Severus stood over the cauldron working hard on the potion he had been crafting. He didn’t know what more he could do to repay the kindness that the lovely woman had given him. He knew that so much damage was done and there was a small chance that she would come back as the woman he had become friends with but he had to try. He saw the small vial of Phoenix tears that sat safely to the side. It was going to be a long journey to get this potion done. He had written out his instructions very meticulously and knew that if anyone found out it was him that crafted it, well it did not matter as he had been outed as a spy regardless of the mark on his arm.
Carefully he thought back to who Alice had been. The strong kind woman that married a reckless gryffindor. He thought about how she had tried to mend the broken friendship between Lily and Severus but after the uttering of that one accursed word there was little to mend that friendship while in school. So he worked now to bring back his only living friend from school that was not also a death eater. The only friend that told him his choice to be on the dark side was just a choice she hoped he didn’t regret later. Someone who had not judged him until the moment he stepped away and delved into the darkness that was the war.
Severus shook himself slightly as he looked down at his potion. He had to let it simmer now for two hours, Settling in he started to read over other potion ingredients that he could prep beforehand. He started chopping, dicing and mincing a few of the next steps; herbs that would not lose potency while they waited. As he worked he felt that his mind kept wandering as he worked through the cutting of the ingredients.
Allowing himself to think about the past he let his hands continue on with their tasks.
“This is what you get when you try to defend Mudbloods, ungrateful wench that she is,” said one of the upper years as Severus sat there looking at his ruined bag. It would not be able to be repaired with a Repario as it had been an enchanted bag already. It could only be replace and right now he didn’t have the money to replace it. He heard everyone move off as he worked towards cleaning up the mess that he had before him. Sighing as he looked at the potions ingredients that were ruined now. How could he be sure that nothing would be contaminated with ink thus changing the way the items reacted.
Yet another thing that would lead to more cost for him. He growled a bit as he tried to keep the anger tears at bay, it was not going to be a good day that was for sure. He felt a hand come rest on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was before he snapped but all he saw was the lovely Alice with her brown hair falling in waves and her Blue eyes that seemed to understand just what was going on.
“Here, wipe up as much as you can, I will see what I can do about clearing away the ink from some of these notes,” Alice said as she knew that Severus needed his notes. He was one of the more brilliant minds when it came to Potions. She worked for a few moments and smiled as she was able to return pristine notes to him.
“How did you do that?” he asked knowing that it was going to be something he would have to learn on his own eventually. As He stood up to accept his papers. She smiled as she watched him stand up. “Its not much just know the composition of your ink then you can use a spell to determin what is freshly applied and what is not. I just cleared off the freshly applied.” Alice said with a shrug.
“Thank you for saving my notes,” Severus said
“No problem and don’t take their words to heart, you can be friends with whom ever you wish but if you want to remain friends with Lily you might want to come to a truce with James and his friends, No need to attract unwanted attention,” Alice said as she smiled standing up.
“I don’t want to make truce with them, they started this just because I am friends with Lily,” Severus said as he saw Frank walking over.
“I know but you can show you are the more mature party by doing that though, get under their skin but my date is here now so be careful Severus, don’t go looking for trouble,” Alcie said as she carefully went about her date in the snow.
Severus drew himself out of his thoughts. He didn’t need to dwell in the past, not right now, while he had a potion to craft. He looked at the notes then at the potion before him that was simmering. It was ready for one of the ingredients and the last thing he wanted to do was have to scrap this potion when he knew, without a doubt this would be his only chance to make this, He had so much to do and yet he knew that if he let this potion slip away so to would the chance that Alice would come back.
