*Disclaimer* Hey! I don't own HP or FtS! I just own the plot!
The Full Moon
Lissa spent most of the next month and a half with Severus, enjoying the time she spent getting to know her
uncle. Despite their best attempts though, they could not get the cure to work properly. The cure would be
injected into the bloodstream of a werewolf and it would kill the wolf DNA and would proliferate the healthy
human DNA. At least, that is what it was supposed to do in theory. Professor Lupin had given them several
blood samples and the three attempts on the lycanthropy, but each time it had been unsuccessful. They had
been working on it for a month now, and even though her detentions had been over for three weeks, she still
concentrated most of her energy towards it. She sighed softly as she curled up in the armchair she called her
own in Severus's study. There were big bags under her eyes and her skin was had an unhealthy pallor. There was
a large mug of tea clasped in her hands and she was staring at her uncle with big eyes.
"Gussy is this ever going to work?"
Severus sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. He looked wearily at his niece, black eyes meeting black.
"I thought I had it right Lissa, but there is a single component that does not react like it should with a
werewolf's blood. I've tried all the possible things that could work, I just don't know..."
Lissa looked at him for a moment, and then stared at the fire. She sighed quietly. Professor Lupin had been
extremely kind to her for as long as she could remember. Even though Potter and Weasley had been telling
him untrue things about her, he had never been anything less then nice to her. She had to get this damn cure
right, if only to allow Remus the chance at a normal life. Her eyes became unfocused as she spaced out. It
appeared as if her mind had shut off, but in actuality she was furiously racking her brain for anything that might
help. And then, as if put into her brain by the hand of the Goddess Herself, it came to her. Wolfsbane;
werewolves could not stand the stuff. They never went around it. Gussy had told her class that if you are ever
walking around on the full moon alone, carry around a sachet of wolfsbane around and you would not be
attacked. What if a small amount of the plant could be added to the potion and it would unlock the cure. Lissa's
eyes snapped up from the fire and stared with all their intensity at Severus.
"What if we added some wolfsbane to it? Werewolves can't touch the stuff and it might..."
"No, no," Severus interrupted. "It won't work."
"Why not?"
"Wolfsbane is poisonous to lycans. It would kill Lupin if it was given to him."
"But Gussy, if we add essence of salamander root it will nullify the poisonous affects of the wolfsbane."
"Salamander root? Won't that cancel out the lemonsworth?"
"Which is why we add more lemonsworth! It should work; please can we just try it? It won't hurt to try...We
would just test it on one of the samples of Professor Lupin's blood. It won't kill him."
Severus dropped his head into one of his large hands, a soft sigh coming from him. "It won't hurt to try. You
sound just like your mother, so full of new ideas and hope that you can cure the world's problems. We will
attempt it, but I don't think it will work."
A week later, he ate his words. Lissa was sitting in the laboratory late at night, the finished potion in her
hand. Severus was in his study, grading papers without his normal relish. She looked around her at all the
fragile glass vials and jars filled with all sorts of frightening things she did not want to know about, and then
looked at the small tube of blood in front of her. She took a deep breath and poured the small amount of
bottled potion into the blood. She stirred it quickly and then looked at the blood. Werewolf blood looks the
same as human blood to the untrained eye. But to her eyes, which had been staring at werewolf blood for close
to two months, she saw the blood change subtly. The sample of Remus's blood was human. She had found the
cure. Lissa let out a cry of joy and jammed a stopper into the bottle of now human blood and leapt off her
stool. It clattered to the freezing stone floor, but she paid it no heed as she flung herself into the study.
"SEVERUS!" She squeaked and brandished the vial at him, rare joy sparkling vibrantly in her bright eyes. He
quickly got up and took it from her, his eyes widening. For a brief moment, his black eyes changed to their
natural dark brown, but barely a second later they had returned to hard obsidian. He smiled to her and hugged
her tightly.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I apologize for saying this wouldn't work. I should have listened to you and not
made you do this on your own."
"You have no need to apologize because you have nothing to be forgiven for. When is the next full moon?
There is still enough for Professor Lupin to take it now...We did it!"
