Severus scowled at his finished potion, smashing the now empty sample vial onto the table, shattering it to hundreds of tiny shards. He flicked his wand, the remaining liquid in the small cauldron by his side emptying itself completely. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in thought. It had been five days of him brewing nonstop and so far, none of his trials proved successful.

As if on cue, a knock came on the door, Harry peaking his head into the room.

"Honestly boy, if you're going to come in without invitation, don't bother knocking." Severus scowled, nonetheless allowing Harry to enter the room and shut the door behind him.

"Progress?" He asked and Severus shook his head, collapsing into a chair. Harry looked around, observing the room. Severus had taken an entire spare bedroom and transformed it into what one of the potions classrooms at Hogwarts usually looked like. There were several cauldrons on many tables around the room, the sunlight peeking through the half-closed curtains as ingredients and instruments lay everywhere. Harry saw the broken glass shards decorating the dark brown carpet. "You've made a mess."

"None of the potions are working." Severus muttered, ignoring his comments.

"How do you know they aren't working? Celosia hasn't even tried any." He answered, staring at Severus.

"I'm not going to make her ingest a potion that we have no idea what will do." Severus sneered, making eye contact with Harry. He then pointed a finger at a small cauldron that was sitting off to the far side by the window sill. "I've been testing it on that over there."

Harry followed the direction he was pointing, spotting the cauldron and walking towards it. Inside was a light red potion that was bubbling lightly. "What's that?"

"That is how I have been testing the Wolfsbane." Severus explained. "There is a preserving spell over that potion- it is a mixture consisting of your aunt's DNA that when mixed in with the testing Wolfsbane will create a certain reaction that will tell me that it is effective or not."

"Wow." Harry muttered in genuine awe. "I didn't know a potion like that existed."

"Because it doesn't to the public eye, Potter." Severus sneered, rising from his seat. "I'm the Half Blood Prince."

"Any other inventions up your sleeve I should know about?" Harry asked, turning to the man.

"I would rather them burn in a fire than tell you." Severus spat, motioning Harry to stand beside him as he looked down on his parchments of work. The boy walked over to him, seeing several sheets of parchment with many scribbles and notes written. "I have made notes on all my trials and they so far have not given the desired effect."

Harry studied the notes, memorizing everything that Severus kept consistent and what he changed often. "You took into account everything?"

"No, only one thing." The Potions Master said sarcastically. "Why are you even trying, a third year is better at potions than you are."

"Maybe we could get Hermione to help?" Harry suggested and Severus scoffed.

"Granger is smart, but not smart enough to develop a potion."

"She can at least help."

"Are you saying that my work is not good enough?"

"Well you aren't successful yet, are you?"

Severus glared at Harry, who merely shrugged. "Honestly, I'm just saying, if we don't have time to waste with the venom spreading in Celly, then we need to do something quick."

Severus continued to sneer, inside knowing that the boy was right. "I will work on the potion into the evening. If I am not successful until then, you may call Granger."

Harry blinked in surprise, nodding his head in agreement. "You should at least eat lunch if you're going to keep going into the evening."

Celosia didn't leave Teddy's side at all the entire day, having played and cooked with him perched up in his high chair. Harry joined them for a few minutes at a time, the boy going off to see what Severus was up to. Evening came and Celosia walked into the living room with Teddy in her arms, freezing in surprise as Hermione came through the fireplace.

"Hey." She muttered in a surprised greeting. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Harry called for me." Hermione replied, dusting the soot off her leather jacket as she approached Celosia, giving her a one armed hug and grinning at Teddy.

Harry appeared at the bottom of the staircase. "This way!" He called and Hermione followed him, Celosia following the two out of curiosity's sake.

They got to the bedroom that Severus was working in, the man sitting down in an armchair bitterly with his arms crossed. He glared at Hermione as she walked in, the girl not even impacted by his stares anymore. He then rose, walking towards the desk where his notes were lying, everyone crowding around it.

"He's literally tried everything, and it hasn't worked." Harry summarized.

"I did not try literally everything." Severus corrected in a sneer. Hermione ignored him, picking up the notes and looking over them quickly.

"Is this where you've been hiding all day?" Celosia spoke up, Severus turning around and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, carefully avoiding Teddy. He placed a kiss on her forehead, Hermione peeking out of the corner of her eye before turning back to the notes.

"I've been getting things done while you've been babysitting." Severus muttered, Teddy close to falling asleep on her shoulder. "Honestly your werewolf bond with Lupin has been very unsettling lately."

"I've been getting things done." She frowned. "I have a fantastic dinner waiting for us downstairs. And Teddy has been pleasant company."

"What kind of 'werewolf bond' are we talking about?" Hermione asked, lifting her head up to look at the two.

"She's been attached to Teddy all week like he's an extension of her arm." Harry rolled his eyes, Celosia pouting.

"I've read about things like that- werewolves can smell each other from a mile away and get along instantly."

"Enough talk about werewolves." Severus snapped, growing uneasy at the possibility that his fiancée would be a werewolf.

"Why don't we all eat downstairs before rushing into things?" Celosia suggested, Hermione going back to studying Severus' notes as Harry watched her. "I've made enough for all of us, and you haven't even eaten lunch."

"I told him to eat lunch." Harry spoke up, Severus shooting him a glare before turning back to Celosia, cupping her face with his hand and brushing his thumb against her bottom lip gently.

"It'll have to wait until this is done." He replied, turning back to the Gryffindor girl who finally slammed down the pages of parchment in her hands.

"I think I've got it." Hermione declared, turning around to face the group. "It's the aconite."

"What about the aconite?" Severus asked with a harsh tone.

"There's too much of it." She explained. "Maybe the venom needs to be eased out- not forced. The excessive aconite is irritating the venom, not encouraging it out."

The entire room went silent, Hermione, Harry and Celosia expecting Severus to scoff and call her notion stupid. Surprisingly, the man merely pursed his lips in thought, staring at the ground. "This is a good point."

Hermione's eyes grew wide. "W-well I'm sure you would have thought of it first if you waited another day to call me."

Severus stared at her. "I probably would have." He merely said, removing his arm from his fiancée before walking towards the desk. "I'll begin tonight."

"Well, looks like my job is done." Hermione smiled in relief, walking to Harry.

"Actually, Granger, I require your assistance." Severus surprised them all further. "It is your theory, after all. If it fails, you would be to blame."

The girl blinked, unsure if it was a compliment in disguise. "If it wouldn't be a bother, Professor, I'd be glad to help."

"Well if any late-night brewing is going on, I insist that we all eat dinner first!" Celosia exclaimed, Teddy now draped against her arm in a deep slumber.

"I'll put Teddy to bed while everyone goes downstairs." Harry replied, carefully grabbing his godson out of his aunt's grasp.

"Meaning everyone come eat, now." She commanded and Hermione shrugged, Severus rolling his eyes and being the first to walk out of the room.