Hey everyone! I am so sorry it took over a week to update, I hit a bit of writers block concerning wrapping up the end of this story, but it's gone now (I think). Past three hundred reviews! I can hardly believe it! Thank you all, and hopefully you enjoy this chapter. :)

"Is it done?" Hermione asked hopefully as she watched Severus run the diagnostic spells that would tell them whether or not it would do what they hoped. "I know there isn't a reason why it shouldn't work, but I mean there could be an unforeseen complication, some reaction that we didn't think of; we have a couple ingredients that were never discovered before, there could be a hidden property that we didn't–"

"It works, Hermione," Severus cut in witheringly. "The results came back positive. It will hopefully do what we think it will, magically speaking it is what we need. We won't know exactly what will happen until we test it on the first person. If it doesn't alleviate the effects of the curse, it will do no more than cause a slight headache in the victim; that I am sure of, at least. We can try it immediately."

"I'll call Cosette and owl Healer Elfred, along with Harry. He'll want to be there."

"Of course," Severus replied stiffly. He still had no interest in seeing Potter again, in fact if he never saw the boy again it would be a lifetime too soon. Hermione ignored Severus's obvious dislike of the fact that Harry would be there, his girlfriend was currently being wracked by nightmarish Dark Magics; he deserved to be there to see if it worked, especially since it was him who told them of Lestrange.

Shifting closer to Severus, Hermione lifted herself on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek before she walked out. Severus watched her leave with a small smile on his face. He rather enjoyed how Hermione had no reservations with being close to him. If it had been left up to him, Severus doubted they would have ever gotten to where they were now. He still didn't know exactly what it was that they shared, but he enjoyed every second of it regardless.

Whistling tunelessly between his teeth, he started to ladle the silvery potion into individual flasks. He filled thirty-eight of them, and levitated them to the shelves. He would only need one vial today, as they would only be testing the potion on a single person first and then waiting another day to see if any unknown side effects appeared.

Personally, Severus didn't think that anything would go wrong with the potion. They had exactly what they needed; each ingredient's magical properties combated the certain symptoms of the curse. Whilst he knew the people who had been suffering for months would be more difficult, as the magic would have a stronger and deeper hold on their psyches, he knew it would work. He wasn't sure how much of the experience the patients would remember, but he was moderately sure it would come back to them with time if it wasn't immediately apparent, though, so short of Obliviating them all, Severus knew they would each have to deal with it on their own terms. The idea that it was all in their mind would help some, it wasn't someone projecting the fears at them, it simply magnified fears that they already knew existed, and had possibly already worked through.

"I just sent Cosette to St. Mungo's. I doubt anyone will tell us to hold off, so we should get ready to go," Hermione said as she came back to the laboratory. "Did you bottle everything?"

"I did, we are only trying it out on one patient today. I have two doses with me, as we will be trying it out on the first victim that was cursed. One dose may not be strong enough to combat months of being afflicted."

Hermione nodded. "This is it, Severus," she said quietly as she moved to stand by him. "This will tell us whether or not we've succeeded."

"It will. Don't start to question yourself now, Hermione. It is stable, and we have run every test imaginable. If it doesn't work, well, we'll have made progress nonetheless. Everything helps in potions making. Mistakes, discarded ideas, dead ends. Everything leads to a successful end. Don't worry," he added soothingly.

Hermione grinned despite her worry, it was rather uncharacteristic of Severus to comfort her. "I know." She turned to wrap her arms around him, pressing her face against his chest. "I can't help worrying though. I just – if this fails, I can't begin to imagine how we'd find something else."

"I'm beginning to understand it is pointless to tell you to stop worrying," Severus observed dryly as he wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"It took you long enough," she replied just as dryly. Severus smirked at her response; he really had rubbed off on her in some ways, he mused. She used to simply ignore his biting sarcasm, but recently she had been returning nearly as good as she got. It was highly amusing, to say the least, and Severus enjoyed the banter greatly.

