Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) 22nd Chapter ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize is property of JK Rowling. Additionally this is not my story. I am uploading this to my own account in support of the author the story belongs to who has been struggling with hackers.

The thing I've most been dreading as a fan is that the story would be removed from the site by the hackers and the author wouldn't have access to their old chapters when the situation was eventually brought under control in the event the site moderators wouldn't be able to give the author their account back.

For anyone interested the author goes by Hancock23 on Fanfiction -dot- net. I will remove the story from my account when Hancock23 has gotten the story safely uploaded elsewhere or has been safely given their account back on Fanfiction -dot- net. Without further ado I give you a backup upload of: Behind the Fog by Hancock23.

PS: This Backup Upload contains minor edits for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plus some rewording/restructuring of sentences so they make better sense and flow better. Hope you don't mind me becoming something of a Beta Reader for this Backup Upload Hancock23.

Chapter 22 - Lycanthropy Cure

Draco woke up slowly, stretching his muscles languidly and feeling like he had never slept better. He opened his eyes and sat up with a start.

"Sweet Merlin," He cursed, "Why are you watching me sleep?" He asked the four faces that had seemingly been watching him as he slept. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"We didn't get any work done today." Blaise said with a bemused look at the professors.
"They have been watching you sleep for the last seven hours and willing you with their minds to wake up."

"Huh, but why?" Draco was confused, and he frowned slightly as he remembered what had happened before he fell asleep. "Is it about what was said, because I need to think about that by myself."

"No." Lupin said urgently. "The lycanthropy cure."

Draco was confused some more. "Why are you asking me?"

"We broke." Blaise said with a sheepish smile. "We thought he had come here to get it and we blurted it out." Draco rolled his eyes before sighing; Lupin was not so bad really, plus he already knew more about Draco than Draco would have liked, but there was nothing to it now.

"I had no idea there is a cure for lycanthropy?" Severus prompted impatiently, managing to sound both annoyed and excited at the same time.

"There is." Draco sat back on the bed to be more comfortable. "Bill was supposed to speak to Professor Lupin to see if he would take it and be our ambassador for it."

"So there really is a cure, and you are truly the person behind Dragon World?' Lupin asked, as if afraid to believe such a thing. Many people had tried and failed before to come up with a cure after all.

"Yes, there is; and yes, I am." Draco confirmed.

"How does it work?" Severus asked, needing to know the specifics because he had also studied Lycanthropy in great depth.

"I call it cure, but it's not really a cure." He saw Lupin's face fall.

"Don't be so disheartened before I even explain professor." He said, Lupin nodded, giving him his full attention.

"Calling it a cure would imply that Lycanthropy is a disease, but it isn't. It's like saying girls have a female illness. Girls have XX chromosomes while boys have XY chromosomes. I approached lycanthropy in that same manner. I isolated the Lycanthropy gene in a werewolf and realized that there is no way to remove it completely. What I did next was isolate the symptoms of Lycanthropy-Heightened senses; shifting, bloodlust, superhuman strength, and all the rest. I then categorized the symptoms into desirable and undesirable symptoms. When werewolves turn during the full moon, they are overcome with bloodlust; and that's when they become mindless. Isn't that right Professor?" Lupin nodded his affirmation, beginning to get a clear idea of where Draco was going with this.

"I figured that heightened senses and superhuman strength are manageable symptoms and even desirable to some extent. Again, I could not remove the undesirable symptoms, so I decided to mutate them."

"Mutate them?" Severus asked.

"I began experimenting with changing them into something else." Draco said. "So, once a month on the full moon, your hair will turn a vivid white; and you will have quite the craving for chocolate."

"Are you saying you manipulated the shifting gene to change the hair only instead of turning the human body into that of a wolf; and the bloodlust gene into a craving for chocolate?" Lupin asked incredulously.

"Even I could not remove a fundamental make-up of the body; the best I could do was mutate parts of it." Draco defended himself. "And well, think of it like the appendix in the human body, these mutations will not be inherited by your offspring since they have no use whatsoever in a human body, so you can no longer pass on the virus."

