An Agreement with a Werewolf
The air inside the lab was uncomfortably warm and thick with the vapours emitting from eight simmering cauldrons. A sharp butcher’s knife dangled precariously off the edge of the work table, next to the neatly arranged piles of ingredients that waited to be added to their specific potions. The heavy drapes were closed tight to not let in even the slightest glimmer of sunlight and handwritten notes were laid out bare on the desk for easy reference.
In the middle of this, looking tired, but completely in control, stood Severus Snape. He had smudges on his cheeks and his black hair hung in greasy curtains around his face. Though he had conjured several fans to blow the humid air around the room, he had uncharacteristically not been able to resist wearing a plain black t-shirt and baring his arms, even if that meant the faint sketch of his Dark Mark was on display.
“Severus…”
Severus flinched at the sound of his name. He hadn’t heard anyone enter his house, let alone climb the stairs that ordinarily would creak in warning. Though there were only a few people it could possibly be. He turned to glance over his shoulder, eyes narrowing in dislike at the sight of Remus Lupin standing out in the hallway in his shabby robes, with the scarred face, and the prematurely greying hair.
“It can’t be eleven already…”
“On the dot,” Lupin confirmed, tentatively stepping into the lab with his hands stuffed into his pockets and glancing around at the room full of productivity. “Do you ever sleep?”
“Now that I’m stuck making your potion for you again? No,” Severus said in a clipped tone. He had walked over to the cauldron closest to the window and stuck his wand directly inside it, spinning it slowly and murmuring something in Latin that Lupin couldn’t make out. After about a minute of intense concentration, during which Severus almost forgot who was standing behind him, the potion turned an inky black.
“What does this one do?” Lupin asked curiously, walking closer for inspection.
“I’m not telling you,” Severus answered coldly.
Evil beyond what most people could even imagine existed in the slightest drop of the potions he was working on at present. What each one did was so repulsive and cruel that it made Severus go weak at the knees to think about the horror he was inflicting on whoever became one of the unfortunate recipients of these vile drinks. So he pushed those thoughts out of his mind most of the time and concentrated on crafting them to perfection, revelling in the alluring power that was in the chemistry nobody could understand as well as him. It could actually be quite beautiful.
“You don’t want to know, so don’t ask,” Severus said softly, slipping his wand into the pocket of his trousers and then grabbing a rag from his desk to wipe some of the sweat and grime off of his face.
He had been working all night, and most of yesterday as well. His master had summoned him just as he was delivering Harry to Grimmauld Place, and this time was to be found in quite high spirits - never a good thing. The Dark Lord had greeted Severus like a beloved friend. They’d talked earnestly about how Azkaban would soon be broken open and then Severus had been dismissed with a list of potions they’d be requiring; for exactly what purpose, Severus hoped he’d never have to find out.
“I did want to show you this though,” Severus said stiffly, motioning over to two cauldrons set back against the wall which were both completely brewed and just waiting to be poured into flasks and drunk. He saw Lupin’s eyes light up in recognition as he caught sight of the Wolfsbane Potion with the distinguishable cloud of faint blue smoke hovering over it.
“Thank you so much,” Lupin said sincerely, peering into the cauldron. “I know it’s very time consuming.”
It was also extremely difficult to make and lethal if gotten wrong. The Wolfsbane Potion was a miraculous discovery in enabling Werewolves to keep their minds post transformation. However, it was also extremely expensive. Completely out of the question for someone in Remus Lupin’s situation, if not for a gifted potions master able to concoct it at no charge. The rare ingredients added to Severus’s standing tab at the Apothecary in Diagon Alley for Hogwarts would never catch anyone’s attention.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly given a choice, now was I?” Severus replied coolly, ladling up some of the blue vapourizing potion and then pouring it slowly back into the cauldron.
“I have been looking at making some improvements to the Wolfsbane though,” he added. “Werewolves are always complaining about the painful side effects and how difficult it is to get down. And, as you recall, sugar makes the entire thing worthless. I thought about applying the same principles I used to Harry Potter’s potion to prevent him feeling so sick when he took it, and I think it will work for Wolfsbane too.”
“Severus, do you realize what a fortune you could make here?” Lupin asked wondrously.
But Severus could care less about gold. He lived a life that went beyond minimalism, almost a barren landscape of existence. He indulged in no pleasures, aside perhaps from his books. But even those were mere guides in how to expand his knowledge and put it to use for somebody else. Severus was not a happy man. Partly out of circumstance, but also because he’d long ago accepted that he was one of the last people on earth he thought deserved a reason to smile.
“This is your potion with my improvements,” Severus explained, leaning over the cauldron to the right of the Wolfsbane and stirring it with an almost affectionate caress. It looked almost identical to regular Wolfsbane, except that this one was emitting a smoke that was just a slightly brighter shade of blue. “I’ve performed every test on it that I can so far. I’ve done my research. It’s safe and I have every reason to believe that it will be effective. All I’d need to be sure is…”
“You want to test it on me?” Lupin guessed.
