James Potter doesn't want to talk about it. (jamesopotter) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-01-04 18:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1980-01] january, james potter, severus snape |
Severus and James
Who: James and Severus
What: Dark Magic 101
When: January 4th, 1980, Evening
Where: Severus's Place, Spinner's End
Status: Complete
After the fight on the journals James was in a foul mood by the time he apparated to Snape's place, picnic basket in one hand and books in the other. He was irritated enough that it almost felt good to be somewhere poor. It fit his mental state. He knocked twice impatiently, and only at the last second thought to shift the picnic basket to the hand with the books so that he could pull out his wand.
If Marlene was right and Snape was as evil as they'd always thought, he wouldn't hesitate to take him out at this point. He didn't think it was likely though. He might not like Snape, he might not ever think they were going to be friends, but James trusted him this much-- trusted that he'd keep Lily safe and help James if that's what it took.
And that was enough.
At the knock, Severus moved towards the door. There was a certain amount of irony in the entire absurd situation Severus had now found himself in. Potter was asking him for help with Dark Magic. Probably, anyway. Severus was certain that anything else he would have asked Lupin for help with, and property wards were certainly among areas where Dark Magic could be singularly useful. Although Severus didn't like Potter, he felt that at this point in time it behooved him to assist the other man. If nothing else, he could feel as if he was doing something actively to keep Lily safe, and he was also received the extra benefit of the satisfaction of knowing that Potter's black and white was smudging grey.
And it kept his mind from wondering whether or not Rodolphus Lestrange would take his not jumping on the library position as an insult. Lestrange had been more than generous to him, and he really had no desire to annoy the man. It was complicated by the fact that he truly did enjoy working at the library, but he couldn't help but think the Ministry was more likely to be helpful.
He peered through the peep hole, and seeing Potter, he grimaced and opened the door, thinking as he did so that next time they should arrange some sort of password so he'd know it was Potter. Not that he knew anyone likely to polyjuice Potter to come to Snape's house. The idea was almost laughable.
"My what big teeth you have," Severus said wryly, noting both the wand and the basket James was gripping. He had no idea if the other man was likely to get the Muggle fairy tale reference, and didn't particularly care. "Come in and let me shut the door before someone sees you out there."
"Yeah," James said blankly, nearly shoving Severus out of the way with the massive picnic basket. "S'not as if I want anyone thinking I'm renting myself out by the hour," he said sarcastically. "And anyway you're mixing up the story. The bird with the basket didn't have bad teeth the grandma did," he added grumpily.
He headed straight into the kitchen without asking permission and sat the basket down on the kitchen table and put the books down next to them, instantly moving to take out the food.
"Eat. Mum'll ask and I don't lie to her," he explained, taking out dishes and forks. Mrs. P had thought of everything. There were Rosemary Covered Lamb Shanks and fancy potatoes and lamb gravy and a pie.
"Oh for fuck's sake, this isn't a bloody date," James grumbled. "Sit. Eat. Explain."
He flipped open a book about wards. This wasn't grey magic. This was Dark Magic. And James wasn't thrilled about it but it was the best he could do.
Lovely, Severus thought as Potter bullied his way into the house in an apparently more foul mood than he'd been expecting from the relatively neutral conversation they'd had in the journal. He sighed inwardly wondering what the fuck he'd been thinking to agree to this. He'd been thinking Potter more mature than he was, which was over-estimating him, clearly.
Severus closed the door, put up the wards once more, including a few extra to let him know if one of his friends showed up unexpectedly and then covered the short distance to the kitchen where he stared at Potter putting out more food than he normally saw - except that Astra had sent him almost that much food earlier in the weekend. Apparently this was the weekend for gifted food.
He gave Potter a calculating look, and then without saying anything went back and pulled two books off of the shelf in the living room. One his text he'd used to learn the information for potions, the other a book he'd brought home from the Lestrange library. He placed both down on the table in front of Potter, glancing at the text.
"Look," he said, rather curtly. "How serious are you about this? This isn't your typical Hogwart's magic. It's not light stuff. It's dirty, and it's a bit messy, and it sure as hell will work - there's a reason places like the Lestrange Library and estates are damn near impregnable - but if you're going to get squeamish, this is a waste of my time."
"Do you think I'd have come to you if I had anywhere else to go?" James asked, rolling his eyes. "I want to learn this, and I'd rather not spend any more time than I have to away from home."
