Who: Nina and Snape When: Mid March Where: Sev’s Potions lab. What: Discussions about Wolfsbane potion Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Nina wanted to speak to Snape directly so she had asked Merlin if she could collect the wolfsbane potion from him this month. Which was what led her to be making her way up the path to where he lived. She’d taken the dope at the beginning of the month and while it had been a little too strong she thought it might have actually worked to make her more docile and wondered if Snape would have any thoughts on it.
Raising her hand she knocked on the door and waited for him to answer.
Severus Snape was cleaning his living room. He’d hired help with the children, which wounded his ego a bit, but he figured he was allowed a few months of uneven footing after his wife’s death. He conceded that hiring an extra set of hands a few days a week wasn’t admitting defeat, but an adjustment to his new life.
He answered the door. The woman he’d hired, Maria, was in the living room with Daisy and David. They were playing with Play-dough, though David was spending more time trying to eat the stuff than actually building with it.
“Hello.” He said, and pulled the door further open. “To the right, through the kitchen.” He did his Potions in the garage.
“Hi” Nina said cheerfully, “Thank you” she nodded following his instructions. “And thanks for agreeing to see me. I know Merlin usually picks up the potion for me but I actually wanted to talk to you about something” she explained, though she was sure Merlin already had said something.
“Of course. It’s not a problem.” Snape said, moving with her through the kitchen and into the garage. It’d been converted from a place to store cars into a fully working potions laboratory. Someone from the outside might assume he was making meth or something, but Snape didn’t care. He had all of his materials and objects in place. Tables along each wall were covered with test tubes, bunsen burners, flasks, vials… all sorts of things from this world, but also the cauldrons and tombs that he’d been given from his dream world, too. It was glorious, actually.
“Do you have concerns with the potion?” He asked, concern etched on his brow. The last thing in the world they needed was a werewolf running around without any restraint during the full moon.
“Oh my goodness, this is amazing” Nina exclaimed as she looked around at his potion room, “I could be in here all day and not see everything I think” she told him with a smile.
“Oh no, not at all. Like I said before I don’t have entire control over myself like those from your world but I have a little and I remember things a lot more so thank you for that” she said, “I umm actually took something else along with the potion this past full moon. It was that I wanted to talk to you about”
Snape smirked a little. She could likely spend the whole day in the lab and not come across everything, that was true. But there wasn’t all that much to come across, honestly. A huge cabinet of ingredients and another of stock potions were probably the most interesting things in the whole room.
“Of course,” Sev’s way of saying you’re welcome. “Did you? Do tell.” He moved over to turn off a burner and then sat on a stool. He motioned for her to sit if she wanted to.
It all looked incredible and Nina was sure she’d find it all fascinating if she explored. She knew Audrey and Merlin had magic and had become used to that but this was different. Almost like science and magic combined.
Nina sat and nodded, “I smoked cannabis, my boyfriend wanted to see if it would help with the pain of transformation. And it did dull a lot of it. But apparently instead of the wolfs metabolism burning it off like I thought it would it somehow seemed to increase the potency. Apparently I acted very much like a docile puppy”
Snape raised both eyebrows at that. “Cannabis, huh?” He thought aloud, lifting a hand to rub at his chin. It was a strange gesture, something he wasn’t used to. But he found it helped with his thinking. “I hadn’t ever considered adding a Cannabinoid to the Wolfsbane potion before. But it makes sense. It would prolong the effects after initial consumption."
“Yeah. I have to admit I’m glad you aren’t mad I did it without checking with you first” Nina told him with a smile. After all admitting cannabis use wasn’t an everyday occurrence especially when someone was a werewolf. “So do you think it could actually be combined?” she asked interestedly.
“Well, I doubt that it could have interfered with the wolfsbane, but it would have been a good idea to check first. I’m glad that it worked out for you.” Snape said, though now he was distracted trying to figure out how he could improve upon the wolfsbane with that new information. “I do. I think I can make improvements knowing what I know now.”
"Sorry" Nina said, having been prepared to apologise since she arrived. She knew it had been dangerous but had wanted to try. The pain really was excruciating usually. "Really? You think you can? That's amazing. If you need any plants just let me know"
“If you have the same strain that you experimented with, I would appreciate a sample.” Sev said, considering. “If you wouldn’t mind…” he added, cautiously, “it would benefit me to observe the effects in practice. Would it be possible for you to have a video of your change? Or for me to join you a night of the full moon?”
“I can get you that” Nina said before wincing, “If you really need to I’m sure I could rig something up. I...nobody has ever seen me change. I just...it’s not something I’m comfortable with but if it helps I can try”
“If you are uncomfortable with it, I am sure we can find another way. It’s simply that your Dream World’s version of lycanthropy is completely different from mine. Unless you have research materials I can study, this would be the fastest and easiest way for me to learn about the change, and to be able to adjust the potion accordingly.” Severus explained.
“I don’t really have anything about it from my dream world. And I’m of very little help since other than the general things I don’t know a lot” Nina admitted, “I’ll record it for you” she decided with a nod, “I just might not be able to look at you for a while afterwards” she half joked.
Severus smirked softly. "You are a nurse. Surely you have seen patients in compromised situations, and then can look them in the eyes afterward. It is the same with this research." He assured her.
Nina nodded, “I know. I’ve tried to think of it like that but this just feels different. I need to get over it. I know for a fact my boyfriend is curious about it all” There was just something stopping her, maybe it was that British reserve.
“It’s all right.” Severus said, softly. “You take things at your own pace. When you are prepared, I am more than willing to adjust the formula. No pressure. I will do my best in the lab until I have more information.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind” Nina said with a smile, “I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me” Because she knew the transformations would be so much harder without the potion.
“It’s not a problem,” Severus responded, always a little awkward when it came to accepting thanks. “It’s been quite enjoyable for me as well.” He stood from the stool and moved over to his store cupboard. He opened it and pulled out a stoppered flask of Wolfsbane Potion for Nina.
“Well I’m glad of that. I’d hate to think it was a chore for you” Nina said with a smile, “And I promise not to mess with it again without checking with you first”
“Of course. Just shoot me an email, I’m always on my smart phone.” He offered, turning to hold out the potion for her. He knew he wasn’t the most approachable man, but he wanted to make sure he was available for her.
“Thank you again” she said taking the potion from him, “And thanks for seeing me. I’ve enjoyed seeing where you work” she added with a grin.
“You are welcome, anytime.” He responded, nodding his head.