Chapter 11 - Sometimes life is a calculated risk.
December 21, 2005

Eglantine had made a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. A tea kettle, charmed to stay the perfect temperature, was waiting on the burner. Severus quickly enlarged some of the temporary partitions they'd had brought, always handy in case one needed to create sterile or protected spaces for particular components, and they separated the cooking space from the dining space. The dining area was an adequate, if not ideal, location for a field laboratory. He had covered the table with an acid and fire proof cloth, and three cauldrons were preheating while he laid out their instruments and phials of various ingredients.

"Sev," she said quietly, "the kid looks in pretty rough shape. We may need to put him in a potion induced sleep for a while, even if it's mentally and emotionally taxing. There's a reason militaries use sleep deprivation as a form of torture, he can't keep going like this."

"Yes, I am aware," he said, sounding gruffer than he'd intended. He'd spent so many hours with this young man, coaching him in the finer points of upper class wizarding society as well as how to maintain your composure and your wits at the dining tables and back rooms where most international business and politics actually occurred. He'd been convinced of Gareth's ability to pull it off, certain that a Slytherin-like streak of vengeance and ambition would hold him steady as he wrested his father's company back from the Death Eaters that had infiltrated it. But perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps he'd expected too much. And it galled him to think he might have been wrong. It happened so rarely. "We will collect blood samples first," he said, looking over their notes. "And rule out any lingering traces of potion. Then perhaps conduct allergy tests for the ingredients of Somniafuga and the Dreamless Sleep Draught."

He glanced over and found her studying him, brows knit together. She'd be able to tell he was worried. She could always tell. It was a relief or an annoyance, depending on his mood. Today he leaned towards annoyance. He'd spent over thirty years of his life successfully hiding his real feelings from everyone, and only in the last eight found his armour pierced. First Remus' wife had insisted on treating him like an ally, even when he'd done all he could to make himself appear an enemy. Then Lina had shown up and walked with him into the hell of the Dark Lord' inner circle, despite his best efforts to keep her at bay. And now this, admittedly clever, but far too pushy American, had become…something. Something he intentionally didn't spend time analyzing.

Gareth and Ramón entered the kitchen, looking wide-eyed at the makeshift laboratory. Eglantine grinned at them. "Pretty nifty setup, huh? After you get something to eat we're going to play Dracula and take some blood samples, as well as check your pulse rate and oxygen levels, lung function, stuff like that. It will give us a base line for you and help us determine if there are any potions lingering in your system that could be contributing to your symptoms."

"The hospital said I was clear of everything when they released me," Gareth said. "Deirdre said I was there four days, getting it all out of my system."

"One can hardly—" Severus began to sneer, but Eglantine interrupted him.

"Ah, but they are not us," Eglantine said, waving her hand to encompass the pair of them. "Of course they will have done everything they knew to do, but we, not to sound arrogant, are really some of the best in our field. And we have you, quite conscious, to answer any questions we might have. But first, let's get you some food."

She bustled around the partition to the kitchen area, the young men following her. Severus finished arranging all their supplies and glanced over the set up with a practiced eye. It wasn't top notch, but it would do. A flash of silver caught his gaze, and he looked warily towards the back door. Beyond the worry that he had made an error in judgement concerning Gareth's abilities was the worry that there might be something more to the situation than he cared to get involved with at all. That business with the supernatural warriors during the war… He'd seen them twice, once the massive silver knight had come to tell him to forgive, and once it had encouraged him to destroy a horcrux and then chased away the shade of the Dark Lord's soul that had been attached to it. Severus was in no hurry to experience something like that again. Surely though, if Gareth's sister, Daisy, had thought there was something going on that mere potions could not account for, she would have come to handle that herself. She was their pack's Seer after all. But Severus recognized he was still apprehensive for some reason. Perhaps it was only because they had arrived in the middle of such a dramatic scene, a scene that could have ended tragically. He shook off the unhelpful suppositions and turned away from the door. Thankfully this sliver flash was just the sunlight glinting off an airplane as it traveled along the coast.

Lupin and the girl entered the room. Lupin raised his eyebrows as he gave the room a once over. "Quite the set up," he said, nodding in approval. "I'm sure you'll have things sorted out in no time."

"If we are dealing with a potion," Severus sighed.

"I've been making notes on a few curses to explore also," Lupin admitted. "There aren't any that I've found that mimic these symptoms exactly, but we could be looking at a combination of some things."

Severus absently muttered an agreement as he reordered several phials on the tabletop. It was good to know that Lupin's mind was able to focus on the problem at hand and wasn't still on that island with his family. Three children. He did not understand the appeal. The man was already prematurely grey. And weren't there enough children to manage at Hogwarts?

