Thanks a lot to my wonderful beta, saiyanwizardgurl, for correcting my story and improving it.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
Dear readers,
you all accepted Severus' choice without complaining, even those of you who thought it would be someone else. I'm surprised about this, but I'm glad that you did. You will learn more about Severus' reasons and about Alastor in this chapter. Yesterday I wrote the next chapter and I was overwhelmed by it. He will finally leave the hospital then. It is much longer than the other chapters. I can't wait to submit it, but my beta has to correct it first.
Sunny
Chapter 7 – The Reason Why
Severus was so exhausted that he started to fall asleep in Alastor's arms. When James finally carried him into bed, he was completely knocked out. Alastor's bones were hurting, and when he tried to stand up, he felt that he no longer had any control over his muscles. Poppy was at his side in an instant and tried to help him. James, who had seen the situation out of the corner of his eye, said, "Don't move him, Poppy. I'll be there in a second."
"I'm not your patient, James," Alastor grumbled sullenly and tried to stand up again.
"Behave yourself, Alastor," Poppy scolded him and smacked the back of his head.
Alastor glared at her, but did not dare to move. He knew his wife well, and the expression on her face made it clear that he better do what she told him to. And my muscles wouldn't do what I tell them to anyway, Alastor thought, annoyed. Alastor hated Healers. Why he fell in love with Poppy was still a mystery to him. This woman can really be annoying, and she never forgets that she is a Mediwitch. A Mediwitch through and through. But he loved her more than everything in the world.
He was still musing about her when he felt James' hand on his shoulder. "I thought you always told someone when you were going to touch them?" Alastor spat while trying to jerk away, but his muscles still did not react well enough to have much effect. He could only groan in pain.
"Calm down, Alastor. You have been somewhere else with your thoughts. So far away that you didn't hear me when I told you that I am going to send relaxing and painkilling magic through you. Are you ready for me to start?" James asked calmly.
Poppy eyed the scene in front of her, interested. She wished she had James' calmness. Alastor is really an awful patient, and he hates Healers. Maybe I should have warned James, but I never thought that the two would have much to do with one another. Now that Severus had chosen Alastor to bond to, the situation changes completely. Who would have thought he would choose Alastor? For Poppy, it was completely clear – or so she thought – that he would choose Albus. Thinking back to the moment Severus revealed his choice, Poppy remembered that Albus had sunken back in his armchair with a sigh. It seemed he had been relieved about Severus' choice. That was rather odd, Poppy thought. Her husband's grumpy voice brought her back to the current situation.
"Start with whatever is necessary to get me up, and then leave me alone. And let me tell you one thing, Healer, I don't want you to touch me all the time. We may have to work together because of Sev – " Alastor felt every muscles in his body relax. "Sneaky bastard," he mumbled.
"Alastor, sometimes you really are obnoxious," Poppy said, embarrassed.
"No, no, Poppy. Don't scold him for letting me know how he feels. I would prefer to know what he thinks about me and what I do. That's the only way we will be able to take care of Severus together. And that's what we both want to do, right, Alastor?" James asked the man, whose back he had pulled against his chest while talking to Poppy. His right hand was on Alastor's forehead and his left on Alastor's chest.
"Hmpf," was the only reply he got from the older wizard. The pain was gone and even as his mind screamed, Fight and get out of his arms, he could not stop himself from enjoying the warm and relaxing feeling. He had not felt so comfortable and pain-free in a long time.
"I know you can hear me, Alastor, and I also know that you are agog going to strangle me for holding you like this, but this is the best way to loosen your muscles. All I ask is that you try to see how you feel when I stop the flow of magic and then decide if being vulnerable was worth it. If you still want to snap my neck, I ask you to remember that Severus was willing to work with me. You will have to find another Healer after killing me," James explained, annoyingly calm.
"Shut up. Let me go," Alastor growled, feeling his spirits come back.
James stopped the magic, and Alastor stood up with Poppy's help as quickly as possible. James did not even have a chance to stand before Alastor had turned and was gesturing dangerously at him. "Do that one more time, boy, and I swear you will regret it." With every word, the voice became more of a growl and Alastor leaned further in. At the last word, he was almost nose to nose with the Healer. "I hope I've made myself clear." Not waiting for an answer, he turned and vanished into the bathroom.
