The Apothecary Knows Best

Written by Snapegirlkmf & Rae Kelly

1

Trouble Comes Unexpectedly

by Snapegirlkmf

A/N: In this story James Potter starts out as a first class ass, but will redeem himself by the time the story is done. Also features a good Narcissa and de-aged James, plus a crazy/evil! Dumbledore and Good!Tom Riddle

Lily levitated the lunch dishes into the sink with a brief wave of her hand and spoke a soft, "Scourgify!"

The tap turned on by itself and soapy water shot out of her finger and filled the sink. A scrub brush and a sponge was dipped into the water and the dishes began to wash themselves slowly.

The auburn-haired green-eyed mother of three and three-time winner of the Best Apothecary Award from the International Society of Apothecaries sank into a chair and watched the dishes washing, happy to have a moment or two to relax.

She had just put her two youngest children, three-year-old Eric and year-old Rosie, down for a nap, and Harry was in his room playing with some toys. She was glad to have a day off to spend time with her children, something her busy schedule didn't always allow, but she had forgotten that looking after three children could be as trying as running the apothecary all day.

She rubbed her hand across her eyes and thought how lucky she was to be married to Severus the second time around, doing what she loved best, brewing potions and selling them and consulting with customers about this or that ailment. It was so different from her former life, she mused, harder in some ways but she was happier now than she had ever been as the wife of rich dilettante James Potter.

She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander back in time, remembering how James had swept her off her feet with his charming airs in school, playing the gallant Gryffindor wooing the bookish Ravenclaw lady. Back then she had been smitten by Potter's good looks and casual devil-may-care attitude. He had a reputation for being a troublemaker, he was always in detention for one thing or another, but that bad boy aura had appealed to her girlish fantasies back then.

She had been an innocent, the only thing she knew about boys came from books and her best friend, Severus Snape. Severus had grown up with her, but she had only thought of him as a friend then. Shy bookish Snape, member of Slytherin House, her study partner in Potions and Herbology. They had both dreamed of opening an apothecary someday, and Severus wanted to become a Potions Master as well.

Lily had fully intended to follow through on her goals, until James had come busting into her life like a comet and made her feel things she had never felt before—desire and need for his tall handsome self. He had courted and wooed her in seventh year, and won her the summer after they had finished school. Lily had just begun her apprenticeship with Master Apothecary Howard Dee when James proposed to her and she accepted.

She had thought it a fairy tale marriage, but the reality was anything but.

James was not used to a witch who wanted to be useful and work for a living. He could not understand Lily's preoccupation with finishing her apprenticeship and becoming an apothecary when she was now his wife, and he had all the money she could ever need or want.

"You don't need to work, Lil, so why bother getting that degree?" he had said to her. "If you want to be helpful, volunteer at the Pureblood Mission for Widows and Orphans. You can donate to charities, whatever ones you like."

But Lily was not satisfied. She had been raised a Muggle, with a strong work ethic, and being idle was not something she was suited to. As Mrs. Potter, she had house elves and tons of Galleons, time to visit the finest salons and spas the wizarding world had to offer, shop at the most exclusive boutiques, and be a gracious hostess at all the fancy soirees and balls given by the pureblood set James associated with.

After three months it was plain to her that she would never be accepted into that world. She was a Muggleborn and uncomfortable as a lady of privilege. She did not know how to act or why it was wrong to thank one's house elf for fetching a cloak, she wanted more out of life than being a hostess and an ornamental wife for James to show off to his friends.

James didn't understand, and he went merrily on his way, betting on Quidditch matches, drinking till all hours with his mates Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, charming and dissolute. Lily hardly saw him, unless he decided to stay at home that night.

I was so lonely, and trying to fill the empty hours with studying helped, but what I really wanted was my husband. Only he was too busy having fun and spending money on new brooms and year-round box seats for Quidditch. I thought having Harry would make a difference, would finally make him stay at home and grow up, but it didn't.

James had been an attentive father and husband for about six months, until he grew bored with changing nappies and watching Harry eat cereal and fuss over new teeth. Then he started trying to convince Lily to start going out again, leaving Harry in the care of his house elves.

But Lily had refused, even though she knew the elves would treat Harry like a prince. He was her baby, her firstborn, and she didn't want to miss a thing. She arranged for her Master to come to the manor and teach while Harry napped on certain afternoons and so finally finished her degree. She had proudly told James that night, after supper, while they were in bed.

"Oh, you did? That's nice, dear," he had muttered, then turned over and fell asleep.