The girl cleared her throat and held out a small notebook towards him. Severus straightened up and studied her for a moment before taking the book. Deirdre McIntyre. Squib. He didn't think he'd actually ever spoken to her, but he catalogued and remembered basic facts, the same way he remembered students. She'd come up several times during Gareth's training. Not intentionally, but in the course of their occlumency sessions. And the girl had been at many of the same social gatherings. Severus refused to think of himself as some sort of honorary pack member, despite the fact that he was included in every family celebration. Deirdre looked away from his stare, her eyes red and puffy from a good bit of crying. She reminded him of Ottilie Ballentine, a Hufflepuff student he'd had quite a few years ago. Fierce, methodical at potions work, but terribly insecure.

"Those are just some notes I made…" she paused and looked out the back door toward the beach, "I think it was the day before yesterday." She ran her hands over her arms, as if she were suddenly chilled. "I saw one of the warriors just before that," she whispered. "I'd forgotten about it until now. But I saw it."

Lupin touched the girl's shoulder. "Can you tell us what happened?"

She frowned down at her shoes. "It said I wasn't alone. It talked about magic, that it was like a fire, sometimes warm and comforting, sometimes devastating. It said the power was…" she wrinkled up her face. "I can't remember exactly, a mix of word and deed? And the tongue was a fire that could bless or curse."

Severus nodded. "I will certainly look over your notes."

"Why don't you get some tea and breakfast?" Remus suggested, tipping his head towards the kitchen. She nodded and edged around the partition. The two men looked at each other.

"That would indicate there might be a spell involved," Severus remarked in a low voice.

Lupin nodded. "What else brings word and deed together and has outcomes that are so dependent on the intent of the caster? Definitely a clue."

Severus sighed, setting the notebook on the table, and rubbing at his temple. "I would prefer to leave the more supernatural elements to your Seer."

"Needs must," Lupin shrugged and offered a wry smile. "Since we're all Gareth's got at the moment, we'll just have to do what we can."

Eglantine, Lupin, and the young man, Ramón did an excellent job keeping things light and distracting while they ate. Ramón shared several amusing anecdotes from the factory, and Eglantine asked a hundred questions of Gareth, keeping him focused on what was going well with his company and what he liked best about Peru. After their repast, Ramón left to head back to the office in Lima, reassuring Gareth he had no intention of mentioning the werewolves, and telling them to be sure to ask if they had need of the car. Severus had stayed quiet for the most part and skimmed Deirdre's notes while he ate. He approved of her concise verbiage and neat handwriting.

Taken to hospital from office — incoherent and agitated
Given Dreamless Sleep Potion (G says it's useless)
Took 3 days to clear all potions
Current habitation safe
No current thoughts of self harm
(Revisit - when did he consider self harm and why?)
Nightmares typical for trauma victim — until last fall
What I witnessed was terror
What triggered change? (Visit home? Me?)
Follow up question — Did anything change at work last fall?
Won't talk about V
Need more details about how that ended
Ramón called her a demon

Right. His job would be to rule out a physical cause. The girl was looking primarily at the psychological end of things. Only natural, she wasn't magic after all. Her resources were limited. Very wise of her to call the others in for help.

Lupin and Deirdre stayed to clean up, while a stoic Gareth was led back to the dining area to begin an assessment. Severus was thankful for Eglantine's continual chatter as they performed various diagnostic spells and took several blood samples to test.

"When was the last time you remember sleeping for more than an hour?" Eglantine asked gently. Severus watched her brush Gareth's hair off his forehead as she studied his eyes, blood shot with dark rings beneath. It was a maternal sort of gesture, and Gareth blinked rapidly, those exhausted eyes suddenly glassy with tears.

He took a shaky breath. "When I was in the hospital," he said hoarsely. "They kept me in a potion-induced sleep, but the potions weren't as strong as what I'd been taking. It was…it was terrible."

She frowned. "Are you aware when you're dreaming? I mean, do you recognize that it's a dream and just can't wake yourself up? Or do you have no idea it isn't real until you wake up?"

Gareth sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Most of the time I'm aware it isn't real, but I can't do anything about it. And it still feels very real, if that makes sense. Like, I'm equally afraid to fight or do nothing."

Eglantine nodded and glanced at Severus. "What are your thoughts, based on these readings?" she asked him, pointing to where she'd noted down the diagnostic results.

Severus tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. The boy was clearly afraid they'd recommend another potion or spell induced sleep that would keep him trapped in the nightmares again, which they would almost certainly have to do at some point. He'd now had three nights of almost no sleep. Not good, but hardly life threatening. Lupin could probably say he'd had about the same with each new baby. Stress was taking as much of a toll as sleep deprivation.

"Were you taking Somniafuga?" Severus asked Gareth, folding his arms across his chest as he would to address a recalcitrant student.

Gareth nodded. "It's not illegal," he protested. "At least, it wasn't until lately. And it worked. I used it to sleep and then took Elixir Vitae to stay awake. I could…function normally…until I guess I couldn't," he finished dismally.

