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Shadow of the Moon by shadowycat [Reviews - 0]

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At the foot of the staircase, Snape and Lupin found themselves in a long stone corridor lit with more of the glowing torches. No hint of damage could be seen anywhere. Obviously this part of the castle had escaped the ravages of the fire.

At one end of the corridor an open door let stronger light flood into the hallway and collect in a bright patch on the floor. As one, the two wizards headed for the patch of light as if they were being pulled along on a string.

When they got to the doorway, they peered inside and found themselves looking into a very well equipped and brightly lit laboratory. Everything was quiet. Warily they stepped inside. Suddenly there was a gasp. As one they turned to the left and looked down the workbench against the wall. A few feet from the doorway stood a young woman. She was very thin with a sharp angular face and masses of black curly hair.

The two wizards stared at her in horrified fascination.

“Jenni?” whispered Snape.

Without a word, the woman whipped out her wand and aiming it at the stunned wizards, yelled, “Stupefy!”

Everything went black for Lupin and Snape.

***********************************************************

Snape came slowly back to consciousness and groaned softly. It felt like a building had fallen on him. With difficulty, he sat up and looked around. The sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one. He and the still unconscious Lupin were being held inside a strong looking cage with bars a bit thicker than the one currently residing in his basement. The unpleasant aspect of being on this side of the bars impressed itself strongly on him as he searched futilely for his wand.

Seeing that he’d awakened, the dark-haired woman came over to the outside of the cage and stared down at him curiously.

“You can forget about disapparating out of there, if you could even do it without your wand. I’ve warded the cage so you might as well make yourself comfortable. Now, who are you, and how do you know, Jenni? Were you one of her victims?”

Snape slowly got to his feet and studied the woman through the bars. Now that he had the chance to really look at her up close, he could see that although she resembled the vampire queen strongly, she was indeed a different person all together.

“I came far too close to being one of her victims, but fortunately it didn’t work out that way,” he said cautiously, not sure how this unknown woman might react to the news that he’d been responsible for Jenni’s destruction.

She grunted noncommittally. “Yes, you’d be the type she’d go for. Tall, dark, and menacing looking, a good addition to her army of the undead. How did you escape her clutches, anyway?” She watched him curiously.

Hesitantly he said, “I started a fire.”

“You! You’re the one who destroyed this place?” She laughed shortly. “Well, my friend, it appears I owe you a debt of gratitude. Were you also responsible for my wonderful sister’s final demise?” Her tone was bitter and mocking.

Snape nodded stiffly, hoping it was the right thing to do.

The woman gave a short nod of satisfaction. “Well, well. Thank you. You made my life easier indeed.”

“Then perhaps your gratitude will extend to letting us out of here,” Snape ventured.

The dark blue eyes narrowed as the woman considered him thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. At least not yet. What brings you back here…with a werewolf in tow?”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think he’s a werewolf?”

She smiled revealing razor sharp teeth. “It takes one to know one.”

Lupin chose that moment to groan and begin to regain consciousness. Snape turned away from Jenni’s sister and bent down to assist him to a sitting position.

“What happened?” Lupin blinked up at Snape and took a look at his surroundings. “Oh, damn it…not another cage. Well, it least you get to see how much fun it is to be confined this time, Severus.”

Snape helped Lupin to his feet and muttered, “Oh yes, we’re all smiles here.”

As he got his bearings, Lupin stared closely through the bars at their captor, and sighed. “Well, I guess it’s not much of a stretch to assume that we’re both here for the same reason?”

The woman grinned at Lupin. “How fortunate that I got here first.”

Lupin looked past her to the workbench beyond, where the object of his desire rested. Slytherin’s book on Lycanthropy lay open next to what looked like the evidence of someone’s attempt to concoct a potion.

He turned back to the female werewolf. “Does it contain a cure?”

She smiled coldly back at him. “That’s what I’m attempting to find out. I was actually just about to put the finishing touches on it when you two interrupted me. The moon will be up in a few hours. The moment of truth is at hand. I’ve waited my whole life for this, I’m not about to let some other werewolf appear out of the blue and stop me from enjoying my victory over Jenni and this horrible curse. This is my moment, and no one gets in my way!”

Lupin grabbed the bars and stared earnestly at her. “I don’t want to stop you. Hell, I’ll do anything I can to help you. This isn’t an either/or situation here. We can both benefit from this. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?”

