A Spot of Luck

Severus thought that he had arrived early for the Advanced Potions class, only to find that two of the tables had already filled with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.  He found a seat at an empty table and surveyed the room.  Not many students qualified to take N.E.W.T. level potions.  He was one of the chosen few who had continued to this level with Professor Slughorn's endorsement.

"You're a natural at potions, Severus!" his Head of House exclaimed as he reviewed his O.W.L. results and approved his sixth year schedule.  "You and Miss Evans were among only four students who achieved an Outstanding on their Potions O.W.L.!"

The mention of Lily's name had made him feel ill.  It had been right after their O.W.L. exams that the worst incident of his life had happened.  In a moment of rage and shame he had called her a terrible, disgusting name.  A name that was now finding more frequent usage among Slytherin students but which was still anathema to the majority of the Hogwarts pupils.  Lily had not forgiven him.  She had not spoken to him since that awful night when she refused to accept his apology and had tearfully but firmly informed him that their friendship was over.  

"I say, Severus, you're already deep in thought and class hasn't started yet!"  Severus looked up at the tall blonde boy who had taken a seat next to him.  A skinny girl who came in with him giggled.  Anthony Greengrass and Patsy Cromwell, two of his Slytherin house mates.  They were both in his year, but he did not know them well.  Anthony was rich and handsome, Patsy was rich and homely.

"I certainly did not expect to see you two here," he replied caustically.  The insult did not have the intended effect; they both regarded him with a mixed look of amusement and disdain.  

"Why aren't you sitting with your little Gryffindor friend?" Patsy asked.  Severus looked up.  Lily was sitting two tables away, arranging her cauldron and scales.  

They had been Potions partners for five years.  This was the first year that she had not sat beside him.
  
His thoughts were interrupted by two latecomers who noisily made their way over to Lily's table.  James Potter and Sirius Black.  Lily scowled at them and moved to the end of the table, as far away from them as possible.  

"Fucking Potter!"  Severus tasted the bile rising into his throat.  His hand instinctively grasped his wand and he slowly rose from his seat…

"Good afternoon, class!" a voice boomed from the front of the classroom.  The massive form of Horace Slughorn strode to the front of the room and faced the students.  "Well, I must say that I am more than pleased to see that all of the Houses are equally represented in Advanced Potions this year!  Not unheard of, but rather unusual!"

Severus glanced at the other students in the room.  There were twelve in all, three from each house.  

"I thought that I would start the class off this year with a different sort of challenge."  At the mention of the word, Severus focused all of his attention on Professor Slughorn.

"You are all brilliant Potions students, so I would like to see the results when a pair of great minds works together.  The prizes will be one hundred points to your respective Houses and a portion of Felix Felicis!"  Professor Slughorn waved his hand towards a copper cauldron.  "Someone care to tell me about the properties of this potion—yes, Miss Evans?"

"It's liquid luck!" Lily exclaimed.  "It brings good fortune to those who drink it!"

"Excellent, Miss Evans!  Ten points to Gryffindor.  Felix Felicis will indeed make one very lucky—for a short period of time.  It should be taken rarely and only in very limited quantities.  Anyone care to tell me why?  Ah, yes, Miss Evans?"

"If someone consumed large quantities of this potion it would make them reckless and overconfident," Lily responded cutting her eyes at James.  "It would instill in them a false sense of invulnerability and seriously cloud their judgment."  

"Correct!  Ten more points to Gryffindor!"  Slughorn beamed at Lily.  "Very difficult potion to brew, Felix Felicis.  However I am willing to share some of this marvelous liquid luck with two fortunate students."

Liquid luck!  Severus stared at the cauldron of Felix Felicis.  One small draught of the potion would grant him luck in even the most difficult endeavor.  One portion would allow him to reconcile with Lily!  He must win the challenge!  Severus glanced over at Lily's table.  James Potter was staring at the cauldron of Felix Felicis intently, his face unnaturally serious.

Severus felt a tightening sensation in his chest.  He must win the challenge by whatever means necessary.

"As I was explaining, I would like to see how you work as teams.  In the interest of fairness, and also to see some House unity, I have taken it upon myself to pre-assign you partners."  Slughorn smiled benevolently and waved his wand with a grand flourish.  A scroll of parchment appeared in his hands.  

"Pre-assigned partners?"  Severus was aghast.  It was a terrible idea!  His past experiences with these arrangements had been disasters.  He was either paired with a lazy sloth who would let him do all of the work and coast on his success or with a bossy martinet who wanted everything done her way, making him fight for an inch of control.

