Chapter 15-Trying for a Cure and Sample Collecting
In the days that followed the vanquish, life at Number 12 Grimmauld Place fell into an easy routine. Phoebe noticed that Remus, however, seemed to be rapidly deteriorating. She'd asked Molly if it was always this hard on him during the full moon. Molly said it would get worse before it got better.
The mean man, Severus Snape, who the girls had met before their first Order meeting, had begun concocting a potion for Remus to take the week before the full moon. Piper had agreed to learn how to make the potion since none of the sisters liked or trusted the pale, dark haired man. Snape was rude and condescending toward Piper at first, but had quickly learned that she could give insults as good as she got them. By the time Snape finished teaching Piper, he was treating her with a begrudging respect as he was able to recognize her exceptional gift with potions.
On the first day of the full moon Remus woke looking worse than ever.
"Baby, do you want me to get you something for breakfast?" asked an extremely concerned Phoebe.
Remus somehow managed to pale even further and looked like he was going to be sick. "No."
Phoebe chewed her lip. She was actually starting to fear for his life. The wolfsbane seemed to be making him even worse and she had no idea how he was going to survive the changes he would endure that night and the two following.
"I'll be staying in my own room tonight," Remus broke her reverie with a weak, raspy voice.
"But what if something goes wrong and you need help? I'm staying with you," Phoebe said, hands on her hips and feet planted, her fighting stance.
"You will not be staying with me," Remus said wearily. "If something goes wrong, the best case scenario would be me turning you. The worst case would be me transforming back to find that I had killed you," Remus said with a shudder. Clearly he had been thinking about this for quite some time.
Remus sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed with a great deal of exertion and difficulty, then patted the bed next to him. Phoebe reluctantly sat next to him, knowing she didn't have the heart to fight with him so ill.
"Phoebe, I love you, you know that. I can not let you near me. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I will be fine," Remus said earnestly.
"Can I check on you in the morning?" Phoebe asked quietly, unshed tears in her eyes. They hadn't been separated since their claiming and the thought of him not being near her caused actual pain.
"After sunrise," Remus said with a tired smile. "Why don't you go check in with your sisters? They're going to want to see you and I'll probably sleep for a while longer. I feel exhausted."
"I'll be back in a little while, alright?" Phoebe said forcing a cheerful smile.
"Alright," Remus replied, reaching up to tuck her dark hair back behind her ear. Phoebe kissed him gently, stood up, and left the room.
After she closed the door, Remus fell back on the bed with a groan. Every month became worse. He felt absolutely horrible, but he didn't want Phoebe to worry more than she needed to. Remus closed his eyes and allowed the blackness to engulf his mind.
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Phoebe found her sisters in the sitting room on the ground floor. As soon as they looked at her, they knew something was wrong. Phoebe explained, crying, how bad Remus was doing and his courage in facing it all alone.
"We have to do something! I can't, I won't sit back and do nothing," Phoebe said after blowing her nose.
"Well, what do you want to do, Phoebe?" Piper asked. "This magical community has been working on a cure for a very long time. If they haven't found one, maybe there isn't one."
"I don't buy that. There has to be a way. I'm going to work on a few spells. Can you two please, please work on a potion for me?" Phoebe asked desperately.
"Actually, if we can get some fur, blood, and saliva samples tonight while he's transformed, maybe we can try to brew some kind of magical vaccine or antibiotic or something," Paige said in an it can't hurt to try voice.
"Werewolves freeze, don't they?" asked Piper thoughtfully. "What Paige said might work, but Remus is going to be pissed off at us for going in his room while he's in wolfy form. So, if he freezes, I can make sure he stays that way while you two collect the samples."
"I don't know if they freeze," Phoebe said looking worried. "We should have some kind of back up plan. Any ideas?"
"We could tranquilize him," Paige said. When both sisters looked at her shocked, she said, "What? He is going to be an animal, right? We will be safe and he never has to know what's going on."
"Okay, but where the hell are we going to get a tranquilizer gun?" Piper asked, slightly sarcastically, with her face screwed up as though stating the obvious.
"Darryl," Phoebe said suddenly with excitement. "Darryl can get it for us. We need to send Leo to him that is if you guys don't mind helping me?"
"Leo went to check on the club, but he should be back soon, then we can ask him," Piper answered.
"I love you guys," Phoebe said, launching herself at her sisters, giving hugs and kisses as they squirmed to get away. "You're the bestest sisters ever!"
