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The Potion Mistress and the Half-Blood Prince	By : FonzFan Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > General Views: 2096 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people (Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort, etc), places (Hogwarts, etc), other keywords (Occlumency, etc.), and text ("") that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. I am writing this story to entertain myself (and hopefully others) and make no money from it. The OC (Katherine) is entirely my own.

Chapter 12: Shattered Pieces
Severus sat at the head table during breakfast late that morning. He hadn't heard from Katherine since her departure the night before. And now classes would begin in an hour and he still hadn't seen or heard from her.
'Did the mission fail and the Dark Lord punished her severally?' His mind was racing so fast, that he never noticed the Headmaster, who sat down next to him.
"Have you heard from her Severus?" Albus whispered to the worried, younger wizard.
"No." Severus murmured. "I don't have a class until ten, so I'll go and check on her before that."
"Very well," the elder said. "I just hope she came back in one piece."
Severus' form became rigid at those words. He dreaded those missions; they had been on some of those numerous times for the Dark Lord when they were younger and new to the inner circle.
'I've been there before.' Severus thought as his mind continued to race back to fifteen years ago. Katherine had been badly hurt at an attack on a wizarding family. Along with Lucius and Bellatrix, their mission had failed and the Dark Lord punished them heavily for it.
Katherine, who was already well battered from the attack, passed out during her punishment due to the loss of blood. Afterwards, Severus carried her body back to Spinner's End where he mended her and cleaned her up.
It was one of the hardest nights of his life. To see his friend's twisted and broken body made him sick; he knew he couldn't fail her. But he did, on the night she was captured.
Severus brushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and locked them up. It would do no good to think about that now with classes starting soon. The students began to file out of the Great Hall, heading towards their respected classes. Severus rose from his chair and headed for the exit; students parting like the Red Sea in order to avoid his wrath.
He started to head towards Katherine's quarters in the dungeon, but stopped. He had made that mistake once before, as he knew Katherine could be extremely moody the morning after a mission, or even worse if it had failed.
He made up his mind to peek into her classroom during her first hour, and so continued on his way towards his own rooms. His first class wasn't for another hour, and he had some extra books to pick up.

