Tale of a Smart Witch: Rebrewed
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. Warnings: completely AU. Time travel.
Upon their return to the castle, where they had to report to Professor McGonagall to show that they were back, Hermione led Severus into the professor's guest room, which was her room for the duration of the summer.
"Severus, I have something very important to discuss with you," she said in a no-nonsense voice, causing the Slytherin to quirk an eyebrow. "Are you going to take the Dark Mark and become a follower of the Dark Lord?" she asked straight away, knowing from the future that that was what the Death Eaters called him.
Severus let out a long sigh. "You know, ever since you came here, everything is different," he began to reply. "Before I met you, I never had a friend, apart from Lily, but she stopped being my friend for some reason. Oh well, it was my fault. I called her something unforgivable, and as much as I tried to apologize, she did not accept it. And the other Gryffindors picked on me on a daily basis. When Malfoy told me about the Dark Lord and offered to introduce me to him, so that I could get his help against my enemies, I agreed." He looked at her, helplessly.
'What in the world am I supposed to tell him?' Hermione wondered, recalling how Severus had been a spy for the light side in the future.
She remained pensive for a moment, before Severus asked in a soft voice, "Hermione?"
'I can only tell him the truth, even if it's against the headmaster's wishes,' she finally decided.
"Severus," she turned to her friend, "you must not speak about this to anyone, but when I came here, it was not as an exchange student but by a time-turner accident. I came from nineteen years into the future."
Severus' eyes narrowed, as his thoughts seemed to go haywire. 'Oh Merlin, I hope he'll take it well,' she thought, feeling strongly reminded of her former Potions professor in her old time.
"That's where the Wolfsbane potion comes from," he finally said in a calm voice. "I know that there's no such thing in this time."
"Yes," Hermione agreed, smiling.
"But then we can't use that and try to improve it," he continued, his voice laced with anger. "Someone in the future should invent it, and we're going to prevent him from getting credit for his invention."
Hermione smirked. "As far as I know, it was invented by Damocles Belby, who received the Order of Merlin for it," she explained, faintly recalling having read that he was supposed to come up with the potion sometime during the next decade. "You're known as the youngest and best Potions Master since Salazar Slytherin though. If we manage to develop a cure for lycanthropy, we can still inform him about the matter, and the two of you may take the whole credit for it. I don't mind."
"Did I take the Dark Mark in your future?" Severus abruptly queried, quirking an eyebrow.
"You became a Death Eater, yes, but after something terrible happened, you changed sides and became a spy for Professor Dumbledore," Hermione informed him, looking at him in expectation to assess how he was going to decide. "If you wish to become a spy in the first place, we can go to see the headmaster together, and I can explain about your future activities," she then offered.
"Something terrible happened," Severus repeated, pensively. "And it was my fault?" He stared at the girl with his eyebrow raised.
"Yes," Hermione admitted. "You overheard a prophecy and reported it to the Dark Lord, causing two of our classmates to be murdered. You know," she continued in a lighter voice, "if it's not too late, I think you shouldn't take the Dark Mark at all. Don't join him at all, just keep away from him."
"I believe that it's too late for that," Severus replied, regrettably. "Malfoy has already spoken to him on my behalf, and if I refuse to join him at this stage, I'll surely be on his black list."
"Certainly," Hermione confirmed, letting out a deep sigh, before she added, "Being his follower doesn't mean power. It means being tortured by him every now and then because of failing him." Noticing his shocked expression, she suggested, "Shall we go and speak with Dumbledore then?"
Severus remained pensive for a few minutes, and Hermione was just about to get impatient, when he responded. "Please give me a few days to think about it."
"All right," she agreed, looking at him in concern.
HP
During the following two weeks, Hermione and Severus spent most of their time in the library, where they tried to develop the cure, before they explained what seemed to be a possible success to Professor Vector.
The professor took her time to study the recipe of the Wolfsbane potion as well as their method of Arithmancy to improve the potion as well as the varieties of changes concerning the ingredients, before she nodded in what seemed to be appreciation.
"This sounds very good," she finally said. "I suggest that you brew the first version and see if it works."
To Hermione's shock, Severus let out a snort. "And how, Professor, are we supposed to see if it works?" he asked in apparent disbelief. "It's not exactly as if we could infest some rats with lycanthropy."
The professor rolled her eyes. "I thought you had a friend who was a werewolf. Did you not ask him if he was willing to test any possible potion you might develop?"
