In a Lifetime

In A Lifetime
Chapter 8: Potions and Predicaments

Disclaimer: I own nothing of what you’re about to read, with the possible exception of the plot, although I’m sure it’s been done before. The places, characters, etc. belong to JK Rowling. Thanks.

The “Remus Team” as Ginny termed them, sat in the staff room to discuss the events of the morning. Remus was sleeping, with Kyla watching over him. Albus conjured up a pot of tea and poured cups for all as they considered the interchange with Remus.

“He was quite calm,” remarked Ginny, “I would have expected him to be a little less…accepting of the situation.”

“Could it be the potion weakening?” asked Hermione, “Could he perhaps have a feeling that this is where he belongs?”

“It could very well be,” answered Albus, “this was, after all, the first place that Remus felt completely accepted and at home.”

Severus sat silently drinking his tea before looking nd tnd the table and speaking, “Perhaps,” he said, an uncertain look crossing his dark eyes, “the feeling of home transcends any magic flowing through one’s body, whether it be a potion, a hex…”

“Numerous applications of the Cruciatus Curse…” said Albus quietly, looking at Severus.

Severus said nothing, just nodded almost imperceptibly. Hermione reached for his hand under the table and quickly squeezed it. She knew that what Albus said was true. No matter what bit of nastiness Voldemort and the Death Eaters had thrown at Severus, he always made it back to Hogwarts. He always made it home. Perhaps it was the same for Remus. Perhaps he was so accepting because he instinctually felt like the castle was home.

“So,” said Albus, “Severus and Hermione, are you set to work on the antidote?”

“Yes,” said ioneione, “we were planning on getting to work straight away.”

“Good,” he smiled, “the rest of you know what to do. We will meet again tomorrow or sooner if there is anything new to report.”

The group broke up, Ginevra and Poppy heading back to the hospital wing, Hermione and Severus to the lab, and Albus to his office. Severus moved quickly, causing Hermione to have to run to catch up with him.

“Severus, slow down,” she said, “your legs are longer.”

Severus stopped and allowed her to catch up, “I do apologize, Hermione, I tend to forget I have a partner now,” he said with a small grin.

“I thought you were trying to leave me in the dust.”

“Never,” he replied fervently, “you will always walk beside me.”

Hermione smiled as they headed to the private labs. Dropping the wards, Severus opened the old oak door to the gleaming marble lab. Their two work stations were set up, each with a vial of Remus’ blood, plus an extra vial in stasis should they require it. Without a word, they each donned their lab robes and went to work, Hermione testing the better known memory potions and Severus testing the lesser known Dark potions. Neither expected to find their answers quickly, so it came as shock when Hermione’s testing showed a partial match to a fairly standard memory blocking potion.

“Severus,” said Hermione, testing her results again, “I’m getting a partial on the Obliviatus potion.”

“Obliviatus?” echoed Severus, “that’s a common memory blocker used primarily in medical instances when a memory needs to be suppressed temporarily.”

“It can’t be as simple as that,” remarked Hermione.

“I would imagine not,” said Severus, “since it’s a partial match, it would appear that was the base of the potion used on Remus as it is commonplace to use a better known commercially available potion as the starting point. I myself did that when I was brewing Dark potions for Voldemort and I still do it now when I’m creating certain potions.”

“So we should start by giving Remus the antidote to the Obliviatus potion?” queried Hermione, tucking back in some errant strands of hair that escaped from her ponytail.

“It couldn’t hurt,” agreed Severus, “though I doubt it will do much. I have some antidote in my private stores.”

Hermione put her work in stasis and procured the antidote. She passed by Severus on her way out of the lab and softly brushed her lips over his. Severus smiled at her before bending his heack dck down to his testing. Hermione smiled and headed up to the hospital wing. Severus continued testing Remus’ blood against Dark potions, potions he hadn’t brewed in a decade, potions no one should ever be able to brew. There were potions that could cause the body to do the most horrifying things, including one that could consume the body from the inside out and never leave a trace. Severus wracked his memory for potions that had an effect on the memory when he sat up, a horrified look on his face. He thought back, to a time when he served two masters, the Dark and the Light. He thought back to a time when he had no option but to brew what the Dark Lord asked of him. Severus, of course, tempered the Dark potions, took away the lethalness of the potions he could do that to. He remembered one potion in particular. It was a particularly nasty specimen. It would first block the brain’s ability to convey certain information to the body and eventually consume the conscious mind of the victim, rendering him for all intents and purposes, a zombie. Severus had tempered that potion so that it never finished the job, never consumed the conscious mind. However, it would block certain abilities that the mind had. On a normal human, it would first block the senses – smell, sight, sound, touch, taste – then block speech, culminating in a memory loss. All this would last several weeks, long enough for the Dark Lord to forget about the victim, who would eventually regain all his faculties. On a normal human being, thought Severus, but what if it was applied to someone who was not a normal human being? What if it was applied to one with mutated blood cells?. Trembling slightly, Severus walked back to his private stores and dropping the wards on a hidden cabinet, extracted a single vial containing a blood red liquid. He walked back to his work station and carefully applied a dropper of the potion to an empty vial. He then added a drop of Remus’ blood, followed by a clear liquid. The contents of the vial bubbled quickly, then turned a brilliant blue. Severus sighed with resignation. He, Severus Snape, was responsible for the potion that was causing Remus’ memory and speech blockage. He had created the potion 13 years ago but never delivered it to the Dark Lord due to its instability. But if he never delivered it to Voldemort, how did it come to reside in the bloodstream of Remus Lupin? With another sigh, Severus walked to his quarters to floo Albus.