After a half an hour, Severus had gathered the extra materials for the day and began to head towards his Dark Arts classroom. He turned the corner by the Potions room, expecting a vacant hallway, but was shocked to find it filled. He knew Katherine had sixth year Double Potions this morning, but it was nine-fifteen, and her class was suppose to start at nine.
"What are you all doing out here? Don't you have class?" Severus said sternly to the small group of students.
"Professor Dumbledore hasn't shown up yet, sir." Hermione told him. "She's never been late before and the door is locked."
Severus' eyes scanned the group before him; he knew he had to get Albus. He unwarded the door to the Potions room and motioned for the students to go inside.
"Inside now," he demanded. "And don't touch anything until a professor comes to collect you. As for you Ms. Parkinson, go to the Headmaster's office and tell Professor Dumbledore to meet me in the Potion Mistress' private quarters."
The girl nodded and sped off down the hallway. Severus turned and marched back towards Katherine's quarters. He found her door unwarded, but the portrait was locked; she was here.
"Septimus," Severus muttered her password with a frown. Katherine's love for Roman Empire history was annoying to him, but he was at least grateful that she told him her password.
The portrait swung open and he walked inside. The room was dark and quiet, as through no one was even there. But his nose got the better of him, as he detected a strong smell of iron.
The smell made his stomach turn; there was only one thing that smelled like that. Blood. And lots of it. Severus lit his wand and searched the main living area, before turning to the bedroom. He open the chamber door softly and stepped inside, only to hear his shoe make contact with a small puddle.
Severus pointed his wand to the floor and found that his shoe struck a small pool of blood. He swallowed hard and decided to light the room. A small light burst forth from his wand and lit the candles on the walls; another spell pulled back the curtains on the small window.
He looked around the room, first towards her bed, hoping that she would be laying there. But she wasn't. He swallowed hard again and looked back down to the floor. Small dips of blood trailed towards the hidden side of the bed. He followed it slowly, but when he turned to face the right side of the four-poster, he gasped in shock.
Katherine's body was lying in a pool of blood. She was face down, her right hand stretched out in front of her. Her left wrist was at an odd angle, as well as her right leg. Severus rushed to her side and knelt in the large pool of red.
He reached out to check for a pulse and found one. It was faint, but she was alive, barely. Gently, Severus rolled her over and he closed his eyes at what he saw. Her robes were practically shredded in the front, and deep cuts ran the entire length of her body.
A small stream of dried blood, indicated a gash on the top of her head. He eased his hands and arms underneath her and lifted her form from the floor, placing her on the bed.
At that moment the floo sprung to life. Severus looked up to see the Headmaster walk into the room.
"How bad is she Severus?" Albus questioned him. He watched as Severus pulled vials from Katherine's nightstand and began examining them.
"Bad, though I'm not sure how bad, yet," Severus muttered as he held bottle after bottle up to the light. "I would take her to Poppy, but I don't think that would be wise."
"True. Very true. All I can say Severus, if you can fix her up, do it here, so we can avoid questioning." Severus nodded and drew his wand. He murmured a diagnostic spell and ran his wand the entire length of Katherine's mangled form.
"A shattered knee, a cracked hip, few broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken wrist and a concussion; more than likely caused from the large gash on the top of her head. She has massive cuts across her chest, stomach and legs, as well as being heavily bruised everywhere."
"But yet her face remains unscathed," Albus pointed out.
"Yes. Whoever did this, planned it well. They left her face untouched so that when she would returned to the school, no one would think the wiser to her being hurt." Severus swished his wand towards the woman's hair and rid it of the matted, dried blood. He continued to wave his wand over the deep cuts on her body.
'Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur.' Murmuring the healing spell, he drew the wand across them three times, sealing them one by one. It was hard to concentrate with the Headmaster lurking overhead, and he knew that Katherine needed his full attention in order to survive.
"Headmaster, she has a class in the potions room right now…" Severus stated.
"I'll see to them right away. You just continue to heal her," the elder wizard told him, before departing from the room.
Severus wished that Katherine hadn't sustained a concussion, so he could use Legilimency on her, in order to find out who had done this to her. The person she was going after, a fellow Death Eater or the Dark Lord himself But now he wouldn't know until she woke, for it was too risky to use it on someone with a brain injury.
"I've failed you again," Severus continued diligently working on Katherine's broken body, while reassuring himself that he would get her out of this war alive.

The students whispered to one another in the potions classroom. Neither the Potions Mistress nor the Dark Arts professor had yet returned to retrieve them, and their were growing restless.
"I wonder where she is?" Hermione whispered to Ron and Harry, the latter who was flipping through the Prince's book.
"Who cares," Ron said. "It's better just to sit here than endure her wrath for two straight hours."
"Ronald," Hermione hissed. "That's rude. Even though she is very strict with us, she's still very intelligent and our professor, and she deserves our respect."
"Snape's our professor too, but we don't respect him," Ron spat.
"Maybe you don't, but I…" Hermione paused as the Headmaster stepped into the classroom. The students quieted and watched the elder wizard moved to stand behind the Potion Mistress' desk. He turned to face them; his face full of concern.
"Good morning students," he said, while looking over his half moon glasses. "As you can see Madame Dumbledore is not here. She has fallen gravely ill and will be, more than likely, bedridden for sometime." Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other suspiciously.
"Therefore, class today is cancelled. But I will find someone to temporally fill in for her, starting Monday. So you are dismissed." Albus clapped his hands and sent the sixth years on their way.
The trio gathered their books and supplies, and headed for the common room. Harry paused for a moment in the hallway to look back at the small group of Slytherins heading towards their portrait hole. He saw Malfoy with a worried look on his face and knew that it had to be related to the 'sick' Potion Mistress.
"What do you think? Do you think she really is sick?" Harry asked the other two as he caught up to them.
"I don't know Harry," Hermione said as they ascended the stairs. "The Headmaster looked awfully concerned about her, so maybe she is."
"Come off it Hermione," Ron said. "Didn't you see the look on Malfoy's face. He knows something that we don't. I think she's still a Death Eater."
"The Headmaster would not have hired her or had had her released is she hadn't reformed her way Ronald," Hermione hissed.
"Maybe she playing him," Harry stated. "Maybe Ron's right, maybe she has gone back to Voldemort."

