Chapter 7

Chapter 7

By the time Remus arrived, the supplies were packed and waiting in the front room. "Severus," he said politely and nodded his head in greeting. He received a small bow of the head in return. "Where's Aurelia?"

"Dropping the girls off at the Parker's," he replied.

"Will she be long?"

"I expect not, but it is hard to say where children are concerned."

They waited in uneasy silence for several minutes before Remus said, "I wanted to thank you for letting me come along."

"I didn't..." Severus recalled his conversation with Aurelia. "You're welcome."

They returned to silence. Severus continued reading his book, and Remus began to examine the photographs on the mantle.

When Aurelia returned, she saw the two of them sitting in silence. Well, it's better than them arguing. She held up an old tennis racquet. "I've got the Portkey. Whenever you are ready."

They both stood and nearly tripped over each other trying to get the packs, eager to be out of the confines of the house.

Once they were all touching the racquet, she said, "Portus." After a few moments of disorientation, they found themselves in the middle of a jungle in late afternoon. She quickly vanished the tennis racquet, not wanting to litter.

"Didn't we need that to get back?" Remus asked.

"No, we'll pick up a new one from the local Portkey Authority when we're done. It's probably a good thing they are eight hours ahead of us. We should be ready to stay up all night. Well, except for you, Severus."

He still didn't like the idea of being the bait, but he was the logical choice. "I suggest we find a settlement and set up camp nearby. We can ward the camp to keep any Muggles away. With luck, we'll make contact with a Lethifold in the next few days. I also think it would be prudent to continue to practice the capture spell."

The sun was getting much lower in the horizon; there was maybe an hour until sunset. "Couldn't we have arrived closer to a village?" Remus asked.

"This isn't a Muggle village nearby, and I thought it would be a bad idea for the local wizards to know what we were doing. People are very superstitious about Lethifolds," Aurelia replied.

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

It was nearly dark by the time they had the campsite set up and secure. Severus and Remus had pitched the tent, while Aurelia saw to the wards. "Should we draw straws for who cooks dinner?"

"I'll do it," offered Remus, and he headed to the kitchen area of the tent.

Aurelia went to check the bedrooms, to make sure they had everything. She noticed Severus was following her. "Thank you for being civil. I think you should take this room since it's the only one on the first floor. We can watch for it from the living room."

"You should practice the spell some more," Severus replied.

"After we eat. Remus should be involved, too."

"If you can master the wand movement, you can teach it to him." He wanted as little do with Remus as possible.

"Fine," she relented. He coached her through he proper wand movement over and over.

"You aren't getting the twist right," he insisted.

"I'm doing it exactly like you instructed. If I have it wrong, why don't you show it to me again."

He stood behind her and wrapped his hand around hers, guiding her through the movements. "Like this."

"That's what I was doing," she insisted.

Remus' voice came from the door. "Are you two ready to eat?"

"One last time, and then we'll eat," she said.

Both men watched her flourish her wand and speak the incantation. A brilliant gold web shot out of her wand. She smiled at the satisfaction of a job well done. "Thank you for your help, Severus. We'll work on this some more after dinner."

He was pleased by her praise, but also felt guilty about the feelings standing behind her had elicited. She was his friend, and he was sure she did not have any romantic feelings towards him. If he admitted his feelings, he was sure it would destroy their friendship.

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

After a simple, yet delicious dinner, they moved into the living room to continue work on the capture spell. Remus still wasn't having any luck with it. After half an hour of verbal instruction and demonstration failing, Aurelia said, "Here, let me show you." She moved beside him and took hold of his wand hand. He pulled away as though touched with a hot iron. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he lied. He forced himself to be calm.

Severus was tired of watching her trying to teach the werewolf the spell. He most especially did not want to watch her holding his hand. "I'm going for a walk."

"I'd really rather you didn't," replied Aurelia.

"Muggles walk in the jungle all the time. Lethifolds only attack those that are sleeping so they can smother them. I'll be back in half an hour."

She didn't like the idea of him going out, but stopping him would cause more tension. Once Severus was gone, she turned her attention back to Remus. "Why did you pull back from my touch?"

"I...lost someone I cared very deeply for."

She smiled weakly. "I think we all did. My husband was an Auror. They killed him near the end. It's been very hard for me getting on with life without him."

