More Research
Date: Friday, 26 January
Time:
Place: Hogwarts, Snape's lab
Characters Involved: Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom
Rating: Better say PG to be safe, poor Neville!
Severus Snape looked forward to the meeting with Neville Longbottom with conflicting opinions. On one hand, the variations the boy's sap had shown might not only address his original research concerns - things like improved healing of the lycanthropic physical wounds and a soothing of the physiologic restlessness which accompanied the approaching Full Moon, but might also be able to address his newest focus - a relief of the physical agony of the transformation. Yet, on the other hand, he was not eager for the boy to know how important this line of research had become to Severus, out of fear that he might really let the information slip to anyone else!
Severus had been quite serious in that Longbottom would always be of 'interest' to Bellatrix Lestrange until one or the other of them was dead.
And if Bella got her hands on Neville, it would be a lamentably easy thing, indeed, to scoop any secrets whatsoever out of the boy's simple and too-open mind.
If Bella knew Snape was working to help the lycanthropes, it would be a matter of no moment, indeed, for her to use them as a tool to get to him.
This was not a hypothetical theory. It was a fact of how Bellatrix and Snape worked - they both loathed and feared each other in equal degrees, and wasted no moment in grasping at any possible advantage they might have, one over the other.
In such an instance, Neville was both a very dangerous business partner, and yet his best present hope in his current works.
It occurred to Severus that at his pre-Christmas discussion with Miss Granger, she had mentioned knowing a bit of Occlumency. It might be in his best interest to ask her to discuss such a subject with Longbottom - if she could do it without revealing that it was he, Severus, who had suggested the subject.
Such things went through his mind as he prepared for the meeting. He had out his usual 'testing' supplies - clean cauldrons, scales, various clean glass plates for testing the saps with other reactants for stability and the like. He also cleared the space of anything valuable or breakable, lest Longbottom's notorious ineptitude in a Potions lab cause damage to anything left out.
This was completely unfair, of course. Longbottom had not broken or damaged anything in their previous interactions - but Severus was utterly disinclined to be 'fair' where the boy was concerned.
He also was disinclined to play 'gracious host'. No refreshment was made available or would be offered. This was not a social visit, but a business one. Tea and biscuits would just give the boy something to break or to contaminate the samples with.
When all was readiness, he settled himself behind his desk to review his notes on the research, and wait.
Time:
Place: Hogwarts, Snape's lab
Characters Involved: Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom
Rating: Better say PG to be safe, poor Neville!
Severus Snape looked forward to the meeting with Neville Longbottom with conflicting opinions. On one hand, the variations the boy's sap had shown might not only address his original research concerns - things like improved healing of the lycanthropic physical wounds and a soothing of the physiologic restlessness which accompanied the approaching Full Moon, but might also be able to address his newest focus - a relief of the physical agony of the transformation. Yet, on the other hand, he was not eager for the boy to know how important this line of research had become to Severus, out of fear that he might really let the information slip to anyone else!
Severus had been quite serious in that Longbottom would always be of 'interest' to Bellatrix Lestrange until one or the other of them was dead.
And if Bella got her hands on Neville, it would be a lamentably easy thing, indeed, to scoop any secrets whatsoever out of the boy's simple and too-open mind.
If Bella knew Snape was working to help the lycanthropes, it would be a matter of no moment, indeed, for her to use them as a tool to get to him.
This was not a hypothetical theory. It was a fact of how Bellatrix and Snape worked - they both loathed and feared each other in equal degrees, and wasted no moment in grasping at any possible advantage they might have, one over the other.
In such an instance, Neville was both a very dangerous business partner, and yet his best present hope in his current works.
It occurred to Severus that at his pre-Christmas discussion with Miss Granger, she had mentioned knowing a bit of Occlumency. It might be in his best interest to ask her to discuss such a subject with Longbottom - if she could do it without revealing that it was he, Severus, who had suggested the subject.
Such things went through his mind as he prepared for the meeting. He had out his usual 'testing' supplies - clean cauldrons, scales, various clean glass plates for testing the saps with other reactants for stability and the like. He also cleared the space of anything valuable or breakable, lest Longbottom's notorious ineptitude in a Potions lab cause damage to anything left out.
This was completely unfair, of course. Longbottom had not broken or damaged anything in their previous interactions - but Severus was utterly disinclined to be 'fair' where the boy was concerned.
He also was disinclined to play 'gracious host'. No refreshment was made available or would be offered. This was not a social visit, but a business one. Tea and biscuits would just give the boy something to break or to contaminate the samples with.
When all was readiness, he settled himself behind his desk to review his notes on the research, and wait.