Man of the Night
Chapter Thirty-Six
Blood is Thicker than Magic
Remus
"Good morning, love," I greeted Hermione as she strolled into my office after breakfast hour. "How are you feeling?"
Smiling tiredly up at me, Hermione eased her way onto the settee. "Morning, Remus. I'm feeling extremely tired and worn out. How about you?"
I knew exactly how she felt, having spent many a day before the full moon feeling like I had been run over by the Knight Bus. The first one was by far the worst, though.
"I'm alright. I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but it never really does. If all goes as planned, you won't ever have to worry about it again after tonight."
Merlin, how I hoped everything went according to plan tonight. The very thought of Hermione being a werewolf for the rest of her life made me sick to my stomach.
"I will be one very happy witch when this ritual is complete," Hermione said in between yawns. "Not that I regret doing this, of course!"
Chuckling at her, I moved to sit next to my witch. "Of course, I know that you wanted to do this with all of your heart and believe me when I say that I am beyond grateful. It's still a lot to contend with."
We chatted for a bit on how our weeks had been since life at Hogwarts was very busy lately. After a few minutes, Hermione yawned so deeply that I thought her lower jaw would dislocate from her face.
"Let's take a nap, love," I said as I grabbed my wand and widened the settee to allow us to comfortably lie down together.
It was nearing late afternoon by the time we woke up, groggy and still exhausted from the impending change. Albus and Severus were due to meet at my office in an hour - which would leave us enough time to safely get to the Shrieking Shack before the moon rose and the transformation occurred.
A soft knock on the door roused us from our slumber and I opened the door to find a somber Sirius standing there.
"Alright, mate?" he said as he made his way into the room.
"Right as rain," I replied, following my best friend into the room and settling down in my previous spot next to Hermione.
"How about you, 'Mione? This can't be easy for you, I know." Sirius' tone was unusually gentle and it was appreciated.
"I'm holding up alright," Hermione said with a yawn. "Just very tired is all."
"That's normal, I'm sure Remus told you that already."
Hermione nodded and sat up a little straighter in an effort to wake herself up a bit. Glancing at the charmed clock on the mantle, I realized it was past time to get some food in our systems.
"Want to join us for an early dinner, Padfoot?"
"Sure," Sirius said happily. "What do you want? I'll floo the kitchen."
We placed our orders - a rare steak each for Hermione and myself and a medium well steak with potatoes and asparagus for Sirius - and chatted while the elves prepared our food. Minutes later, plates appeared on the coffee table before us and we all tucked in with gusto.
Not a word was spoken as we ate, which was a true testament to how hungry we were. Once the food was properly devoured, Hermione sat back and sighed.
"Wow, I feel like someone just injected me with instant energy!" she exclaimed. "Eating really makes all the difference."
Sirius and I chuckled at her as she shook her arms in front of her and smiled happily for the first time in several days. It was a beautiful sight to see and my heart soared with hope that things would all work out so that Hermione would never have to feel that way again.
"I talked to the Headmaster earlier today," Sirius said after a while. "He said that everything is set and to stop pestering him."
Hermione giggled girlishly at Sirius' expression and I just shook my head as I could completely understand Albus' exasperation. Sirius wanted to help so badly that he did not know when to stop.
"It's really no wonder, mate," I said. "You have been nagging him for weeks. You'll be lucky if he doesn't just ban you from being involved altogether."
"He wouldn't do that… would he?" Sirius questioned, worried now that he might be left out of the entire ritual.
"No, the Headmaster wouldn't do that to you, Sirius," Hermione reassured him. "You are the only one that has any hope of intervening if the werewolves get out of control."
"That's right, I am," Sirius said, full of confidence once again.
A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door. A quick glance at the clock indicated that it was time to meet with Albus and Severus. It was coming down to the wire with the ritual.
"Good evening," Albus greeted us as he strolled into the room. Severus merely grunted as he stalked right behind the Headmaster.
"Good evening, sirs," Hermione, ever the proper student, greeted them as they sat in the arm chairs across from the settee.
"I am pleased to find all three of you already here," Albus said. "This is it, this is the point of no return. Are you ready?"
Glancing at Hermione, I nodded. We were definitely ready. Ready for this all to be over and done with. Ready to move on to normal lives without lycanthropy.
When the Headmaster was satisfied that we were, in fact, ready for this he continued. "Everything is order. Severus secured the Shrieking Shack this morning and set up a perimeter around the area where we will establish the ritual circle just outside of the building. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick have informed the students that there will be a surprise dueling tournament in the Great Hall tonight which should ensure that no one is out on the grounds or sneaking off to town."
Severus cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Even if the dunderheads were to sneak off, I employed numerous spells which will remind them to head back to the castle and they will not be able to see what is going on in or around the Shrieking Shack."
