Tonks wasn't talking to him, at least not since yesterday. To be partially fair, he wasn't talking to her either. Remus Lupin wondered how anyone could have a real future with him. Being a werewolf meant you were the very definition of undependable. For a few days a month, you were dangerous, even for your friends.
Remus looked down at the coarse fabric of his pants. Tonks was wonderful and she deserved better. She was amazing, and she could do so much better than to live with a well worn werewolf. Their child deserved better, and Lupin just wasn't capable of giving them all that they deserved. The thought of transitioning into a werewolf with a vulnerable infant in the house sent a cold chill down his spine.
Thinking that way felt as if he'd had his monthly transition, only separating from Tonks was different. He often scratched himself as he transitioned back into his human form, but pushing Tonks away tore deeply at his heart. Unlike his usual scratches and cuts, this feeling lasted for days.
Remus told himself that stepping back was for the best as he scribbled a note on a scrap of parchment. Just because they weren't talking was no reason to be inconsiderate.
T.
The director of magical research wants to see me. We're meeting with the Werewolf Liaison Office. I'm not sure why.
I'll let you know what I learn.
R
He took out his wand and copied the parchment. Remus summoned their owl and sent the original note to Tonks. He put the copy of the note into his pocket. He'd send the copy to Hermione through their magical mail system when he was at the ministry of magic. Hermione had asked about bringing more of the Weres into society. It felt like everyone was desperate for some good news these days.
He checked his watch again and decided he had enough time. He and his parents had hoped for a cure for his lycanthropy so many times before. It was hard to feel any enthusiasm, but finding a cure was more important than ever. He now had connections to this world, and that made walking away from your friends difficult. He knew they were very good friends.. and very cute connections if he listened to his heart.
Remus Lupin smiled as he thought of Tonks. She still did that to him even though they were in the middle of breaking up.
He apparated to the transfer point near the ministry. Remus stumbled from the pad and headed to the employee canteen to have a cup. He had time before he headed downstairs to meet with Saul in the research department. Apparating always put him on edge and he wanted a calm head before this meeting. Maybe a warm cup would help calm him down. At least that was the plan.
He thought as he walked through the familiar halls and lifts. It took a stout heart to work in magical research. It was frustrating work even if you were brilliant, and some of them were arguably every bit of that. You should count yourself lucky if one out of a score of your ideas actually worked the way you expected. At a fundamental level, magic could be complicated.
The hot tea calmed his nerves, but he left the half-full cup on the tray. He walked on to his appointment even if he was a few minutes early. He hesitated only a moment before knocking on the door. Saul was in his office, and so was the director of the liaison office of magical creatures.
Saul spoke first. "Mister Lupin, it's good of you to come. I've been meaning to talk with you for some time. Another one of our experiments failed and it opened a surprising new line of treatment for lycanthropy."
Saul showed his usual disarming enthusiasm. Remus looked up and didn't say anything. The look on his face said everything. They'd been struggling to refine wolfsbane potion for years. Frankly, the results were disappointing.
The director interrupted. "Remus, we have an experiment we want you to try."
The director had come directly to the point. Now Remus knew why they'd owled him. "What are you trying this time?" he asked.
Saul spoke. "That depends. Do you want the short answer or the long one?"
Remus didn't need to look at his watch. "There are ten days until the next full moon. Does that give you enough time?"
The three of them chuckled, but the Director of the liaison office went first.
"The long answer then.
"They were studying seasonal depression, the way we become moody and less energetic during the winter. I suffer from it myself. One of Saul's researchers wondered if we could bottle the spirit of sunshine and take it during the winter to apply a magical cure. That worked a bit, but a muggle treatment of using a sunlamp turned out to work better."
Saul took over. "At first we were conducting the experiments during the winter in the extreme polar regions. They have several months without daylight. One of our technicians is a Were, and she noticed a strong reduction of her monthly symptoms. She stopped transitioning in mid-winter. We theorized that it was because the sun never rose above the horizon even though she saw the full moon.
"We tried to verify this by sending a volunteer to the summer pole where the full moon would never rise. His symptoms stopped as well."
Remus thought there had to be more to it than that. He sat back in his chair. Was this their solution, to send him off to the north pole?
"So, I can go live at the pole in the summer or winter, but what about the spring and fall?" Remus asked.
Saul came around his desk to stand directly in front of him. "That is the best part. We now think that lycanthropy depends on both the monthly lunar cycle and the daily solar cycle. It isn't just the moonlight or sunlight, but their alternating periods. Without them, lycanthropy loses its potency after a few days."
Remus blinked. "That is great news, at least I think it is."
He thought of the cold drizzle that had left the streets and alleys slick for the last few days. "Are you asking me if I'll take reassignment to the arctic?"
Both of the ministry officials smiled.
Saul said, "Thank you, but we've already had volunteers try that, and it seems to work."
The director was standing close to him and touched his shoulder to get his attention. "We have something else in mind for you.
Saul explained. "We developed a pair of competing potions. One acted as the magical essence of the sun and the other acted as the essence of the full moon. Originally, we gave them to people who were suffering from jetlag, people who couldn't fall asleep at night. We'd like you to try and take them both together. It is like saturating you with sunlight and moonlight at the same time."
The liaison director spoke with excitement. "Don't you see, the potion confuses your body into thinking it is at one of the poles when there is no day or night. So far, it has suppressed the monthly expression of lycanthropy!"
