Snape's Apothecary

Three weeks later:

Eric Remus Snape knew he was in the worst trouble he'd ever been in. His daddy was really mad at him, Harry, and Jamie. That was why they were all standing in the corner, he was in the kitchen, Harry was in the hall, and Jamie in the den. Eric stared down at his ink-stained fingers, tears dribbling down his cheeks, and wished he had never listened to Jamie. He had been an awful bad boy and touched Da's potions, something he knew he was never s'posed to do, and now he was in for it. He sniffled, his nose was running. He remained perfectly still, he hated being in time out, but that was better than the spanking he was sure he was going to get as soon as his father returned in a few minutes.

In the hallway, Harry stared at the wall and struggled to keep still, he had always hated the corner. But he was even more upset because he knew that he shouldn't have listened to Jamie, he should have walked away when Jamie suggested playing that prank down in the apothecary, and he should have definitely sent Eric away. Because now Eric was in trouble too, and it was all Harry's fault, for not being a good big brother, and sending him back to bed. Now his father was furious with all of them, Harry thought miserably, and rightly so. He didn't care if his father punished him, he deserved it. But maybe he could convince Severus not to punish Eric. Eric had only done what Jamie told him to.

Jamie shifted from foot to foot, staring at the wall was so bloody boring! He was nervous and wondering just how much trouble he was going to be in once Tom found out about this latest prank. He had the sinking feeling his daddy was going to be very angry. And when Tom was very angry, Jamie's bottom suffered. The six-year-old sniffled. Yes, Tom was going to be angry and disappointed, just like Uncle Sev was with him. Jamie hated it when his daddy and Uncle Sev were disappointed with him. How could a mere prank have gone so terribly wrong? Swiping at his eyes, he thought back to last night, when he had come up with his brilliant idea to trick Uncle Sev . . .

Last night:

Jamie was bored out of his mind. Even though it was late at night, he wasn't tired at all. He had gotten to the Snapes' flat right after dinner, Tom had asked Sev and Lily if they wouldn't mind watching his son for a few hours while he attended an important school board meeting. Jamie had been happy enough to go there, he had missed playing with Harry. He had been home sick with a bad cold and had missed school and playing with his friends. So he was glad to get out of the house. Tom had said he would be back later in the evening to pick him up, but the meeting was delayed and then ran overtime and by the time it was finished, it was close to midnight and Tom figured he might as well let Jamie sleep over and then pick him up the next morning, he was exhausted and he didn't want to wake his son to bring him home. After sending a note to Severus explaining things, the Headmaster returned to Hogwarts to sleep.

Jamie had woken up right after midnight and couldn't go back to sleep. His constant shifting and moving about had in turn woken up Eric, who had ended up sharing the enlarged queen-sized bed with Harry and Jamie because he'd had a bad dream and didn't want to sleep alone.

Eric sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Jamie? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jamie whispered. "I can't sleep." He pulled out the Lumos light stick he always carried, he didn't like the dark, and the light stick scared away monsters that hid under the bed and in the shadowy corners of the closet. He activated the stick by turning the top, and a small light shone out, illuminating the bed and Eric's face.

"Do you feel sick? Like you're gonna puke?" Eric asked worriedly. The one time he recalled Harry waking up in the middle of the night had been because he had gotten a bad tummy ache and had thrown up all over.

"No. I feel fine. I'm just not tired."

"Oh." Eric said. Whenever he told his mother he wasn't tired she would tell him to count dragons until he fell asleep.

"I'm gonna get a drink." Jamie told him, and scrambled out of bed and down to the bathroom.

It was while he was drinking some water from the tap that the idea came to him. He couldn't help snickering as he thought of it. He could just imagine Uncle Sev's face when he discovered the joke Jamie had played upon him. Except . . .I'm gonna need help to make it work. I could probably get Eric to help . . .as long as he didn't know what I was really up to.

He headed back into the room. "Psst! Hey, Eric! Wanna go and see the cool pickled dragon's head your da has in the shop? I saw it yesterday, on the counter. It's wicked!"

Eric grinned. "What's it look like? Does it have eyes?"

"Yeah and teeth too! C'mon, let's go and see it!"

Eric bit his lip uneasily. "But . . .but Jamie, it's night time! My da's sleeping and so is Mummy. We're not s'posed to go down there alone."

