Snape woke Harry up again, the next day, but did not stay to have breakfast with him.

"I have an all-morning staff meeting, today," he said, scowling. "You can imagine how delightful those are. I'll be making more of the Wolfsbane Potion, this afternoon. Will you assist?"

"I'd love to," Harry said promptly, rather to his surprise.

"Good. See you at one o'clock, in the lab."

Snape swept out in a cloud of back robes, leaving Harry staring at the empty doorway, still musing over his reply. He was usually willing to help, certainly, but did he actually like it, now?

After breakfast, he wrote a reply to Hermione's letter.

Dear Hermione,

No, I'm not angry with you. I'm sorry I upset your parents, again. They must think I'm a horrible companion for you! Professor Snape wasn't too bad, but he has threatened dire consequences if he catches me once term starts. He'd done that before, actually. I suppose that was part of why I did it -- I mean, beyond standing there staring at the cigarettes for fifteen minutes while Ron tried to figure out if a Lion bar contained any actual lion bits -- it was sort of the last time I could without costing Gryffindor house points.

It does bother me a bit that so much of our relationship seems to consist of you trying to scold me into doing what I ought to do anyway. I think you do that as much as you help me with research. I don't think I should need so much of it, and hope I wouldn't if you held off a bit. (But perhaps I'd just get into more scrapes.)

See you soon!

Love,

Harry

He put the letter aside to send in the evening, when Hedwig would be more alert and less conspicuous. He spent the morning finishing Blood Magic, had the fanciest lunch he could think up, and then went to Severus's lab to help with the Wolfsbane Potion.

Harry arrived at Severus's lab to find a gold cauldron set out at the second bench. Slowly, he walked forward and touched the gleaming metal reverentially. "Wow," he breathed.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Severus said, as he emerged from the storeroom.

"I wanted to buy one when I was eleven," Harry confessed, "but Hagrid wouldn't let me."

Severus choked. "A gold -- Oh, Merlin, I would have hated you even more!"

"I suppose it's rather a waste," Harry said wistfully. "But you have one?"

"Gold is necessary for certain very delicate potions," Severus said. "The school has several gold cauldrons, which I occasionally use in my sixth and seventh year classes. Up until now, everything you have brewed has been standardized for pewter. Some of those potions would change slightly if you brewed them in gold, or iron, or copper, or brass. Others would be the same if you brewed them in a turtle shell." He shrugged. "There are only certain stages of making the Wolfsbane Potion where your help will be needed, or welcome. I thought that, in between, you might like to experiment with making a simple potion in the gold cauldron. If you choose something safe, you can try a minor ingredient change, as well."

"Brilliant!" Harry was already running through possible potions in his mind. Simple and harmless... "How about a Calming Draught?"

Severus's eyes half-closed while he silently thought. "A fine choice," he said. "I see no way a single ingredient alteration could be harmful, unless the ingredient added was harmful in itself."

"I was thinking of catnip."

"Acceptable." Severus motioned him over. "Now help me prepare, here, before you get too distracted."

Several hours later, the material in Harry's cauldron had clarified and turned an iridescent pink. Weird, Harry thought. Wonder what made it that color? He pulled out the spoon to check for consistency. The liquid cohered to itself and the spoon, and slid off in a single thin stream. It looked to Harry like nothing so much as a strong soap solution. Like a soap solution, it remained stretched across the holes in the bowl of the gold spoon. Impulsively, Harry lifted the spoon up and blew on it. Twelve tiny bubbles shimmered in the air like floating jewels. Harry reached out to catch one and it broke at his touch, as did another, beside it. He giggled.

"Look what I made!" he crowed.

Severus did not turn. Harry touched more bubbles out of the air, then blew another batch. They were beautiful! He laughed again.

"Look, Severus -- Father, look!"

Severus turned, and frowned slightly. "Harry, I --"

He stepped forward. Harry blew a spoonful of bubbles into his face. Severus snorted, then laughed.

"You impossible child!" he growled in mock anger. He took the spoon from Harry and blew bubbles back at him. His face scrunched up with concentration, making Harry laugh again. Severus stepped back, still grinning unnaturally, but handed the spoon back to Harry.

"What is this?"

"Calming potion, made with all gold utensils, and catnip substituted for valerian. Catnip should just make it milder, right?" Harry attempted a little meowing noise as he swatted at some lingering bubbles. Severus choked.

"Stay right here." Severus went back to the other cauldrons.

"You're running away," Harry sang at him. "You're afraid of pretty bubbles!"

"I am securing everything so we don't have an accident. And getting my transcriber."

Severus doused the remaining cauldron fire, and put away two of the five ingredient jars that were out. He then unlocked one of his desk drawers and pulled out something that looked like a crystal ball with a quill hanging from it. He set this up in the center of the room with the quill on a long roll of parchment. It started writing immediately.