"Flume, you will be working with Snape."  A plump boy in Hufflepuff robes made his way towards Severus' table.

"Not a Hufflepuff!  Shit!"

The boy smiled at Severus and held out his hand.

"Good to be working with you, Severus!  I don't think that we've met before.  I'm Ambrosius Flume.  My friends call me Amby."

"Yes, Ambrosius."  Severus did not take the boy's hand.   Ambrosius' smile faded.  He dropped his hand and shifted nervously, twiddling his wand between his fingers.

"I wonder what type of challenge old Sluggy has set for us?  Imagine winning a phial of Felix Felicitas…"

"Ambrosius!" Severus interrupted.  "Let me make a few things clear if we are going to be Potions partners, thankfully for the limited time of this challenge. I am going to win this challenge.  Losing is not an option.  I hate it when people prattle on about useless things, so don't speak unless it is about something regarding the challenge.  I prefer to work alone, so don't question my methods."  Severus turned away from his partner and focused his attention on Professor Slughorn.

"I've decided to separate the challenge into elimination rounds."  Professor Slughorn smiled, basking in his cleverness and the novelty of the contest.  "The four teams with the best results today will proceed to the second part of the challenge.  The final challenge will be between the two remaining teams."

Severus scanned the other teams.  There were only two which he considered a threat.  Lily was brilliant at Potions and her partner, a Ravenclaw named Wendy Nott, was one of the brightest students in their year.  James was paired with Patsy Cromwell.  She looked elated; he was despondent.  Severus hated James but did not underestimate his intelligence.  He might give the impression that he didn't care for academics, but he was one of those naturally smart bastards who received outstanding grades with minimal effort.  He also wanted to win the challenge as badly as Severus did.  Severus narrowed his eyes and gripped the edge of the table.  Potter must not win.  Not at all!

"Please turn to page fourteen of Advanced Potion-Making.  You will be preparing an Antidote to Common Poisons.  Begin!"

Severus scanned the list of ingredients twice.  He read the instructions through twice as well, committing them to memory.  

"Flume!  Get a bezoar, mistletoe berries, a bag of standard ingredient and a unicorn horn from the supplies cabinet!"   Severus began setting up the scales and the instruments.  They would be using Flume's copper kettle which was more efficient than Severus' standard lead model.  The potion would brew quicker, but there was a catch.  The copper was a better conduit of heat and they would have to watch the temperature and time carefully.  One second under or over the time limit, one degree hotter or colder than specified and the potion would be ruined.  

"Start grinding the bezoar," Severus ordered Ambrosius as he added two measures of standard ingredient to the cauldron.  "Make sure that it is ground to a fine powder—no lumps!"  Soon the cauldron was bubbling.  Severus was about to test the temperature with his wand when Ambrosius pulled a long silver instrument out of his bag and carefully placed it into the cauldron.  He withdrew it, examined it and smiled.

"It's ready!"

"What in the name of Merlin is that?" Severus demanded pointing at the long silver instrument.

"Oh, it's a candy thermometer.  It's much better at getting an accurate temperature than a wand."

"A muggle candy thermometer?"  Severus was incredulous. "This challenge is not a joke!"

"I'm not joking, I'm serious.  I've used it countless times.  Never fails!"

Severus glared at Ambrosius and touched his wand to the potion.  He read the temperature which appeared in glowing numerals at the tip of his wand.  Ambrosius was correct—the potion was ready.  Severus removed the cauldron from the burner and waited for Professor Slughorn to inspect it.

"Let's see what the team of Flume and Snape have prepared!"  Slughorn exclaimed jovially.  He nodded approvingly at the viscous green potion.  He ladled a small amount into a glass of Black Death, a fatal poison.  The black liquid instantly turned clear.

"Brilliant!"  Slughorn exclaimed.  Ambrosius smiled and clapped Severus on the back.  Severus stiffened and stepped away.  He looked at the other teams.  Sirius Black had melted his cauldron.  He was obviously more interested in his pretty Hufflepuff partner than he was in the challenge.   The liquid in James and Patsy's glass was clear, as was the liquid in the crystal container on Lily and Wendy's table.

"The teams of Flume and Snape, Evans and Nott, Cromwell and Potter and Greengrass and Siddiqui will advance to round two tomorrow.  For those of you who did not pass this round, learn from your mistakes.  Observe the winning teams tomorrow.  Practice and experience are the best teachers!  Until tomorrow!"  Slughorn swept out of the room, his dark green robes swirling as he made his way out of the door.

