Disclaimer : - The world of Harry Potter isn't mine – wish it was – but belongs to JK Rowling… anything from the books is hers not mine…. Anything else is probably mine. Not getting anything but fun from writing this etc etc etc….
The fic is Rate R ….. if you are not old enough to read it etc then please don't
Spanning the River of Blood
By Ridley-Roo
Chapter 17 – What Cat?
Dumbledore sat chewing on a packet of sweets Lupin had been kind enough to pick up for him in Hogsmead. They were sat in his sitting room talking about nothing in particular. Had Lupin heard from Sirius? Had Dumbledore made any progress with that new Milkshake formula? It was all fairly mindless, familiar and comforting for that very reason.
They often had these conversations as the full moon approached. Both men knew what would happen then; Lupin's body would twist and contort taking on another form. His bones would snap and reform and without the help of the Wolfsbane brewed by Snape his mind would be distorted and a radically different personality would take control. Lupin's consciousness would be forced into a small corner of his mind with no access to the outside world. No sensations, no control and nothing to do but cry out into the surrounding darkness until the moon waned and he could once again regain control of his body.
Of course with the aid of the Wolfsbane potion he was able to retain at least his mind even if his bodily changes would still occur. Instead of the insane blood lusting of a fully-grown werewolf he would remain in control and stay in his rooms out of sight. So the two men sat chatting as if they had no care in the world, all the while waiting for Snape to arrive with the bitter potion.
As the last colour drained out of the sky and night arrived the expected knock came at the door and with a wave of his hand Dumbledore let the potions master in. Lupin wrinkled his nose as he entered and Snape's keen observational skills picked it up, his face darkening into a fierce scowl.
'And just what exactly are you making that face for?' Anger flared up in the pit of his stomach after this earlier smelly humiliation and his free hand clenched into a fist. Lupin's eyes showed surprise but his expression didn't change.
'Why Severus you know I can't stand the smell of Wolfsbane.' Kicking himself for jumping to the wrong conclusion Snape concentrated on looking disdainfully at the werewolf as he handed over the foaming goblet.
Lupin looked at it as if they were asking him to drink poison, a poison that would either kill or cure. Of course that was exactly what he was doing. Poison to cure, poisoning the creature within, weakening enough that it would be unable to take control. Stealing himself for the taste and after effects he raised it up to his lips and downed it in one before leaning back into the back of the chair as his stomach sent the now familiar protesting messages to his brain. It threatened to reject the potion, causing him to vomit it back, it threatened to never accept this poison ever again. This was Lupin's greatest fear. If he started to reject the potion to the extent where he could not longer drink it then he would no longer be able to control his transformation, he would once again be that insane creature and would need to be caged at the full moon just as he had been as a child. The memories of being put into that cage still haunted his dreams, but not as much as the memories of waking after the lunar nightmare. The scars, the cold, the humiliation, but most of all the look of loathing that his parents had been unable to completely hide as they looked at him. The battle raged for a few more minutes before he was confident that his mind had won out again and started to relax slightly.
'So it looks like this wolf will be safe a little which longer.' He joked weakly now that the nausea had passed.
'That's more than can be said for the bloody cat!' Snape snorted and settled himself down into a spare chair before studiously inspecting his immaculate fingernails.
Lupin looked over at the headmaster and mouthed 'what cat?' receiving a faint smile in return.
'Now now Severus… surely you are not still mad about that slice of bacon?' The headmaster purred while making a little too much of his search for him milkshake beside his chair. Dark eyes flashed in his direction as the little colour present in Snape's face drained away.
'Err, what bacon?' asked the werewolf suddenly aware that there was a story here he very much wanted to hear.
'It appears that Professor Snape had a disagreement regarding the ownership of a slice of bacon this morning at breakfast,' sparkling blue eyes twinkled over the milkshake in response, 'with a cat'. Snape simply snorted his disgust. Lupin's mouth twitched in an attempt to grow into a grin, which he fought to suppress.
'Don't tell me. Mister Crookshanks strikes again.' His amusement was clear in his voice although his face was doing a valiant effort to keep straight.
'I doubt that Miss Granger would have been able to prevent herself from intervening if that had been the case.' Snape snarled in response. 'It was that disgusting black thing of our guest Ms Green.' He finished his fingernail inspection and turned to glare at Lupin. 'Of course if you had used some sense and not brought it back to Hogwarts after your little jaunt with Ms Wilson on you broom, the problem would never have existed.'
Lupin was gaping at him; his amused look changed into one of confusion.
'Err, what cat? I didn't bring a cat back!' and the room fell into complete silence.