"The full moon is tomorrow night; he can be given it tonight. No Lissa, you did it. You should seriously
consider a career in Potions, you'd do very well."
"I'll think about it Gussy. I'm going to go bottle up the rest!" Her voice was a good octave higher then normal,
she was literally giddy. She stumbled back into the laboratory, eager to get the cure.
An hour or so later Lissa and Severus were walking silently through the halls of Hogwarts. It was close
to one in the morning and all students, or so they hoped, was in their beds. Severus rapped his knuckles hard
across Lupin's study door and the two waited. When the door opened, a haggard, tired looking Lupin was
standing in the doorway. He smiled feebly to them.
"You can't find the cure can you? It's okay, I didn't think you'd be able to. No one has..."
"Professor, you're all wrong. We found the cure. I have it right here. If you go sit down, we can give it to you."
The two did not wait for the werewolf to answer, and simply with their slightly intimidating presence pushed
him into the room and into a chair. Lissa took a bottle from her robes, the sluggish dark blue liquid sloshing
around a little. She smiled warmly to her professor and handed him the bottle.
"Make sure to drink it all Professor, it won't work unless you take a whole measure of it."
He nodded weakly and looked at Severus as if making sure it was safe to drink. Severus inclined his head
slightly, a hand resting on Lissa's shoulder.
"What she says is correct. The potion is not poisonous so you can wipe that look off your face." His voice was
rather biting towards the end, and the weary werewolf's face rid itself of the slightly skeptical look. He pulled
the stopper out and an unpleasant odor wafted up to his sensitive nose. All three people in the room winced
slightly at the smell, the slightly acrid fumes burning at the sensitive flesh of their noses. Lupin took a deep
breath and poured the potion into his mouth. He gasped in sudden pain when the potion almost immediately hit
his blood stream. The glass bottle dropped from his hand and shattered on impact. For several minutes her
writhed around in his armchair, Lissa and Severus staying back knowing they could not do anything to ease the
pain of the werewolf. When his thrashing had ceased, he looked up at the two before him.
"There was wolfsbane in there, wasn't there? My body tried to reject it..."
"The wolfsbane was the component that kills the wolf DNA in you. When we added some other things, they
cancelled out the poisonous affects of it."
"Who do I know if it worked?"
"We wait until tomorrow." Severus said quietly.
"I need to go to sleep now; I have a Transfiguration test in the morning. Goodnight professor, Gussy."
Lissa smiled at the two older men and slowly left the office. When she was gone Remus looked up at Severus.
"Severus, how did you know to you wolfsbane in the cure? I thought you were strictly against the use of it in
anything."
"Remus, I didn't come up with it, Lissa did. I adamantly refused to help her too much with it because I thought
it wouldn't work. She made it pretty much all by herself. She has all rights to claim the fame and whatever else
will come along with this potion."
Remus looked in awe for a moment, and then dropped his head into his hands. His voice was soft and Severus
almost did not catch it.
"She has a great talent...I just hope she won't be killed with the task the Goddess has given her. She is so
powerful, whatever she will be going up against will be just as powerful, if not more so. What if she is the one
who will defeat You Know Who?"
Severus did not answer and just patted Remus's shoulder awkwardly. The two men talked quietly for a
moment, Severus showing very unSnapish qualities. It's amazing what the love of a single person can do to
someone who believes themselves unworthy of any love.
The next night Severus and Lissa were standing in Remus's study, waiting for the full moon to come
out. Lissa was in front of Severus, her hands outstretched slightly, she ready just in case the potion did not
work. Remus lay curled on the threadbare sofa by the fire, stealing himself for the pain of transforming. For a
many long minutes the three waited tensely. Minutes trickled by like grains of sand trying to get through a tea
strainer, she leaned forward in her chair as a beam of pure moonlight shone into the room through the thick
glass window. The light rested on Lupin's prone form and he readied himself for the agony of change. Seconds
later no pain came, his body did not melt in upon itself and it did not morph. He opened his eyes and looked at
the two in front of him, surprise in his eyes.
"I didn't think it would work...I didn't change, I'm still human..."
Lissa grinned widely and clapped her hands happily, rare joy sparkling in her eyes. A little voice in the back of
her head commented on all the times she had been happy lately, more in a few months then she had in years.
