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The Potion for All Potential


Sirius sat beside James as he was working on following the instructions that Professor Slughorn had written out on the blackboard. Sirius wasn’t really doing any of the work - James was doing a good deal of it - Sirius was too busy watching Remus’s back at the table in front of him. Remus kept his attention very closely on finely chopping the gotu kola leaves for the blue reversal potion, and being careful not to look in Sirius’s direction at all.

Up front of the room, Slughorn was leaning back in a plush arm chair he’d conjured and smoking a pipe, puffing rings into the air and watching them float toward the ceiling. While wrapped in his green velvet smoking jacket he resembled something of an unripened watermelon hull. James had written this comparison on the margin of the parchment they’d copied the ingredients list onto for going to the storeroom and been most disappointed when Sirius had only paid it the slightest bit of attention.

“Back in my day,” Slughorn droned, “We never would’ve dreamed of dyeing the entire school blue!” He’d been talking for the two hours they’d already spent in the potions classroom very nearly non-stop, telling some of the most fantastically boring stories about Hogwarts back in his day and how proper everything had been way back then.

“Bet back in his day Binns was still alive!” hissed James to Sirius.

“Yeah, ha…” Sirius sort of half-laughed.

James sighed. He grabbed a bit of parchment and scribbled the word HE’S SORRY ALREADY and folded it into a paper aeroplane. He bit his tongue, looking to be sure Slughorn was busy with his long-winded talk and not watching what the students were doing, and haucked the note across so that it hit Remus right in the ear.

Remus made a face, taking it out of his ear hole and glaring back at James in disapproval, then unfolded the note. He stared down at it for a long moment, glanced back at James and Sirius, who gave him a pleading look, then turned back around, balling up the parchment and dropping it on the floor.

Sirius’s face crumpled and his shoulders sagged.

James sighed.

The door to the classroom opened and Severus Snape walked in, taking several strides across the room before spotting the four Gryffindors at the tables. He stopped dead in his tracks the moment he had. “I… sorry,” he stammered, “I’ll… I’ll come back later.”

“Nonsense!” called Slughorn, struggling against his bulbous belly to sit up. “This is our time! These boys won’t mind… Will you, boys?”

James nudged Sirius to get his attention. “Not at all, Professor!” James chimed. He grinned wickedly at Severus. “Remedial Potions, ‘ey, Sni-- Severus?” he caught himself just before using their little nickname for him.

“Quite the opposite, Severus is taking some advanced potion making lessons with me.” Slughorn smiled and waddled to the table to James’s left.

“Oh - advanced potion making,” James said snarkily, “Aren’t we clever?”

Severus stood quite still, trying to think of a way -- any way -- to get out of going any further into the classroom. He wondered if he could pull off a silent vomiting spell on himself that could possibly get him sent to the hospital wing - although, the way his stomach was churning, he might not need the spell to induce it.

Slughorn waved for Severus to come forward. “Come on, my boy, we haven’t got all day!”

Numbly, feeling as though his feet had turned to lead, Severus walked forward slowly. “Sorry I’m… a bit late…” he murmured, careful to walk a wide path around James’s table. He could feel James watching him from behind, his heart rate picked up quite a lot. He stepped up to the table, where Slughorn was organizing the ingredients he’d collected.

“Not to worry - not to worry,” Slughorn said merrily. “Now, I know I ought to have you help the boys here with the reversal potion but that’s far too easy for your skillset!”

Severus noticed James’s eyes narrow at these words and Slughorn’s lips twitched just a tad. Severus blinked up at Slughorn.

Ought to chap that haughty attitude in the bud, that will! Slughorn was thinking.

Severus smirked. Slughorn was on his side. Slughorn knew what a blighter James was and he was purposely making remarks about how good Severus was just to make James jealous - well that was rich! Severus suddenly felt a great fondness for the old Potions Master, and he swelled with self-esteem, grinning widely up at Slughorn as he went on, “I thought we’d try something a bit fun, in light of everything going on lately... This potion is something we don’t particularly teach at Hogwarts seeing as, like it’s more advanced sister the Felix Felicius, this draught is frowned upon for use in major sportsing events and educational tests. Buuuut, seeing as you’re not one for Quidditch and we are quite a ways out from your exams, I thought perhaps it might be something you’d like to learn... It’s called The Potion of All Potential.”

From the corner of his eyes, Severus saw James was watching them rather intently, abandoning his work on the remedy.