The next day Severus arrived at Potions before Professor Slughorn.  He was eager to begin assembling his equipment immediately so as not to waste time during the second part of the challenge.  He stopped short when he saw Lily standing by the closed classroom door.  She was talking to Wendy and Ambrosius, who was handing out yellow sweets.

"I made these in the kitchen last night.  The House Elves aren't supposed to let students in, but they've allowed me certain privileges—don't tell anyone please!  Let me know what you think.  I call them canary creams."

The girls popped the sweets into their mouths.  They immediately started whistling trilling bird tunes.

"Amby, these are brilliant!  You must give them to Professor Slughorn!" Lily exclaimed.  Wendy nodded in agreement.  Ambrosius blushed.

"I think anything that you whistled would sound sweet, Lily."  Now it was Lily's turn to blush.

"Flume!  Over here!"  Severus snapped.  Ambrosius nodded at the two girls and made his way over to Severus.

"What was that all about?"

"Huh?  I'm friends with Lily and Wendy.  I wanted to ask their opinion on a new magical sweet that I'm developing before I give it to Professor Slughorn."  

"Must I remind you that they are our competitors?"

"So?"  Ambrosius was no longer smiling.

"I would refrain from speaking to them until this competition is over.  You are much too friendly and familiar with them."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you have a big mouth and you talk too much.  I would prefer that you not share our methods with our rivals!"

"I had no such intentions!  You really have a bee up your arse!"  Ambrosius said coldly.  "For your information I want to win this competition!"

"Well, that's one thing that we have in common," Severus retorted.  The door opened and he made his way over to their table.

"Well, let's see what my pleasure will be today!"  Professor Slughorne boomed from the front of the classroom.  "Let it be a surprise, even to me!"  

Professor Slughorn waved his wand over the large Potions tome.  The pages began flipping rapidly back and forth until they came to a stop.

"Draught of the Living Death!  Begin!"

Severus frowned as he read the instructions.  Draught of the Living Death was one of the more difficult and challenging potions to make.  He loved a challenge, but the results would have to be perfect.  Too much was at stake.  He looked up and noticed that Ambrosius had already measured the ingredients and was chopping the valerian roots with swift, skilled precision.  

Severus ran his finger down the page, over the notes that were scrawled in the margins.  Some were in his mother's spidery script, others were his own that he had added over the years.  He unsheathed his silver knife and began crushing the sophorous bean which exuded a satisfying quantity of juice.  He heard a yelp from the adjacent table.  James was attempting to cut up the sophorous bean pursuant to the book's instructions.  The tough skin resisted the knife blade and the bean went flying up into Patsy's left nostril.

"Come take a look at this, Severus.  I think that it's almost ready."  Ambrosius was adjusting the flame under the cauldron.  Severus grabbed the long handled spoon and began stirring counterclockwise, adding a clockwise stir after each seventh counterclockwise stir.  This was a hint that his mother had added to the book years ago when she was a Hogwarts student.  The lilac hued potion turned into the desired pale pink color.  Severus smiled.  It was perfect.

They were finished before the other teams.  Lily's face was as red as her hair as she feverishly stirred the cauldron, mumbling the number of rotations under her breath.  Greengrass and Siddiqui were arguing in heated whispers.  Their potion was a dark violet.  Too late to start over.

"Time's up!"  Professor Slughorn exclaimed.  He furrowed his brow as he examined Greengrass and Siddiqui's concoction.  He smiled at Lily and Wendy as he sniffed at the potion in their cauldron, but made no comment.  His smile broadened as he stirred the potion in James and Patsy's cauldron.

"Excellent work, Miss Cromwell, Mr. Potter!  You are certainly a formidable team!"  James grinned and Patsy giggled.  Severus scowled.

Professor Slughorn approached Severus' table.  He examined the potion and let out a loud gasp.

"Merlin's beard!  Come look at this potion, everyone!  Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Draught of Living Death should look like!"  The students clustered around the cauldron.  Severus could not help smiling.  No one else had received such a compliment!  He looked over at Ambrosius who grinned and gave him the thumbs up.  Even Wendy Nott and Mahmoud Siddiqui looked impressed.  He glanced at Lily but she was not looking in his direction.

"Well done, everyone!  Unfortunately only two teams can advance.  The final challenge for the prize will be between the teams of Cromwell and Potter and Flume and Snape!"

