Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 4.
Remus did all that he could think of and wrapped her up in his arms after ensuring that the covers were well tucked in around both of them. He could feel her shaking as he rubbed softly on her back, hoping the reassuring movement would make her feel better. Judging by the look on Severus' face he suspected that the other man felt there was something a little more serious wrong with their little girl.
"It's ok, it's ok. Just relax," he repeated gently. But she seemed to do anything but. He could feel the tension radiating off of her.
"Hurts," she whispered as he gently tried to ease her shoulder down a little.
"What does Anna? Can you tell me what hurts?" he asked a little more urgently, leaning down so that he look her in the face.
"Uile," was the only reply he got this time and even his limited knowledge of her native language stretched to 'everything'.
Poppy stuck her head around the door in the next instant though, and he nodded for her to come in.
"Hello there," she said, perching down on the edge of the bed. "How are we doing there Anna? Your Daidein was telling me you still aren't feeling very well." Anna lifted her head a little to look at the medi-witch but didn't say anything. "Do you think I could have another look at you please?" Poppy continued, not at all put off by her reluctance. "Remus can stay if you'd like." This time she got a little nod and returned it with a smile. He let go of her so that she could slide a little closer to the other woman but she was slow to move. "Ok." Poppy began, talking through everything as she did it. Remus stroked Anna's hair as she lay still, letting the mediwitch run her scans and take the readings she needed. "Can you lift your knee up to your chest for me?" she asked. Remus watched the other girl try to process what it was that was being asked of her but seeing that she was struggling, the other woman moved her leg for her. Anna got the idea but her face showed that it was certainly not as comfortable as it ought to have been for someone her age. "And the other one." She asked tapping gently on her other leg. Again the result was about the same. "Ok, thank you very much Anna," she said, and received a wan smile in return. There were another series of questions most of which she managed to answer on her own and those she struggled with were either rephrased or written down, and on occasion Remus translated her answers into English. By the time Poppy was done, Severus had returned and it was easy for them all to see that the little girl was exhausted again.
"Well I'm going to give you something to stop you from hurting all right?" she told her, as the two men exchanged glances. Remus helped her sit up so that she was leaning up against him to swallow the carefully measured spoonful of potion. Within a minute she was fast asleep and as Severus helped him retrieve his arm from behind her back and lay her down the other woman began to tell them what she was thinking.
"I'm really not sure what's wrong with her," she began. "It could be a virus which might account for some swelling and joint pain, something like the flu, but she still isn't running a fever – which is good thing mind you."
"And if it's not that?" Severus asked.
"I might think juvenile arthritis but that's certainly not associated with the throwing up, although you never know. That and the fact that I would have known something about anything like that from Minerva's records."
"I thought you said that you didn't have any records from before she came to school here?" Remus asked, getting a little confused.
"No, but there would certainly have been signs of it visible at ten even if she had grown out of it." He nodded a little.
"So what now?" Severus asked as he gently re-arranged the girl's pyjama top.
"I'd like to take her up to the hospital wing just now, just to be on the safe side."
"Right," Remus said, his eye on Severus who was not managing to hide the concern on his face with anything near his usual alacrity.
"Don't worry too much," Poppy said with a gentle smile. "They're resilient little things."
"Right. Umm, is it ok if I come up…" the other man began.
"Of course you can come. How about you carry her there now Severus? And Remus if you could get a few things together for her?"
"Course." He replied slipping out of the bed as his partner lifted the little girl into his arms with virtually no effort at all. "I'll be with you in a minute all right?" he said, dropping a gentle kiss on the side of the dark man's face and then another on Anna's forehead, he followed them out of the room watching them leave. After gathering a fresh set of nightwear, her dressing-gown and slippers; picked out a few of Anna's favourite books, along with the Chronicles of Narnia, which Severus was currently reading with her; remembered to collect her toothbrush and the extra-fluffy pink towel that Georgina Sprout had given her after being horrified by the white slightly starchy ones that Severus had left out in the bathroom one night when she was minding her, he headed out the door. He had only taken a few steps when he made an about turn. He had forgotten Lamblet.