So with deft hands Severus began to add the most critical element one drop at a time. Due to exposure to the cruciatus curse, he had to be precise in the measurements of liquid magic that he had distilled so that it could flood and repair the damage done. Though he had access to it for now, there was not enough that would allow him to reveal this liquid magic to any of the inner circle. So with this one critical moment? Severus was trying to repay all his debt to Alice. He knew that she was a formidable woman and being able to take care of her son and her godson would change the future that he could see brewing. As he thought about what he was doing, he knew that her damage was not nearly as extensive as Frank's and though he wished he could return both parents to the long bottom family, he was not able to brew the same cure for Frank. Not one that would not be toxic in the amount of all the ingredients that would be needed due to how long Barty Crouch and Bellatrix had kept the couple under. The only reason he was able to save Alice from a lifetime of vegetative state was because the duo had been interrupted near the beginning of her torture. That's not to say that her torture wasn't as extreme or as malicious as her husband. It just did not last long enough to do completely irreversible damage.
So with a steady hand Severus added exactly four and a half drops of distilled magic. He let that come to a low slimmer and stirred counterclockwise four times then. Stirred clockwise 2 and 1/2 he tapped the stirring stick along the side exactly eight times. One in each direction. Both cardinal and adjacent. This was to invoke old magic that would allow the distilled magic to settle until it came in contact with the damage done. He knew he had to let it rest for 3 days and then he could bottle only two bottles of this anymore and it would hurt Alice more than it would help. Since he was certified both on the healing board and the potions board, he would be able to get this potion into. Alice, without too much fuss from the hospital staff. They knew that the long-term word became an area that many used with experimental treatments. He also thought to bottle a third to maybe see if a prolonged treatment over many many months might help. Frank recovered some of who he was but he was not sure.
As Severus settled down for the 3-day wait, he felt the chill that the initial news gave him when he heard that. Alice had been held under the curse for so long. While he would never admit to anyone within the death eater ranks she was one of a few people he trusted. She was the only way that he was able to keep tentative contact with Lily.
After the 3-day wait Severus took a moment to bottle as much of the cure as possible. Putting many of them into stasis. He had made sure that this potion would last on the shelf for as long as possible. He had made it in. Crystal, so that impurities were out of the question and above board. He had sunk what funds he had into making this cure. He was now at the mercy of any job he could find and seeing as he had been outed the only place I would take him would be Hogwarts. So bundling up carrying only two potion vials on him. He went to the hospital, stopped down the corridors and found himself before Alice once more.
With hands that wanted to tremble he carefully unstopped the vial and in one motion helped. Alice drink down the potion. He watched waiting with a bezoar in hand just in case the magic tried to make a reaction other than what he was hoping for. Minutes ticked by and he could see the clarity returning to Alice. He held his breath still because until she woke from the trance-like state that the potion kept her in, it was not a sure thing. He saw her twitch and move as if testing her limits. And he saw all at once as the magic settled healing the damage to her mind and soothing her core. Her eye snapped up and stared at him. He put a finger to his lips telling her to be silent. He walked over to her husband and started the process for him as well.
As she watched he distributed the second vial to Frank. Unlike her though, he did not twitch and test, but you could tell a little bit of him returned as his hand seemed to try and find and reach for Alice.
Severus looked at Alice and held up a finger then. Said" it is not perfect and it will take a long time but I believe he can be cured but the cure would become toxic if given all at once. So months must be in between to give his body time to filter the ingredients to where they need to be or out of a system entirely. I will keep them for you and hand you one each month until he is healed. But you cannot tell anyone who has given this to you. It would mean my life." And with that Severus nodded. Alice who sat there shocked but grateful and let him leave.
Alice was so overwhelmed she knew better than to stand. She could tell her muscles were weak. And so she waited until the nurse came in for their hourly rounds. She alerted them that she was back to who she was and an alarm went through the nurses as no one knew who had given the life-saving cure and Alice was not speaking of who it was, only that when she came to she was herself and could tell that time had passed and she was not where she was last.
With rehab, Alice was able to within weeks returned to her son and as the wife to the current lord was able to blaze a path to securing her godson. She also looked in to find out what happened the night that she was attacked. She found that her best friend had been killed and the man that stood as godfather with her to Harry Potter had been locked up as if he was no more than his last name.
With vengeance in her mind she took up the mantle of lady long bottom. Nobody was able to stand against her righteousness and in quick succession her godson was presented to her and his godfather released into her custody. The hunt was on now for the rat that betrayed the potters.