Chapter 55: 2nd September 1991, Monday: Part 10

Although George found Gemma's company terribly distracting from his upcoming discussion with Remus, he did learn a very important fact about the Calming Draught along the way. Like all potions, their potency reflected the effects on the user and there would always be a threshold that could be overcome. For example, a sleeping potion would always be more effective on a drowsy subject than on someone wide awake. The Calming Draught prevents the individual from experiencing strong emotions but a suitably large emotional stimulus may overcome these effects.

Although very subtle, George was experiencing a fit of mild anger from Gemma's constant dribble. This reaction had both negative and positive consequences for him. The positive was that he now knew exactly the threshold required for him to regain his emotions and could therefore plan future events accordingly. The negative is that George's emotions may become powerful enough to eventually overcome the Calming Draught and his self-control before December. If this was to occur, George would have to find a method of increasing the potency or volume of the potion consumed following his increasingly emotionally unstable state.

For now, he felt confident that he was capable of undergoing high-stress situations whilst controlling the minor negative emotions which surfaced in his mind. The feeling of wanting to walk away from Gemma could be easily quelled with a minor distraction such as revising his upcoming debate with Remus over whether or not to expose his condition. There were plenty of reasons Remus could say to justify outing his secret and George needed an excuse for every possibility. There had to be no room for error, Dumbledore must not know the truth for the mission to succeed.

After walking for five minutes to the dungeons near the Slytherin common room, George and Gemma arrived outside Snape's office. The office's door had no markings to differentiate it from any other on the same corridor, it was as if the occupant was trying to avoid people finding it. Having stayed in Gemma's company long enough, George took the initiative to knock on the door even though they were still five minutes early. There was a sound of two adult voices inside followed by a brief pause. After a few seconds, a melodious voice from Snape could be heard from the other side of the door

"Come in."

George and Gemma entered the room only to be greeted by a small dark space glistening with the reflection of thousands of vials and jars. The room wasn't particularly large, perhaps a little smaller than the Slytherins dormitory rooms. The walls were made of black stone making up a dome ceiling. There was a small door hidden in the corner of the room behind a stone pillar, George wondered if it was the entrance to Snape's sleeping quarters. Every wall was lined with shelving which was chocked full of specimens and potion ingredients stored away in neatly label jars of varying sizes.

George could imagine that Snape's office probably had many potion ingredients equal to or exceeding the storeroom's supply. Perhaps Snape was still experimenting with new potions to this day and he needed a vast amount of ingredients. Due to the sheer quantity of potion ingredients lining the shelves, Snape's literature had been haphazardly stacked in the corners of the room. George would have described the small window behind Snape's desk as a source of light, but the glass seemed to be enchanted to make it look like it was night outside even though it was the middle of the day. The room was very poorly lit, there was a candle stand housing ten lit candles near the door he'd entered through and there was a small black lantern glowing on Snape's desk.

Speaking of which, Snape's desk was large and round which took up a good portion of the space, there was clear evidence of this being his workbench for conducting his administrative duties as well as private potion experimentation. The desk was littered with many burns and scratches as well as some corrosive holes which must have been created by failed potions spilling. Besides the desk, there were very few furnishings. There was one plain wooden chair behind the desk in which Snape was currently seated and one high-backed leather armchair where Remus was seated.

Snape was reclined in his chair with one hand supporting his chin, he was looking at George with a high degree of suspicion. The man draped in black had his pale lips pressed together and one eyebrow slightly raised. George was trying to work out what Remus would have been saying to Snape which would result in this unusual level of curiosity emanating from Snape's direction. He could always be hopeful and just assume it was Snape being Snape, but George took pride in never taking anything for granted. He found that a healthy level of pessimism had to be adopted when it came to making assumptions, he had to consider that Remus may have broken his promise to him a week ago.

Remus didn't appear to be in the best state of mind at the moment, he was currently hunched over in the guest chair whilst cupping his face with his hands. The werewolf's knees were bouncing up and down which made his whole body look like it was shivering. After hearing George and Gemma enter, Remus quickly jolted his head up and looked at George with a face that screamed anxiety and stress. George was wondering what Dumbledore could have possibly written in that letter to make Remus react in such a way. Remus's eyes scanned George top-to-bottom before his expression changed to relief as if a heavy burden had been taken off his shoulders.

Remus stood up from his chair and smiled whilst nervously asking George, "how are you feeling? Hopefully not out of sorts."

Judging by the weird wording and the look in Remus's eye, George could understand the hidden implication. He decided to answer equally as elusive.

"Never better, Mr lupin. I had just gotten a little worked up during the Sorting Hat Ceremony but now I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey had kindly prescribed me a week's worth of Calming Draught to keep the demons at bay."

George thought it would be best to mask his close relationship with Remus in front of Snape. Calling the werewolf by his first name would only raise more suspicion. George put on his warm smile whilst pulling out the pouch full of Calming Draughts. He then shook it to create a jingling noise to demonstrate to Remus what was in the bag. Remus needed a moment to realise what George had implied before he nodded his head with a fake smile. George could see that Remus lacked a great deal of practice when it came to hiding his emotions in front of others.

Snape stood up from his chair at that moment, his expression looked particularly irritated when looking in Remus's direction.

