The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 2- Potions Prodigy

Despite his initial first meeting with Lily not going very well, Severus continued to meet up with her over the weeks that followed. And although Sabrina was happy that her brother had made a friend, she was also very jealous of the time that he spent with her.
The two siblings always spent their days together, but with Severus off seeing Lily, Sabrina ended up spending a lot of time alone.
Without her brother around, she also had no one to protect her during her fathers daily rages. As her mother certainly wasn't going to stand up for her.
It was during one of these arguments that Sabrina lost her temper and caused half of the kitchen to explode.

"What on earth happened downstairs?" Asked Severus when he returned from his afternoon with Lily and entered his and Sabrina's bedroom, later that day.
Sabrina was lying on her bed crying, half her face pink and covered in red blisters.
Seeing his sister in pain, Severus immediately ran to her side to check on her injuries.
"Did he do this?" Questioned Severus.

The children often refered to their father as he, because they both dispised him and liked to distance themselves from him, and forget that they were related to such a monster.
"Not exactly. He was shouting at me, so I shouted back. He didn't like that, so he hit me and grabbed hold of my hair. I panicked and made the kitchen explode. I didn't mean to do it, but it just happened and unfortuanetly I was the only one to get hurt in the blast. Mum sent him out of the house so that he could cool down while she repaired everything" revealed Sabrina.

"You shouldn't have made him so angry" sighed Severus.
"I couldn't help it. He was shouting at me, and I wanted to stand up to him" admitted Sabrina.
"You need to keep your temper under control when I'm not here to protect you"
"I know. I wasn't thinking clearly, I didn't mean to do any of it"
"Don't worry about it, just don't do it again. I think I can heal these burns for you. Just wait here while I get the stuff from the shed"
"I'm not going anywhere".

Once he'd made sure that his sister was comfy, Severus ran outside to fetch the ingredients that he needed from the shed.
He then returned to their bedroom and began mixing up a potion, following the steps in the book in front of him.
"You shouldn't be doing that in here. What if he catches you?" Questioned Sabrina nervously.
"He's not here right now, and he hardly ever comes in our room anyway. Besides, you need your burns healed as soon as possible" replied Severus.

"You're going to be better than everyone in your year when you finally get to Hogwarts. Especially at potions, since you've been making them for years already" admitted Sabrina.
Severus smiled smuggly, "I expect I'll be better than just the first years".
"I don't doubt it".
Sabrina winced as she had tried to smile, which had ended up causing her burns to sting even more.

"Just keep still. I'll be done in a minute" instructed Severus.
"O.K... Did you and Lily have fun today?" Asked Sabrina curiously.
"We did. Until we caught Petunia spying on us. I got angry and caused the branch above her to fall and hit her shoulder. This upset Lily who left and ran after her sister"
"Ah... Did you mean to hurt her sister?"
"Not exactly. I was angry and wanted her to leave. I didn't think that Lily would be so upset with me for doing it".

"It seems that both of us struggle to keep our magic under control" sighed Sabrina.
"Yes. Although it will be different when I get my wand, because everything changes then, and you can no longer do magic without one" replied Severus.
"I can't wait to have my own wand"
"Me neither. Using mothers when she doesn't know, is fun. But having my own wand will be a whole new experience".

A few minutes later, Severus stood to his feet, potion in hand, and approached his sister.
"Now, this is going to hurt, so you'll have to be strong and take it, because it is necessary to heal the burns" explained Severus.
"Just get it over with" begged Sabrina.
Severus nodded his head and began to slowly tip the contents of the vial onto the burnt skin on Sabrina's face.

After all the injuries she'd had over years, Sabrina thought she was used to pain. But when the potion touched her skin, she felt like her whole face was on fire.
She clenched her teeth together, stopping herself from screaming out loud, and grabbed hold of Severus' spare hand, squeezing it tight.
"Try not to break the bones in my hand" warned Severus.
"Well have you got anything for the pain?" Questioned Sabrina.

Severus removed his hand from his sisters grasp, and placed the empty vial into the rack on the floor. He then picked up a glass filled with purple liquid and handed it to his sister.
"This should take the edge off" he admitted.
Sabrina took the glass from her brother and downed the hideous liquid.
"That was horrid" she complained.
"Well, it's that, or suffer until the burning sensation stops" sighed Severus, as he sat down on the side of Sabrina's bed.

"What did you and Lily talk about today? Please take my mind of this, until the potion kicks in" Sabrina said through gritted teeth, as she grabbed hold of the dovet and gripped it tight.
"We spoke about Hogwarts, and the Ministry, oh and Dementors" revealed Severus.
"Why would you want to talk about them, they're terrifying?"
"Lily wanted to know about Azkaban, and what would happen if she did something wrong. But I told her that she was good and would never end up there".

"No, from what you've told me about her, I can't imagine she would ever get thrown in Azkaban" agreed Sabrina.
"That's what I said to her... How about I take you to meet her, once you've healed?" Suggested Severus.
"Really? You would do that?" Gasped Sabrina.
"I did promise you that I would introduce you to her. You'll be healed in a few days, but I think I'll bring you along with me some time next week, once I've apologised to Lily for what I did to her sister. Even though her sister should be the one to apologise for what she said to me. But I know I'll have to be the bigger person and tell Lily that I'm sorry, if I want to hang out with her again"
"What did her sister say to you?"
"It doesn't matter"
"Tell me"
"Fine... She insulted my clothes"
"Oh".

"It's not my fault I don't have any nice clothes to wear" grumbled Severus, as he moved over to sit on his own bed.
"No... And if she knew what went on in this house, then she wouldn't be making fun of the things you wear" replied Sabrina.
"Yes, but she's only a Muggle, and I have no intention of telling her anything"
"Does Lily know about what happens here?"
"She knows about some of it"
"Right... It's a good thing we can do magic, or we'd be covered in scars, and it would be impossible to hide the truth about what he does"
"I know. But if we didn't have magic, then maybe he wouldn't need to punish us so much... Not that I'd want to be a filthy Muggle like him"
"Me neither. I love magic, even if I can't always control it".

"You will be able to control it when you're older" promised Severus.
"I hope you're right. It scares me sometimes. Especially earlier when the oven exploded across the room sending sparks flying everywhere" shuddered Sabrina.
"Don't worry about it. Mother has fixed the kitchen. And once you've got a wand then you will be able to control your magic. Trust me"
"Well then, I will just have to hang on and try to keep calm, until I get my wand"
"I know you can do it. I have faith in you"
"Thanks Sev"
"You're welcome Rina".