CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

There was a sudden silence in the room. Everyone was looking at Donahue, stunned.

Lupin was now on his feet, looking even paler.

"Jeanne…" he said hoarsely, looking at Dumbledore, "…I've got to find her - "

"Calm yourself, Lupin," said Snape coldly. "The blood has to be added fresh. I assure you, Miss Graham has not been anywhere near the potion in the last hour."

Flitwick was looking confused.

"But - that's impossible!" he said, looking at Donahue, "how could you have discovered such an ingredient? How can anyone even think of adding something like that?"

Professor Donahue gave a slightly bitter smile.

"Completely by accident," he said. "We've suspected, for many years, that blood was an important ingredient to be used in the werewolf cure. We tested many varieties - animal blood, then human. One day, we decided to add it fresh, just before the patient took it. The patient's father contributed the blood. However, just after the patient had taken the potion, the father had a heart seizure and died."

He paused. Harry looked at the others; they were all listening intently.

"This patient was the first to be cured. We were excited, of course - despite the father's unfortunate death. At the time, I didn't realise the significance of this death, but my sister - Marcus's mother - did.

"I thought fresh blood was the answer. We tried again, with another patient, but it didn't work. We tried all sources of fresh blood…from the different family members, friends…

"My sister was even more well-versed in this branch of research than I was. She had an added incentive, you see…her husband, Marcus's father, was a werewolf.

"She must have realised the significance of the father's death, because she volunteered to donate her blood for her husband. Just before I was about to give him the potion, she told me to go ahead, and excused herself from the room.

"I gave the potion to my brother-in-law, and he was cured. We rushed to find my sister and tell her the good news - only to find her dead on her bed. She had stabbed herself."

Donahue looked around. Most of those in the room were looking rather horrified.

"My sister left a long letter," said Donahue, "explaining about the cure. It has to be fresh blood from a person who then dies before or within a short period of the patient taking the potion. She'd tried blood from sick people who died shortly after, and who were not related to the patient, but it didn't work. She then tried another experiment with a patient whose mother said she was willing to take her life to cure her child. They tried the mother's blood, but so long as the mother was alive, it didn't work. They then tried again. This time, the mother went upstairs and hung herself.

"The patient recovered, but when she found out what her mother had done, she committed suicide. My sister blamed herself for conducting the experiment. She felt so bad she wanted to kill herself. That was why she gave up her life, for her husband.

"Marcus was about seventeen at the time. I will never forget his face when we opened the bedroom door and he saw his mother lying there."

Harry looked at Flynn. He seemed to be shaking slightly, and his face was a peculiar green colour.

Donahue looked sadly at him.

"As time went by, I thought he had got over his mother's death. He went into the same line as I did, and took up the same field of research. However, I have reason to believe now that he never forgot what happened that day. He blamed me for what had happened; didn't you, Marcus?"

Harry was startled. Flynn was staring at Donahue with absolute hatred in his eyes.

"You tried to kill me, didn't you, Marcus?" said Donahue. "But Jeanne found out about it. I didn't believe her at first, but she came that night and helped me get away, just in time."

Flynn's eyes narrowed.

"Prove it!" he hissed.

Hermione, who had sat down on a chair to listen to Donahue, jumped up.

"We can!" she cried. "We have the tape! Listen!"

She bent over the cassette player, rewound the tape, and then pressed the play button.

Harry looked at Flynn. He was now pale, staring at the cassette player, and trembling slightly. Everyone else was listening with bated breath.

The tape crackled a bit, then a voice was heard. It was Flynn's.

"…everything has been going like clockwork…we successfully disposed of Donahue in March - there weren't even any remnants of him to be found; and in one month's time, I'll have my revenge on Lupin at last."

Lupin turned to look at Flynn in surprise. Flynn suddenly looked very tense, and seemed about to reach for his wand; but Dumbledore was faster.

"This room is getting a bit crowded, Marcus," he said, lifting his wand, "why don't you sit in the cage and give us a little more space."

He pointed his wand at Flynn, and he flew into the air, his wand falling from his hand. He landed in the cage, and the manacles snapped onto his wrists and legs.

The tape was still playing.

"…but what if something goes wrong?" Another rough-sounding voice said.

"Nothing will go wrong," said Flynn's voice. "I've got the girl in my pocket. Lupin is in such a suicidal state of mind, he's sure to agree to take the potion. After that, I can dump the bitch."

"What if someone finds out?" said the rough voice. "The other researcher - Snape - "

"He doesn't know a thing," said Flynn's voice. "He just follows all my instructions. He wouldn't care anyway, he hates Lupin as much as I do."