Just then, Cosette flew into the room and landed lightly on the edge of the cauldron that had contained the potion. Severus noticed the bird, and nudged Hermione to turn around. Reaching out, she grabbed the note and gave Cosette a quick rub. She opened the note, scanning the few lines quickly. "We're all set. Elfred moved the first patient into a separate room just in case, and Harry is already there. The Floo's open, so we can go when we're ready."

Severus nodded briskly, and summoned the small folder that held the notes on the potion, along with two of the vials before following Hermione out of the laboratory. They reached the fire, and Hermione looked at Severus with wide eyed anxiety, biting her lip. Severus gave her the smallest of smiles before grabbing the small pot of floo powder, and throwing a handful in the fires. They stepped in together, and Hermione grabbed Severus's hand before the spun out of sight.

They landed in the office, and Hermione took a second to still her spinning mind whilst Severus carefully dusted himself off before turning towards the desk.

"Professor Snape, Professor Granger. Good to see you," Healer Elfred greeted as he stood to shake hands with Severus and Hermione. "I've put the patient in a separate ward on the other side of the main one, so you will have complete privacy and quiet if you need it."

Severus bit back a smirk at that; all they were doing was force feeding the patient a potion, and then writing down any changes they saw. He thanked the Healer gravely though, and followed him out of the office with Hermione trailing behind. Elfred led them into a room off to the side, and Severus took a quick note of what was in the room. The patient lay on the bed, restrained by thick leather buckles. He was thrashing and his mouth was open as he he were screaming; Severus assumed a silencing charm had been placed on the man.

Hermione walked up beside the bed, trying to calm herself as she looked at the terror-ridden person on the bed. He was thin, almost unbearably so, and there were dark blue bruises on the patient's wrists and ankles where they had strained against the leather holding them to the bed. The bruises looked worse due to the paleness of the patient, and Hermione felt a searing stab of pity at the pathetic sight. Tearing her gaze away from the bed, she looked at Severus questioningly.

"Write down the newest changes, and then we shall give him the potion," Severus said in response to Hermione's gaze. It wasn't necessary to write down how the patient looked, as it was merely more severe than the last time they had visited St. Mungo's. Nothing had changed, it had simply gotten worse, but Severus realised that the best way to keep Hermione from tearing her hair out in sympathy was to keep her busy.

Hermione pulled out some parchment from her robes, and a quill, and started writing immediately. Severus nodded briskly to the Healer, and he bowed shortly in response and walked out, closing the door behind him. Severus took out the flask and uncorked it as he sat down next to Hermione, waiting patiently for her to finish her writing.

"How will we get him to swallow?" Hermione asked briskly as she neatly folded the parchment and put it back in her pocket.

"You will have to massage his throat whilst I pour the potion down. Hopefully the body's base instincts will take over, and he will swallow. I don't know, exactly. Perhaps we should call the healer in to help us with this."

"That's probably best," Hermione replied thoughtfully. Standing up, she walked to the door before sticking her head and calling the healer to her. "We need some way to get the patient to swallow the potion."

Healer Elfred nodded quickly, and followed Hermione into the room. "There's actually a charm that causes the body to be calm enough to swallow for a few seconds," he said as he walked towards the bed. "It was developed a few years ago; the extensive waste of potions from people refusing to swallow and spitting it back out was too great, and we needed a solution. Where is the potion?"

"Interesting," Severus mused aloud as he handed the small phial to the healer. "It works over any magical enchantment to cause the body to swallow?"

Elfred nodded as he pointed his wand at the patient's throat, holding the flask above his mouth. He whispered a few words, and the patient's mouth went slack. Holding the jaw open, he poured the potion into his mouth, before closing his jaw and whispering a few more words. "There we go, he's swallowed."

"Excellent. Thank you, Healer Elfred," Hermione said. The healer nodded, and walked out again, closing the door behind him. Both her and Severus turned to look at the patient anxiously. The tension was palpable as they waited for the potion to take affect. The minutes ticked by, and Hermione scanned the victim for any signs of change with increasing apprehension. Feeling the worry she had been suppressing start to creep back, she gazed at Severus. "Why hasn't anything happened?"

