Here's celebrating week 2 of summer school. 4 tests so far. 4 more to go and an exam.
And I felt bad for not updating after SweetDeamon went off and completed 2 chapters of her fic this week alone so this is dedicated to her.
Lupin and Snape apparated to the entrance of the Hogwarts grounds and Snape hastily let go of Lupin's shirt collar.
Lupin then over balanced and fell rather ungracefully to the ground and Snape sneered down at him.
"I hate apparating," Remus muttered, dusting himself off and heaving himself to his feet.
In truth he hadn't had to travel so much on the day right after the full moon and even with his "nap" from earlier he was starting to get tired. He concluded that any form of apparating or disapparating was way too stressful on the body.
"It's going to rain soon," Lupin announced, looking up to the menacing storm clouds above.
He then turned over to Snape before realizing that the man in question was already halfway through the field and he'd just been talking to air this whole time.
Lupin rolled his eyes and ran after him.
"Would it kill the man to wait?"
He met up with Snape at the library who was sitting at a table reading a roll of parchment
"What's that?" Remus asked.
"I received an owl on my way in. It seems like the boys know what they're doing." Snape told him, handing the parchment over to Lupin.
Lupin was surprised to see that it was a list of all the purchases from Borgin and Burkes within the past year. Names who Remus believed to be potential suspects glowed red on the parchment.
Remus handed the parchment back to Snape before pulling up a chair.
"So, what're we looking for?" Lupin asked.
"Get me anything and everything to do with potions concerning werewolves and other dark creatures."
Remus nodded before getting up to complete his task. He knew more about the library than Snape did.
A few minutes later and Lupin and Snape had taken over the one desk located in the restricted section of the library. It was not only due to the fact that the restricted section was...well...restricted to all students but it also gave the two teachers peace and quiet, not to mention privacy.
"This is so cool," Lupin told himself.
"And what, pray tell is so 'cool' about this?" Snape sneered at the man sitting at the side end of the table, who in turn looked surprised that Snape had heard him. Remus hadn't realized he'd said his words out loud.
"I used to sneak in here loads of times. Filtch almost caught us more times to count too. Now I can just walk in and read whatever the hell I want," Lupin said with a shrug, waving his arms around him to emphasize his point.
Snape "hrmmm"ed but overall ignored the werewolf, instead flipping the page of one of the many potions textbooks on the table.
He shouldn't have brought Lupin along. The man didn't know shit about potions and he'd just taken to passing the dirt jar back and forth in his hands anyways which was making a soft albeit annoying scratching sound as it skidded across the table.
Lupin did seem to know where many of the books were in the library, something which Snape didn't, so Snape figured he hadn't been totally worthless.
The scratching sound started up again.
"Will you stop with the insufferable noise?" Snape growled, not looking up from his book.
The scratching immediately stopped and Snape bit back a grin.
Remus turned to his only other form of entertainment. The silver bullion bar that Snape had taken from the Dolohov mansion earlier.
He starred at it in a bit of awe. He'd never been so close to pure silver. Even in his school days, pure silver was rare and things that were considered "silver" like forks and knifes usually contained other metals mixed in. Who the hell had the money to buy pure silver kitchen utensils anyways?
Remus continued to stare at it. This bar could hurt him. He'd watched Snape pick it up with ease and had felt a wave of jealousy wash over him. Silver only hurt werewolves. If he'd been human he wouldn't have been burned. It was as if the silver was mocking him.
Remus looked at his hands. One of them was burned an ugly red color from where he'd try to pick up the whole bar a little less than an hour ago.
Still, it was like fire wasn't it? If you ran your hand through fire really quickly it didn't hurt. If you kept your hand in the fire then it would hurt.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Remus poked quickly at the bar for a fraction of a second.
It didn't hurt; instead it gave a rather tingly sensation.
Remus did it again.
Same results.
Remus pressed his finger on the top of the bar. After a second it started to burn. He wondered how long it'd take for the substance to eat right through his finger. A substance that looked so innocent but could end his life in an instant. It was ironically like the moon for it was innocent too...until you became a werewolf...
Lupin jerked out of his thoughts when his hand was suddenly grabbed and pried off the silver bar.
"What are you some bloody masochist?"
Remus turned his head over to Snape who had spoken and blushed.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly as Snape released his arm and grabbed the silver bar off the table, shoving it back into one of the many pockets in his own robes.
"Demented werewolf," Snape thought to himself before going back to his book.
And now Lupin was bored again. The silver was gone; the jar was out of the question. He didn't even have a pencil to flip or paper to doodle on.
With a sigh he reached for one of the many potions textbooks in front of Snape and began reading. Snape looked up with a raised eyebrow but Remus ignored him, instead pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in his book.
So, once again, the restricted section of the library was, once more, filled with the simple sound of pages being turned.