The tape crackled again, and Hermione pressed the stop button.

Lupin was frowning and looking at Flynn. Donahue, seeing this, came forward.

"We meet at last," he said, taking Lupin's hand and shaking it. "Jeanne has told me a lot about you. Such a serious young lady, but her face lights up every time she talks about you."

Lupin looked confused.

"I don't understand - " he began.

"Jeanne has been working with me to find a cure for you, Remus," said Donahue. "She found out that Albus knew me, and asked him to introduce me to her last year. She spent her one month's leave with me, during the school holidays, finding out about my research."

Lupin looked amazed.

"She kept it a secret," said Donahue. "She didn't even tell Albus, did she?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "After the introduction, she never said anything more to me."

"When school reopened, she continued her work in her room," Donahue went on. "We corresponded, and occasionally when we had to meet to compare notes, she would transform and fly to Edinburgh to see me."

Harry was dumbfounded. So the Marauder's Map hadn't been faulty after all; Jeanne really hadn't been in Hogwarts.

"When Professor Snape asked for someone to help him with the research, I recommended Marcus," continued Donahue. "I was collaborating with them all the while. But Jeanne didn't trust Marcus from the start, even though he was my nephew. She never told me why. She kept her research a secret from him and Professor Snape, and asked me not to tell them, either."

Lupin was looking more amazed than ever. Snape was watching Donahue with narrowed eyes.

"Jeanne overheard Marcus talking to himself one day, and realised he was up to no good. After that, she had him trailed. She asked some of her animal friends to follow him everywhere, and tell her what he had been saying. One of them was a small owl, I believe."

Ron looked startled.

"That's how she found out Marcus was planning to kill me," said Donahue. "And planning to kill Remus, too. Marcus hated your father, Remus," - turning to Lupin - "you see, my sister and I knew your parents. They were naturally interested in our research, because their son was a werewolf, and that is how they came to know us. My sister had written the letter to me explaining about the cure much earlier, but she accidentally left the letter at your parents' house, so she sent your father a message and asked if he could deliver it to us the day we gave the potion to her husband.

"Your father arrived just before the experiment and gave the letter to my sister. He was in a hurry that day, so he just delivered the letter and left. He didn't know the contents of the letter, but Marcus believed he did, and that he allowed my sister to take her life."

Lupin was looking pale.

"Your parents knew about the cure, Remus," Donahue told him. "Both were willing to sacrifice themselves for you, but neither would allow the other to do it. Marcus hated them; when they died in that accident, he found he had lost his chance for revenge, so his target became you, instead."

Harry looked at Flynn. He looked like a totally different person now, almost a stranger. The innocent and childlike expression was gone, and he was staring at both Donahue and Lupin with absolute hatred.

Lupin was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Jeanne never told me any of this," he said.

"She couldn't tell you, because then you would have found out about the final ingredient," said Donahue. "Because of the horrific nature of the cure, the results were never published. No one knew a cure had actually been found, except the patients who recovered, and their family, and those working in the field, and these were all sworn to secrecy. Your parents found out because Marcus confronted your father the next day. It was unfortunate" - he looked regretful - "that my sister asked your father to deliver the letter in person. She must have been afraid that, if it was returned by owl, someone else might intercept it."

He looked at Lupin. "Jeanne would not have told you, anyway, Remus; she didn't want you to know. If you found out what the final ingredient was, she was sure you'd stop her from continuing her research."

Lupin was silent. Donahue looked at him a moment longer, then continued.

"She couldn't expose Marcus without any proof," he said, "so she trailed him, hoping to tape his conversation. But at Hogwarts, no one knew of his plans…it was not until she followed him to Edinburgh that she managed to tape what she wanted."

It all fits together now, thought Harry, her weird behaviour, that time during full moon when both she and Flynn had been in Edinburgh…

"When she obtained the tape, I was in hiding," said Donahue. "She came to see me the next day. She was upset because she couldn't make the tonic for you that month, Remus. It would have interfered with the potion you took today.

"She told me she'd finally obtained evidence against Marcus. I assumed she would expose him soon…when she sent me this letter, I thought she must have done it. But she isn't here…where is she?"

No one answered. Obviously, no one knew where Jeanne was. Lupin looked rather pale, and he had a worried frown on his face.

Finally, Professor McGonagall spoke up.

"One more thing also remains unsolved," she said. "If Severus here prepared the wrong potion, how is it that Remus has been cured?"

A murmur went around at this. Everyone looked at Donahue, as if waiting for the answer.

He shook his head.