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Severus sat in a high backed chair in the Slytherin common room, facing the corner.  A wizard chess set was placed on a table in front of him.  He liked playing chess, but could not find anyone in his House who wished to play the game with him.  He was simply too good and too intense and after he had beaten just about everyone in Slytherin his house mates no longer sat down to play a game with him.  He had taken to playing against himself.  The high backed chair and the dark corner hid him from prying eyes and allowed him to concentrate in relative peace.  He frowned at the board.  In an ironic role reversal, the Red King was Lily, the prize.  The challenge was getting past James, who was in the role of the Red Queen and skillfully blocking his every move.  The trick of the game was the same as it was in any competition.  Anticipate your opponent's moves and always keep a few steps ahead of him.  Never underestimate him and always be on the ready.

Severus was jolted out of his concentration by a familiar voice.

"Oh, Suzanne, I could not believe that James and I advanced to the final stage of the challenge!"  It was Patsy Cromwell.  She was seated on the sofa directly behind his chair and had no idea that he was there.

"So, what is it like working with James Potter?" Suzanne Stern inquired.  "He's a Gryffindork, but he is so cute!"

"He certainly is fit!" Patsy sighed.  "He's also brilliant.  You wouldn't think so with that swaggering act he's always putting on, but he knows Potions!  I could not believe it when Professor Slughorn paired me with him!  I was afraid that I would be paired with that fat prat, Jacob Brewster or worse, Snivelus!"

A hot fist of anger clenched in Severus' stomach.  He bit down hard to keep from shouting and dug his fingers into the fabric of the chair to prevent himself from grabbing his wand and blasting curses at Patsy.  The hated name which Black and Potter had bestowed on him made his blood boil.  Hearing it from the mouth of a fellow Slytherin was worse.

"Can I tell you a secret, Suzanne?  We are going to win tomorrow!  James has it all planned out!  It is so simple, but obvious!"  Severus strained his ears and held his breath.  He did not want to miss a word.

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Severus made sure that he was the first student to arrive in Advanced Potions the next morning.  He went to the supply cabinet and found what he needed.  He began setting up his glass containers and instruments on the table.  Ambrosius arrived next and began setting up the cauldron and scales.  Severus could see that he was excited.

"We're going to win this one Severus!"

"No doubt."  Severus watched the other students as they filed into the classroom.  All eyes were on the two glass phials of Felix Felicis which were placed prominently in the middle of Professor Slughorn's desk.

"The final match!"  Professor Slughorn announced as he made his entrance.

"Who will be the two lucky winners?  Well, without much further ado, I will give the instructions for the final potion."  He paused for effect and slowly turned his head, holding the rapt attention of the students for several seconds.

"For the final challenge each team will prepare Wideye Potion, more commonly known as Awakening Potion!  I'm looking forward to the results!  Begin!"

Severus began feverishly crushing the ingredients in the mortar.  The potion appeared to be deceptively easy, but there was a long list of ingredients and an even longer list of steps.  Brewing time was long, but the last steps had to simultaneously be completed in a short period of time.  Severus looked over at his partner.  Ambrosius was carefully measuring flobberworm mucous into the cauldron.  He had a look of determined concentration on his face.  Severus smiled.  The Hufflepuff had turned out to be the perfect Potions partner.  He was hard-working and neat, but also intelligent.  He knew better than to take the prize for granted.  

Ambrosius lowered the flame on the burner.  "Nothing to do now but wait."

Severus reached into his bag and pulled out a small white object that looked like a clock.

"This is where a muggle kitchen timer comes in handy!"

Ambrosius stared for a second then burst out laughing.  "You do have a sense of humor, Severus!"

"No.  I'm serious."

Severus looked over at James and Patsy.  Patsy was frantically riffling through the supplies cabinet.  She went to James and whispered something to him.  

"What do you mean, it isn't there?  Let me take a look!"  James began looking through the supplies cabinet.  His angry face turned to panic as he swore under his breath.  Severus smirked.

The alarm rang loudly, signaling the end of the brewing period.  Ambrosius stirred the potion, beads of sweat forming on his plump face.  

"All right, Severus.  Do you want to wave your wand and do the honors?"

"You do it, Flume."  Ambrosius looked surprised, but pleased.  He waved his wand over the potion which promptly assumed the requisite color and consistency.

"It's perfect!" he exclaimed.

"Not yet.  Voila!"  Severus pulled a sprig of peppermint which he had been storing in his sleeve and added it to the cauldron.

"Just a little special touch.  Here comes Slughorn!"

Professor Slughorn inspected James and Patsy's potion first.  He smiled as he stirred the contents.

"Perfect potion!  Content, color and clarity are flawless!  This will be difficult to beat!"  