"I knew it would work! I told you Gussy it would work!"
"Yes, I know you did. Well done. We will talk to Albus tomorrow about this, he will be very happy about this."
"Okay! I think I should go to bed now, I'm totally knackered."
Remus got off of the couch and hugged Lissa lightly, when he pulled away there was a warm smile on his face.
"Thank you so much Analissa, you have given me a human life. I don't have to worry about killing people
anymore. Thank you."
She smiled a little. "You're welcome Professor. Good night Gussy, Professor."
"Goodnight." The two men chorused softly.
She quietly closed the office door behind her and her mind reached out for the security of her brother's mind.
Where there was normally familiar warmth, was a cold void. There memories that Gabe had playing in his head
like a screensaver when he was asleep, just an empty abyss trying to pull her into its bottomless, freezing
depths. Something started tugging at her mind, trying to pull her into the dark void. This had never happened
before and panic started to wrap its icy talons around her heart. She changed the direction she was walking in
and started running towards the Slytherin common room in hopes that he would be there. She skidded to a halt
in front of the patch of particularly slimy and wet wall, a hand running through her hair frantically.
"Effluo oraculum!" She squeaked at the wall.
When it opened, she threw herself into the room and look frantically around. Draco, Blaise, and Brad were
sprawled out in front of the roaring green fire, laughing about something in a book. Several Second years were
doing homework at the tables. Lissa ran over to her friends and dropped to her knees beside Draco.
"Where's Gabe?!"
"I dunno, thought he was with you." Draco said, his eyes one the book on the floor.
"He's not with me! I can't reach him! It's all cold!"
"What?"
"Gabe feels de...GABE!" She screamed as he entered the common room. He was slightly hunched over and his
robes were rumpled. She jumped up from the floor and flew to her brother. She stopped when she was in front
of him and glared up at him. Her hands rested on her hips as she took a deep breath.
"What the hell happened? I couldn't reach you! It was all cold and something was trying to pull me in!"
"I don't really want to talk about it Liss; I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed."
"You don't want to talk about it? I thought my brother was really hurt or worse and you don't want to talk
about? Tough luck mate! Sit your arse down because you are going to bloody well tell me where the hell you
were!"
Gabe's face contorted in sudden anger. He hated it when people told him what to do and at the moment he
could not give a whit that his sister was fighting back a scream of rage and inner fear. He raised his hand and it
firmly connected with the side of her face.
"Shut up! I don't have to tell where I was! Just because Mum is dead doesn't mean you have to be her! I'm
going to bed right now!"
He turned on his heel and stormed to the Seventh year boy's dormitory. Lissa's hand went up to touch the
rapidly bruising hand print on her cheek. Her eyes filled with tears and her head quickly bowed, her thick black
hair forming a curtain around her face. Gabe had never hit her before; he had never done anything to
intentionally harm her. She felt someone wrap an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly. Draco's
voice vibrated in her ear, his affection for her washing over her.
"Are you okay Sissa? He didn't hurt you did he?"
She slowly lifted her face, her hand dropping to her side. He gasped softly and the already purplish bruise
spreading across her cheek. He gently touched the discoloration with the tips of his fingers, his brow
furrowed. Draco dropped his hand from her cheek and pulled her against him in a tight hug.
"I'm going to beat his arse up. He hurt you! Nobody hurts you."
"N-No, Draco...He's just stressed out. Please don't hurt him...He's the only family I have left..."
Brad and Blaise had come over and the both put a caring arm around her so the four were in a big group hug.
The three murmured softly her in unison.
"We are your Family Sissa."
Up in the boy's dormitory, Gabe sat on his bed, the bed hangings pulled around his bed. He had his
fingers pressed against his inner arm, a wince of pain written on his face. He was rocking slowly as his mind
drifted. Had he made the right decision? He was following the roots of his father, but had it been right? He
sighed quietly and grabbed the pillow off his bed and crushed it around his head, trying to block the noises
playing loudly in his aching head.
