23. Improving the Cure

They woke up from their nap just before dinner and contemplated if they should go to the Great Hall or not. They could always ask Millie or Winky to bring something for them. Bobbie stroked Severus's cheek with the back of her fingers and said, "We already missed breakfast and lunch, Minerva is going to send out a search party if we miss dinner too."

He took her hand which just had stroked him and lovingly kissed her fingers and said, "I fear you are right in your assessment, my Love."

They resolved to get dressed and make their way to the Great Hall. When they arrived they saw a little girl with short blond hair running toward them giving each one of them a hug around the legs. Bobbie asked, "Cindy, how did you get here?"

She said, "Nebbil..." and pointed behind her where they saw Neville coming toward them with a Lab puppy in his arms.

He smiled and said, "Well, it seems that my little sister wanted to see Bella and Benton and introduce the newest addition to the family." He motioned to the puppy. "Mum and Dad are having dinner with the Minister and his wife so I thought this was a good opportunity."

Cindy put her arms up motioning to Neville to give her the puppy, which he did. She carefully held it in her arms and kissed it on the head and then looked at Severus and Bobbie with a huge smile and said, "Sandy..."

Bobbie bent down to Cindy and asked, "Sandy, that is her name?"

Cindy nodded and Bobbie said, "That is a beautiful name and a very fitting one because the color of her fur is the color of sand. Did you pick her out?"

Cindy nodded proudly and beamed up at Bobbie with a radiant smile.

Then Neville said, "I think we need to eat dinner first and then we can ask Uncle Severus and Aunt Bobbie if we can see Benton and Bella." He grabbed Cindy by the shoulder and pushed her toward the head table that had been extended by two chairs.

When Severus and Bobbie got to their chairs they saw that there was a comfortable dog bed under the table where Cindy's chair was. Cindy carefully placed her puppy onto it and stroked her little head before climbing onto her chair and starting to eat her dinner.

Minerva leaned over to Severus and whispered to him, "Seems to me Frank and Alice are spoiling that girl rotten."

Severus replied, "In any other case I would agree with you but you should have seen her before we took the dogs to St Mungo's to see her." He commenced to tell the story of how withdrawn Cindy had been and when she started to speak again after Bella had coaxed her into it by pretending to lose the ball.

"My word!" Minerva said in astonishment. "I would have never thought that a dog can be trained to do that. I have to admit I had mixed feelings when you wanted to bring them."

Severus chuckled, "You were not the only one. Could you have ever imagined me being a dog person?"

888

After dinner was over Neville and Cindy with her puppy in her arms walked with Bobbie and Severus to their dungeon rooms. As soon as Cindy set the puppy onto the floor Bella and Benton started to sniff her with their tails waging, and Bella started to lick her. Cindy said, "Doggie kisses..."

"That's right Cindy. Those are doggie kisses. They do that when they like somebody," Bobbie said. "And Bella used to be a mommy once."

"Bella had babies?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, a long, long time ago."

"Where are dey?"

"They have good homes just like your Sandy does since you picked her up. Nice people took them home."

"Oh!" she said in recognition and then looked to the dog bed where Bella had laid down with the puppy. Cindy watched them for a while and then asked Severus, since he had been the one who always had the ball in his pocket. "Bella not play ball today?"

Severus looked at Bobbie and Bobbie said, "Well, Bella already had a long walk today. How about playing with Benton? He is much younger and will play with you."

Bobbie knew that the playing didn't take much energy out of Bella but she wanted to give her and the puppy a little bonding time. They looked very comfortable together.

"Bent..., Ben play ball?" Cindy asked.

"Oh yes, he does!" Bobbie said and called Benton who was more than happy to have something to do. After she had set up Cindy and Benton she went to Severus and Neville who had sat down at the table and were talking about the upcoming full moon and the two remaining prisoners they would cure.

Neville said that it would be him, Harry and Ron this time since there were two of them to contend with. Also the Minister and Hermione would be there again and maybe his father.

"So, is Frank back to normal?" Severus wanted to know.

"He is as far as I can tell. Of course I was too small when it happened to really know how he used to be before the Cruciatus insanity, but Minister Shacklebolt is ready to reinstate him as an Auror after he is going through a crash course on the changes that were made in the last decade," Neville said.

"Well, since you are going through all the training you will be able to help him with that. What about your mother?" Severus asked.

"She is doing well but with Cindy being around now she is reluctant to go to work, at least until Cindy is in school," Neville answered.

"I understand!" Severus said with a nod.

Neville looked at his watch and said with a grin, "I think I better take 'short stuff' and her puppy home. It's almost bed time."