He spoke to Remus in a monotone voice, "as you can see, Mr Linwood has made a full recovery. I see no reason for you to stay at Hogwarts any longer. That's unless you have another reason for being here?"

Remus looked towards Snape and tried to act casual, "of course, George seems to be in perfectly good health. As you said, I see no reason for me to stay at Hogwarts any longer. I will just have to say my goodbyes to Professor Dumbledore and then I will be out of your hair."

Snape's face relaxed a little after hearing Remus confirm that he had no plans of lingering at Hogwarts. The reason most likely had nothing to do with George's situation. Snape was most likely the only member of Hogwarts staff who would be directly opposed to Remus taking the Defence against the Dark Arts position. One of the reasons is that he wanted the job instead. The other being Remus was part of the gang that bullied him and Snape didn't want to work alongside him.

Remus looked back at George before saying his suggestive goodbyes, "it's nice to see you again in good health. Remember to look after yourself, we wouldn't want this to happen again.

You have to remember that the worst thing you can do when you're worried is to keep it to yourself. Professor Dumbledore used to always tell me that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it. Just bear that in mind in the future."

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Remus politely nodded in both George's and Snape's direction. Then he picked up his briefcase and made his way out of the room. George nodded back at Remus with a smile, but internally he was not happy. Things had just gone from bad to terrible. He didn't like the way Remus just said goodbye at all, the insinuation he was making was quite obvious. Remus was probably planning on telling Dumbledore about George's condition before leaving Hogwarts. It was extra problematic that the werewolf didn't even bother to ask for George's opinion.

George thought that because he hadn't hurt another student or himself, then his agreement with Remus would remain. Clearly, something had changed in Remus's perception that made him reconsider the deal. George had assumed that if Remus was going to tell Dumbledore then he would at least talk to George about it beforehand. Otherwise, what was the point of meeting in the school in the first place? Regardless of the plan derailing, George now had a brief window of time to remedy this issue. This new problem would require immediate action or all hell would break loose.

George had maintained the same carefree and happy expression since he'd entered the room, but all of a sudden, he changed it to one of worry and panic. He turned abruptly to look for Remus only to find that he had already left the room. Seeing Remus's absence, George immediately turned back around to face Snape.

"Professor Snape, I'm sorry to be rude but can I be excused? There is something of the utmost urgency that I must say to Mr Lupin", George pleaded.

Snape appeared to be unfazed by George's frantic request, "an owl should be perfectly serviceable for delivering your message, I see no reason for you to be excused. Since you are here, there are some questions I would like you to answer for me?"

George wasn't surprised to see Snape being awkward with him, he was a man who rarely allowed others to get off easily. If there was a way to make your life even a minute amount more difficult, you could rely on Snape to make it so. Snape was most likely interested in why Remus would come to Hogwarts just to see a student he had known for less than a month. Remus and Snape did not have a good relationship, and George's answer would probably reflect the future treatment he should expect to receive from the master potioneer. In many ways, Snape could be considered a very petty man. Whether that was due to him pretending to be on the Dark Lord's side or he was just an arse, George would never know.

He was quick to counter Snape's suggestion, "that's exactly the problem sir. An owl would not be fast enough. You must understand, I am yet to contact home after my hospitalisation.

Judging by what Mr Lupin said, my parents may have already been informed of my accident at the Sorting Hat Ceremony. I need to leave a message with Mr Lupin so that he can relay it back to my family. With my parents being muggles, they were already very apprehensive about sending me to Hogwarts and I fear that this incident may reflect poorly on their image of this school.

I would like to reassure them before their negative opinions have a chance to fester, or… I may be at risk of not returning next year."

Snape seemed to become more suspicious during a brief silent pause, he kept on looking George up and down as if he had the ability to scan for lies. George knew that Snape would be reprimanded by the other members of staff, including Dumbledore, if he risked a student leaving Hogwarts due to their muggle parents pulling them out. After weighing up George's rational excuse, he inevitably relented.

"I understand, Mr Linwood. You are free to leave. But, I expect you to return to my office at three o'clock."

George hated that he had to come back, but he could live with this compromise. Today felt like it was never going to end.

Gemma, who had remained quiet this entire time, spoke up at that moment, "Professor Snape, should I escort George to the headmaster's office so that he can catch up with Mr Lupin."

Gemma looked a lot more desperate than George during her plea to escape, perhaps she had a bad history with Snape and just didn't want to be left in a room with him.

Snape clearly saw through Gemma's seemingly kind gesture, "I'm sure Mr Linwood will be fine on his own, Miss Farley. I believe that you have your potion class in ten minutes and it would be a shame if you were late yet again.

As a prefect, shouldn't you be setting a good example for the likes of Mr Linwood and his fellow first-years?"

Gemma's shoulders slumped and her expression seemed to lose all hope. That response didn't seem to be the answer that she was looking for.

Gemma replied to Snape whilst sounding extremely depressed, "yes Professor."

George was particularly unhappy with Gemma attempting to use him as an excuse to miss her class, it might be hypocritical, but, George would never let another use him for their own gains. His patron was the one and only exception. Gemma was lucky because George didn't have any time to punish her as he had already left the room in pursuit of Remus. He was well aware of his priorities, and right now, he needed to stop that werewolf before it was too late.

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