45 Ways to Make a Werewolf Fall for You
A HariPo fanfiction
by mew-tsubaki
- ^-^3
37: Having your friends send you homemade cookies
He glanced down at the spidery writing and looked at the house again. This appeared to be the place.
Remus knocked on the shabby door. "Hello?" he called through the wood. "Hello?"
The house appeared empty. Actually, it appeared as though no one had lived really there in years. Remus began to doubt whether Dumbledore had given him the correct address; even wizards got old.
Remus pushed on the door, testing the door handle. It resisted for a moment before relenting and allowing Remus inside. But, once inside, Remus had to cast Lumos to light the way. Along the way, he watched out for the various obstacles and boxes that blocked his path further into the living area.
He heard a cough up ahead, to the left. Remus moved forward a little more before speaking again.
"Hello?"
"Yeah. In here."
Remus followed the voice and entered a room that reminded him of one of the disorganized aisles of the Hogwarts library. Books were stacked haphazardly everywhere, with vials and jars stacked on top. In some places where the werewolf could see the clear wall, dried herbs were tacked to it, sometimes strung together by their stems; elsewhere, discarded robes that needed to be darned covered items on the other side of the man.
The man looked up from his work—a potion, Remus guessed—and stared at the brunet. "What can I do fer ya?"
"Um, I was sent…"
"Oh. The Lupin boy."
Remus' face grew warm at having been called "boy"—surely he didn't look that young?—and he continued. "Pardon me, but I was only sent here to collect something. I don't even know what I'm collecting."
The wizard snorted and pointed to a jar sitting precariously on the edge of his workspace. "It's that ya want."
"I'm sorry…?"
The wizard jabbed his finger in the jar's direction, over which a purplish-blue fog hung. "Go on, take a look."
Remus grimaced, unsure if he should trust this stranger. Yes, Dumbledore had sent him here specifically, but… Remus took a step forward. The potion was the same purplish-blue as the fog.
"Hmph, don't just gawk at it. Get closer." The man tried to hide his snort of laughter, but Remus heard it.
The Marauder took one more step closer and blinked. He was overcome with an urge to get away from the vile-smelling concoction, but he had no idea why. He'd been around smellier brews before. But when Remus bent over to really look at the liquid, his body moved of its own accord and had him dart to the opposite side of the room.
"That's more like it," the man said with a broad grin.
"What is that?" Remus could still feel his heart pounding in his chest.
The man bewitched his stirrer to keep moving so he could shake Remus' hand. "Name's Damocles. And this is almost the answer to your—and many others'—problem."
"'Problem'? What problem?"
Damocles' face turned serious. "This is puréed monkshood, mixed with other ingredients. Or aconite, if ya want to call it that."
"Good Merlin. Wolfsbane."
Damocles nodded. "The one and only."
Suddenly, it seemed to Remus as though Voldemort had been extinguished decades ago. "Can it really be…? A cure?"
"No," the elderly man stated, sadness tinging his voice. "Not a cure. Perhaps someday one can be derived from it. Perhaps…someday…this could even control the symptoms…"
Just as quickly as his spirits had soared, Remus' face fell, his skin deathly white. "Can't it do anything?"
"My boy, it already compels the beast in ya to back away," Damocles said, taking the jar and covering it before stowing it on a nearby shelf; Remus noted that all of his previous apprehension disappeared once the offending liquid had been covered. "Sadly, it is not where I hoped it would be. It's not fit fer human—er, lycanthropic," he corrected with a wary look at the young wizard, "consumption. If you were to drink this right now, at its potency, it would not kill only the beast in ya, but the beast's vessel, as well."
Remus closed his gaping mouth. He couldn't believe the battle raging inside him, one half saying he ought to volunteer to be Damocles' guinea pig, the other reminding him that it would be suicide to drink it. He shook his tormenting thoughts from his mind. "When will it be ready?" he asked, hoping his didn't sound as pleading as he felt.
Damocles went quiet. "Albus got ahead of himself, Mr. Lupin. I only mentioned to him that I had this in the works. Not once did I say I had it solved." He frowned and placed a sorry hand on Remus' shoulder. "This…this won't be ready fer a while yet, son. Mayhap when you're older. But not anytime soon."
The werewolf blinked, gulping to fight the oncoming sob that currently was traveling through him. He could barely move his neck to nod that he understood. Even as Remus spoke, he felt his voice would crack at any second: "Even in my lifetime…that would be amazing." He blinked a few more times.
Damocles hung his head. "I'm sorry to get your hopes up."
"No, no, it's fine. Please, just let me know through Dumbledore if I could ever help you, in any way."
The man nodded and saw Remus out. "Lupin, for all it's worth…"
Remus stared at the ground.
"…you're plenty human right now. Don't forget it."
Damocles closed the door, and Remus continued to stare at the gravel for a while before finally moving and setting about returning home. At least Damocles had been nice to him and hadn't lied, getting his hopes up too much. Of course, it hurt that there was something right in front of Remus, and yet it was so far out of his grasp.
A soft cry caught the wizard's attention, and he looked up to see Fawkes arrive, something clutched in his talons. Remus' surprise nearly beat out his melancholy, and he opened the package, half laughing to himself as he bit into a delicious chocolate-chip cookie. Then he read the letter attached to Fawkes' leg.
Rem—
While I don't appreciate being without you for too long…I know you must get hungry. So without me there to satisfy, I supposed these would just have to do. So please return soon…and, ehm, don't tell ol' Gandalf that I borrowed Fawkes-y here as an owl… Yeah, thanks ahead of time, luv.
Love,
Sirius XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Had it been any other person, Remus would've seriously questioned the person's sanity for the use (and quantity) of capital Xs and Os, but he just smiled instead. Sure, his tears must've looked strange to Fawkes while he smiled, but he smiled nevertheless. Sirius always had impeccable timing.
- ^-^3
Oh, jeez. A little funny, Sirius calling Dumbly "Gandalf," but the angst won out again. -.-; And 38's gonna be even worse… Oh Merlin… Might I have forgiveness ahead of time? *musing* I always wondered if Rem ever knew about the Wolfsbane potion beforehand, though, you know? Oh, and I don't think Sirius will ever reveal how he "borrowed" Fawkes. *lol*
Thanks for reading, and pleased review!
-mew! :S
2017 note: Another fav chapter of mine, mostly because this is not romance-focused. I so feel for young Remus, though. Dx