Chapter VII - The First Taste
Two weeks had passed. Ellie had been busy most of the time brewing anti- poison potions and all kinds of antidotes in case anything failed and keeping all silver out of the way. She had been so busy she didn't even notice Snape's unusual silence.
She had to clean her house as well. Especially the little room in which Lupin would be sleeping during the experiment's time. They had settled that two weeks before the full moon should be enough for him to start taking the potion, daily. She was going for a full month, but she was afraid the dose might be a little high.
And so, that morning, Lupin arrived quite early, with a small, battered suitcase.
"And here's where you'll be staying." she said, opening a door he had never noticed before.
"Have I walked in the right house?" he asked with a smile.
"I know, I know, it's all so clean-"
"And you can actually see the tiles of the floor!"
"Appreciate them while you can. This won't last more than a week!" and she gave him a very nasty look.
He walked into the room, drooped his case and looked around. So this is where he would be transforming next full moon. It reminded him of the Shrieking Shack, where he had been for 7 years, with its grey and cold empty walls.
"Have you had any breakfast yet?" he heard Ellie's voice.
"I'm not hungry." he replied, and left the room, to join her at the kitchen.
"Well," she said when he had seated "when do you want to start?"
"Is there any best time to take it?"
"As long as you drink it once a day... You should eat something, you know?" and she offered him some tea and toasts.
"Maybe just some tea, then. Do you think I could try it now?"
And Ellie just said "Finish your tea, then, and I'll go get it."
She went to the lab and looked at the twelve little cauldrons she had now with the Wolfsbane potion. She took a glass from a very clean and beautiful shelf and filled it with the potion.
"Here it is" and she gave him the glass.
He looked at it quite suspiciously. Then he drank it in one shot.
He drooped the glass and let out a horrible "Aaargh!"
"Remus!" she cried at the site of his contorted face.
"Disgusting!!!" he said and looked at her alarmed face "What? It's just disgusting. The taste, I mean."
She let out a long sigh and looked at him, still shaking. He noticed she had brought another glass, filled with some blood-red liquid.
"I though you had complete confidence in your work." he said, smiling again. "Glass reparus." and he put the glass on the table.
"You never know... something could have gone wrong... and you could have been..." she quickly took the red filled glass to the lab and he noticed she was still very nervous.
"You have to monitor me now, is it?" he asked when she returned from the lab.
"Yes" and she blushed slightly. "I think I should start now, actually. Let's see, " and she took a piece of parchment from a drawer and kept looking for something while talking. "What do you feel?"
"Hum... good I guess."
"No dizziness, no blurring vision, no stars dancing in front of your eyes?" she asked, looking inside a jar.
"Nope. Nothing."
"Hearing voices-"
"Only yours."
"Hallucinations..." she lifted the plates from the table.
"Are you looking for something?"
"A quill" and she looked under the table.
"I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but here's one" Ellie emerged from under the table.
"Oh, thanks. I was looking for it!" she took it and started writing on the parchment "July 25, 1987 1st potion: 9:35 a.m. No weird symptoms. No apparent changes. Looking good."
"I'm looking good, am I? That's good to know."
"The experiment is looking good. You look just the same."
"Oh." and he made a very offended sort of look.
"Let me check the rest of you."
"What do you want to check?" he asked in mock outrage.
"Everything. Take your clothes off. No, no, no, I'm just kidding!" she added hastly "I just need to check your pupils." and before he took her first idea seriously, she took a magnifying glass from her pocket and looked very deeply at his eyes.
Suppressing the effect his eyes always had on her, she said "Your pupils seem fine. You can see a lot in pupils. Very closed pupils are usually a sign of poisoning."
She wrote "pupils fine" on the parchment and finally seated again, looking at him. "I though I would be feeling something different. But aside from the taste, it's just like drinking water."
"You won't be feeling anything for almost two weeks, if everything goes right."
"And what do we do now?"
"You can settle yourself in your room. I have to check on a flea-repellent potion."
"Oh, those dark creatures are back."
"Yeah, I made it for some lunatic old man but he says it was great and wants some more. As long as he as galleons, I'm here for it. The ingredients aren't that cheap, you know. And I still have to earn some to live. Anyway, I have to make him enough to last for a couple of months. I won't have much time for potion making. I have to check on you, now."
Lupin suddenly remembered that brewing potions was what she did for living. It had never occurred to him that potions and time making them cost money.
"Don't worry" she said, looking at his worried face "I know my house doesn't seem much, but I still got the galleons for us to survive for the next couple of months."
"You're investing on this potion from your own pocket?"
"I really have to check on that potion. Why don't you... hum... settle yourself?" and she almost ran to the lab.
Lupin was beginning to understand all that was at stake for her in that little experiment. She had put in it her money, her work, her career, her life. She had put everything she owned, everything she had and everything she was in that potion. He looked at the glass again, this time in a whole new light.
He had never tasted anyone's dream before.