He took a deep breath and sighed as he stared down at the books Severus had placed before him.
"Look, I'm sorry. I got in a fight with Remus on my way out the door and it has me in a pissy mood. You're helping me-- I shouldn't take it out on you," he mumbled, in a rambling apology which was the best he was going to manage. He almost asked Severus about telling Remus but this wasn't the time to start down a road that could lead to sniping.
"I know this is Dark Magic, no matter which way I try to rationalize it, and I'm alright with that. Or as alright as I can be under the circumstances."
Severus watched him for a moment more, and then nodded. The fight at least explained Potter's mood and it helped (some anyway) that the annoyance was not directed at Snape. And Severus did believe that if Potter thought there was some other alternative, the man wouldn't be here. In fact, the fact that he was here at all, was a sign of how true that statement was.
"All right," Severus pulled up the chair and pushed the original text at James. "That's what I used when I was learning. And I'm prefacing this whole discussion with the fact that when I was learning this stuff, I was learning it for potions, so my emphasis was heavy there, and not so much on the charms and wards, but I've read enough, that I think we should be able to get through this."
Severus reached for the book Potter had brought, ignoring the food for the moment, and opened it, glancing through the pages. Potter was right, the magic was nowhere remotely qualifiable as light, but there was stuff that would work. He frowned through the runes and almost unconsciously chewed on his lip.
"Shit," he said softly. He glanced up at Potter, a grudging respect in his eyes. "Right. All right, well, a lot of the runic stuff is heavily based on blood magic as well as charms and wards too. And you probably already know that much at least. It's nasty if you step into it, as I think some of your members have found out," his lips were in thin lines. "And when you're dealing with Purebloods, frequently it's made to ward out those of lesser blood, but that can work against them too. I guess, there's a lot in here. What are you looking to do?"
James took a deep breath again, stuffing a chunk of roll into his mouth to give himself a chance to think.
"Yeah, I recognized the blood runes. They're the only ones I know, and that's because my dad taught me what to look like so I'd avoid them," he said, for once glad that his father was dead so that he wouldn't have to know what James was being reduced to. "He'd be pissed as hell at me for this," he said, shaking his head. "But what else can I do?"
It was a rhetorical question, he didn't want an answer.
"The big problem with blood magic in our case is that we've got muggleborns and purebloods in the same space," he said. But if we could ward out all purebloods except Potter's and Black's... no, shit, that won't work. We might as well send Bellatrix an engrave invitation," he sighed.
"Basically I need whatever it is that you think would keep Lily the safest. I'll slaughter a goat-- a toad-- Marius Lestrange-- whatever it takes," he said, nudging Severus's plate toward him. "Don't hurt my mum's feelings."
Severus rather thought his father wouldn't have cared, even if he had been a wizard, but then, he had no illusions of what growing up James Potter had been like, compared to growing up Severus Snape. He pulled the plate towards him, his eyes still on the books.
"Look, I know this may not mean a lot to you, but there's a hell of a lot of magic that's pure intent," he looked up at Potter, reaching for the fork to take a bite of the food on the plate. "Your intent here isn't bad, for what it's worth. And I realise that may not be something you're comfortable with, but there's a lot of truth there. And right now, the world is hardly a perfect place."
He fell silent and continued thinking while he ate some of the food James had brought. It was pretty good, really, and he'd only had a left over yorkshire pudding earlier in the morning. "And you've got a werewolf too, don't you?" He mused, but the question wasn't really one for Potter to answer, more something to take into consideration.
"It's possible that mixing the blood, before you get to the charms might work," Severus said. "It'd be a bit messy though, and trying to explain to your household why you need two drops of each of their blood might be problematic." Severus couldn't imagine Lily being comfortable with the spells they were looking at. "However, they might be weaker in the long run, and we don't actually want a weakness in them. But just because the purebloods ward on blood purity, doesn't mean they can't work otherwise - it seems to me that originally they would have been based on family blood, which ultimately becomes blood purity if one continues a line that's pure, but doesn't necessarily require the magical generations," he frowned and reached for the second book he'd brought out, pushing the plate away so he wouldn't get food on it.
James listened as Severus spoke and nodded at the intent.