"No Professor," Hermione spoke up. "I'm sure that Remus would be willing to test it for us, but we didn't speak to him yet, because we didn't want to get his hopes up. I'll write to him and ask…"
"No, you can't do that," Severus interrupted her, crossly. "What if our potion harms or even kills him? We must ask the headmaster to speak with his parents and receive their consent, before we can even think about talking to Lupin."
"Let's do that then," Hermione insisted, and the professor agreed and accompanied them to the headmaster's office.
Dumbledore, who was aware of Hermione's and Severus' attempt to find the cure, immediately invited Remus and his parents to step through the fireplace into his office, and thirty minutes later, a very excited Remus followed his classmates out onto the grounds for a walk around the lake.
"I can't believe you're investing so much time trying to help me with my furry problem," Remus blurted out, once they were outside the castle.
"It's not just to help you," Severus sneered. "If we succeed, we'll receive the Order of Merlin first class."
Hermione rolled her eyes at her Slytherin classmate. "Well, actually it was my idea, and I suggested it thinking of Remus and his illness," she corrected him in a firm voice. "I don't care about any reward."
"Thank you so much," Remus replied, smiling. "I'm also very happy to be allowed to stay at Hogwarts with you until after the full moon."
"Yes, it's good to have you here," Hermione agreed, smiling, feeling truly happy to have her long-time friend join her and the sometimes moody Slytherin at least for some time during the holidays.
HP
Knowing that the full moon was only three days away and that it would be better for Remus to take a possible cure a few days before the full moon, Hermione and Severus spent the afternoon in the Potions classroom to brew what they hoped would become the wolvescure potion. At the same time, Remus returned home to fetch his belongings for his one-week stay at Hogwarts.
After dinner, Hermione and Severus led Remus to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey administered the potion that was the first attempt of curing the boy from lycanthropy.
"Even if this potion works, which is highly unlikely," Severus told Remus, as soon as he had ingested the light brown liquid with apparent enthusiasm, "you must come back to Hogwarts for the next full moon, as we don't know if it's a permanent cure or if it needs to be taken on a monthly basis."
"Highly unlikely?" Hermione mouthed, giving Severus a questioning look, which the boy, however, ignored.
"I understand," Remus replied, glancing at the healer. "I hope that Professor Dumbledore will allow me…"
"Of course, the headmaster will have you come back to Hogwarts for the next full moon," Pomfrey interrupted him, seemingly excited like her patient. "Mr. Lupin, I expect you on the full moon at the usual time. I also hope very much that it'll work," she added, smiling.
HP
When Hermione walked to Severus' room for the holidays, which he temporarily shared with Remus, to fetch the boys for breakfast, Severus informed her that he would be away from Hogwarts until the weekend.
"All right but why?" Hermione asked in surprise. 'I thought he'd remain here with me during the whole holidays,' she thought in bewilderment.
"Malfoy asked me over, and since we've finished with the potion and won't be able to do anything else before knowing if it worked, I told him that I'd visit today after breakfast," Severus informed her.
Knowing that they could not talk about the matter with the Dark Lord, Hermione had to admit defeat to herself and merely wished Severus good luck, asking him to take care of himself.
"I will," he promised, seeming sincere.
HP
After accompanying Severus to the headmaster's office after breakfast, so that he could take the Floo to Malfoy Manor, Hermione and Remus went out to the lake to enjoy the beautiful sunshine of the summer day in early July. Somehow, Hermione felt as if all the energy had been taken away from her.
"Sorry," she apologized to Remus. "I'm just a bit beside myself. Until now, we spent every free minute working on our project, the cure," she added, "but now that it's at least at some stage of finished, there's just nothing to do anymore. Oh well, did you bring your school things? If so, we could perhaps begin with our summer assignments."
"I've already finished everything," Remus replied, smiling. "But I don't mind doing yours together with you. On the other hand, I can imagine that maybe you need a break. Why don't we ask Professor McGonagall if we may go to Hogsmeade for the day?"
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea," Hermione replied, smiling in anticipation. "I just hope she'll agree. Are you feeling well enough though, this close to the full moon?"
"I feel much better than usual," Remus replied, wearing a happy smile. "I think your potion cured me, even if we don't know if it's permanent."
"Oh, that would be so brilliant," Hermione said, happily. "Let's go and ask Professor McGonagall."
tbc...