The moon rose at four twenty-one in the afternoon, and Hermione had wanted to ensure that Remus and Draco were behind bars and supervised well before then. Poppy had spoken to Charity, and whatever excuse she had given, Hermione had been excused from the class without comment.
Draco and Remus had reassured the mediwitch that the older man was going to be there for Draco's first full moon; Hermione wasn't certain if that knowledge alone had been sufficient to convince the mediwitch that she did not need to be present or if the two of them had come up with other reasons. Poppy had always had a soft spot for Remus, and whatever had been said, Draco and Remus had been given the all clear.
They had got round Harry by claiming that they were following up on the Mood-enhancing potion that Draco had supposedly been helping with during the new moon, another harmless test that would nevertheless take all evening. Since ninety percent of Harry's concern had immediately centered on the blond, as Hermione had hoped, it hadn't seemed to occur to him to link Draco's disappearance into her lab with the full moon—which he'd already remarked upon because he had been a little worried about not seeing Remus.
She had assured him that Remus had already come to collect his potion and soothed the boy as best she could that Remus must indeed have had a good reason not to stop in to say hi to Harry. She had left him resigned if not reconciled in the common room while she, Draco, and Remus had locked themselves in her lab.
At four o'clock, she cast the Acuity Charm on Draco and Remus, and ensured once again that the bars were perfectly secure, having the two men test from the inside a final time; she'd had to leave their wands on them, as they were still too new as Animagi and the event too crucial to risk working wandlessly.
"This is going to hurt a hell of a lot," she said very seriously. "Every painful moment that you remember surrounding the transformation into a werewolf, Remus, is going to be magnified by the Acuity Charm. But I need you to remember exactly what you're fighting for this time."
They both nodded solemnly.
"All this work and time and pain, it's all with the goal of fighting off the Were and remaining a wolf Animagus. I've cast the charm because you have to be able to feel everything. You need to be able to differentiate between the Were and the feeling of the wolf and the Animagus transformation. The wolf Animagus is the one essential reality that you need to focus on with every fibre of your being. The Were is foreign, a disease; tonight we're going to defeat it."
There was no room for doubt in this pep talk.
"We've got less than twenty minutes until the moon rises. I think you'd both be more comfortable sitting down."
She'd made sure to pad both the floor and the walls and bars from the inside with the spell that prevented injury at high velocity; she wasn't sure how violent the fight against the Were would be, and she didn't want them to be hurt.
"There are now ten minutes left until you begin the transformation," she told them at four eleven. "I want you to close your eyes and meditate. You know what you have to do, and I'll be right here with you."
Having a heart attack as she watched from this side of the bars, but still.
They obeyed her, and she watched their breathing even out as they settled into the light trance that would help them concentrate on what they were about to do.
She didn't need a Tempus to tell her when four twenty-one occurred because both bodies in front of her jerked simultaneously. There was no instant sprouting of fur as there had been in the previous transformations that she had witnessed, but what she was watching now was perilously close to convulsions. High-pitched whines were issuing out of their mouths, and it was impossible for her to tell if they were human or animal noises. But they were clearly horribly distressed.
"Fight! You can do it!"
The convulsions grew worse, and she couldn't bear to just watch them.
Fawkes, she begged.
That is a bad plan, Berit.
I know, she agreed, a conversation from months ago echoing through her head. Do it anyway?
He obeyed, and as fast as thought, she was linked to Remus's and Draco's minds. She dropped to the ground like a stone, the part of her mind that wasn't in agonising pain wishing that it had occurred to her previously to pad her side of the lab as well.
Fight it, she admonished in their minds. Remember the wolf. Remember your training. She forced both ideas into their minds, and they latched onto them, hanging onto her like a lifeline.
In tandem, they issued inhuman screams that hurt her ears, the residual agony ripping through their enhanced senses.
Wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf, they began to chant, and she joined them as they fought against the Were that was trying desperately to cling to them and their magic.
They collapsed in unison, the room deathly silent for a moment, and then she heard the refrain continue: Wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf.
Two wolves lay in their cages in front of her, both panting desperately for breath.
She stared at them from her position on the ground next to them and felt almost as exhausted as they had to be. She levered herself to a sitting position and scrutinized them more carefully. They weren't trying to get out and get at the human as a Were would, and they looked like regular wolves to her, but she admitted that she was feeling a wee bit uncertain and shaky at the moment.
She swallowed and found her voice, wondering why she felt as though her throat was scraped raw when it hadn't been she who had been screaming. She released the Acuity Charm since its usefulness had passed, and they didn't need any pain they were still in to be enhanced.
"Remus. Draco." She spoke quietly in consideration for what she was sure had to be tender ears because hers still ached. "You understand me?"
They nodded.
"I'm going to give you a few minutes to recover, and then we're going to transform back into human form, okay?"
More wolfish nods.
She spoke to Fawkes. You're a lifesaver.
I'm still waiting for the ending, Berit, but this is more than I thought to see in this lifetime.
He must, over the years, have seen some really quite extraordinary things.
If I need your assistance later? she asked.
You will have it. But I do not think you will need it.
She couldn't imagine why not; she was going to help more werewolves, and that surely meant more of the same. But perhaps after tonight they could streamline the process a little.