"We've had loads of conversation about it... how a levitating spell could pitch a person over a cliff and an Imperius could save someone from jumping off a roof," he said, continuing to eat in order to ease his discomfort. "And I've never bought much into it-- called it Slytherin Bullshit if I recall-- but the point is, it's Dark Magic, and I'm going to have to deal with that one way or the other. Because honestly? My intent is that if a Death Eater crosses our property line I want them ripped into fucking shreds. Little tiny pieces of them should be floating out into space when the wards are finished with them," he said plainly.
"And getting the blood won't be hard. The people who are staying at the house permanently trust me," he said, sounding slightly bitter about it. "But I have to trust you on the rest. I just barely understand what you're saying. I don't care much about the theory behind it, I only need to know how to do it."
Severus looked up at Potter and shook his head mildly. He kept getting surprised by the man, which was something he hadn't counted on ever happening. He still didn't like him, but he couldn't help feeling something that might have been respect.
"You sure as hell aren't a Ravenclaw, or a nearly Ravenclaw," he said, but it was more bemused than anything. He gave a bit of a sigh and reached for James' book. "If you want tea there's shit in the cupboards for it," he added, and he began looking over the introduction to the book falling quiet as he read, and he pulled open his journal, scribbling a few notes to himself.
"Right, with potions, it's the combination of the runes used during the potion making process that enhances the potions. With warding and charms, it's the same thing, only with a wand, obviously," here he went stating the obvious. "There actually aren't loads of runes you need to know here - you specifically need to know the ones that are dealing with protective magic: Eihwaz, Algiz, and Othala to be particular."
Severus was quiet for a moment more. "Lils is better at charms than I am," he admitted. "Although I've improved in the last year, but I think that I know enough to get you the practical application. The ritual here is complicated though. What about your wand magic?" He looked up at Potter. "You took Charms and Transfiguration through NEWT level?"
"Yeah, Charms," James agreed. "And wandwork is probably what I'm best at actually. We've managed some pretty miraculous spells between me and Sirius and if I can't figure it out I'll ask McGonagall. There's nothing she wouldn't show me if I asked nicely enough," he said confidently. "But honestly, with all the wards I've been putting up in the last six months, I'm the least worried about the charms work," he said.
He stood up and moved toward the cabinets, helping himself to whatever it took to make tea for the both of them. He knew a whole lot of domestic charms from helping his mum with her tea parties for her cotton-headed ladies group, and both cups were steaming in no time. He sat one in front of Severus and took one for himself.
James looked down at the runes that Snape had pointed out. That wasn't ridiculously hard now that it had been explained, though still complicated.
"If I'm reading this one right I'd have to have the blood of the people I'm warding in, right?" he asked, staring down at the page. No. He was no Ravenclaw. He wasn't flat out stupid, but he'd never cared about this shit before.
Severus nodded, accepting the tea with a quick, tight smile. It was as close as he was going to get to saying thank you for it. He took a sip and put a finger on the page.
"Basically this is a multi-layered ritual," Severus said matter-of-factly. "You've got to have the Ancient runes bit, the Charms bit, and," he frowned, re-reading it. "A bit of transfiguration. You need specific woods, and definitely the blood, and if I'm reading this right, a potion. Hold on a minute."
Severus put the tea down and started through it again, reading through each of the directions carefully, and referencing his text in a few places when he stumbled against turns of phrases that seemed oblique or confusing. At the end of ten minutes, his remaining tea was a lot less hot, and he was still uncertain about one term in the directions, but it did seem like a base potion was utilized with the blood.
"I think I've got the potion it's referring to here in a book upstairs," he said finally. "It's pretty straight forward, and it's something Lily should be able to brew - it's a base, really, a beginning place for several other more complex potions, and it gives you something liquid to mix the blood into, strengthening it, and enhancing the effect of the spell."
"The blood is the darkest part of this," he added off-handedly. "It would be an effective protection ward without it, probably, but it wouldn't be fool-proof. And even with it, a determined and experienced curse breaker could, so I'd recommend starting here, but not ending here. Not that I suspect you are planning on ending with this one."
"You're going to want to make the potion first, it shouldn't take more than 36 hours to brew, and it should be safe for Lily to brew. That will provide your base. While she's doing that you're going to want to get yourself some Yew, some Larch, and probably some Hawthorn wood -" He stopped and relooked at the page previous. "Yeah, basic protective woods, Yew being specifically connected to the Eihwaz rune and thus amplifying it's protective properties. These three protective runes? You're going to want these carved in each of those woods. But only Eihwaz in the Yew - not the other two. In the Larch, add these four that have to do with family, marriage, and ancestory," he pointed to the four in his rune text and looked up to meet Potter's eyes. "With me thus far?"