"How is she, Severus?" Albus asked as he flooed back into the Potion Mistress' private quarters. He found Severus vanishing the remains of the blood that littered the floor of the bedroom.
"Stable, but she's in for a long couple of days," the younger wizard said. "I've repaired her lung and wrist, but her knee was so badly shattered that I had to remove the pieces and give her a dose of Skele-Gro." Severus slumped down heavily into one of Katherine's chairs in front of the fireplace.
"Her ribs are also repaired, but she's loss a lot of blood. She's going to need several doses of Blood Replenishing potion over the next couple of days. As of right now, the concussion that she received from the blow to the head has still rendered her unconscious, and I am unsure as to when she will wake," Severus continued, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his right thumb and index finger.
Albus watched the young man closely; it reminded him so much of so many years ago when the young witch would come back war-worn, and Severus would remain vigilant at her side until she was healed.
Albus had know when Katherine had come back injured, as Severus would disappear for a couple of hours or days, if it was the weekend, to heal his fellow Death Eater.
"Stay with her today and the rest of the weekend," Albus told him. "Tend to her when needed. I'll take over your classes myself today and cancel the rest of hers. I will also find a temporary replacement for her until she is fully able to go back to teaching."
All Severus could do was nod in agreement. He knew Katherine would need another dose of Blood Replenishing potion in a few hours, and he didn't trust anyone but himself to administer it to her.
"I'll stay with her so you may go and get some of your own work, if you like," Albus told him, while taking a seat in front of the fire as well.
"Very well. I have papers that need grading and a couple of research projects that I can work on while I'm here." Severus rose from his chair and walked towards the floo. He paused and turned back for a moment towards the Headmaster with a concerned look.
"Don't worry Severus," Albus said. "I will personally take care of your classes today." Severus nodded and stepped back into the fireplace to return to his private quarters.

After Severus had retrieved his work, he flooed back to Katherine's quarters and relieved the Headmaster. Albus departed to the Defense classroom, while Severus pulled a chair up to the small table near Katherine's bed.
She seemed to be peaceful as of now, but he knew the next few hours were crucial. Bones would be regrowing, tissue would be mending and hopefully she would come out of her unconsciousness with ease. She was definitely in for a very long night.
He worked and researched diligently throughout the afternoon and evening, taking his meals in her quarters. Every few hours he would give her the next potion, whether it would be a Blood Replenishing or Strengthening Solution. Katherine's vitals seemed stable enough, but he decided to stay the weekend to make sure she got everything she needed.
He could only bare to look at her every once in a while. She was so pale, so lifeless. Her chest barely rising to indicate a full breath being taken. He had wrapped her arms, torso and legs in the areas that were cut the deepest.
The Headmaster returned shortly before dinner to check on her before heading for the Great Hall.
"Severus? Any change?"
"Unfortunately no," Severus sighed, tossing his work to the side. "What are you telling the students?"
"I have told the staff and I will tell the students at dinner tonight, that Katherine has come down with a nasty bout of the flu. And will be out for…quite some time." Albus stated, as he watched the younger wizard.
"That should work," Severus said quietly, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is there anything else needed to be done Headmaster?"
"No, I will be on my way now," Albus shook his head, and made his way to the door. "Get some rest while you can Severus. For tomorrow I will have to make a visit to an old colleague of mine, and as you said, Katherine will be in for a rough weekend."

The Great Hall buzzed with gossip about the sick Potion Mistress the following morning. The trio sat with Neville, and the four discussed the cancelled Potion class and the missing Defense professor.
"Wonder where Snape is?" Harry questioned the others, as his eyes scanned the hall for the two black-clad teachers. "He wasn't at dinner last night either."
"And I heard from the others that Headmaster Dumbledore took over his classes yesterday as well," Hermione said from behind the morning edition of the Prophet.
"Are we going into Hogsmeade today?" Ron asked, as he shoveled his breakfast down. "I want to stop at Honeydukes for more chocolate frogs."
"Sure," Hermione sighed, "but first look at this." She placed the newspaper in front of the others on the table. A picture of an elderly witch and a younger witch were staring up at them.
"MURDERED:

Cassandra Vablatsky, Seer

and

Valerie Weatherhead, Auror"
"Vablatsky?" Neville pointed at the picture of the witch in question. "She's the one who wrote Unfogging the Future textbook, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is," Hermione confirmed, before continuing on the article.
"Montrose - Thursday night, Aurors were called to the small port town of Montrose when the neighbors of famous seer, Cassandra Vablatsky, spotted two black cloaked figures enter Vablatsky's cottage.
When the five Aurors arrived on the scene, they found the cottage ablaze and the two cloaked figures outside of the dwelling. A battle erupted, which resulted in the death of Auror, Valerie Weatherhead, and also the getaway of the cloaked murders.
After the fire had been put out, the Aurors found the remains of Vablatsky amidst the rubble of the burnt home.
Cassandra Vablatsky and Valerie Weatherhead's obituaries appear on page 9."
"Sounds a bit fishy to me," Harry said, looking up at the others. "Mistress Dumbledore mysteriously becoming ill during the night of this attack. I think Ron's right, she's still a Death Eater."
"Harry, she can't be," Hermione stated. "Forget it. Let's go to Hogsmeade. Neville would you like to join us?"
"That's okay," Neville said, "I'm going to be helping Professor Sprout in the greenhouses today."
"Alright, we'll see you later," Harry said, as the trio made their way to the door. As they reached the front door, a voice stopped there.
"Ah, Harry," the trio turned to see the Headmaster with his traveling cloak. "I would like you to accompany me this afternoon. I am visiting a former colleague of mine, and I would like you to meet him."
"Oh…umm…" Harry sighed. "Sure. I'll see you two later I guess." He said to Ron and Hermione. The two nodded in response before following the rest of the students towards town.
"Wonderful," the Headmaster exclaimed. "Take my arm." Harry hesitantly took hold of the elder wizard arm, before the pulling sensation began.

"Welcome to the village of Budleigh Babberton Harry," the Headmaster stated as they apparated into the main square. "Come. Follow me." The two wizards walked in silence, until they came upon a disheveled looking house.
"Wands out," Professor Dumbledore warned the boy, as they made their way inside. The house looked as though it had been attacked. Furniture destroyed, windows were broken, and then they saw it, blood dripping from the ceiling.
The Headmaster cautiously dipped his fingers in the puddle of blood on the floor then brought it to his lips to taste it. The wizard frowned, then turned his attention back towards the room.
A stuffed armchair sat in the corner of the room, untouched. Professor Dumbledore slowly approached it, then tapped it with his wand.
"MERLIN'S BEARD, ALBUS!" it yelled, as the head of an aging man popped out of the back of the chair.
"Good evening to you too Horace," the headmaster smiles, as he and Harry watched the rest of the old blue armchair turned into a walrus-like man.
"Yes, good evening, but you needn't stick your wand in so hard," Horace grumbled as he rubbed the area that had been poked. "What gave me away?"
"Dragon's blood."
"Oh, well," Horace muttered. "Just let me clean up quick." And with a wave of his wand, the furniture began to fly back into place, books replaced themselves on the shelves, the chandelier became whole again, and the piano up righted. "There much better."
"Well now, Harry, this is Professor Horace Slughorn, a dear old friend and colleague of mine," the Headmaster stated. "Horace, I believe you know who this is."
"Harry Potter," Horace's eyes lit up at the sight of the boy, but then turned to a frown. "I know why you're here Albus, and the answer is still no!"
"Ah yes, very well," Albus sighed. "Before we leave then, mind if I use the loo?"
"No, of course not," Horace stated. Harry and him watched the Headmaster leave the room, before turning to look at each other. "You look so much like you father. Except the eyes, of course. You've got…"
"My mum's eyes, yeah," Harry sighed.
"Lily. Such a bright intelligent student she was. Very charming. Exceedingly kind to everyone," Horace sighed looking at the pictures on the mantel. "There she is you see, right in the front." Horace pointed a stubby finger towards the picture of a group of students. Harry's eyes widened at the sight of his teenage mother.
"Mine. All of them. Barnabas Cuffe, of the Daily Prophet; Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes; Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies," Horace said, as he pointed to each one of their pictures.
"Professor?" Harry said as he stepped closer to the mantel to examine the pictures. "Who is that girl on your left in this picture?"
"Ah yes," Horace smirked. "That would be your current potion mistress, Katherine Dumbledore. She was one of mine you know. A Slytherin. She's actually made the mantel twice. See? A highly intelligent student and the best seeker I ever had. Between her and Mr. Snape, it was hard to determine which one was the better dueler too." But the smile that Horace had on his face soon faded. "I don't know what went wrong with her though."
"What was she like outside of class Professor?" Harry asked, as he looked at the picture of the Slug club. He now recognized the boy standing behind Katherine. Snape. Neither of the two smiled, like the rest of the students in the photograph.
"Quiet, mostly. Rowdy on the Quidditch pitch though. Suppose that's why she was picked as captain," Horace said, as he stared at the blonde in the photo. "Like Professor Snape in many ways. Nose in a book, up studying into the early hours of the morning, always practicing their dueling. Don't know what went wrong."
"Horace?" Horace and Harry turned to see the Headmaster standing behind them at the door. "I'm afraid that Mr. Potter and myself must be getting back to the school now."
"You're leaving?"
"Yes. I believe I know a lost cause when I see one." Dumbledore smiled. "Like my friend Mr. Potter, you're still one of a kind Horace. Well, goodbye!" Dumbledore turned and steered Harry towards the door, but on their way out into the yard, they were stopped short.
"Fine. I'll do it!"
"You'll come back to Hogwarts then?" the Headmaster said, as he turned around to face Horace again.
"Yes, yes. I must be mad." Horace said, throwing his arms up in defeat. "But I want a raise, and a bigger office."
"Very well," the Headmaster chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow night then."
"Yes, of course." Horace said, as he watched Dumbledore and Harry disapparate back to Hogwarts.