“The Potion of All Potential is a very curious, very exciting little brew,” Professor Slughorn said, “And it’s effects are quite wonderful. The potion itself is somewhat simple, as I said already. It’s only got these four ingredients, and you can put them into the cauldron in any order or fashion you like - though the brew will know if you’ve done your very best work and will react accordingly… If done with the finest care, the resulting potion must be incanted over using any wand motion you wish to use - and upon drinking, the potion will bring out one’s very best potential for one full day.”

“One’s best potential?” Severus asked, confused.

“Yes,” Slughorn said, “The things you are naturally good at, you will excel at, for example. Everything you do will be done to the very best of your abilities. It’s not necessarily lucky, it’s simply the best of your ability.”

Severus set to work on the Potion of All Potential, and after a while of watching him carefully slicing, dicing, mixing, and stirring, Slughorn turned to check on the other four and their progress with the remedy. James quickly started chopping his leaves again as Sirius stirred the bright blue liquid in their pot. “Very good, very good,” Slughorn murmured, looking into the pot that sat between Peter and Remus. Peter hadn’t done a thing except read the instructions outloud to Remus - which was what Remus had requested. Slughorn nodded, “That batch is nearly ready, very good… Perhaps some of the residents of this castle shall get to be their natural states by bedtime!”

“Thank bloody Hell,” whispered James.

Slughorn stepped ‘round and looked into James and Sirius’s pot as James dumped the leaves he’d just chopped up in and Sirius stirred counter-clockwise. Slughorn appeared a little concerned, “Hmm,” he murmured, watching the leaves sort of pathetically float about before sinking below the bubbling, slightly darker shade of blue liquid. “Interesting,” he said.

“Interesting?” James asked, “Isn’t it good?”

Slughorn put a finger into the potion and lifted it to his lip, taking the tiniest taste. James waited expectantly, hoping Slughorn’s skin might turn but nothing happened. Slughorn hesitated, “Did you remember the berry of siam?” he asked.

James looked at Sirius.

Sirius’s face turned pink. “Oh no.”

James groaned and leaned down against the table. “You had one job.”

“I’m sorry!” Sirius whined.

Severus smirked into his pot, carefully adding the last of the ingredients for his Potion of All Potential. At least his potion was turning out alright. Perhaps the Potion for All Potential began working as soon as one set their minds to creating it, he thought smugly, for he certainly felt as though he were doing some incredible work. And what timing! To be succeeding so greatly in front of the Gryffindor boys like this -- it was everything he’d dreamed of.

Especially when they were failing.

Slughorn waved his wand over the cauldron, drying it up, and James looked ready to cry.

Remus ladled out the potion he had brewed into about a hundred teensy little vials very carefully and set itty bitty corks into the necks of them each. When he’d finished filling them, he looked up at Professor Slughorn.

“Excellent.” Slughorn counted off six of the vials from the tray, handing one to each of the four Gryffindors, one to Severus, and uncorking one himself. “To going back to normal,” he said, raising his little vial to.

“Or something like it!” agreed James.

They all downed the potion quickly - except Severus, who held his and watched the others for a moment to be sure none of them exploded in a roost of chicken feathers or something of that sort. Knowing those four, one could never tell. But they each simply lost the blue hue to their skin, and so he took his down in one go.

As the others were packing up, Slughorn went over to inspect Severus’s brew of the Potion of All Potential and smiled as he watched Severus’s spoon swivel through the lovely shimmery potion. “Excellent!” he said, and he pulled a vial from his pocket and ladled some in before handing it over to Severus. “There we are, Mr. Snape,” he said, “One day’s worth of your full potential. Use it wisely.” He winked, then waved his wand, and the potion in the cauldron had disappeared. “Now off you go.”

In the corridor, Remus had gone on with his crutches to battle with the stairs, not wanting any of their help in his sour mood. Sirius was staring after his mate with a sad expression in his eyes, not listening to James. This left a void for Peter Pettigrew to fill in as James’s sidekick and it was something he was rather keen to succeed at - perhaps if Sirius remained all moody and unattentive then James could be his mate, and they could laugh the same way that Sirius and James did! So when Severus came out of the classroom, his potions book under his arm and the little bottle of Potion of All Potential in his fist, Peter snickered, “Snivellus Snape, the filthy favorite of the potion master! Do you reckon the sweat pouring off your giant nose helped out in making your potion better?”

Severus frowned, but ignored the jeer and turned to walk off to the Slytherin common room.