"Before you do, can I show you the way you have to come in with the prisoners? Obviously we can't have them march through the student body on their way to the cells in the dungeons," Severus said to Neville.

The men got up from their chairs and walked out of Severus's and Bobbie's quarters. Bobbie sat at the table and watched Cindy play ball with Benton while the puppy had snuggled up with Bella on her bed and fallen asleep.

When Severus and Neville came back Bobbie went over to get Sandy from Bella. She stroked Bella's head telling her she was 'a good girl' for taking care of the puppy. Then Neville had to basically pry Cindy away from her play with Benton. She was a little disappointed that she had to leave until Bobbie put the puppy into her arms. Cindy rubbed her cheek on the soft fur and smiled. She yawned and said to Neville, "Wanna go home to Mummy and Daddy."

Neville squeezed her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we will be there in no time."

Severus and Bobbie walked them out and Neville said, "Thank you for letting us visit with the dogs." He winked and then said to Severus, "I will see you the day after tomorrow."

Cindy waved as well as she could with a puppy in her arms while yawning again.

After Severus closed the door behind them he turned to Bobbie and took her face in both of his hands and kissed her gently and said, "I can't wait to meet our little girl."

"Be careful what you wish for, Baby. There will be lots of dirty diapers and sleepless nights." Bobbie smiled at him.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there," he said. "Now, I think it is time I take you to bed. It was a long day with a long walk. You should rest. I can tell your feet are hurting. I will give you a foot rub as soon as I put that salve on your belly."

Bobbie kissed him and said, "I feel so cherished the way you are taking care of me. You have no idea how much I love you."

888

Early on Sunday morning Severus jumped out of bed and threw on his dressing gown before leaving the bedroom post haste. Bobbie got up onto her elbows and watched him leave, wondering what the heck had just happened.

When she got up and walked into the office she saw him poring over some notes. She went to their kitchenette and made a pot of coffee and set a cup of it onto his desk beside him. He looked up at her and smiled a thank you.

Bobbie fed the dogs and then walked over to the sofa and sat down sideways and watched Severus over the back of the sofa with a smile and a cup of coffee in her hand. Her brilliant husband must have had a brainstorm right before he left the bed. She enjoyed watching him. His features were very expressive when he was thinking and trying to figure something out.

She watched him for quite a while until she noticed he was going back and forth on some of his notes checking and double checking them, and then he smiled in satisfaction before looking at her and saying, "I think I've got it...!"

Bobbie got up off the sofa and walked over to him and sat down on his lap and asked, "What did you find?"

"I think I know how to make the cure for Lycanthropy more stable, so it can be brewed in advance instead of having to do it right before it is going to be used. It still has to be thinned with the distilled water right before use, but I can brew the concentrated potion days or even weeks in advance," he said while looking into her eyes with a smile.

"My brilliant husband...," she said and brushed a strand of his hair out of his face.

His smile turned into desire when he noticed that Bobbie still wore her dressing gown and nothing underneath. "You are still wearing your dressing gown...," he stated quietly.

"So are you...," she whispered and put her hand against his chest where the garment had fallen open. She went lower and unknotted the belt while kissing and nibbling the side of his neck.

He sucked in a strangled breath and hissed, "Merlin, how was I ever able to live without this?" Bobbie stood up as he got up out of his chair and pressed his erection against her and moaned. He positioned her onto his desk in front of him and opened her dressing gown. He then took her face into both of his hands and kissed her passionately while probing her entrance with his shaft.

She moaned and scooted farther toward him anxious to feeling him inside her. He entered her in one mighty trust but still mindful of her condition and careful not to hurt her or the baby. He commenced to pleasure her with slow deliberate strokes. "Oh Severus..., oh, you feel so good...," she breathed into his ear.

As usual the things she said to him while they were making love were going straight to his groin and he knew he wouldn't last much longer, but it turned out he didn't have to. She pressed herself onto him to receive him deeper and suddenly she quietly cried out his name and tightened around him. They came with a vengeance and clung to each other in a quivering mess of arms and legs.

Still inside her Severus carried her to the bedroom and sat down on the side of the bed where they enjoyed the afterglow in all of its glory. Then they lay back down and fell asleep in each other's arms for another hour.

888

They made it to breakfast just in time and as soon as they were finished Severus laid down his silverware and rushed off to his lab. Filius looked after him and asked Bobbie, "What was that all about?"

"If I would have to guess he went to the lab. He had an epiphany this morning and couldn't get out of bed fast enough," she replied.

"Anything interesting?" Horace wanted to know.