Why did Gabe hit Liss? What did he do? Where was he? *rubs chin* Ask in an email and you will receive your answer! *grins*
Your Lord and Master, Foamy the Squirrel
The Full Moon
Lissa spent most of the next month and a half with Severus, enjoying the time she spent getting to know her
uncle. Despite their best attempts though, they could not get the cure to work properly. The cure would be
injected into the bloodstream of a werewolf and it would kill the wolf DNA and would proliferate the healthy
human DNA. At least, that is what it was supposed to do in theory. Professor Lupin had given them several
blood samples and the three attempts on the lycanthropy, but each time it had been unsuccessful. They had
been working on it for a month now, and even though her detentions had been over for three weeks, she still
concentrated most of her energy towards it. She sighed softly as she curled up in the armchair she called her
own in Severus's study. There were big bags under her eyes and her skin was had an unhealthy pallor. There was
a large mug of tea clasped in her hands and she was staring at her uncle with big eyes.
"Gussy is this ever going to work?"
Severus sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. He looked wearily at his niece, black eyes meeting black.
"I thought I had it right Lissa, but there is a single component that does not react like it should with a
werewolf's blood. I've tried all the possible things that could work, I just don't know..."
Lissa looked at him for a moment, and then stared at the fire. She sighed quietly. Professor Lupin had been
extremely kind to her for as long as she could remember. Even though Potter and Weasley had been telling
him untrue things about her, he had never been anything less then nice to her. She had to get this damn cure
right, if only to allow Remus the chance at a normal life. Her eyes became unfocused as she spaced out. It
appeared as if her mind had shut off, but in actuality she was furiously racking her brain for anything that might
help. And then, as if put into her brain by the hand of the Goddess Herself, it came to her. Wolfsbane;
werewolves could not stand the stuff. They never went around it. Gussy had told her class that if you are ever
walking around on the full moon alone, carry around a sachet of wolfsbane around and you would not be
attacked. What if a small amount of the plant could be added to the potion and it would unlock the cure. Lissa's
eyes snapped up from the fire and stared with all their intensity at Severus.
"What if we added some wolfsbane to it? Werewolves can't touch the stuff and it might..."
"No, no," Severus interrupted. "It won't work."
"Why not?"
"Wolfsbane is poisonous to lycans. It would kill Lupin if it was given to him."
"But Gussy, if we add essence of salamander root it will nullify the poisonous affects of the wolfsbane."
"Salamander root? Won't that cancel out the lemonsworth?"
"Which is why we add more lemonsworth! It should work; please can we just try it? It won't hurt to try...We
would just test it on one of the samples of Professor Lupin's blood. It won't kill him."
Severus dropped his head into one of his large hands, a soft sigh coming from him. "It won't hurt to try. You
sound just like your mother, so full of new ideas and hope that you can cure the world's problems. We will
attempt it, but I don't think it will work."
A week later, he ate his words. Lissa was sitting in the laboratory late at night, the finished potion in her
hand. Severus was in his study, grading papers without his normal relish. She looked around her at all the
fragile glass vials and jars filled with all sorts of frightening things she did not want to know about, and then
looked at the small tube of blood in front of her. She took a deep breath and poured the small amount of
bottled potion into the blood. She stirred it quickly and then looked at the blood. Werewolf blood looks the
same as human blood to the untrained eye. But to her eyes, which had been staring at werewolf blood for close
to two months, she saw the blood change subtly. The sample of Remus's blood was human. She had found the
cure. Lissa let out a cry of joy and jammed a stopper into the bottle of now human blood and leapt off her
stool. It clattered to the freezing stone floor, but she paid it no heed as she flung herself into the study.
"SEVERUS!" She squeaked and brandished the vial at him, rare joy sparkling vibrantly in her bright eyes. He
quickly got up and took it from her, his eyes widening. For a brief moment, his black eyes changed to their
natural dark brown, but barely a second later they had returned to hard obsidian. He smiled to her and hugged
her tightly.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I apologize for saying this wouldn't work. I should have listened to you and not
made you do this on your own."
"You have no need to apologize because you have nothing to be forgiven for. When is the next full moon?
There is still enough for Professor Lupin to take it now...We did it!"
"The full moon is tomorrow night; he can be given it tonight. No Lissa, you did it. You should seriously
consider a career in Potions, you'd do very well."