The two wolves had water dishes in their cages, and once they'd recovered enough to move, they lapped up large quantities, leaving Hermione grateful for the replenishing spell that she had set on the dishes. She rose to her feet and followed their example, getting herself a large glass of water before sitting down on one of the stools, still rather amazed by what had just happened and by how much it had hurt echoing back into her mind.
Twenty minutes ticked by, and she moved to stand in front of Remus and Draco.
"It's time, gentlemen," she said, making sure her voice was calm and filled with certainty. "Take your human forms."
They rose to stand on all fours, and there was a moment where everything was once again breathtakingly still and silent.
In the blink of an eye, two humans stood across from her.
She stared at them. They stared at her. She only noticed when the tears began to drip off her chin that she was crying, and it seemed that Remus was as well.
"Oh, my God," he said blankly.
These, she realized, were the first words that he had spoken during a full moon in over thirty years.
She broke into an incredulous grin, still crying and sniffing to try to get under some semblance of control.
"Remus," she gasped out a little shakily. "Draco. Congratulations."
She had to sit down again because she was feeling a little overwhelmed. Remus seemed to be concentrating on taking deep breaths over and over again while Draco was grinning stupidly at her.
"I can't believe it's over." Remus still sounded a bit as though he'd been hit with a Confundus Charm. He shook his head. "Even after the new moon, I tried not to let myself believe, not really, and now I'm standing here, and it's … it's done."
She nodded. "I understand. I've been working on this since third year and suddenly here we are. I'm staring at two people who aren't werewolves any more. The first two people. Ever. It boggles the mind."
They grinned stupidly again for a little while, laughing at one another. She drew some deep breaths of her own, wiped away her tears, and tried to think logically.
"I'm going to have to leave you in there for several hours to ensure that you're functioning as you ought to be."
They were back to nodding obediently.
"As long as there are no contraindications, I'll allow you out to test your blood. Assuming that comes up all clear, I'd like to go surprise a whole bunch of people."
They both grinned at her again, nodding enthusiastically.
She noted down all their vital statistics and every feeling that they could recall from the process.
Remus commented on the fact that he felt much as he did during the new moon; his senses weren't nearly as sharp as they always had been around the full moon.
"I suspect that will be a permanent side effect."
Remus shook his head. "I don't count that as a side effect, Hermione. I might have to get used to being human again, but I'm looking forward to it, I assure you."
Draco confirmed that he felt much as he normally did.
"Speaking of what feels normal now, I want you to be aware that you may feel the need to transform from time to time."
They both looked instantly alarmed, and she realized that this had been particularly poor phrasing on her part.
"Nothing like for a werewolf," she hastened to reassure them. "You won't ever be forced to transform against your will." The tension eased. "But I guess you could say that you're in a symbiotic relationship with your wolf now, and I think it will go deeper than it does for a normal Animagus who has the option of learning to transform and never doing it again. Mind you, my research suggests that it's rare that Animagi do this. I've begun to suspect that it comes a little closer to everyone's animal wanting to get out from time to time. It's not unmanageable for them, however, and the same is true of you.
"You still choose when and where, and I'm sure you'll get a sense of what makes your inner wolf happy. You may find that going for a run once every two weeks keeps you from ever feeling a true need to go out, or maybe you'll want to do multiple little transformations throughout a week or a month. It's completely up to you, and it may well vary from person to person. You're going to have to figure out what system works best for you."
Draco was now looking at her quizzically, a very sharp expression in his grey eyes.
"You know an awful lot about the Animagus transformation."
She hadn't really thought this would escape his notice.
Remus's gaze suddenly narrowed as well. "You do," he confirmed. "You knew exactly what we were going through, and whatever you did when we were about to transform, you sent us precise images and feelings of the transformation."
She nodded. "That's entirely possible."
"So why haven't we ever seen you transform?" Draco asked more pointedly.
"Because it's not time. Only one human has ever seen my transformation."
It didn't take either of them very long to guess, although they'd probably come to the conclusion by different paths.
"Harry."
She nodded. Draco understood now, except that he didn't.
"Why would that matter?"
"It does," she said simply. "Is that enough for now?"
Remus laughed. "Hermione, I'm curious, but if you told me it was because you thought everyone else in the world but me deserved to see it, that would be just fine; in case you've forgotten, you've just cured lycanthropy."
She smiled at him. "I don't intend to take advantage of that, you know."
"Psst," Draco stage-whispered. "You're supposed to take advantage of it for as long as you can. You never know when we'll become ungrateful and you'll have missed your chance."
Her smiled deepened. "I'll risk it."
They spent the next several hours chatting quietly and keeping up the scans to ensure that they were in happy human health. They both were, all scans coming up completely normal.
She had them perform the Animagus transformation several more times, confirming that they could now do so at will and painlessly. They followed this with two full hours in wolf form in order to ensure that they didn't feel any Were-like urges even when in that near shape during the full moon. They both reported that they didn't have the slightest urge to hunt her, not even when she added the temptation of an open cut in the last half hour of the test. They appeared to be fully and completely human.
"Okay," she said finally. "I've done every test I can from out here, and both of you appear to be perfectly normal wizards. I'm going to let both of you out, but please leave your wands in the cage until my final tests are completed."