"So? It's just to see the dragon head. That's all." Jamie persuaded.

"But the door's locked." Eric reminded. He meant the door to the flat.

"I know how to unlock doors," Jamie said dismissively. He could actually reach the lock. Eric couldn't. "C'mon, Eric. Have a little fun. Or are you a bedwetting crybaby?"

Eric stiffened. He knew he shouldn't be wandering about at night, but he didn't want to be known as a bedwetting crybaby either. He wanted to be big and brave like Harry and Jamie. "I am not!" he hissed angrily.

"Prove it. Come and see the dragon head."

"'Kay." Eric agreed, hoping his mum or da wouldn't come in to check on them.

He followed Jamie down the hallway and waited until Jamie had undid the locks on the flat before going down the stairs to the shop. Jamie left the door ajar, just in case, and then went downstairs. When the boys entered the shop, the lights came on.

Eric ran right to the front counter and climbed up on the stool behind it to peer into the murky depths of the jar where the pickled dragonette's head was. "Oooh!" he cried as the pickled head appeared to revolve about and glare at him with unblinking red eyes. "It's really cool! Jamie, lookit!"

"I know. I saw it yesterday," Jamie said, waving a hand at it dismissively.

He walked over to the shelf of potions in front of the main window and picked one up. All were labeled neatly in Severus' or Lily's handwriting. He had planned to just switch a few bottles from one shelf to another, but as he stared at the label, he had an even better idea. Why not switch the labels?

"Eric? D'you know where Uncle Sev keeps the labels and pen n'ink?" Jamie asked.

"Uh . . .yeah. They're over here. Why?"

"'Cause I wanna try something." Jamie told him. "Bring 'em to me."

Eric sighed. Then he climbed off the stool and got the box of labels and small box of ink with a quill and carried them carefully over to Jamie. "What are y'gonna do with them, Jamie? Da doesn't like us playing with stuff in here."

Jamie gave Eric a don't-you-know-anything look. "Uncle Sev said I could be his assistant. So I'm helping him by makin' new labels for his potions."

"Oh. Can I help too?"

"Can you write?" Jamie asked condescendingly.

"Just my name."

"Okay. Write your name on a couple of these," Jamie said, shoving the box at Eric.

"I don't got a quill." Eric whined.

"Then get one, you big baby."

Just as Eric was going back to the desk, they heard the sound of feet coming down the stairs.

Both boys froze in horror, until Harry stuck his head around the corner of the stairwell, his hair sticking up all over. "Hey. What are you two doing down here?" Harry had woken and found both his little brother and Jamie missing and went to find them.

Jamie put a finger to his lips. "Shhh! Not so loud! You wanna wake up your mum and da?"

Harry gave him a searching glance. "What're you up to, Jamie?"

Jamie gave him a wicked smirk. "Just havin' a little fun."

Harry looked at Eric. "Eri, why are you up?"

"'Cause I wanted to see the dragon head, Harry." Eric pointed to the preserved head. "An' then Jamie needed my help."

"To do what?"

Jamie beckoned him over. "It's a joke. I'm gonna write new potion labels and stick 'em over these bottles and see how long it takes Uncle Sev to notice. It'll be funny when he does."

Harry looked unconvinced. "Jamie, you know how Da is about his potions. . ."

"But we're not doing anything to the potions, Harry. Just the labels. It's just a prank."

"Last time you had us swap the sugar and the salt at Uncle Remus' house, I got grounded for the weekend and had to apologize to Aunt Cissy. I don't think it's a good idea, Jamie."

"Harry, all we're doing is writing some stupid words on paper. It'll be funny!" Jamie coaxed. "Just think about how shocked Uncle Sev will be when he looks at the potions and wonders how he could have done such a dumb thing?"

Harry was still hesitating. "How many are we switching?"

"Just the shelf here."

"All right." Harry began to write names of potions and dosages on the label, the way he'd seen Severus and Lily do so many times.

By the time they were done with the shelf, they were all ink-spattered and their pajamas had big ink blotches where the quill had dripped. They had re-labeled over twenty-five potions and once they put them all back, decided to go to bed. It was already two in the morning.

"Let's wash up first, Harry." Eric suggested. "I'm all inky."

They used the sink in the back of the shop, but discovered the ink didn't come off their hands or clothing easily. Some of it stubbornly refused to be removed.