It probably didn't help that he had absolutely no clue what half of the book was talking about. Potions was a subject that Remus had never understood.
"sweet flag...that's grass... cinquefoil... flower... soot, white marsh flower...soot is...uhh...dirt? White marsh flower...what's a marsh flower? ...it's another bloody white flower. Next...what's this potion supposed to do anyways?"
Lupin resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. He needed a nap.
Snape wasn't getting anywhere either, only that his trouble came from the lack of information rather than the lack of knowledge.
After a few more minutes Snape noticed Lupin's side of the table was no longer filled with the turning of pages.
"Give up so soon Lupin?" Snape asked, turning to look at him but stopped when he realized that Lupin hadn't heard him.
The bloody werewolf was fast asleep, head pooled in his arms, one burnt hand resting on the half read potions book in front of him.
Snape rolled his eyes. He might as well let the werewolf sleep. It had been a hectic day after all, especially for a werewolf the day right after a full moon. Besides, it wasn't as if Lupin had been doing anything useful anyways.
Snape rolled his eyes one more time before turning his attention back to his book.
Something caught his eye though and he raised them so that they rested on Lupin's book.
There, underneath Lupin's hand was a picture of a white marsh flower.
Snape frowned before grabbing the book.
He then took out the list of what people had bought at Borgin and Burkes that the boys had sent him earlier that evening.
Sure enough, the words "white marsh flower" glowed red next to the name "Carrow." Snape knew the name wasn't important. What mattered was the ingredient and this was too much of a coincidence for it to be ignored.
A white marsh flower, according to both Muggle and Wizard folklore was a Lycanthropous flower and had the ability to turn a human into a werewolf. However, there was a catch: the person had to be born on the day of a full moon.
"Oi. Lupin wake up!" Snape hissed, shaking the man who groggily raised his head after a few more shakes.
"Severus?"
"Who do you know that was born under the full moon?" Snape asked urgently. He knew Lupin would know these things.
"Me."
Snape stared.
Remus yawned and stretched, sitting up and rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. When he was more or less awake he turned back to Severus and promptly burst out laughing.
Snape was still staring at him in a rather comical fashion that Remus found hilarious on the otherwise uptight man.
"What?" Lupin asked, grinning.
"You?" Snape repeated.
Remus raised an eyebrow with a grin. "You asked who I knew who was born on a full moon." Remus repeated before sticking a thumb at himself.
"March 10th 1960 was the night of a full moon."
Snape continued to stare. Something in the back of his brain was telling him that his mouth was actually hanging open.
"You keep staring and I'll be forced to take a picture, enlarge it and stick it to the ceiling of the Great Hall with a permanent sticking charm" Lupin teased.
Snape instantly shut his mouth and looked away.
"Anyone else?" he asked.
Lupin shrugged. "Teddy wasn't. I can tell you that. The brothers I can find out for you. Minerva's got the list of students you know?"
Snape nodded and Remus got up to go see the Headmistress, happy to have something to do even though he had no clue what was going on.
Snape was now left alone in the section of the library but he couldn't have cared less. His mind was buzzing.
He looked over the list of supplies once more.
"Hemlock, poplar, cowbane, sweet flag, cinquefoil, nightshade, silver."
Before, it had escaped him but Snape had a feeling he knew what he was looking for now as he dropped the list onto the table and left the restricted section of the library.
Several students who were studying in the main section looked up when the potions master swept out of the restricted section with a bang of the gate that was there to prevent students from entering.
Irma Pince, the librarian looked up at Snape with a frown at his loud entrance but he was a teacher and had been at Hogwarts many more years than she so she kept quiet.
Snape ignored everyone's stares and went straight to the Muggle section of the library, two floors up.
"Where is it, where is it?"
Finally, Snape pulled out a battered looking textbook and walked swiftly back down the stairs and into the nicely secluded section that he had previously been in.
Sitting back down at his table Snape leafed through the book. It was an old book about Muggle folklore. Things like phoenixes and chimeras and the Muggle view on such creatures.
Finally, Snape came to a page that he hoped would have the information he was looking for.
"Werewolves. There are many ways to turn into a werewolf..."
Snape skipped though the first few paragraphs before he settled on something that made his eyes widen.
"Another method is to drink a potion with the following ingredients: marsh flower, hemlock, aconite, poplar leaves, soot or cowbane, sweet flag, cinquefoil, bat's blood, deadly nightshade, oil and fat from disinterred children. However this method only works for those born under a full moon."
Snape looked back to the list the boys had given him and then back to the textbook. The ingredients matched somewhat. There would probably be some variations in potion ingredients since this was just a myth but nevertheless the main ingredients were on both lists. They'd found oil in the basement of Dolohov's mansion and the werewolves in the corner from what Snape remember had been bleed dry. It wasn't bat blood but it was defiantly some sort of blood.