They followed her instructions. Remus was hesitant as he stepped past the bars as though he couldn't believe that he was actually standing with a human on the full moon without being restrained in some manner.
She Summoned their wands to her and gestured the two men to stools before taking samples of their blood and running a quick test.
"I'm introducing too much pure Wolfsbane and Weresbane extracts—the plants—into these blood samples. They're detoxified so that they're harmless to humans but still fatal to werewolves in this concentration. A werewolf would be poisoned in a matter of minutes."
She offered tea which Remus and Draco took and didn't drink as they waited anxiously for these official blood results. The results came up, and she smiled at them.
"Human."
They both breathed full sighs of relief.
"This is the last test for tonight." She held out two vials. "The pure Weresbane and Wolfsbane extracts. Detoxified for humans, obviously. I need to test it in your bodies not just in these samples."
Without hesitation, they took the vials and swallowed them down, making faces of disgust.
"Now I see where a lot of the foul taste from the Wolfsbane comes from," Remus said. "The Aconite is not so pleasant."
"But you don't feel as though you're about to expire?"
He shook his head. "It tasted awful but that was about the extent of it. Draco?"
Draco shook his head. "About standard for swallowing something from a potion vial. Death does not seem imminent."
She held up two more vials. "These are the counteragents should you find yourself in distress. Otherwise, we're going to give it a half hour to metabolize further and ensure that you still don't react to it in any way."
Neither man exhibited any symptoms of discomfort as she quizzed them on what they would like to do now that they were free of the disease.
Remus waxed eloquent on the myriad places he would like to go, people he would like to see, and jobs he would like to hold now that he wasn't hindered by any laws against non-humans. At the top of his list, though, was his desire to help his fellow werewolves.
Hermione nodded. "I felt certain that would be the case, and my potion and I are at your disposal. I think we may need to come up with some sort of dispensing centre as there are more steps to this cure than people might be hoping for. We need to ensure that all the rules and steps are followed in order to make the cure successful."
"I've been thinking about that," Draco contributed, "since we were talking last time, Remus, about how the potion could help all the werewolves. I've narrowed my most likely properties down to two, and I have no doubt that we can set it up properly for the werewolves for however long they need to be there. I mean, it can't be above a few months, right, with the training and the actual cure? We've got the capital to fund it, anyway."
Remus stared at him as though he had only just realized that Draco was the youngest of the Malfoys, and the Slytherin smirked.
"It will be nice to put the family money to good purpose. Generations of Malfoys will be rolling in their graves."
"And that doesn't bother you?" Remus asked in surprise.
"After what I've just been through?" Draco said incredulously. "They're dead, and they don't have any say over what I decide to do with my money. I know it's a noble cause, and that's the end of it."
He sounded snooty and arbitrary and pure-blooded in that moment, and Hermione loved that he'd been inspired to passion for this cause, for a cause that most of the pure-blood families would no doubt look down upon. Right here and right now they were helping to make one of the changes that would hopefully slow down the return of someone of Voldemort's malevolence and intolerance. Draco Malfoy thought the werewolves were a cause worth fighting for. Every instance of such open-mindedness made her gloriously happy.
"It would be great if the two of you could come up with a plan for the werewolves," Hermione said. "Once you've found out how many are interested, Remus, Draco can be sure of which property would suit best, and we can move on from there."
The two of them agreed, and internally, she cackled like mad. Remus Lupin and Draco Malfoy voluntarily collaborating. She was sure there were Malfoys rolling in their graves.
"One last thing." They looked at her curiously as she held out two bracelets which had a small potion vial worked into the metal design. "I've tested you as completely human. I'm sure that once we get out there, Poppy and probably some St Mungo's professionals are going to want to do the same. I believe that you're human, but this is an experimental potion, so these bracelets contain a potion that will knock anything smaller than a dragon out cold. If you rip them off your wrists, the vial will enlarge and be ready to drink. Just in case."
They nodded solemnly and put the bracelets on without complaint.
She smiled at them. "The whole world is laid out before. What do you want to do first?"
"I want to see the moon," Remus said immediately. "With human eyes. I need to see it."
Draco nodded agreement with the plan, and Remus put his cloak back on. She lowered the wards she'd put up between her lab and her bedroom and again between her bedroom and the common room; she hadn't been about to risk Harry even if two ravenous werewolves ate her in the lab because she was well locked in. It would have been an ignominious way to die, but at least no one else would have been hurt.
She opened her bedroom door, and Harry's head immediately popped up over the couch.
"Heya," he said happily. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you for the rest of the night."
She smiled at him. "I told you Remus had a good reason not to see you earlier, didn't I?"
She moved out of the doorway, allowing both men to emerge with her. It took a few minutes for the Knut to drop. Harry's eyes grew large as saucers.
"But 'Mione, Moony, it's the middle of a full moon!"
The three of them laughed. "Yes, Harry, it is."
"But," he spluttered. "Then how...."
"Surprise," she said inadequately.
He stared at her in complete shock before vaulting over the couch and flinging himself into her arms.
"I love you, 'Mione," he declared staunchly. "You're the most brilliant witch ever."
She sniffed, telling herself sternly that she wasn't crying again.
"Thank you, Harry. Remus wants to see the moon. Would you like to come out with us?"
