Thank you for following my story. If you, this far into the story, really don't like it, please read something else rather than posting pointless, negative reviews. Just leave it instead for those who like it. As always, I'm so happy for most reviews, but it only takes one hurtful one to put me off my writing and posting.

Kia

Sirius POW

At an early age Sirius learnt to make strategic choices, rather than emotional ones. With his dark upbringing but light school years, he is more than able to see the whole picture.

When he is calm. When his temper gets the better of him he is emotional, selfish, violent and reckless.

He has never felt so unsteady as he does now. He is not even sure what he feels. Anger? Oh yes. Fear? Undoubtedly. Guilt? Like boiling lead in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety? Like ants in his veins. Worry? Yes, worse than…

Where is Hermione?

He hears someone call her name, outside the dungeon they are in.

"Go, son," Professor Slughorn says.

The Professor leans against the wall with a grim expression. James and Lily sits curled up in the corner of the room. Remus… No, the Werewolf lies motionless on the floor. He breathes, barely.

"Can I get anyone, Professor?" Sirius asks. He doesn't recognise his own voice.

Professor Slughorn shakes his head before he lifts his wand, closes his eyes and conjures up his Patronus. A small, silvery fox, no longer than the professor's wand appears.

"Get Minerva," he whispers to the fox and Sirius watches it disappear through the wall.

Sirius collides with Severus in the door opening. He is prepared to bite back any tart comment from his Slytherin antagonist, but Severus mutters a low "Excuse me" and pushes past Sirius, back into the room. Sirius can imagine a number of unpleasantries to pass between James and Severus, but he can't stay. He doubts any of them will kill the other with Professor Slughorn present.

Where are you, Hermione? Why did Snivellus call after you?

The Gryffindor common room is empty. Sirius notices that it's just after one in the morning. He runs up the stairs to the boys' dorms, passes all the doors in a blur and stops in front of a mural. He mutters a password Remus has taught him, and the mural shifts into a tapestry. Behind the tapestry there is another, narrow flight of stairs, which leads to the upper floor where Remus and Hermione have their rooms.

The door to Hermione's room is locked. Not a sound is heard from within. He knocks hard on the door and calls her name, but it's still as quiet as a grave. Sirius is just about to turn around when he notices that the carpet outside the door is crumpled. It wasn't when Hermione and he left earlier. He closes his eyes and focuses on his canine personality, where his senses of hearing and smell are tuned finer and even blocks the disturbing taste of blood in his mouth.

She is here. I can smell her. I can smell her fear and guilt. And I can smell Lily's blood.

A very low crying sound penetrates the silencing spells when Sirius listens like a dog. He knocks again, harder, bangs his fist against the hard oak.

"Open, Hermione! I need to see you. I need to see that you are…"

He is about to roar "OK" but stops himself.

"I need to see you. Please."

Nothing happens.

"I will take down your silencing spells and kick in the door if I have to. Open up now!"

With shaking fingers he draws his wand, still warm from the gruesome metal rings he conjured up to keep the Werewolf on the floor, and begins to take down the silencing spells he knows she is most likely to have used. He can hear her crying louder and roars to her to open again. When she doesn't he kicks the door, as hard as he can, but the dark oak doesn't budge an inch.

"Alohomora," he mutters with his wand trained at the lock, and without any real conviction. Hermione would never lock her door with such easy mechanisms. He tries to reason with her through the thick wood.

"Go away!"

It's weak and shaky, but it is her voice. His mind goes blank, no Black.

"Bombarda!"

When the smoke clears the resilient oak door lies splintered in pieces, its hinges glowing.

Hermione sits straight up in the bed, eyes wide open and red-rimmed.

"You bombarad my door?"

He is beside her and tries to touch her. She recoils.

"I'd blow up the whole fucking castle if I had to. Why did you run?"

She faces him from the other side of the bed, keeping a few feet between them.

"Oh, Sirius, why do you think? I can't stay. I have to leave. I can never see Lily in the eye again. Or Remus. Where is the Time Turner? Give it to me! I can't, I can never do what Minerva told me to do. I was to save Lily, not risk her life."

Sirius lunges at her, and throws his arms around her before she has a chance to pull away. He holds her hard against him and growls into her hair.

"No. I will not give you your Time Turner. I will not let you leave. You did save Lily. You have made progress. Remus agreed to be your lab rat. Slughorn was there. I was there. No one is blaming you."

"I do."

"Don't. It was an accident. We are all to blame. But I can't let you leave. You gave me your word you wouldn't leave me. Remember?"

"Yes," she sobs, "but why would you want me here? I almost got one of you best friends killed. I feel so guilty."