"And don't you forget it!" yelled Paige.
"Ouch, get off of me!" yelled Piper.
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Phoebe sat on the edge of her bed with Remus sleeping fitfully on it. She reached over and gently touched him on the arm. "Remus, baby, wake up, please. I need to talk to you about something important," Phoebe said.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked in a gravely voice filled with pain and concern. "Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?"
"Oh, no, baby, I'm fine," Phoebe said quickly with a reassuring smile. "I think I've come up with a plan with my sisters to help you with your, your lycanthropy."
Remus studies her for a few moments. "Phoebe, there's nothing you can do," he said gently. "I know you want to help, but we've been working on a cure for centuries."
"You've never had the power of three to help, though," Phoebe said with a false cheerfulness. "Piper and Paige think that they may be able to make a potion, similar to what Muggles call vaccines and antibiotics, which are used to serious, life-threatening diseases. If we can get blood, hair, and saliva samples while you're the wolf, we may be able to eventually concoct a cure."
Remus sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He didn't dare to hope that they would be able to help him. This was his fate, he'd come to terms with who and what he was long ago. But still, the power of three. That was nothing to scoff at. What would it hurt if he let them try? Sure they would all be disappointed if he didn't return to normal, but at least they all cared enough to try and that would count for something.
"Alright, if you want to try, who am I to argue?" Remus said turning back to her with a faint smile. "I want you three to be careful around me after I change. Even though I'm taking the wolfsbane potion, I could still be dangerous. How are you planning on collecting these samples anyway?"
"Well, I, I know that you could still be dangerous, so, because I'm not sure that Piper's freezing power will work on you, I'm going to have Leo talk to a friend of ours about getting a tranquilizer gun," Phoebe said nervously, knowing he wasn't going to like this one bit. Who would? When Remus looked at her confused, she cleared her throat and explained, "It's what Muggles use to, um; take down dangerous animals that might hurt them. It kinda puts them to sleep so that Muggles can move them to another place which will be safer for both the animal and the Muggles."
Remus just stared at her surprised and was starting to re-think the whole idea when she said impatiently, "Remus you know that I would never do anything to hurt you. I want to help you and I can't think of anything else to do. It will only hurt for a second, and then you'll have a nice nap, okay?"
Remus had watched her eyes fill with tears that she refused to shed. "So I'll just take a nap," Remus thought to himself. At least he wouldn't be bored and lonely out of his mind as he had been since Sirius had died. "Fine. Do it. I trust you."
Phoebe threw her arms around him with an excited squeal, gave him a quick kiss, then jumped up and said, "I've got to go talk to Leo. I love you. I'll bring your potion in an hour or so, okay? Can I get you anything until then?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you," Remus said smiling at her enthusiasm. "I love you too."
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Leo had been a little more skeptical than her sisters about Phoebe's plan to cure Remus, but also knew better than to argue with his wife and her sisters once they had there minds set on something. He visited their gypsy friend, Dr. Eva Niccoli, for a needle and some vials for the blood. Then he went to Darryl Morrison, a lieutenant on the San Francisco Police Department, who had helped the sisters on multiple occasions and was a good friend, for the gun. Darryl had insisted that he go back and personally show the girls how to work it, knowing not a one of them could shoot a gun to save her life.
When Leo orbed Darryl into the kitchen where the girls were helping Mrs. Weasley with dinner, he was greeted with hugs by the sisters. Once he had been introduced to the Golden Trio, Ginny, and Molly, Phoebe asked him to sit down and got him a butterbeer.
"What is it?" Darryl asked, eyeing the bottle as though it was untrustworthy.
"Try it, Darryl. It's called butterbeer, no it has no alcohol, and, trust me, you'll love it," Paige ordered.
"Damn, that's good," Darryl said in surprise. Then realizing he wasn't in the Manor, glanced at Molly and said, "Oh, sorry. So what's going on Phoebe? Why do you need a tranquilizer gun?"
"Well, Darryl, first of all, I'm engaged," Phoebe started, looking at the handsome, well muscled black man in front of her with apprehension. She had known him long enough to know what his reaction was going to be.
"What? Already? Didn't you just get here like a week ago?" Darryl grilled her in a very big brother-like way. Piper kicked him under the table, "Ouch! Congratulations, Phoebe, that's good news," he said rubbing his leg.
"I know its kinds of sudden, but, the first time I saw him I knew. Then I had a vision which confirmed he was the one," Phoebe said with a small, sad smile.