Severus shrugged. “You don’t have to. I made both. I just thought...well, maybe if you weren’t so offended by the taste you’d be more inclined to not forget again.”
A flush of pink rushed across Lupin’s weary face. They were both recalling the night he’d nearly gotten three students killed by neglecting to take his potion before the full moon. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lupin’s error had enabled the escape of Wormtail and the return of him to Lord Voldemort’s side.
“Of course, I’ll do it,” Lupin said quietly.
“Really?” Severus said, raising his chin a little higher though his black eyes widened a bit in surprise.
“You know what you’re doing. I trust you,” Lupin said simply. “My only condition would be that if it’s a success, you submit the patent for review so that it could be made available for all werewolves.”
“Because the Dark Lord wouldn’t find that suspicious,” Severus retorted sarcastically.
“Just don’t take the credit then,” Lupin replied. “You aren’t doing this because you need a time filler or acknowledgement. Let’s be honest, Severus, this is a lot of effort for someone who wants to act like he doesn’t give a damn about anything. Submit it anonymously.”
“Fine, it’s a deal,” Severus said agreeably, he was willing to agree to just about anything if it would further his research. “You can have all the proceeds from it too….hire someone to brew it for you that isn’t me and buy yourself some new robes for the first time in twelve years.”
“If that’s what satisfies you,” Lupin smiled, holding out his hand to shake as a gesture of good will. But Severus looked down his hooked nose at it as though it was something repulsive and kept his arms both tightly at his side.
“Of course, you will have to be locked in a secure location the next full moon,” he said. “I’ll need to monitor you.”
“Understandable,” Lupin said easily, dropping his hand and crossing his arms over his chest. He had spent his entire life being confined and isolated for excruciating transformations into a monster every month, Severus had hardly expected him to object.
“Did you know that Dumbledore is sending me to infiltrate the Werewolves underground?” Lupin asked, as Severus summoned a large goblet from across the room and turned his back on him. “Promising them access to a supply of Wolfsbane could be a turning point.”
“The Dark Lord already has his eyes set on Fenrir Greyback,” Severus said matter-of-factly, as he slowly began filling the goblet to the brim with modified Wolfsbane Potion. “He’s promising him muggleborn children to infect in exchange for his allegiance, and Greyback already has a large following. I was at Malfoy Manor last week when the Dark Lord met with him.”
“So you believe it to be futile?” asked Lupin. “Just as hopeless as Hagrid trying to recruit the Giants to our side?”
“I didn’t say that,” Severus said smoothly, handing him the smoking goblet. “I think you might be able to persuade some, definitely not the majority, but that isn’t a judgement. I’ve done a lot of damage just to keep the Dark Lord’s trust.”
He curled his lip as he stared back over at the simmering cauldrons that he was concocting for his master. There would be many victims, no matter how he tried to slice it there were always going to be casualties in a war. Though Severus had never raised his wand to kill, or poured a lethal drink down anyone’s throat, and the only people he had watched die were those that he couldn’t save, he knew he indirectly had much blood on his hands. If he didn’t, the outcome would probably be even worse, but that didn’t really make it any easier to accept.
“Drink it now?” Lupin asked, and Severus gave him a curt nod.
Lupin threw his head back and tried to get down as much of the potion as possible in one swallow. Severus had done enough research on Wolfsbane to watch out for the most grievous side effects without needing any verbal confirmation. He noted how Lupin’s eyes didn’t roll back in his head and his skin did not pale or green from nausea. The potion did not make him sputter or gag. As Lupin downed the last few droplets, Severus raised his wand and cast it over him diagnostically.
“It seems to be working as I intended,” he said slowly, as Lupin staggered back to sit down in the chair behind Severus’s desk.
Severus followed, casting another spell that would examine his vitals. “I’m not certain about this yet, but you might not have to drink as much of this modification to get the same results either.”
“That would make it more affordable,” Lupin said hopefully.
“Indeed,” Severus said boredly.
He knew that it was almost impossible for a werewolf to hold down a job. Owing to the regular absences and the stigma around werewolves in general, most of them lived in poverty. And he himself was responsible for Lupin getting sacked from the best job he’d ever had, teaching that one year at Hogwarts. However, he’d never spent much time feeling bad about that. Any guilt he might have had for Remus Lupin’s misfortune was diminished when he recalled how his carelessness at Hogwarts had nearly gotten himself and three students killed.
“Any burning?” Severus asked clinically, dipping his quill into a bottle of ink and then posing it over a piece of parchment containing his notes.
“No,” Lupin shook his head.
“Do you feel lightheaded or like you are going to faint?” Severus asked. “You did have to sit down just now…”
“A little weak,” Lupin admitted, “but I could get up and walk around right now if I wanted to.”
“Don’t,” Severus advised coolly, as he made another note.
Then he raised his wand and ran the same diagnostic spells again to see if there were any changes, of which there was nothing significant. It was all going together the way he had hoped, giving Severus the satisfaction of putting together a highly complex puzzle that he knew to be good in essence. It served to balance him. The two different sides of his life that were represented in this lab right now; the potions to maim and destroy and the ones to heal. It was questionable how such opponents could co-exist in the same man. Yet they did and it showed in his every single act.
