I, Too, Shall Follow—Chapter Ten
An owl outside the window first thing in the morning was rarely a good omen; this one was no exception. Beginning before dawn, it pecked on Lucius' bedroom window glass until, weary of hearing it and unable to go back to sleep, he staggered over to fling open the window. He'd intended to throttle the bird, but seeing the note attached to its leg, he removed it and unrolled a long parchment to read the following:
Dear Lucius,
I'm sorry to send this so early, I hope the owl doesn't wake you.
"Too bloody late for that," Lucius snarled.
"What's that honey? Are you swearing?" Narcissa yawned at him.
"No, dear. Well, maybe a little." He had to squint in the vague light in order to read the rest.
I've been thinking about why the potions aren't working.
There are too many ingredients, they're too broad in trying
to cover all bases at once, and in doing so become watered
down and ineffective. Perhaps some ingredients even cancel
out other ones. At any rate, I'll need the information from
your medi-witch to determine which course I should pursue.
Please ask her if:
1)Narcissa is ovulating
2)Narcissa's eggs are viable
3)Narcissa's uterus is inhospitable to the ovum or sperm
4)Narcissa's eggs are rejecting your sperm
5)the egg is becoming fertilized but failing to attach to the uterine wall
Any information you can provide is vital to my research.
Lucius flushed at the thought of discussing his sperm, his wife's ovum, or Narcissa's intimate body in any way, shape or form with the 'medi-witch', a.k.a. his father. Abraxas had only examined Narcissa under duress, it was highly unlikely he'd consent to do so again. Perhaps now would be a good time to recommend she see someone else.
My latest potions have been failures. I beg your patience
in hopes my new elixir will bear fruit of the Malfoy sort.
Your friend, Severus
The moment he'd finished reading the letter and started to turn around, he felt it plucked from his fingers by his wife.
"What have we here?" she teased. "An early morning love letter from an admirer?"
"Narcissa, don't—"
Lucius snatched for the parchment but she whirled away, more determined than ever to read it. He chased her across the room, with her squealing in alarm, right into the bathroom, where she slammed the door in his face.
"Honey… oh, shit!" he muttered, wandering over to plop on the bed to wait.
A few minutes later, Narcissa emerged from the bathroom wearing a distinct air of indignation. She tossed the parchment in his face. "So, you and Severus have a little agreement that concerns me, yet you don't see fit to even mention it. Oh, wait, maybe you did bring it up." She paused for a moment, looking up as she scrunched her face as if deep in thought. "Nope! You didn't."
"Honey, I'm sorry. Come here." He took her hand and guided her down beside him. She deliberately scooted over to leave a space between them. "I asked Severus to invent a new potion. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to get your hopes up. As you can see, so far he's had no luck."
"Lucius, what were you planning to do when he gets it right? Slip the potion into my food?"
"Of course not." Lucius moved closer to her, his arm snaking around her waist, his other hand massaging her thigh. "I just wanted to spare your feelings. It's been very disappointing for me, I didn't want you to feel the same."
Narcissa leaned her head over onto his chest. "You stupid, stupid man. I appreciate your concern, but I'm not a baby. We're in this together."
Lucius stroked her hair as he held her to him. They were in this together. He didn't have to sneak around behind her back anymore. He was glad… until she spoke again, in a devilish tone.
"The medi-witch is going to love this, Lucius, won't SHE? Why, we can ask HER at breakfast if—"
"Stop it," he chuckled. "Severus didn't know my father examined you. It's probably for the best if you see a medi-witch anyway. Father is such a prude. I swear, I don't know how he managed to have three children of his own."
"You don't?" smiled his wife. In her most seductive manner, she knelt up and straddled his legs, pressing her chest to his face and giggling. "Let me show you."
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Home for the summer, the last summer before his final year at Hogwarts. It should be a happy, carefree time, unless you were Severus Snape, in which case it was tantamount to a three-month stint in Azkaban. Okay, not Azkaban, he reckoned, that was pretty harsh. More like the local jailhouse a few blocks over…or was school more like the jail and—
"Faster, Severus!" yelped Justina as her older brother mindlessly pushed his siblings on the twirl-around at the Muggle school around the corner from their house, trying to forget how much he hated home. Not the kids, just home.
He'd only come from Hogwarts three days ago, and already tension had mounted to volcanic proportions. So far no eruptions, but it was only a matter of time. With his mother working evenings as she did every summer, he was left in his father's company to watch the children. A volatile mix, to be sure, especially if he didn't have supper ready when the man got home from work—which was within the hour, he gulped, looking at his watch.