"Thank you, Severus," Albus said with a twinkle while Sirius failed to hold back a snort. "As you can see, everything is in order and in a few minutes we will all head down to the Shrieking Shack to further prepare for the ritual."
Hermione
It's time, it is finally time.
The Shrieking Shack looks exactly the same as it always has but the magical field encompassing the Shack and the surrounding land has rendered it invisible to everyone except for the few of us standing within the circle.
The Headmaster sprinkled pixie dust in a large circle around where Remus and I stood before stepping back to begin the necessary incantations. Professor Snape stood near the Headmaster ready to step in should any little thing go wrong.
The wizards, including Remus, all appeared calm and collected while I could feel my knees knock together through the strength of my nervous shakes. I was equal parts scared out of my wits and excited for this ritual to succeed after all of the hard work of everyone involved.
"Are you ready, love?"
Glancing up at Remus, he nodded toward the sky where the full moon was beginning to appear above the horizon. Instantly, I tensed and felt the pull. Seconds later, the Headmaster began to chant earnestly but his words were lost to the sound of my screams as it felt like my body was being savagely ripped apart.
Albus
"It is time," Severus murmured as he watched the moon rise over the horizon.
Stepping forward into the circle, I raised my hands above my head and whispered the incantation to activate the protective qualities of Severus' potion. A feeling of warmth spread over me and I began the ritual chant.
"Luna dea duobus dimittam animas quas moventur in manibus altare tuum."
I moved closer to Remus and Hermione as the transformation occurred and they both screamed in pain. As the werewolves laid prone on the ground, heaving from the effort of their bodies changing, I began the second line.
"Secum et inter se invicem patiuntur."
Moving with uncommon speed for this old body, I reached for the two needles stored within the pocket of my robes and approached the werewolves before they recovered from the change. Standing in between them, I knelt down and plunged a needle into each of them. Hermione howled as she felt the prick of the needle, but I quickly drew the blood with a whispered incantation before either of them could react.
Once the phials were full, I quickly moved to my feet and stepped beyond the magical circle. Moving to Severus' side, I handed him the sealed phials and watched as the werewolves slowly recovered from the transformation.
Severus summoned a work table, a silver cauldron, and the necessary ingredients for the Luxor Potion and immediately set to work preparing the potion. It would take him several hours to prepare and required several more hours to properly set. The Potions Master would have just enough time to have the potion ready by sunrise.
"I will need your assistance with the incantations in approximately two hours, sir," Severus stated as he prepared the ingredients.
"Of course," I nodded, still watching the unusually somber werewolves. Aside from the heaving of their chests, the werewolf version of Remus and Hermione had not moved since transforming.
With a flick of my wrist, I summoned Dobby from the kitchens.
"Headmaster, what can Dobby do for yous, sir?"
"Good evening, Dobby," I greeted the eager free house elf. "I was hoping that you would be able to help me with something very important."
Dobby nodded so enthusiastically that the weight of his head knocked him right off of his feet.
"Would you be able to fetch a few rabbits from the forest so that I can keep the werewolves occupied?"
Dobby's eyes widened as he followed my gaze to the werewolves lying within the circle. "Of course, Dobby helps feed the scary man wolves."
I chuckled as Dobby shook himself at the thought of feeding the werewolves. "Just bring the rabbits back alive and we shall let the werewolves try to catch them. That should keep them occupied for a little while."
Dobby returned a short time later with several large rabbits and released them into the magic circle. It was some time before the werewolves stirred and gave chase to the rabbits.
A few hours before sunrise, it was finally time to perform the incantation and finish the Luxor Potion. As Severus poured the blood of Remus and Hermione into the potion, I chanted. "Accipe sanguinem accepta oblatio eorum amoris - nam in lupos et sibi."
Hermione
I woke up feeling like I had been hit the Knight Bus again. Everything hurt.
"Good morning, Miss Granger," the Headmaster said as I clutched a blanket to me and slowly sat up.
At the sound of his voice, I was very grateful for the blanket since I realized I was completely starkers underneath. How mortifying would that have been?
"Good morning, sir," I replied with a yawn as I gazed up at the Headmaster, Professor Snape, and an exhausted looking Remus. "I assume that everything went as planned?"
The Headmaster chuckled at my tone as Remus flicked his wrist to clothe me and gave me a hand up.
"Yes, Miss Granger, everything went according to plan," the Headmaster replied. "All that remains is the final step in the ritual."
Professor Snape handed Remus and me a goblet full of the Luxor Potion, which smelt about as appetizing as the Wolfsbane Potion.
Giving a nod to Remus, I tipped my head back and swallowed the contents of the goblet as quickly as I possibly could. Immediately, my insides felt like they were being burned with acid. The goblet fell from my limp fingers as my vision blurred. Before I knew what happened, I fell to the ground, unconscious.
Please forgive my Latin as I translated concepts in Google Translate...