“Share? Why should I share anything with you? I’ve waited for years to get in here and get my hands on the information that was stored in these books. Jenni taunted me every chance she got.” Her voice took on a hateful cadence. “Oh Marga, the castle library is full of information on werewolves. There’s even a book that promises a cure for your kind. Too bad you’ll never see it.”

Marga’s eyes flashed resentfully. “It wasn’t my fault that I almost killed her when we were children. I couldn’t help being a werewolf! Well, I get the last laugh. Jenni’s finally gone for good, and I get the cure I’ve always deserved!”

Marga glanced over at Snape. “I was afraid your little fire had ruined everything for me, but fortunately it only ruined things for Jenni. So I guess I won’t hold it against you.”

She turned back to Lupin. “But I won’t share. Perhaps…if it works, I’ll let you have the book, but for now, you can stay right where you are. So I don’t have to worry about you.”

Snape came over and stood next to Lupin. “What about me, Marga? Surely you don’t intend to leave me in here with Lupin when the full moon rises.”

She smiled rather coolly at Snape. “That’s your problem, I’m afraid. The two of you came together…you can stay together. Besides I only have one cage, and I don’t trust you anymore than I trust him.”

She chuckled to herself and returned to the workbench to continue to work on the potion.

Snape sighed in disgust and began to examine the cage more carefully.

Lupin turned to Snape and spoke softly. “Don’t worry, Severus. The potion I took yesterday is still in effect. It allowed me to trigger a change and keep my mind. I’m sure it’ll allow me to suppress the change as well.”

Snape turned back to him, also keeping his voice low. “I’m not particularly worried, Lupin. Marga doesn’t know about the potion, however, I was hoping that she’d let me out rather than run the risk of your killing me. She seems remarkably unconcerned about my death, though. If she and Jenni are prime examples, I’d hate to meet the rest of her family.”

Lupin nodded thoughtfully and turned to look out at the busy werewolf. “Yes, they do seem to be a rather cold and bloodthirsty lot.”

A couple of hours later, found Snape and Lupin sitting on the floor of the cell staring through the bars at their jailer as she poured her potion into a glass bottle.

She held the bottle of golden liquid up to the light and admired its beauty.

“Well, this should be it. The cure. The moon will be up soon so I should probably take it right away.” She smiled at Lupin. “You’ll get a front row seat, I suppose. Here’s hoping you like what you see.” She lifted the potion towards her mouth, then hesitated.

Slowly she lowered it again and frowned at it thoughtfully. “Perhaps I’m not approaching this the best way. This might be dangerous, after all. There really is enough to share. Perhaps I should let you try it first, Lupin, was it? After all, if it’s poisonous or ineffective, why should I take the chance? Better you than me. So how about it? Care for a taste of the cure?”

She turned to the bench and poured a portion of the potion into another bottle. Then leaving one on the counter, she turned back to the cage and held out the bottle of liquid gold to Lupin.

Snape sat up with an alarmed look on his face and watched Lupin carefully. The hunger on the caged werewolf’s face was painful to look at. In a flash he was up and reaching through the bars for the bottle.

*Good lord! The idiot is such a determined guinea pig! I should just allow him to try it. It would probably serve him right if it did kill him…or destroy him. Damn. I can’t let that happen. Albus is counting on me to help him. If this acts the way I’m afraid it will, then no one is going to end up happy, and you can be sure I’ll be held accountable! No, I’ve got to stop the fool for his own good…as well as mine*.

Snape leaped to his feet and hauled Lupin back into the cage before he could take the bottle from Marga. “Don’t be a fool, Lupin!” he hissed in his ear. “Let her test it out first and see how it works. If it does what you hope, we’ll be able to duplicate it. The book will still be there.”

Lupin turned and looked at Snape, his face a mask of longing and indecision.

*Time to play the sincerity card*. Snape stared earnestly back at him. “Don’t do it, Remus. Please.”

Lupin opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, Marga laughed loudly and both wizards turned to look at her.

“Times up, I’m afraid. The moon’s about to rise. I can feel it. I can’t waste any more time on you. Cheers!” She smirked broadly and saluted Lupin with the bottle. Then she upended it and swallowed the potion herself.











Shadow of the Moon by shadowycat [Reviews - 0]

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