"Oh, no! It's not coming off!" Eric wailed.

"Shhh! Who cares?" Jamie snapped. "Let's get back to bed."

They all scurried up the stairs, shut and locked the door to the flat, and were back in bed in five minutes. Jamie high-fived Harry. They had just pulled off the greatest prank of their lives. Within two minutes they were sleeping soundly, mischief managed.

The first Severus knew about the switched labels was when a customer brought him a bottle that was supposed to be labeled Lacewing flies and complained that he could hardly read the label. Severus had opened up the shop at 6:30 AM, and was still setting things up when the early riser had walked in, needing some ingredients for an Arthritis Elixir.

"Uh . . .Mr. Snape . . .there's something odd about this here potion."

Severus looked up from where he was rearranging the counter, wondering how the ink had gotten spilled. "What seems to be the problem, Mr. Goldbroom?"

"Well, I can barely read the label . . .an' that's not like you a'tall, you always have the neatest writing . . .See for yerself." He handed Severus the bottle.

Severus squinted at the label. "This . . .I didn't write this . . ." The label read Doxy Dust, written in a slanted hand with the letters badly formed. "Where did you find this, Mr. Goldbroom?"

"Over here, on the shelf against the window."

Severus went over to the shelf and started examining the potions there. The first shelf was fine, everything neatly in its place. But the second shelf . . .was a horror of crooked labels, all stuck every which way, and some read Eric and others were written neatly but the label did not match the contents of the jar. Severus was horrified. A mislabeled ingredient could lead to dangerous consequences, especially if the potion maker had no idea what the ingredient was supposed to look like. One could inadvertently poison oneself or cause a potion to explode.

"I . . .thank you for bringing this to my attention," Severus managed to say, his temper on the verge of exploding. "I fear I've been the victim of a schoolboy prank."

"Oh. I thought something was off. Kids these days!" the old wizard shook his head.

"Now, what were you looking for? Lacewing flies?" Severus asked. He knew exactly who was responsible for this prank and when he got a hold of one James Darius Potter . . .

After filling that customer's order, Severus quickly closed up the shop. He couldn't stay open with all those mislabeled potions on the shelf. Furious, he went back upstairs to wake Lily and tell her what had occurred, he would need help to restore the bottles to their original labels. After he explained the situation to Lily, he went down the hall to deal with the prankster. It figures! Once a Marauder, always a Marauder!

Jamie was having a rather pleasant dream where he had swapped a bottle of pumpkin juice for some Belching Wine and everyone had drunk it and was burping and acting silly. But then he felt something shake him and a voice snarl, "James Darius Potter, wake up! Right now."

The covers were yanked off of him, as well as the two other boys, and Jamie opened his eyes to stare into the blazing ones of a very irate Severus Snape. He gulped. "Uh . . .good morning, Uncle Sev!" He gave the man a weak smile.

Severus stared down at the ink splattered boy. "Ah ha. So it was you!" he declared. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"

"Trouble?"

"Don't play innocent with me, young man! I know you went down to my shop and switched the labels on my potions!" Severus scowled.

Jamie looked away. "I thought it would be funny."

Severus opened his mouth to snap out a reply, when he noticed that both Harry and Eric were also sporting ink stained pajamas and hands. "Bloody Merlin's ghost! All of you were in on this?"

Harry woke up then and looked at his irate father and groaned. Great! Now we're in for it! Why did I ever listen to Jamie?

By then Eric was awake too and trying to haltingly explain about how he and the boys were trying to "help" him.

"Help me?" Severus glared at his youngest son. "Eric, you know better than to touch my potions for any reason. I'm very disappointed in all of you! What you did was not funny." He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down on them.

Eric immediately started to cry. "I'm sorry, Da! I just wanted to see the dragon head." He gazed up at his father pitifully, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Severus fought back sympathy. Eric was rarely in trouble, and he knew that Jamie or Harry must have talked him into helping them, from the guilty looks on both their faces, but even so . . .Eric had disobeyed him. He couldn't let that go.

"All of you are in serious trouble. Do you realize what could have happened if someone had bought a potion ingredient that was mislabeled? You could have caused their potion to explode or even cause someone to die if they drank something that was poisonous from being brewed incorrectly. I had to close down the shop because of your little prank, boys! And now I have hours of work ahead of me to fix the labels you ruined! Whose idea was this?"

