Marriage is Murder

Brant smiled at Kate " my pleasure" he listened to her as he cleaned and bottled the rest of the potion " hum sounds a bad gene " he said " and as I said Stress" he said softly placing two more bottles on a shelf close by him. " I'll make sure this potion is always in stock, here ,take this one and put it in his medicine cabinet, so he ahs one close at hand." he told her placing another small bottle in her hand. He moved and sat down " I realy should..." he stopped as a smal envalope few down the floo and onto the desk. " huh... its from gwen." he told her and opened it.

He looked at Kate as he read it "She says that James was spotted leaving the city..um the rest is just personal stuff" he said and his cheeks went bright red as he closed the letter quickly. " she did say that she would keep us informed when and if she can." he slipepd the letter into his pocket. " she also...kinda...mentioned I kinda made a fool of myself in front of her..but shes okay with it..I hope" he said and looked at Kate " um..Kate how do you know if you met the right one?" he asked her.

"I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'right one,'" she said. "That's a lovely fairy tale but its not practical.  Any worthwhile relationship is dependent on hard work. It has to be invested in and worked for--with honesty and dedication and openness and trust...all of those things.

"Be very careful about thinking you're in love with someone that you don't know. Someone that you know their name and little more. That sort of behavior is a crush. Not love.  Don't rush into anything if you don't have to. Get to know them. If you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone, they first should be your very best friend.

"Okay, I'm taking this to Brian." She left, took the bottle, and went down to the office. She took it to him and gave him some. The potion reduced it but it didn't stop it completely. She accio'd some ice packs from the kitchen and got him to stretch out on the sofa in the office, and she put the ice packs against his head. She told him to rest, and then she went upstairs to consult with Robert.

Brant chuckled and looked to Kate " Have you read this letter, thats exactly what she says" he said and nodded " ow I am in no rush to fall in love or anything else." he nodded when she said she had to take the potion to Brian. "ow..yes, of course " He said as he sat at the desk and wrote back to Gwen. Once done he sent it back via the floo and walked to the kitchen as he slipped on his tee shirt. He went to the fridge and too out a drink of milk before heading back to the potions lab. Cassidy watched and smiled.

"Well he seems...happier" she said to Jess who just shruged her shoulders as she lifted out the first batch of cookies and placed them on the cooling wire then palced the second batch in.

"He's got a freind, leave it at that." she told her as she slipped a cookie to Abby. " hey abby could you try this and tell me what you think, its not berries but you might like it" she said then sat down at the table with Cassidy for a moment.

Kate went up to talk to Robert about Brian. Robert was concerned that Brian had been taking far more of the potion than was prescribed. That was completely out of character for Brian. First, it signaled to him that the headaches were, most likely, very severe and weren't responding to the potion. Secondly, it told him a lot about where Brian's thinking and feelings were at.

Robert believed Brian needed to have some deep, undisturbed sleep. As a last resort, he suggested that they ask Jeffry to port over and to attempt to relieve the headaches because of their complicated nature.

As he was thinking, though, he got an idea for an alternative potion for Brian--if it worked. It would be purely experimental, though. Hopefully, it wouldn't be lethal, but he knew, at best, it would be extremely foul tasting.

He went down to the lab and found Brant there. He wasn't surprised. He picked up a bowl, went to the shelves, and began drawing some ingredients from the jars and putting them in the bowl. He wasn't sure how this was going to work because these herbs and ingredients just generally weren't put together. To get them to blend, it was going to be almost impossible. It would take an extremely light touch, and much patience.

Brant looked up from the desk and saw Robert walk in he quickly moved from the desk. " I didn't touch anything, borrowed some paper though" but he stopped and watched Robert gather potion ingrediants, some unsusual ones to be put togther he had to admit now being put togther. "Can I help, I asumb this is for Brian and his migrains?" he said and watched further. He picked up a note book and began witing down the ingrediants and looked at Robert. "Well some one has to keep notes, just incase we have to make it again." he said to himHe could not help but marvel at how lighter touch Robert had as he mixed the ingrediants it took all of brants concentration to keep up with his movements and rember the quantaties he placed in the pestal and morter.