James was staring at Severus with wide eyes.
"How do you know this shit?" he asked, grudging admiration clear in his voice. "I mean, really? Do you never get laid?"
Realizing that wasn't exactly a polite question he held up a hand in apology. "Agnes-- right. It's just... that's a lot," he said. "I should probably take notes or something."
There was a quill and some paper sitting out on the counter and James floated them over to himself scratching down what he remembered and sliding it toward Severus to read over and make corrections.
"Have you ever thought of teaching at Hogwarts?" he asked. "You'd scare the sweet bejeezus out of the ickles, but fuck if you don't know what you're talking about."
As Severus looked over what he'd written he looked over the more basic book that Snape said he'd started with. It definitely helped explain the wandwork more clearly when he flipped to the charms versus runes section. He could do this. Even if he hadn't understand he'd have still tried it, but this made it easier, and he placed a piece of paper over the page, casting a copy spell he and Sirius had made up to cheat with, once upon a time.
Severus would have been taken aback had the question come from anyone other than Potter, as it was he merely rolled his eyes and slid his Ancient Runes text over for James to look at.
"Merlin no Hogwarts," Severus snorted. "I don't care if I'd scare them, more importantly they'd make me want to kill myself," but the complement was still there, which was possibly the first time he'd ever gotten a genuine complement from James Potter, and, looking at him, Severus was fairly certain it was genuine.
"I just like reading," he said, picking up his now luke-warm cup of tea and taking a long sip of it. "And knowing stuff. And the runes, like I said, I had to go back and relearn a lot of shit cause I'd not taken it NEWT level and it was needed for potions." And boy was he glad he'd done so.
"Once you've got the base potion made, and the runes carved in the woods, you're going to want to get the blood from anyone you want warded in. If you choose not to go that route, you'll have a protective wall around your property, which would discourage intruders, but it's not going to absolutely keep out those other than who live there, just as a general reference. With the blood, it should absolutely keep out anyone not warded into the spell - which means that if you're expecting visitors, you'll need to learn the counter enchantment to lower it - which, I think was in the back. I'll look at that in a minute."
"The blood and the potion go together, and at the same time you add the blood, stir in dried holly berries into the potion. They're typically recognised as useful in protection charms and talismans, and they should, if I'm remembering correctly bind the blood into the potion and change the entire liquid into a deep red colour. The blood on its own won't do that. And you've got to add the two at exactly the same time. Stir three times counterclockwise, and your potion should be ready." He paused to give James enough time to make the notes, still sipping on the tea and suddenly irritated at its temperature, he pulled out his wand and tapped the cup to warm it slightly.
James nodded, making more notes.
"I'm not sure Lils is going to agree to brew this," he said. "There's no way she's not going to realize what she's doing is there? I mean-- could this not look as bad as it sounds if it weren't for the blood? Because if it came down to it I could get the blood from everyone in the house without them knowing. It'd be downright terrible and I don't even know that they'd forgive me, but at this point if I'm going to hell I might as well make myself a comfortable little handbasket for the ride," he mumbled, half to himself.
"I don't really see the point in doing it without the blood since it isn't that much stronger than what I've got up already. We need something real and this is it."
He looked up at Sev as he put down the quill.
"No one knows where we live outside of the few people I'd trust with Lily's life. There was never any record of it at the Ministry. With that in mind-- do you think this is enough?" he asked. It was a question that made James feel vulnerable and uncomfortable and he ended up looking back down at his empty cup of tea to avoid looking at Snape while he waited for an answer.
"Pretty much everyone but me and Lils thinks we're all going to die."
Severus was quiet for a moment. "I know my opinion probably doesn't matter a lot, but I don't think you're going to hell for this one. I'm far more likely to end up there than you are," and now it was Severus looking down at the book. "The potion itself, like I said earlier, is just a base potion. Up until the point that you add the blood, it's a potion you use as a base for a dozen different advanced potions - maybe more than that, but those dozens are the only ones I've studied thus far. Now, that she won't question what you're going to do with a base potion.." Severus shrugged.
There was a rather sick irony to the fact that Lily had married James, presumably because she hadn't been comfortable with Severus' familiarity with Dark Magic, and that James was now sitting in Severus' kitchen asking for lessons. He pressed his lips together.