"Come on, time to go," he ordered.
"Oooh," the twins whined together, though they obediently hopped down and started to follow him.
Standing inside the gate, beside his house, was a bloke Severus had seen around the neighborhood several times in the past three days. He wasn't particularly distinguishable from most of the men thereabouts: unkempt hair, growth of whiskers, shady in every way, yet the man's presence bothered him; no, it unnerved him. He didn't belong here, not in the yard. Such blatant trespass might get his skull cracked a few houses over, and he looked the sort to know that.
"You want something?" asked Severus coolly. He unlocked the door and hustled the children inside, then closed the door again.
"Yeah, yer ol' man owes me money," he answered.
"I don't know anything about that."
"Maybe I can wait inside for 'im."
Severus sneered through a throaty laugh in the way he'd learned over the years to feign confidence. "You're not coming in my house."
The man stepped closer and Severus automatically reached for his wand which, of course, wasn't there, he'd given it to his father as he was always compelled to do.
"Don't ya trust me, boy?"
"I don't even know you, why would I trust you?" He opened the door, keeping his back to the house, and slipped inside, heart pounding.
A second later, before he could fully shut the door, the flat of the man's foot collided resoundingly against the wood, knocking the youth backward. In a flash the intruder was inside. A wicked roundhouse to the jaw sent Severus sprawling onto the couch.
"If I can't get the money, I'll just take the girl," the man leered, making a grab for Justina.
Severus leaped up to throw himself at the man, who pounced on him, his weight driving the skinny boy to the floor where he punched the boy over and over while the children shouted and beat at him. When he made to sweep them away, Severus wriggled from beneath him and kicked him in the chest.
"Get in the bedroom!" Severus hollered to the twins, kicking at the man again.
Staggered, the fellow toppled against the fireplace, where his hand lit on the poker. Grasping it with practiced firmness, he swung it hard at the boy, striking him in the head and opening a long gash. A second blow connected solidly and dropped Severus to the ground again. Then, standing over the bleeding youth, he grinned maliciously and stabbed the fireplace poker down with all his might right into Severus' abdomen.
Time seemed to stand still for the boy writhing on the floor. He felt no pain, he felt only fear. This evil bloke would take his sister, he'd do foul things to her. He must get up, he must stop it! But he couldn't. He was held down by a piece of metal being twisted in his guts by a laughing maniac. In despair, he sensed a pressure building rapidly in his head as he struggled to move. His heart seemed to race along with his mind, his panic building at an alarming rate until he was certain his head would burst. Must stop him. Must STOP HIM!
All at once, every window in the living room and kitchen exploded outward; the television screen shattered. The intruder was thrown back by an immense force that crushed his chest like an aluminum can and tossed him across the room. He landed propped against the wall in a macabre pose, eyes wide open, head lolling, blood drooling from his mouth. From Severus' position on the floor, he gazed weakly over at the corpse with no feeling or reaction.
Now Severus heard the children; they'd come out of their room, they were hysterical at seeing a dead man in their living room. Wait, they were looking at him, their brother, and sobbing and screaming. He glanced at the metal protruding from his body. He could see how that might frighten the poor kids. Come to think of it, he should be afraid, shouldn't he? He touched his body where the poker was sticking in him and drew his hands away covered with blood. Yep, folks, that was a bad sign indeed.
"Tina, Julius," he croaked.
The twins knelt beside him with tears running down their faces and sobs choking any attempt at speech.
"Shut the door…lock it. Go to...the bedroom." He didn't want them sitting here staring at that dead bastard, after all.
"Nooo!" they wailed together.
"Listen," Severus whispered. "I need…help. Put me…in the…fireplace."
Weeping loudly, they nevertheless each grabbed an arm and dragged the older boy into the fireplace, laying him at an awkward angle.
"Floo powder."
Julius shoved the powder next to his hand. Severus took as much as his limp hand would hold and released it onto his own body as he murmured as loudly as he could, "Malfoy… Manor."
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Narcissa was visiting Regulus, which normally wouldn't be considered unusual, except for the fact that she'd never come over merely to visit her fifteen-year-old cousin before. To cloak her purpose, she'd spent a good amount of time sympathizing with her aunt and uncle over their hopelessly lost boy who'd defected to the traitors' side. They'd had a lot to say, none of it good, and if this was what Sirius had been putting up with for years, she honestly couldn't blame him for leaving. Nonetheless, she'd nodded along with them as they cursed the day of Sirius' birth and every event they could think of thereafter.