Harry nodded, headed off to get his cloak, made it halfway and then hurried back to fling his arms around Remus and assure him that he loved him, too, and that he was so happy for him.
Then, since he was on a hugging spree, Harry, looking slightly sheepish and slightly hopeful—a pretty adorable combination—looked at Draco, who gave the briefest nod of consent, and then Harry had flung his arms around the Slytherin and was holding him close.
"I have no idea why I'm hugging you," he whispered to the blond, "but I'm happy and you look happy, and I hope that's a good enough reason."
Draco was holding Harry back just as tightly. "It very much is, Harry."
Harry beamed and was practically skipping as he went to get his cloak for the second time. Remus was looking rather confused, and she hurried over and offered her arm.
"It's better if you don't ask. Come along before all the good moon-viewing spots are taken."
Laughing, Remus allowed himself to be led, and once Harry had come out of his room, been admonished by Hermione for not bringing his proper cloak or hat and going back for both of those items, they finally made it out of the door.
Since it was after ten, it was relatively quiet, and they only passed a few students in the hall. None seemed to recognize Remus or at least didn't keep a calendar of the full moon at the forefront of their minds, so there was no alarm, just the occasional curious glance because a non-staff adult had appeared.
They reached the entranceway without incident. Remus positively flung the large doors open and stepped outside. Moonlight streamed down upon him and she had to hand it to the universe for giving him this one. It was a perfectly clear night, allowing him to bask in the full moon.
He raced down the steps and positively twirled in the snow.
"Woo hoo!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Hermione found that there were tears in her eyes yet again.
Remus let off a few more yells—just for the sheer joy of it, apparently. It finally drew some attention.
"What on Earth are you doing out here at this hour—?" It was Minerva, and she cut off as she saw that it wasn't a student she was addressing out on the lawn. "Remus Lupin, what do you think you are doing?"
"Look up," Hermione whispered.
Clearly puzzled, Minerva did so, staring blankly. And then her eyes grew wide beneath their spectacles.
"How is that possible?" she breathed.
"Hermione!" Remus yelled. "Come down here and dance in the moonlight. It's so beautiful."
Laughing at his antics, she nevertheless obeyed. She didn't think she'd ever seen him so joyful. They proceeded to waltz under the moonlight and the bright stars, and it was almost perfect.
"What is the meaning of this?"
It was Severus this time, and unlike Minerva, he knew exactly what day it was.
"How?" he demanded shortly.
Remus took the opportunity to scoop her up and twirl her around, and she let out a shout of delight and alarm, holding on for dear life as he spun her around and around. When he finally set her down on her feet again, she clung to him dizzily.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced loudly. "I would like to introduce you to Hermione Granger, the inventor of Weresbane, the cure for lycanthropy."
Minerva and Severus were positively gaping at her, and she couldn't do much more than smile up at them as she fought the last of the dizziness off.
Uh, bird, there appears to be a party down here.
"Hi," she said finally, still a bit breathless.
The phoenix sounded amused. Albus is on his way.
"When did you cure lycanthropy?" Minerva demanded.
"Just now," she said. "That's my bonus project."
"You cured lycanthropy for your bonus project," Severus repeated flatly.
"It encompasses several fields?" she offered uncertainly, still feeling rather giddy about the whole event.
Minerva's stern face broke into a broad smile. "Hermione, you never cease to amaze. This is a miracle."
"It is miraculous," Remus agreed, "but it was also a whole lot of hard work. She's been working on it for years, and this last stage has taken nearly seven months."
Fortunately, Albus arrived before she was forced to go into a detailed explanation on the spot of how she had cured the disease. They seemed to have acquired a following of students and professors, too, despite the lateness of the hour; there were now multiple faces at the door, peering out to see what was going on.
"Hermione," Albus said with a large smile of his own, "how nice it is to see that your hard work has paid off with such a spectacular achievement. Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir," she answered. "I think I can safely say that we are all quite delighted."
There were several students from Slytherin who'd joined the group standing at the door, and Draco was staring at them defiantly. If Voldemort thought he'd had the last laugh, he would soon learn that such was not the case.
"Delighted as we may be, I believe it is a little late to be celebrating on the lawn," Albus pointed out mildly.
Recalled to their duties, Minerva and Severus helped send the students off to bed. Several of the older ones still remembered Remus from when he had taught them, and it was very real for them that he had been a werewolf and was no longer. It took a few moments to get rid of the stragglers, more than enough time for Fawkes to relay the message that Albus expected Hermione tomorrow evening at eight o'clock in his office.
She hadn't really thought that she'd get away with not talking to him about it.
She and Harry and Draco were given permission to see Remus off, and Severus stayed, ostensibly in order to make sure that the three students got to bed.
Hermione still couldn't quite believe that they'd succeeded and were standing here under the full moonlight with two non-werewolves. But here they were, in the flesh. It was a whole new world for every werewolf out there.
It could also mean a shift in the balance of power for the war, and she knew that Albus was going to want to discuss that more than anything else. She was happy to brew gallons of Weresbane, if it was necessary, but she was doing it predominantly for the werewolves.
Hopefully Pomona would be more understanding about Hermione's need to check the Weresbane compulsively.