"I don't know…" he said, looking thoughtfully at Lupin.

Something cold crept into Harry's heart suddenly. Jeanne…! He had been so caught up with Donahue's story that the implications of what he'd seen hadn't hit him. She'd poured her own blood into the goblet, and switched it with Snape's…she was going to kill herself. She must have left the room when the others had arrived…

Harry tried desperately to move, but to no avail. He knew it was too late by now…if Lupin had recovered, Jeanne must already be dead.

Hemione suddenly realised something.

"Harry!" she cried. "Where's Harry? He's supposed to be here, he came here before we did…"

Flynn started slightly, and involuntarily looked at the cupboard. Lupin, noticing this, said, "There's something in the cupboard, is there, Marcus?"

He strode over to the cupboard and tapped it with his wand. The doors flew open.

"Harry!" screamed Hermione. "What happened?"

"Flynn did the body-bind on him, Hermione," said Lupin, bending down and tapping Harry with the wand. Harry suddenly found he could feel his arms and legs again.

Lupin helped him out of the cupboard.

"Are you all righ-"

He broke off suddenly. Harry looked up.

Lupin had gone deathly pale. He was staring at something in the corner of the room, behind Harry.

Harry turned to look. There, in the corner, next to the basket, was a small puddle of blood. It was growing; a thin trickle of blood was falling out of thin air, feeding the puddle.

Lupin crossed over to the corner in two strides. Bending down, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak off Jeanne's still form.

She was lying curled up in the corner, a small knife together with Snape's goblet and the green bottle in her lap. She had tied a handkerchief around the wound in her arm, but the blood was still seeping out slowly, feeding the puddle on the floor.

Everyone was standing as if frozen, watching in shock. Lupin knelt down next to Jeanne. He felt her pulse, then without a word, gently took her into his arms, and held her close to him.

At this, Neville burst into tears. Snape came forward, and picked up the green bottle, which had tumbled to the floor together with the knife and goblet.

"Poison," he said grimly, looking at it.

Neville was still sobbing. Professor McGonagall was shaking slightly, and Hermione had tears in her eyes. Dumbledore, Flitwick and Ron looked sober.

Marcus Flynn, however, laughed.

"Serves the little bitch right," he sneered. "She's done a better job than I could ever have. You'll never forget this, will you, Lupin - "

Lupin had put Jeanne down, and turned to face Flynn. There was a murderous look on his face which Harry had never seen before. He was pulling his wand out.

"By God, Flynn, I'll kill you for this," he said softly.

"Remus! No!" said Dumbledore, sharply.

But to Harry's astonishment, it was Snape who stepped in front of Lupin, and placed a hand on his arm, so that the wand was lowered.

"Put the wand down, Lupin," said Snape, in a soft, cold voice. "You can't blame Flynn for this. Blame yourself, instead."

He looked at Lupin, his eyes glittering strangely.

"You have only yourself to blame," he repeated, in the same soft, cold voice. "You had her - she was yours, but you drove her away."

Snape's eyes narrowed, and his thin lips were curled into a sneer.

"Do you know how much she loved you, Lupin?" he said softly. "Tell me, what did she ever do that wasn't for you? Do you think all those hours she spent working on potions were for Longbottom, or to help me?"

Lupin was looking at him, his face pale.

"She was only interested in one potion, right from the beginning," whispered Snape. "The one you just drank."

He stopped, his eyes narrowing, then continued, still in a whisper.

"Do you think all that time spent with Madam Pomfrey was to learn healing for other people? You know she was only interested in healing one person - you. Tell me, how many hours did she spend watching over you, every full moon?

"And that imbecile, Flynn, do you think she cared an iota for him? Why did she put up with him, with his insipid company, with all the tedious cocktail parties and balls, which she found an absolute bore - why did she do it? Because Donahue was gone - Donahue was in hiding, and everyone thought he was dead, and the precious funds for her research had been cut off. She needed the money desperately, because the ingredients were expensive, and she didn't have much time, to prepare the potion for you."

Snape's skin had gone even more sallow than usual, and he looked at Lupin with as much loathing as Marcus Flynn had.

"Blame yourself, Lupin," he whispered. "You drove her to this. You had her, but you let her go."

"That will do, Severus!" said Dumbledore sharply. "I believe we can dispense with your presence here. Kindly await us below stairs."

Snape looked at Dumbledore, his lip curling. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick went up to him and firmly started leading him off. At the door, Snape shrugged their hands off, and turned around and looked at Lupin, one more time.

Lupin returned Snape's gaze, his face still pale.

