Love Conquers All

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Severus' POV

<"Who are you calling a git, Potter?">

I smirk as Potter kept staring at me with his mouth open. "Shut your mouth boy before flies get in!" He closes his mouth and stands up, still looking at me. "You came back! Thank you sir!" He said with a smile on his face. I sneered, "I didn't come back for you Potter! I returned because of Hermione. If what you said is true, then she indeed doesn't have long. She won't survive plainly on potions. In time, her body will reject them and she will die."

"Will you be able to brew the potion sir?"
"Yes. However, the potion is a very complicated one. It can only be potent on the full moon. Otherwise, its useless."
"But the full moon has already passed." I pinched the bridge of my nose, already losing my patience. "I know that Potter! We have less than a month before the next full moon. The potion takes at least three weeks to brew. And it will take a few days to acquire the needed ingredients."

"So what are we waiting for?" Potter said. Hm, maybe this boy isn't so insolent after all. Just then, the doors of the infirmary were pushed open rather forcefully. Minerva came in with a scowl on her face. "Severus Tobias Snape!" Oh no. "How dare you leave! How dare you leave without even saying goodbye! How dare you come back to life and just leave us again!" She pulled out her wand and cast several hexes my way. I swiftly blocked them with my wand and waited for her to calm down. Minerva is a strict instructor but a sweet, caring witch. Until she gets upset. After a few minutes of her attacking me, she finally calmed down and lowered her wand. Her eyes glistened with tears threatening to fall. I hid my wand and slowly made my way towards her. "Minny. I apologize for abruptly leaving. Forgive me?" Out the corner of my eye i saw Potter gape like a fish. I guess hearing me apologize or show emotion was still something new to him. "Always my boy." Minerva ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my torso then started sobbing on my robes. I'm not used to this kind of physical contact so i awkwardly wrapped my arms around her shoulders and tapped her back lightly. "There there Minny." Aside from Albus, Minerva was the only person i showed my emotions to. After sobbing for what felt like hours, she straightened up and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry for drenching your robes Severus."
"Its understandable."
"Its wonderful to have you back Severus. If you could come to my office, Albus wants a word with you."

I headed for her office, my robes billowing behind me. Minerva stayed behind with Potter. These corridors, so many memories. Some parts of the castle has been destroyed, but this area is surprisingly intact. I reached the gargoyle and said the password. I entered her office and was greeted by the great Albus himself.

"Severus my boy, welcome back! How have you been?" I sneered at the portrait of the old fool, "I've been just peachy."
"I trust that you have gotten my message."
"Obviously."
"You should start as soon as possible Severus. You know time is of the essence."
"Is that all Albus?"
"No, I'm afraid not. You and i both know that the ingredients to this potion are very rare and difficult to find and collect.i have good news and bad news though."
"Spit it out Albus! We're wasting time!"
"Yes yes. The good news is, we have most of the ingredients already here in the castle. I kept them hidden for such an occasion."
"Most? Fine then. What's the bad news?"
"We still lack 3 ingredients. The most difficult of them all."
"So you're telling me that i have less than a month to find and collect these ingredients which we both well know takes months to find. Some even have a timetable when they're going to appear and the exact time when to collect. Its impossible!"
"My dear boy, nothing is impossible. Just difficult. You did it once, you can do it again"
"Need i remind you that it took me 5 years to complete this potion! It took me 5 years just to collect all of the ingredients! How am i supposed to do it again in less than a month?!"
"Ah yes. Remember my dear boy, when you get lost just retrace your steps."
"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Now then, its getting late. You should get back to Miss Granger."

The old fool closed his eyes then went to sleep. Damn him! He knows i don't have much time and yet he talks in riddles. I head out his office and went down to the dungeons to my old lab. Luckily, peeves isn't down here to piss me off even more. I went to my classroom and headed for the storage room. At the far end wall hung a portrait of a flask with a potion. Its charmed to move like a real potion fresh from the cauldron. I took out my wand and cut my finger. I pressed my finger to the base of the flask and it starts to boil. A few moments later, a door appears and opens into my secret lab where i keep my most prized potions and ingredients and of course, books. I go the second shelf on my right and grabbed an old notebook. I opened it and scanned my old works until i found what i was looking for. Time to get to work.