Disclaimer: Not mine.
His Calling
Chapter 28
Bad Potions and Worse Friends
During the holidays, Remus stayed in his room much of the time. Unwilling to sit downstairs and try to be festive as his mother baked his favourite foods, and put cookies in tins for him to take back to the dorm. John had once again clearly told him that he was to stay inside and keep his mother company. It was doubly hard to stay in his room when the snow drifted on the ridge and knew how his sled would skim over the icy crust left by last night's drizzle. For the first time he looked forward to his transformation. With the potion he could run free here on the farm, not worried about being seen, not worried about the sounds of his howls reaching unwanted ears.
"Remus," Rhea called up the stairs, "get your coat on and get down here. We are going out."
He jumped up and grabbed his coat from the floor where he had thrown it, pushed his arms into the sleeves and thundered down the stairs. "Where are we going?"
"Does it matter?" Rhea grinned at him. "I haven't seen you move this fast all week, and put on a hat, it's freezing out there."
"Mum, come on," he whined. "At least give me a hint."
"Waterstone's, they are having a year end sale and I thought we may find something."
"Waterstone's?" He smiled widely and hurried to the fireplace. "I want a book on Cartography, and one of those Calligraphy sets, with water based ink, not like what we have, and …"
"Whoa," Rhea laughed. "I thought you wanted a book on making flies for John."
"That too. If he wants to learn how to fish for real, and not just for an excuse to talk, he needs one."
"That's going to rule out Waterstone's." Rhea frowned. "How about I take you to the used book store? We will try Watkins first and just go from there. Let's make a day of it. Only one stop on the way, then the day is free."
"Dad's book was by Ted Leeson. You think we can find one like what he had?"
"We can try. Men don't often sell their books on fishing until they are so old the pages are ragged, but we can look."
"Can we stop at the Ministry and see Moody?"
Rhea tossed him a knitted hat and pulled her own on as she considered what he had asked. "I don't think that would be a good idea Remus, maybe we can owl him and invite him to meet us for tea. I want you to keep away from the Ministry."
"Rhea?" John said from the kitchen door. "Moody is on suspension for a couple of weeks. He wouldn't be there anyway."
"What for?" Rhea puzzled.
"Some problem he had with Aberforth."
"Aberforth? Why would he have a suspension over Aberforth?"
"Something about contraband goods and serving under aged kids. Didn't sound like something he would do, but from what I hear Moody caught him dead to rights."
"Caught him," Rhea said nervously. "What are they going to do with him?"
"Nothing, seems Moody destroyed the goods and a good part of the Hog's Head while he was at it. Aberforth said if they don't press charges he won't either."
"He could do that? Against an Auror?" Remus asked feeling ill.
"Of course, being an Auror isn't licence to do what you want. There are laws protecting people against being unjustly accused and treated unfairly. At least it used to be," he muttered the last, looking at Rhea.
"Hurry up, Remus,' Rhea said, turning away from John. "There is a stop we are making before we get to the bookstores."
"Yeah, but…you know, Moody. Will he still be able to work? He thought with his wooden leg and all…"
"He is fine, just… don't bring it up with him. I think he is a little embarrassed about losing his temper."
"Yeah?" Remus felt his stomach roll. "What makes you think that?"
"He said something about telling you in his own good time," John said with a shrug. "Unless you know something else about…"
"No, nothing, nothing at all." Remus swallowed hard and turned back to his mother. "So…maybe we should be hurrying. You said we have to make a stop first, where?"
"Someplace you need to see." John slid on his coat and waked to the door. "I want you to meet a Dr. Gramm."
Remus hurried outside with his mother, not wanting the conversation to go back to Moody. He had to get in touch with Sirius, he thought. He stepped next to John as his mothers arm wrapped around his shoulders, keeping his eyes lowered and trying not to look guilty as they apparated away.
They landed between two buildings on what Remus was soon to learn was the campus of a university, situated in the heart of London. He clenched his jaw and shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling his anger start and the wolf begin to move.
"I don't need a doctor. I don't want…"
"Whoa boy." John grabbed his arm and held him still.
"Eyes down," Rhea whispered as she stepped closer, "hold your temper. He's not that kind of doctor. The Muggles use it the same way we use Master…sort of a title of learning if I understand it right. Dr. Gramm knew your Dad. He wants to see you."
"Knew him how?" Remus questioned, not quite believing the title of Doctor did not mean Healer.
"Remus," John interrupted, "your Dad, rightly so, was worried about how far you could go in our world. He wanted to make sure you had options and this was one of them. So do this for him. Not for me, not for your mother, but for him."
