Chapter Four
Silas woke up near midnight that night to the sight of his brother sitting on a chair by his bed, elbows resting on his thighs and leaning forward. His face was its usual blank expression but his eyes were anxious and he did not seem to notice Silas' wakefulness he was so lost in thought.
"Sev." Silas whispered.
Immediately Severus leaned closer to his brother and began to stroke his hair.
"I'm here Silas." He said, so quietly it was barely audible but Silas had no trouble hearing him.
"I know. You've been here since the accident haven't you?" Silas asked.
"Of course." Severus wasn't looking at his face, he was concentrating on the soothing motion of his fingers on the boy's scalp.
Silas nodded slightly. "Thanks." They were quiet for a moment. Silas left alone to his own thoughts eventually came to rethinking his morning's conversation with Severus. "Have you thought about what I said this morning?"
Severus was quiet for a moment before looking Silas in the eyes. "Yes. I spoke to Dumbledore this afternoon and he said he'd give me an answer tomorrow."
Silas smiled, glad that he had gotten through to his brother. "How was Seb tonight, when you went to see him?"
Severus shook his head. "I didn't go tonight. I was here with you." Severus didn't say anything more but Silas knew that Severus whished he could have been there and he knew his brother was even more anxious than usual about his son. He always was when he wasn't able to see Seb for whatever reason.
"Oh." He said. It was quiet for another moment. "You could have gone you know." Silas said at last.
"I could have, but you needed me too. And Seb will understand." Severus continued running his fingers through the silky black mass of hair.
"Probably, but you don't. Not really. You really want to go see him with your own eyes, and make sure he's alright but you're too afraid I'll be hurt if you leave." Silas said quietly. Severus' eyes darted around for half a second before settling back to study Silas, but it was enough for Silas to know he was exactly right. "Go Sev. Go see him. Go make sure he's alright and sleeping soundly in his bed. I'll be here when you come back and then you can tell me all about him."
Severus studied him for a moment, as if deciding whether Silas really meant it or not. Finally he nodded. "Thank you. I won't be gone long." He stood up and with one last pat to Silas' head left the Infirmary through the floo network with a shout of "Mrs Figg's Home!"
Severus landed in the cat infested living room of Mrs. Figg. She was not present, probably sleeping, it was just after midnight. Her cats used to him by now did not even stir from their various positions of deep slumber.
Severus picked his way through the room and stepped out the front door. Walking at the fastest pace he could possibly manage without actually running he reached number four Privet drive. He did not see the usual car in the drive but he imagined that Vernon was probably just at a club, it was a Saturday night after all.
With a whispered "Alohamora" Severus carefully opened the door and quietly made his way inside. The house was dark and completely silent, the soft rain the only noise to be heard. Quietly Severus made his way upstairs and down the hall to his son's bedroom. The door creaked open and Severus stepped in, intending to tuck his son deeper in his bed on this chilly night. When he saw no lump in the covers he was confused. He mumbled "Lumos," and was completely horrified to find his son's bed perfectly made, completely unslept in.
Severus could not quell the blossom of worry that sprung up in his heart and made his way to another of the bedrooms to see if his son was there for some reason. When he found that the Dursleys were not in their beds either he began to panic. What if they had been stolen away? What if they had Seb? What if the Death Eaters were hurting his little boy?
He ran down the stairs and searched those rooms but they were all empty. He at last came to the kitchen. He saw the plate of barely touched food sitting on the counter, by its congealed state it had been there for a few hours at least.
Severus sighed an angry sigh and pulled at his hair. He looked out at the pitch black night sky through the window above the sink and felt like crying. His son was gone. His son's family was also gone. Severus remembered the missing car and could not supress the tinge of hope he felt that maybe his son had not been stolen by followers of the Dark Lord but instead was on a field trip with his family.
Something about that possibility did not sit right with Severus, he could not convince himself of that scenario.
As Severus stepped out of the kitchen and into the hall, on his way back to Hogwarts to ask Albus' help in finding his son something felt wrong. Something was not right. And the further away from the kitchen Severus got the worse it became. Sensing a power working here Severus walked back to the kitchen, and followed the feeling of 'rightness' until he came to the back door.
He opened the door and squinted through the rain and dark night to see. He flicked the switch by the door and the whole back garden lit up.
Severus did not see anything, but as he stood on the door step, completely silent he heard something. It was an odd noise, and it was soft and he had to strain to hear it.
Eventually he realised it was whimpering, like a small child. Severus' heart leapt into his throat, he knew instinctively that it was Seb, why else would someone's magic be leading him here.
"Seb!" Severus called out, a tad more hysterical than he would have liked. "Sebastian!"
The whimpers continued. "Dad?" Came a very soft, croaky voice from under the garden table.
Severus fell to his knees and bent under the table. There was his little boy curled into a ball.
"It's me Seb. Come here son." Severus held his arms open for his son to come to him.
Sebastian was sobbing by now. "I c-c-can't." He sobbed. Sebastian was horrified to find that his limbs had locked against the cold and while his body shivered uncontrollably he could not move.
Severus stood up quickly and with his wand banished the table, he could have moved it the muggle way but he was hardly thinking rationally at that moment.
Severus leaned down and picked up his son. Sebastian's head tucked under his chin and Severus held him tightly to his chest.
Severus was beyond worried when he felt how cold and wet his son was, he heard the very shallow breathing of Seb and knew that Seb was not well at all. Needing help for his son Severus ran down the street leaving Number Four completely open in his urgency and burst into Mrs. Figg's house.