"Do you mind if I go speak to Regulus?" Narcissa asked sweetly.
"Oh, please do," Mrs. Black commented. "For some reason he was attached to that other one. He's been moping around in his room; some decent conversation with a loyal Black might do him good."
Narcissa smiled and headed up the staircase. She wasn't sure which room it was, but assuming her cousin was in there, it shouldn't be hard to find.
"Regulus, it's Narcissa," she called out, not really expecting an answer.
The boy poked his head out from the second door down. "Hey, Cissy. What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to you."
"Why?"
She looked all around for signs of that stealthy house elf. "Can I come in your room?"
"Sure." He waited by the door for her to enter, then came in after her.
Unlike Sirius' jumbled mess of a bedroom, Regulus kept his things in neat order, allowing him to offer his cousin a chair rather than the bed to sit on. She gave a nod of thanks, took out her wand, and shut the door with a spell. Next she threw a bubble of silence charm around the room.
"What'd you do that for?" asked Regulus. He sat down on his bed.
"House elves have big ears," she said.
"Well, yeah, and big noses, too, but—oh, I get it!" He laughed at his own thickness.
"Reg, I know you and Sirius used to be pretty close. Tell me the truth: do you still see him?"
The lad eyed her warily. His parents had probably sent Cissy up to make sure he wasn't following Sirius' insane path, which he wasn't, and he resented the spying. Just because he talked to his brother didn't make him become Sirius. He didn't like lying, but what was his alternative? "Um, no. I saw him at school a few times—he gave me a concussion."
"Yes, I heard about that," she acknowledged. Her aunt and uncle had gone on at length about how dangerous that 'damned boy' was, and how he could have killed poor Regulus, the only loyal one, and he should have been expelled from the school, but what could you expect from an institution that accepted mudbloods?
"Are you sure you haven't seen him since school let out?"
"I said no, Cissy!"
Regulus was lying. Ever since he'd been a tyke she'd been able to spot when he was lying, unlike Sirius who could make up a huge whopper with a straight face and get away with it. But how to call him on it? She was loath to admit any feelings for Sirius without knowing where Regulus stood, as it could land her in hot water with the whole Black clan. The idea of being burned off the tapestry held no appeal for her.
"Cissy, what do you really want? Are my parents testing me?" he growled, rather uncharacteristically. "I'm not a blood traitor, I believe in pureblood superiority. You can tell them that." He lay down and turned to face the wall. For good measure, to show his displeasure, he wrenched off his shoes one at a time and pitched them in her direction. Without looking, accuracy was pretty much only an unanticipated stroke of luck.
Narcissa dodged the shoes and resisted the temptation to fling them back at him. She was trying to get on his good side. "I'm no blood traitor, either. I simply thought you'd still love your brother. I still love Andromeda." This was a huge risk, mentioning Andy.
Ever so slowly Regulus rolled over and sat up, still not quite sure whether to trust her. "I never said I don't love Sirius, but he's a bad influence. Everyone thinks so."
"What do you think?"
"I think he's a bad influence," he repeated levelly. His fingers clenched and unclenched the bedclothes. "Why do you care what I think? Why do you care one diddly-damn about Sirius?"
"Because he's my cousin, the same as you. Except he's a massive pain in the rear," she added with a grin.
Regulus grinned, too. "Yeah, he is that."
Narcissa stood up to go. She wasn't going to get any information this way, that was certain. She could leave him something to think about. "If you happen to see him, maybe you could mention that Cissy doesn't hate him."
"Why would I be seeing him?" challenged the lad.
"Paths cross," she said, opening the door and disarming the silencing charm. "I'll see you, Reg. Don't be a stranger at the mansion."
"Yeah, later." Troubled, he lay down once more. He wondered if Sirius would know what to make of this conversation the next time they met.
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Unconscious and twisted in a grotesque manner around a fireplace poker, Severus turned up at Malfoy Manor. The house elf who trotted in to check on the arrival gave a piercing scream and Disapparated. Moments later she reappeared with Lucius, who fell to his knees in horror.
