Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the goddess, JKR.
Chapter 15: Wormwood and Asphodel
He smelled them before they entered the room. The acuity of his senses was bringing on a headache so that, for a moment or two, he wondered if it was simply his mind playing tricks on him…feeding him with the false hope of a rescue that would never come. But, the scent of Severus Snape was not one that could be easily reproduced…even by his imagination.
"Remus?" Hermione asked, having sensed his sudden motion. "What is it? What's wrong?"
The hurried glance to the window pained Remus, even though she tried to conceal it.
"Severus is here…and he is not alone," Remus whispered.
Hermione seemed stunned. "Do you think they were captured?"
Remus heard the quiet footsteps coming down the stairs and caught the scent of Wormtail and Lucius as well as Sirius and Margot. "I don't know, Hermione. Let us see what happens. There is something strange about all this. Something wrong with the scents." Remus sighed heavily, standing up. "I just don't know, Hermione."
Hermione stood up as well, linking her arm through his. "That makes two of us."
The door opened and Remus and Hermione tried not to show their dismay as they watched their friends being brought in as prisoners. They looked tired and upset…looks of defeat.
"I've brought you guests, Remus," Wormtail danced in glee, rushing over to unlock the cell beside the one in which Hermione and Remus were being held prisoner.
"Get in…all of you," Lucius ordered sharply. Margot glared at him in defiance and Lucius made to strike her. Severus placed himself in front of her.
"Really, Lucius…for all your highborn manners, you really are a beast at heart, aren't you?" The Potions Master challenged.
"Severus…my only hope for you is that you suffer for a long time before the Dark Lord sends your soul to the darkest nether-regions of hell," Lucius sneered.
Sirius, Severus and Margot found themselves marshaled into the small cell and Wormtail locked the door on them, cackling all the time.
"The Dark Lord will be so pleased! The only thing missing is the Potter boy himself. But he will come…I am sure of it. Then we can dispatch with the lot of them together. What fun!!!" The smaller man capered around the room madly.
Lucius looked at him with disgust. "Stop with your incessant drivel, Wormtail. Leave the prisoners alone and let them share in the misery of these last few hours together. The evening's entertainment will be only the beginning of the fun, as you so succinctly put it, we will have with them."
Wormtail rubbed his hands together, glancing fearfully at Lucius who seemed to be pondering something.
"Are you quite well, Lucius? You seem pale," Wormtail ventured timidly.
"I am perfectly well. Now, I must away…the others will be waiting for me at Malfoy Manor. Leave the prisoners to their own devices until the moonrise…I will try to join you then," Lucius pulled out his wand and changed into his Death Eater robes.
Hermione could not stifle a gasp of horror upon seeing the steely mask which had been the cause of many nightmares. Remus held her hand in an attempt at comfort.
"Yes, Remus," Wormtail had noticed Hermione's outburst. "Comfort her while you can…it won't be much longer now before she is cringing from you in fear and disgust."
Lucius Malfoy shook his head in disdain and then disapparated with a soft popping noise.
"I will leave you to say your goodbyes but I will be back to watch the fun. And it will be so much fun," Wormtail practically pirouetted for joy and left the room in high spirits.
There was silence for several moments.
"Are you sure it worked?" Severus asked Margot as she suddenly sighed with relief and visibly relaxed.
"Yes," she replied with a sigh of relief. "He has taken the potion and is now unconscious on his bed. He will not wake up for several days."
"Well, that is one problem out of the way," Sirius grunted, walking quickly to the wall of the cell that divided their group from Remus and Hermione.
"Are you all right?" He asked with concern, reaching a hand through the bars to touch Remus' shoulder.
"We're fine. Well, not exactly. Our wands are not functional. Hermione cannot assume her animagus form. I have missed two doses of Wolfsbane Potion and have yet to devise a way to get Hermione out of here…but what was that all about with Lucius?" Remus asked, not letting go of Hermione's hand.
"I had placed an Imperius Curse on Lucius and sent him on his way home. My last command was to take a rather large dose of the Sonniferum potion I had conveniently placed in his pocket. He will be dreaming for quite some time…and there is no antidote," Margot smiled at Hermione.
"I don't understand. You sound as if you are here to rescue us but I don't see your wands and you are being held prisoner just as we are. Was this all part of your plan or am I missing something important?" Remus asked, confusion etched on his tired face.
"They took our wands…or what they assumed were our wands," Severus said, with a smirk, as he pulled his out of his sleeve.
"Snape transfigured three branches to look like our wands. Wormtail snapped them, the slimy git," Sirius muttered under his breath.
Remus turned to Severus with a small smile. "So, you were not completely hopeless at Transfiguration after all. Minerva will be impressed."
Hermione giggled nervously. The entire situation seemed so surreal and she was too worn out to feel fear just yet.
"Let's get out of here," Margot whispered as she pointed her wand at the lock and muttered an opening charm.
Nothing happened.