Severus hid his fears behind his usual mask of cold indifference, and answered Hermione in a neutral voice, "Some potions take time to be fully effective. The patient is under a sleeping potion, as well, which means that what we will see change is next to nothing. The patient will have to wake up first."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded, returning to look at the bed. Suddenly, Severus stood up and took the patients wrist in his hand, his brow furrowed in concentration. Hermione leaned forward, and spoke hopefully, "what is it Severus?"

Severus didn't respond, focused on counting the pulse in the wrist. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat back down. "Pulse has lowered."

"How far is it from normal?"

"It is only slightly elevated, as if he had just woken up suddenly," Severus said evenly..

Hermione breathed in deeply, trying to calm her racing nerves, and went back to studying the patient. Scanning the body, she started to notice small signs of relaxation in the patient. The tendons that had been protruding from his neck weren't there anymore. The mouth was closed, and Hermione took that as a sign that he had stopped screaming. The constant dull rattling sound of the victim straining against the leather bonds had ceased as well, and Hermione looked at Severus, daring to let the hope back in her voice. "He's relaxing."

"He is," Severus said. "I want to try something once he is fully relaxed, though."

"What is it?"

"A complex branch of magic that doesn't have a name. It doesn't even have a book on the subject, just a slight mention of it. I have been working on the theory, and I believe I know how to do it."

Hermione looked at Severus curiously. "You're going to have to explain more."

"It's a very precise point of magic, where you focus mentally on the patient's mind. You 'feel' for the web of a persons magic, and thereby feeling for whatever hold something has on that magic. If we can get to that point, theoretically, we can help the potion untangle the threads of Dark Magic from the web of personal magic."

"It sounds like a lot like it has its roots in Legilimency, as it is a form of mental magic. So how are you proposing we do that?"

"Yes, you're right," Severus replied, sounding pleased. "It is based of the magic that Legilimency uses. It will have to be performed once the patient is more stable, due to the strenuous nature of the magic. In a few hours after the potion has done all it can do, we can try it. The potion should have released the Dark Magic's hold, but if anything, this method will confirm that."

"Well, just tell me when." Hermione stood up, and drew her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" Her silvery otter sprang from the tip of her wand, and skipped around her feet before running off to leap across the room playfully. Hermione watched her Patronus indulgently for a few seconds before sitting back down. "I figured it couldn't hurt," she said in answer to Severus's curious look.

The otter bounded over to the patients bed, and leapt onto the end before hopping back off. The patient gave a small sigh, and suddenly sank into the bed, all of the rigidity gone from his form. Severus found himself mildly impressed at the effect the Patronus had on the patient. "Your lead seems to have helped some."

Hermione offered Severus a small smile, feeling rather pleased with herself. "So it has! I can cast it again before we try your method; it couldn't hurt to have it around when we delve into the web of Dark Magic."

Severus nodded, and pulled out a piece of parchment, and a quill before proceeding to write down every small change that had occurred in the patient after ingesting the potion, and after being around the Patronus.

Hermione leaned back, her quill poised over the parchment she held on her lap, pausing every few minutes to write down the changes. Compared to how the victim had been an hour ago, the change was entirely favourable. He was completely relaxed, the painful-looking rigidity had completely left his body. Whilst he still had the gaunt look of someone who had been through something terrible, it wasn't as defined without the eyes open with terror, the whimpering, screaming and feverish muttering. Hermione felt the spark of hope in her chest growing stronger with every minute; it appeared the potion had done its job, but they wouldn't know for sure until the patient awoke.

Hermione had her gaze on the victim, watching for signs of awakening, when a thought struck her. "I haven't seen Harry yet, he's supposed to be here."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Go find him if you wish."

"I'll be right back." Hermione walked out quickly, and looked around the hallway. Finding no one, she headed towards the Healer's office. "Is Harry here?" she asked when she entered the office to see Healer Elfred sitting behind his desk.

