jemina // sirius black

eight

chapter eight - halloween

The first full moon was easy. It was shortly after the start of term and on a weekend. I had wolfsbane leftover from the summer, and so it was easy. 

The second full moon? 

A bit less easy, but still not awful. Remus still had wolfsbane, but only one dose, but the full moon was in the middle of the week. Remus had a very bad night, so Albus asked me to take his classes for two days after since I had no classes those two days, and of course, I agreed. 

The third full moon was proving to be nearly impossible. It was two weeks after Halloween, a day that seemed to always be awful, in early November. Remus had used the last dose of his wolfsbane the previous full moon, and so I needed to start Remus' wolfsbane on Halloween. 

I was forced to speak to Severus in order to make wolfsbane. He argued with me on who should make it, as Severus had a different method for it than I did, he was the potions professor and the owner of the stores. I couldn't get the ingredients that I needed without going through him, but I would rather take that night off and go into the forest with Remus in my animagus and deal with him off of wolfsbane than allow Severus to make the potion. 

If I needed him to finish the last day or so of it, fine. At that point, it would take a Finnigan level of mess-up to make the potion dangerous. Even if Severus wanted to, he probably couldn't mess the potion up at that point. 

It was the first week of brewing that needed precise care. A tiny mistake could make the potion harmful, and any mistake at all could completely negate the desired effects of the wolfsbane.

The last thing I would allow is Severus to make wolfsbane for Remus.

"And why, pre tell, do you have to be the one brewing the potion? You are aware that I -"

"I really do not care what you are, or who you are. Remus has used the wolfsbane potion that I've brewed for nearly twenty years. I do not need you swooping in and hurting another person that I love."

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you referring to when your husband almost got me-?"

"Lily."

"Excuse me?"

"You told Voldemort about the prophecy," We had been on different sides of the potions storage closet, a small space, but I had done my best to stay as far from him as possible. I had been looking for an herb, but now I was facing him with murder on my face. He turned to me, his eyes wide with surprise, "You were solely responsible for the shit that happened when Voldemort put a target on their heads. My friend Eilene? Those Aurors that died protecting them? Your fault. In my eyes, Lily's death, my brother's death... your fault."

"How was I to know that he'd target them and not the Longbottoms?"

"Because of me, you giant baboon. Voldemort spent four years trying to ruin my life because I was thwarting every effort he made to murder innocent people. Of course he'd target my brother and my best friend over Alice and Frank. Of course he would chose the people that I loved the most. He had my parents murdered!"

"I asked him to spare Lily."

"And for what? Did you think she'd fall at your feet? If she'd been spared, both her husband and her son would be DEAD. If she survived a trauma like that, what makes you think she'd come back to you? How badly did you want my brother dead to wish a pain like that on someone you claim to love?"

Severus was quiet as he stared at me. I was fuming, and there was no denying that. If I had access to that reserve of magic, this entire room, perhaps even the entire castle, would be shaking. Severus may have even caught on fire. Perhaps I was overreacting. Maybe. But... he was the only reason that Voldemort knew the prophecy had been made.