Disclaimer: Not mine. I wish it were so we would have had HHr, but alas it's JK Rowling's.
A/N: My reply to the challenge issued by PJ, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26635 . This story will start right after fifth year, and it will involve sex, some blood, and such, so this is why it is rated NC17. I hope you'll enjoy it, I think this is the most complex challenge I've ever dared to reply to, so I sincerely hope I'll be able to pull it off well.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
Harry Potter and His True Sixth Year
Chapter Twenty: Easter Break and New Ideas
Knowing that the three main kind of cells composing the blood are the leucocytes, erythrocytes and the platelets, and that all of those were produced by the bone marrow, Harry had developed a theory, with Hermione's help of course, and then presented it to Snape. He had wanted to credit her, but she insisted he tell Snape he had come up with it on his own, to gain the man's respect.
Albeit Harry would never admit it, Hermione knew it was somewhat important to Harry, and that was the reason he had been so peeved at Snape's continuous annoyance with him.
So, basically, the two of them had thought that since it's the ematopoietic staminal cells which produced those three kinds of cells, the resulting blood cells must have an imprint of the DNA of the human being they belong to.
This lead to them theorizing that if some blood could be taken from Samantha, which would cause her no harm whatsoever given her regenerative skills, not that it affected normal humans, after all Muggles donate blood often without problems, they could extract her DNA and key the potion to once more produce blood.
Only, the blood wouldn't be based on the DNA of whoever drinks the potion, instead it would produce blood containing the DNA of Samantha, in this case. More generally, of the individual who had donated the blood.
It had been two weeks earlier that Snape had gone to take a blood sample from both Remus and the female Lycan, and with Dumbledore's help they had developed a method to extract the DNA of the cells. Better, they had copied them, thanks to a particular examining spell the Headmaster had shown them, which allowed them to have a scan of the genetic info inside the cell.
"I had been tinkering with these kinds of spells numerous times before I became Headmaster" the old man admitted. "I have always known Muggle medicine would come in handy for us also one day, but alas my many occupations have forced me to forego my research on the matter" he admitted, sighing. Then, his eyes twinkled madly.
"But I see someone else has travelled on that same path" he said, proudly looking at both Harry and Hermione. "Your mother would have been ecstatic about your findings, Harry" he stated then, resting his hand on the young man's shoulder.
Harry just nodded, and Hermione squeezed his hand for support. He squeezed back and smiled at her, albeit shakily, thanking her for being there for him.
Since they had obtained the genetic code of Samantha's blood, they could compare them and see where the differences with Remus' one were. Hermione spotted them first and explained those to the others.
Together, they agreed that inserting the whole DNA of Samantha into Remus might be dangerous, so they had to "cut" the healthy part of it and replace it into Remus' DNA.
The job had not been easy, and it had brought Dumbledore to excuse Harry and Hermione from their classes, and Severus to be substituted by the Headmaster himself for a while, as they worked night and day on it.
With the help of some others of Dumbledore's self-made spells, which were contained in a book he had meant to publish but never truly finished writing, it had taken them a week of hard work to obtain a DNA stable enough to key the Blood Replenishing Potion to it. Then, it had taken a few more days for the Potion Master to modify the original potion, and create the special version which was right now brewing in the dungeons.
Harry was satisfied with how their work on the cure was going, but he could tell Hermione wasn't as happy. That night, when they went back to Gryffindor Tower, he asked her about it.
"It's nothing, really" she tried to dismiss him, but she knew he was a stubborn as her. When she finally gave in, she told him about how it wasn't fair the way the Lycans were judged by people, and that they should do something to let the masses know the truth about their condition.
"It's an illness as many in the world, they are not monsters" she proclaimed, and he had to admire her passion about it. However, her first experiment with S.P. E.W. hadn't gone too well, and he feared she would be disappointed once more.
He realized his beautiful girlfriend had given the matter a good deal of thought already, though, when she told him she had intention, once the war was finished, to do just that, and promote the S.P.E.A.R., Society Promoting Equality for All Races.
"Oh my" Harry muttered under his breath, but she heard him all the same. "I'm going to do it right this time, Harry. Not only Elves, but Lycans, Giants and Centaurs too" she proudly announced. "I hope you'll stand by me, but if you won't, I'll do it all the same with or without your help" she defiantly added then.
He pulled her into his arms. "Of course I'll help, luv" he whispered into her ear, and she smiled warmly at him.
"I knew you would" she murmured against his lips.
--
When finally Easter break came, Harry was excited, but also a bit nervous.
Their speculation was right in theory, but administering Remus the cure was going to prove it right on a practical level.
While the Lycan had reassured him by letter that he was more than eager to take the risk, the raven haired boy hoped all would go well, and no complications would arise.
Hermione was by his side as he watched all the students who would go home for the holidays file away from the main doors of the castle, down through the grounds, till they would reach Hogsmeade and the station, where the Express would be waiting to take them home.
He spotted two redheads in the crowd, one of them hanging on a silvery haired boy who could be no one else than Draco Malfoy, while the other awkwardly walked on the right side of the couple.
He didn't allow himself the time to think about his former best mate and his sister associating with Malfoy, as he and Hermione needed to check with Snape that everything was ready. Samantha and Remus would arrive by Portkey a few minutes after the Express departed from the station, and the process for the cure would start immediately.