The Healer looked up. "He's in ward six. I told him it was best not to interrupt yours and Professor Snape's work. It's just the down the hall, fourth door on the right. Everything alright with the patient?" Elfred looked at her searchingly. "I trust both you and Professor Snape to have done extensive testing on the potion to make absolutely sure that no harm will come to patient."

"Of course, Healer. We have completely tested every aspect of it, Severus really went above and beyond to make sure no part of the potion will have an adverse affect. If it doesn't work, the patient will have only a slight headache for a few hours. It is looking extremely favorable, though. We should know more in an hour or two," Hermione said respectfully before she walked out.

Heading towards the room the Healer had directed her to, she mused about what she would say to Harry. It wasn't fair, what he had said to Severus, and Severus didn't want to hear an apology. Actually, if Harry disappeared in Antarctica, he wouldn't be less elated. Sighing inwardly, she opened the door to ward six to see Harry sitting at Luna's bed, holding her hand. Hermione averted her eyes from Luna; the sight of the beautiful blonde girl's features twisted in a grotesque grimace was more than Hermione could deal with. "Hey, Harry."

Harry started and turned around, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't go to you and Snape sooner, the Healer told me it was best to leave you be. How is it working?"

Hermione felt a twinge of sympathy at the badly hidden note of desperate hope in Harry's voice. "It's looking very good Harry, but it's too soon to tell. I came to see how you were doing."

"Ah." Harry turned to look at Luna sadly. "As well as I can be. It's so hard, Hermione,"he said as his voice broke. "Seeing her like this."

Hermione moved to grab Harry, enfolding him in a tight hug. "I know, Harry. We've got it, I know we do. And if we don't, I swear that I won't stop trying to find a cure. I miss her too, you know."

Harry nodded, too busy with holding back the sobs that threatened break free to do much more than hug Hermione back tighter in response. They stood there for a few minutes whilst Hermione rubbed Harry's shoulder comfortingly. "I've got to get back to Severus," she said softly.

Harry pulled back and wiped his eye hastily. "I know. Does he still not want to see me?"

"No. But it has to happen sometime, Harry."

"I feel terrible. It just slipped out, I was so angry that someone would hurt Luna like that. I guess I just needed someone to blame," Harry said with a sigh. "It was so wrong of me and I need to apologise."

"Yes. You do," Hermione agreed, hiding the spark of anger she couldn't help but feel at the memory of the stupid things Harry said to Severus. "But when Severus will be ready, I don't know."

"I hurt him that badly?"

Hermione sighed. "He wouldn't want me telling you this, but it hurt him far deeper than you could possibly imagine. I have to go now." Harry nodded and gave her a quick hug before she left the rooms.

Hurrying back to the room with Severus, she tried to keep the hope from rising in her chest. She had been gone a little over half an hour, which meant that the patient should be close to waking up. Opening the door, she quickly walked through and took her seat beside the bed. "Any changes?"

"Minute, if any. Mostly just a far more relaxed countenance. Did you find Potter?" Severus asked stiffly.

"I did, he was with Luna. The Healer had told him not to interrupt us."

"Elfred is a smart man," Severus replied snidely. "The Dreamless Sleep has completely worn off by now, soon the patient will be stirring and hopefully wake up."

Hermione nodded, trying her best to contain her excitement as she sat back and waited. So far there was nothing to indicate the potion had failed. Looking around, she found the patient's medical chart and picked it up, suddenly remembering she hadn't even found out the poor man's name. It had never been told to her, and she had never asked. Jared Powell, age 34, height at 5 feet eleven inches.

Hermione was startled from her reading by a faint murmuring sound, and she jerked up. "Was that him?"

"Yes," Severus replied shortly, too intent on scanning the patient for changes to respond more eloquently.

"Is he waking?"

"I believe so."

Ahh...we're getting closer and closer...I have a feeling you all will mightily enjoy the next chapter.. *wink*