Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Three Conditions	By : goldhorse Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 48512 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the HP universe. JK Rowling does. I just borrow her toys and put them back in reletively decent shape when I'm through. I make no money doing this, which is why I work two jobs.

Chapter List
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“How is it coming?”
Hermione looked up from her brewing to see Malfoy walking up. He’d changed from the see-through loin cloth into some linen pants and a cotton button down, though it wasn’t buttoned at all. She made herself look away from his chiseled chest to make sure she was properly dissecting the marigold she needed for the last stage of the potion.
“She has two more marigolds to dissect and then she can start on pulverizing the quartz,” Snape answered for her.
Draco hummed. “Is there anything I can do?”
“How are your hands?”
He frowned and held them up. “Steady as ever, why?”
“I need three caterpillar hearts, fresh and undamaged.”
Draco nodded. “Do you have a magnifying glass? I want to make sure I’m accurate.”
“Of course,” Snape said, inviting him over to the table.”
“How exactly is the tribe not aware that there is an entire brewing station back here?”
“Obscuring charm,” Hermione muttered, carefully counting out the leaves in her pile.
“Won’t that affect Potter’s condition?”
“Not any more than the wards are already affecting him,” Snape answered.
They worked in companionable silence for quite some time, almost moving like one. Hermione allowed herself to wonder what the future would hold for them. They worked so well together. Would Malfoy want to brew with them? How would the baby affect things? How would she hide her apprenticeship from everyone anyway? It would almost be easier to just disappear permanently. But Malfoy would have no such luxury. How would they work? Why was she even thinking about them together?
“Earth to Granger!”
Hermione jumped and nearly swatted the dragonfly wings off the table. “What?”
“You were off on another planet,” Malfoy said. “You need to add the next ingredient in exactly ten seconds.”
She blinked and shook her head to clear it. “Sorry. My concentration isn’t what it used to be.”
“That will improve once the child is born,” Snape said in an uncharacteristic attempt to reassure her.
She nodded and added the shredded ginger root. The potion turned the color of swamp mud and she sighed in relief. So far, so good.
“Let it simmer for twenty-nine seconds and add the hearts,” she recited.
“Correct,” Snape said. “Then three counter-clockwise stirs, a rest, and then your blood.”
She nodded. “How much? They recipe wasn’t clear.”
“You are to slice your palm along the lifeline and allow it to bleed for ten minutes, stirring vigorously.”
“But everyone bleeds at a different rate,” she argued.
“It’s the time and the makeup, not the amount.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if it’s a potion designed to reverse the effects of time,” Malfoy cut in.
“Beg pardon?” she asked.
“Have you read Gribbel’s theory of time based potions?” Malfoy asked, cleaning his station as he went.
She frowned. “I haven’t even heard of it.”
“It’s quite obscure,” Snape said as he handed her the bowl of hearts. “Draco found it in my library no doubt.”
“I did,” Malfoy said. “You should read it, Granger. It’s enlightening and you’ll no doubt devour the entire thing in one sitting. But to sum it up, healing potions are generally made to counter certain diseases based on their make-up.”
“Like a poison reversal,” she said.
Malfoy nodded. “However, you might have notice that the market on cancer potions are rather slim.”
“Obviously,” she said sourly as she carefully sprinkled the hearts in. She stirred it and the potion turned turquoise and started emitting amethyst bubbles. She smiled at her accomplishment.
Snape chuckled. “That is because every cancer mutates according to the afflicted person’s genetics. It is impossible to counter effects that are constantly changing. And in Potter’s case, his is also feeding on his exposure to magic. Therefore, you have to figure time as a factor in your potions.”
“So what is the theory of time?” she asked curiously.
“Gribbel theorized that to reverse time, you must put in time.”
“But it’s not an exact opposite like a poison reversal.”
“It’s a fractional measurement,” Snape answered. “Which is why the dosage is handled in stages.”
“So each dosage is timed in accordance with what?”
“The making of it,” Draco answered before Snape could. “The potion takes how long to brew?”
“Twenty-four hours,” she answered and blinked. “So each dosage is the same time apart to reverse the effect of time on the cancer.”
“Very good,” Snape said, making her jaw drop. “You’re first lesson as my apprentice will be this. In potions, timing isn’t just about how long it takes ingredients to react to each other. The most powerful potions take the end result into account when brewing as well. For your first project, I want you to improve upon the polyjuice potion. The best brewed potion lasts for 12 hours due to quality ingredients. But I want yours to last a week.”
“A week?” she squeaked.
Snape smirked. “Draco managed a month.”
She narrowed her eyes at Malfoy. “How?”
“Think about it for a while, Granger,” Malfoy said with a grin. “It will come to you.”
“You’ll have a while to think,” Snape said. “I want your theory by the time Potter’s treatment is over. You’ll have to wait until after your child is born to start brewing. Are you ready for the last part?”
She nodded and picked up the gold plated knife. Her hands were shaking already. Malfoy came up behind her and put his arms around her, caressing her stomach. She took a deep breath and allowed him to nibble at her neck.