"I'll think about it Gussy. I'm going to go bottle up the rest!" Her voice was a good octave higher then normal,
she was literally giddy. She stumbled back into the laboratory, eager to get the cure.
An hour or so later Lissa and Severus were walking silently through the halls of Hogwarts. It was close
to one in the morning and all students, or so they hoped, was in their beds. Severus rapped his knuckles hard
across Lupin's study door and the two waited. When the door opened, a haggard, tired looking Lupin was
standing in the doorway. He smiled feebly to them.
"You can't find the cure can you? It's okay, I didn't think you'd be able to. No one has..."
"Professor, you're all wrong. We found the cure. I have it right here. If you go sit down, we can give it to you."
The two did not wait for the werewolf to answer, and simply with their slightly intimidating presence pushed
him into the room and into a chair. Lissa took a bottle from her robes, the sluggish dark blue liquid sloshing
around a little. She smiled warmly to her professor and handed him the bottle.
"Make sure to drink it all Professor, it won't work unless you take a whole measure of it."
He nodded weakly and looked at Severus as if making sure it was safe to drink. Severus inclined his head
slightly, a hand resting on Lissa's shoulder.
"What she says is correct. The potion is not poisonous so you can wipe that look off your face." His voice was
rather biting towards the end, and the weary werewolf's face rid itself of the slightly skeptical look. He pulled
the stopper out and an unpleasant odor wafted up to his sensitive nose. All three people in the room winced
slightly at the smell, the slightly acrid fumes burning at the sensitive flesh of their noses. Lupin took a deep
breath and poured the potion into his mouth. He gasped in sudden pain when the potion almost immediately hit
his blood stream. The glass bottle dropped from his hand and shattered on impact. For several minutes her
writhed around in his armchair, Lissa and Severus staying back knowing they could not do anything to ease the
pain of the werewolf. When his thrashing had ceased, he looked up at the two before him.
"There was wolfsbane in there, wasn't there? My body tried to reject it..."
"The wolfsbane was the component that kills the wolf DNA in you. When we added some other things, they
cancelled out the poisonous affects of it."
"Who do I know if it worked?"
"We wait until tomorrow." Severus said quietly.
"I need to go to sleep now; I have a Transfiguration test in the morning. Goodnight professor, Gussy."
Lissa smiled at the two older men and slowly left the office. When she was gone Remus looked up at Severus.
"Severus, how did you know to you wolfsbane in the cure? I thought you were strictly against the use of it in
anything."
"Remus, I didn't come up with it, Lissa did. I adamantly refused to help her too much with it because I thought
it wouldn't work. She made it pretty much all by herself. She has all rights to claim the fame and whatever else
will come along with this potion."
Remus looked in awe for a moment, and then dropped his head into his hands. His voice was soft and Severus
almost did not catch it.
"She has a great talent...I just hope she won't be killed with the task the Goddess has given her. She is so
powerful, whatever she will be going up against will be just as powerful, if not more so. What if she is the one
who will defeat You Know Who?"
Severus did not answer and just patted Remus's shoulder awkwardly. The two men talked quietly for a
moment, Severus showing very unSnapish qualities. It's amazing what the love of a single person can do to
someone who believes themselves unworthy of any love.
The next night Severus and Lissa were standing in Remus's study, waiting for the full moon to come
out. Lissa was in front of Severus, her hands outstretched slightly, she ready just in case the potion did not
work. Remus lay curled on the threadbare sofa by the fire, stealing himself for the pain of transforming. For a
many long minutes the three waited tensely. Minutes trickled by like grains of sand trying to get through a tea
strainer, she leaned forward in her chair as a beam of pure moonlight shone into the room through the thick
glass window. The light rested on Lupin's prone form and he readied himself for the agony of change. Seconds
later no pain came, his body did not melt in upon itself and it did not morph. He opened his eyes and looked at
the two in front of him, surprise in his eyes.
"I didn't think it would work...I didn't change, I'm still human..."
Lissa grinned widely and clapped her hands happily, rare joy sparkling in her eyes. A little voice in the back of
her head commented on all the times she had been happy lately, more in a few months then she had in years.