He placed his hand on hers. "My...young lady was an Auror, too."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," she replied. They stood in uncomfortable silence, neither really knowing how to continue, but knowing they didn't really want to talk about the losses they had suffered.

"I think I'm ready now," he announced.

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

It was quite late when Severus returned, and he found the two of them still working on the capture spell. He wasn't sure why, but watching the two of them together bothered him. Aurelia seemed to have it mastered, but Remus was still struggling with it. "With the two of you on watch, I will get some rest. I trust you can stay awake?"

"With the two of us it shouldn't be a problem. I'll ward the other windows so it has to go in your window or through the door. We can watch both from outside."

"That will be acceptable." He was still quite nervous about placing his life in other people's care, but he had grown to trust Aurelia over the last few months. He knew that she did not want him dead. He drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

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

The three of them settled into a routine. Aurelia and Remus would sleep from sunrise until mid-afternoon. The afternoon and evening were spent working on perfecting the capture spell. When Severus went to bed, the two of them would move outside to keep watch for a Lethifold.

Aurelia found herself thankful that she had insisted Remus come along when she tried to keep herself awake. They were both settling into a lull, when Aurelia thought she heard something. Peering into the darkness, she thought she saw something. At first glance, it didn't look much like the flat shape of the Lethifold. She nudged Remus. "Do you see that?"

He looked where she was pointing. "That looks like a person," he whispered.

"That's what I thought."

Not wanting to chance their visitor getting away, Remus stunned him.

"What did you do that for?" Aurelia asked.

"What's going on?" asked Severus, who had run outside after hearing the commotion.

"I thought it best to stun him. Whoever is sneaking around here in the middle of the night probably doesn't have honorable intentions."

Aurelia lit her wand and examined the intruder. "Either of you recognize him?" she asked, after determining that he was merely unconscious.

Remus shook his head. Severus examined the body. When he pulled up the left sleeve he saw the Dark Mark. "We know what he is, but I don't recognize him. He must have been a lower level Death Eater."

Aurelia asked, "But why does he have the Mark? Yours is gone."

Severus unconsciously rubbed his left forearm. "I...don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with the potion."

"What potion?" asked Remus.

In order to head off an argument, Aurelia said, "Never mind. Severus, you don't suppose that Lucius sent him, do you?"

"Possibly. There is one way to know for sure. Do you have Veritaserum?"

"Severus! I'm not going to do that, even if I did have any. It's not allowed."

"Do you want to know if Malfoy sent him?" Severus asked tersely.

"What does Malfoy have to do with this?" Remus interrupted.

Aurelia chewed on her fingernails, unsure of how much to tell Remus. She may have unwittingly placed him in danger.

Snape replied, "None of your business."

"Severus, it is his business. We needed to get information on the poison. Lucius was the only one that we had access to..."

"Malfoy disappeared. He's dead," insisted Remus.

"I assure you, Lucius Malfoy is most definitely alive," replied Severus.

"Yes, he did disappear and everyone assumed he was dead because the entire family vanished. Severus had a very good idea where he would be hiding, so we went to pay him a visit," added Aurelia.

"And you didn't turn him in to the Ministry?" Remus was aghast.

"Let's not debate that decision now. From him, we learned enough about the source of the poison that is affecting Severus to find a cure, or at least, what we think will be the cure. At the time, we decided to trade that information for his freedom. Now, that's not looking like a good decision. We don't know why this man is here, but it seems likely Lucius sent him."

Severus drew his wand. "Revive him," he ordered.

"What are you going to do with him?" Remus asked nervously. He knew that Severus couldn't really do any magic, but there were ways to be cruel without magic.

"Since there will be no use of Veritaserum, I will find another way to extract the information from him. Is either of you capable of Obliviation?"

Aurelia shook her head.

"You can't just do that!" protested Remus.

"What do you suggest, Lupin? That we just let him go on his way and report to Malfoy what we are doing? Or would you prefer to keep him prisoner? A tent is not exactly the most secure location to hold someone. If we Obliviate him, we can send him on his way. You and your friends were capable of a wide array of unsanctioned magic – is this a spell you can do or not?"

Lupin stared at Severus for several long seconds before making his decision. "Fine. I'll do it." He didn't like it, but it didn't seem he had a choice.

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

Severus' interrogation yielded little of use. The man had been sent by Malfoy to spy on Severus. When Severus was not at Spinner's End, the man tracked him to Aurelia's house. It had taken him two days to find them in the jungle.