"Now," he said lazily, as he came back to where Harry was sitting. Harry was sending short, uneasy glances at the quill.

"What's it doing?" he asked plaintively.

Severus slipped the spoon from his fingers, dipped it, and blew more bubbles at Harry. Harry thought this was immensely funny, especially combined with Severus's serious demeanor. "Taking notes," Severus answered. "Detailed, impartial notes."

"Gimme that!" Harry said, grabbing at the spoon. He dipped it and quickly blew as many bubbles as he could straight into Severus's dour face, and Severus laughed like he was being tickled, causing Harry to do it again. After Severus had been thoroughly bubbled, Harry tried to keep aloft the bubbles that remained in the air, by blowing at them from below. Severus sat cross-legged on the table and watched.

"To your left!" he directed. "Blow! No, softer, it's going to --" Severus blew the bubble back into Harry's range. "More light!" He pointed his wand dramatically at the nearest wall sconces, setting them to burning cobalt blue. The pink bubbles reflected the blue lights in myriad little points.

"Half gold!" Harry exclaimed. Severus complied readily, turning two of the four blue flames to bright gold. "Yes!"

There was a distinct sound of someone clearing his throat.

Harry looked around wildly before noticing Remus Lupin at the door. "Remus! Come see!"

Remus entered the room slowly, looking cautiously amused. "You seem to have ... bubble soap."

"But come look," Harry coaxed, reaching out to grasp the spoon handle. "It's so pretty in the gold cauldron."

Remus looked nervously at Severus, who sat up very straight, looking down his long nose so his hair fell to either side of his face. Severus crooked a long finger at him.

"Closer, little Gryffindor," he crooned. "Come, now."

Remus edged closer, keeping Harry between himself and Severus. Severus smirked knowingly. Remus peered into the cauldron.

"Er, yes. Very pretty. What is it?"

Harry pulled out the spoon, turned it so that it shimmered in the light. "Look!" he urged. When Remus was looking, Harry blew a cloud of bubbles into his face. Remus jumped back, spluttering, but the splutter turned to a laugh. Harry cocked his head to the side.

"What a gorgeous laugh you have!"

"Oh, do I?"

"Mm. You look so weak, this close to the moon -- all pale and breakable, but your laugh is rich and deep as the forest."

"Ooo," Severus said suddenly. "That was dangerous!"

"I don't mind," Remus said carelessly.

"No -- it could be different for werewolves. It could interact with wolfsbane. It could have made you psychotic, or paranoid, or --"

Harry dipped the spoon and handed it to Remus. Remus took it solemnly and blew bubbles at Severus.

"Hey!" Severus swatted at the cloud, then shook his head into it and laughed. "Ridiculous boy."

Remus kissed the crook of Severus's nose, where a bubble had landed. "Silly hawk," he crooned.

Severus swooped out his cloak like wings and caught Remus in it, then pulled him tight against the table. He bit at Remus's hair and Remus pretended to struggle. Harry intervened when Severus mouthed at Remus's ear.

"No biting!" he chided urgently.

Severus let go immediately, and Remus darted away. They turned and grinned at each other. Remus licked up a finger suggestively.

"Argh!" Harry covered his eyes. "Remus, stop it!"

"Aw, is the baby gryffy embarrassed?" Severus purred. Harry decided not to look at what he was doing, especially as a quick glance at Remus showed him writhing on the spot, and alternately panting and laughing.

"Oh shit, they're going to kill me," Harry muttered, but he couldn't summon any real sense of urgency about it. He did get out a handful of vials and start bottling the pink stuff. He filled six of the vials, pocketing one and setting five in the rack before he looked back at Remus and Severus. They had stopped being obscene at each other. Remus had lain down on the table with his head in Severus's lap, and Severus was stroking his hair gently.

"So much grey," Severus murmured. "Still so soft."

"Such a lovely voice," Remus murmured. "I could listen to you all day."

"Mmm." Severus's voice deepened to a seductive purr. "Shall I tell you about the restorative properties of carnelian and salamander liver?"

"Anything."

"Mmm. Well, first you slice open the wriggling salamander --" Severus trailed a fingernail down the center of Remus's chest. Remus giggled.

"Er..." Harry approached them cautiously.

"Yes, Harry?" Severus asked absently, his voice as gentle as Remus's usually would be. Harry felt awkward.

"I feel obliged to point out," Harry said quietly, "that you two hate each other."

"Not true," Remus complained. "I have never, ever hated him. I've never even been angry, except about Lily. It was all my fault, or Sirius's fault."

"Then say so," Severus said, a trace less gently.

"I just did. I have a hundred times, for all the good it's done me." Remus sat up. "It was my fault; I should have told you; I'm ever so sorry, dear hawk."

