Who: Jem, Merlin and Severus with bonus appearance by Audrey When: Couple of weeks after this post Where: Audrey and Merlin’s House What: Making Magical Medicine Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
After a discussion with Severus he and Merlin had decided to invite Jem to talk and explain more about the drug he needed help with. If they understood it as best they could then they had a better chance of helping him.
Severus was running late and Audrey was in the kitchen making snacks for them so Merlin was awaiting the arrival of Jem.
Jem wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this meeting. He was worried that the two wizards wouldn’t be able to help him and he didn’t want to think about that, because he didn’t know what he would do when the Yin Fen ran out. Without it, he’d more than likely die. That’s what would happen in the dreams, so he assumed it would happen in the waking world as well.
Taking a break from packing for the move to his cousin’s former condo, Jem had made his way towards Merlin’s house for the meeting and upon arriving, rang the doorbell.
Merlin answered the door and smiled when he saw Jem, “Hello, please come in” he said ushering the boy inside, “Severus is running a little late. Would you like a drink?” he offered.
“Hello, thank you.” Jem said as he stepped into Merlin’s house. When asked about a drink, he nodded, “Water would be fine, thank you.” He was curious as to what Merlin and Severus had in mind to try and help him.
“Of course. Take a seat in the living room I’ll be right there” Merlin said gesturing to the room before disappearing to the kitchen to retrieve Jem’s water.
Audrey was in the kitchen cooking. Well, tossing a salad and making some sandwiches. Whenever she actually cooked anything, the smell would get to her and send her, retching, to the bathroom. So far so good today. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge for Merlin to give to Jem, and stole a kiss before sending her husband back out.
Good timing. Because as soon as Merlin stepped out of the kitchen, Severus Snape knocked on the front door.
Detouring Merlin went to answer the door instead, “Hello Severus, Jem is already here in the living room” he informed the other man, “Can I get you a drink?” he offered leading him to where the other man was and handing him the bottle of water with a smile.
Severus gave a little nod to Merlin, then let himself inside the house and closed the door. He nodded to the auburn haired woman in the kitchen, and followed Merlin into the living room. “No. Thank you.”
When Merlin returned to the living room, followed by the other man, Jem got to his feet and held his hand out towards him, “You must be Severus Snape. I’m James Carstairs, but most people call me Jem.” It had been his mother who had first called him that when he was a baby and it had stuck, so now very few people actually called him James anymore.
"Well now we're all here I suppose we should get down to it and see if we can help you out Jem" Merlin said once introductions and pleasantries were done.
Shaking Jem’s hand, Severus nodded. Afterward, he perched on the edge of one of the chairs and gave Merlin his attention. Then he glanced over at Jem. “Tell us specifically what the medicine does for you.”
Jem nodded and sat back, “The Yin Fen, while it prolongs my life, it is also slowly killing me. It’s a Warlock drug, which my body became dependant on when I was poisoned in the dreams. It’s a highly addictive Warlock drug.” It was quite clear, in the dreams, that eventually either his illness or the Yin Fen would kill him, but he hoped that that wouldn’t be the case in the real world.
Merlin nodded slowly as he listened, “So we need to develop something that won’t be killing you for a start and then maybe move on from there to start working on something to wean you off it completely?”he suggested looking between Jem and Severus.
Jem listened, unsure if there was actually something that could be created that would work against the demon blood in his system, “I’m not sure exactly what would work. I don’t know if there is anything in the real world that will do the same thing that the Yin Fen does aside from the part where it’s slowly killing me.”
“Why is it that you need your life prolonged?” Severus asked over his steepled fingers.
“That’s probably the part where I come in” Merlin said to Jem, “Or at least my magic. Yin Fen is derived from a demon correct? Which means I need to recreate something similar but with more good than bad. Hopefully that will help correct some of the balance and stop it from killing you”
“This is interesting.” Severus said before he could stop himself. “A combination of science and magic. I’m intrigued.” It was obvious that he was more interested than he thought he was going to be. “If you provide me with a sample, the first thing I’ll do is replicate it. Then take it apart to observe the different components. And Merlin, you’re welcome to join me in the lab. I’m going to need your magical expertise. Then we can work together to come up with a solution. Hopefully something that can heal instead of simply prolong? Something we can wean you off of in time.”
Jem’s brow furrowed slightly as the older man spoke and he was about to respond with, because he didn’t want to die, but then Merlin spoke again and Severus responded to him before Jem was able to speak. Seeing an opening then, Jem spoke up. “I don’t know if it is possible to cure it. In our world, we don’t have doctors, but men called the Silent Brothers, who use magic and other means to heal us and they worked on me after I was poisoned and still weren’t able to cure me completely. I don’t know if your magic can succeed where their’s failed.”
Merlin listened to Severus and then Jem, “Are you willing to let me try? My magic is most likely different to theirs and it may be that I can tap into something they couldn’t” He was Merlin after all, that had to count for something right?
Severus was more than willing to simply sit back and watch Merlin do his thing. He was fucking Merlin. And Severus was looking forward to learning from the best.
Jem wasn’t sure what to think about everything, but he didn’t have much to lose and honestly, if anyone could truly help him, it was probably Merlin. “Alright.” He didn’t know whether this would work or not, but it was worth a try.
"Have a little hope Jem. Things will work out for you, I won't let anything happen I promise. We'll work it out in the end" Merlin was nothing if not optimistic.