Horace arrived at the school late Sunday afternoon, and was introduced at dinner that eve. Of course the students took note that neither the DADA or potions professors had been seen since Thursday eve or Friday morning.
Severus had sat diligently by Katherine's side all weekend long; only occasionally getting up to use the loo or order his meals. He carefully administered the potions that she needed in order to heal, and changed and rewrapped her wounds.
He was becoming stressed to the point that he even tried to reach out with his mind in order to get a response, but nothing worked. The connection they had was silent on her end.
When classes resumed on Monday, Albus would come and sit by his niece's side until Severus' breaks or until he was finished for the day. Then Severus would take up watch again till the next morning.
As the week went on, the days seemed to get longer and longer, but Katherine showed no signs of waking. To both Severus and Albus' relief though, her pulse was becoming stronger and her wounds were healing nicely. The only problem was her right knee; Severus worked it to keep it mobile and not stiffen up, but he could only to it so much without the risk of damaging the tendons again.

On Friday evening, Severus was sitting by her side once again, grading first-year papers. A snow storm had picked up outside, making the room darker and colder than normal. Severus had just finished marking a paper, when he noticed Katherine's body twitch.
'Maybe she's finally waking,' Severus thought, as he set the papers aside and moved towards the bed. Gently, he sat down beside her and carefully grasped her arm.
"Katherine," he muttered, but she didn't respond. "Katherine." Her body continued to twitch under his grasped. Severus began to worry that she was having a reaction to the potions or the salve he had been using.
'Katherine.' Severus called out in his mind instead to try to get an answer from her there, but failed as well. Then he noticed it; Katherine's fingers on her left hand clenched and unclenched. Carefully, he raised the sleeve of her nightgown, to reveal the burning Dark Mark beneath.
"Shit," Severus yelled, as he flung himself towards the fireplace, thrown in the floo powder as he went. "Albus! I need you in here now!" Severus bellowed, then stepped back to allow the Headmaster entrance.
"Severus? What is it?" Albus asked with a worried expression on his aging face.
"Katherine's mark is burning. She's being summoned." Severus stated, as he walked quickly towards the door, grabbing his cloak on the way. "He obviously doesn't know what state she's in, so I'm going in her place."
"Do you think that's wise Severus?"
"I don't think we have a choice Headmaster," Severus stated as he slipped out the door and into the night, leaving Albus to watch over the unconscious woman.
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The Potion Mistress and the Half-Blood Prince