Hurt by his lukewarm response, Lily had gotten out of bed and went to sleep in Harry's nursery, transfiguring a slipper into a bed for the night.

They drifted further and further apart, until the final straw came one day when she was picking up his dirty clothes from the bedroom floor and found an earring inside a pocket of his robe. It wasn't one she recognized.

But when she had confronted him with it, he had lied and said it belonged to one of Sirius's girlfriends. It was only later, when she had gone away for the weekend to visit her parents and taken Harry along, that she finally faced the truth. She no longer was in love with her husband. And she didn't think he loved her. He loved the idea of her, but not who she really was. She admitted as much to her mother, and Rose had told her she needed to spend more time with James and maybe they could turn things around. So she had gone home early and discovered Sirius and Peter passed out drunk on the couch and James in bed with another woman.

There had been a huge row and Lily had called James names that her mother had said a lady should never let cross her lips, she was so hurt and angry. She had returned to try and patch up their flagging marriage only to find he had been happily running around on her with some pretty pureblood heiress.

James had begged her forgiveness and sworn it was the only time he had ever done it and she had believed him. For three months he behaved himself and spent more time at home with her and Harry. She had begun to hope that it was a mistake and he would be content being a family man. He really did love his son, he played with him and taught him to crawl and walk, he thought Harry was the smartest kid ever born.

But soon James became restless and started going out again with Sirius and Peter, much to Lily's dismay. She had never gotten along with them, they were both wastrels and encouraged James to do things that were reckless and foolhardy—not that he had ever needed much encouragement.

But it was the second time I found him drunk and making out with a tart at the Pettigrew's Solstice Ball that finally finished it. It was then that I realized our marriage was a lie and he was a selfish immature bastard.

She had filed for divorce the next day and petitioned for sole custody of Harry. Then she had gone home to Spinner's End and cried all night in her mother's arms. The next day she had seen Severus weeding his front walk a few houses down and he had asked her how she was doing. Before she knew it, she had poured out the whole sorry tale to him.

"Well? Aren't you going to say I told you so, Severus?" she had sniffled when she was through. "Because you did warn me, you know."

"No, Lily. You made a mistake, and I'm sorry he hurt you. You didn't deserve it." He handed her a handkerchief. "But I'm not sorry you're divorcing him."

Three months later the divorce went through, on the grounds of infidelity and irreconcilable differences. Harry had just turned one and James was allowed to see him every other weekend and had to pay Lily child support. The judge would have also made him pay alimony, but Lily had refused. Money for Harry she would take, but she could support herself. It was a rather large scandal, in all the papers, the press had a field day, but Lily stoically ignored the taunts about 'the other women' and 'poor little Mudblood, thinking she could compete with pureblood witches'. Within two months, she had rented a shop in Diagon Alley with a flat above it and started her own apothecary. But she had hung a Help Wanted, Skilled Potion Maker Needed sign in the window.

And Severus came in and applied for the position and suddenly I started looking at him as more than a friend and he defended me from any idiot who happened to say something nasty to me about the divorce. One thing led to another and before I knew it we were dating. James was furious, he had assumed I would remain a spinster, pining over him. And he hated that I was dating 'poor Snivellus' who he used to pick on at school. When we married, he nearly had a stroke. He swore I'd be in the poorhouse in three months if Snape were anything like his father, the drunken bum. But Sev wasn't, and we managed to pool our money together and buy the building outright and then we changed the name from Evans Apothecary to Snape's and ran it together. It was tough in the beginning, but we managed.

Lily smiled dreamily, recalling those halcyon days, and how she had been worried at first that Severus wouldn't accept Harry, but he had, he loved the boy and then they had two more children and their little shop was booming as their reputation for first class apothecaries grew.

Lily leaned back in her chair and allowed her mind to drift, relaxed and calm, until a very large tremor shook the flat and she sat bolt upright. Merlin, what was THAT? I think it came from downstairs! She was on her feet and racing down the stairs to the shop in an instant. "Severus! What just happened?" she called but there was no answer.

Harry James Potter was bored. Very bored. There was nothing fun to do around the flat since his brother and sister were sleeping. He almost wished he were at his dad's for the weekend, because there was always something to do at Potter Manor. He peeked into the nursery, where Eric and Rosie were sleeping, wishing they would wake up so he would have someone to play with.

It was then that he saw his mother's wand, lying on the changing table. She's probably looking for it. I'll go and give it to her, he reasoned, and picked it up. But when he found her in the kitchen, he saw that she was sleeping. He started to put the wand next to her on the table, but then he looked at it again and temptation reared its head.

