The Aftermath

Chapter 17

Just over a month had gone by and Hermione was spending yet another weekend in the archives. She had been diligently taking notes and sharing them with both Draco and Dean. What she was not sharing was the elixir she couldn't quite get right. The way Dean and Draco were progressing if she didn't get it right they wouldn't survive the weekend.

The first batch she had tried on Viktor. Charlie supervised in a room with just one other witch in case things went bad. Viktor immediately went into a coma. It lasted a day and a half and he woke up feeling exactly the same. Bad news: she thought she might've killed him; good news: the fact that he survived proved that she and Draco were right.

Since then she'd been trying to come up with the perfect blend of two spells designed to do the same thing but for two separate species. The aggression and moodiness from all three of them was getting out of hand. Even if she did get it right there was still the issue of Harry and Seamus. She wasn't willing to try this elixir on them because they were not like the other three. Not as far as her studies could tell.

She had commissioned to have a private lab made for her experiments in a section of the Archives close to where she studied. Narcissa made sure she got it. Hermione was getting close and when she found the answers Narcissa had already set things in motion to get the right protection laws in place.

Blaise was helping her now. And also getting paid. He was good with numbers and came with fresh ideas when it came to how to build the potion. And two readers were better than one. After spending almost every night with him for weeks and hearing him talk about Pansy, himself, and Draco, she had a much better appreciation for their friendship. That and the fact she would never have to force Blaise or Pansy to study. They did that on their own.

In the middle of both of them reading, Severus appeared. She was using him to transport messages because he was much faster and could apparate over much longer distances than an owl.  She still used her owl for closer range letters though. It was the third day. That was how long Charlie would study Viktor and then send her notes after each injection of elixir.

Blaise took the letter and handed the dog a rather meaty piece of basilisk. They were immune to being blinded by them and had a high tolerance to their venom. Alone maybe not a good idea to attack one; but in a pack, not a Basilisk's best friend.

"Hermione you should read this."

Hermione,

The new elixir works amazingly well. Viktor only takes it when needed. Say's he doesn't get addicted to it like the last one. He likes it because it's non-addictive. He got so anxious the longer he went without the last one. It took us a while to detox him as you already know. It wasn't the best three days I've endured in my life. That being said the nonaddictive qualities combined with the fact that it is fast acting allows him the freedom to decided if he actually needs it versus having no choice but to take it every day. He said he still gets a bit high but it wears off after a few hours. All in all, I think the two of you have finally got it.

Charlie.

Hermione and Blaise could barely contain themselves. They refused to adjust any potions until they got feedback. If the news was good they'd have some made and could just create more.

"Finally. I don't know how much longer Dean and Draco could survive. Now we just need to figure out how to complete the transformation before..." Hermione began.

"It does seem that way. Sometimes I can feel the heat coming from Draco. He notices it too. I think he's catching on."

"They should've been born whole. But the spells killing of these species are enormously strong. Who knew the wizarding world could do something so, is there even a word for it." Blaise shook his head. He had a feeling Voldermort was working beyond just pureblood extremes. To find out exactly what it was, was a bit much. And he probably didn't even know as much as he and Hermione had found.