"I'd do it with the blood," he added. "But then, you probably already know that. And it's Lils," Severus twisted his cup in his hand. "As far as I'm concerned there's nothing that's enough, but it's a reasonably good start. The best protective enchantments work in layers, so if someone manages to bring down one, there's still another one they've got to make their way through. The ancient Egyptians used to have upwards of several hundred enchantments on the more important tombs and passageways. I seriously doubt you have that kind of time, and some of that magic, I'm frankly not certain even I would touch, but the point is still reasonably valid. Multiple layers are always going to be stronger than just one."
"I'm not sure anyone is safe right now - some people just have an illusion of it," he said flatly, and Severus was fairly certain that was true. There were Purebloods that were not that protected when it came down to it - they only thought they were untouchable, but Severus was certain that under the right circumstances they would be as hunted as Lily.
James nodded with each statement. He hated this. He hated that Remus was right and in some ways he was trusting Snape more than he would trust his friends, but they'd never all of this. He was helpless in his desire to save Lily unless he went outside of the circle of the knowledge they all seemed to mutually hold.
How many times had the wards failed in places they felt safe? Hell, they'd even managed to get into Hogwarts. But hear? There were no secret passages. There was no anything that would compromise them save weakness in the wards that James had built around them, and he wouldn't be responsible for their deaths. Even if it meant this.
"Well, I've already got about every ward I could get my hands on, and every ward Moody could teach me, up on the house. So this is probably going to be the most extreme layer," he said. "And if my friends have a problem with it then they can move out," he said blankly. It wasn't hard to see from the look on James's face that the thought troubled him, but Lily was James's responsibility. And that meant more to him than even his friends (though it might have been a slightly different story if he thought Sirius would pitch a fit.)
"Is that it then?" he asked.
"You're not done quite that quickly," Severus raised an eyebrow at James. "This is complicated, Potter. This isn't something you wave your wand at and are finished. It's frankly beyond the practical stuff I've done," and Severus was certain that James probably understood that, but blood and Dark Magic connections aside, this was a complicated mix of runes, potions, charms, and defensive warding that rather made Severus wish he could go and do the entire thing himself.
"The carved runes go into a basin made of hawthorn," Severus said. "You put them in one at a time, speaking the name as you put them in. The Eihwaz carved into Yew should be in the center and should be the last one you place in. The potion is poured in on top of them, and you repeat the process, this time with your wand to each of the runes as you say their names - your wand will have the potion on it," he looked up - if Potter would get squeamish, this was probably where it would happen.
"This spell," he pointed in the book, "should be cast at the basin, which should essentially burn. When it has completed, you should have a pile of ashes, which you should then use a basic scattering spell to place around the perimeter of the area you wish to protect. Then you follow with the suggested charms to defensively ward."
Severus looked over the process again, trying to make certain he hadn't missed anything. The runes, the carving, the speaking, the potion, the blood, the warding, the burning: it was all there.
"You don't want anyone coming through this that isn't in the wards," he added. "So if there's anyone other than the people you're warding in that is likely to visit, you'll want to make certain they know to let you know first. The wards can be lowered - and you've got this enchantment in the back that will bring them down. If you don't, anyone coming through this is going to be permanently injured."
He fell silent, giving Potter a long look. Severus wasn't certain what Aberforth would say to this spell, however the two of them had talked about dark magic's practical, and possibly even less than dark uses. Potter's intention here, was - so far as Severus was concerned, the intention was good. Granted, there was the 'sending Death Eaters into mini little pieces' part, but the Death Eaters would not hesitate to do the same to James or Lily, and one could fight fire with fire. The spell would work, which was the main thing that Severus was concerned with.
"They won't relent," Severus said. "In your favour, they've got other things to be concentrating on at the moment, but they still won't give up. And the thing about the Dark Arts, is that if you're willing to compromise anything, you can change fairly radically very quickly. So don't count on only this to protect you. The other stuff doesn't have to be Dark, Light magic can be just as effective - in some cases," he looked wryly at Potter. "It might even more effective. And finally, don't assume that everyone you know is trustworthy. Cause this spell won't protect you against anyone you ward into it. Black got into Grimmauld Place as a rather timely example."
"Helga's tits, could they have made this any more complicated?" James asked, scratching down notes as he could. He read through them twice and they seemed about right. "Is that the end of it now or am I going to need to fuck a unicorn under a half moon or something?"
So it was crass. James wasn't here to make friends. James had friends. Who hated him now.
