Trial and Error

A/N: Potterverse belongs to J.K. Rowling.

I would like to proffer my sincere apologies for the lateness of this chapter and those of you who wish to send me Howlers for taking so long can feel free to do so.

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Severus closed the door to his quarters as Hermione stood up and brought the children inside. Remus stumbled in and Hermione quickly gave him her arm to lean on. He gratefully accepted it and she led him over to a chair near the cauldron she and Severus has been pouring over just minutes before.

\"I\'ll put the children to bed, Remus, and then Severus and I can talk to you about the potion.\"

Remus nodded and Hermione proceeded to her chambers with the children on either side of her. Once they made their way inside, Bernadette gave a small squeal of delight.

\"Oooohh!! A kitty! Ith it yourth? Can I pet it?\" she ran over to Hermione\'s bed where a purring Crookshanks was sitting and began running her hand over the ginger cat\'s head.

Hermione stared wide-eyed at the cat. \'How did he get here? Does my mum know he\'s gone??\'

Bernadette was giggling as Crookshanks rubbed up against her out-stretched arm. Hermione was sure the child hadn\'t been like this since her parents were killed, so she decided to leave the mystery of how Crookshanks got there until later. Aiden was standing by the bed watching his sister, but no sounds of happiness escaped his lips. Hermione frowned and then remembered she had to get them to bed so she could talk to Remus.

\"Bernadette, honey, it\'s time for you and Aiden to go to bed, but Crookshanks will be here in the morning for you to play with, okay?\"

Bernadette looked up at Hermione, the smile on her face faltering slightly.

\"Okay, Hermyowny. Where are my brother and me gonna thleep?\"

Aiden looked up at Hermione too, a spark of interest in his eyes.

She smiled warmly at the two of them. \"Well, Professor Dumbledore made a room right next to mine for you to sleep and play in. It\'s right through this door..\"

She opened the door to their room which had two four-poster beds; one with purple blankets and one with deep red. Two chests most likely full of toys sat at the ends of the beds and a small table set for two held a container of milk and a plate of biscuits. Aiden\'s eyes widened at the sight and Bernadette immediately went for the cookies and milk.

\"I\'ll be back in ten minutes to tuck you two in bed, okay?\"

Bernadette looked back at Hermione with a mouthful of cookies and nodded. Aiden, who had just picked up a cookie turned towards Hermione.

\"I can tuck Berny in. We\'ll be fine. I think we both need some time by ourselves,\" he looked back towards the door to further stress his point.

Hermione understood. They had not had much time to themselves with Remus and they were not ready to let her come into their lives too much, either. She nodded and closed the door before walking back into the lab where Remus was staring blankly at the wall.

*~*~*~*

Severus came out of his quarters with a crystal goblet. Hermione was kneeling on the floor next to Remus whispering comforting words to him while softly rubbing his back. Severus flinched slightly at the sight, but chose not to comment. He walked swiftly over to the cauldron of the newly finished potion and ladled a large amount into the goblet.

Remus lifted his head up as Severus came back and Hermione pushed herself to an upright position.

\"Sh-should we wait until tomorrow?\" said Hermione, eyeing the goblet with trepidation.

\"The sooner this gets into his system, the better,\" said Severus, holding the goblet out to Remus.

Remus took the goblet in his hands, nodded in turn at Severus and Hermione and lifted the goblet high in the air.

\"Cheers,\" he said then downed the contents in three swallows.

Hermione took a deep breath and watched wide-eyed as Remus started trembling; she wasn\'t sure if that was supposed to happen or not. Soon Remus was shaking even more and then he began to sway from side to side. His face broke out in a sweat and his eyes started rolling up so only the whites were visible. Hermione was beginning to panic.

\"Severus!!! What\'s going on?? Help him! You have to DO SOMETHING NOW!!!!!\"

She had jumped over to him and was yanking ferociously on his robes, her eyes wild with fear and uncontrollable sobs racking her small frame.

\"There is nothing I can do, Hermione. We have to wait for the potion to take its affect...whether it works on the lycanthropy or not, it needs to run its course. There are several powerful ingredients in the potion that I knew would cause this type of reaction at some point or another.\" He indicated Remus who was now trashing his arms as though warding off an enormous beast.

Hermione bit her lower lip and stared in horror as the colour began to withdraw from Remus\'s face. After a few more moments, the thrashing stopped completely and Remus slumped down into the chair like a ragdoll.

\"Remus!!! Remus, are you okay? Can you hear me? OH, don\'t be dead, pleeease don\'t be dead!!!\" Hermione fell onto him and frantically searched for any sign of life. She reached up to his neck to feel for a pulse and was grabbed instantly around her neck with a pair of very strong hands. Remus was glaring at her with almost yellow eyes and she could feel his fingers tightening around her throat.

\"NOOOOO!!!! YOU LET GO OF HER THIS INSTANT!! I\'LL RIP THAT BLOODY WOLF HEART OUT OF YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!!!!!!\" Severus pulled out his wand as he spoke and pointed it at Remus who was trying to strangle a breathless Hermione.