"We all do, love. But no one is blaming you, it's not your…"

A knock on the door, no, the doorframe, makes Sirius's head snap up. Severus Snape stands in the opening, looking down on the pile of splintered wood and shaking his head.

"Ever heard of knocking, Black? Or take "no" for an answer?"

Sirius can feel himself baring his teeth, in a canine anger, but before he can either growl or curse Severus speaks in his low, slow voice. His calm demeanour makes Sirius itch with rage and he holds Hermione as close as before.

"Black is right, Hermione. No one blames you. Personally I blame Slughorn. He should never have agreed to such a dangerous experiment inside the castle, not even on the grounds. You just can't help yourself, I guess. You just need to go for lost causes, like saving that freak of both a man and a Werewolf, Lupin. So very muggle, Hermione."

"So very decent, Snivellus," Sirius growls.

"I'm not speaking to you, fleabag. Can't decide whether you want to lick, bite or do any other canine, disgusting thing to her, can you? Keep you muzzle closed. Dog slobber leaves such nasty stains."

Severus comes closer and sits down on the edge of the bed. Sirius pulls his feet away, wanting as little contact as possible with the other man.

"What are you doing here?" he snarls.

"Not speaking to you, Black. If you need to play watchdog and she doesn't mind I'll try to endure your presence. If you down whine or howl."

Sirius can feel his arms around Hermione shake with restrained and angry humiliation. Only Severus can provoke him like this, with his calm drawl, knowing exactly which buttons to push to make Sirius do something he later regrets. But Severus won't provoke him more tonight. Severus acts as if Sirius isn't there at all. Like a person who doesn't like dogs behave around dogs.

"It wasn't your fault, Hermione. Slughorn knows well enough that Lupin is the most dangerous Werewolf for miles. Trying to be domesticated. Tsk! In areas with Werewolves people keep their doors locked during the full moon, and the monsters can't attack them. But here, we keep him inside, when we instead should let him roam the Forbidden Forest. There are enough creatures there to keep him in check."

"But he could get hurt," Hermione whispers.

"He could get killed," Severus says calmly. "I know I wouldn't miss him. Stop growling, Black. But, even if I really don't understand why you are so set on saving him, I can see the larger picture. We've spoken about this before. The whole population of Werewolves that would be bound by law to subject to treatment. Avoid the transformation, the loss of mind, the blood-thirst. They could contribute like the rest of us for a larger part of each month and, most of all, people, normal people, would not be at risk. The Ministry would have to keep records of all infected individuals, and if there were new attacks in their immediate neighbourhood the Aurors and magical gamekeepers all over Britain would know where to search. It could even be illegal not to submit to treatment."

Fuck, he sounds sane. Not the keeping-records-thing, but the larger picture. This isn't about Remus, even though we need him to test the potion again and again and again.

"But we're not going to use Lupin anymore, Hermione." Sirius wonders if Severus can read his thoughts. "The next full moon we'll ask Hagrid to magically fence in a few real wolves in the Forest."

"We?" Hermione whispers.

Severus almost smiles.

"Yes, we. I've begun analysing the last of your potion. I think the rowan bark needs to be removed. I also have some other ideas. Will you come down and help? Discuss? Think outside the box? I'm sure we can have a sample ready in a month. Given to the wolves they ought to be able to obey as well as reasonably clever terriers, and be uninterested in bloody meat. You can bring the dog here if you want. He can advise us on mouth-watering smells for canines, if your presence doesn't confuse him too much."

Hermione reaches out and takes Severus's hand in her. Sirius cringes when he sees his long fingers curl around Hermione's blood-stained hand.

"You'll help me?" she whispers.

"Yes."

"But why?"

Severus leans back against the bed poster.

"Apparently my project is done. Tonight proves the formula for my salve and the concentrated essence work. I really wish the circumstances for the empirical test would have been different, but no one is more grateful than I that it worked. Now I'd like to work with something that might make my formula less needed. Mastering and conquering the Werewolves."

He could very well have said "taming." But that is not what he wants. He wants to conquer.

Hermione disentangles herself from Sirius's arms and stands up.

"Now?" she asks.

"Why not?" says Severus. "Sunday tomorrow. Or already."

Sirius sits stunned and watches Hermione and her damn potions colleague climb over the pile of splintered wood, away from him. If this is a nightmare they will leave him without a backward glance. Then Hermione turns to him.

"Coming?"

Sirius nods, at loss for words.

"Maybe you should work on your carpentry skills first. If you have any." Severus looks down on the oak, which is nothing more than firewood now. "You know where the Potion Room is, but fix the bloody door first."