All three flinched at his tone. Then Jamie said, very softly, "It was mine, Uncle Sev."

"And you, Harry? Why did you join in on it?"

His son looked down at his hands, ashamed. "I . . .don't know, Da. I thought . . .it might be funny. I'm really sorry. I . . .I can help you fix the potions."

"No, I don't want you near those potions. You can't be trusted." Severus snapped. "You knew you weren't to be in the shop without an adult, much less touch the potions down there. You all deliberately disobeyed me and I cannot tell you how angry I am with you right now. Eric, kitchen corner, now! Harry, corner in the hallway! And as for you, Mr. Potter, you go and stand with your nose to the wall in the den! Your father will be coming to pick you up in a few minutes. He can deal with your awful behavior then."

Jamie pouted. "Aww . . .Uncle Sev . . ."

"No backtalk. Get!" Severus ordered, utterly out of patience. He gave the stubborn Marauder a smack on the behind to hurry him on his way.

He shot his two sons a Look. "I'll deal with you two later. Stay in the corner until I tell you otherwise."

Harry and Eric leaped out of bed and obeyed lickety-split.

Severus left the three miscreants standing in their respective corners before going down to check upon Lily, who had begun to mend the damage the boys had caused. He shook his head upon seeing her painstakingly re-writing some of the labels that couldn't be salvaged. "I cannot believe they would do something like this."

Lily looked up at him, her mouth pursed. "I can. This is James Potter we're talking about. He was the mastermind, correct?"

"Yes. And here I thought he was finally learning to behave!"

Lily snorted. "He'll always be a prankster, Sev. No matter how old he gets, you'll never knock that out of him. All you can do is make him think before he does something like this ever again. I'm more upset about him conning Harry and Eric into doing something forbidden. But then again, they're boys, and even though they should know better, they still disobey."

"What should we do about it?"

"Well, you've already lectured them and given them time out, right?"

"Yes. But it doesn't seem enough."

"For this? It's not. I know Tom will be taking Jamie over his knee. We ought to do the same," Lily said reluctantly.

"I don't want to have to spank both of them."

"You won't. You spanked Harry last time over my wand, therefore it's my turn this time."

"Which means I have Eric," Severus said unhappily. "Lil, I really hate having to punish him like that, even if he does deserve it for doing something he knows was wrong. But it wouldn't be fair to spank Harry and not him too. He's usually so well-behaved."

"Sev, there's always a first time. And given it's Eric, it'll probably be the last time you'll punish him this way."

"Right. Well, I had better get upstairs, I'll send Harry and Eric to their room to wait and explain what happened to Tom, who should be here any minute now."

As Severus was heading back upstairs, he heard the Floo chime. The Headmaster had returned for his wayward son.

After informing Tom of the prank and the mess it had caused, and Tom promised he would bring Jamie back to apologize for his misdeed after he punished him, Severus bid the Headmaster good day. Tom picked up Jamie and said ominously, "We're going to have a very long talk about this, young man. You have behaved abominably and I am very ashamed of you." He then Flooed away, holding a crying six-year-old on his shoulder.

Then he called down to Lily to come upstairs, squared his shoulders and went to deal with his youngest son.

Three spanks later, Severus was holding a sobbing half-hysterical child, and regretting every smack. Eric had begun bawling before Severus had even put him over his knee and now it seemed as if he couldn't stop. He kept babbling that he'd be good and saying he was sorry and begging Severus not to be mad at him that the Potion Master's heart nearly broke. I'm never spanking him again. I will not be my father. I won't. "Eric, hush. I'm not mad at you anymore. I forgive you. Hush."

Severus rubbed his son's back and rocked him and finally Eric stopped crying. "There now, snakeling. It's all over."

"Do you . . .still love me, Da?"

"Oh, Eri, I will always love you."

"But . . .I was so bad." The little boy's bottom lip trembled.

"Eric, no matter how bad you are, I will never stop loving you. Never!"

"Not ever?"

"No." Severus assured him, wiping the woeful child's face with a clean cloth and then hugging him tight.

"I ain't never listening to Jamie again."

"That's a very smart thing to do." Severus said. "Now, why don't you go and lie down? I doubt you got very much sleep last night."

"'Kay, Da."