“You have to be calm for this part,” he murmured in her ear. “It’s time, not amount and as fast as your heart is beating, you’ll pass out from blood loss before you complete the stirring.”
She nodded and took a few more breaths. “How much time do I have left.”
Snape checked his pocket watch and frowned. “Ten seconds.”
She nodded and put the knife to her hand. “I’m not sure what I’ll do if this doesn’t work. Harry doesn’t have another day left in him.”
“As much as it pains me to say,” Snape drawled. “Potter is a lot stronger than anyone ever gave him credit for, including me. He’ll make it.”
She gave a sharp nod and ran the knife across her palm, crying out in pain. Malfoy steadied her and rubbed her abdomen, lending his magic to the baby while she concentrated. She stirred as strongly as she could, her palm throbbing as she moved it to make sure the blood didn’t clot. She hoped she wouldn’t have to slice it again. As she stirred, she began to feel cold and faint, blood loss and nerves and magic flares taking their toll. The minute wore on and it seemed that all that was keeping her on her feet was her determination to help Harry and Malfoy’s embrace.
She squinted through the blurry vision and kept stirring. Her arm was killing her but she wasn’t going to quit. Nothing in life came without conditions. Nothing. She was just glad that Harry had passed out after the ceremony. He’d certainly throw a fit if he was here now.
“You’re doing well,” Snape encouraged. “But you must keep your stirs even.”
She gritted her teeth and tried to steady her hand but it was shaking too badly.
“Is there anything that says I can’t steady her hand?” Malfoy asked.
“As long as you never touch the rod,” Snape warned. “And you must concentrate your magic on her abdomen and not her hand.”
She felt him nod into her hair. “You know I worked extensively on that during the war.”
“Indeed.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“It was imperative to hide certain things from the Dark Lord,” Malfoy said as his hand traced down her arm and steadied it. “Like my increasing ability to perform occlumency, or the magical increase I received when I started doing light to dark exercises.”
“What are those?” she asked to keep him talking. She needed something to concentrate on besides the stirring.
“Light to dark exercises are a little used skill nowadays,” Snape drawled. “They used to be used to increase the magical capacity in warriors, handy when dueling used to be the way of the world. It is done by casting the lightest spell in your arsenal followed by a succession of spells darker in nature in measured increments until you reach the darkest spell. Then you work backwards. The goal is to increase your range in both directions so as not to taint your core. If done correctly, you have the potential to double the capacity of your magic.”
“And it has the added benefit of allowing one to withstand the reach of darker curses,” Malfoy said. “A useful tool when you’re the marionette for a certain psychopath.”
“Indeed,” Snape drawled. “It isn’t used anymore because of the danger it presents to the caster. If done incorrectly, you can damage the core irreparably, causing magic loss as severe as becoming a squib. It requires not only skill and precision, but control, both emotionally and physically. Each spell has parameters which must be met. A successful cast isn’t enough.”
“I don’t follow,” she said, trying very hard to process the new information. She was fascinated but her brain was fuzzy.
“There is power and then there is precision and then there is finesse. I’ll give you an example,” Snape drawled. “When Potter faced dementors, it was only when Black was faced with the kiss that his patronus was strong enough to fight the entire herd. However, he was able to harness that emotion in the future to send messages back and forth. Both Potter and Weasley cast from an emotional state of mind most of the time. Their spells are powerful but do not always hit their mark. You, on the other hand, have always hit your mark, though some of your spells lack the strength needed to overpower another.”
“And finesse?” she gasped, her strength failing her. Malfoy managed to just barely keep her from slipping up.
“Did you ever witness Dumbledore duel?”
“Only once,” she whispered. “Harry let me watch a memory of his duel with Voldemort in the Ministry.”
“That is finesse. It is the ability to set aside emotion but use the power behind it and combine it with the precision to cast the perfect spell. And that is the requirements for light to dark exercises. If you don’t cast one of the spells with perfect balance, you can damage the core.”
“But how do you do that?”
“Practice one spell over and over again until you have it,” Malfoy said. “But you have to be careful with darker ones. Too many casts and they’ll taint your magic anyway.”
“And for that you use a light spell to balance it out,” Snape said.
“Do me a favor,” Hermione said as her eyesight started failing completely.
“What?” Malfoy asked.
“Put this conversation in a pensieve later so I can look at it again.”
Malfoy laughed and kissed her neck again. “I thought you’d say that.”
“Thirteen seconds,” Snape announced.
She almost cried out in joy, putting everything she had into the stirring. Snape counted down and she cried out in victory as the potion turned ruby red. Then everything went black.

AN: Okay guys, I literally wrote this in an hour while watching American Ninja so there might be a few typos. I'll probably go back and fix them tomorrow, when embarassment sets in. But, I was inspired and I really wanted to thank everyone who left such kind reviews. My mom is the toughest person I know. She'll beat this. But encouragement never hurts. :) So, as always, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Keep them coming and let me know how I'm doing. Until next time... love you guys.
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Three Conditions