Severus stared at him for a full minute. The wistful look slowly faded from his face, and his eyes shifted to impenetrable darkness.

"Well, this has been an interesting experiment," he said, still rather distantly. "Harry, we will dine in my quarters, tonight, and review the transcript. Be prepared to make intelligent contributions to the analysis."

His voice had no bite, but no warmth, either. Harry moved closer to him, as if feeling for heat from a dying fire.

"Did you...." he asked, "Remus, did you come down here for something?"

"My potion. It can wait an hour or two, if that is better."

Severus smiled slightly, his voice gentle again. "No ... we finished it before Harry produced his invention. Let me get it for you."

He moved to the covered cauldron at the front of the room and ladled out a goblet full of the steaming contents. Harry remembered how that potion had frightened him when first he saw it, and wondered why it was worrying him now. He knew what it was, now. He'd helped make it, but it still seemed dangerous.

Severus brought the goblet forward. Remus was just reaching out his hand when Harry figured out why he was afraid.

"Interactions?" Harry asked.

Severus frowned at him. "Damn." He shook his head slightly, as if to clear it. "You're right. How did you...?"

"I'm about five minutes ahead of you, I think. This stuff seems to have a very quick cycle."

"Hm." Severus set down the goblet. "Come back in an hour, I think, Remus, or I'll send Harry to you. Harry?"

"I don't mind."

"Harry will bring it to you in your rooms, then." Severus focused on Remus. "Leave, now. We need to clean up."

Remus nodded silently. Harry thought the shimmer in his eyes might be unfallen tears. The werewolf turned and left without a word.

When Harry brought Remus his potion, the werewolf was pacing.

"I was afraid you had forgotten," he said. Quickly, he downed the draught, his face contorting from the taste.

"No," Harry said. "I wouldn't."

"I couldn't be sure, with the state I'd left you in. What was that stuff?"

Harry ducked his head. "Er ... something I'd just invented? If I hadn't accidentally had some, I probably wouldn't have been so reckless as to start blowing it at everyone else."

Remus, to Harry's relief, chuckled. "How very like your father!" He grinned. "And I do not mean James."

"Severus gave experimental potions to anyone who happened to be around?"

"Severus invented things. If they turned out to be of purely recreational use, he would pass them around and observe what they did." Remus winked. "It vastly increased his popularity, especially in his own house."

Harry looked at him incredulously. "My father supplied Slytherin with, er ... potions?"

Remus coughed. "In a haphazard manner, yes. Once he got bored with something, though, or, rather, was done observing its effects, he wouldn't make it again, which often annoyed people. And he didn't come up with anything that ... sweet, that I recall."

"I wasn't intending to invent anything. I'd started out with a Calming Draught. He said I could experiment, but I needed to stick to harmless ingredient changes."

"Ah."

"Um... I hope you're not upset."

"Do I look upset?" Remus asked calmly.

"You did when you left."

"Ah." Remus grimaced. "A taste of honey..." He shook his head. "If you don't mind, Harry, I need to sleep. This close to the moon...."

"Oh! Sorry. I'll get going."

As Harry walked down the empty corridor, he wondered if Remus really needed to sleep, or if he just wanted to avoid talking about Snape. It would be best, Harry decided, if he restrained his curiosity, for once, and just let the matter go.

Severus reviewed the transcript while waiting to for Harry to return from Remus's rooms. Parts of it were a bit embarrassing, but he'd certainly endured worse. He wondered if Harry were correct about his changes. Catnip for valerian was a fairly common substitution in Calming Draughts, but it was a robust potion; not the sort of thing one would brew in gold.

Harry returned rather later than Severus expected.

"Did Lupin wish to talk?" Severus asked casually, as Harry sat at the table.

"Not at all. I stopped at the library to check an almanac to see when the actual full moon is. It's Wednesday."

"I am quite aware of that," Severus said dryly. Harry took a bite of his roast lamb. Severus tapped the transcript. "You are sure of your changes?"

"Pretty much."

"Meaning, no, you are not," Severus retorted, disapprovingly. "You should see if you can duplicate it, tomorrow, then." Harry stared at him incredulously. Snape glared back at him. "To confirm your procedure. There is no point in experimenting if you have no idea what you found."

"Okay," Harry agreed, but he didn't look as if he actually understood. Severus sighed. He picked up his wine and twisted the glass idly, looking into the red-black liquid.

"What you produced," he said, "caused a brief surge of silly cheer, followed by roughly five minutes of unconcerned benevolence, both accompanied by a heightened awareness of some physical senses, at least sight and touch. After that, it faded off into an effect reasonably like a mild Calming Draught, but of shorter duration. The catnip might explain the short duration, but it is a fairly common substitution that certainly would not cause the silliness, benevolence, or heightened sensitivity. It seems unlikely that gold, which is extremely non-reactive, would do this, either."