\"STUPEFY!!\"

A red light shot out of his wand and hit Remus in the head. His hands loosenheirheir deathgrip and Hermione sank down to the floor, her hands testing the damage on her throat. Severus hurriedly scooped her up and took her to his bedroom and lay her down on the bed. She was too much in shock over what had happened to do more than stare wide-eyed into space and rub her neck where Remus\'s fingernails had left welts.

Severus left the room and went back to Remus. He bound him with magical ropes and then whispered, \"Enervate.\"


Remus groaned loudly and looked up at his \"captor\". A horrible growl came out of his throat and he tried to lung at Severus. Thankfully, the ropes held his fast to the chair and he could do no more than growl and snap his teeth while Severus walked over to the fireplace and threw a handful of powder into it.

\"Albus, please get in here immediately.\"

A moment later, Albus Dumbledore came flying out of the fireplace. After brushing himself off, he looked at Severus and smiled.

\"What is it, Severus? Are the little tykes getting under your skin already?\"

Severus glared at the older man.

\"As of now, I wish that were the case. It\'s Remus. I gave him the potion and he tried to kill Herm--iss Granger.\"

Albus raised his eyebrows.

\"Well, we can\'t have that. I had a feeling something like this would happen, but I hoped it wouldn\'t. Very well. I will tend to Remus if you make sure the children get their Wolfsbane. Good night, Severus.\"

He then walked over to Remus, lifted him with a \'Mobilicorpus\' (this cause Remus to snarl even more) and flooed him out of the dungeons, following shortly after.

Severus stood like a statue. How could orgeorget about the children? \'Damn it! And Hermione is currently not in a state to give it to them. Ah bugger it.\' He conjured two more goblets, filled them with the wolfsbane and walked through Hermione\'s door. He knocked softly on the children\'s door and waited.

The door opened and two round eyes peered up at him beneath a messy fringe. A gasp and a slam later, Severus found himself staring at the door again.

Looking up at the ceiling for strength, Severus tried again.

\"Look, you need to take this potion so you\'ll be safe tomorrow. I\'m going to leave the goblets outside your door and I\'m going to come back in 40 seconds. If the potions are not gone, there will be hell to pay.\"

He then turned back around only to stumble on a very curious ginger cat.

\"I didn\'t know Hermione had a cat here..\"

He bent down and scratched Crookshanks behind the ears and was rewarded with a booming purr. A slight smile crossed Severus\' face and he straightened up and left Hermione\'s chambers.

Stopping outside the door, he listened quietly and heard the children\'s door open, some quiet mumbles and the tinkling of glass as the goblets were set back down. Severus decided to wait until later to pick the glass up. Right now, he had to check on Hermione.

~*~*~

When Severus back into his room, Hermione was laying on her side and facing away from him. Her shoulders were shaking and soft whimpers were coming from her lips. He walked swiftly over to the bed, sat down next to her and placed a hand tentatively on her back.

\"Hermione? Hermione, are you alright? Remus is going to be fine. Albus has him now.\" Of course, he had no idea if the werewolf would be fine or not, but he wanted to get Hermione to stop crying.
He rubbed little circles in her back the way he had once seen a mother doing to her child in Muggle London years ago and the whimpers became quietefterfter a moment, Hermione turned over to face him with red eyes and tear streaked cheeks.

\"S-severus?\"

\"Mmm hmm?\" Now rubbing circles on her arm.

\"What did w-we do wrong?\" More tears spilling out and following the shiny paths to her quivering chin.

\"I don\'t know, Hermione. Possibly nothing. This may be what it takes to get the disease out of a werewolf. Even if it doesn\'t work, we have made great progress in this potion.\"

Hermione sniffled and looked up at him. \"Can you hold me?\"

\"Pardon?\" Surely he had misheard.

\"I--I need to be held for a while. It\'ll help calm me down.\" She almost smiled at the look on her professor\'s face... shock? confusion? a little bit of...longing?

Severus closed his eyes. \'No, Severus, get a grip. She is a girl. Of course she wants human contact...not that I would be a first choice for most women as a comforter, but then, I am the only human in the room and she needs comfort. Nothing more. Simply a shoulder to cry on, a hanky to dry her tears. Someone to tell her everything will be alright. Sigh.\'
lauglaughed lightly at the red-faced Gryffindor girl who had somehow weaseled herself into his life without meaning to and pulled her into his arms. She gasped quietly in surprise but quickly snuggled into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

For the next hour, he rocked her and caressed her hair while she sniffled and gradually fell asleep. Severus continued to stroke her back and hair while his mind wandered aimlessly through a world of fantasies which involved Hene ane and himself spending more quality time with each other. He knew he should not think of such things, but he couldn\'t help it. She had such a wonderful heart and a mind to rival almost any other. He looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms.

\"For your sake more than anything else, I hope the potion works. I don\'t like seeing you this upset and I will do anything in my power to keep you from feeling this way again.\" He leaned down and kissed her tenderly on her forehead.

\"Severus, I hate to interrupt, but I thought I should tell you that Remus is doing well. He is almost back to normal and I will set up a place for him that he cannot escape in case the potion does not work. I suggest the two of you tuck in and then get some much needed rest. I\'ll send a house elf down with some food. Good night Severus, and keep your fingers crossed.\" Albus smiled warmly at the speechless professor with a definite twinkle in his eyes and then left the room as quietly as he had come.

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