"Get Father!" he shouted. "Severus!" He didn't know whether to shake him or even to touch him, but he couldn't leave him there. As gently as he was capable of, he pulled Severus from the fireplace and straightened the boy's limbs, his eyes glued to the repulsive stalk of metal piercing the gangly frame.
Abraxas Apparated in. Lucius looked up at him with solemn, round gray eyes full of despair. The older man, swallowing his revulsion, dropped down to feel for a pulse. The usually pale face of the boy was chalk white from blood loss, but his heart beat…for the moment.
"Sisidy, do you remember Doctor Frank Cullin?"
"Yes, Master Malfoy," the elf squeaked.
"Bring him here immediately. Tell him there's an emergency."
The elf popped out as Abraxas waved his wand over Severus' body, whispering sing-song charms and spells. The blood flow began to ebb.
"Father, should we take him to the hospital?"
Abraxas finished the spell he was performing. "If we Apparate with him, it'll kill him. I'm not sure he can even endure the floo network again." His eyes never left the patient. Another wave of his wand snapped the poker off, leaving only a few inches protruding. The freed metal clanked onto the marble hearth. "Lucius, go to your mother's study where I keep my potions. Bring all those marked 'Healing'."
Lucius disappeared immediately. Abraxas delicately placed a hand on Severus' abdomen to feel the life vibrations, which were very faint. He recited another spell to stop internal bleeding, one he wasn't so sure would work with that damned metal pipe in the boy's gut.
Three agonizingly long minutes passed before Lucius returned with his arms full of bottles that he carefully set on the floor beside his father. Abraxas looked them over quickly, sorting them deftly, and choosing one; he pulled the stopper, lifted Severus' head tenderly, and poured some of the liquid into his mouth. It sloshed back out onto the floor. Patiently he poured in more, this time closing Severus' mouth with his hand. Presently he let go, the boy's jaw dropped open, and the blue elixir dribbled out onto his chest.
"Father, he's not…" Lucius' lips set into a thin line.
"Not yet," said the other quietly.
Another popping sound accompanied Sisidy returning with her tiny hand clenched around the doctor's pantleg. The man carried a large satchel of tools. It took him only an instant to assess the situation, then he was digging in his bag for an odd, disk-shaped implement that he lightly placed on top of the cut-off poker end. One smooth flip of his wand removed Severus' Muggle clothing, making his horrific wound all the more apparent and more dreadful looking. Lucius felt paralyzed, unable to turn away. Seconds later, the doctor lay a thin blanket over his upper and lower body, leaving the injury bare.
"Abraxas, hold this. As I work the metal free, pull very gently. It would be extremely helpful if you send organ mending spells at the same time."
Abraxas merely nodded and took hold of the disk. In his other hand, his wand aimed at Severus' abdomen. Doctor Cullin pointed his wand at the poker and began speaking spells Lucius had never heard; his wand moved in tiny circles, gradually spiraling upward, while Abraxas simultaneously chanted another foreign spell. For what seemed ages it went on, endless, tireless reciting of healing charms as the poker ever so slowly worked its way upward, nauseatingly coated in slime and blood. At long last, Abraxas plucked it free and chucked it onto the floor with a long, heavy sigh.
"Let me see your potions," said the doctor, who perused them at a glance. "Have you tried…" He remembered seeing the blue concoction splashed down the boy's chest and found it unnecessary to finish the question. Instead, he selected another potion, which he trickled into the gaping wound. "Abraxas, try the lif capere again. His life force is waning."
Waning? Crouched on the marble next to the unmoving figure of his friend, Lucius grasped the word and turned it over in his mind. How could that be after all they'd done? No, the doctor was mistaken. Severus was getting better, not worse.
As instructed, Abraxas carefully lifted Severus' head again and poured a bit of the potion in his mouth, then set the bottle down to massage the boy's throat. "Lucius, pour this for me, very slowly, while I try to help him swallow."
In trembling hand, Lucius picked up the liquid and did as he was told. He'd always felt protective of Severus, but to hold the youth's very life in his hands was too much to bear. The thin boy's chest convulsed once as it struggled pitifully to pull in air. It was true, what the doctor said was true. His best friend was dying in front of him. Hot tears stung his eyes yet he couldn't look away. It wasn't supposed to be this way, Severus didn't deserve this.
"That's it," said Abraxas. "You can stop now."
He couldn't stop, he had to do what he could to save Severus.
"Lucius!" his father barked, pushing his son's arm away. "Stop." Gently he lowered Severus' head to the floor. "There's nothing more you can do."