MAGIC & TIME
Chapter 18
Yukky Stuff
Mika did give it some thought, all night in fact; and the following week. Nothing more was said about it for everyone thought it best to keep it quiet for now. Mika didn’t know if Dumbledore had been consulted yet or not. If he had, nothing had been said to her about it. She was hoping that it would be forgotten. The last thing she wanted was to cause more trouble or be accused by the Timelords once again for ‘interfering’. She didn’t have Qui Gon’s eloquence to defend her this time.
Instead Mika decided to submerge herself into her ‘research’. The next few days, aside from her lecture on Saturday afternoon, she spent in the TARDIS experimenting with the various substances that had been on the list of potion ingredients that Snape had sent to her. In spite of Hermione’s fears, Snape had given her an accurate list. She spent hours in her laboratory analyzing the various ingredients that Hermione and Lupin had managed to help her acquire. Hermione was not very happy that Mika had excluded her from this stage of the research, but she did have class work to think about!
Poor Lupin wasn’t any more enlightened as to what she was doing in her secret lab either. He hadn’t even been permitted in her TARDIS yet. Even Hermione had only seen it out of necessity when Mika went to retrieve the errant students who had accidentally on purpose transported themselves back in time [for which they received a right good rollicking too!]. The timelord just wanted to have something substantial to test before getting Lupin’s hopes up too much. Though that didn’t mean that he wasn’t an active part of her research. The poor professor must have given Mika a sample of every element of his person possible – blood, hair, skin, etc. [with maybe one exception!] – so that she could test the various compounds as she came up with them.
Alas, nothing seemed to work; not on the samples at any rate. The only other alternative was to test them on a fully transformed DADA teacher, but Mika didn’t have the heart to put him through that. She still had not witnessed his terrible monthly affliction in person; only heard about them and seen the gradual weakening that Lupin suffered every month after the full moon. But he said he didn’t mind if it meant the possibility of a cure; he even stopped taking his potion just in case. Mika had decided to hold out on that facet of her investigations until she was sure she had something concrete to test. But it wasn’t looking good.
Mika sighed and put aside the latest test tube full of green goo. She brushed aside the few strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes and sat down on a nearby stool. Head in her hands she pondered in her mind over what she had learned; which was basically that there was no cure. She had managed to produce a sort of compound that had the possibility of minimising the transformation. She only had to test it on Lupin himself. That meant waiting for the next full moon. And putting herself and everyone else at risk. Mika didn’t know if she could do that.
***
It was later in the week when Hermione finally spotted her friend Mika walking slowly up the path to the ancient stone ruins atop a hill overlooking the castle. It was Sunday and she and Harry had been studying most of the morning for one of Snape’s potions tests. Ron was in detention again for mouthing off to Mrs. McGonagall when questioned as to why he did not have his homework completed. Together, they hurried up the path to join the Timelord.
“Mika, are you ok?” Hermione asked as they fell into step beside her, slightly out of breath from the steep climb. “Only I haven’t seen you in quite a while.”
Mika sighed and forced a smile for her friends. “Oh, I’m fine. Just been busy you know,” she replied unconvincingly.
They reached the ruins where Mika perched upon a large block of stone and gazed out over the valley and the loch below.
“You’ve been working on that formula haven’t you?” Hermione said cryptically.
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Harry gave them both a questioning look. “What formula?” he asked.
“Oh, just some experiments,” Mika sighed. “Nothing any good though. Everything was a complete failure. I am now convinced that there is nothing that will work.”
Hermione understood. “Mika,” she said, “you mustn’t blame yourself for not succeeding. Sometimes there just isn’t anything we can do.”
Harry was getting irritated now. “What are you guys talking about? Don’t tell me it’s some girls only secret?”
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“Yes, Harry, it’s something like that. You wouldn’t understand. Not yet anyway.”
They stared at each other, frowning. Mika looked from one to the other.
“Harry,” she said softly. “I promise you’ll know all about it soon. Just be patient and respect our discretion for now ok?”
Somehow, Harry knew that there was no way they were going to let him in on the secret just yet. He sighed heavily and nodded.
“Thanks Harry. I have a feeling everyone will know what’s going on soon enough.” Mika turned her eyes back to the loch. The sun was beginning to set and a breeze had whipped up.
“So, have you seen Professor Lupin lately?” Hermione said, mainly to break the awkward silence.
“Not for a few days,” Mika replied sadly. “I’ve been concentrating on my research. I’m sure he thinks I’ve been avoiding him.”
“What’s she got to do with the Professor?” Harry asked, once again puzzled. He seemed to be missing out on a heck of a lot this term.
“It’s no secret,” Hermione informed him. “She and Professor Lupin have been sort of seeing each other.”
Harry looked aghast. “Seeing each other? You mean as in dating? Smooching and all that yukky stuff?” He made a face.
Hermione glared at him, arms crossed.. “Yes, Harry,” Hermione almost growled. “All that yukky stuff.”
Mika laughed softly. Obviously Harry Potter for all his talent as a wizard, had no clue yet when it came to affairs of the heart. Which was just fine for a 13 year old boy.
“It’s ok, Harry. It’s grown up stuff. You’ll have plenty of time for that later when you’re older. Much older,” she added with a glance at Hermione.
But Harry couldn’t let it go. The idea of his new mentor having romantic liaisons with his friend Mika was a bit more than he had reckoned for. “Are you guys going to get married and all too?”
The women couldn’t help but giggle. Harry was totally clueless. But it did help lift her spirits for a moment. “Well, Harry, I don’t think it’s come that far yet. But you never know,” she teased.
“And if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll see them smooching and kissing and everything,” Hermione teased as she leaned over to plant a big sloppy kiss on Harry’s cheek.
“Geroff!” he cried, shoving her away. “Yuck! You girls and your smooching.” He got up to leave. “You can count me out!”
Harry left them behind wondering what the world was coming to. He made a note to ask Lupin if they were telling the truth next time he saw him for his patronus lessons. He could still hear them giggling as he entered the castle far below.