Bobbie knew that Horace Slughorn wasn't one of the privileged people who knew about the cure for Lycanthropy and glanced at Minerva before answering Horace's question. "I have no idea. You'll have to ask Severus himself."

Horace didn't let up. "He didn't tell you what it was this morning?"

Bobbie saw Minerva rolling her eyes and had a hard time not to laugh when she replied to Horace, "All I know is that it was supposed to be an improvement on some potion. I have no clue about which one it is. Your guess is as good as mine."

Horace got up and said, "Well, maybe I can help him with something."

When Bobbie saw Horace leave in direction of the dungeons she took out her mobile phone and called Severus. When he picked up she said, "Better lock and ward the door. I think Horace is on his way to help you."

"Don't worry, I already did. He has been pestering me ever since the potion against the Cruciatus insanity became such a popular item," Severus said.

Bobbie chuckled and said, "Good thinking! I'll see you later."

When Bobbie told Minerva what Severus had said she had to laugh. Then she said, "Horace just can't stand it that Severus refuses to be one of his acquaintances in his circle of celebrities." She shook her head and continued, "That man just can't help himself. Don't get me wrong, Horace is a good potions teacher but I wouldn't trust him with privileged information. He's too anxious to brag about things." Then she looked at Bobbie and said, "Well, you are a Nevari, you probably already know..."

"Yeah, he is an interesting character," Bobbie agreed.

While they talked they had slowly walked out of the Great Hall and into the atrium. Suddenly they saw Horace Slughorn coming out of the hallway that led to the dungeons. When he saw Bobbie he came straight up to her and said, "Severus doesn't answer the door. I heard the dogs barking but he didn't open up and the door was locked and warded."

"Yeah, we have to do that since we have the dogs. They are trained to attack if someone unauthorized goes in there. We don't want anyone to get bitten. Severus probably can't hear anything. If he has to concentrate on something he is putting up silencing charms on the lab." Then she turned to Minerva and winked and said, "I'll see you later."

Bobbie noticed that Minerva tried not to laugh. Both women walked off and before Bobbie walked into the hallway leading to the dungeons she turned around and saw Horace still standing in the same spot with a puzzled look on his face.

She grinned and made her way to their quarters and let herself in. When she made it to the lab she saw Severus working on a potion in concentration and sat down silently on her stool in the corner. Eventually he noticed her and came over when he had a few minutes, when the potion didn't need his attention.

"From the noise the dogs were making Horace really must have tried to get my attention," Severus said.

"He's probably still standing in the atrium scratching his head," Bobbie said and told Severus what she had said to Horace.

Severus laughed and said, "My guess is that he will give the dogs a wide berth the next time he sees them." He pulled her head up by her chin and kissed her and went back to his cauldron. He looked inside and adjusted the heat and came back to her.

Bobbie asked while nodding toward the potion, "How is it going?"

"I think it will work. It has to steep 10 more minutes and then I have to let it cool down. I will have to take small samples once in a while to see if it is still stable and doesn't start to break down." He took her hand and continued, "I wish I would have thought about it earlier. I could have taken samples for days already, provided it is stable for that long. Now I still have to go through 4 1/2 hours of the brewing process before we administer it to the prisoners, just in case this one is breaking down by then."

"Not really!" Bobby said. "If you check a sample tonight before going to bed and it is still good, that means the potion is stable long enough that you could brew a batch at noon after your last class and it would still be good by 6:47 when the moon rises."

Severus looked at her and said, "Right! What was I thinking?" He shook his head.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Baby. You have so many things on your mind that it is impossible to think about everything. Nobody is perfect," Bobbie said, and when she saw a cloud of self doubt shadowing his eyes she cradled his face and added quietly, "But if it is any consolation for you, you are perfect for me."

She kissed him and in that moment his timer went off. He walked to his cauldron and extinguished the flame underneath. He cast a cooling spell on it and then portioned most of the potion into vials and poured the rest of it into a jar. When Bobbie asked why he didn't take smaller vials, because they weren't even half way full he explained that this way the distilled water that had to be added could be mixed in right there in the same vial.

She smiled and said, "Awesome, that saves time and you don't have to dirty up another vial for mixing." Then she laughed and said, "I wish I would be thinking ahead like that when I'm cooking. It would save me some time when it comes to washing dishes."

"I like your cooking," Severus said.

"Well, maybe it tastes alright but my kitchen is usually a disaster," she said and laughed.

"Speaking of food... Since we once again missed lunch, why don't we take the dogs out to the lake and have the elves bring us a couple of sandwiches to take along? It is an unusually nice day and if we bundle up a little we should be fine," Severus suggested while he walked up to her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face that had come unpinned.

