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Harry Potter and the Expert Potions Master	By : SickPuppy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 21304 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 21 - Field Test

Harry arrived on the Monday, three weeks after his disastrous day with Ron and settled into a seat as usual. After that day, and his awful experience with wandless magic whilst lacking focus, Snape had sent him a note suggesting he increased the number of practices he had. Harry had agreed, one part of him very enthusiastically. Neither of them made any mention of Harry's fit of weeping, nor of the two witches who still awaited their trial.

In his reply, Harry had sent the Marauders' Map for Snape to have a look at to see if he could discover the magic that had made it. Although Harry had great faith in the older wizard, he hadn't expected much very quickly, so he had been astounded when Snape had handed him the old map back and with it a new piece of parchment.

“You managed it?” Harry had been delighted.

Snape had raised an eyebrow. “As gifted as Pettigrew, Potter, Black and Lupin no doubt thought they were, they were children when they created this. A full grown wizard such as myself certainly had no problem unravelling its secrets.”

That had been a little less than honest. Most of the magic he had discerned quickly, but the final element – that which allowed the map to track people's movements – had eluded him for a few days until he had had a brainwave in the shower (washing the residue of his masturbation session off) and had cracked the spell used.

Harry had been so very pleased; there had been a moment when the younger wizard had seemed about to hug Snape, but had stopped himself at the last second, hands trembling slightly.

“Also,” the older wizard had said, “I have developed a way for us to keep in contact if it is important that notice be received urgently. Here,” he had held up two pieces of light blue parchment, “if I write on one the words appear on the other.” He had demonstrated and Harry had watched in amazement as the letters had vanished from one sheet and came into being on its twin.

“Why don't you sell that? It's much better than writing letters all the time!”

Snape had shook his head, his long hair flapping. “No, because the words only remain until they have been read and the reader touches them. Then they vanish. If they didn't go, we'd soon run out of room!”

Now the new map and the blue parchment was stuffed into the mokeskin pouch, along with the red oak wand. It had taken Harry a few spells before he had felt comfortable with it, it was so different to his first wand, but now he felt confident that whatever was thrown at him, he would be able to cope. Although, he just wished his wandless magic was progressing further. Since mastering Expelliarmus, he seemed to have hit a brick wall and was spending his time fighting down frustration, gritting his teeth as Snape told him to be clear about his motivation. His motivation was very clear – he wanted Snape, but most of the spells he was trying to cast didn't really respond to that reason.

The week that had started with him stuck with Ron all day had been a difficult one, not least because he had somehow had to find the time to read the transfiguration information he had missed in the lecture and work extra hard to achieve 200 points. Somehow, he still didn't quite know how, both he and Ron had scraped through.

This week the pass mark had risen to 250 after having been at 200 for a few weeks, and Harry felt the pressure – he had been achieving close to 250 for the past fortnight, but had still to top that elusive number as the tasks had become so much more challenging.

Still, he felt that if he tried, he stood at least the glimmer of a chance.

Neville sat beside him, and next to him Ron settled. The number of trainees left had shrunk and was now at 39.

“250, eh?” Neville said, aiming for calm but sounding distinctly nervous.

“Yeah.”

Neither Ron nor Harry elaborated, both were feeling that same curling tension.

Sach entered alone, which was unusual. He looked at the smaller group and nodded as though he had been expecting the group to be this small from the very first week.

“We're doing something different this week,” he said and ignored the slightly wary looks his audience gave him. “You'll be spending this week in the field dealing with real life problems as they occur. Oh, and you won't be leaving here all week so if you have someone you need to contact, do so now.”

There were mutterings of dismay at his words. Harry felt his heart drop. Snape. He was going to miss seeing Snape three times! Quickly he dug into the mokeskin pouch for the blue piece of parchment.

Harry scrabbled for his quill too and wrote quickly.

Dear sir,

Sorry but I won't be able to make it at all this week – we have a week long test and are not going home!

Harry wanted to put something else, something to show his genuine regret but could think of nothing, so just added his name underneath,

Harry

The reply came as he was putting the quill and ink away:

Harry,

I quite understand. It is annoying as I am sure you were eager to continue your wandless training; however, the Auror programme must come first.

Look after yourself, and as Moody would have said, “Constant Vigilance”

Severus

Harry stared down at the names on the sheet. Harry, Snape had called him Harry, and he'd signed his first name. Snape had never done that before and it made Harry's heart leap.