The director lowered his voice and slowed down. He was trying to reassure him. "This time, you're not one of the first test subjects.
Remus felt restless. "That makes sense, but why me?"
Remus spoke to Saul, but it was the liaison director who answered. "We'd like you to try and take this compound potion for only two days before the full moon and only for a total of four days."
Remus wondered if that was all they wanted. "Would the effects accumulate? I mean, would it become harder and harder to suppress the wolf day after day, month after month?"
This time it was Saul who put down his academic bearing and spoke with barely contained excitement.
"Remus, I know we've disappointed you before. Our preliminary tests show that the very opposite will happen. If we can suppress the expression of lycanthropy for several lunar cycles, then we think that the cycle will permanently decrease. The lycanthropy forgets what time it is."
"So, this is a cure?" Remus asked.
Both men stepped back slightly and the director put his hands up. Saul spoke for them both.
"It is a treatment, but I'm hesitant to call it a permanent cure. We don't know how long the lycanthropy stays dormant. There could be other spells or potions that could reactivate the lycanthropy later. We're still testing that, and so far it behaves like a cure."
The director picked up the story. "This is why we're so encouraged. A Metamorphmagus or an Animagus becomes a wolf without it causing the same reaction as lycanthropy. We're hoping that even if you again become.. sensitive.."
It was clear that the director was choosing each word with caution.
"..that the transition would leave you in control of your mind."
Remus turned away for a minute. This was a lot to take in, particularly after all those years of false cures and false hopes. Even a partial cure would be amazing. It was almost beyond belief.
Could a preventative really be that easy? They simply mixed two potions together and that was enough to suppress becoming a werewolf every month? He knew that it was difficult to develop compound potions that were both chemically and magically compatible, particularly if the magical components were antagonistic. And even if he became a wolf sometime later, he'd never again become the mindless beast!?
The doubt must have shown on his face.
Saul continued. "Mister Lupin, you were a professor. Did you ever think to combine two opposing potions and then test them to see what they would do to Weres?"
Remus thought for a minute. Just because the potion was relatively simple didn't mean it was either obvious or a stupid idea. They'd already said they'd had good results with other Were volunteers.
"I'll try it," he said.
Remus was looking down at his worn shoes as he thought. It took the two officials a moment to understand what he'd said even though the words were both clearly enunciated and more than loud enough to hear.
Remus felt like he'd shouted his decision with enough volume that they could hear him all the way up to the Aurors offices several floors away. In fact, the answer only sounded that loud inside his head.
The director said, "We'd like you to think it over and form a reasoned opinion of the risks and liaison director didn't expect an answer this minute. The Aurors office was used to his days off at the full moon anyway, though usually it was the first few days after the full moon when he needed time to rest and recover.
Remus stood and looked directly at both men. "I'm done considering it. When can I try?"
Saul smiled and shook Remus's hand. "When would you be available to start? I assume you have your support network in place if you go through the transition into a wolf for the first few cycles?"
"I do," Remus said. "I'll tell her today. The next full moon isn't for 10 days. I only have to take the potions for two days before and after the full moon. I'm sure I can do that. I'll need more details."
His mind begged for the details, but his heart wanted to leave and tell Tonks. He stopped himself before he made the first step toward her office.
"Does your new brew have a name?" he asked.
Saul and the director looked at each other as if negotiating who would explain. Saul held up his hands and the director nodded.
The director said, "It does. We called it Project Hope, and we've been calling it Hope's brew."
The name took Remus by surprise. "Hope was my mother's name," he said.
The director inhaled as if to speak. He remained silent and stopped to wipe his glasses before he finally lifted his head and looked at Remus.
"I.. I know. One of the laboratory technicians was a friend of your mother's. A childhood friend.
"Hope lives, my friend. Hope still lives."
Remus had to swallow before he could say anything. This was important. More than his life could change. It was his life with Tonks and the family they could make. Wasn't this awesome news? He could be a normal wizard again! At least normal enough.
A thought struck him. "What do the weres think of this," he asked?
Both of the ministry officials visibly relaxed now that he'd said he'd participate in the tests. Saul went and sat behind his desk while the director nodded. It was the director who took up the question of the packs.
"A few dislike it, but most are eager to try. We wanted you to try it first because the packs might believe you where they wouldn't believe us."
Remus heard some of what wasn't said. Even if the potion worked reliably, some of the Weres wouldn't like a cure if it weakened their pack. Maybe this potion wasn't perfect, but it might be good enough to give more weres the choice to rejoin the larger society. Some of the pack leaders would feel that as a threat.
Remus found himself lost in thought.
"Right. Ah, so, I'll see you here three days before the full moon. Can you send me home with four days' worth of potions?"
He was getting ahead of himself. There were those details again.
Saul answered. "We could give them to you now if you want to take them with you."
"No. No, I want you to explain this to a friend of mine. She needs to hear it too when I come back in a week.
"If that's what you want. We'll see you in a week then. Thursday at 11."
They said their farewells, but Remus barely heard them. His lupine hearing was acute but he wasn't listening. For the first time in ages, Remus Lupin looked forward to the next full moon.
He couldn't wait to tell Tonks. He walked quickly to the lifts that would take him up to the Aurors' offices.
They would be halfway home before he remembered the note in his pocket.