"I'd like that," she replied.

888

When they came back from an enjoyable picnic out by the lake, Severus went to the lab and took an eyedropper of potion out of the jar and checked it for any change of viability and was satisfied when he saw that it was still stable. If the potion would still be good in 2-3 hours he could look at curing those two prisoners in a more relaxed way because he wouldn't have to time it just right to get the potion done. His time from finishing the potion until administering it would have grown from a few minutes to a few hours and he wouldn't have to rush. Also if he would have made a mistake brewing the old potion there wouldn't have been enough time to start over.

Bobbie saw on his face already that he liked what he was seeing and came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him laying her head against his back and said quietly, "My brilliant husband..." She knew that he liked hearing things like this from her and so she did at every opportunity. Severus's self esteem had been severely bruised all of his life and she didn't mind building it up a little.

Just before they went to dinner Severus checked his potion again and found that it was still perfect. When he sat down in his seat at the head table Minerva leant over to him and said so only he would hear it, "Bobbie told me you were working on stabilizing the cure for Lycanthropy. From the look of your face it seems you were successful. By the way, did Bobbie tell you about Horace?"

"She did. I am afraid he will never look at our dogs the same way," he chuckled. Then he added, "Yes, the new stabilizer I came up with seems to work in the potion."

"I'm happy for you. It will take a huge load off your back." Minerva smiled. "If it will be stable for a long time you could sell it. Just put an expiration date on it."

"I have considered it. After all I don't really want to be the one who has to stay up all night every full moon, and I can't ask it of Poppy either," he replied.

When Horace Slughorn marched up to the head table their discussion seized. He came straight up to Severus and said, "I went down to your rooms after breakfast to help you with your work. I knocked a few times but I guess you didn't hear me." Then he went straight to it, "Anything new and interesting?"

"Just a new stabilizer for some potion. I don't know if it works yet," Severus said and from his face Horace knew right away that the subject was closed and he wouldn't get anything else out of Severus. He finally moved on to his seat.

Minerva grinned at Severus and said, "He's probably trying to help you in order to get his name on some of your inventions, which would be a major dent into your privacy because he would boast about it all over the Wizarding World."

Severus nodded slowly and said, "Trust me Minerva, the thought has crossed my mind."

888

When Severus and Bobbie arrived back in their quarters Severus went straight to the lab and checked on the potion. When he came back to the living room Bobbie looked up from the book she was reading and from his satisfied facial expression she knew right away that the potion was still viable. She stretched out her hand toward him and he walked up to her and took it. She patted the sofa beside her and he sat down. She said, "It will be getting more and more awkward with this growing belly. Eventually there will be no more room on my lap for your head. You looked to me like you had a headache earlier."

He smiled at her and said, "It isn't too bad but I accept your caresses any day." He lay down with his head in her lap and she ran her fingers through his hair which he thoroughly enjoyed. They had a quiet conversation while she did so.

After about half an hour Severus suggested that they go to bed. He had gotten up early in the morning and he was looking forward going to sleep with her in his arms. He checked the potion one more time after his shower and then joined Bobbie in bed.

888

The first thing Severus did after getting up was once again checking the potion for viability. It looked like he had found the right combination for it to stay stable. Since tonight would be the full moon and he couldn't be sure that the viability would still be good by then he went to the lab after his last class, which ended right at noon and started brewing another one. He knew now that his improved potion against Lycanthropy would be good for at least 24 hours, that meant that the one he was brewing now would definitely still be good tonight.

Since he had once again skipped lunch he was glad they would have an early dinner to make it to the dungeon room, which contained the two cages, by the time the moon would rise. They all were there by 6:15 and they had everything ready by 6:30 when Kingsley, Harry, Ron and Neville showed up with the prisoners. Hermione was there also to once again write down notes about the progress and there was also Thomson, the first werewolf they had cured. Ever since he had been cured he had been an exceptional inmate and the Aurors felt confident enough to trust him and let him out - without a wand of course - to watch what had been done to him two months ago. The four men secured the two prisoners in the cells while Thomson, Minerva, Hermione and Bobbie retreated to the table in the corner and Severus and Poppy mixed the two potions with distilled water one minute before the moon rose. As soon as they noticed the first signs of fur on top of the prisoners hands they administered the potions and got out of the cells as fast as they could. Ron and Kingsley threw the doors close right behind them, with Harry and Neville having their wands pointed toward the fast changing werewolves.

