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It is the day after the full moon. Sirius wakes up on the mattress in the spare bedroom in his animagus form curled up with Remus, who is now back in his human form. He isn't all scratched up like he used to be. Sirius is thankfully for the wolfsbane potion. It helps Remus keep his mind during his transformation, so he doesn't hurt himself like he used to. The potion helps with that but not with the pain that comes from the transformation. Sirius changes back into his human form. He shakes Remus gently.
“Come on Moony time to wake up. We need to move you to the bed and you need to take your pain potions.” Sirius says.
Remus mumbles, “I don't want to move yet.” As he rolls away from Sirius.
“I know you might not want to, but you are going to be way more comfortable on our soft bed than this mattress on the floor.” Sirius grabs Remus' hand. “Come on Moony. I want to get you nice and comfy before I go to meet Reggie.” Sirius says.
“I’ll move myself later.” Remus mumbles.
“I know that isn't true Moony. Come on, you need to get up and take your pain potion.” Sirius says.
Remus sighs as he sits up and allows Sirius to help him up. Sirius helps Remus put on some soft comfy clothes and then helps him into bed. Once he has Remus in bed he gives him his pain potion. Then he makes Remus a cup of his favorite tea and puts a warming charm on it to keep it warm for him.
Sirius gives Remus a light kiss. “I love you Moony. I’ll see you later.”
“Love you too Padfoot. Tell Reggie I say hi.” Remus says.
“I will. He is going to be bummed that you aren't there. I think he likes you more than he likes me.” Sirius says.
“He does like me more. You annoy him.” Remus says.
“Well I'm his brother, it’s my job to annoy him.” Sirius says. He kisses Remus on the forehead before heading out to meet up with Regulus.
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Sirius walks into his brother Regulus’ apothecary through the back door. “Hey, Reggie.” He calls out.
“Hey Sirius.” Regulus says.
“Remus says hi too. I had a favor to ask you.” Sirius says.
“What is it?” Regulus asks.
“I was wondering if you had some free time to discuss something.” Sirius says.
“What did you want to discuss?” Regulus asks.
“I want to know if you know a way to improve the wolfsbane potion.” Sirius says.
“You need to be more specific, Sirius.” Regulus says.
“I want to improve it to the point that you could stop someone's transformation.” Sirius says.
“I don't know if that is possible.” Regulus says.
“Could we at least try. If anyone can figure it out it is you. You have always been excellent at potions. Come on Reggie please. I can't handle seeing Remus in pain every month.” Sirius says.
Regulus sighs. “Ok, I will look into it, but I'm not making any promises.” He says.
Sirius hugs him. “Thank you so much Reggie.” He says.
Regulus pushes him away. “Stop it. I'm not doing it for you. I’m doing it for Remus.” He says.
“Do you need my help with anything?” Sirius asks.
“You can help me by staying out of my way.” Regulus says.
“Ok, well I am going to go back home to Remus. Just let me know if you need me.” Sirius says.
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When Sirius gets back to the apartment he goes into the bedroom to check on Remus. He finds Remus asleep. The tea is gone and he sees an empty chocolate frog wrapper so he knows Remus had one. He decides to go into the kitchen and makes something for Remus to eat.
Sirius had gone to the store yesterday and got all the ingredients to make Remus' mom’s recipes for Welsh cawl. He goes into the kitchen to prepare the ingredients, so that he can start making the soup. Sirius always tries to make something that he knows will be easy on Remus' stomach. One of his favorite recipes to make is Remus' mom's cawl, because he knows it is one of Remus' favorites.
After he has all the ingredients ready Sirius adds everything to the pot and turns it on low to cook. When the soup is cooking Sirius starts cleaning up everything. He keeps checking on the soup as he cleans up.
When the soup is ready Sirius goes into the bedroom to wake Remus up. He knows that Remus prefers to eat his meals at the table if he is up to it. Sirius shakes him gently.
“Moons wake up. I made some food.” Sirius says.
Remus slowly wakes up and stretches. Sirius brushes the curls off of his forehead.
“Are you up to going to the table to eat?” Sirius asks.
“Yeah, I think I am.” Remus says.
Once Remus is seated at the table Sirius dishes him up a bowl of soup. He sits the soup and a glass of water down on the table for Remus. Then he gets his own and sits it down before joining him.
“How are you feeling?” Sirius asks.
“A little sore, but not too bad. How is Reggie? Did you guys have a nice time today?” Remus says.
“He is ok, but he was busy so we didn't get the chance to hang today.” Sirius says.
After they finish eating Sirius gets Remus situated on the couch with his book before going back into the kitchen to clean up from lunch. Once he finishes he goes back into the room and sits beside Remus. He runs his fingers through Remus' curls.
“Are you ok Moons? Do you need any more pain potion?” Sirius asks.
“I'm ok. I don't think I need anymore potion right now.” Remus says.