Severus tried another opening charm with similar results.
"Damn!" The Potions Master explained, kicking a small rock in exasperation. "The wards are even stronger than we had anticipated."
"Let me try something," Sirius picked up the small rock that had been booted so mercilessly by Severus and transfigured it into a key. He slipped it into the lock and turned. It opened immediately.
"I would never have thought of that," Margot commented, hurrying out of the cell and rushing over to the door of the cell that housed Remus and Hermione.
"I think that was the general idea, cara. Such a simple idea and yet most wizards would never think of it. Just point your wand and mutter a spell. Don't think for a moment that it could be something as simple as a key," Severus said in a self-accusing tone. "That was well done, Black. Good to see that we didn't just bring you along for the entertainment value alone."
Sirius smirked as he tried the key in the second lock.
It didn't budge.
Margot tried her opening spell with similar results.
Sirius suddenly transformed into his animagus form and threw himself against the lock with his bared teeth. Hermione jumped in surprise as she watched the huge dog snarling and growling in a desperate attempt to open the lock. She began to tremble as she looked up to the window and saw that the sky was beginning to darken.
Severus noticed Hermione's increasing agitation, as did Remus, who put his arm around her shoulder and said nothing.
"Please, Severus. For her sake…please think of something," Remus implored, desperation ringing in his voice.
Severus pointed his wand at Hermione and tried to transfigure her into something that would not attract a werewolf's attention. A book. A goblet. A quill.
It didn't work either. Hermione remained Hermione.
"Blast!" Severus was quickly losing patience. "For some reason, your cell is designed to dissipate all the magical energy from a wand. It is almost as if the bars of the cell are conduits for the magic, allowing it be drawn up and dispersed into the ceiling or the ground."
"There has to be a way!" Remus shouted. Hermione did not say anything but her face was beginning to turn very pale.
"Give me your wand," Margot said to Hermione. Hermione pulled it out and handed it to the older woman. Margot began muttering spells in an effort to remove the blocking charm that had been placed on it. Beads of sweat appeared on Margot's brow as she tried spell after spell with little success.
"This is ridiculous," Sirius muttered as he resumed his human form and massaged his jaw gingerly. There were cuts and bruises along his mouth and it looked as if a tooth was broken. "We didn't come all this way for nothing. There has to be a way. There just has to be."
Remus closed his eyes in despair and sank to the ground. Hermione clung to the bars, silently pleading with her friends not to give up. She could see that the light from the window was becoming dimmer as time went on…and there wasn't much time left.
"Voldemort said that most spells wouldn't work," Hermione muttered hoarsely…she was dangerously close to crying again.
Margot looked up at her in sympathy and then returned to her task…working tirelessly but without success. The only sounds she made were various Italian and Hungarian curses…and they were directed at the Dark Lord himself.
Sirius sat with his head in his hands as he wracked his brains for a solution that was so far eluding them.
Severus walked up to Hermione and brought his face very close to hers.
"Hermione…there is only one thing I can do for you. I was hoping it would not be necessary because it is dangerous but I have no choice. I must try," he whispered.
"What are you talking about?" She asked quietly.
Severus discreetly pulled a small vial out of his sleeve pocket and placed it in Hermione's hand. It felt icy cold to the touch and Hermione could not help shivering.
"What is this?"
"It is a derivative of the Draught of the Sleeping Death. Very powerful. Very dangerous."
"But," she glanced at Remus who appeared to be absorbed in his own misery and was not paying any attention to the two of them. "This will not have any effect on Remus. Werewolves are well known to be impervious to potions of this sort."
Severus nodded. "It pleases me that you were paying attention in Potions class. Yes, what you said is very much true. However, the potion is not for Remus."
"It isn't? I don't understand."
"The potion is for you. Take one mouthful and only one mouthful the moment he transforms. You will fall to the ground as if you are dead. It is not commonly known that werewolves will not touch a corpse…it is a veritable anathema to them. If the beast thinks you are dead, it will not touch you and you will be safe."
Hermione felt the vial in her hand…it was still cold.
"You said it was dangerous."
Severus nodded again. "More than one mouthful could kill you or send you into a sleep so deep it will be impossible to wake you."
"How long will the effects of the potion last?" Hermione shuddered slightly.
"Until at least tomorrow afternoon…it is difficult to calibrate the strength of a potion such as this…I did not have a great deal of time to experiment with various concentrations."
Hermione's eyes trembled with unshed tears. Awkwardly, Severus brushed away the one that dared spill onto her cheek.
"It will be all right, Hermione. I promised to protect you…and I have yet to break a promise," he whispered, moving away from her to rejoin Margot but not before he whispered something to Sirius.
Hermione held the vial tightly in her hand and walked over to where Remus was still sitting. She looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting darker. She sat down next to Remus and tried to calm herself somewhat. His arms came around her but she still felt cold.
All they could do was wait.