"You cared for her too, didn't you, Severus," he said quietly, with a hint of wonder in his eyes. "And I thought - "

Snape's face had a twisted, bitter expression on it. "- that I was doing it to spite you?" His eyes narrowed, and he seemed about to say more, then thought better of it, and left.

"Minerva, could you inform Madam Pomfrey of this," Dumbledore said quietly to Professor McGonagall, as she turned to follow Snape. She gave a quick nod, and left.

Professor Flitwick was looking like a dim copy of his usual cheerful self.

"I'll inform the Ministry, Albus," he said, glancing at Flynn.

Dumbledore nodded, and he hurried out.

Lupin had knelt down and was holding Jeanne again. Dumbledore went over to him, and gently said, "let me look at her, Remus."

He examined Jeanne for a while, then shook his head sadly, indicating there was nothing he could do. He raised his wand, and was beginning to conjure a stretcher, when Lupin said quietly,

"Headmaster, let me do it."

He picked Jeanne up as if she were weightless, and carried her out of the room. Harry glanced at his face as he passed, and wished he hadn't.

"You may as well follow him to the hospital wing, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly, looking after Lupin with concern in his eyes. "Elfrid and I will wait here with Marcus till the Azkaban guards arrive."

Flynn heard this, and went deathly pale.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville set off after Lupin. Harry was silent; he was feeling terrible - he had totally misjudged Jeanne. Those things he'd said to her - he could never take them back now. He kept seeing her face that night when she'd begged him for the Cloak.

"Jeanne planned everything," Ron said, looking slightly shaken. "She somehow managed to get hold of a cassette player that would work inside Hogwarts, and gave it to Neville, and told him not to give it to us till ten past nine; she didn't want us to arrive there too soon, and stop Lupin from taking the potion."

Neville was still crying. Hermione put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"I n-never got t-to tell her about the P-Potions exam," he sobbed.

"She framed Flynn too," said Ron. "She got Donahue to come a bit later as well, so that he wouldn't interfere with Lupin taking the potion either. We met him trying to find his way to the Tower."

Harry remained silent. He was feeling worse and worse.

"Don't feel bad, Harry," said Hermione, looking anxiously at him, and trying to think of something to comfort him. "Jeanne understood why you were angry with her. If you hadn't cared so much about her, you wouldn't have been so angry."

Harry felt even worse.

Lupin had reached the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was at the door, her face sober.

"Bring her in, Remus," she said gently, and let him in. She refused, however, to let Harry and the others go in.

"He needs to be alone with her for a while," she said firmly, and shut the door in their faces.

They stood outside, feeling at a loss. Harry walked to a nearby window and gazed out unseeingly. His mind felt numb.

Neville was still sobbing slightly. Hermione, however, suddenly remembered something.

"Harry?" she said timidly, coming up to the window, "I forgot…Jeanne left a letter for you. We found it in her room when we went to look for the cassette player there."

Harry found his fingers shaking slightly as he tore the envelope open.

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry I had to take your Cloak. I know you're very angry with me. I still can't tell you why I need it, but please believe that what I did was for the best.

I won't see you again after this, but I would like to thank you for the friendship that we had; it was very special to me. Thank you for coming to Kamchatka and helping me escape from Deorg.

Please thank Hagrid, Neville, Ron and Hermione for their friendship as well. I have been very happy here at Hogwarts, these past two years.

I wish I had something to leave you, but I don't. Even the stardust was a present from the mirror, and not from me. However, I'm glad I at least played a part in obtaining it for you. I hope it will bring you happiness, one day. Remember me, when that time comes.

Jeanne

Hermione and the others were standing around, looking worriedly at him. Neville had finally stopped crying.

Harry looked at them. His mind still felt numb.

"She said 'I won't see you again'," he said, staring at the letter. "She didn't mean to kill herself inside that room. She was going to leave and do it elsewhere, where nobody would find her, so that no one would ever know what had happened to her. But she couldn't get out - the window was covered and she couldn't get to the door, they'd closed it too fast. She had no choice, because she had to do it before Lupin took the potion."

The others didn't seem to know what to say; they just stood there, looking at him.

"She said to thank all of you for your friendship," said Harry, and then stopped, because there was a lump in his throat.

He turned around and looked out of the window again, feeling sick at heart. As he leaned against the sill, he felt some hard object inside his robes poking at him.

He felt inside his robes, and brought the object out. It was the bottle of stardust. He looked at it. His mind felt so numb now that for a moment he couldn't remember what he was looking at.

Then, the words came back to him:

"One second chance will this stardust give…"

"The dust!" he whispered, his heart beating fast. "We can use the stardust on her!"