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It is a couple weeks later and almost September and Sirius is not looking forward to it coming. September means that Remus will be going back to Hogwarts to teach. Sure Sirius is happy that Dumbledore hired Remus to be a professor, because he knows how much Remus likes it. He knows that Remus likes having a job. Sirius also knows that Remus enjoys working with Lily.
Sirius is getting ready to go to the quidditch supply shop he co-owns with James. Remus is sitting on the couch reading.
“Are you going to see Lily and Harry today?” Sirius asks.
“Yeah, I probably will.” Remus says.
“Tell Mrs. Prongs and Little Prongs I say hi and give them hugs from me.” Sirius says.
“I will. Tell James I say hi, and Reggie if you decide to go bug him.” Remus says.
“I will, and you know me so well to know that I am going to find a chance to go bug Reggie.” Sirius says.
Sirius gives Remus a kiss before grabbing a handful of floo powder and stepping into the floo. He says the names of the shop and throws the floo powder down. James is already there for the day when Sirius steps out of the floo.
“Good morning Prongs. Remus also wanted me to tell you hi.” Sirius says.
“Good morning Padfoot.” James says.
“Since we have a bit of time yet before we open I am going to pop over and say hi to Reggie.” Sirius says.
Sirius walks a couple of stores down to Regulus' shop. He walks inside and heads for the back. As he is walking he hears Reggie say, “We aren't open yet.”
“It's me Sirius. Where are you Reggie?” Sirius says.
“I’m in the back.” Reggie says.
Sirius walks into the back room. “Hey Reggie, how are you? Remus also says hi.” Sirius says.
“I am good. How are you?” Regulus says.
“I am good too. I was wondering how things were coming along with the potion.” Sirius says.
“I think I might have found something that can be changed in the potion to make it more powerful. If I am right I am a step closer to finding a cure. I think if we add a few more mandrake leaves we might be able to cure it a bit. Making his wolf an animagus form. Since mandrake leaves are one of the main for the animagus potion. As well as adding more murtlap tentacles since it has healing properties. Now I just need to brew it with the changes, and find a way to test it.” Regulus says.
Regulus prepares all the ingredients. Making the changes he said about. Then as he was mixing it he was waiting for it to do anything that would show if it worked or not. After mixing it for a bit the potion starts admitting a blue smoke. Regulus hopes this means that the potion is ok. He bottles and it makes sure to label it.
“Now what do we do?” Sirius asks.
“We have to find a way to test the potion to make sure it is safe. It doesn't smell off, but I still want to make sure before I give it to Remus.” Regulus says.
“How do we test it?” Sirius asks.
“I haven't figured that out yet.” Regulus says.
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It is a couple of months later. Regulus has continued working in the wolfsbane potion to improve it and find a cure for lycanthropy. He is pretty sure he has found the right combination. The only problem is he now needs to find a way to test it. Sirius is at his shop right now talking to him.
“Do you know anyone with lycanthropy besides Remus that you think would be willing to try the potion?” Regulus asks.
Sirius thinks for a minute. “I don't think so.” He says.
“Maybe we should say something to Remus about it.” Regulus says.
“I don't know. If we tell him he is going to want to drink that potion himself, I don't know if it is a good or bad thing. If it works I want him to take it, but I am afraid of something happening to him if it doesn't work.” Sirius says.
“I could always have someone else check my notes and see what they think about the potion. Two potion masters are better than one.” Regulus says.
“We could have Lily check it out. I’ll send her an owl about it and tell her not to say anything to Remus.” Sirius says.
Sirius sends an owl to Lily asking her to come by Regulus’ shop, because they need her help with something. He gets an owl back telling him she will swing back that evening after supper when she is free.
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Later that evening Sirius is sitting with Regulus at the shop while they wait for Lily to show up. Sirius is nervous about what she is going to say when they tell her. They are just finishing up the food that Sirius picked up for them when the floo flares up as Lily steps out.
Sirius gets up and hugs her. “It is good to see you, Lils.” He says.
“It is good to see you too. I don't have much time. What did you need my help with?” Lily says.
“This.” Sirius says, handing her a piece of parchment.
Lily reads over it and gives Sirius a confused look. “What is this? It looks like an altered version of the wolfsbane potion.” She says.
“That is what it is.” Regulus answers.
“Why are you altering the wolfsbane potion, and why do you need my help?” Lily asks.
“I asked Reggie if he could improve the potion to find a cure for lycanthropy, because I believe that if you find the right combination for the potion you could cure lycanthropy. Think about it. The potion helps a person keep their mind when they transform. So it makes them almost like an animagus, so why not take it a step further and make it so they don't change unless they want to.” Sirius says.
“I believe that I figured out what ingredients you would need to add more of to do that. I think that with these ingredients you could make it so a person doesn't change every full moon, but just when they want to. As if a wolf was the animagus form. I wanted a second potion master's opinion on it.” Regulus says.
“Have you tested this?” Lily asks.
“Yes, I brewed it the other month. It looked and smelled ok, and it didn't blow up. It even emitted the blue smoke like the wolfsbane potion does. I just don't know if it will work.” Regulus says.