Albus stood up and offered the Healer his hand to help him up. James took it gratefully. "He called you 'boy.' That is a good sign," Albus said emphatically.
"I can hear you in here, Headmaster. And James, you better not listen to that old codger because he doesn't know what he's talking about, brat," said Alastor through the bathroom door.
"Oh, and brat is even better. You are almost family now," Poppy said, patting James' shoulder.
"I heard that as well, woman," Alastor said, coming out of the bathroom.
"Merlin, Alastor, you will wake Severus. Can't you behave?" Poppy scolded.
"Why are you all still here? Go away. It's enough for one person to watch him. He waved his wand and one of the armchairs turned into a bed as the other four vanished. "Get the message?" Alastor asked, annoyed.
Poppy looked apologizing at James, but he had already put his professional and relaxed expression back on.
"Yes, I think it would be best if we leave now. I think Severus needs his rest, and Alastor needs some time to think about all this," Albus said and ushered the other two out of the room.
James was already in the doorframe when Alastor said, "Oh, and thanks for your help, James."
"It was my pleasure, Alastor. We will see you tomorrow," James replied with a smile on his face.
__________
The night remained uneventful from the moment the group left the room. Severus was sleeping peacefully and Alastor lay awake for a long time, pondering about why Severus had chosen him and how the things would change. He was not scared. To be honest, he felt rather proud that Severus trusted him so much. He thought back to the time when he had first met him, when Albus announced that he would be joining the Order. Severus had had a very hard start, and Alastor had often tried to provoke him to find out if he really was on their side.
Soon, Alastor had realized that Severus had made a big mistake by following his friend into the ranks of the Dark Lord and that he really regretted it. The first time he had seen him come back from one of the dreadful meetings with Voldemort, beaten and humiliated, his heart broke. From that day on, he had tried to coax Severus to give up his spy job, but Severus had always refused. He had wanted to punish himself for his bad choice and for the deaths he had caused. Being a spy had made him feel wanted, or at least needed. It had given him a reason to live, Alastor realized this now. Why hadn't I seen it before? He scolded himself inwardly. Now that Severus is no longer spying, he must feel useless, and that must be the reason he tried to kill himself. Stupid boy. You have done so much, sacrificed so much, and fought like hell in the final battle. You even jumped in front of Harry and got hit by a bad hex that the Healers needed a month to heal.
Severus still had problems with the after effects of this hex. He was a war hero, and nobody said anything different. Only Severus himself could not accept this. He could not find a way to live on. We were too occupied with celebrating and enjoying the time free of angst and fear that we didn't notice Severus' problems. He had become withdrawn more and more and finally had brewed a potion to end it.
It was pure luck that Harry had run into the Room of Requirement as Severus had gulped half the vial. Nobody had an explanation for it; Harry said he had felt the room calling him. It was a miracle. Harry caught Severus as he fell and his fantastic seeker reflexes even made it possible to catch the vial as well. The Healer had been quick to analyze the potion and find an antidote. That Severus only drank half of the potion had given the Healers the time they needed, but it had still affected his muscles and stomach. And the fact that he still did not want to live was not helping him to heal.
At first, Severus had not reacted at all to them when they had visited him, but once he had cried in Poppy's arms, he started to speak with them again. First with Poppy and Albus, and then with me. So why the hell did he choose me? He decided to speak with Poppy and Albus first, and so I assumed he would choose one of them. Alastor had stayed many days at Severus' bedside. He had coaxed him out of nightmares and helped him to the bathroom more than once. Severus always was a private man, but he was clinging to Alastor or Poppy or Albus when they were there so that he did not need the help of the Healers.
Alastor was not as mollycoddling as Poppy and Albus. He often tried to joke and was more relaxed than the other two. Severus never seemed to react to it, but that did not mean he had not noticed it. To be honest, it was the reason he had chosen Alastor. Severus could feel relaxed in Alastor's presence. He was more like an uncle and not like a father like Albus. He never felt judged by Alastor. He had the feeling he was just there to keep him company because he wanted it. Poppy was like a know-it-all mother and being a Mediwitch already gave her so much power over him that Severus did not dare to give her even more power through the Bonding Spell. Alastor was the perfect choice in his opinion.
Unaware of Severus' motives, Alastor fell asleep pondering why Severus had chosen him. Finally, he had decided that it did not matter. He would just make the best out of it.
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