Hermione had administered the antidote to the Obliviatus potion to Remus, and was mildly disappointed to see no reaction. Intellectually, she knew that chances were slim that the antidote would cause any change, she still hoped for something. But all she saw was the haunted look in the eyes of her friend and former teacher, and that same look of vague recollection. With a bright smile for Remus, she said a hasty farewell and headed back to the dungeon, requesting that Remus be watched carefully for any signs of change in his condition. She entered the private labs to see Severus and Albus sitting side by side at an empty lab table. Severus had a dark look in his eyes. Something had happened. She knew Severus well enough to recognize that look.

“What’s wrong? Is it Remus? I was just up there and he…” began Hermione.

“We know the potion, Hermione,” interrupted Severus.

“So soon? But how? When can we give him the antidote…there is an antidote, right?”

“I brewed the potion, Hermione,” said Severus, “thirteen years ago...”

“Severus,” she said slowly, approaching the lab table, “there is an antidote, right?”

“I’m sure I can brew one, it will take time, though...”

“So this potion is one you gave to Voldemort…without an antidote handy? Severus, I thought you brewed antidotes to all the potions you gave to him. How could you not brew one for this potion? What possessed you to give a maniac a potion with no reversal? How could you be so stupid?” said Hermione, her calm demeanor rapidly losing ground to the fury she felt, “now Remus is lying in a bed in the hospital wing with no voice, no memory, and no magic. I can’t believe you could be so damned careless!”

Without a word, Severus stood up from the table, gave Hermione a look that was somewhere between sadness and anger, turned away and left the lab. Hermione leveled her gaze at Albus.

“I believe you are in error here, Professor Granger,” stated Albus.

Hermione stared at him. “I am in error? I’m not the one who gave Voldemort a potion with the repercussions this one had without brewing a damned antidote.”

“I think you need to learn to listen before you go off half cocked and hurl insults at your fiancé,” was Albus’ calm response, “had you allowed him to speak and had you actually listened, you might have discovered that Severus did not give the potion in question to Tom Riddle. It was brewed and never handed over. It was planned to be a potion to turn humans into mindless drones but Severus altered it to be temporary instead of permanent, lasting only weeks on a normal human and never robbing the person of their conscious mind.”

“Temporary? Remus has been missing for 10 years. If he knew where he belonged, he would have come home, so we can only assume that he was dosed when he disappeared, certainly not as close as a number of weeks from the time he started the C-factor trials,” she said obstinently.

“Again, you should be listening,” sighed Albus, clearly not happy with Hermione, “the potion was planned to be temporary on a normal human. Remus was not a normal human at the time of his exposure to the potion.”

“Oh,” said Hermione quietly, “the potion effected him differently…”

“Completely differently. It stripped him of his voice and memory, but none of the other senses were effected, perhaps because of the mutated blood he carried, the fact that those senses are so deeply heightened when he goes through the lunar cycle. But it also seems to have a longer lifespan in his system. In any event, Hermione, Severus never brewed an antidote because he found the potion too unstable and he never gave the potion to Tom Riddle, and of course suffered for that decision. But when he recognized some of the ‘symptoms’ of the old potion, he took it out of his hidden storage to test it. When he went back, that’s when he discovered one of the two vials missing.”

“But who…”

“Someone who would have had access to his labs or office 13 years ago.”

“These labs?”

“No, he didn’t have these labs yet. The hidden storage chest would most likely have been in his office.”

“In his private storeroom?”

“I believe so,” nodded Albus.

Hermione thought back to her fourth year. It was the year of so much. It was the year of the Triwizard cup. The year that the teasing from Draco Malfoy intensified. The year she met Viktor Krum. The year that Harry saw Barty Crouch break into Severus’ office. Hermione looked up at Albus.

“Barty Crouch,” she said, “he broke into Severus’ office in my fourth year.”

“Yes,” said Albus, fingering his beard, “and he was in league with Riddle…”

“I have to apologize to Severus.”

“You’ll find him grading papers in his office,” said Albus, standing up to leave.

“I really hurt him, didn’t I?”

“I’m afraid you did, Hermione,” replied Albus, his voice softening, “it is the destiny of humans to hurt one another at times and tespoesponsibility of humans to realize this and make amends.”

“And it’s the destiny of this Gryffindor to foolishly rush in where Hufflepuffs fear to tread. Perhaps there’s something to be said for caution.”

“Perhaps there’s something to be said for listening, especially when Severus is involved.”

Hermione nodded and with a wry grin, opened the door to Severus’ office.