"Well congratulations Phoebe. Shelia is going to be so excited for you," Darryl said. He turned to the people he'd just met and said, "Shelia's my wife. She and the sisters are very good friends."
"Oh, how lovely. Is she a Muggle, too?" asked Molly.
"What?" asked Darryl, not knowing whether or not to be angry and insulted?
"Yes he and his wife are both normal mortal people," Piper said. "That's what they call mortals," she said in an aside to Darryl.
"Oh yeah, no one in our families have ever been magical," Darryl said in understanding.
"How did you find out about the sisters?" asked Ron.
All the Californians laughed remembering.
"That's a long story for another time," Leo answered for Darryl.
"Um, Darryl, I need to, uh, tranquilize a werewolf so that we can get some samples from him and try to, uh, cure him," Phoebe said.
Darryl just looked from one face to another for a minute, then started laughing, "Is this the story you concocted to mess with the Muggle, because, I have to tell you, you were very convincing." Darryl stopped laughing when Phoebe began wincing and looking apologetic. "Oh god, you're not joking," Darryl said paling a bit. Then he stood up and began pacing back and forth, muttering. Harry and Ron caught phrases like, "Steal a guy's soul, almost get me executed, 'get me into a crime scene, Darryl', and now, tranquilize a freaking werewolf."
Suddenly, Darryl stopped pacing, sat back down in his chair, and looked across the table at Phoebe. Ron and Harry gave each other a look and wondered if this guy wasn't a little mad. None of the sisters or Leo seemed to be surprised by his reaction though.
"Please, Darryl, just show me how to work it. I'm not asking you to o it," Phoebe pleaded. Darryl looked at her unmoving for a few seconds.
"If it is a danger, why are you tranquilizing it? Vanquish it!" Darryl said.
"We can't do that," Piper said immediately. "He's not evil, he's an innocent victim."
"He was only five when he was infected and the changes are horribly painful," Paige added.
"Did I fail to mention that my fiancée is the werewolf?" asked Phoebe apprehensively.
Darryl closed his eyes, sighed, and let his head hit the table. He quickly sat up and wiped his hand down his face. "How close are you going to be?"
"Within six feet. He takes a potion that keeps his human personality in charge instead of the wolf," Phoebe replied.
"He hasn't turned yet, right? I mean the sun is just starting to set here?" asked Darryl, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Right. Why? Do you want to meet him?" asked Paige.
"Well, he had better understand that the man pointing the gun isn't gonna hurt him. The sedative might not work fast enough to save my ass at only six feet if he attacks," replied Darryl looking at Phoebe.
"Are you sure? You can just show me how, Darryl," Phoebe said.
"Why aggravate myself teaching you if I can just do it myself? Not one of you has any aim with anything but your powers and potions," Darryl replied with a smile, in a teasing voice. He stood up and walked over to Phoebe, who also stood up and, standing on tip-toes, kissed him on the cheek.
"This way," she said, leading Darryl to her room after grabbing the potion Piper had prepared for Remus.
After leading Darryl into her room, Phoebe gently woke Remus up. "Remus, wake up, Remus. I've got your potion and someone I want you to meet."
Remus opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her. Sitting up slowly with her help, he took the goblet, "Thank you, love."
"Remus this is Lt. Darryl Morrison. He's a very good friend of ours, has been for years," Phoebe said. "Darryl, this is Remus Lupin, my fiancée.
"Nice to meet you," Darryl said, shaking his hand. He threw Phoebe a concerned look, and then said, "You don't look so good buddy."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I haven't looked in a mirror yet today, but I'm sure I look as bad as I feel," Remus said with a rueful smile.
"Remus, Darryl has volunteered to be the one who tranquilizes you tonight. He wanted you to meet him so that you're not alarmed when he points the gun at you," Phoebe told him. "Then my sisters and I can collect the samples we need."
"Are you a Muggle?" Remus asked Darryl after studying him for a while.
"Yes. But I've known about the sisters for years and I've witnessed the good they do first hand," Darryl said sitting on the bed next to Remus. Then he said earnestly, "Your secret is safe with me. I would die before I would ever reveal what any of you can do."
Remus smiles faintly at Darryl. He hadn't realized his mate and her sisters were able to evoke such strong loyalty in others. "I meant, as a non-magical person, aren't you afraid of me? Many wizards and witches shun me because of what I turn into once a month and they are able to protect themselves with magic. So logically, I assumed that Muggles would have cause to be even more afraid around me as you have no real defenses."
