LADTH Oneshot #1 - A Potions Incident by RhiannanT

“Ah, Severus. How kind of you to come up to visit,” the Headmaster said cheerily.

“You did summon me,” Severus reminded him.

Dumbledore smiled at him, as usual totally unperturbed by Severus' discouraging tone. “I did. I was just curious as to what might have happened to your office. It looks rather like something exploded. By the way, how are things going with young Harry?” The headmaster's eyes twinkled, giving Severus the strong impression that the man knew precisely what had happened.

“Things are going well, thank you,” Severus answered.

“Oh, good. I was concerned. And your office?”

The man's direct gaze was at least half serious, but Severus wasn't in the mood. “I had a potions incident,” he told him.

Dumbledore smiled and sat back. “A potions incident? How unusual. Are you certain that that is what happened?”

Severus actually smiled back, remembering a conversation he'd had with Zabini after Harry had hit him. “Quite.”

“And what caused said explosion, then?”

“Tongueweed and white nightshade.”

“And as a Potions master you did not know that said combination would produce such a result?”

Severus maintained the Headmaster's gaze, feeling surprisingly liberated as he lied through his teeth. “I must have been distracted,” he answered calmly.

“Distracted, really?” the Headmaster asked, openly skeptical.

“Indeed.”

“You should be more careful,” the Headmaster told him.

“Perhaps.”

The headmaster stared at him, an enigmatic smile on his lips. “You know, Severus, there are several very interesting aspects about your story.”

Severus raised his eyebrows and drank a sip of the tea Albus had put in front of him. “Oh?”

“You normally do potions at your desk, or in your potions laboratory, correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well, interestingly enough, the 'explosion' in question looks rather like it came from your doorway,” the headmaster said cheerily.

“That is interesting,” Severus answered him.

“Can you explain it?” the Headmaster pressed.

Severus smiled slightly. “Apparently I was making a potion in my doorway,” he answered blandly.

“With wards set up behind you to prevent any explosion from affecting the hall outside of your office, naturally,” the Headmaster suggested.

“Naturally,” Severus agreed.

“I see,” the Headmaster said. “Well, that does explain it. Still, though, it seems a bit of a stretch to me, that a Potions master of your caliber would have an accident of that magnitude.”

“Like I said, sir,” Severus said neutrally, “I must have been distracted.”

The headmaster merely nodded sagely to himself, before continuing. “How is it that you were not hurt, then?”

“I took refuge in the hallway, sir.”

“Through the wards?”

“Yes.”

The headmaster nodded once again, seeming to accept that explanation. “So your explanation, then, is that you threw yourself dramatically into the hallway from where you were brewing in your doorway, safely avoiding the towering flames caused by your easily-avoidable potions mistake.”

Severus pretended to think about it for a bit, then nodded once. “Precisely.”

“Fascinating,” Dumbledore opined, smiling broadly. “So you would not have, for example, responded to your alarms at two o'clock in the morning to find your office in flames at the hands of one very talented small boy.”

“No.”

“So you're not lying to me to cover for one of your first-years after said first-year had a go at burning down your office.”

“Clearly not, sir.”

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling enough to put the stars to shame. “Clearly. So what really happened?”

“I told Harry that I wanted to adopt him.”

That finally shut the old man up. If only briefly. “Did he accept?” the Headmaster asked next, his voice soft.

“He did,” Severus told him. He hadn't expected the smile that split the old man's face, and had to look a way, containing a blush through sheer force of will.

“Congratulations, my boy.”

Moved, Severus couldn't find a way to respond. He listened, though, as his mentor of more than twenty years came around the desk. Feeling hands on both of his shoulders, he looked up and found the headmaster's eyes wet. “Of all the assignments I've set you to, this was perhaps the hardest. I have never been so proud.”