloth?"

      "I... Sorry, Madame Pomfrey. It... I just..."

      The mediwitch's face softened as she spoke to him a bit more gently.

      "Those burns are quite nasty, Mr. Snape. Do you want me to help you --"

      "No," he snapped at her, "I can do it myself."

      The last thing he wanted was for anyone to come in and see Pomfrey undressing him. Besides, he knew that she would not be as careful removing the tatters of cloth as he himself would be. She was a good nurse, but she had the cool professional manner of an experienced medical professional and he knew that if the cloth wasn't removed very gingerly, he might let on just how much it hurt him. He didn't even want to flinch, much less cry out.

      Snape peeled the remnants of his right sleeve from his arm, trying not to wince. Once his arm was free, he slipped his left arm out of the robes and shook them off. His shirt - that was another matter entirely; that seemed to be melted right into his raw, wounded skin. He tried several times - unsuccessfully - to separate his shirt sleeve from what was left of the skin on his arm. Finally giving up, he raised his eyes to the mediwitch's, mutely asking for her help.

      He refused to verbalize his plea, but he saw the pity in her eyes. Severus hated being the object of anyone's pity. Watching her reassess the damage to his arm, he began to wonder if it would scar. He'd hate to have a scar on his forearm.

      "Ah, Mr. Snape, I didn't realize the extent to which... You must be in a lot of pain. I'll give you some of Josephus Baier's Pain Relieving Potion after I dress this."

      By now, Severus was not going to argue the point; his arm and hand were beginning to seriously hurt him. He hated the bitter aftertaste of the pain relieving potion, but it did work well. He was certain that this would hardly be the first time that someone mentally cursed Josephus Baier for his failure to add something to his potion to make it more palatable. Severus shuddered, just thinking about how disgusting the stuff tasted.

      Thinking that the boy cringed because she had just finished removing the cloth from his wounds, the mediwitch clucked her tongue at him and shook her head slightly.

      "I'm sorry, Mr. Snape, but I've finished now. You poor dear."

      The 'poor dear' thought venomously that he just wished that the woman would hurry up and apply the burn-healing paste already. He really hated being pitied. He knew that the paste would help allay the searing pain he was feeling. It was beginning to make him very fidgety; he had the strong urge to get up and pace, and perhaps to shake his arm, too. But he knew that neither action would do him any good. The forearm was such a sensitive place, too; what a terrible place to have to feel such intense pain.

      Madame Pomfrey misread him again. She thought that he was fidgety because of nervousness. Well, she'd just give him a bit of Calming Draught too, when she gave him the pain relieving potion.

      She deftly applied a thick layer of the burn-healing paste to the boy's arm and hand, and bandaged it up. She straightened up while replacing the lid tightly on the jar.

      "Wait here, Mr. Snape; I'll be right back with some potion for you."

      He wondered, while he waited, if his robes were salvageable. He didn't have the money to replace them. They didn't look even remotely repairable, though. He was going to have to do with one set of robes less. A deep sigh escaped his lips. He wished that money wasn't quite so tight in his family. As it was, he wore second-hand robes and used second-hand textbooks, and he would dearly love - just once - to be able to buy a book without having to do without something else instead, as a result. But he loved books, and they were worth it, even if he had to forgo other things - like haircuts or nicer used clothing that actually fit his body properly.

      All too soon, he heard Madame Pomfrey's footsteps returning. He didn't bother to look around the curtained divider separating his bed from the rest of the ward. He heard the double doors open, and the soft whispers of a short conversation. Was it Slughorn or Dumbledore? Probably Slughorn; it wasn't very likely that Dumbledore had heard about this yet.

      Pomfrey came around the curtain with a small glass in her hand. It had a few ounces of potion in it... but Severus suspected that the glass didn't contain just the pain relieving potion that Madame Pomfrey had mentioned. That was a whitish cloudy potion with light gray swirls; this had a slightly different color, almost imperceptibly different, but he was fairly sure that it was different.

      He hesitated when she handed him the glass. He wondered what - if anything else besides Josephus Baier's potion - was in it. He opened his mouth to ask.

      Just then, his Head of House came around the divider, and jovially exclaimed, "Well, Snape, my boy, bottoms up!"

      "Professor Slughorn, sir, I just wondered --"

      "Drink," insisted Madame Pomfrey.

      She knew that he would soon be in far worse pain if he didn't take the potions now, and she knew that the boy wouldn't drink it if he knew that she'd slipped in a bit of Calming Draught. It really was better for him, however, to sleep until the worst of the pain had been relieved by the potion.

      "Drink it," she said a second time, sternly pushing his hand with the glass in it right up to his lips.