The man had been told not to harm anyone, only to spy. If he determined that Severus was behaving oddly, he was to report that back to Malfoy. That was why he had approached the tent; he wanted to see what they were doing.

Severus, Remus and Aurelia sat around the table. The spy was unconscious in the bedroom. "Do you believe him?" Aurelia asked.

"I do. My reputation precedes me. I could see the fear in his eyes. He thought that I was in his mind."

"So, he wasn't here to kill you. What do we do with him now?" Remus asked.

"We carry out our original plan. I have no interest in Malfoy knowing what we are doing. Once you Obliviate him, you will give him the false memory of having failed to find us. He will report back to Malfoy.

"Why Obliviate him? He's not doing anything harmful." Remus was confused why they would be concerned about the spy reporting nothing.

"Because we don't know why Malfoy wants this information. He may decide that this expedition is a threat to him and send forces after us."

"How many followers can he have? We almost completely destroyed the Death Eaters. And why would he think this is a threat?" Remus argued.

"We have no way of knowing the answer to either," Severus replied.

Remus had the idea that Severus was holding something back and gave Aurelia a piercing gaze.

She decided to answer the question that Severus would not. "All of the senior Death Eaters were given the same poison that is affecting Severus. I'm sure he suspects that we are conducting some research on that poison, whether it be brewing it or creating an antidote. His blood still contained traces of the poison. If he thinks we are working on a cure, he would be very interested in it."

Severus glared at her during the entire explanation. "Now you see why it is vital we Obliviate this spy."

"What is this poison?" Lupin asked. Potions had never been his strong suit, but he hadn't recalled learning about a poison that would remain in a person's system.

Aurelia and Severus stared at each other. When she realized he wasn't going to say anything more on the subject, she replied. "This poison is very Dark Magic. It is either very old or an incredibly recent discovery. While we were not able to learn the specifics of how its delivery imbues it with its power, I have a theory. I guess I should say what it is, first. It is a poison designed to ensure the loyalty of those who drink it. You-Know-Who, ever paranoid, served it to those who were his most loyal followers prior to attacking Hogwarts. I believe that the fact he was the first to drink from the goblet and began passing it around with a toast is what imbued the poison with its power.

"This poison is designed to kill any that aren't loyal. Once Severus was somewhat recovered, we learned that Lucius is the one that procured the poison. I still have no idea why Severus survived the poison. Poppy was able keep him alive long enough to get him to me at St. Mungo's. I can only assume that the power of this poison did not die with You-Know-Who. I am sure that's the reason Lucius fled the country. He knew about the poison and knew that he could not renounce You-Know-Who."

"That would explain Nott," said Remus. When they looked at him quizzically, he continued, "Nott was trying to confess to us and give us the names of other Death Eaters when he died rather suddenly."

"That is the poison," Severus said. "Now, you will Obliviate him and give him his new memory. Once that is take care of, deposit him some distance from here."

Remus didn't look pleased at what he had to do, but did it without complaint.

Once he was gone, Aurelia turned to Severus. "What do we do? You say you believe he told the truth, but what if Lucius becomes more desperate?" She was concerned about the safety of her girls.

He reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on hers. "I don't believe he will. Right now, he has no idea exactly what we are doing. With his suspicion that we are working on a cure, he would be unlikely to do anything to your girls."

"But what if he decides to kidnap them to secure my help?" She was starting to get hysterical.

"Aurelia, listen to me. He knows me. He's not sure whether I am powerless or not. He will not do anything. If he does, he will live to regret it."

She smiled weakly at him, still concerned about her family. "Thank you."

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

By the end of the first week, everyone's nerves were on edge due to lack of sleep. "Perhaps we should move camp?" Aurelia offered.

Severus protested, "No, I believe our best chance is if we remain here. You chose this location because there have been attacks here in the past. We know so little about Lethifolds that moving would be a mistake. If we wait, it is bound to find us in its territory."

"Fine. Whatever. I can't extend my vacation, so if we don't find one, we will have to leave."

"Don't you think I know that?" asked Severus. It was his life they were talking about.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I think I'm going to get some sleep before it gets dark."

Remus and Severus stared at each other in silence for several long seconds before Severus got up and went to his room without saying another word. Remus picked up a book to pass the time until dark.

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

As darkness descended, Aurelia joined Remus in the living room. "Anything?" she asked quietly.

