Love Potion HP

Chapter Three: Dumbledore's Discovery

Severus was having trouble sleeping. This was not unusual, however tonight the reason why...

He was startled by a rap on his door. He slid out of bed and opened it to find, as he had feared, his reason why waiting outside. He stepped aside, allowing the dog to enter his room. It changed to Sirius as soon as he closed the door. The man was trembling with bottled tension.

"What are you doing here?" Severus asked disdainfully.

"You invited me," was the harsh reply.

"I certainly did not!"

"Well then what was your comment today supposed to mean?" he asked pointedly.

Severus sneered. "You just want an excuse."

He seized the door handle. Immediately, Sirius pressed his weight against the door.

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do!" he insisted, growling in frustration. "What are you doing to me, Snape? Drugging my food? Casting hexes? How could your spells reach me when I was in northern Europe?"

"What?"

"Well, it has to be you. Who else-"

"Are you accusing me of casting love charms on you?" Severus asked more coolly then he felt. "Why would I ever make you attracted to me?"

"It's just the sick sort of head game you love to play," Sirius spat.

"Yes, you would think that!" he retorted. "There is no measure to my loa-"

Sirius cut him off. "If not you, then who? Who is doing this to us?"

"'Us'?" Severus repeated with distaste. "What 'us'?"

"You felt an attraction too, or you wouldn't have said anything about missing me. Damn it, Severus, someone is trying to draw us together and it's..." He lost all patience fumbling for the right word. "It's repulsive! It's the most disgusting thing- I can't think of a more disgusting thing! I'd rather kiss both Pettigrew and Voldemort than-"

Severus was not sure why he did it. He supposed it was because of a sudden, overwhelming desire to both anger and repulse Sirius as much as humanly possible. He put his arms around Sirius' neck and kissed him so fiercely his teeth hurt.

"There!" Severus snapped, drawing away. "Are you happy?"

"No," Sirius scoffed, then grabbed Severus by the waist. They toppled backwards onto his bed.

* * *

Hermione rubbed her eyes and yawned as she silently crept into the Gryffindor common room. Harry was still seated in the armchair nearest the fire, as he had been since dinner, and gave a start at her approach.

"Harry, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"Sirius is back," he replied glumly.

Her brow furrowed. "But, that's a good thing."

"But Snape..."

"Oh, you're not still hung up on that, are you? Listen, Harry, it was just a misplaced love potion. I'm sure of it-"

Harry shook his head. His face was absolutely miserable.

"No, Hermione, it wasn't."

He held out to her a scrap of parchment, which she recognized as his Marauder's Map. Over in the location of the teacher's quarters, two dots were circling each other in a frenzy. One was clearly labeled "Sirius Black," the other "Severus Snape."

* * *

Severus awoke the next morning and found himself alone. The surprise left a hollow feeling in his chest, but he soon plugged it up with rage.

What was wrong with him? How could he have possibly done- with Sirius Black! Sirius! He despised him, hated him, still would love nothing more than to lock him back up in Azkaban and throw away the key... or better yet feed the key to Lupin and have the bloody werewolf choke on it... and yet he-

He needed a bath.

Severus sat up and surveyed his room. Last night's damage was isolated to himself and the bed, however bits of his night robe littered the floor. Sirius had torn that to shreds... and Severus couldn't remember if he had resisted or helped. Bruises, scratches, teeth and nail marks covered almost his entire body, but at least Black had gotten as good as he had given.

How was Severus going to explain this to Madam Pomfrey? He realized that he couldn't. He would have to let the bruises heal naturally, or prepare a serum on his own.

Well, at least I'm good at that, he thought as he got out of bed to wash up.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, are you ill?" Severus demanded, towering over his desk.

His student gulped. "Na- no, Professor."

"Did you swallow any of your potion?"

One of his Slytherins laughed. Severus scowled. Even they were irritating him today.

"No, Professor."

Severus did not think he was lying, but Potter was a nasty shade of green. On another day, he would have loved to see the boy stew in his own juices, but now not even that was pleasurable. With a sigh of irritation, he ordered, "Go to the nurse. You're endangering the class."

Potter looked at him with absolute shock, then grabbed his bag and complied. A few Slytherins snickered.