When he arrived in the hospital wing, it was to see Anna curled up and fast asleep on the only inhabited bed and the two adults huddled over something that looked technical in the far corner. Quietly he got on and put away her things in the little cabinet next to the bed. He almost didn't hear Severus come up behind him and started a little when the other man placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going to go grab a shower and throw some clothes on. I'm on breakfast duty this morning so I'll have to go to the Great Hall," he said as Remus stood up and faced him.
"Sure," he replied a little absentmindedly.
"Want me to bring you up some breakfast?" the other man continued. "You'll need to eat." He couldn't help but smile at this.
"Yeah that would be good." Role reversal between the two of them seemed to be something of a pattern of late.
"Right, I'll try not to be too long."
"K, love," the werewolf replied as Severus gave his arm a quick squeeze and headed out of the door.
Remus could quite happily have watched Anna sleep for hours on end. He had always had an odd kind of fascination with the sleeping form: whether it was that of his lover's or their charge's, there was something so completely compelling about seeing them, so open and unaware. She didn't wake again until almost dinnertime in any case but when she did she seemed much improved again and eagerly nibbled on the crackers that Poppy had supplied. Severus had spent the afternoon deep in discussions with Poppy about the best variations of the usual options he supplied the wing with for younger children, and had subsequently delved into his work. Remus was actually quite glad that the other man had found an outlet for his obviously growing frustration as it gave the floor a chance. He on the other hand had quite happily done his marking in this slightly unusual setting. By six o'clock in the evening though she was fast asleep again and showing no signs of waking up.
"Go on you two -" Poppy encouraged them, "go get some proper food in the Great Hall. Grab some you time and you can come by and see her before you head to bed, ok?" They had done just that and although neither of them had been able to relax entirely as they had shared a glass of wine quietly curled in front of the fire, they had needed the time to themselves. Creeping through the dark of the ward they found Poppy just checking on Anna, who was still sound asleep.
"Don't worry, I'm going to be about all night," she reassured them seeing Severus' reluctance to leave. "And you have to teach first thing tomorrow morning," she continued, scolding him gently and ushering them back out the door.
Severus had never been a particularly good sleeper and when he woke early the following morning so did Remus. Lying in bed, he could hear Severus as he worked in his laboratory and if he closed his eyes he could see his practiced movements in his mind's eye. After maybe an hour he heard him creep back into the room and open the wardrobe. Peeling open an eye he said a quiet "Hi."
"Hello," came the soft reply. "I didn't wake you up did I?"
"Don't worry about it," he replied sitting up.
"I was just going to head up and see how Anna is doing."
"What time is it?" he asked.
"About five," came the answer from underneath a black poloneck that Severus was pulling over his head. "You should get back to sleep. It's less than a week till full moon."
"Hmmm," Remus said, a little absently.
"And you never have been as good as me at going without," Severus continued with a smile, crossing the room and leaning over to peck him on the cheek. At the last second Remus turned his head a little catching the other man's lips in his own and holding him there. He snaked a hand around the back of his head and pulled him in closer. After a few moments they both drew back. "I knew there was a reason I let you sleep in my bed," the Slytherin said as he straightened up. "I'll let you know if there's any change."
"Yeah, I'll be up before breakfast – OK?" It didn't take him long to slip into sleep once he had been left alone but it was far from peaceful, and images of all those he loved being hurt or killed still danced in front of his eyes when he opened them again abruptly.
"Remus! For Merlin's sake! MOONEY!" The voice was instantly recognisable as the Potions Master's the volume only serving as a reminder of how formidable the man could be when in the classroom. Remus almost threw himself out of the foot of the bed, automatically sensing the urgency in the call.
"What…?" he asked no one in particular as he stumbled out into the living room to find no one there.
"Remus!" The call came again and he looked down to the fire, which had obviously been the source.
"Severus? What's wrong?"