This time her cats did protest but he hardly noticed as he jumped into the floo yelling for the infirmary at Hogwarts.
As soon as he stepped through into the Infirmary Severus began yelling. "Poppy! Poppy! Come quickly Poppy! Please!" He was absolutely hysterical by now but he hardly noticed it. He ran to the bed next to Silas and carefully placed his son on the bed. Seb had passed out some time during his run down Privet drive.
Madam Pomfrey stumbled out of her office, tying a knot on her robe. She quickly spelled the lights on and ran to Severus and the little boy as soon as she saw them.
Silas was sitting up in his bed and looking on with a completely terrified expression, and shaking limbs.
Even passed out Seb was still stuck in his bundled position.
"Severus! What happened? Is this Sebastian?"
"Yes, and I don't know! I found him outside hiding under a table. I think he must have been there for a few hours at least. But he's so cold and he can't move and his breathing is very shallow! Please Poppy! Help him! Please!" It all came out in a rush as Severus pleaded.
He almost frightened the woman, he looked half mad with worry.
"We have to get him warm, quickly." She said touching the frozen boy. She pulled out her wand and conjured a bath with steaming hot water.
She waved her wand and Seb's clothing disappeared leaving an almost completely blue body behind. It was only then that they noticed the little thing that Seb was clutching tightly to his chest. Severus stepped closer to his son and leant down to see what his unconscious boy was still grasping so tightly. He saw the black fur and he heard a soft little meow.
"It's a kitten." He said incredulous. He carefully pried his son's fingers apart and removed the kitten from his grasp. Unlike Seb the kitten was warm, and merely sleeping. Judging by his son's reaction to spending the night in the cold that was completely impossible. The kitten was so tiny it would have been entirely likely that it would have died from hypothermia, instead it was faring better than little Seb was.
Severus suddenly realised that Seb's accidental magic must have saved the kitten; instead of protecting himself he had protected the kitten. And it was his son's magic that had called to him in the kitchen. Severus felt like weeping, his son's moral character was so strong that it was not even broken by a life threatening situation and it filled Severus with equal parts pride and fear. He did not want his son to be too self-sacrificing, especially not for this up-coming war that Albus thought Seb was destined to fight in. The survival of his son was more important to him than the survival of the world.
The kitten snuggled into his palm, but Severus did not have time for it, he dropped it gently on Silas' bed and then carefully picked up his son and put him in the steaming water.
The heat from the water allowed Severus and Madam Pomfrey to gently ease Seb's muscles to relax and move once again. The blue tinge slowly disappeared and became a much more safe light pink. Severus picked his son up out of the bath and dressed him in the warmest pyjamas that he could conjure.
He tucked the little boy into the bed adding as many extra blankets as was safe and a warming spell just to be sure.
"Watch him Severus. He may contract pneumonia, we have to be very careful. Make sure he's not too hot." She said quietly and then left the family in the capable hands of Severus.
Severus fell into the chair between Seb and Silas' bed.
It was silent in the room. The lights had been dimmed to a candle-lit glow and Silas was sitting up in bed, watching Seb sleep.
"He's so much bigger." Silas whispered. Severus stayed silent. Silas knew his brother wanted to be left to his own thoughts so he lay down again and cuddled into the pillows with the kitten curling into his chest, seeking out his body heat.
Hi Ho Everyone!
Okay so I know I just updated like two days ago but this chapter wrote itself really quickly and so I decided to post it early as a birthday present to myself!
Anywho so yeah, here Seb is with Severus and Silas. We'll see if he stays there in the next chapter, which I think is going to be the last chapter unless some wave of miraculous inspiration sweeps over me!
Oh and I am still busy with Allusive Reality if anyone is reading that and wondering why I haven't updated yet seeing as I normally update like exactly a week after my last update but I'm having a little trouble with the latest chapter, it's not flowing right. But not to worry it should be up before next weekend, maybe I'll even get it done later today.
So yeah, how'd you like this chapter? I don't really know about Seb's reaction to the cold and how Severus and Poppy treat him. Like I don't know if that is correct but I would imagine something like that happening, so if it's wrong I am terribly sorry.
cozmic: Thank you dear!
Lily love snowdrop: Thank you! I changed Harry's name because he is not James' son and I didn't want there to be any confusion with that and besides I wasn't sure if the name Harry came from James or Lily, different people say different things so I thought this would be safer. And besides if the name did come from Lily that was when she was with James, she's not the same person when she's with Severus. The names Sebastian and Silas are also a tribute to a fanfiction story that I read a while ago that I really loved but I couldn't remember its name so I couldn't read it again and I can't recognise it as coming from whoever wrote it. It's the one where Harry and Draco have to pretend to be Severus' long dead children who died in a car accident with his wife in France. Harry becomes Sebastian and Draco becomes Silas. I really loved it, yeah so if anyone actually knows who wrote it and what its name was I would be most obliged if you would let me know. But thanks for liking my story!
hani: Hahah I know, it's quite depressing really but look it's starting to get better! At least Seb's at Hogwarts now!
shannyauburn: Thank you my dear, I aim to please!
cara-tanaka: There you are, I hope this is soon enough for you!
Team Jasper 99: Thank you for genuinely loving my story, not many people in real life like my writing style so it's nice to hear some positive feedback in the online world at least!