They still needed to extract Samantha's bone marrow, make sure it was compatible with Remus, then destroy Remus' bone marrow and finally transplant Samantha's one in him.
It was how they would extract her bone marrow and then put it into Remus that troubled him. Hermione had everything under control, she said, as she had read books on the Muggle techniques about that kind of transplant, and knew how they could adjust it to their magical abilities.
He trusted her completely, so that eased his worry some, but did not erase it completely.
--
When Remus finally arrived at Hogwarts, he had to lean heavily on Samantha. It was incredible how fast he was aging now, he wasn't more than thirty-five and looked at least 80. Harry helped his old Professor to the Hospital Wing, where he would stay, and the first thing both Lycans did once there was to drink the Wolfsbane potion. The treatment would take some days to complete and they had no time to lose.
Then, Remus was helped into bed, with Samantha in the one next to him. They held their hands clasped together, and Harry was moved at seeing how much they must love each other. He pulled Hermione close, and could feel she was quite emotional at the moment too.
Snape cleared his throat, and both teens snapped to attention again. With a curt nod, they raised their wands toward the beautiful woman in front of them, and they anesthetized her. The fact she was a Lycan required that all three of them cast the spell twice before she was numbed enough to go through with the rest of the operation.
They then cast a spell to open her flesh enough to gain access to her hip-bone. There, Hermione cast a Replicating Charm, and a perfectly identical hip-bone appeared in her hand. Resting it on a nearby bed, she helped Harry and Snape close the wound, and then they revived Samantha.
"Ouch" she protested as the numbness left her body. She could feel her right side throbbing, and squinted her eyes, out of habit, focusing her mind on where the pain was. She didn't even need to know what had happened to her, in a few moments the scar caused by Harry, Hermione and Snape's spell vanished, and she looked at them bright as ever.
"So, did it work?" she asked cheerfully.
"Er…we still have work to do, actually" Hermione said, grabbing the hip-bone and cracking it open with a well placed flick of her wrist. Then she levitated the bone marrow out of it, Harry providing her with a sterilized glass box where to place it.
Then they repeated the process on Remus, who however needed a pain-relieving potion to get rid of the throb in his leg. When they were finished, and the man was asleep, resting, they turned to Samantha, who had paled while watching their actions.
"That's…barbaric" she whispered, lovingly caressing Remus' face as she walked to his bed.
While the Lycan slept, they extracted a large amount of blood from his body, immediately shoving four vials of special Blood Replenishing potion down his throat, as he lost colour.
"There's nothing more we can do for the moment" Snape declared then. "We will have to get rid of some other tainted blood later, and give him more potion, but for now he needs his rest"
They all nodded, and left him in the care of Madam Pomfrey, instructing her to alert them if his conditions changed.
--
For a couple days they took blood from him and then dosed him with large amount of the modified potion, and Snape was pretty sure they wouldn't need to do it anymore.
"If his regenerating skills have awakened when he wakes up, he will be able to change any tainted blood in him to healthy on his own" the Potion Master explained, and so they waited. When on the third day Remus finally awoke as they didn't make him drink Sleeping Draught anymore, Harry and Hermione held their breath.
Samantha was sitting on his bed, and he smiled at her. Snape was observing the scene from a far corner of the room.
"I feel…rested" Remus declared, and everyone chuckled. "You slept for three days, you lazy git" Samantha swatted him across his chest, and he chuckled too.
Then everyone became serious as the moment of truth came. Harry took a deep breath, and then spoke.
"Remus, try focusing on your hair. Make it go back to the colour it was in your Hogwarts days" he instructed. It was a simple enough change, but one that would tell them if the cure worked or not.
The older man concentrated, and for minutes nothing happened. Then, when everyone was already cursing under their breath for the wasted effort, from white his hair turned back to that sand colour Harry had always seen in the photographs of his father with his best friends.
Everyone grinned and cheered, Hermione and Harry exchanging a sweet kiss as both silently congratulated the other on their accomplishment. Dumbledore, who had come to check on the progress of the cure minutes before Remus woke up, looked at them and pride was clear in his blue twinkling eyes. Snape's expression was unreadable, but as Harry looked his way, the man gave him a curt nod, his way of telling the boy he was proud of him too.
When the cheering died down, Harry pointed out something. "He should have been way faster though"
Samantha nodded. "I know, but he's not used to the ability yet. I'll help him understand it fully, and that should make him able to fix himself in a few seconds time, from now on"
Satisfied with the answer, Harry announced that maybe it was better to leave Remus rest a bit more, and then he winked at Samantha, who blushed and mouthed him a thank you.
As everyone left the two Lycans alone to catch up and spend time together, Harry took Hermione's hand and lead her to the lake.
As they sat under a tree, his back against the bark, her sitting between his legs, her back resting on his chest and her head tucked under his chin, he held her close.
They stayed that way for a long time, enjoying the closeness and the company.
"I'm glad we could help him" Hermione finally said.
"Me too" Harry nodded, squeezing her hand. He could tell she was deep in thought, and wondered what she was coming up with now.
"You know, Harry, that regenerating skill of theirs, and the fact they can resist the Avada Kedavra…" she started. "It could be very handy in the war" she said, turning to face him, and by the way her eyes were sparkling he knew she had just had a brilliant idea, as her usual.
-->