"We're not sure what's wrong but…well Anna's in agony and I need you to bring up some of the potions I was bottling earlier. I left them open to cool but they ought to be ok now."
"Sure," he replied, waiting for his mind to catch up. "Right I'll be up as soon as I can," he added, taking the time to see in the concern etched on the other man's face. Pulling on the first pair of trousers he came across, and grabbing a shirt before he headed into the warded lab, he quickly stoppered the phials that were lying on the bench. His mind was racing as, not for the first time, he be-moaned the fact that there was no actual transport possible through the floo network in Hogwarts. He ran most of the way, grateful that he hadn't really let his fitness slide since the end of the war, and when he did arrive Poppy all but grabbed the potions from his hands and headed off to her work bench. Looking around he spotted Severus easily as he sat on the edge of the bed. Anna though was curled on her side and as he neared them he could see the tear tracks down her face
"Hello there Moppet." She looked up and smiled a little. Severus turned to face him as well as he pulled up a chair. "How are you doing Madam?" he said with a smile. Another little smile which became a grimace as she drew herself in even smaller. Frowning, he looked up at Severus.
"Like I said, we're not sure but when I arrived she was sleeping soundly then she…oh I don't know how to explain it, she started to curl up, as if everything were tightening. Anyway, she woke up, but she didn't move. In any case Poppy's established that her joints are far worse than they were, which is probably why she's in pain." Remus perched on the other side of the bed and gently ran his hand through Anna's hair.
"I'm sorry Moppet," he said quietly.
"Anna," Poppy began as she came back over, "I've got something that's going to make you feel better hopefully, but first I need you to try some things for me? Ok?" She nodded this time and Remus couldn't believe the change as she obviously set her mind to something. Severus helped her sit up right although she was up against him. Remus stood and got out of their way as Poppy crouched down to be face to face with the little girl. "Can you do this?" The medi-witch asked raising a straightened arm until it was level with her shoulder. Anna gave her a calculating look then attempted to reproduce the action. The girl's arm wouldn't straighten out properly and after a moment, she was shaking from the effort. "Ok." Poppy said smiling at her and pushing gently down on it letting her know she could lower the limb, which she did gratefully. After manoeuvring her onto her back, the mediwitch tried to straighten out her legs that Anna had kept curled up. Remus could see the woman taking care o gently extend the leg and she got almost half way down before Anna actually yelped. Remus reached out and took hold of her hand as she screwed up her face trying not to cry out, then falling finally did. Her body was fighting to ease the pressure as her upper body scissored upwards.
"Couldn't you have waited until you had given her something first?" Severus snapped as Remus wrapped his arms around her and she drew her knees up and clung to his arm as if there were to be no tomorrow. The girl's sobs were muffled as she buried her face in his arm and he returned to rubbing gentle circles on her back.
"Calm down Sev," he urged. "You know as well as I do that Poppy wouldn't have done it if she didn't feel she had to." The other man's head snapped round but a quick look and he managed to cut off the sharp retort that had been forming on the other man's tongue.
"I'm sorry Anna," Poppy said quietly. "But I had to see how stiff you were. OK?" Now that her cries had quietened she looked at the other woman but didn't shy away when Poppy tucked a loose curl behind her ear. "I wish I knew what was wrong. Really I do… poor honey. But in the meantime," she pulled herself out of her reverie and turned to Remus and Severus. "I'm going to give her a dose of anti-inflammatory and some painkillers but I'm not sure what good they'll do." She poured the phials into a glass and went to hand it to Anna. She took it but her grip was unsteady and Severus saved it just before she dropped it, holding it gently to her lips.
"There you go. Drink up Moppet."
A/N: Firstly, I can only apologise for the delay – I have been somewhat busy with University type stuff (damn the inconvenience!). In any case, I'm not done yet but will attempt to make the next gap a shorter one…
Secondly, I must thank my ever-wonderful beta, Rachel, for her help.
Thirdly… ummm – oh yes. Please do review. I always appreciate it and will attempt to respond.
Hope you're enjoying this!
Linds