Hermione gives Sirius a look he can't decipher. He knows she can work well with Severus. And he knows that Severus is very talented in Potions. A lot better than Sirius himself. And Hermione really needs a door.

"I'll be down later. To help, if I can."

When Hermione and Severus are just out of sight he thinks of something.

"Cinnamon!" he calls after them.

Severus surprised face appears in the empty doorframe. He looks at Sirius as if he were mad.

"What?"

"Cinnamon. I like… dogs like the scent of cinnamon. Not too much, just a hint."

"Won't it alter the taste?"

"Scent is more important than taste. Canine-ly speaking."

"Thank you, Black. I'll bear it in mind."

When the upper floor of Gryffindor tower is empty except for himself, Sirius goes in search of wooden objects possible to transform into a door. In a cupboard at the end of the corridor he finds several discarded picture frames. Absent-mindedly he transforms them into a door of the same size as the former, and fastens the hinges with some magic and a little more violence than is actually needed. He knows the spells, but he needs to bang something.

Later he goes down to the Potions Room. The door to it is open and spicy scents hang in the corridor. Silently he creeps close to the door and eavesdrops. Hermione and Severus are so boringly academic Sirius yawns, despite the adrenaline shock he suffered earlier.

After a long silence Severus asks Hermione a question in a completely different tone than before.

"Where would you go?"

"Excuse me?" she asks back.

"Earlier. You told Black that you would leave and he almost wet himself in fear."

"I can't talk about that, Severus. I overreacted. I won't leave."

"What the hell do you see in him, Hermione? He's old money, mediocre magical skills and an inclination for doglike behaviour."

Well, thank you Snivellus, you fucking bastard!

Hermione doesn't really answer and she says nothing to object to Severus's view on Sirius.

"Maybe what you see in Lily, Severus. Something that isn't obvious to everyone. But something that I, or you with Lily, can't fight. It might be love, might be obsession, but I could never leave. I think you know what it's like."

There is a long silence before Severus speaks again in his dry academic voice.

"Black mentioned cinnamon. Do you think he was serious about that?"

"If it has to do with this potion and helping Remus he certainly was. Don't be so hard on him, Severus. Not while we work on this. You can pick up your fight where you left it after we have found the perfect formula."

Severus sighs but doesn't answer.

Two months later, in the thin darkness of May, Sirius, Professor Slughorn, James, Peter, Lily, and Hagrid watch an agility show with adult wolves in a moon-lit clearing in the Forbidden Forest. Hermione and Severus uses broccoli as treats and the large canines are as obedient as reasonably clever terriers, just like Severus predicted.

Hushed "wows!" and bright smiles serve as applause, and Professor Slughorn gives a little speech about how promising the formula seems, and congratulates both Hermione and Severus on their result.

"Professor Slughorn, would you like to test something?" Severus asks and the professor nods enthusiastically.

"In that box, but the large beech, is some raw meat. Bring it and open it with an Alohomora. Then try to lure one of the wolves to you. I'll keep my want trained at him if he would misbehave."

They all watch Professor Slughorn's movements, and he easily gets the attention of one of the larger wolves.

"Come on, boy! I have something for you. Come, come!"

Sirius can see that Professor Slughorn is quite a dog person, the wolf's interest is piqued by his soft voice. When the wolf is just next to the magical fence Professor Slughorn offers him a piece of raw beef. The wolf smells it, licks it and then turns away.

A Wolfsbane Potion as good as Damocles's lost formula is created. When tested on Remus it limits his transformation; still wolf-like, but not as pronounced. The blood-thirst is gone, replaced with some anxiety, which is treatable with Dreamless Sleep Potion. Remus sleeps through the full moon. When he wakes he is groggy, hungry and have a few aching muscles, but he is himself.

Professor Slughorn immediately wants to start producing the potion on a larger scale, and sell it under his own brand: Apothecarium of Horace E. F. Slughorn. He is prepared to give all credit for the potion's complex recipe to Hermione and Severus, but both tries to slow him down.

Hermione doesn't want her name to be on a commercial product, even though it is medicinal.

Severus has different reasons for his hesitation, but just as strong. Sirius listens when he explains to Professor Slughorn. They are all in the Potions Classroom on the last day of spring term. The Hogwarts Express will leave for London in a few hours.

"It's not that I don't trust the potion's effect. It is as good as it can possibly get at repressing the infection. But who in Britain would buy it, Professor? There aren't that many Werewolves like Lupin, if any. Werewolves that actually don't want that transformation and the pleasure of satisfying their thirst. What I suggest is that we hold on to this formula until the Ministry has agreed on a policy for controlling the Werewolves, and then we sell it to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They will pay and the potion will be used in a controlled and efficient way."