      "Bottoms up, Snape! Best get that into you now, before the worst of the pain hits. Burns are very painful, you know," said Slughorn, almost cheerfully.

      Not have any other option, Severus tipped the glass into his mouth, swallowing down the potion as quickly as possible.

      He knew right off that it wasn't just the pain relieving potion. Bitter as that was, this taste also had a slight tang besides the bitterness, an almost dry, fruity tang which he recognized a few seconds after it went down his throat. The bloody mediwitch had given him Calming Draught, hadn't she? Oh, for Merlin's sake! Now he would be kept here, and he wouldn't be able to hide the vial that he'd left on his nightstand when the accident forced him to rush to the infirmary. He hadn't had the time to hide it from prying eyes. He stared angrily at Madame Pomfrey.

      "You gave me --"

      "Just a bit of Calming Draught," she said swiftly, "so you'll sleep for a while."

      "I don't want to sleep! I don't want to stay here! I want --"

      "Oh, you'll be here for a few days," Professor Slughorn informed him, slightly less cheerily than before. "Burns can be nasty, my boy, and Madame Pomfrey says that yours are rather serious... and she tells me that they were made by a magical fire."

      Severus swallowed nervously. He knew what was coming next.

      Slughorn peered carefully at his student as he asked, "What were you doing conjuring a magical fire in your dormitory, anyhow, Mr. Snape?"

      Fortunately for Severus Snape, because he was rather thin and the dose of Calming Draught was enough to make him very sleepy very quickly, he didn't have to answer his Head of House until after he'd woken up. Snape was luckier than he thought he would be: Professor Slughorn hadn't looked too carefully at Snape's nightstand because he'd been so concerned for his student's welfare at the sight of the burnt bed hangings. He never noticed the small vial on the nightstand.

=====

      It was the first day after Severus' release from the school infirmary. The weather was nice - cool and a bit breezy, but sunny. He sat quietly underneath a tree, thinking the same thoughts he'd been thinking about constantly during the four days since he'd stupidly burned himself.

      "There should be something else, besides dragon hide gloves, boots, aprons, and robes. Potions brewers all need such protection, and dragon hide is very expensive. Yet, I've never heard of anything else... but wouldn't the obvious thing be a potion to protect us against the magical fires that we need to work with," he ruminated. "I need to check the library, but I'll have to ask Professor Slughorn for a note so Madame Pince will permit me into the Restricted section."

      A week later, Severus was certain that there was no such potion - yet. He considered asking Lily if she wanted to work with him on such a potion... but they'd started to drift apart a little, lately. She kept going on about his friendship with Mulciber, Avery, Nott, and a few other Slytherin mates, and he was beginning to tire of the constant argument. What difference should it make to Lily who his other friends were? It wasn't like he - or they - were asking her to join them... that certainly would never happen! He always made sure that it was just the two of them whenever they spent time together. This was partly because they couldn't bear to be around each other's friends, but mostly it was because Severus was too jealous to let anybody else near Lily, and he wished to keep her to himself as much as possible.

=====

      Months later, Severus was very glad that he hadn't told Lily about his idea to create a new potion to protect against magical fires. They had had a terrible row. Those bloody Marauders had humiliated him one afternoon in front of everyone, and it got around the school faster than anything else ever had. In his extreme humiliation and rage, he'd unthinkingly lashed out at Lily. Severus had done the unpardonable: He actually called Lily a Mudblood. He'd attempted to apologize to her - quite humbly, but she refused to accept his apology, and she'd steadfastly refused to speak to him since.

=====

      The following year, Severus Snape had come to realize that he wanted - more than any other potential career - to brew potions. He loved everything about the subject and he could make a very nice living as a Potions Master if he could get an apprenticeship and do well.

      It was by now quite apparent that he and Lily were never going to reconcile. That hurt more than anything else had ever hurt him. He was utterly miserable. He seemed to have a great, heavy emptiness in his chest, where his heart used to be. It felt like his heart had been torn out, ripped roughly from him. What was worse was that she was always hanging around Potter now. How could she enjoy his company? Of all the people she might have befriended - she chose Potter! Hadn't she called him 'an arrogant toerag' a year ago? Severus knew that she'd meant it when she said it. On the rare occasion when she wasn't stuck to Potter's side as if by a Permanent Sticking Charm, she was in the company of one or another of the Marauders.

      No matter. He didn't have to hear her talk badly about his friends any more. Mulciber, in particular, had grown ever more close to him. Severus didn't like Avery quite as much, but had to admit that Avery was always right behind him whenever he needed back-up. The Marauders didn't manage to prank him very often any more, not with Mulciber constantly at his side and Avery always at his back, and Nott, with several other Dark Slytherins, usually nearby.