Two weeks had passed. Ellie had been busy most of the time brewing anti- poison potions and all kinds of antidotes in case anything failed and keeping all silver out of the way. She had been so busy she didn't even notice Snape's unusual silence.
She had to clean her house as well. Especially the little room in which Lupin would be sleeping during the experiment's time. They had settled that two weeks before the full moon should be enough for him to start taking the potion, daily. She was going for a full month, but she was afraid the dose might be a little high.
And so, that morning, Lupin arrived quite early, with a small, battered suitcase.
"And here's where you'll be staying." she said, opening a door he had never noticed before.
"Have I walked in the right house?" he asked with a smile.
"I know, I know, it's all so clean-"
"And you can actually see the tiles of the floor!"
"Appreciate them while you can. This won't last more than a week!" and she gave him a very nasty look.
He walked into the room, drooped his case and looked around. So this is where he would be transforming next full moon. It reminded him of the Shrieking Shack, where he had been for 7 years, with its grey and cold empty walls.
"Have you had any breakfast yet?" he heard Ellie's voice.
"I'm not hungry." he replied, and left the room, to join her at the kitchen.
"Well," she said when he had seated "when do you want to start?"
"Is there any best time to take it?"
"As long as you drink it once a day... You should eat something, you know?" and she offered him some tea and toasts.
"Maybe just some tea, then. Do you think I could try it now?"
And Ellie just said "Finish your tea, then, and I'll go get it."
She went to the lab and looked at the twelve little cauldrons she had now with the Wolfsbane potion. She took a glass from a very clean and beautiful shelf and filled it with the potion.
"Here it is" and she gave him the glass.
He looked at it quite suspiciously. Then he drank it in one shot.
He drooped the glass and let out a horrible "Aaargh!"
"Remus!" she cried at the site of his contorted face.
"Disgusting!!!" he said and looked at her alarmed face "What? It's just disgusting. The taste, I mean."
She let out a long sigh and looked at him, still shaking. He noticed she had brought another glass, filled with some blood-red liquid.
"I though you had complete confidence in your work." he said, smiling again. "Glass reparus." and he put the glass on the table.
"You never know... something could have gone wrong... and you could have been..." she quickly took the red filled glass to the lab and he noticed she was still very nervous.
"You have to monitor me now, is it?" he asked when she returned from the lab.
"Yes" and she blushed slightly. "I think I should start now, actually. Let's see, " and she took a piece of parchment from a drawer and kept looking for something while talking. "What do you feel?"
"Hum... good I guess."
"No dizziness, no blurring vision, no stars dancing in front of your eyes?" she asked, looking inside a jar.
"Nope. Nothing."
"Hearing voices-"
"Only yours."
"Hallucinations..." she lifted the plates from the table.
"Are you looking for something?"
"A quill" and she looked under the table.
"I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but here's one" Ellie emerged from under the table.
"Oh, thanks. I was looking for it!" she took it and started writing on the parchment "July 25, 1987 1st potion: 9:35 a.m. No weird symptoms. No apparent changes. Looking good."
"I'm looking good, am I? That's good to know."
"The experiment is looking good. You look just the same."
"Oh." and he made a very offended sort of look.
"Let me check the rest of you."
"What do you want to check?" he asked in mock outrage.
"Everything. Take your clothes off. No, no, no, I'm just kidding!" she added hastly "I just need to check your pupils." and before he took her first idea seriously, she took a magnifying glass from her pocket and looked very deeply at his eyes.
Suppressing the effect his eyes always had on her, she said "Your pupils seem fine. You can see a lot in pupils. Very closed pupils are usually a sign of poisoning."
She wrote "pupils fine" on the parchment and finally seated again, looking at him. "I though I would be feeling something different. But aside from the taste, it's just like drinking water."
"You won't be feeling anything for almost two weeks, if everything goes right."
"And what do we do now?"
"You can settle yourself in your room. I have to check on a flea-repellent potion."
"Oh, those dark creatures are back."
"Yeah, I made it for some lunatic old man but he says it was great and wants some more. As long as he as galleons, I'm here for it. The ingredients aren't that cheap, you know. And I still have to earn some to live. Anyway, I have to make him enough to last for a couple of months. I won't have much time for potion making. I have to check on you, now."
Lupin suddenly remembered that brewing potions was what she did for living. It had never occurred to him that potions and time making them cost money.
"Don't worry" she said, looking at his worried face "I know my house doesn't seem much, but I still got the galleons for us to survive for the next couple of months."
"You're investing on this potion from your own pocket?"
"I really have to check on that potion. Why don't you... hum... settle yourself?" and she almost ran to the lab.
Lupin was beginning to understand all that was at stake for her in that little experiment. She had put in it her money, her work, her career, her life. She had put everything she owned, everything she had and everything she was in that potion. He looked at the glass again, this time in a whole new light.
He had never tasted anyone's dream before.