Forever Yours

Chapter 13: Potions, Snitches & Nightmares

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OCs (Katherine, Septimus, Helena, Christoph, Elisa, Henry, Nick, Justin, Kyle, Carlos, Mike, Nurse Canter, Headmaster Jeremy Mickels, Hunfrith, Olwen, Huffie, Sorsek, Bilik, Fossum, Lars, Sven, David Suttington, Darius Prescott, Gerard's, Grace and Zielinski's) are entirely my own.

-------------------------------------------

The morning after their return from Rynek Lane, Severus set himself to work in the lab, while Katherine wandered off to the gardens, with Septimus not far behind.

Katherine and Severus had spent a good part of the night going over the list of potions, solutions and draughts that the hospital needed. And it was quite a list indeed. Pepper-Up Potions, Dreamless Sleep Draughts, Skele-Gro, Strengthening Solutions, Blood Replenishing Potions, and on and on it went. Severus was just thankful for the boy's help the week previous, as he and Septimus cleaned the cellar's lab.

Father and son had spent almost every morning that week, scrubbing caldrons, junking rotten or decaying ingredients and clearing dust that had settled over the two years of vacancy. In only four days, the lab was immaculate. Each older ingredient was inspected before being put back in alphabetical order, along with all the newer supplies. By the time they were all said and done, the lab looked brand new.

The simpler and most used potions were started first. Severus had made these ones thousands of time already, having made them for the hospital wing at Hogwarts. And from that morning on, the small family of three fell into a routine. Severus would wake early and begin brewing, while Katherine would start breakfast. The boy would wake around six-thirty, and to Severus' surprise, would take off on a two mile run each morning, before breakfast.

"Does he always do that?" Severus asked one morning, as he stood, with tea in hand, watching the boy through the kitchen windows. Septimus was just getting back in from his run, five minutes before breakfast was ready.

"Do what?" Katherine asked, as she levitated a plate of bacon to the breakfast table.

"Run," Severus stated. "Every bloody morning he runs. You'd think he be sick of it by now."

"Yes," Katherine chuckled. "But he's been doing it since the summer before his first year. He was so persistent about getting on the Quidditch team that he asked me to let him start training."

"Wouldn't training require a broom?" Severus frowned, as he sat down at the table.

"Not always," Katherine smirked, as she sat down across from him. "Remember how I was in school. I ran and flew every day. Running helps Septimus because of his height. He's tall, yet lanky, which means it will help him in the radius of reach, but it will slow him down otherwise. Most seekers are about five foot five in height, were as Septimus is almost six foot, so even though he's thin, he still weighs a lot more than the rest."

"So he's...what's the word you call it?"

"Conditioning," Katherine smiled. "He's conditioning himself to maintain his normal weight, while making his legs stronger at the same time. The stronger the legs, the stronger the flyer."

"Plus, if I remember right, you ran as a part to relieve stress," Severus smirked, behind his teacup.

"Yes, that too," Katherine sighed. Suddenly the back door opened, revealing a tired and wet sixteen year old. Septimus' t-shirt and shorts were completely drenched with sweat and his white tennis shoes were almost fully brown.

"Hey!" Katherine shouted at him, causing Septimus to stop dead in his tracks. "Shoes off. It rained last night, so they're probably caked full of mud and sand."