Shaking himself out of his daze as Sach gave a meaningful cough, he stuffed the paper in the pouch (deliberately not wiping the message off) and focused on the wizard.

“Today you will be awarded the usual score for your emergency kit. After that you will be divided into three groups and sent to one of three fields. You will survive there, avoiding detection by Muggles, repelling Dark magic attacks, and hopefully helping anyone who needs it. At the end of the week you will be given your final total for this task, out of 280.”

Ben apparated into the room and between them the wizards separated the trainees according to their surnames. For some odd reason, lots of the candidates had surnames beginning with 'L' so Williams dealt with them and a few other letters, and Dubhshláine had the majority of the alphabet to see to. Neville, therefore, ended up talking to Ben while Ron and Harry stood uneasily together, waiting for Sach to call them forward.

Harry had noticed that one wizard had been sent home, presumably to fetch the emergency kit that hadn't been on his person. He hoped that both Neville and Ron had their kits as he couldn't help feeling that failing to have one on you was not a great start to the test!

“Potter,”

Harry went forward and at Sach's nod, opened the pouch and let all of its contents empty onto the table.

Ben glanced over at the pile of items before turning back to Meghan Les Prevost.

Sach Dubhshláine raised his eyebrows at the heap. “Feel free to explain all this,” he said.

Harry talked him through all the things he had, proudly showing off the map, his new wand, the Muggle equipment, and the potions. Sach looked a little dazed by the end of it but wrote a number on his clipboard and gestured for Harry to put everything away. Yearning to see what mark he had been given, Harry angled himself as he tidied up, hoping to catch a glimpse of what had been written. He thought he saw a zero and hoped that that meant he'd either got 10 or 20, rather than nothing!

He left the hall and passed into another room where those who had already displayed their kits were waiting. Neville joined him after about ten minutes, and Ron was one of the last through nearly twenty minutes later.

The two wizards joined them and set about dividing them into three groups: A to K were group one and departed at once, L surnames were group two and left once they had all been gathered together, and the last group, made up of M to Z were huddled together and sent through the archway onto their field.

Before they were sent off, they had all been told that the task was an individual one, and they would each be sent to a different part of the field. So when Harry walked through, he wasn't surprised to find himself alone in a clearing surrounded by forest. He was pleased with his base as the clearing had a small stream meandering through it and a patch of grass big enough for him to pitch his tent. He did so, casting the spells he had become so adept at whilst out camping with Ron and Hermione, and then prowled round the immediate area, checking for places where an ambush could happen, or where he could hide.

Nothing happened for several hours.

In his house, Snape glanced down at the experimental potion he had made. There was a faint tingling in his fingers that told him that this was it; this was the correct mixture! Excited, he made sure he had written down every last ingredient, mixing instruction, and stewing times. The brew was the exact shade of Harry's eyes, something that he found both ironic and a little unsettling.

He hadn't given a thought to what Lily might have said had she learned of Snape's fascination with her son. Snape felt a twist in his gut – if Lily had still been alive, would he even be interested in Harry or would his devotion to her still blind him to any other person? Snape hoped that he would have been attracted to Harry regardless but he just couldn't be sure. Still, this potion, and the accompanying spell would give Harry and whomever he chose to spend his life with the chance for happiness and possibly even allow them to avoid a stay in Azkaban!

Snape felt sure the potion was correct, but he did still need to test it, and that was rather a problem. But suddenly he thought of an idea, if only he could convince Kingsley to allow him to speak to the two witches still awaiting their trial. With this thought in his head, he apparated to the Ministry.

In the atrium he spoke to a welcomer and explained that he wished to speak to two prisoners. After a few minutes to-ing and fro-ing he was allowed to write a memo to Kingsley who, Snape was assured, would receive it almost at once.

Irritated at the delay, Snape waited impatiently, watching the people rushing past, all hurrying and busy. He wondered how much was actually achieved by all these scurrying people. Like many in the business of governing, they too often seemed to mistake being busy with actually accomplishing anything.

A light purple paper aeroplane flitted across the space and hovered in front of him. He took it and opened it, glad to have received an affirmative. With the evidence of Kingsley's permission in his hands, he was directed to the prison level where he would be able to find Yolanda Wight and Beth Draconis caged in neighbouring cells.

The prison level, although never mentioned by the lift, was a large area and unlike most prisons was light and airy. There was no sense that this place was intended for punishment, how could there be, as anyone housed here had not yet had a trial and so was, technically, still innocent.