"Draco that is truly genius." Said a teary-eyed Lupin. "It's more than any of us have ever hoped for, and to think we can have children without fear of passing on the virus."

"Thank you, and you're welcome." Draco smiled relieved.

"Why chocolate though?" Lupin asked.

"Draco is a sucker for chocolates." Pansy said. "I bet he thought that everyone should understand the joy of chocolates." Draco flushed pink, and everyone burst out laughing.

"Any chance I can take the cure before this full moon?" Lupin asked anxiously. He had been bitten as a child, and he was more than ready to not be a werewolf, he wanted to put down the terror he felt every time he transformed.

"Yes." Draco said. "I have some potion ready, but you need to take it an hour before the full moon." He saw Lupin blanch. "Don't worry, you will be within an unbreakable ward just in case it does not work, but I doubt it will be necessary."

Lupin's eyes went wide. "That ward from that time?" He asked. "Yes, I made it too.' Draco smiled.

"I should have made the connection right then and there." Lupin berated himself. "Bill left Gringotts right after he went to speak to you about that ward."

"What ward?" Severus inquired, but instead of explaining, Draco showed it to him. 'Dear Merlin, just when did you have the time to do all these things Draco?"

"I started coming up with concepts the moment I began to think, but for a long time they were just theories." Draco explained. "I didn't start to act on the ideas until I came to Hogwarts, because I didn't dare let Lucius know about this until I came of age."

"I see." Severus said sadly.

"What to do now that Professor Lupin has found out about me?" Draco wondered aloud.

"Don't Obliviate me." The man said, taking a cautious step back. "I will keep everything I know to myself."

"Are you using the Occlumency and Legilimency spells?" Draco asked; The man shook his head no, a little embarrassed; and Draco felt bad, because he knew it was because he had not been able to afford it.

"I will do these for you free of charge, since I need this to be kept as quiet as possible until the time is right." Lupin nodded, and Draco quickly set the spells.

"Can I ask you something?" Remus inquired.
"Sure.' Draco answered.
"Were you serious, about the grey faction?"

The others looked at each other warily, but they relaxed when Lupin continued. "After what I have heard and witnessed today, I can understand why you cannot fit in either the light or dark sides. Werewolves are the same you know. Purebloods treat us like we are beneath them and the light fears us and will not even allow us a means to live until they have a need for us. They are finding it hard to follow Dumbledore, but you may be able to sway them to the grey faction if you are serious about it."

No one spoke for a minute, and Draco looked at the man trying to gauge him and see into his heart. "Professor, would you be willing to work with us?" Draco asked.

"Doing what?" Remus asked.
"For now, teaching." Draco replied.
"Teaching?" Remus hadn't expected that, but neither had the others.
"What are you on about now Draco?" Severus asked.

"I have been talking to Slater, and he has informed me that most of the vampires he knows including some from his coven, are not educated; and I was already thinking of having someone give them lessons at the castle." Draco explained. "I know that werewolf children are also not sent to school; and there is enough space at Dragon Castle. The ones who want can move there, and after work, they can have lessons."

"Draco, werewolves and vampires don't exactly get along." Blaise said.

"The reason why they don't get along is because they are both hunters, but the ones moving in there will no longer be wolves. Also, the whole of Slater's clan is mated, they pose no threat to humans." His reasoning made sense.

"Slater sent me a vial of his blood, and although I have ideas that could let them walk in the sun, I haven't been able to make concrete progress on that front, because the bond hasn't let me leave Potter's side for a while. I am also thinking of ways to handle their need for blood, because that is the main reason they are unable to fit into human society."

"You seem to think a lot Draco." Lupin said.

"I do, don't I?' He laughed a little.

"For now, I will be Dragon World's ambassador for the Lycanthropy cure; We can deal with everything else one step at a time." Draco agreed, before jumping out of bed.

"Starting now, I expect everyone here to help me make the batch of potions needed in the store." They all agreed, and thus the quintet went to Snape's private lab, where they remained until just after midnight.

Uploader's Note: This Has Been A Backup Upload of Chapter 22 of Behind the Fog by Hancock23.