“I think someone is here,” Lupin said, breaking the silence a few minutes later while Severus continued to run diagnostic tests and make notes.
“Dumbledore,” Severus answered, recognizing the cheerful note of the Headmaster humming as he made his way upstairs and into the room.
“Ah, Remus, you’re still here? Excellent,” Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes twinkled as he took in the scene. Lupin sitting at the desk, Severus with his wand in one hand and a quill in the other, and all the cauldrons sitting over low fires.
“Is everything prepared?” Dumbledore asked, as he walked around the room and began examining each potion in turn.
“Yes,” Severus replied. “I’m going to deliver them to him soon...earlier than he expected.”
“Excellent,” Dumbledore said again. “That should satisfy him.”
But Severus just shrugged. He set down his quill and then walked away from Lupin, moving over to where Dumbledore stood examining the inky black potion. “There’s no cure for that one. Two drops would be enough to kill a human.”
“A bezoar?” Dumbledore asked.
“Would merely slow down the curse, but it would still spread,” Severus said slowly. “I did prepare antidotes for the ones that can be counteracted. Most of these are designed to drive the consumer insane though, so even with the antidote on their person, they’re unlikely to be able to save themselves.”
“Well we shall do what we can,” Dumbledore murmured, looking over at Lupin who was watching them from his chair. “Especially for those standing guard in the Department of Mysteries. I expect those to be his primary targets.”
“He’s using potions instead of the Imperius Curse?” Lupin asked.
“Because the Imperius Curse can be fought,” Severus replied. “Liquid poison running through your veins, bewitching your mind is much harder to resist. A glass of that amber one and I could make you do anything.”
“Which is what Voldemort is counting upon,” Dumbledore said, folding his hands together solemnly. “And we cannot shield everyone or he will know that Severus betrayed his trust. Nonetheless, I will take the antidotes to armour some people selectively. That’s all we can do. Whatever it takes to weaken the army he is building,” he finished with a meaningful look cast at Lupin.
“Severus said that Voldemort is already meeting with Fenrir Greyback,” Lupin said and Dumbledore nodded knowingly.
“I expect many werewolves will go over to Voldemort,” Dumbledore replied. “And after the shameful way our Ministry has treated them it is hardly something we can blame them for. Voldemort will offer them a much more substantive place in society in exchange for their loyalty. Werewolves have been mistreated for so long.”
“I’m sure I can convince some,” Lupin replied.
“Several, if we are lucky,” Dumbledore said. “But even more than that, it’s a window that will give us an insight into what is occuring, even if we can do nothing to prevent it. That sort of knowledge is invaluable at the moment. Isn’t it fascinating how the things we consider our greatest flaws can sometimes be used for a higher purpose? That is something both of you have in common.”
Severus avoided both of their gazes as he walked over to begin corking up the potions just to remove himself from Dumbledore before the man chose to get any more sentimental. Yes, it was true that Lupin being a werewolf and Severus pledging his allegiance to the Dark Lord at seventeen primed them both to be extremely useful spies for Dumbledore, but that was where the similarities stopped. Lupin might carry the stigma of being a Werewolf, but anyone with half a brain could at least acknowledge that his condition wasn’t his fault. On the contrary, Severus was in his position because of extremely poor choices he had freely made and any prejudice towards himself was rightly deserved.
“You will contact me the moment you return?” Dumbledore said, as Severus began to transfer the stagnant potions into a satchel for transport.
“Yes,” Severus said reluctantly. “I don’t expect this will take long.”
“Then we will have a meeting tomorrow evening at Headquarters,” Dumbledore replied. “You will bring the antidotes along and warn the others what to be on alert for, and then Remus, we will discuss the next steps I want you to take.”
They both nodded and Dumbledore beamed in satisfaction. “I’ll be off now then. Molly insisted I come by for a piece of birthday cake and thanks to Severus’s excellent work with Harry, I see no reason not to indulge in celebrating with him. Are you coming Remus?”
“Unless I need to wait?” Lupin glanced at Severus questioningly who shook his head abruptly. The sooner everyone got out of his house, the better. “If you feel fine then there’s no need to wait. Just let me know if things change and we’ll see how well it works come full moon in a few days.”
He was relieved to see the backs of both of them leaving a few minutes later. It had begun to feel like the walls were closing in on him in this confined space and he was grateful for a moment alone, even if it was just to prepare himself for an audience with the Dark Lord. Severus finished loading up his satchel and then walked across the hall into his bedroom to change into suitable robes.
The room was his again now, with no sign that Harry Potter had ever been there. Severus allowed his thoughts to linger on the boy for just a moment. He hadn’t heard from Harry once since he’d delivered him to Grimmauld Place and it was probably just as well. Taking Harry into his home had crossed every boundary Severus thought he had and had put them both at risk. There wasn’t room in his life for Harry, or anyone else for that matter. Not with the way Severus lived. Not with what he had done.