Severus nodded. "Eglantine and I will run the blood tests," he stated. "First to make sure there are no residual potions that basic hospital tests might miss." Lupin and Deirdre entered the room, standing off to the side, watching with concerned expressions. "Second, Severus continued, "to see if any of the ingredients in the potions you were given, along with the traditional ingredients in Somniafuga and Elixir Vitae, cause some sort of individual reaction that the hospital wouldn't have known to check. Remus will be researching spells that could cause similar symptoms."

"So you aren't going to…make me sleep?"

"Not presently."

There was a look of obvious relief on his face. "Thank you. What should I do?"

Severus frowned, glancing at Deirdre's notebook. "If we are dealing with the effects of a curse rather than a potion, then we will need more information. It might not be pleasant, but we will need more details about everything that happened in your life around the time the nightmares changed and became unmanageable." He picked up the notebook and handed it to Deirdre. "Continue to take notes," he told her.

She glanced at Gareth, worried. "I don't know that I did such a stellar job before—"

"No, it's ok," Gareth interrupted softly. "I'd rather…rather it was you…" His voice trailed off. And he glanced toward the kitchen. "I'm going to need more coffee, though," he added, aiming for a smile that didn't quite work.

The two young people disappeared behind the partition and Severus cast a silencing spell to shield any of the remaining three's conversation. "Let's begin," he said, waving Eglantine toward the table. "Lupin, the copy of the Hornbeam study is in my satchel, if you'd like to review it. I think Hex of Shades and Numinous Bane are worth looking into."

Lupin nodded, rummaging in the satchel and pulling out the thick rolls of parchment. He patted a breast pocket and pulled out a pair of spectacles, perching them on the end of his nose. He settled in at a corner of the table, keeping well away from the bubbling cauldrons. Eglantine pulled off the fuzzy white cardigan she'd been wearing, draping it over the back of a chair, and pulled on an acid and fireproof cloak over her pink shirt.

"So what's the story with those two?" she asked, twisting her hair back into a tight knot on top of her head.

"The side effects seem coincidental," Severus replied, unstoppering the first phial of blood and removing a third of it with a small syringe, which he dripped into the first cauldron. "Hex of Shades focuses on calling up a dark spirit to plague your adversary, and Numinous Bane is more of a general willing of ill luck on someone."

Lupin snorted a laugh and Eglantine placed a hand on Severus' arm, smiling at him when he turned to look at her. "Not the curses, Sev. I meant Gareth and Deirdre. Seems like there's the embers of a spark left there."

"Ah. Yes, I believe they were once…an item."

"They met during the war," Lupin offered, peering at them over the rim of his reading glasses. "Sirius told me something about Gareth rescuing Deirdre from some sort of awkward moment at Bill Weasley's wedding. But it wasn't until after it was all over and Deirdre was a part of our pack that they started…I guess you'd call it dating, but they were pretty secretive about it." He glanced at Severus. "I'm surprised you were aware. It started while you were training him. He was very focused on preparing to come here, and I think she provided a distraction. Not to say that it was mercenary at all, but she was the first other werewolf he'd met that wasn't part of his pack, that wasn't essentially his sister. And two young people, thrown together in such a stressful season…" He shrugged and turned back to this rolls of parchment.

"Remus, I expected you to be a bit more of a romantic," Eglantine chided. "That was a very…clinical assessment. Your wife told me how the two of you wound up together, and that was hardly more traditional, but she made it sound terribly exciting."

Lupin laughed. "My story is not something I would wish on anyone. Gareth and Deirdre played things very close to the chest, and then Gareth went to Peru and Deirdre stayed in England and neither one of them ever said anything about it." He paused and shot her a conspiratorial sort of smile. "But I think the rest of the pack would be thrilled if some embers were fanned back into a flame."

Severus frowned at them both. "I don't know that gossip is terribly helpful in this situation."

Eglantine laughed, and patted his arm. "Don't sound so superior. I'm a middle-aged spinster. I'm supposed to gossip about young lovers."

There was a wicked gleam in her eye, but something in her voice… Severus cast his eye over her. Technically close to middle age, but she hardly acted like it. And a spinster? Again, technically true, but she was content. Wasn't she? If she wasn't he supposed it was partially his fault— no, that was ridiculous. She'd come on to him, not the other way round. If she'd wanted a clearly defined, permanent relationship then she should have realized some time ago that she needed to look elsewhere. There was no reality where he would trust himself to care that deeply about a woman again. He tugged absently at his collar and cleared his throat. "This was, of course, several years ago, but during our occlumency lessons, I gathered Gareth was quite enamoured with the girl. However, I think we could help them best now by getting back to work and not speculating on the nature of any relationships," he mumbled.

Lupin contributed another soft huff of laughter, and Eglantine glanced over at him and smiled. Her eyes were soft, the wicked gleam changed to something he couldn't quite decipher.