Chapter Twelve: New Circumstances

When Severus heard that he had been bitten by the werewolf, he didn't know what to do. After Hermione ran from the room, he tried to breath, but found it was too difficult to. He screamed loudly in frustration until the nurses at St. Mungo's had been forced to put a silencing charm on his room and give him a throat lozenge of sorts. Hermione stood on the outside of the door, wondering what she was going to do.

When she no longer heard the muffled cries of him, she walked into the room, tears still staining her face. He had a calm expression on his face. One of both sadness and fear, but he wasn't as angry as he was earlier.

"Severus?"

"I'm okay." He said quietly.

"Are you?" She was at his bedside and she found his hand and gripped it tightly. "I'm sorry. I should have looked into the spell more. It only lasted barely ten minutes for you."

"No, this isn't your fault, and I will be fine in no time. As soon as the cure is made, I will be back to normal." Hermione immediately began to cry loudly at his bedside. Her hand was still clasped in his own and she was kneeling at his side.

"How am I going to do this without you?" Severus looked at her dumbfounded.

"I am just going to be gone during the full moon, Hermione, and besides, we will have another test subject." She shook her head somberly.

"The nurses say that you don't have the regular werewolf characteristics, and you symptoms are more similar to Charlie's." His pale face, paled further.

"How do they know?"

"I don't know, but they said they expect you to remain awake for, at most, ten more hours. After which, they will have to put you in an induced coma." Tears fell down her face in currents.

"I believe in you, Hermione," was all he said as he pulled her hand up and she raised herself up to his level. He reached forward with his other hand a gently caressed her face. It was wet with tears and her normally twinkling eyes looked sad and dull. "You are amazing. Of course you can do it alone." She hiccupped and he gave her a rare and seemingly true smile.

"I will try." Was all she could manage before he placed his fingers over her lips and whispered three words, she never imagined hearing coming out of his mouth.

"I love you." She unconsciously leaned in and placed her lips on his and kissed him tenderly, feeling for once in the last eight years, truly loved again. She knew now why she had been saved that night. Not because of logic, or because he simply admired her, but because he loved her.

He leaned back and held her hand silently for the next hour and half, before allowing sleep to claim him, for the last time until a successful cure was found.

Hermione left his side and immediately floo-ed to Hogwarts. She had to find a cure all by herself and she knew it would be difficult. She had to use all of her time wisely.

The very first thing she did was test the iron levels in werewolf blood. She was surprised to find that it was very similar to human blood. So similar, that it probably wasn't going to be necessary to add an extra agent to the lycanthropy cure for it to be stable.

She immediately began the process of testing all the possible ingredients, until she found the perfect combination of aconite and werewolf's blood.

Her research led her closer and closer to the cure, but she was losing days. She had only a few days before the next full moon, when she would test the potion on the unsuspecting Rupert Flemmon. She owled him and patiently waited for his reply, but it had yet to come.

When she saw a grayish owl fly into the room, she jumped from her chair only to realize that it was an owl from St. Mungo's. It had been a while since she had heard any news of Charlie's condition, and she supposed it was because it hadn't changed. She was now very worried to see what could have gone wrong. We she opened it, she nearly passed out, reading it.

Professor Granger,

Charlie Lupin is currently not doing very well. Unless you can have the cure ready in the next week, we are afraid that the spells protecting him are going to fail to soon and he will be lost.

Severus Snape also seems to be declining more rapidly than expected. We fear that he will soon be gone as well.

Matron Marlin

Hermione couldn't fathom less than a week to cure Charlie. She hadn't tested the potion and wasn't sure if she was ready to. She had the desired potion in mind and had it brewed, but was unsure of its effectiveness. She needed to test Remus first, but now that wasn't an option.

When she finally got the letter from Mr. Flemmon, agreeing to be tested she had to send a letter saying it was no longer necessary and that if the potion did indeed work, she would be happy to brew him some. In the meantime, she had to go by instinct.

AN: I hope you enjoy. Sorry it takes so long to update... don't give up on me.