The Masks' (A Severus Snape Story)

Sleeping Draughts Only Put You To Sleep. You Can Still Dream.

I watched entranced as a silver doe materialized. It looked at me as I walked forward. It came forward meeting me halfway and nuzzling my outstretched hand. My eyes were glazed over with the beauty of the lone doe. Its blue eyes looked sad and I pet down its neck. I gasped as it ran through my body disappearing out of the room.

I stood for a moment surprised at my reaction. It had just entranced me the pull of the beautiful creature. I shook my head quickly, dispelling the rest of the entrancing happy thoughts of a pretty bouncing red headed girl that had come so suddenly to my mind when I touched the animal.

“Is that what you think about when you cast the spell?”

***

“What?” He asked confused.

“That girl,” I caught an edge of a memory and found her name. “Lily Evans?”

“How?”

“When I touched your patronus the memory, of a pretty twirling girl in the sun, came into my mind. The memory was filled with love,” I explained.

He made no move to say anything and I understood.

“I’m sorry, I think I crossed a line, I shall leave, goodnight professor Snape,”

I left back to my room going straight to Pippin. I grabbed a mouse and gently tossed it to her. I sat on my bed, sad, because I had no homework. Hmm… I wonder.

I sat on my bed and thought of the spell that Snape had cast.

“Expecto Patronum,” A splash of light lit up my room before dying out. I cursed and tried again. The same thing happened again. Snape thought of a happy memory. Hmm…

I walked into potions, my first class, the next day, dragging my feet as I did so. Sliding into my seat with some care, I set my potions book on the table before I quickly copied the notes. A few short minutes later my head slowly fell down to the desk, finally falling asleep.

As usual it was a dreamless sleep that I couldn’t escape. It was basically just like I was sitting in the middle of an empty realm. I remembered the first time I had been like that. I had tried to escape now I just dully sat there staring around. It was the state between actually sleeping and being awake. It kept me from feeling fully refreshed in the morning but it also helped me for when I was sleeping on the run.

My head jerked up as there were vibrations on my desk and a loud smacking sound.

“Yes. Sir?”

I burst out staring into the midnight eyes.

The whole class laughed and I flushed minutely.

“What is Sleeping Draught?” He asked glaring at me. Dang he was in a bad mood today.

“Sleeping Draught? Umm. It’s used to put people to sleep, duh,” He glared at me. Obviously being sarcastic wasnot helping me out. I was trying my hardest to remember what exactly Sleeping Draught was. “It causes to drinker to fall into a deep sleep.

Instructions for brewing this potion can be found in Advanced Potion-Making starting on page 10, but the textbook's uncorrected instructions do not cover the most effective way of squeezing the juice out of the sopophorous beans which is crushing with the flat side of a silver dagger rather than cutting and do not indicate that a clockwise stir should be added after every seventh counter-clockwise stir. While brewing, the potion releases blue steam. The ideal halfway stage should be of a blackcurrant colour, a deep purple, although at a later stage if stirred properly the potion will turn a light shade of lilac and then, eventually, clear as water,” I concluded dully.

“Thank you, Miss Dearborn, and if I catch you sleeping in my class again detention for the rest of the week,” I heard a few Gryffindors snicker and I turned, fixing them with a death glare and they shut up. For not getting noticed I sure knew how to scare people.

“Whatever,” I said, bored.

“I told you last year, need I remind you again, you will not get special treatment here!” He bellowed back.

“Sure, Sure,” I shook my hand in the air, my eyes sliding closed again.

“Make your potion!” I numbly got up, heading towards the cupboard when I heard the man who was currently making my life hell walk up behind me.

“Why are you so tired today, Miss Dearborn,” He said, effortlessly making it seem like he was giving me trouble.

“I’ll show you later,” I said grabbing the last thing I needed and heading back to my desk. I set it all out into the even piles and by which way I would add them as usual.

“Now, Miss Dearborn,” Oh My Goodness! I groaned, exasperated and glared at him. He smirked at me and continued on. “What are the ingredients you have?”

“Well, professor Snape, I have with me to make this glorious potion Asphodel in an infusion of Wormwood. I also have Valerian roots and Sopophorous Beans,” I answered sweetly.

“Very good, I hope you were all copying down what she said. Go grab what you need,”

I sat down and brewed the potion quickly. I poured some into a vile and put it on the desk. At the end of it I put my head down falling, for once, into another dreamless sleep but this time I couldn’t hear anything going on around me. It was so pleasant.