Severus carried Eric into Harry's room, knowing the little boy would probably want to sleep with his brother after what had happened. He entered and placed Eric on the bed, and waited for Harry to return.

Harry entered the room a few minutes later, rubbing his stinging behind, his eyes red from crying. He ran to Severus and threw his arms about him. "I'm really sorry, Da! I promise I'll never do anything to your potions again!"

Severus hugged his repentant son. "I forgive you, Harry. See that you keep that promise."

"I will." Harry sniffled.

"Why don't you go and lay down next your brother?" Severus suggested gently. "You can commiserate about your poor behinds."

Harry grimaced. "Mine hurts worse."

"Nuh-uh," came Eric's soft denial.

Harry crawled into bed next to Eric. "Wanna make a bet?"

Severus rose and left them. He needed to speak to Lily about using alternative methods on Eric, the boy was too sensitive, and Severus never wanted to feel like a monster again like he had this morning.

Back in the bedroom, Eric snuggled next to Harry, who put his arm about him, and said, "I'm sorry I got you in trouble, kid. I should have told you to go back to bed. Then only one of us would have a sore bum."

"I never shoulda listened to Jamie."

"Me either. Guess we both learned something," Harry said ruefully.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Do Mum and Da still love us even when we're naughty?"

"Sure they do."

"Even when I make Da spank me?"

"Of course. Da loves me still and he's spanked me more than you. And Mum. Didn't he tell you that?"

"Yeah, but . . .I just wanted to be sure."

Harry ruffled his brother's hair. "Quit worrying, little one. Mum and Da will always love us, no matter how we misbehave and how many times they wallop us."

"I'm never gonna make Da spank me again." Eric vowed.

"Good for you." Harry said. He didn't bother telling his brother that he always promised himself that after being punished, but somehow he never could keep that promise. He looked at his little brother and sighed. But Eric probably could keep that promise. Unlike Harry, he was a mostly obedient child. "Go to sleep, Eri."

"'Kay, Harry." Eric yawned. Then he asked softly, "D'you think Jamie got in big trouble too?"

"Definitely. Uncle Tom's even stricter than Da." Harry said. He sure didn't envy Jamie this morning, even if he did deserve it.

HPJPSSHPLE

" . . .nine . . .ten." Tom counted, administering the final smack to his son's behind. Jamie was bawling loudly by then, for this was the worst spanking he had ever gotten. Tom quickly turned him around and hugged the littlest Marauder to him, telling him it was all over and he was forgiven.

Jamie cried into Tom's shoulder, he had gotten extra swats this time for lying to Harry and Eric and getting them in trouble. That was bad enough, but what was even worse was the fact that his daddy had looked so disappointed when he learned what Jamie had done. "Lying is the worst thing you can do, son. And a lie that hurts someone else is a terrible thing." Tom had scolded before he'd taken the child over his knee. "You owe Harry, Eric, and Uncle Sev an apology. Which you'll deliver this afternoon. I don't know what got into you last night, but I'm going to make sure you never repeat such behavior again."

Jamie sniffled and had to admit that his daddy had sure kept that promise. He doubted if he'd be able to sit down for breakfast anytime soon. He was feeling very sorry for himself right then. A part of his mind, the rebellious part, was muttering that it wasn't fair, that it had just been a little prank, but the part of his mind that had learned right and wrong from the man now holding him was shouting—you deserved it, you touched something you knew you shouldn't and made Uncle Sev have to close his shop and got Harry and Eric in trouble and everything. That part of his brain felt guilty and sad that he'd done such a naughty thing.

Tom hugged his son and hoped that Jamie had learned his lesson this time. He had tried to explain to the boy before about going too far with his pranks, and this was definitely one of those times. He had also tried to show the boy the difference between harmful pranks and ones that were merely practical jokes, that hurt no one. But it seemed that Jamie hadn't quite gotten the message yet. But one thing he noticed, was that the child seemed genuinely sorry about what he had done and how he had gotten the other two boys in trouble. It was a significant thing, since the adult James had never really cared if his pranks hurt people or who got in trouble along with him.

At least I'm doing something right, the Headmaster thought. He didn't expect the boy to be perfect, but he did expect that he learn from his mistakes. When Jamie had calmed down, he told the boy to go to his room and get some sleep, since it was still early.