It made sense and yet at the same time it didn't.
Maybe this was what they were trying to do? They'd have Roy or Vic or even both drink the potion and become a werewolf. Then the boys would be treated like monsters. Greyback's pack would take them in, train them to hate wizards and for Roy, who already had something against magic, would go downhill from there. The prophecy would be fulfilled.
But something else didn't make sense. Why go to all the trouble to brew a potion when all one had to do was bite the brats? Greyback had a good dozen werewolves at his disposal. Surely they'd be able to take on two boys? And why wait till now? When Vic and Roy were in one of the safest places in wizarding Britain? The boys had been living on the streets before. Surely it would be easier to attack the pair in a dark alley on the night of a full moon than try to invent a potion and slip it in to Hogwarts castle with hundreds of students and staff nearby?
Snape shut the books with a frustrated sigh. They'd gotten somewhere at least but so far Snape couldn't even begin to formulate a plan on how to stop any plans from becoming fulfilled.
Snape stood up and scooped up the books but the sound of a squeaky gate hinge almost made him jump out of his skin.
"Miverva did a check and neither Roy nor Vic were born on the night of a full moon."
Snape relaxed when he'd realized that it was only Lupin that was entering.
"Did you find anything?" Lupin asked and Snape nodded distractedly.
Something was bothering him.
"This method only works for those born under a full moon."
Snape frowned. Had they modified the potion enough so that they had gotten rid of the problem? If so then the potion could be potentially dangerous. If not then Snape would have to re-think the plan. If only Lupin was born under a full moon then he'd be the most susceptible person to receive the potion but he was already a werewolf. Snape snorted at the irony.
"I'll tell you what I found when we get back. Put these away," Snape told Lupin, stuffing the many books he was carrying into Remus' arms and leaving the library.
"Well gee. What am I supposed to do with all this?" Remus asked himself before rolling his eyes and walking over to the book shelves to put all the books back.
His mind was only half focused on the task anyways as he remembered everything they'd seen today.
It looked like be having a very serious dinner conversation tonight.
By the time Remus spilled out of the Floo, Snape was already seated at one end of the couch with a cup of tea while the three teachers and Tonks took up the entire kitchen table with various papers and files.
"Is that blood?" Tonks asked as soon as she saw her husband.
"Well hello to you too," Remus said, grinning before running a hand through his hair.
His hand came back bloody and Remus sighed.
"Looks like the Scourgify didn't clean everything. I'll go take a shower. Don't worry, I'll tell you later," Remus told his wife who was looking at him with a worried expression.
"And what happened to your hand?" Tonks interrupted, inspecting Remus' burnt hand only to have him snatch it away.
"Don't fuss Dora, it's perfectly fine. I'll just put some salve on it," he told her with a reassuring smile before disappearing up the stairs and into the bathroom.
A few minutes later Remus walked out of the bathroom in a T-shirt and jeans; one hand bandaged and hair still damp from the shower but Remus didn't have the patience to dry it. It was his house after all.
"Much better," Tonks said, as he re-entered the kitchen.
"Boy's aren't back yet?"
"Give them an hour or so. Dinner's not for a few hours anyways." Tonks replied, kissing her husband on the cheek before returning to her task at hand.
"A few hours huh?" Remus thought to himself before heading over the couch.
He quickly collapsed
into it with every purpose to take a nap. He would much rather lie sprawled out on the thing but Snape's presence at the end of it ruined any chances of that. Instead he lay with his legs crossed before him. Not the best arrangement but it would do.
"Remind me to buy another couch."
In a few minutes Remus was almost asleep before remembering something.
"Shit!" he cried out, slapping a hand to his forehead.
Snape looked over at him.
"I forgot my wand!"
Snape looked like he was battling with himself before he couldn't hold it back any longer and broke out into a grin. Severus Snape was laughing at him!
Remus didn't know whether to feel proud at getting the Potions master to finally show some damn emotion or insulted that Snape was laughing at him. He was definatly annoyed though and the mind to "accidentally" stretch his legs out and kick the greasy haired git in the face did seem appealing.
However, that would start a fight and not having the energy for a fight just yet, Remus settled on giving the man at the end of the couch a death glare before rolling over and curling up for a nap.
"Bloody Slytherin," Remus thought to himself before slipping off.
I've mentioned before that this day is going to be insanely long right?
If anyone's confused. Roy and Teddy got up first. Did they're sluething. Then Lupin and Snape went out to do their sluething in the forest. While Snape and Lupin were in Dolohov's mansion, Roy and Teddy were at the Malfoys. While Roy and Teddy left the Malfoys to go back to Diagon Alley, Lupin and Snape went to Hogwarts.
Now where are the two boys now? You'll figure it out.
Confused yet? Well it just gets worse cuz next chapter we're going back in time to visit what a specific somebody did during his day. :P