"I knew it would work! I told you Gussy it would work!"
"Yes, I know you did. Well done. We will talk to Albus tomorrow about this, he will be very happy about this."
"Okay! I think I should go to bed now, I'm totally knackered."
Remus got off of the couch and hugged Lissa lightly, when he pulled away there was a warm smile on his face.
"Thank you so much Analissa, you have given me a human life. I don't have to worry about killing people
anymore. Thank you."
She smiled a little. "You're welcome Professor. Good night Gussy, Professor."
"Goodnight." The two men chorused softly.
She quietly closed the office door behind her and her mind reached out for the security of her brother's mind.
Where there was normally familiar warmth, was a cold void. There memories that Gabe had playing in his head
like a screensaver when he was asleep, just an empty abyss trying to pull her into its bottomless, freezing
depths. Something started tugging at her mind, trying to pull her into the dark void. This had never happened
before and panic started to wrap its icy talons around her heart. She changed the direction she was walking in
and started running towards the Slytherin common room in hopes that he would be there. She skidded to a halt
in front of the patch of particularly slimy and wet wall, a hand running through her hair frantically.
"Effluo oraculum!" She squeaked at the wall.
When it opened, she threw herself into the room and look frantically around. Draco, Blaise, and Brad were
sprawled out in front of the roaring green fire, laughing about something in a book. Several Second years were
doing homework at the tables. Lissa ran over to her friends and dropped to her knees beside Draco.
"Where's Gabe?!"
"I dunno, thought he was with you." Draco said, his eyes one the book on the floor.
"He's not with me! I can't reach him! It's all cold!"
"What?"
"Gabe feels de...GABE!" She screamed as he entered the common room. He was slightly hunched over and his
robes were rumpled. She jumped up from the floor and flew to her brother. She stopped when she was in front
of him and glared up at him. Her hands rested on her hips as she took a deep breath.
"What the hell happened? I couldn't reach you! It was all cold and something was trying to pull me in!"
"I don't really want to talk about it Liss; I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed."
"You don't want to talk about it? I thought my brother was really hurt or worse and you don't want to talk
about? Tough luck mate! Sit your arse down because you are going to bloody well tell me where the hell you
were!"
Gabe's face contorted in sudden anger. He hated it when people told him what to do and at the moment he
could not give a whit that his sister was fighting back a scream of rage and inner fear. He raised his hand and it
firmly connected with the side of her face.
"Shut up! I don't have to tell where I was! Just because Mum is dead doesn't mean you have to be her! I'm
going to bed right now!"
He turned on his heel and stormed to the Seventh year boy's dormitory. Lissa's hand went up to touch the
rapidly bruising hand print on her cheek. Her eyes filled with tears and her head quickly bowed, her thick black
hair forming a curtain around her face. Gabe had never hit her before; he had never done anything to
intentionally harm her. She felt someone wrap an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly. Draco's
voice vibrated in her ear, his affection for her washing over her.
"Are you okay Sissa? He didn't hurt you did he?"
She slowly lifted her face, her hand dropping to her side. He gasped softly and the already purplish bruise
spreading across her cheek. He gently touched the discoloration with the tips of his fingers, his brow
furrowed. Draco dropped his hand from her cheek and pulled her against him in a tight hug.
"I'm going to beat his arse up. He hurt you! Nobody hurts you."
"N-No, Draco...He's just stressed out. Please don't hurt him...He's the only family I have left..."
Brad and Blaise had come over and the both put a caring arm around her so the four were in a big group hug.
The three murmured softly her in unison.
"We are your Family Sissa."
Up in the boy's dormitory, Gabe sat on his bed, the bed hangings pulled around his bed. He had his
fingers pressed against his inner arm, a wince of pain written on his face. He was rocking slowly as his mind
drifted. Had he made the right decision? He was following the roots of his father, but had it been right? He
sighed quietly and grabbed the pillow off his bed and crushed it around his head, trying to block the noises
playing loudly in his aching head.
Why did Gabe hit Liss? What did he do? Where was he? *rubs chin* Ask in an email and you will receive your answer! *grins*
Your Lord and Master, Foamy the Squirrel