Remus shook his head. "Nothing. Do you think this is a futile search?"

"No, but I think we need a new plan. I have a theory. I don't think that he's been sleeping. Though, I can't say I blame him. As much as he's going to protest, I think he needs to take a Sleeping Draught." She crossed the room and cracked open Severus' bedroom door. From her experience as a parent, she could tell by his breathing that he was not asleep. "Severus, I know you can hear me, so quit pretending to be asleep."

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

She entered the bedroom and closed the door. "Look, we both know that Lethifolds will only attack a sleeping victim. And we both know that you haven't been sleeping, not that I can blame you. I want you to take a Sleeping Draught."

"Are you insane? That would make me completely defenseless," he protested.

"Oh, yes, that's a marvelous Patronus you can conjure," she replied dryly and pulled a small bottle from her pocket and placed it on the bedside table. "Take it or don't. It doesn't matter to me. I'm not the one that needs a Lethifold. Though, if you aren't going to take it, I'd like to know so that we can end this trip now and go home."

"You wouldn't? You said you would help."

"I did say that I would help, but unless you are asleep, we are never going to see a Lethifold. Remus and I will take watch over both the door and the window if you take the potion. I have some Invigoration Draught that we will both take so that we don't fall asleep. Now, which will it be?" She crossed her arms and waited for his answer.

He didn't say anything, but instead picked up the potion and downed it in one swallow. "Happy?" he asked snidely.

"Thank you," she replied and left him alone as the potion took effect.

Remus was standing by the door. "That went better than I expected."

"You just have to know how to deal with him. Most times, he quite reasonable, but sometimes he's worse than my children." She led Remus to the kitchen area and ladled a dose of the Invigoration Draught into glasses for each of them. "I'll take the watch outside, if you don't mind," she said.

"Not at all," he replied even though a part of him saw the outside watch as more dangerous and wanted to protect her.

She found a spot on the far side of the clearing where she could get a clear view of the window. After an hour, she was beginning to wish that she had chosen inside. At least there she could have perused a book or magazine. Out here in the dark, there was little she could do other than stare at the tent.

After three hours, she thought she saw movement out the corner of her eye. Focusing on the area in question, it looked as though something was moving towards the tent. She held her breath as she watched the dark, flat form of a Lethifold climb the outside of the tent and slip through the window.

Quickly and quietly she moved back to the tent and through the front door. Throwing open the door to Severus' room, she took aim at the bed and shouted, "Comprendo lodix!" The golden web shot out from her wand, but the Lethifold had already begun to make its escape. As it neared the window, she saw another golden web, flying towards it, but this one also missed. "Damn!"

"What now?" Remus asked.

"Well, I don't know if it will come back tonight or not. Most animals are spooked when attacked, and it may take a while for it to return to the scene of the attack. Of course, if it's a hungry animal and there's only one nearby source of food, starvation has been shown to change that behavior."

"We'll keep watch. I think we need to be sneakier next time. I think it heard the door opening. Perhaps by Apparating into the room we could catch it before it begins to escape?" he offered.

"That's a good idea. It can't hurt. I guess we'll keep watch tonight and talk to Severus about the possibility of moving camp tomorrow."

"If we're going to Apparate into the bedroom, I think we should both be outside to watch for its return. You can ward the bedroom door so that it can only enter through the window."

"That might be a good idea, but I don't like the idea of leaving the door unprotected. Let's switch places instead."

By the time the sun came up, Aurelia was fighting to stay awake. There had been no sign of the Lethifold returning. Unfortunately, they had no idea how intelligent it was. A smarter creature would be very cautious about returning. She looked up as she saw an equally exhausted Remus enter the tent.

He flopped down on the couch next to her. "The one good thing about being outside is that it's harder to get comfortable and easier to stay awake. How much longer until that potion wears off?"

She checked her watch. "Just about two hours. I was really hoping we would have caught it. It's been years since I've had to work night shift, and I've forgotten how disorienting it can be," she said as she tried to stifle a yawn. It was getting hard for her to keep her eyes open.

"Well, on the bright side, this will only last a few more days at most. I'm just going to rest my eyes a minute before going up to bed," he muttered, but there was no one listening. Aurelia had already drifted off to sleep.