Harry appeared to be thinking. "You said gold is used for delicate potions."

"Yes. And the Calming Draught is fairly robust." Severus took a sip of the wine and put it down, again.

"Are you sure? Perhaps the standard Calming Draught actually relies on some interaction of the ingredients being hampered or altered by pewter, or perhaps the tin in the pewter, which would make a bronze cauldron do the same."

Severus permitted himself a slight smile. He had not expected the boy to understand the implications of cauldron material so well.

"Very good, Harry. Here is what you will do. After breakfast tomorrow, I will bring out a second gold cauldron. I would like you to try duplicating today's procedure in one, making a standard formulation of Calming Draught in the other, and making your formulation of the Calming Draught a second time, but in a standard, pewter cauldron. I will watch to see if there are any errors in your procedure that might explain some portion of the change."

"Then what?" Harry asked. He looked rather amused. "We test them?"

Severus looked disdainfully back at him. "Testing is a requisite part of the procedure, Mr. --" He stopped himself. Potter? Snape? What do I call him when I'm sneering? "Whoever you are," he finished, with a trace of irony.

Harry snorted. "Whatever. I think perhaps I should keep Potter. James more or less adopted me. And there's no sense confusing the Daily Prophet as much as I've confused myself. Besides, that's what you'll be calling me in class, isn't it?"

"It is."

"There you go." Harry rolled his eyes. "You have my permission to call me 'Mr. Potter,' when you're looking for that tone."

Severus snorted in amusement. "Perceptive, Mr. Potter." Harry, to his satisfaction, responded with a grin.

"However," Severus added, "you should not be so reckless about trying a new potion. Had something undesirable happened to you, I would not have known how the substance was created, which would make counteracting it more complex."

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking about it as a potion, anymore, just bubbles." Harry grimaced. "That was kind of stupid, actually, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Don't do it again."

They ate in silence for a while. Harry became noticeably more preoccupied. Severus ate his own dinner almost without tasting it, dreading the near-inevitable questions about his response to Remus.

"I seem to get potions better than I did," Harry said finally. Severus looked at him curiously. This had not been the tack he was expecting. "Do you suppose that's you being actually informative, or do you think it's genetic?"

Severus bit back an impulse to claim he was always informative. He knew that he had made more of an effort to deride Harry than he ever had to teach him, in class.

"Both, probably," he admitted. "Many people in my family had a facility with Potions, but you have never had close instruction."

For a moment, he saw a flash of that hurt, resentful look he had come to dread, but then it was gone.

"That's good," Harry said, "but I keep worrying ... what if I'm not good at Quidditch any more?"

"I was rather good at Quidditch myself, you know," Severus huffed. He nearly winced at the sound of the words leaving his mouth.

"But not like James," Harry said flatly. "Right? And everyone says what a 'natural' I am. What if I'm just ... okay?"

Severus thought about this for a moment. He took a swallow of his wine, then summoned another goblet from his shelf, and poured Harry a half-sized glass. Harry tasted it and grimaced, then tried a second sip and looked puzzled. Severus reflected that it was probably an overly complex wine for someone who was not used to the style -- or, for that matter, wine of any sort.

"I suspect you will still be good, in any case," Severus said, returning to the question of Quidditch. "You may have started from some innate talent, but you have built knowledge on that. Were you going the other way, I do not believe you would lose what understanding of Potions you already had."

"But my body --"

"Yes." Severus nodded. "For that, there is only one way to find out."

Harry understood. He nodded, and to Severus's surprise, looked almost relieved. "After we're done with the lab work, tomorrow...." he began tentatively.

Severus looked at him questioningly.

"Would you... play with me, for a bit? We can trade off Chaser and Keeper, or something, so I can see how it goes?" Harry bit his lip. "I'd like to know before the other students come back."

Severus found himself taken aback by the request. He tried to recall when he had last had anything to do with Quidditch. A pick-up game at Malfoy Manor, he thought, when Harry was still a baby.

"I suppose," he agreed, his mind still picturing Crabbe slamming a bludger at a laughing Augustus. "Expect me to be a bit rusty, however."

When Harry went into his room, at bedtime, he found the letter to Hermione sitting forgotten on his window seat. He picked it up, reread it, and with a sudden smile, added a postscript.

P.S: Would you do me a favor? I'd really like one of those bubble blowing things on a string -- the sort you can wear around your neck? If you can find a glass one, please bring it for me.

-HP

If nothing else, he thought, playing with it in front of Severus would be amusing -- even without replacing the Muggle bubble stuff. Grinning, Harry took the letter and headed up to the Owlry.