Professor Slughorn approached Severus and Ambrosius.  He stirred their potion and paused.  He dipped a spoon into the concoction and sniffed deeply.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you the winning team of Flume and Snape!  Another perfect potion, but you went the extra step of adding peppermint!  Unorthodox, but it certainly doesn't detract from the potion's properties.  In fact it enhances them!  Well done, boys!"

The room erupted in applause as Professor Slughorn presented each of them with a phial of Felix Felicis.  Severus could not suppress a smile.  He had won.  It was a difficult challenge, but he had succeeded.  Nothing and no one could spoil his elation.  Not Ambrosius, who shouted a loud "Huzzah" and pumped his fist in the air like a drunken fan at a quidditch match.  Not Cromwell and Potter, who were staring at him in stunned disbelief.  

"Great job, Amby!  Congratulations!"  Lily called out.  She did not address Severus.

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"We did it, Severus!"  Ambrosius cried jubilantly as they left the classroom.  "That addition of the peppermint was a brilliant touch!"

"Yes."  Severus smiled.  "Who would have thought that it would be our rivals who spilled the secret!"

"Huh?  What are you talking about?"  Ambrosius stopped walking and faced Severus, a confused look on his face.  

"Big mouthed Patsy Cromwell.  She was bragging to her friend about how she and James were going to win the challenge.  She said that she was going to use her portion of Felix Felicis to get a date with him.  Stupid girl!"  Severus laughed.

Ambrosius was not laughing.   

"I'm confused, Severus.  What did you mean about our rivals spilling the secret?"

"Patsy Cromwell was running her mouth off about James' brilliant idea to win the challenge.  She said that it was simple, but ingenious.  All he would do was add a sprig of peppermint to the finished product.  Peppermint is one herb that will not spoil the properties of any potion.  In fact, it enhances them!"  Severus smiled in satisfaction.  That was a new notation that he had added to his Potions book last night.

"You were eavesdropping!  We didn't win the challenge fairly!"

"I was not eavesdropping!  I was in the vicinity when Patsy was telling her friend all about James' plan and happened to overhear it!  It wasn't cheating and we won very fairly!"  Severus replied crossly.

"It wasn't your idea!"  Ambrosius' eyes were wide and his lower lip was trembling in anger.  "You removed all of the peppermint from the supplies cabinet to make sure that James and Patsy wouldn't have any."

"Yes, I did.  What's so bad about that?  I didn't break any rules!  It was not an essential ingredient, so I certainly wasn't doing anything wrong!  I anticipated my rivals' next move and cut them off!" Severus snapped.  The thrill of his victory was souring.

"It's a hollow victory, then."  Ambrosius reached into his bag and retrieved the precious phial of Felix Felicis.  "Here, take it.  I don't want it.  We didn't win due to our wits and creativity.  We won by using someone else's idea."  

"So what?"  Severus asked irritably.  "They didn't own the idea and I certainly didn't steal it!"

"I beg to differ."  Ambrosius replied. He stared bleakly at Severus.

"I prefer to make my own luck, Snape, not use magically manufactured luck.  Maybe you didn't break any rules, but you came pretty close."

"What are you going to do?"  Severus snarled.  "Report me to Professor Slughorn?"

"No.  Like I said, you didn't break any rules.  However your means to the end are questionable."  Ambrosius dropped his phial of Felix Felicis into Severus' hand.

"Use it wisely.  I think that you will need it."  Ambrosius turned away and hustled down the hallway.

Severus watched the boy's broad back retreat into the dark shadows.  Self-righteous git!  What right did he have to say what he did!

Severus stared down at the vials of Felix Felicis.  Two portions of liquid luck.  Two chances to right what went wrong.

"I prefer to make my own luck, Snape, not use magically manufactured luck."

"If someone consumed large quantities of this potion it would make them reckless and overconfident.  It would instill in them a false sense of invulnerability and seriously cloud their judgment."

"Felix Felicis will indeed make one very lucky—for a short period of time."

Severus stared hard at the precious potion.  Liquid luck would grant the user luck for a short period of time before the effects wore off.  What would Lily say when he approached her?  Would she forgive him momentarily, only to ignore him once the effects of the potion ceased?  Their breach was a deep and permanent one.  It was not something that could be remedied temporarily with a magical potion.  What a fool he was!  

Severus slowly uncorked both phials and spilled the contents into a nearby potted plant.  It would bloom full and healthy today before it withered and died on its vine at the end of the week.  He gathered up his books and slowly made his way down to the Slytherin dormitory.