“C’mon Peter,” James said, chuckling, “Let Snivellus be, he’s probably very tired. After all, ol’ Sluggy just gave him a very complicated, very advanced potion to make - put the ingredients in in any order you want! What a load of tosh. Probably just made a fancy mess.” James pulled Peter off down the corridor.

Severus looked down at the vial and then back toward the now closed office door of Horace Slughorn for a moment before storming off to his dorm.

Meanwhile, the other three had already caught up to Remus, who was slowly making his way up the grand staircase. He sighed in frustration and threw down the crutches, hot tears in his eyes as he sat down on the step. Sirius sat beside him, tossing his arm over his shoulder. Remus shrugged him off as James and Peter caught up. “Are you alright?” Sirius asked lowly.

“I’m just really bloody sick of being the broken one,” Remus said thickly. “I’m always the ruddy broken one.” He ran his fist over his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sirius asked quietly.

Remus shook his head, “I’m the wolf so once a month I’m sick and weak and pathetic. I break my own damn leg and so I’m slow and weak and pathetic. I’m always bloody weak and pathetic!”

“You aren’t pathetic!” chimed in Peter.

Remus looked up, “Just… you three go on without me, I’m staying here a bit. I gotta go out to the bloody shack tonight anyway. Just leave me here.”

James hesitated and drew a deep breath, letting his hand set on Remus’s shoulder, and the he nodded to Peter and Sirius to come along. Peter did, running up the steps quickly ahead. Sirius shook his head though, waving for James to go on without him. He turned back to Remus, leaning forward to look at his face as the sound of James and Peter’s footsteps echoed away up the stairs.

“Rey… I know you’re cross with me, but….I really am sorry, first off, about Regulus. I really didn’t tell him anything about… you know. Your furry little problem.” He put his hand on Remus’s shoulder again. “Regulus’s elf, Kreacher, he stole some letters from my room over summer. All my letters. I saved them because… because like to read them over again and again. Even the bad stuff because it’s something you wrote and… and I dunno, sometimes it just makes me feel better to hold a bit of parchment and know that somewhere at some point you’d held it too. I know that’s silly but… it helped… and those letters meant a great deal to me and he stole them and now he’s using them against me… blackmailing me, sort of… He’s quite terrible, but then he learned from the most terrible, my parents…” Sirius paused, realizing he was sort of rambling on a bit. He took a deep breath, “I just… I’m sorry, Rey. I didn’t mean to ever, ever betray you. I would never tell anyone your secret, ever. I’ll take it to my grave. Anything you tell me to keep a secret I will.”

Remus was staring at his hands on his knees. He sighed heavily, “I know that deep down.”

Sirius put his arm ‘round Remus again. “You mean the world to me, mate. I just want you to be safe and get to have all the experiences that we all do.”

Remus worried his thumbs a bit against one another. “Well see, that’s exactly what I’m upset about, though, isn’t it?” he asked. He looked up at Sirius, “I hate that everyone has to protect me all the damn time. I wish I could be the protector - just once.”

“You protect us all quite a lot.”

“I don’t.”

“You do! How many times would James and I have not been able to pass in homework? Or how many times would Peter have failed an assignment without your help?” Sirius asked, “You’re saving us all the bloody time!”

Remus had tears falling over his cheeks. “That’s not what I mean.”

Sirius reached up and wiped the tear off Remus’s face, “It’s no less important.”

Remus closed his eyes as Sirius’s thumb carried off the tears.

“Are we okay?” Sirius asked.

Remus nodded.

Sirius reached his arm over Remus’s shoulder. “Oh thank Merlin,” he laughed and he hugged Remus all the tighter. “I dunno what I’d bloody do without you, Moony, I was going mad with you ignoring me in there. I think I understand why James goes so mental when Lily ignores him! It’s a horrible feeling!”

Remus laughed, looking up toward the large vaulted windows. “I better go, actually, speaking of being moony.” He struggled to stand up, “Good thing I didn’t try to keep on... I wouldn’t have made it to Gryffindor tower before it was time to head back down here at this rate.” He shrugged the crutches under his arms.

“I’ll help you out to the Shack,” Sirius suggested, getting up, too.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to,” Remus said.

Sirius shook his head, “I want to. Besides, I was coming out there later on anyway, remember?” He shrugged, “Just… I’ll keep you company a bit before now, too.” He smiled, “C’mon. You know you don’t want to try to get through that blasted tunnel alone!”

It was true, he didn’t. Remus smiled, “Alright.”