Brant moved to sit and watch fasinated yet feeling like he was learning from a Master at work the same time. He drew images in the note book and wrote what it was and how much of each ingrediate Robert used. He brushed his hair off his face and smiled feeling this was how and where he wanted to be. Now he knew he would work to find a cure for Robert with all his being.

Robert heard Brant ask him if the potion was for Brian, and Robert nodded. He gathered the ingredients he thought he might need to use.

He didn't mind Brant being there or observing or taking notes. He actually thought it might be helpful if he misstepped someplace. He began mincing some of the herbs into tiny, tiny pieces. Some of the other ingredients, he crushed and ground. He put a cauldron on with some mineral water, not plain water, added a low flame under the cauldron, and started to add some of the foundational herbs slowly, being cautious about how he added them.

There was a voice from the doorway. "Robert," Edward said, frowning. "I knew I smelled something odd brewing in here, and I figured it was Brant. What the devil are you doing?" He came in and looked over the ingredients Robert had selected.

"I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, its not going to work. Or it will stink so badly no one will use it," Edward said. Robert just looked up at him, determined to give it at least a good try.

Brant turned to see Edward " hes trying to make a new potion for Brian to rid him or ease off his migrains" Brant said but coughed at the smell. " He is right about the smell though." He added making a note of the type of smell. He watched Robert and Edward chooing to just stay out of the conversation but he could not help chuckle. " that was a by hook or by crook it will work." he said and chuckled again having figured out Roberts looks so quickly. He looekd at Edward " want me to leave?" he asked closing the note book and setting it down next to him on the table as he watched the two men talking.

Brant slipped off of the desk and stood waiting the cauldren bubbled not far from him and he moved to gently and very lightly stirr it. He saw it turn from a green to a light almost glowing purple. " Robert take a look" he said moving to one side " is it ment to go that colour?" he asked showing him the spoon and how it had a light glow to it from the potion. He was how ever glad that it had not exploded ike his first experament had.

Edward looked into the cauldron, sniffing it more closely.

"I don't think you need to leave, Brant. Actually, in this case, yes it should be that color," Edward said. "He's heating it very slowly to allow it to stabilize. You're using that as a base, I take it, Robert?"

Robert nodded. Edward turned back to the shelves and perused them and got out a tall slender bottle towards the back of the shelf. "I presume you'd like to lock that in when its stable?" he asked Robert. Robert nodded. He handed the bottle to Brant.

"Keep watching," Edward said. "It will go completely colorless when it stabilizes. When it does, add just one drop of this. You won't notice a color change, but if it works, you'll smell a faint fragrant smell, like warm mushroom soup. It should be quite pleasant. For now."

Brant watched and sure enough it did turn clear he added one small drop and the fragrent smell reatched the room " your right but why did you say for now?" he asked and glanced at Edward while he placed the top back on the bottle and palced it back on the shelf. He walked back and kept an eye on it, it stayed clear. Brant walked over to the cauldren and watched it closly then took down a bottle with a dagger and snake on it. He placed it beside the coldren and stepped back waiting for Robert to say when it was ready for bottling up which he took to be not long now. "I do hope this works" he said and sighed " I don't know how he feels but Im guessing its bad being shut away like he is right now" he said softly as he watched the liquid turn in the pot.

"Because he's only gotten a start," Edward said. "He's not done. That's just his base. He had to stabilize the base before he could add most of his medicinal herbs. The ingredients he made his base from are the most instable ones of the bunch. By creating a stable potion just from them first, he's working to protect the overall potion from going bad. Its a way to try to make sure it works. If he had put them together all at once, they'd have clashed and we'd have had a very strong negative reaction in that cauldron. Now, watch."

Robert added the rest of the herbs and ingredients, one by one, watching the reaction of the potion as he added them. He added some of them, just a pinch at a time, until it was all incorporated.

"You did not learn that technique from Horace Slughorn," Edward said, watching Robert use even lighter hand with it than he had seen him do before. The ingredients almost seemed to float into the cauldron.

Robert nodded. He had learned it from Slughorn. Sort of. He had learned it by watching Slughorn struggle with touchy potions and had learned to have a slight hand in order to keep from having to repeat the potions over and over.

The potion came together in a dark forest green liquid that smelled a great deal like a mulch pile.

Edward looked into the cauldron. He and Robert looked at each other.

"I watched you do it, and I still can't believe you managed it," Edward laughed. "Now its done, Brant."