"Right now, no. Phoebe said that that potion you're drinking right now will keep you in control, so I don't have anything to worry about," said Darryl shrugging. "I still won't turn my back on you after you turn, but for now, you're just a guy who's engaged to one of my best friends. If the sisters say you can be trusted, then I trust you. They've saved my butt more times than I can count. They've also got me into trouble more times than I can count, but somehow they always manage to fix it."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Phoebe said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Dinner is probably done. Are you hungry?" Phoebe asked Remus.
"No thank you," Remus said once again turning slightly green at the thought. "I'm going to go to my room, you go ahead down to dinner. By the time you get back I will probably have turned," he looked at Darryl. "I will be in my own room while I'm transformed. Phoebe and her sisters can show you where it is. Thank you for your help," Remus turned back to Phoebe and, after kissing her gently, said, "I'll talk to you after sunrise. I love you."
"I'll see you then. I love you," Phoebe said with forced lightheartedness.
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As it turned out, Remus was too weak to make it to his by himself, so Darryl and Phoebe helped him down the hall and into bed.
After closing Remus' door, Phoebe said, "Are you hungry?"
"Not really, but I don't want to offend anyone, so I'll eat something," Darryl replied as she led the way back down the stairs. They went most of the way in silence, Darryl pondering Remus' illness. "Phoebe, he looks really bad. If you guys can't find a cure for him, how long does he have?"
"I've been afraid to ask," Phoebe admitted. "He seemed fine when we first got here. It's just been in the last couple of days that he's gone downhill. Remus was bitten when he was five and he's lived this long, so maybe it won't affect his life span at all."
Darryl didn't say anything else, but he personally felt that this was wishful thinking on Phoebe's part.
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After dinner, the girls and Darryl made their way back up to Remus' room. Each sister held something with which to gather the samples they would need, while Darryl held the tranquilizer gun, an extra dart, and the shot to counter the sedative.
Phoebe and Piper went in first with Darryl and Paige close behind. Remus had already transformed and was lying curled up on the bed. He raised his head and let out a little whine to let them know he recognized him.
"Sorry about this, buddy," Darryl said as he took careful aim with the gun. Remus let out a high pitched yelp of pain as the dart imbedded itself above his shoulder. He tried to remove the dart, but Darryl had made sure to put it where Remus wouldn't be able to reach it. Darryl reloaded the gun and waited to see if the first shot would do the job. It did. Remus soon laid back down breathing slowly and evenly.
The girls moved cautiously forward. Piper got the blood sample, Paige the fur, and Phoebe the saliva. Once they were done, Darryl removed the dart, gave Remus the shot to revive him, and they backed out of the room. They took the samples back to the kitchen for Piper to store.
"I'll start work on the cure tomorrow, but I'm not promising anything, Phoebe," Piper said. "This is not a new affliction; they've been working on this for a very long time. Don't get your hopes up."
"I know not to get my hopes up, Piper," Phoebe sighed. She looked sad and thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "If anyone can figure it out, you can, and if you can't, at least I'll know we did everything we could, so no pressure."
"No, no pressure at all," said Paige sarcastically.
"Come on, we should all get to bed, especially you, Phoebe. It's going to be another long day for you tomorrow," Leo said, then turning to Piper, "I'm going to take Darryl back home. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Good-bye Darryl. Thank you for your help," Phoebe said giving him a hug. "Hopefully we'll be home soon, and then we'll be able to hang out with you and Shelia."
"Good luck Phoebe. I'll tell Shelia you three said hi," Darryl said leaning down to hug her back.
After Piper and Paige said their good-byes, Leo orbed Darryl out.
"Well goodnight all," said Piper, heading for the stairs. "If you need anything, come get me."
"I will. 'Night," Phoebe replied.
"I'm sure it'll all turn out just fine," Paige said giving Phoebe a hug. "Goodnight honey."
"Thanks, goodnight," Phoebe said again. She was alone and decided it wouldn't hurt to try to sleep, though she doubted she would without him next to her.
She trudged up the stairs, got into a pair of pajamas, and laid down in the bed. After an hour and a half of tossing and turning uncomfortably, she picked up her pillow and blanket and went down to sit in front of Remus' door. He found her lying there asleep when he tried to leave the room the next morning after he transformed back to human form.
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