The rest of the morning, they spent walking through the campus and finding Dr. Gramm's office, where he was introduced to a short heavy-set man that promptly gave him a tour of the biomedical research department. All the while Remus was wondering what was going on. He nodded politely and looked into labs that both confused and thrilled him.
"Dr. Gramm?" he asked hesitantly. "What are they looking for?"
"Many things, Remus." Dr. Gramm smiled. "This area is for pure research. Steven, the one in the first lab we stopped in, is studying how certain chemicals damage DNA. Do you know what DNA is?"
"Sort of, but…not really."
"Then you would fit right it," Dr. Gramm chuckled. "The more we learn the more questions we have."
"Headmaster Dumbledore says a good education should teach us the questions and not the answers." Remus stopped and looked into the door's window of the next room. "What are they doing?"
"We test on animals." He looked at Remus from the corner of his eye. "It has to be done. We cannot very well give a patient a medicine with no idea of what can happen. Here we record the results of those in the test, and compare them to others that are given the old treatment, or medicine. The third group gets nothing at all."
Remus stepped back from the window and turned to Dr. Gramm. "What did you want to see me for?"
Dr. Gramm looked up and down the hallway before speaking. "I am a squib, Remus. Like you, I have no place in the other world. No one there would hire me, nor will they hire you. A long time ago, your father came to me, and asked if there was anything we could do for your condition. I will tell you the same thing I told him. The only thing I can offer you is a place in this University."
"I … I … don't …"
"I have spoken to your Headmaster and have learned your grades are quite high. If you keep them up and spend your summers studying … Muggle lessons… science and math, I will do everything I can to get you enrolled here."
"Here?" Remus licked his lip, confused at what Dr. Gramm had offered.
"We also have one more thing to do." Dr. Gramm began walking at a fast pace. "Your parents are waiting for us. I have some news about the potion you have been taking."
They made their way back to his office where Rhea and John sat waiting. When the door opened, Rhea stood and went to Remus, smiling thinly.
"Mum? What's wrong?" Remus said, seeing her face.
"Sit down," she said softly.
"Over here," John indicated the chair at the desk, opposite Dr. Gramm.
"I am afraid it is about your potion, Remus." Dr. Gramm sat down heavily. "The last lab we saw has been conducting experiments on some of the same ingredients in the potion you are ingesting. I am going to suggest you stop at once."
"Why? Madam Pomfrey says it's …"
"Madam Pomfrey can only check the short term effects, not the long term. The long term is not hopeful," Dr. Gramm said with a sigh. "Damocles, Damocles Belby is working on something right now that may be available soon. He is using a different strain of Wolfsbane. Aconite has over two hundred varieties, which he has spent years working to narrow down. The problem with the one you are taking is complex. However, if the test results we currently have are any indication it would be dangerous for you to continue."
"What about the amounts he has already taken?" Rhea asked nervously.
"One or two months would not contain enough to accumulate in his system. I am sorry, Rhea, Remus." He turned and looked at Remus. "This is what we do here. It is not as exciting as duels and wearing a fancy uniform at the Ministry, and here you must hide not only what you are but who you are. However, the rewards are worth it, Remus. You think about the offer and if you are interested you come back when you are done at Hogwarts."
"So, there is nothing you can do? You said when you contacted us that…" John started angrily, coming to his feet.
"No, I have taken the liberty of sending Madam Pomfrey certain … Muggle medicine… used for … anger management." Dr. Gramm ran his hand through his hair. "That medicine, combined with the sedatives she was administering before, adjusted to the correct dose, should help greatly. Remus, you will be less…anxious, less likely to feel the urges to harm."
"I don't know what the wolf feels," Remus said glumly.
"This may help with that. There is a small amount of … animal tranquillizer in the dose you will take just before the transformation. It should ease the pain a little, but not completely, and keep some of the wolf's mind … asleep."
"Doctor?" Rhea asked. "Can you increase the amount of the tranquillizer so he will sleep through the whole thing?"
"No," he sighed. "I am afraid that would calm the beast but could kill the boy on his retransformation. Rhea, I will ask you to write down who brewed the potion you purchased. If he is selling it to you I am sure…"
"I don't know," she bit her lip and looked at John. "I got it from that place in Knockturn, they said…"
"The one at the end of the alley? With the bat wings in the window?" John turned to her.
"Yes, I thought…" she stammered, dabbing at her eyes, "they said it was being used in Italy. I … John, it cost your whole savings and now we can't use it. I'm sorry… I just thought… just…"
"That is fine Mrs. Dawlish, you can't be faulted. However, I will visit them, without notifying the Ministry. If they stop selling the brew we will consider the matter closed."
"And if not," John said, "I will take care of it."