Actually, she supposed she'd have to move it now, make sure it was in a secure location in case a Voldemort-supporting student tried to sabotage her efforts through the source plant. Given how much time she had been spending in the greenhouse, it was likely that it would be a target even if no one she didn't trust knew about the plant specifically.
Once the hubbub died down tonight, she'd sneak down to the greenhouses and see what she could do about warding them.
She smiled at everyone, still feeling an awesome high even with problems looming in the not-so-distant future.
Harry, could you do me a favour?
Whatever you need, he agreed instantly.
Could you go get Tonks?
Sure. You don't want her to miss out on the action?
Something like that.
"Draco," Harry said with an inviting smile, "take a walk with me?"
The Slytherin had gotten quite good at knowing when the two of them had been MindSpeaking to one another, so it was with a slight roll of his eyes that he fell into step with Harry, and they disappeared back into the castle.
Hermione was now left with Remus and Severus, always an interesting combination, but she was pretty sure that Remus was too happy to take anything the wrong way, and one of the biggest reasons that Severus had been leery of Remus had just been removed. They still had their past to contend with, but there was no current monthly reminder anymore.
"Congratulations, Lupin," Severus said stiffly.
Under the circumstances, she thought that was quite a good effort, although she noticed that he still hadn't managed to call Remus by his first name as Albus had bid all of the Order members to do.
"Thank you, Severus," Remus said, still looking blissfully happy. "Thank you for training Hermione so well in Potions."
"I couldn't have done it without either of you," Hermione said, but this didn't seem to lighten the expression on Severus's face any. Naturally. She suppressed a sigh and smiled again at Remus instead. "Just think; you'll be able to eat chocolate whenever you wish."
He beamed at her.
Severus snorted, but they both ignored him.
After a few minutes of silence on Severus's part and rapture on Remus's, Tonks emerged with Harry and Draco and stumbled down a couple of steps as she took in the scene in front of her.
"Remus?" she asked, sounding completely flabbergasted.
Remus's head shot up. "'Dora?"
Then they were in one another's arms and all over one another. It was good that the rest of the students had gone in because the display was a little much for the front lawn of Hogwarts. A look of comprehension had dawned on Harry's face.
"How did you know?" he asked Hermione.
"I suspected for a while, but over Christmas it became quite clear, and I talked to Remus about it."
"I love you, 'Mione," Harry said on a sigh, "but sometimes you're a very difficult person to have as a friend."
She looked at him quizzically.
"You make me feel very stupid."
She shook her head even as she smiled. "We just look at the world differently. We're not all supposed to be curing lycanthropy."
"Some of us are standing up against Voldemort," Draco pointed out. "Some are even occupying the number one position on his hit list. I'd say you're doing all right, Harry, and nobody could possibly consider you stupid."
"Oh, no?" Harry's eyebrows rose. "I seem to recall hearing that epithet out of your mouth a thousand and one times."
Draco made a face. "That was when we were expressing ourselves only in insults. That's over and done with."
"So I can look forward to no more insults from you ever?" Harry asked with a grin.
Draco made a face. "Most definitely not. I would never make such a foolish promise." He looked fleetingly at Hermione and then back at Harry. "Would you like to head in with me, Harry?"
She knew that Harry wouldn't care, but she also knew that Draco would feel better having revealed all to the Gryffindor. The whole evening had gone splendidly, really; their relationship was definitely looking up.
Harry consented, and with a last blinding smile at Hermione, the two of them walked back into the castle. Remus and Tonks had long since ceased to pay any attention to the outside world, and Hermione, worried that she might be exposed to more of the two of them than she was comfortable with, braved their wrath to interrupt.
Remus gave her a smile as beaming as the ones that Draco and Harry had given her, Tonks stumbled into her to give her a big hug, and then Remus and Tonks made their way back inside as well.
Hermione was amused to note that not even Severus pointed out that Remus was heading in the wrong direction.
This left her and Severus standing in front of one another on the grounds to Hogwarts. She put up privacy charms without taking out her wand.
"Would you care to take a walk to the greenhouses, sir?" she asked, thinking that spending a little more time in his company would be very pleasant. "I want to put wards up around the Weresbane to ensure that no one has the brilliant idea of sabotaging our source of the plant."
"So you have need of me now."
Oh, dear. That didn't sound good, and she thought that her "pleasant company" thought had perhaps been a little optimistic.
"I'm sorry?"
His gaze narrowed, his voice acidic. "Now that you would like the menial service of an escort down to the greenhouses, you're inviting me to participate in this project of yours."
She licked her lips and contemplated how best to answer.
"It's my bonus project. I wasn't supposed to ask for help. I came up with what I thought was a workable solution on my own."
"You were creating a potion to cure lycanthropy, and you didn't once mention it to me," he ground out.
"I didn't mention it to anyone," she said defensively. He glared. "Really. There were only two people besides me who knew before tonight, and one of them found out only recently."
"I'm surprised that the secret wasn't shared with everyone if you trusted Mr Potter with it," he snarled.
This was a particularly asinine point because Harry had kept the secret of the Pure Adults, amongst others, without wavering.
"Harry found out tonight," she answered in a hard tone, "the same as everyone else. Remus knew because he was my test subject. He had to understand what I was trying to do, and he volunteered blood and any information I needed so that I could come up with a viable cure."