He wheeled around, and without waiting for the others, ran over to the hospital wing door and hammered on it.

Madam Pomfrey looked angry when she opened the door. Harry was so excited that he couldn't wait to explain anything to her. He merely pushed past her, and ran inside.

"What! - " she gasped, and then he could hear Hermione at the door too, explaining about the dust to her.

Jeanne's body was lying on a bed at the far end of the wing. Professor Lupin was sitting silently next to her, holding her hands in his, and staring into space. He looked up, startled, when Harry came dashing up.

"Sir - " Harry panted, holding the bottle up, "- we can use this on her. The mirror in the cave gave it to me."

Lupin's mind appeared to have gone numb too, because it took him a while to register what Harry was saying.

"The stardust?" he whispered, taking the bottle in his hand. He stared at it a while. "Yes, I remember her telling me about it," he said slowly.

He looked at Harry.

"Are you sure…?" he asked.

Suddenly, Harry wasn't sure. These two years, he had been wildly hoping the stardust might one day bring his parents back to life, however remote the chance might be. The image of the photograph that Jeanne had given him, of him together with his father and mother, came into his mind…

He looked at Lupin. The lines on his young face seemed more obvious than usual, and there seemed to be more grey hair mingling with the light brown. He was holding the bottle with one hand, but the other hand was still clasping Jeanne's.

Harry made up his mind.

"I'm sure," he said.

Lupin looked at him, then slowly opened the bottle, and sprinkled the stardust onto Jeanne's body.

The dust sparkled as it lay on her body, then suddenly flared up brightly for a moment, glowing blue-white. It then shimmered, and became dimmer, and seemed to sink into her, and disappear.

They waited. Lupin was watching tensely. Harry was holding his breath. He was vaguely aware of Madam Pomfrey, together with Hermione and the others, watching from behind.

The minutes ticked past. Jeanne lay there, still as ever.

Harry felt his heart sink. The dust wasn't working; the mirror had merely been playing a shabby trick on him.

Lupin's face had a set expression on it. He suddenly got up, and walked abruptly to the other end of the ward.

Hermione looked stricken.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered.

Harry couldn't bear it. He turned and brushed past the others, and began walking out of the wing.

He could hear them following him. He had reached the door of the wing…

- And then, Madam Pomfrey suddenly called out shrilly.

"Remus! Come here quick!"

Harry felt his heart stop for a moment. He turned around, and saw Lupin darting back toward Jeanne's bed. He heard Madam Pomfrey saying, "she's breathing…"

For a split second, he, Hermione, Ron and Neville stared at each other, wide-eyed. Then, as one, they turned and ran back into the wing.

Jeanne was breathing. Some colour was back in her cheeks. Lupin was staring at her, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

She slowly opened her eyes. She seemed to have difficulty focussing her gaze. She looked at Harry, then Madam Pomfrey, then Neville, Ron and Hermione, as if she couldn't recognize them. Then, she turned her head slightly, and looked at Lupin.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Remus?" she whispered.

Lupin was still staring in disbelief.

She looked at him, as if trying to remember something.

"The potion…" she whispered at last, "did it work…?"

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly.

She stared at him, as if what she saw hadn't sunk in.

"It worked," she whispered, staring in disbelief. Then, suddenly, she started to cry.

Lupin looked alarmed, and caught hold of her hands.

"Jeanne," he said softly, "It's all right, Jeanne. It's all over."

She couldn't stop crying. It was as if all the tension she'd been carrying the past few months was finally being let out.

Madam Pomfrey turned and looked at Harry and the others.

"She needs to rest," she said, softly but firmly. "Time to leave them alone for a while. Out, out, all of you." She turned back to Lupin. "Let me do it, Remus. If you'll just step aside for a moment…"

Hermione caught Neville and Ron by the arm, and starting leading them out of the wing. Harry stared at Jeanne a moment longer, then turned and slowly followed.

He had almost reached the door of the wing when he heard Lupin calling him.

"Harry!"

He turned around. Lupin was standing behind him, looking at him. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't find the words. There was a curious light in his face, as if a flame had been kindled within him.

"Thank you, Harry," was all he finally said in the end, but the grateful look that came with it said more than any words could.

Harry suddenly found his throat too tight to speak, so he just nodded. Lupin looked at him for a moment longer, then turned and went back to Jeanne's side. Harry watched him take her hands in his. She had stopped crying, and was now looking quietly at him.

Harry watched them a moment longer, then his vision blurred because there was a sudden wetness in his eyes. He turned, and went quickly from the room.