After some debating this, Slughorn agrees and turns to Hermione.

"What do you think, Miss Granger?"

"I don't want any business with the Ministry. My reasons for my research was primarily Remus, and then I hoped someone like you and Severus would make it accessible for others. If a Werewolves Policy by the Ministry is what it takes, I'm sure you can handle it."

"But the money, Miss Granger? There is money to be made here."

Sirius glances at Severus to see if he looks as exited at Professor Slughorn at the thought of money, but Severus looks just as unimpressed as usual.

"Then I trust you to use such a profit wisely and develop other potions the magic population of Britain needs. I realise you need to register this potion, and probably take out a patent in your name, both your names, but as long as I am allowed to brew this potion, and teach Remus and my friends to brew it, I don't need to be in the picture. I wouldn't have done it without you, Severus. Thank you."

Severus gives a little bow and a weak smile. Hermione continues.

"And I would also like your word that any of you will brew this potion to Remus if I'm not around, and make him take it. A Werewolf, even one as… as reluctant as Remus feels anticipation just before the full moon. If he is by himself he is not likely to take the potion, even if he has it, or has the possibilities to brew it."

Severus frowns but says nothing. Professor Slughorn easily agrees.

Salazar's cursed emeralds, you are a greedy man, Horace. I know you're not exactly poor, you have a vault full of gold and dubious artefacts at Gringotts, but you can't get enough, can you?

But Severus, you are poor. I've seen your patched robes and cloaks, and your second-hand books, cauldron, bags, everything second-hand. Why don't you cheer and starts planning a brighter future? I always thought it was envy that drove you. I thought you wanted to be, no to have what I have. More money than I could ever spend. But I was wrong, obviously.

When they leave the Potions Classroom Professor Slughorn starts to chat to Sirius about his brother Regulus.

Sirius has not spoken to Regulus for more than a year. What he knows about his brother's business is purely from other people. Regulus is seen with members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and he is pro a strong Ministry. A controlling Ministry with its nose in everybody's business, not unlike what Severus wants.

"My brother and I don't really see eye to eye, Professor. I heard he was going to the sea, somewhere along the south coast this summer. Apparently he needs to bring our House-elf, Kreacher. I really don't keep track of him. Politically our differences are too large for such a detail as blood to unite us."

"Well, give him my best if you see him, Sirius. Now I must rush."

They all do. The Hogwarts Express waits for no one.

They have all been wrapped up in the research for the Wolfbane Potion during the spring. Sirius and James have worked hard at Auror training. The Ministry has suggested a new curriculum and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has approved it with surprising speed. It means a shorter summer holiday and harder training, but Sirius and James will be qualified Aurors at the end of the year.

Sirius glances at Peter who sits across him in the train compartment. He is worried about his friend. Peter seems withdrawn, hasn't come to Hogwarts very often. Peter says he is busy, taking care of his mother and minding a small Owl Post Office in Wales, but Sirius isn't convinced. He feels he, and James and Remus too for that matter, has neglected their friend. What would they have done without Peter's petite Animagus form during their school days? So many of their adventures, including keeping Remus in check during the full moon, would never have been possible without Peter. Sirius guesses Peter is jealous. James has Lily and Sirius has Hermione. Who wouldn't be jealous? But he has convinced Peter to come with them all to Godric's Hollow, and stay for at least a week.

Sirius takes Hermione's hand and looks out the window. The soft slopes of north England are so much greener than the craggy mountains and dark forests of Scotland. He can't believe how lucky he is. The year has passed in a blur of hard work and worry about the Wolfsbane Potion, but now they are suddenly on the brink of summer again, and she is still with him. Still his. He leans into her and whispers in her ear.

"Tonight there will be just the two of us in my uncle's cottage. I haven't been so alone with you for months."

"Weren't we alone last night? In my room in Gryffindor Tower? Don't tell me anyone else was there?"

"No, no. Not in your room, but across the corridor. Lily and James had a guest room, and so did Peter."

"But I locked the door, I'm sure I did."

He can see that she will start to giggle any second.

"But tonight I will have you all to myself in my… in our cottage. I hired someone to clean it for us."

"Mmm," she approves. "And what are your plans for such a secluded place, Sirius. With no one next door?"

Sirius leans in and nibbles the shell of her ear. He feels how difficult it for her to sit still.

"I will make you make those sounds that turn me on beyond my sanity," he whispers and delights in her low gasp and blushing cheeks.

Thank you for reading. New chapter under editing.