"Stop that!" Severus snapped. "There's nothing funny about it and if I hear anyone snickering again I'm taking points away from Slytherin- and yes, I know that's my own house!"

He turned towards his desk and rubbed his face, which only irritated the bite on the side of his nose. Honestly, who bit someone on the side of the nose? At least it looked like fingernails.

"Professor Snape?" he heard a hoarse voice call.

Severus turned and saw Filch standing in the doorway. What was he doing here? He never came to this part of the dungeon; Severus kept it meticulously clean.

"Yes?" he answered.

"The headmaster wants to see you after classes."

Severus massaged his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.

"Tell the headmaster I'll come as soon as possible."

* * *

Severus arrived at Dumbledore's office to discover he was not the only guest. Sirius stood off to the side, looking very guilty. Like Severus, his face was marred by red marks and bruises, but no bites.

At least I had the decency just to bite him on the shoulder, Severus thought and was instantly disgusted at himself.

From behind his desk, Dumbledore stared at them keenly. The headmaster's kindly face was stern and dismay, with a dash of anger, sparkled in his eyes.

"I must say," he began, "I am very disappointed. Severus, Sirius, we cannot afford to have you two act like schoolboys. Now, from the marks on your faces, and marks I expect are elsewhere on you, it's obvious what happened. Would you both kindly explain why you were fighting?"

Severus's mouth went dry. He glanced at Sirius, who was likewise stricken with panic.

"Headmaster, there's a misunderstanding," Severus said. "You see-"

Sirius continued, "-we weren't exactly fighting. It was an accident. We were-"

"-experimenting," he finished.

Dumbledore's face made it obvious he did not believe them. "Experimenting? With what?"

"Positions," Sirius replied, then hastily cried, "I mean potions!"

Several tempting curses popped into Severus' mind, and Avada Kedavra was the least of them.

"Positions?" Dumbledore asked. "Sirius, whatever do you mean?"

"I can explain-"

"No, you can't," muttered Severus.

The headmaster stood up and sighed. "Well, gentlemen, this is an express railway to nowhere, but I am afraid I still do not have the time. Now, please explain, and if you find words make that difficult, I will allow you to both use my Pensieve."

Severus and Sirius gave each other the same look. Neither truly believed that the headmaster would go to that extreme, but still, they did not want anyone, not even themselves, to see that.

Severus stepped forward and bravely ventured, "That won't be necessary."

He began the story at October first, when Sirius had first approached him. Sirius only argued the detail of who had kissed whom first, but not for very long. Both wanted to get through the tale as swiftly as possible. As they spoke, a smile spread over Dumbledore's face.

"Lovely," said the headmaster. "Not something I would have predicted or betted much money on, but lovely just the same. Keep it up."

Severus could not contain himself. "What?!" he screeched.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Headmaster, we are both clearly under the influence of Dark Magic! I mean, me and- Ugh," Severus grimaced.

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, I don't think you are."

"But- but," Severus sputtered, "you know our history! I hate him! He tried to kill me!"

"And you certainly tried to return the favor!" Sirius shouted. "'Dementor's kiss' ring a bell?"

"Quiet!" Dumbledore commanded loudly but calmly. "I am aware that you both hate each other, but hate and love can sometimes be the exact same thing. Now, you have my permission and my encouragement to continue seeing each other so long as it does not interfere with your work."

Severus shook his head. "I don't believe this. I really don't believe this... why would you think this is a good thing?"

"For the first time, you two are getting along."

"Does it look like we're getting along?" he demanded. "He bit me on the-"

"That," Dumbledore said quietly, "is something I really don't need to know, Severus."

Severus turned almost as purple as the headmaster's robes.

* * *

After leaving Dumbledore's office, Severus headed directly for the dining room. He heard paw taps behind him and took a detour down an abandoned corridor. He whirled around and, sure enough, a black dog was at his heels.

He glared at it sternly and spoke, "I don't care what Dumbledore said. I am going to eat, then I am going to go back to my room and you are not going to join me and we certainly are not going to do what we did last night!"

Fate, however, never listened to anybody, not even Severus Snape. Everything against his wishes was precisely what happened.