He walked along the corridor, already sure he knew which cells he needed. From one cell a hand stuck out and was held by the occupant of the cell next door.

“Miss Wight. Miss Draconis,” he said courteously.

Yolanda Wight glowered at him, she was a dark witch with eyes almost black like his, and a scowl marring what would otherwise have been pleasant features. Beth Draconis he knew, having taught her some years before. She was gaping at him, a little scared.

Grunting a little, Snape lowered himself to the ground wishing he could have conjured a chair. It had been made clear to him by the guard outside that he would have to leave his wand behind if he wanted to go and speak to any prisoners. He addressed himself to Beth, knowing she would have had some unhappy memories of him.

“Miss Draconis, I am sure you recognise me. However, for the benefit of your partner I will introduce myself: I am Severus Snape. I taught at Hogwarts some years ago and since then have been living in seclusion working on a solution to the problem that vexes you and grieves me also.”

“What problem?” Yolanda had a slight accent, something that sounded vaguely from a Caribbean island; it was a musical sound and reminded Severus of hot summer days.

“Miss Wight,” Snape checked that there was no-one within earshot, “much like yourself, I have an attraction to someone of my own gender. Now, I am all too familiar with the law, and more importantly, I understand why the law forbidding same sex relations was first instigated. Perhaps you were unaware that if you two coupled and became pregnant, you would be free of any wrong doing. It is because you, and I, want what the wizarding world thinks of as fruitless relationships that you are both here now.”

Yolanda looked a little less mistrustful. “For that to happen, we would still have needed some sperm, and I want a child that is ours, not mine and some random man's.”

“Admirably put,” Snape said, “that is my feeling in the matter. And that is what I have been working towards. With the casting of a particular spell, and by taking a potion, I believe I have found a way for two people of the same gender to conceive a child that is jointly theirs.”

Beth gasped. “Sir?! You think that possible?!”

Snape nodded his head. “I feel sure I am right; however, the potion is untested. If I could use one or both of you to help me with this, I would be forever grateful.”

Yolanda looked deeply into his dark eyes. “We'd be able to get out of here. What would you get out of it?”

Snape settled his aching back against the stone wall and asked for their help. “Neither I nor any male partner I have can physically carry a child. I can arrange for two males to combine their essences, but they would still need a woman in which to carry the fetus to term.”

It was Beth who spoke. “If we test this potion, you want us to carry a child for you?”

Severus was still for a long moment. Finally he said quietly. “Me, or for another man.”

“Who?” that was Yolanda, quick to suspect.

“At the moment I would rather not say, as he knows nothing of this. However, I promise you that he is a good man. Far more so than I could ever be.”

He left them then, giving them time to discuss everything between them. He knew that they would be risking much, and were taking a huge chance by offering their wombs at some unspecified later date for some unspecified other man. There was not much to hold his attention on the corridor, other than his own maudlin thoughts. He was doing all this so that Harry could one day have children. Severus longed to be allowed to share in that with the younger wizard, but he was doing all this and would gift Harry with the ability to have offspring, even if the trainee Auror chose a far more suitable man to share his life.

It was more than a little depressing to feel that once again his deep connection – he would never have termed it love – was likely to remain unrequited.

He tried to stop the circling depression, staring blindly at the stone walls. He remained like that, his back turned, until he heard Yolanda's raised voice.

“Snape?”

He hurried back to them, schooling his face into its usual mask of calmness. There was no way he could allow the tumult he felt to show.

Beth spoke, “We'll do it.”

Yolanda added quickly, “Once we're out of here, we can draw up the proper agreements to protect us all.”

Snape nodded, so grateful that some of it showed in his eyes, even though he had thought he had himself firmly under control.

“Thank you. Thank you both. So much,” his voice cracked a little.

Harry was lying in his tent, wondering what the next mini test would be. So far he had helped a lost 'Muggle' and avoided a crowd of 'Muggle' football supporters, supposedly coming home from a match rather the worse for wear.

It was night now, and he listened to the flutterings of birds overheard and the snufflings of animals near by. He had nothing to fear from them and snuggled down into his sleeping bag, wondering how the rest of the trainees were faring. Without somewhere to sleep he imagined many of them were going to be spending rather miserable nights. Not for the first time, Harry felt unbelievably smug that he'd thought to include a tent and sleeping bag in his emergency kit.
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Harry Potter and the Expert Potions Master