The baker and the potion master

Chapter seventeen: tunneling to the hearts of the nightmares

In the midnight gloom, Severus stood outside Grimmauld Place. He hadn't been back to this mausoleum since the War. It loomed in the dark, a relic of another time. Severus didn't agree with Black about much, but he hated this house as much as the late Marauder had. A heavy potions bag hung at his side. Knuckles rapped against the stout door. The knocks echoed through the cavernous house, tolling his presence.

The door opened a small crack. Red hair peeked around the frame, followed by a weary freckled face. Weasley pulled the door open wide, ushering Severus in with a gesture. "Thank Merlin that you're here, sir."

Severus entered the foyer, finding the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black eerily silent. The garish woman howled noiselessly, her face red with the efforts to be heard. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. She leaned forward, her mouth open wide in a mute screech. Severus turned towards Weasley, his eyebrow arched.

"Someone should have silenced that overbearing witch ages ago."

"Harry needs sleep." Weasley shrugged. "She is persistent about shouting."

"Potter, he is upstairs, yes?" Severus asked, glancing towards the stairs.

"Yes, sir." Weasley glanced up the stairs, a troubled frown crossing his lips. He bit them. "It was a bad outburst this time."

"Tell me about it. In detail," Severus said. He waved a hand towards the living room. "Before I see him, I'll need to know just what happened."

Weasley sat down on the worn sofa, his head bowed. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Weasley lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes meeting Severus'. "I gave Harry his nighttime dose just like you instructed. He was fast asleep ten minutes later. Everything was fine. He was out cold. I stayed nearby to make sure he would be alright. Two hours later, he was thrashing in the bed. His magic flared so much I could see an aura around Harry. He cried out. His magic threw me against the wall." A dark bruise mottled Weasley's jaw. Purple and black, it curled up towards his right ear. "After that, he woke up and started sobbing. It took me fifteen minutes to get him to go back to sleep this time. He's been sleeping ever since, but he keeps tossing and turning, sir."

Severus sat still in a chair across from the young man. Fists balled at his sides. He took a deep breath through his nose, holding it. Letting it go slowly, Severus allowed himself to become clinical, detached. He couldn't let his emotions enter into the equation. He had to remain objective if he had any hope of helping Potter with these outbursts and nightmares. None of this should have happened while he took this potion. He would have to assess the doses he provided Weasley to ensure that he hadn't somehow brewed the potion incorrectly. It was a difficult potion that required exact precision in each step. Any deviation and it wouldn't work right. If that wasn't the problem, he'd have to rule out other issues. Checking things off on a list in his head allowed him to center himself. He'd be no help to Potter any other way.

"Anything else that you can recall?"

"No, sir. That's what happened." Weasley bit his lip. He glanced away, sighing. He didn't have to say anything. Guilt rolled off of him in waves. The young ward maker blamed himself for pushing Potter to this, causing his magical instability. He slammed a fist into the armrest before leaning forward, head bowed in defeat.

"Potter's magic was going to become unstable at some point. It was only a matter of time. Anything could have triggered it." Severus didn't have time for platitudes or couched reassurance. "Having him be your anchor was not what caused this. It was just the last straw on something building for a long time, possibly since the War. If not that, something else would have."

Hands clenched on knees. A terse nod confirmed that the young man had heard him. A shaky breath caused a shudder to ripple through the tall frame. Abruptly, Weasley shoved to his feet. He said, "Harry's up in the master."