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

Severus experienced the few moments of disorientation that were common after waking from an induced sleep. He was thankful that he did wake. Taking that potion had put him in a very vulnerable position, one he did not like. Grabbing his toiletry kit, he decided to head to the bath and get cleaned up. When he opened his door, he saw the most unlikely sight. Remus was leaning against the corner of the couch, head thrown back, snoring softly and a stream of drool running down his right cheek. Aurelia was curled up on the couch beside him, using his leg as a pillow. He slammed his door sharply, watching them both jump. "My valiant protectors," he said dryly.

He stalked towards the bath. What was it about that accursed werewolf that attracted women? He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this sort of jealousy. Of course, never before had he had a woman show him the kindness and affection that she showed him. Or was he merely imagining that it was affection?

When he returned from the bath, he saw the two of them sitting at the table, eating bacon and eggs. He took a seat at the table and glared at them. To say he was not pleased was an understatement. "One task. The two of you had one task, and you failed."

"You know, it's not that easy," defended Remus. "Lethifolds move very quickly. And we have a better plan for next time."

Severus leaned back in the chair, crossed his arms and glared at the two of them. He wondered if the two of them had truly been protecting him. From the position he found them in, he doubted it.

Aurelia tried to reduce the tension in the room. "Okay, yes, we screwed up, but we need to move past that. I don't know about you, but I didn't really expect to capture one the first try. This is a creature we know next to nothing about. Nothing in the writing we had available indicated how quickly they could move. Now we know. The question now is, do we stay here or do we move the camp? We don't know how intelligent they are and whether or not it would come back. I do believe that the Sleeping Draught is the way to go. I think that we proved that last night."

"Now that we have made contact, you suggest we move?" Severus asked.

"I do, but I don't know what we should do about that. I honestly don't know if it would be better to move or not. I don't have enough information on Lethifolds to make any sort of scientific decision. What do you think?"

Severus sat in silence for several long moments, analyzing the data he had at hand. "Perhaps we should move the tent to a nearby location and change the appearance slightly. This might lure the Lethifold back."

"Excellent. I'm going to get a few hours sleep, and then we can get on with the move." She slid her chair away from the table and headed up the stairs.

After she was gone, Remus looked at the remains of his breakfast and decided that it wasn't worth finishing. He pushed back his chair.

"And I suppose you will be going to sleep as well?" Severus asked snidely.

"Look, Severus, I'm not in the mood to argue with you. It's been a very long week, and I haven't gotten much sleep because I've been guarding you. This looks like it will be a very long day, and I'd like to get some rest. That way I stand a chance at being able to help in the capture. I know you really didn't want my help, and that showing gratitude is something you are incapable of. Not that I'm looking for gratitude. Just...ease off a little."

As Lupin was walking toward the stairs, Severus asked, "Why did you want to help?"

Lupin paused with his foot on the first step. "Because you helped me when you least wanted to, because Albus asked. He trusted you when others lost faith in you, myself included. He wouldn't want you to suffer like this if it could be helped, not after the loyalty you showed to him."

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

It was mid-afternoon when they moved camp. They found a clearing about a mile from the original campsite. Remus made some subtle changes to the tent's outward appearance that would hopefully confuse the Lethifold into thinking it was a different place.

They ate dinner in the final glow of the setting sun. No one really spoke much, still thinking about the failure of the previous night. At the end of the meal, Aurelia placed a small bottle on the table.

Severus stared at. "Is that really necessary?"

"Will you be able to fall asleep without it?" she asked pointedly.

He frowned and picked up the bottle before retiring for his room.

Before Aurelia could offer, Remus said, "I'll take the outside watch tonight."

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

Remus found a spot across the clearing where he could lean up against a nearby tree and still remain in the shadows. As bright as the moon was, that was difficult to do. Even though he had taken a dose of Invigorating Draught, it did nothing to quell the incredible sense of boredom that came with staring at a window all night.

Time seemed to stretch on for all eternity. The only measure of the passage of time was that the moon was now low in the sky. He tried to keep his mind off his hatred of the moon and focus on the surrounding jungle. He thought he saw something moving towards the tent. In the waning moonlight, he thought he could see it go through the main door of the tent.

With a pop he Apparated into Severus' bedroom and was just about to cast the capture spell, when he noticed there was no Lethifold. He quickly scanned the room again to confirm that it was not there. Realizing there was only one place it could be, he had a sickening feeling and quickly Apparated into the living room of the tent.

He saw the Lethifold covering the couch.