Tea and Werewolves
Date: Thursday, 27 March 2002
Time: 2:30pm
Location: Stella's office at Hogwarts
Characters Involved: Stella Moore and Narcissa Malfoy
Rating: PG
Amazingly, Stella was not at all nervous about her meeting with Narcissa Malfoy. Caleb had thought she'd been a bit mad a few weeks ago when she had told him she'd had tea at Malfoy Manor. Still, Stella ( Read more... )
Time: 2:30pm
Location: Stella's office at Hogwarts
Characters Involved: Stella Moore and Narcissa Malfoy
Rating: PG
Amazingly, Stella was not at all nervous about her meeting with Narcissa Malfoy. Caleb had thought she'd been a bit mad a few weeks ago when she had told him she'd had tea at Malfoy Manor. Still, Stella ( Read more... )
"I'm not sure I agree entirely with that idea," she replied politely. "Docility has its place, of course, but Caleb and I are of a mind that marriage is an equal partnership." It was all she would say on the matter for now- after all, Narcissa was here to discuss werewolves, not marriage issues, no matter how tightly the two were twined in Stella's mind.
"But yes, I did read about Draco. Severus has assured me he will recover?" This was sort of a half-question- Stella had no reason to doubt Severus's word, but it was polite to let a mother at least nod on the well-being of her own child.
"What I understand from Severus is that Draco is not a full werewolf- he will not change, of course, and his symptoms will be less than what Caleb goes through every month," she explained, a hint of her professor-voice coming through. "But other than that, there are many things that he might experience at different levels. The obvious are things like a sensitivity to aconite and silver-" Though 'sensitivity' is putting it mildly Stella thought to herself.
"Actually, after I first met Caleb, I had to go through and pack away all of my silver jewelry. As a matter of fact, I should have probably looked into donating it towards the gala at the auction-" she thought out loud, wondering at why she hadn't had that idea before!
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She paused, feeling tongue tied, "Any couple has things to overcome that bring them together in a partnership. It sounds as if yours is the lycanthropy."
She knew hers had been the Death Eaters. It had been the center of his world, and thus a huge part of hers. But that was not for Stella Moore to know.
"Aconite and silver."
Narcissa repeated Stella's words and nodded at her, "That makes much sense. But without actually becoming an animal, his symptoms will coordinate with the phases of the moon or just when it is full?"
Narcissa thought about the silver she used for the tea service. She should arrange to use a China set instead, and then she started a mental list of the other silver they tended to use on a daily basis. Her jewelry was not a problem; she was much more fond of gold.
Narcissa had a look of concentration on her face, "What else can I expect? Moodiness? An affinity for meat? Additional hair?"
She was extremely embarrassed. It all sounded like such a stereotype. She wondered if perhaps she should get some books on the subject instead of making herself look stupid with this woman. She did not enjoy being so ignorant.
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"Remus once explained it like this: the closer the Full moon is, the more the 'wolf' asserts itself," Stella began, glad to be back on a familiar topic.
"Caleb is generally moodier in the days around the Full- usually the worst is the two or three days beforehand, though it's a fairly steady progression from the New moon to the Full." It certainly came in handy that Stella was an astronomer- it only took her a moment to figure out the status of the moon on any given day.
"However, the moods vary. Some days he's terse and short with me, and then 10 minutes later he'll be sweet and romantic. Obviously, Draco's moods won't be so pronounced, but it would be best to tread lightly around him near the Full moon." After all, angering a werewolf- or even a partial werewolf- near the Full moon was certainly not a good idea.
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"How do they keep from attacking you during their change? I mean, there is a potion they receive at the time of their change? How does that keep their wits about them, so that.. so that..they..you won't become a victim to your own husband?"
She knew that Severus did some work with potions; she thought the Weasley girl also did some research on this matter. She would ask Ginney Weasley about it next time they met; Narcissa was curious. Were they trying to cure or reverse the effects of the werewolf bite? Was that the purpose of the clinic? Or was it more to treat and ease the suffering of those who changed? Narcissa was not sure.
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"Yes, Caleb takes the Wolfsbane potion during the week leading up to the Full," Stella explained. "It's an insanely difficult potion- from what I have heard, Severus is one of the few people who has mastered its brewing." Not that she would have expected anything less from the potions master, of course!
"Basically, without the potion, the Full causes the person to change completely- body and mind. With the potion, their bodies still change, but they still have control over their minds." It seemed to be the easiest explanation after all- Stella knew it was not nearly that simple, but it would do for now.
"I've spent the last few Full moons at home with Caleb. It was definitely a scary experience at first, but each month gets a little easier."
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