Tom went into the kitchen, and found Sirius there. Sirius had come by to ask Tom a question about an Advanced Invisibility spell, just before Tom had been going to pick up Jamie. When Tom had returned with his disobedient child in tow, he had told Sirius to please wait in the kitchen while he dealt with Jamie. "I'll be finished with this unpleasant business soon enough. I'm just sorry you have to be here to witness it," Tom had told his former student.

Sirius had obligingly retreated to the kitchen, though he could overhear everything Tom said and did to Jamie. He felt bad for his former best friend, getting spanked like that, but afterwards he had peeked about the door frame and saw Jamie hugging Tom. That totally surprised him, enough so the first words out of his mouth when Tom came in was, "I don't understand. You just spanked him and yet . . .he's not afraid or resentful of you. How come?"

Tom fixed himself a cup of tea and sat down. "Because he knows he deserved it. Before I punished him I made sure he understood what he did was wrong, why it was wrong, and the consequences of such behavior. That's something he never had the first time around. His mother was too busy taking care of her terminally ill husband to discipline James, and it was easier to just let him do what he wanted, so she didn't need to hear him throwing a tantrum or whatever when she told him no. Thus he grew up without the boundaries and consequences most children learn when they're little. That's what I've been trying to teach him since I de-aged him. And I think it's working."

"He still plays pranks."

"True, but he now knows there are consequences to his pranks. That he can't just shrug them away. He's starting to think before he acts and to take his lumps if he forgets and does something wrong."

"Oh. Then you could tell he was sorry for what he did?"

"Yes. He told me so. Severus scolded him pretty thoroughly before I ever got there, the same as he did his own sons. For which I am grateful. I believe that when a child does something wrong, they need to be corrected or punished almost immediately, so they associate the wrongdoing with unpleasant consequences. Severus did as much as he could in that regard. Then I finished it." Tom saw Sirius wince slightly and added, "Don't think for a minute that I enjoyed that smacking. But it was necessary and so I did it. I hope he learns his lesson and I don't ever have to repeat it." He shifted slightly, extending his legs under the table. "Discipline is never fun, Sirius. But it's part of being a parent and a necessary part of growing up to be a respectful and responsible member of society. Jamie has to learn that, otherwise the courts will put him in Azkaban."

Sirius nodded. He understood Tom's reasoning, and while he thought the Headmaster a tad too harsh at times, he knew Tom only wanted what was best for Jamie. "I think you're doing a good job, sir."

Tom chuckled. "Why thank you, Mr. Black. I am happy you approve. I can only hope the courts and Jamie feel the same way once I reverse the de-aging. Now then, what did you need me to show you about that Invisibility Charm?"

Later that afternoon, while Lily was taking a turn behind the counter down in the shop, Tom brought Jamie back to give his apology to Severus, Harry, and Eric.

It was strange, but Jamie found the worst part of his punishment was this apology, because he felt so guilty and ashamed about what he had done. So when they arrived and Tom said to Jamie, "Go on. Tell them you're sorry," Jamie hid his face in Tom's robe.

Tom sighed and tugged the youngster about. "None of that now. Go on and tell them what you told me."

Jamie sniffled. "I'm really sorry Eric and Harry that I tricked you into playing a prank with me. I didn't mean for you to get in trouble. Can you forgive me?"

Harry scowled. He really was kind of annoyed at Jamie for getting Eric in trouble, but his mother always said to forgive people when they apologized. "Yeah, all right."

Eric nodded, then said, "But I ain't ever doin' bad stuff 'cause you say to again."

"That's good. You shouldn't," Jamie said. Then he turned to Severus. "Uncle Sev, I'm really sorry I messed up your potions and made you lose business. I just wanted to play a joke on you." His lower lip quivered as he gazed up at the Potions Master.

Severus knelt so he was at eye level. "That sort of joke was not amusing, James."

"I know that now, sir. Are you . . .are you still mad at me?"

"I am more disappointed than angry at you." Severus stated. "Are you ever going to do anything like that again?"

"No, sir. I promise."

"Then all's forgiven."

Jamie wrapped his arms about Severus and hugged him.

Snape looked at the repentant child and said, "All right, Jamie, quit sniveling all over my shirt. It's had its quota of salt water for the day." But then he gave the dark-haired troublemaker a squeeze and asked if Tom and Jamie would like to stay for dessert.

They agreed, and so ended the great potions prank.