Sanctuary

Chapter 93

Sunday, 10th June 1973

Peter watched as Remus lined up the six identical potion vials on the bathroom counter, pouring a single dose of unfinished polyjuice into each one before turning to face the crowd of Gryffindor second-years behind him. 'Your hairs, Peter?'

Wincing as he did so, Peter plucked three hairs from his head and handed them over. It only hurt a bit, but it was such a sharp kind of pain it made his eyes water. He watched as Remus added the hairs to the first bottle, peering into the neck and making a note of what colour it turned as if he didn't already know it would change to a very pale blue.

Taking hairs from each of them in turn, Remus added the finishing touch to each dose and stoppered them before telling them to all turn around while he mixed them up.

'All done,' he said after several seconds listening to the scrape of glass against varnished wood. 'You can look.'

'Who wants to go first?' James asked.

Marlene shrugged, stepping forward. 'I'll do it.'

'I'll go wait for you in the dorm,' Remus said, heading towards the door. 'Keep an eye on them, Dorcas. Make sure no one tries listening at the door.'

After inspecting each bottle, which was pointless because there was no way she could tell anything from the outside—Peter had chosen them because they were jet black, keeping the contents completely hidden—Marlene picked one and stepped back.

'Should I go? Or wait until everyone's got one?'

'Might as well go now,' James said. 'I don't see the point of waiting.'

They all agreed, and Marlene left the room to change her clothes and transform into another member of the group. While they waited for Remus to let them know she was done, each of them took a turn choosing a bottle. Despite drawing it out, they still had to wait another minute before Remus knocked on the door. 'She's gone. Who's next?'

Lily grinned. 'Does anyone mind if I go?'

'Go fo it,' James said, because of course he did. He'd give Lily his entire fortune if she asked for it, but Peter didn't argue. He had a plan, and it all hinged on Lily leaving before him.

Sirius went after Lily, and then James left, leaving just Peter, Mary, and Dorcas.

Finally, it was just Peter and Dorcas left in the bathroom, and when the knock came, they walked out together.

'I'm going to go now,' Dorcas said, heading towards the door. 'I've got some reading I want to do. See you later.'

Peter waited for her to leave before turning to Remus with raised eyebrows. 'Did you get them?'

'Of course,' Remus said, smirking and holding out his hand, which held three long red hairs.

Peter grinned back at him. 'Excellent. Nice work.'

'You better be quick. They'll get suspicious if you take too long to go down.'

Knowing he was right, Peter hurried over to his desk and pulled open the top drawer, reaching a hand all the way to the back to dig out the two vials of his own polyjuice he'd put there the day before. His brew lasted twice as long as Lily's did, and the extra time it would take to wear off was crucial to his plan.

With another wince, he pulled three more hairs from his head and added them to one bottle which he left on the bed to pocket once he'd changed, then he took the red hairs that Remus had procured while alone in the room with Lily, and added them to the other bottle. 'Right, let's see,' he said, pulling the stopper from the black bottle and peering into the neck.'