“That is why we need your help. We don't know if it will work. We don't know how to test it.” Sirius says.
“Same way they test any other potion. You need to find someone to test it and be prepared to intervene if something goes wrong.” Lily says.
“I already have that covered. I have anti-poison potions as well as plenty of bezoars.” Regulus says.
“We just didn't know how to test it. I was afraid of having Remus rest it and having something happen to him.” Sirius says.
“I can brew a potion and see if I think it comes out how a potion should. Do you have the ingredients for it?” Lily says.
“Of course. I have plenty of it in the back. I keep them on hand so during the summer I can brew Remus' wolfsbane potion.” Regulus says, leading Lily into the back.
Lily follows Regulus’ recipe to brew the potion. When she gets to the end she notices the same thing that Regulus observed: that the potion emitted a blue smoke when it was done just like the wolfsbane potion usually does. She looks at the potion closely and smells it to make sure it doesn't look or smell off. Then she turns to Regulus.
“I can't be sure without it being tested, but I think you might be right. You might have discovered a cure for lycanthropy.” Lily says.
“Ok, now how do we get it tested?” Sirius asks.
“I think the best option might be to give it to Remus. You would probably have to start out by trying just one time drinking the potion and see if that works to cure it. You don't want to end up giving him too much.” Lily says.
“Ok, we will tell Remus and see if he wants to try it.” Sirius says.
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It is the week before the full moon. Regulus has decided to go with Sirius to tell Remus about the potion. They need to find out if he wants to try it and see what happens.
They step out of the floo into Remus' office. Sirius walks up to him. He gives him a kiss. “Hi, Moony.”
“Hi, Padfoot.” Remus replies, kissing him back.
“Come on you two not in front of me.” Regulus says.
“What are you two doing here?” Remus asks.
“We have a new potion Reggie invented that we want to talk about with you.” Sirius says.
“Shouldn't you be talking about it with Lily. Since she is also a potions master. I am not good with potions.” Remus says.
“No, it is you we need to talk to.” Sirius says.
“Ok, go on.” Remus says.
“A couple months ago I asked Reggie to see if there was any way to improve the wolfsbane potion.” Sirius says.
“After doing some research I think I might have found a way to not only improve it, but to also use it as a cure. We asked Lily for help and she agrees with me that it looks and smells ok. The only thing left to do is test it.” Regulus says.
“Why are you telling me?” Remus asks.
“We were wondering if you might be interested in helping test it.” Sirius says.
“How often would I have to take it?” Remus asks.
“We aren't sure. That is why we need to test it.” Sirius says.
Remus thinks about it for a couple minutes. Then he says, “ok, I’ll do it, I'll help.”
The following week Remus takes a dose of the potion every night. Just like he would do with the regular wolfsbane potion. Thankfully he didn't have any reaction to it. Now all they had to do was hope that it didn't cause Remus to have a bad moon.
It is the night of the full moon. Remus has taken his last potion. Sirius is sitting beside him holding his hand. “Do you think it will work?” Remus asks.
“I’m not sure. I hope so. I would love for you to not have to go through all that pain every month.” Sirius replies.
As the moon starts rising Sirius and Remus sit in the spare room waiting to see what happens. As the moon gets higher in the sky Remus isn't feeling anything. The normal aches and pains that come before his transformation aren't coming.
The moon reaches the highest point in the sky and still nothing. Remus and Sirius look at each other. “I think Reggie did it. He said if he was correct on what he figured he could turn the werewolf transformation into just a wolf animagus transformation.” Sirius says.
Remus looks at him with tears in his eyes. “You mean I am cured.” He says.
“I think so, Moony.” Sirius says, kissing him.
They get through the entire night without Remus changing into a werewolf. The next morning they are sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast when they hear the sound of the floo. Regulus comes walking into the kitchen. “Did it…” before he can say work Remus walks over and hugs him. “Thank you.” Remus says, hugging him.
Regulus stiffens at first before hugging him back. “You are welcome.” He replies.
“We don't know if it is permanent or not yet, but we are just happy that Remus didn't have to deal with it this month.” Sirius says.
“Have you tried to see if he has an animagus form yet?” Regulus asks.
“No, we didn't think to try.” Sirius says.
“Well go on and try it.” Regulus says.
Remus stands up and Sirius talks him through the animagus transformation. He tells Remus to imagine himself as a wolf. Remus imagines himself as a wolf and soon he transforms into a regular wolf. He is a brown wolf a little bit smaller than Sirius’ animagus dog. Sirius gets down level with the wolf and pets him. He says, “Moony you are just a cute little wolf now.”
Then he talks Remus through transforming back to his human form. Remus transforms back into his human form and hugs Sirius. “I'm cured, Padfoot.” He says.
“I know Moony. I am so happy for you.” Sirius says, hugging him back.
Remus hugs Regulus again. “Thank you so much Reggie.” He says.
Regulus hugs him back. “You are welcome Remus.” He says.