"In the meantime," Dr. Gramm said, standing up to signal the end of the meeting. "Save your money, Rhea. I am sure there are other ways to spoil the boy without wasting it on bad potions."
"They said it was safe, that they were using it in Italy, that…"
"I understand," Dr. Gramm said kindly, holding her back as John and Remus stepped into the hall. "Rhea, if he were older, full grown with no hope I would say take it. It would give him peace, but in the process slowly destroy what the wolf has not. Promise me now, promise me no more of this potion or he will be dead in a few short years."
"And the new potion?"
"It is not in the test stage yet. Once it is, it will go slowly, it is not a medicine that we can test daily. It will take years for it to meet approval. However, Remus is young enough to be here to benefit from it. If it works, if what I hear is true, it will ward off the early aging and he will have a full life."
.
.
.
After the holidays, Remus and the others began to make plans. They would map the areas they used the most, the tower and the shrieking shack first, and use the tracking spells John had taught Remus on their hunting trips. This way, by keeping the map handy when they were out, they could see if someone was coming too near and have time to hide, or sneak away.
Remus practiced with his new pens and ink, wanting to make the map more then just scratches on a piece of paper. Peter was assigned the job of running own the hallways, counting his steps as he went. They would then take the total and multiply by his stride to come up with the length. Drawing the map to map to scale, they kept running into inconsistencies.
"Do it again Peter," James said tiredly.
"I've checked three times. It's Sirius that's off, he never did get good grades in multiplying."
"No one did Peter," James said with a smirk. "They don't teach it here, you're just supposed to learn it."
"Ya know, my Dad's house has a passage behind the bookcase. I bet there are all sorts of secret passages and hidden rooms in this place. It's so old, there could be dozens." Sirius looked up from the map, brushing his hair from his eyes.
"We need to find them." James grinned. "Most of the places that seem off are down in the dungeons. I bet there are hidden stairs down there. How else would Slughorn manage to catch us so often?"
"Maybe, but I bet the Slytherins know about them," Peter muttered.
"Don't you go asking about them," Sirius said frowning. "They don't need to know what we are doing."
"I bet there is something in the library about the floor plan. You know, in all those History of Hogwarts books. Maybe not pictures, but in some of the stories," Remus said hopefully.
"We have to read?" Peter looked disappointed.
"It doesn't make your dick fall off ya know," Sirius snorted. "Anyway, that cute Ravenclaw girl is up there all the time."
"Which one?" Remus asked.
"Dark brown curls, legs that just keep going, and what an arse," Sirius sighed. "Daisy or something like that."
"Sullivan? She's a seventh year," James said with a smirk. "Daisy, it's Rose you idiot."
"I knew it was a flower," Sirius returned indignantly.
"I think if you call her Daisy she may take offence," Remus grinned. "Not a good way to pick up a girl."
"She may not let me touch but she can't stop me from looking," Sirius smiled. "Come on, Moony. Let's go read. It will look better if at least one of us knows where the books are kept."
"Wait," James shouted catching up. "Lily may be up there. I should go with you instead."
"Give it up," Remus laughed. "She hasn't talked to you in two weeks."
"How was I supposed to know she was so touchy?"
"Touchy? You said she stunk," Sirius sniggered.
"Did not," James pouted. "I just said her new perfume smelled like a wet dog."
"Yeah, don't know where she would get the idea you were being rude," Peter laughed.
"I don't get it," James mused as the four walked towards the library. "She likes that Snape guy but won't give me the time of day."
"She needs to stay away from that group," Sirius interjected. "From what I hear this new Voldemort fellow is targeting some of their families. That's what they call him you know, Tom Riddle is now Lord Voldemort."
"Targeting?" Remus stopped walking and stared at Sirius.
"Not that way, Moony. He wants the oldest families, the purest, the ones that know the dark arts to join him, he wants to build up a bigger army."
"Grams said there are as many in Ravenclaw," Peter shrugged. "She says he wants the ones smart enough to help with new spells and stuff."
"Well, Lily needs to know what's going on and stay away from Snape and that Mulciber he hangs around with," James said. "She seems to think it is just some sort of political group that wants to run things. Even with all the stuff in the papers she just… she won't believe it. She thinks Riddle is just a … thug."
"Yeah, I wonder where she is getting that from," Sirius sneered. "She needs to stay away from those Slytherins."
"Do you think it is all true?" Remus mused. "I mean, we all know the Prophet prints bull-shite anyway."
"It's worse than they put in the papers," Sirius said quietly, holding Remus' arm and keeping him back from the others. "Peter and James… well their families are in the thick of it, and mine… they are Blacks…enough said. But you need to talk to Moody if you don't believe us, or that father of yours. He's an Auror, he knows."