"Then who else knew?" Severus demanded curtly, face set in hard lines.
She realized she should have kept her mouth shut, but it was too late for that now.
"Draco," she answered quietly.
His face cleared of the trace of confusion but remained dark. "The night he was attacked."
She nodded. "Greyback bit him. Draco was certain it was close enough to the full moon for him to be infected. He was not … accepting of that reality, so I told him about the possibility of a cure, and he insisted on participating."
"You cured them both."
She offered another nod. "And tonight a bunch of Slytherins saw, so Voldemort will soon know that Draco is alive and unharmed even as the full moon shines down."
"You still might have told me." His voice had not lost the edge of harshness.
"I didn't want to tell anyone."
"I'm not anyone," he hissed and then looked immediately regretful that he'd spoken.
"You most certainly aren't, Severus," she agreed readily. "Don't you see? I couldn't tell you above all."
His face went even whiter than normal, bright spots of colour burning up his cheeks.
"Because I'm a Death Eater."
"Because I wanted you to be proud of me!" she fired back with more frustration than good sense.
Her words arrested him completely. "What?"
"I was trying to cure lycanthropy," she said in a more reasonable tone of voice. "I didn't want you to know about a failure."
He no longer looked angry, but she had difficulty working out exactly what his expression indicated.
His voice was completely free of censure as he said, "I wouldn't have mocked you for a failure of that magnitude. Even making the attempt is admirable."
She shook her head. "I wanted you to see me succeed," she said much more quietly. "All on my own. Just me. I needed you to know that I could do this."
"And drown out all the voices that said you couldn't out-do the pure-blood wizards?" he asked with only a trace of mockery.
She shrugged. "And drown out all the people who said I couldn't succeed period. Drown out all the times that you praised Draco's potion and ignored mine. It's childish, I know. But I needed to keep it secret politically, anyway, and I wanted something shining and splendid that was all mine to hold up and show the world."
"I would say that you succeeded," he replied.
She let out a huff of breath. "Yeah."
He began to walk towards the greenhouses, and she fell in step with him.
"Congratulations."
She smiled at him, feeling a bit like bursting into tears again. "Thank you," she said sincerely, swallowing against the lump in her throat. "That means a lot to me."
"If you are considering allowing anyone—"
"I'd be happy to show my research," she said in a rush before he could finish, causing his eyebrows to rise, and she flushed lightly. "Quite happy, apparently. I've only had myself to bounce ideas off; you know how much Remus sucks at Potions, and I've only had Draco the last couple of weeks, and he really just wanted to hear that it was going to work, not listen to me ramble about exactly how."
"Well, rest assured, I'll be pleased to hear all the details that would bore everyone else."
She grinned once more, probably looking a complete fool. "That would be wonderful."
They arrived at the greenhouses, and Hermione crossed the wards that Pomona had put up that prevented the younger students from getting in amongst the more dangerous plants. She led Severus over to the Weresbane which he quickly catalogued, running over its differences to the Wolfsbane as she watched in some amusement. He caught himself as she stood there smirking at him, and he immediately ceased.
"I look forward to your notes," he said coolly. "Do you have a section on all the safety and health procedures you ignored?"
"I didn't brew in a lav," she pointed out.
He eyed her sardonically.
"Hey," she protested, "I've brewed with you in the Grimmauld kitchen before."
The twins had never said what Severus had done to them, but they had never ventured into the lab again let alone caused an explosion inside that had taken several days to recover from and which had left her and Severus with potions to brew and no proper location in which to do so.
Since the potion they'd been brewing had, in fact, been experimental, he couldn't even argue that one with her.
He was still staring down his nose at her. "I have years of experience and a Potions mastery."
She kind of had to give him that one, but—
"I'm a know-it-all who is friends with a phoenix."
He opened his mouth, considered, and finally just nodded his head in concession of that one, and she smiled at him once more, continuing to ward the area quite carefully.
"Have you ever read Damocles Belby's treatise on creating the Wolfsbane?"
Severus sighed. "I was rather hoping you had not."
"Have you met me?"
"Point taken, Hermione." Exasperated. "You're still a foolish Gryffindor."
Sometimes she was just in good company. Belby had believed in the idea of the potion and found werewolves to test it on long before any healthcare professionals would pay the slightest bit of attention—other than telling him it was his funeral if he went ahead with his tests. He still had loads more experience than she had, of course, but their methods had not been dissimilar otherwise.
Severus watched her ward, and she assumed that he had decided it would be awkward to be found to have warded the area containing a plant that Voldemort would want to destroy or have access to himself.
"You realize I'm observing what you are doing."
She nodded. She would move it all later tonight, and Severus could tell Voldemort whatever he needed to tell the crazy man.
She put up enough wards that it would take a small army to get through.
"Making us work for it, are you?"
She shrugged. "I tend to do my best at everything. And it would disappoint a lot of people if the plant didn't survive. I've got seeds, of course, but that would retard the cure severely. I've got to make the potion every two weeks until everyone is cured."
"It takes more than one dose per month?" he asked.
She opened her mouth to answer and then reconsidered. "We're not talking about this right now. If we start, Pomona will find us out here in the morning. I'll bring you my notes by the end of the week, as soon as I'm sure that they're in some sort of sensible order."
