Severus Snape stood and faced Remus Lupin through the iron bars of a cage. He anxiously watched for any sign that the potion that Lupin had just consumed was having any effect on him. So far all they’d done was just stand there and stared nervously at each other as the seconds ticked into minutes.

“Well, Lupin, do you feel any differently?” Snape asked curiously.

Lupin frowned. “I’m not sure. You’re right about my stomach. It is feeling a little queasy, but that could be nerves as far as I know.”

“Try to calm the wolf urges you keep saying that you feel so strongly at this time of the month.”

Lupin nodded. “Okay.”

He closed his eyes to concentrate and tried to relax. First he reached out with his enhanced senses and tried to feel the hot desires running through his blood. The quick anger, the desire to hurt, the lust to run free and hunt prey. When he knew he had these feelings at his fingertips, he tried to calm himself and send them away. To bury them as deeply as they were buried after a full moon has come and gone. Deeper even than that.

Slowly he could feel them releasing him from their clutches. The cruel instinctive feelings were ebbing, fading, disappearing!

He opened his eyes and stared at Snape in amazement. “Severus! It worked! I can feel them fading away!” He broke into an incredulous grin. “It worked! The anger…the blood lust…the hunting instinct…it’s gone, just a faint echo is left. It’s amazing.”

Snape nodded thoughtfully and allowed himself a small satisfied smile. “Well, that’s a start at least. Don’t get too excited yet, Lupin. Remember what we’re really here to see. It’s time to see if you can trigger a transformation.”

Lupin grimaced at him. “You’re such a wet blanket! Couldn’t you even let me have a moment to enjoy this incredible feeling, before ruining it?”

Snape crossed his arms. “Oh, dear…please forgive me my thoughtlessness. How will I manage to live with myself, if I damage your delicate feelings?”

Lupin sighed. “Okay, okay. I feel too good to argue with you at the moment. It does seem a shame to ruin this by deliberately trying to call the wolf back, though.”

As Snape continued to glare at him, Lupin began to unbutton his shirt. By the time he had it undone and was removing it, Snape was raising his eyebrows and addressing him with confusion.

“What on earth are you doing, Lupin? I told you to try to trigger a transformation…not strip off your clothing.”

Pleased that he could still confound the Potions Master, Lupin grinned at him and handed his shirt between the bars. “That’s what I’m getting ready to do, Severus. Surely you didn’t think I usually undergo the transformation fully clothed, did you? Wolves don’t wear clothes, and I’m not wealthy enough to be able to buy myself new things to wear every month. Anything I have on when I change gets ripped to shreds. It can get in the way, too. It’s much easier to just take off my clothes and set them aside for when I turn back.”

Snape had automatically taken Lupin’s shirt when he handed it to him. Now he stood there with the shirt dangling from his hand as he watched Lupin remove the rest of his clothing with a bemused expression on his face. Obviously at a loss for words.

Lupin grinned to himself. *Well, Severus, that’s twice in one day I’ve managed to shock you into speechlessness. That must be a new record.*

Shortly, Lupin had removed all of his clothing and passed them through the bars to Snape, who deposited them on the table across the room without making any further comment about the necessity of removing them. Then standing a bit farther back than he had before, he addressed Lupin once more.

“Well, shouldn’t you get on with it before you catch a chill?”

Lupin sighed. “Just give me a moment. This isn’t something I look forward to even when I know I have no choice. I’ve never actually tried to become a wolf before. I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea. This isn’t a pleasant process, you know. I’ve never had an audience before, either.”

Snape snorted and smirked at him. “No, I imagine not. Few would be foolish enough to put themselves in the position of watching a werewolf change from man to beast. Would your delicate modesty be better preserved if I close my eyes and promise not to peek?”

Lupin glared at him. “You know I’d forgotten what a joy it is to spend time in your company.”

Snape merely raised an eyebrow and waited.

Lupin closed his eyes and tried to summon up the feelings that always came over him when he was about to transform. He imagined the pain, the tremors, the queasiness…the feeling of being turned inside out as if he was a shirt going round and round in a washbasin. Helpless to stop what was happening to him.

Suddenly he could feel those feelings beginning to take hold…as his imaginings became bitter reality. The pain hit first, wave after searing wave of it…much stronger than usual, as if the potion was amplifying the effect. He clutched at his midsection and dropped to his knees.

He gritted his teeth and groaned. “It’s happening…it feels stronger…worse…more…Aah!” No longer could he form coherent thoughts or restrain a cry at the burning pain swirling through his body. He toppled onto his side and began to writhe in agony on the stone floor of the cell.

Lupin’s body began to sprout grayish brown fur in patches that began to gradually grow and cover more and more of his flesh. Uncontrollable shaking began to grab and twist his limbs as they slowly began to change shape. Cartilage and bone melted like candle wax and slowly, agonizingly, stretched and began to reform into new shapes…new positions. His face sprouted a snout that lengthened and began to fill with huge pointed teeth. The cries being ripped from his throat changed as well, becoming more and more animalistic as the transformation took hold.

Snape found himself creeping closer and closer to the cage…fascinated beyond his will. His face wore a pained expression as he watched the agonies of the creature in the cage…no longer human, but not yet animal.

*My god! I didn’t really believe Lupin when he said it wasn’t like transfiguration, but this…this is more like torture. I’ve watched people writhing under the effect of the Cruciatus Curse who appeared to be in less agony. He endures this once a month…no twice a month! It must be just as painful to reverse the change. Would anyone truly choose to undergo this horror? Perhaps I’m wrong to be so concerned.*

*No. Don’t be a fool. There are those ready to undergo any agony, any torture if it means they can serve the Dark Lord better. What’s a little pain to pure evil? No…this potion must be destroyed. I can’t allow anyone else to ever use it. There has to be another way.*

*I’m sorry, Remus, but this potion isn’t the answer for you. I won’t stop trying until I get it right, though. I need to go back to Romania.*

The agonizing transformation took a full five minutes to become complete. By the time it was over, Snape was sitting on the floor staring with horrified fascination at the panting wolf lying on the floor inside the cage. He kept expecting the wolf to jump up and lunge at the bars, seeking escape, but he simply lay there as if he was too exhausted to move.

Finally the wolf rose to his feet and stretched his body, perhaps trying to work out the remaining vestiges of his painful transformation. Then he crossed the cell, approaching the bars where Snape sat quietly watching him. He stopped about a foot away from the barrier and sat down on his haunches and stared at Snape with sad eyes.

Snape stared back, still a bit numb from what he’d just witnessed. “Lupin?” he whispered hoarsely.

The wolf inclined his head once and continued to observe the stunned wizard.

“Well, apparently it worked…exactly the way I hoped it wouldn’t. I’m presuming you still retain control of your mental faculties?” he questioned.

Again the wolf nodded.

Almost hating to ask, but knowing he must, Snape spoke again. “Do you feel capable of reversing the change?”

The wolf whined softly and shook his head, but didn’t move. He just sat there and stared through the bars helplessly.

Another disturbing thought struck the Potions Master. * What if the potion was so strong that he can’t reverse the change? Is it possible that I’ve doomed him to remain a wolf for good? Oh god, that would be as bad as killing him outright. Albus would nail my hide to the gates of Hogwarts!*

Horrified at the possibility of this unintended consequence, Snape simply sat there on the cold stone floor and stared through the bars at the unmoving wolf beyond.