She probably dozed for a moment or two. Hermione was never quite sure. She only remembered suddenly realizing that Remus was on the other side of the cell…trying to get as far away from her as possible.
"Remus?" She stood up but did not move towards him. Glancing up at the sky, she realized that it was night and that the moon would rise in only moments.
Remus looked at her and it pained Hermione to see the guilt, despair and utter grief that blazed in his eyes.
"I am so sorry…for everything," he said in a rough voice.
"Don't be sorry for loving me, Remus. I am not sorry for loving you," tears were coursing down Hermione's cheeks.
"I love you…I always will," he said…his voice becoming somewhat guttural and thick.
"I love you, Remus. Remember what you promised me," Hermione urged, fear now chilling her voice.
"I will remember…and I promise. I…promise…I…" Remus seemed to be struggling with his words and his hands went to his hair and began tearing at it.
"Hermione!" He screamed in agony as the room suddenly became illuminated with the silvery glow of moonlight.
Severus, Sirius and Margot rushed to the cell as Hermione backed towards them. Panic was in her heart and all thought was lost as she watched the transformation from man to werewolf once again.
Remus was in great pain…it felt as if his skin were splitting into a million pieces…jolts of lightning coursing through his veins. After so many years of dulling the effect with the Wolfsbane Potion, the transformation had a similar effect as the Cruciatus Curse. The claws that shot out through the skin of his fingers…the terrible teeth that gored their way through his mouth. The coarse hair that felt as if it were being pulled out from the very roots. It was torture…sheer torture. His screams echoed off the walls of the dungeon.
In his last moments as a thinking man, Remus happened to glance at Hermione. The expression of sheer terror in her eyes hurt him far worse than the physical pain he was experiencing. He had probably lost her love forever. He had probably lost her forever. But he had a promise to keep and, as his thinking self was brutally shoved into the darkness of unconsciousness, he knew that his promise was all he had left.
And he vowed he would not break it.
Hermione watched the werewolf collapse to the ground, writhing in agony. For a moment, it had appeared that it had wanted to say something but could not. She could not think. She could not move. She was doomed.
She did not realize that the room had become deadly silent and she watched with dread as the werewolf slowly stood up. It turned to look at her and growled softly…whiskers twitching in anticipation.
"Hermione," came Severus' frantic whisper through the tangled web of panic. "Take the potion!"
But she could not move. She could only watch as the werewolf took a step towards her…tail swishing ominously…ready to attack.
"Hermione…take the potion. Hurry!" Severus was screaming at her.
Slowly…as if she were somehow not in control of her own body, Hermione managed to take the stopper out of the vial and held it in front of her.
"Drink it…Hermione, for the love of Merlin…he will kill you," Sirius begged, resuming his animagus form in an attempt to distract the werewolf. It didn't work. Apparently it preferred human female prey that was readily available to canine male prey that was out of its reach.
Hermione heard a crashing noise and felt the crackle of a Dark Curse. Margot fell to the ground and Wormtail stepped into the room, looking murderous.
"You cannot save her and now you will all die!" He screamed as he launched another Dark Curse at Sirius, who quickly bounded out of its way. A battle raged outside her cell and, for a moment, the werewolf watched the proceedings as Severus and Sirius overturned a heavy oak table and fought back at Wormtail who was frantically launching curse after curse.
Hermione managed to glance at Margot's inert body. Blood was oozing from the older woman's mouth.
"Hermione!" Severus yelled as he launched a disfigurement hex at Wormtail. "Take the potion. It's your only chance."
Hermione quickly turned back to the werewolf who was now eyeing her as a singularly delicious morsel to devour. It licked its chops in anticipation and silvery strands of saliva hung from its massive jaw. She looked into the creature's eyes and realized that Remus was not there. Remus was gone and, in its place, was a monster whose only purpose was to destroy her. The eyes were the windows of the soul and she understood that, unlike the man she loved, this creature had no soul.
"Hermione!" Severus screamed as he pushed Sirius out of the way of a strangulation curse.
Wormtail, suddenly seeing the vial in Hermione's hand, shouted in anger. "She will die…she will die by my hand! Avada Kedavra!"
The acid green light began to emanate from his wand and streaked towards Hermione. Severus leaped out from behind the table and tackled Wormtail to the ground. Sirius changed back into his human form and aimed a deflecting curse at the spell.
Hermione saw the werewolf's leg muscles tense and knew it was preparing to pounce on her. She quickly brought the vial to her mouth and swallowed convulsively. The potion took effect immediately. As she fell, she saw the green light coming towards her and the werewolf's sharp teeth approaching in a jumbled maze of blurry images. She heard the frantic screams of her friends and the hoarse curses of her enemy. She felt herself hitting the floor, somehow knew that she should be feeling pain and smelled the werewolf's carnal breath.
Then she knew no more and lay there…still and lifeless, the empty vial dropping out of nerveless hands.
The dungeons echoed with the sound of a bloodcurdling howl.