"You realize," he said dryly, "that I'm shocked and appalled by the notion that your notes aren't in the most perfect order at all times."
She grinned, delighted that he was teasing her. "Well, they're probably still anally organized if you asked someone like Harry, but now that I know I'm about to hand them over to someone to read, I need to make sure that they're," she cleared her throat, admitting sheepishly, "completely perfect."
He snorted. "Indeed. Now, you have trespassed upon my time long enough this evening. I have rounds to perform; there appears to be a rather wild moon in the sky tonight."
Remarkably content despite the end to her time with Severus, Hermione fell in step with him. As they made their way across the grounds, Hermione saw the flicker of movement in the Forest that indicated that the night's events had been observed.
Congratulations, Castina said. The Golden Wolf is quite joyous.
Thank you, she answered. He has much to be happy for.
Indeed. Be careful.
I know, Hermione answered softly. But I had to try.
Of course you did, Castina answered with a snort, affection clear. That is what you do. It is what you are, and no one would change that. I am glad that your mate protects you.
Hermione narrowly forbore glancing over at Severus. It's nice when he does that, isn't it? I'll visit as soon as I'm able, which might not be for a few days, under the circumstances.
Until then, Berit.
The flicker was gone, and Hermione and Severus reached the doors to the castle and passed inside. Severus walked her down to her rooms. There was no sign of Harry and Draco, and she wasn't sure if that meant they were having a long discussion or if they'd passed that and were already having wild and crazy sex somewhere. She'd find out eventually, she supposed.
She checked the Map to make sure that no one was heading out to sabotage the greenhouse just yet, made sure that Severus was otherwise occupied, and then headed out to make decoys and transplant.
She followed this up back in her lab with making proper notes about the evening. Since it was fresh in her mind right now, it seemed like the prime time. Severus already knew about Fawkes, so she wouldn't even have to edit that part out for him; she wanted someone to be able to read exactly what had happened.
Given the complexity of the potion and the treatment, she knew she wouldn't be able to simply write up a paper on how to cure lycanthropy and let people go at it. The cure needed to be controlled to keep it from being misused, and it needed to be controlled by her or people she trusted to keep its dispensing from being abused.
By the time she had flipped through all her notes, added addenda, sorted them, and copied them, she felt that she was getting closer to a state wherein she could sleep. She climbed into bed secure in the knowledge that there were two more blissfully happy non-werewolves in the world thanks to the Weresbane.
On Thursday morning, the greenhouse almost burnt to the ground, which Hermione guessed meant that her decoys had been discovered as such. Or someone other than Severus had been tasked with retrieving the plants and, failing that, had sought to destroy them right away.
The sight of the smoke billowing in the air around the building had caused a great deal of panic, as this was where all the seventh-years' final projects were growing. Once the flames were subdued and the smoke had subsided, however, the students had seen that all the plants were intact, encased in shimmering wards that had kept the smoke and flames out and maintained the ambient temperature for the plants which otherwise would have been exposed to the harsh air of a February in Scotland.
In addition to Hermione's wards, the Heads of House and the headmaster had added their own, so the success—or blame, depending on which side they were talking about—could be shared around.
The headmaster played up the unfortunate accident aspect of it, though Hermione thought it unlikely that anyone actually believed this. Hermione hoped that the futility of such action had been brought home to whoever had made the attempt, as she would hate to keep putting students and their hard work at risk—not that she felt she could have done much different given the importance of the cure.
The meeting with Albus had gone much as she expected. They had agreed that the werewolves needed to be cured, and if she continued to suspect that their reasons for wanting it to occur as soon as possible were not quite the same, she could admit that it was important for the war effort and he that it was important solely for the werewolves themselves, and they could go on from there. She knew being the leader of the Light was no easy task, and she did not envy him the position.
Albus approved Draco's and Remus's efforts, tacitly agreed to forgive them all what bending of school rules might be necessary to get everything accomplished, and then they were sent about their business.
On Friday evening, there was another training session, and Hermione brought her copy of her final notes on the Weresbane to give to Severus. He accepted them with something that resembled a smile before attempting to wipe the floor with her, Harry, and Draco.
This Friday, however, was the thirteenth of February, and it seemed that Voldemort could not resist making a statement. Severus was Summoned all of an hour into their training. She shielded him from the attack by the other two without thought, causing everyone to stare at her.
She evidently spent a lot of time staring at Severus to notice quite so quickly.
"The headmaster?" she offered.
He gave a curt nod as he Summoned the appropriate garb.
Fawkes, Severus has been Summoned.
I'll inform Albus.
"Be safe."
He pulled the cloak on and pressed her notes back into her hands. "I cannot have these. I will return."
She nodded, face pinched as he Disillusioned himself and passed out of the room.
He'd never promised to return before, and she couldn't help but feel as though he had said that he would return to her, although this probably just meant that she was stressed and overly emotional.
She hastily verified that she was shielding her emotions, checked to make sure that her face had lost its grimace of distress, and turned back to Harry and Draco.
She cleared her throat. "Shall we keep training?"
Harry and Draco exchanged looks and then nodded. They managed almost another forty minutes before she lost all concentration and nearly blasted out a section of the wall because she wasn't paying enough attention to what she was doing.