He knew he wasn't supposed to play with anybody's wand. Both his mum and da—which was what he called Severus—had told him so over and over. A wand was not a toy. It was not something a little boy should touch. But he loved the feel of the wood in his hands and the way it warmed to his touch.

I just wanna hold it. Just for a bit.

But pretty soon just holding it turned into waving it around and then he was pretending he was a mighty wizard on a Quest to slay the wicked dragon that lived in the basement.

He tiptoed to the top of the stairs and slipped down them and into the back of the apothecary shop. This was where they stored all the herbs and other icky ingredients for people to buy, there were shelves and shelves of jars and boxes and some herbs hung drying from the ceiling. A long low table was in the center with a mortar and pestle upon it and there was a curtain over the entrance from the shop.

Harry paused, Lily's wand held in front of him, breathing in all the myriad scents of exotic spices and herbs that always filled the air in the shop. His Da had started teaching him some of their names and what they looked like. He tilted his head and heard his da's voice, talking to a customer. Oh no! Was he coming back here to make some potion or grind up a powder? The six-year-old wondered. If he saw Harry with Lily's wand . . .

Quick as a wink, Harry turned and hid behind a shelf.

Footsteps sounded in the back of the shop and he saw the tips of his da's boots walking. "I need to check on the Boil Cure brewing in the lab," Severus was saying to himself. "Then I can grind up the acacia she needs."

He unlocked the door to the basement and went down to his lab.

Harry waited until his da got all the way down the steps before he took off his shoes and crept down after him. Severus was busy stirring and never noticed the little figure scuttling into the shadows behind a stack of huge cauldrons in the corner.

Harry smirked. This was fun! Much better than playing with his toys. I am Merlin the Great, sneaking into enemy territory, whatever that means. I will fight the dragon and the dark wizard.

Now Severus was returning to the shop and Harry came out from behind the cauldrons and slipped over to the still brewing potion and peered into the cauldron. It was an odd color and smelled terrible. Eeeww! Smells like old moldy cheese!

Wrinkling his nose, he stepped back from the cauldron, which had slow streamers of smoke coming out of it. He watched the smoke and imagined it was a dragon sleeping, smoke wreathing its head.

"Hi-ya! I will kill you, evil beast!" he shouted and pointed his "sword" at it. "Take that! Incendio!"

He yelled out the word for fire in Latin, having heard his stepfather say it loads of times when he lit a fire under a cauldron, he thought it sounded cool, but he forgot that he was holding a real wand in his hand and not a curtain rod, like he usually did.

Sparks shot out of the wand and the fire beneath the cauldron, which had almost gone out since the potion was just about finished, flared up with a whoosh. Flames were dancing up the sides and nearly to the rim.

The potion within became overheated and began to froth and bubble agitatedly and spill over the sides. The cauldron began to shake and quiver.

Harry came back to himself when some of the potion splashed upon his jeans. "Ow! What the—?" He looked at the cauldron and the frothing potion and gulped loudly. "Uh . . .oh . . .I think it's gonna . . .explode!"

He backed away from the cauldron, making it as far as the stairs before the entire cauldron blew up and scattered Boil Cure all over.

Severus was in the front of the store, arranging some of his stock when he felt the tremor and heard the tremendous bang. Bloody hell, my potion! He raced to the laboratory door, unlocking it with a quick word and rushing down the stairs, trying frantically to think why it would have exploded when he had barely left it to simmer just five minutes ago.

Only to find his six-year-old son cowering against the stairs, a hand over his face, crying. "Harry! Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

He picked up the child and examined him for burns. There were none.

Harry was still crying. "I'm sorry, Da!"

"Harry, what happened?"

"I . . .I was playing . . .It was an accident!"

"What are you talking about?" Severus demanded. Only then did he see the wand clutched in his son's fist.

Harry waited in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed, sniffling. He was waiting for Severus to come back and give him his punishment. He was now in so much trouble, the worst trouble he had ever been in. Both his mum and his da were very angry at him and he knew he had disappointed them both terribly.

After what seemed like forever, but was actually only fifteen minutes, the door to his room opened and Severus entered.

He had spent part of that time cleaning up the horrendous mess in his lab and the other half discussing what Harry's punishment would be with Lily, who was so mad she had asked Severus to dole out the punishment this time. "Please, Sev, you deal with him. I'm so angry right now . . .I'm afraid of what I might do . . .I can't believe he would steal my wand and play with it—in your lab, no less—after all the times we've told him and told him not to . . .!"