He looked up at Severus, flicking the quill through his finger nimbly.
"Are you ever coming out to the rest of the Order? Cause I've got to tell you, this hiding the fact that your decent shit is getting old fast. My friends are noticing I'm sneaking around-- well, Remus is anyway. Sirius doesn't notice anything that doesn't have a vagina when he's in the mood to think we're all going to die."
Severus almost laughed - Almost. It really wouldn't do to laugh at something Potter said, but something about the mental image of Potter and a unicorn - wait, no it was disturbing when one thought about it in greater detail.
"I think that's it," he said instead and he stretched his shoulders, turning his eyes over the pages one more time. "The timing is pretty crucial - so now that you've got the runes pieces there, you should read over all of it again," he added. "And the wards are really important, so make certain you're comfortable casting them before you start the entire process." Severus was fairly confident that he understood the pieces of the spell well enough that he had them correct, but Potter was the one who would have to cast it. He closed his eyes and pushed the book back towards the other man praying he hadn't overlooked anything. It was magic he'd only looked at in theory, and not magic he'd actually attempted. "I think that's everything."
The final question though wasn't something Severus really had an answer to. "If you think the sneaking around is getting old fast," and there was a touch of irritation in his voice. "To be honest I have no more idea than you do. I'm not doing anything on that front until Professor Dumbledore says to do it. I think he has the idea that he's protecting the rest of the lot of you - never mind that I have a suspicion there will be a lot fewer surprises about group membership than any of you might hope that I would have."
His eyes were dark and a little guarded. The past forty-eight hours had been far more frustrating for Severus than he would ever admit to Potter, and it had been more tempting than it ever had been before to either run to the other side of the planet, or just screw everything and see what he could make of things. "But it is Dumbledore's decision, no matter how frustrating it might be for you. I doubt it will be any consolation to you that it is ten times more frustrating for me."
"Yeah, I guess it's a bit twattish of me to make it all about myself," he said, rolling his eyes as he began to pitch the plates and forks back into the picnic basket. "You want the rest of this food?" he asked. "If I bring it home mum's gonna pitch a fit, so even if you don't want it, just throw it away after I leave or something."
He gathered up the books in his hands and then deposited them in the picnic basket as well so he could sneak them back into the house.
"And look-- I know that we aren't ever going to be friends-- I can't even stomach the thought really-- but thanks anyway. You don't have to be this decent about helping me, and even if it's only for Lils, you could still be a prat about it and you aren't. If things go to complete and utter shite and you need to hide somewhere that no one would ever think to look for you..."
James paused. He could not believe he was going to say this.
"Journal me. I'll set the wards."
He couldn't manage an outright invitation but he could manage that much. Severus was risking his life for him and Lils and it wasn't something James would forget or put aside. Remus was angry with him for being too trusting, but James didn't see it that way. He never would. He had a good sense of who to trust and when, and you didn't have to like someone to know they weren't going to cause you harm. He looked down at the picnic basket, waiting for Snape to throw that back in his face.
Severus blinked, one second of surprise before he slammed his normal neutral expression back down. There were things he didn't particularly want to give to Potter, because no matter how much James might be trusting him at the moment, and being reasonably decent to him, he'd had too many emotionally damaging wounds from the other man over the years.
"I think I can make do with the food," he said instead. Trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible so that he didn't give away anything about how surprised he'd been by the offer. "Um, tell your Mum thanks," he added, more because it seemed like the thing to say, and because Mrs Potter seemed like the type that might expect thanks - if just because she seemed like one of those good people who actually cared about other people.
He didn't know what to say about the offer. He wasn't certain how he even felt about the offer. "Didn't I just finish telling you that you've got to be careful who you can trust?" He finally said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, if it comes to it, there's other places I can go," he said, and he trusted that Aberforth would keep him safe, if he was aware enough long enough in advance to escape - the big 'if' of his existence. "But I'll keep the offer in mind. And for this you'll need that potion recipe. If Lils doesn't have it, send me a ward and I can copy it out for you in my journal tomorrow."
James nodded.
"I'll tell her," he agreed. "And if Lils doesn't have it I'll ward something."
He made it to the door in only a few steps. He turned as if he was going to say something else to Severus but turned the knob and left without a word. There really wasn't anything left to say. He apparated home with a pop, fully expecting his friends to all be waiting with rope and wands out... They were the Marauders after all.