She found that Harry was smiling kindly at her and realized as he wrapped his arms around her that he was "handling" her, but she couldn't seem to be able to snap out of it so it wouldn't be necessary. If he made sure that she got back to their rooms, then she didn't have to worry about it; at the moment, the less responsibility she had, the better.
In their common room, Harry served her tea, wrapped her hands around the mug, and urged her to drink until she actually took him up on the instruction and swallowed some of the hot liquid. Draco was gazing at her narrowly.
"What?" she finally asked when she caught sight of his expression.
He shrugged. "I thought you'd be more used to it, I guess. I mean, this happens pretty frequently, right?"
The tea seemed to be thawing whatever it was that had frozen solid inside of her, and she nodded at Harry in appreciation. He settled at her side, perching on the arm of her chair, seeming a little calmer himself.
"Certainly not as infrequently as we might wish," she said as circumspectly as she could.
"You seem really upset." Draco was frowning.
"I don't like anyone going out to be tortured, Draco," she said, an edge to her voice now, "and we all know what he's likely going through at that meeting."
As the last meeting Draco had attended had resulted in his being horribly beaten and left to die, the conversation ended rather abruptly, but the look Draco gave her suggested that her distraction would have worked better on a daft Gryffindor and he hadn't really been put off.
Whatever Draco had guessed, she wasn't so sure that he really wanted to know that she fancied his godfather.
Harry still had an eye on attending to her because he suggested that they do homework, and she didn't feel she had any choice but to agree. She needed to distract herself somehow. Amongst other assignments, she was supposed to be writing up a paper for her professors explaining all the different components of the Weresbane. Given the very visible evidence from Tuesday, they all believed her, of course, but to make it official, they would each need a detailed description of the aspect of the cure that pertained to their field of study and a précis of how it fit in with the rest of the cure.
Albus had agreed that, under the circumstances, he could ask all the professors to grade the papers in one sitting in his office, all details that Severus would be aware of as one of the professors involved. He could therefore leak the information back to Voldemort, and the chances that someone would break in to any offices or that the professors would be in any particular extra danger because someone thought that they had the cure would be minimized.
Hermione didn't like the position that this left Severus in, but she reminded herself—multiple times, as the evening progressed at a snail's pace—that Severus had been a spy for many years and was very good at what he did.
Draco and Harry gave up on their homework and started on some physical training. Draco was a fast learner, and he ensured that they practiced whenever possible because he hated being behind. He really didn't like Hermione bringing him to the ground; Harry doing the same did not seem to be nearly as grating.
She still couldn't quite believe that the two of them didn't appear to have done anything to advance their relationship. They were so clearly enamoured of one another, and Harry had been so adorably upset at the distress caused to Draco by the werewolf issue, offended that Draco thought so little of Harry as to imagine that he would care, and delighted anew by the cure that Hermione felt that surely their joint exuberance would have the expected result.
Thus far, however, nothing. And she didn't kid herself that she wouldn't know because this was Harry she was talking about. It would get around everywhere eventually, but since Voldemort already really wanted to kill both her and Draco, she doubted that it would matter much which one of them everyone believed was dating Harry. It wasn't a safe position, but it was unlikely to be much worse than what they were already living.
She watched Harry and Draco essentially rough-housing across the room and was pretty sure that they were getting a lot more casual touches and caresses in than was quite normal for the activity they were supposedly engaging in.
She really hoped that they weren't holding back because it would leave her the last Pure Adult. She didn't want to bring it up in case that wasn't the reason; she knew how stubborn Harry could be.
Given how much they were all over one another right now, though, perhaps she wouldn't have to wait very much longer after all. Harry would be a great deal safer when that happened, so she really didn't begrudge it him. She'd manage, as she had always done; for the longest time, she'd thought she was the only magical Animagus, and she could keep on as a Pure Adult even if she didn't have company.
It grew later. Draco offered to do her rounds with Harry at half twelve, and since they so clearly wanted the opportunity to walk around together, she consented, telling them that she wanted an early night anyway.
Neither looked terribly convinced, but they allowed her statement to stand and ducked out into the hallway to begin their rounds. Checking the Map for their location, she waited until they reached the beginning of their circuit up on the Astronomy Tower and then she sneaked out of the room, making her way Masked to the secret exit.
She had an unshakeable bad feeling about the state Severus was going to be in when he came back. Although he was in good standing with Voldemort now compared to how it had been at the end of her sixth year, it didn't mean he couldn't be badly punished for an infraction of some sort.
Hermione didn't know why the emotions were quite so strong right now; while she was never comfortable while he was gone, she did not usually go out and wait for him. She knew he could take care of himself.
That didn't stop her from worrying.
And no matter how logical she tried to be, she couldn't convince herself that she was just being fanciful. Casting a Warming Charm and transfiguring her clothing, she was finally forced to still her bad case of nerves by making her way outside so that she could wait against the wall of the castle right next to the door. This way, she would be able to see Severus approaching once he made it onto the grounds.
By the time an hour had passed, she'd somehow progressed all the way over to only a few feet away from the gate that guarded the entrance to the grounds.
It was another hour before the Potions master arrived with a barely audible pop, collapsing immediately to the ground beyond the gate.