Like the first time, just when Severus thought his potion had failed, the werewolves changed back into humans. There was a lot of cheering from everybody outside the cages. Thomson who had had no idea what had happened to him pointed at the cages and asked, "Are they going to be okay?"

Kingsley replied, "That is what happened to you last time also."

This time Poppy and Severus didn't wait until the morning when the moon would be gone and entered the cages right away to place the prisoners on stretchers and covered them in blankets before they tied them down magically. They levitated them in front of the fireplace in Severus and Bobbie's quarters and from there they Floo'd them to the infirmary first, since only Poppy's and Minerva's Floo's were connected to the Floo network outside of Hogwarts. Once there Harry, Ron and Neville said their goodbyes and Floo'd them to St Mungo's secure ward for prisoners.

The next one to leave was Hermione. She said, "Well I guess I better get home. My mother told me this morning that my father has a bad Flu and I was going to bring him some Pepperup." She turned to Poppy and asked, "Would it be okay if I steal one out of the infirmary since it is too late to go to the apothecary?"

"Of course, Hermione. We will ask Horace to make some more this week anyway," Poppy said.

"Professor Slughorn is making the potions now?" Hermione asked with a side glance to Severus.

"The easy ones. Severus is still brewing the difficult ones," Poppy replied.

Hermione grinned and looked at Severus, "I understand. I can see how busy you are and soon you will have a little girl to chase around on top of it."

Poppy gave Hermione a Pepperup and Hermione said her goodbyes and walked out of the infirmary to go to the Apparition point outside Hogwarts.

"Well, since Miss Granger was talking about how busy you are, you will be happy to know that your monopoly for the cure of the Cruciatus insanity went through. The papers arrived this morning. I will file them tomorrow and will owl you a copy. I hope you don't mind that I also applied for a patent in your name for the Muscle-Gro," Kingsley grinned.

Severus was stunned that he would do that for him. "I don't know what to say. I will certainly reimburse you for the cost of it."

"Don't worry about it," Kingsley waved it off. "I'll let you pay for the next one yourself and like I told you before, we'll get you with the taxes," he said and laughed good-naturedly.

He then looked at Thomson and asked, "You're ready?"

"I will in a moment." Thomson said and walked over to Severus and shook his hand with both of his, "Professor, I want to thank you again for curing me. I will never be able to pay you back and thank you enough. It is an honour having made your acquaintance." He then let go of Severus and walked up to Kingsley and said, "I am ready now."

They all said their goodbyes and then Kingsley and Thomson disappeared in green flames in the fireplace.

Severus checked his pocket watch and said, "Not even midnight. Turns out I could have worked tomorrow after all."

Minerva said with a smile and motioned to Bobbie's belly. "Enjoy it while you can. In a few months you will get enough sleepless nights."

"I keep hearing that from people," he said with a smirk.

"You'll see...," Minerva stated. "Anyway, I promised Filius I would let him know tomorrow how things went with the Lycanthropy cure since he and Hagrid couldn't be with us tonight. After all, we needed somebody who would be able to work tomorrow. I had no idea things would go that smoothly. I wager that he is still up, so I think I will stop by his rooms on my way. I will see you all some time tomorrow."

Severus, Bobbie and Poppy said good night to her and she swept out of the doors. Bobbie and Severus weren't too far behind her. On their way to the dungeons she asked him, "So, what will be the next move about that cure?"

"I think I will keep testing that potion and see how long it is viable. If I want to sell it, it has to have some shelf life. Nobody wants to buy anything that is useless in a few days."

"I can understand that."

Severus opened the door to their rooms and let her in first and then locked it after himself. Bobbie hugged him around his waist and looked up at him and said, "I am so very proud of you, Baby. You already cured three people with Lycanthropy. That is a magnificent accomplishment. Not to mention all the people who will be cured from the Cruciatus insanity. You are a wonderful man." She stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers and kissed him.

He buried his fingers in her hair and looked into her eyes and said, "I could have never done it without you."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything. I can't even brew a potion," she said shaking her head.

"That isn't what I meant. It is because of you that I even do these things. I would have never seen the worth in it. I had nothing to live for. I would have drowned in my own misery."

"Oh Severus, I may just nudged you a little in the right direction but everything you accomplished is all your doing."

"No! You give me your love, which is everything to me. I never knew what Albus was talking about when he said that love makes you strong. I always saw it as a weakness. I was wrong," he admitted and held her to him like his life depended on it.

After a while Bobbie struggled out of his embrace and took his hand and said, "Come, I can't wait for my wonderful husband to make slow and tender love to me tonight."

He led her to their bedroom and helped her out of her clothes and then lowered her down on their bed and did just that.