"I know, Lil. I'll handle it." Severus took several deep breaths, reminding himself that he must not punish his stepson while he was angry. He was not his father. He would not tread the path Tobias Snape had walked, walloping his son with a belt or a switch for everything, but especially for practicing magic, accidentally or not. He dreaded the upcoming punishment as much as his son, probably. But the youngster had to be taught a lesson, and hopefully it would stick this time.

Lily watched from the hallway when Severus went into Harry's room and listened to their conversation.

"Well, young man, what do you have to say for yourself?" Severus demanded, his hands on his hips.

"I'm sorry, Da. I'll never do it again," Harry said, guilt and regret written all over him. He stared at the carpet, unwilling to look his stepfather in the eye.

"What were you thinking, taking your mother's wand like that, mister?"

"I . . I was gonna give it back to her, Da. She left it in Eric n' Rosie's room."

"Look at me." He waited until the green eyes had slid up from the carpet and slowly upwards until they met his own. "Why didn't you?"

"I . . .don't know. She was asleep so I just . . .wanted t'play with it."

"I see. How many times, Harry James Potter, have I told you never to play with wands?"

"Uh . . .about a hundred times."

"Why did I tell you that?"

"B'cause . . .I could get hurt or somebody else might." Harry whispered, ashamed. "But I didn't mean to, Da!"

"Didn't you?" Severus demanded sharply. "When you took the wand to play with, wasn't there a tiny voice in the back of your head that said—I really shouldn't do this, it's a bad idea?"

Slowly, Harry nodded. "Yes." How had his da known that?

"So you knew what you were doing was wrong and yet you did it anyhow. I am very disappointed in you, Harry. And so is your mother. Do you know that you could have blown up the entire shop and this flat with your little game? That your Mum, Rosie, Eric, me and you—we all might have died?"

Harry stared up at him in shock. "Died?"

"Yes, died! You caused an explosion that could have made the building fall down on our heads!"

Harry began to sob. He felt terrible now. He didn't want to hurt Mummy or Eric or Rosie or his da. All he had wanted was to play Dragon in the Basement. "I'm sorry! I don't want you to die!"

"Then best you remember, little boy, to never pick up a wand again until you're going off to Hogwarts! Am I understood?"

"Y-yes, s-sir," Harry sniveled. "Are you gonna spank me, Da?"

Severus had moved by then to sit on the bed. "Do you deserve one?"

Miserably, Harry nodded. "But . . .I don't want one."

"If you wanted it, scamp, it wouldn't be much of a punishment," his da said resignedly. "Because what you did was so naughty, I'm going to give you six swats on your bare behind."

Harry gasped. "But you've never done that!"

"I know. And this will probably be the only time I will do so. Come here."

To his credit, Harry didn't fight when Severus stood him up and removed his jeans and underpants. He did start to cry when Snape placed him over his knee. Severus set his jaw.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but maybe you'll learn your lesson," he said.

Harry wailed and kicked, though Severus was very careful not to spank too hard, just hard enough to sting and when he was done there were no marks whatsoever and his son's bottom was only slightly pink. Afterwards, Sev dressed him and held him for a long time, letting Harry cry into his shirt and rubbing his back.

Lily, who had watched the entire thing, felt as bad for her husband as she did for her son. Severus had a haunted look in his eyes and she knew he was recalling snippets of his own childhood and she felt guilty for making him punish Harry that way.

Then she went into the bedroom to hug her husband and her son.

Harry sat up, and crawled into her lap. "I'm sorry, Mummy! I'm sorry!"

"I know. Shhh . . .you were naughty but it's over and done with now and I forgive you. Just don't ever do it again." She hugged him and stroked his hair.

"I won't," he promised, sniffling. "Da spanked me on my bare bottom. It hurt. A lot."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Severus wince. She patted him on the shoulder. Then she looked at her son and said, "Yes, I imagine it did. But you know what you did was very wrong, child."

"Do you still love me, Mummy? Even though I was so bad?"

"Oh, Harry! Of course I do. I will always love you, no matter how bad you are!"

"You too, Da?" he looked anxiously over at Sev.

"Yes, Harry. Always." He put his arm about his wife and his son.

Harry snuggled into his mum's shoulder, the last of his tears drying on his cheeks. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, despite the stinging in his behind, which would be nothing more than a memory when he woke two hours later.

This the beginning of a new story, we hope you all enjoy it! I will post a new chapter every few days, some are written by me and some by RaeKelly. This is a joint effort and set in a very AU universe where nothing is like the old one.