      But it did matter, very much, and every time Severus saw Lily, heard her voice... or even just thought about her... he wanted to curl up and bawl like a baby. Every time he passed one of their special places, where they used to meet, he felt like he just wanted to die. He didn't know how he was going to live without spending time with her. After all, they'd been friends since before they'd even arrived at Hogwarts. They'd always studied together. They'd always sat quietly on weekends and talked with each other. They'd had a common past together, shared a childhood. Hardest, perhaps, of all - they always used to be partners in Potions class. Now, he worked alone.

      Severus Snape didn't think he'd ever forget the incredulous look on Slughorn's face when he asked his professor if he could work alone in class. Lily was one of Slughorn's favorite pupils, and she was very good Potions. Severus was advised to stick with such a good lab partner. It wasn't always easy to find someone with whom one could brew so well, he was reminded. Personalities, Slughorn explained, had to be taken into consideration as well as brewing capabilities, and two brewers couldn't necessarily always work together - even if their capabilities were equal. Lily, he added with pointed emphasis, was good with potions, and Severus had worked with her ever since they started school. The two of them encouraged each other and this made for better lab work, their teacher stated. Severus never knew what - if anything - Lily ever told their professor about what had happened, but she never exhibited any surprise when Slughorn took it as a matter of course that Severus began to sit across the room from her in class. Professor Slughorn never asked Severus what had happened between him and Lily. After all, Severus figured, Slughorn had been a teacher for a long time and was himself a Slytherin.

      Towards the end of that year, Severus approached his Head of House to ask if Slughorn would be willing to help him gain an apprenticeship with a Potions Master or Mistress. Slughorn assured his student that he would do what he could, but Severus never fully trusted anyone, and he didn't completely trust his Potions teacher to work too hard on his behalf, either. He kept looking for other ways to gain an apprenticeship.

      In the meantime, Lucius Malfoy had already approached Severus quietly with a number of personal inquiries. Was Severus sympathetic to the ideals of Salazar Slytherin? Was he not already steeped deeply in the Darkest magic? Did he not love Dark magic? Did Severus, despite his own half-blood status, hold with the ideals of restoring more pure-blood status to the wizarding world? If Severus believed these things to be true, to be important, then Malfoy assured Severus that he - Malfoy - would 'make a few critically important introductions' after the end of the school year. He insinuated that Severus' friends had already agreed eagerly to these same introductions... and Malfoy suggested slyly to Severus that he surely didn't wish to be left out, did he? Mindful that he hadn't yet found a Potions apprenticeship, the entrepreneurial student abruptly asked Malfoy if he might be willing to help towards that end. Malfoy smiled and silkily promised Severus that he would indeed have a plum Potions apprenticeship by the time he left Hogwarts.

      As the possibility of being a Potions apprentice began to look more probable, Severus realized that, since no one had yet created a potion to protect against magical fires, and since he had already begun the early research work for such a project, he might find this to be the perfect dissertation. How thankful he was, now, that he hadn't shared his idea early on with Lily!

~ finite fabulum ~

Author's Notes: All spells within this story are Canon or inferred in Canon. The potion that protects against magical fires is also Canon (PS/SS), although it was never named specifically. The burn-healing paste is also Canon. Of course, Josephus Baier's Pain Relieving Potion is not Canon, nor is it - to the best of my knowledge - Fanon either. There is a Pain Potion mentioned in Canon, but that potion is never described, and we don't know if it eases pain or causes pain - nor do we know if that is its official name. Perhaps, as Severus Snape's spirit insists softly to me, that particular potion was, in fact, a pain relieving potion... and was created by a wizard named Josephus Baier.

Twenty-five (25) House Points will be awarded to the house of the first person who can tell me whence the name of that potion comes.

And before anyone tells me that that's "not possible" and/or is "just too Muggle" for belief, I'd like to remind everyone that even some pure-blood wizards/witches have, as adults, been known in Canon to live like Muggles, by their own choice. (Merope Gaunt, Eileen Prince - just to name two Slytherin sorts who did so)

Before Severus ever considered joining the Death Eaters or Voldemort, he did find the idea of having a scarred forearm to be repugnant. (:-/) Perhaps he might have saved himself a lifetime of misery had he kept that distaste for scars in the forefront of his mind. Or perhaps not; he certainly could be rather impetuous whenever he perceived his pride to have been assaulted.

Many thanks to my great beta, SwissMiss.   ~ Spirit of Severus Snape ~