A/N: Welcome, welcome to this fourth part of my Unknowns series! If you've not read any previous parts, you could start at Part 0, which is in progress, or Part 1, which is quite finished. However, you MUST read Part 2 and 3 before starting here, or you'll be quite lost. If you choose to read this part concurrently with or prior to Part 0, there will be spoilers for that part here. However, they are meant to be consumed close together.
I will post weekly, on Saturdays, to both Parts, however reviews to ANY part of the series are tallied, and 15 reviews in a week earns a bonus to both parts, and a further fifteen a second bonus, and so on. Reviews must have at least two words to be considered valid for the tally, and questions will be answered at the Q&A section at the bottom of the chapter.
Excited to start this ride with y'all! Cheers!
-C
September 2029
Six years after his retirement, Severus still woke every morning wondering why he was not at Hogwarts. It took moments after seeing the elaborately painted ceiling before he remembered he was at Malfoy Manor, in the East wing. He did not share a bedroom with Narcissa, as tempting as it would be, even in her current state. Severus would never have been bold enough to ask, and Narcissa was far too sensible to offer.
Propriety would have forced him to decline, anyway.
He was not her husband, or her fiancé, or even her lover. He was simply someone desperate to help her live, if it were possible for her to live, and he still was not certain if it were possible.
His body seemed attuned to the first of September, so without checking his calendar, he knew the date. Instead of preparing a ridiculous speech for a ridiculous feast Remus assured him was essential, Severus went through his typical daily routine: he pulled himself out of bed, crossed to the attached bath, showered and dressed, and went down to the dining room for breakfast.
Narcissa had not breakfasted in the dining room for almost a year. She'd not been well enough. Instead, Severus shared breakfast with Draco, Scorpius and Astoria, discussing politics and advancements made in treatment. Astoria's virus had kicked in, no longer dormant. Estimations were another fifteen years, if they made no further advancements in treating the disease.
As soon as Severus finished his modest breakfast, he took his leave. It would not be long until Draco and Scorpius left for the Ministry, and Astoria was well enough to look after herself until Severus had seen to Narcissa.
The light was low in Narcissa's bedroom, as usual.
"Have you eaten, yet?" he asked, skipping the customary pleasantries. They had not bothered with them for several years.
"I'm not hungry."
Severus said nothing. He would have the house-elf bring her something, and he'd make her eat if he had to. But he wouldn't have to. Narcissa knew it was important to eat. He sat on the edge of her bed, pouring out exact measurements of her potions and watching her take each one with a sour face. He took her hand when she finished, feeling the skin shift, too much flesh loose on her bones. She no longer had the muscle mass her body required. An eerie reminder of Lucius's final months.
He kissed the hand and she sighed, leaning in to kiss his forehead.
"Do you miss the school?" she asked, brushing a bit of hair out of his face as he looked up at her again, not relinquishing his hold on her hand.
"Never."
Not a lie. There were things he missed about teaching, but much of it had to do with the company he kept while at Hogwarts. He still kept that company, just less often, and Narcissa was infinitely better company, even in her present condition.
She did not seem to believe him, but he knew there would be no argument. They never disagreed. At least, never out loud. A waste of precious time and energy, when there was no way to know how much was left.
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As soon as Severus went to check on Astoria for the day, Narcissa ate as much of the breakfast brought to her as she could stomach, and then she set aside the rest. Her stomach seemed to shrink every day.
Strange to recall a time when she'd been the one responsible for caring after the infirm. Her own husband, as he died. Harry and Catherine on their detox. She could still recall how dull and lifeless Catherine was for weeks.
Severus was kind to her, but not doting. He was careful with his words, with his actions, with propriety. But as death crept closer, Narcissa wondered what mattered about propriety. It all seemed so pointless, and she thought of her uncle, Alphard. She closed her eyes, recalling how he'd helped Andromeda run away, how he'd always supported Sirius's defiance of authority and propriety. He'd been so bitter about their world, but Narcissa was not like her sister or her cousin. She was too much like Uncle Orion, and she hated him for the likeness. She hated him for not being more like Uncle Alphard, as though all the things she didn't like in herself were because he wasn't like Uncle Alphard.
The closer she came to death, the more she wondered what she'd been doing with her life in all the years since Lucius's death. Charity luncheons, machinations for her son and grandson in their careers, helping Astoria in motherhood and society. Not time wasted, but perhaps not as fruitful as the years Lily Evans had spent making everybody else's lives better. The most selfless thing Narcissa ever did was detoxing Catherine, and even that was for family.
She checked the clock.
Severus would be back soon, within the half hour, and she wanted to impress him with her strength, even though she felt weaker than she had for weeks. He worried enough without giving him extra reasons. Very carefully, she helped herself out of bed, carefully staggering out to her balcony, frowning at the cold, almost shivering garden. She sighed, looking out at the roses. Sickly, lifeless, as she felt.
Narcissa closed her eyes and thought back to her early childhood, seeing a woman – the most beautiful woman Narcissa had ever known – who had only to touch a plant for it to bloom its brightest in an instant. She thought perhaps she remembered it in an exaggerated nostalgia, but Madam Selwyn had been a remarkable woman, for all her faults. Otherwise, she could never have produced such a daughter as Cara, strong as steel and special enough to entrance Sirius. And otherwise, she would never have won over a man as remarkable and particular as Uncle Alphard. No, Narcissa preferred to believe her childhood memories were true, that Madam Selwyn truly did accomplish such things. Even though she could not understand how it might be possible, she preferred to believe in something impossible that brought order to the rest of her life.
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Lily arrived at Malfoy Manor with her usual case of files and ingredients, checking in on the progress of both Malfoy women while the men were at the Ministry. She checked in at least once a week, and had regular updates from Severus and Sirius about how they looked and seemed.
Severus greeted her in the foyer, kissing her hand.
"How are…things?" he asked, purposefully vague.
"Oh, about how one might expect," Lily said with a sigh. "I've got a piece due to Luna on Thursday about the progress the viral treatment has made. And that's after it goes through Persephone. The Foundation for Goblin Welfare has a board meeting Friday evening, the only time we can all make it. Ourania's been trying to corral us all for weeks. I have financial reviews of both clinics due this weekend, or Ministry funding will be pulled. Draco can only do so much. And I must spend most of next week in Department meetings, capping it off with a Department review session with Draco next Friday. I haven't got time to sneeze. And James has the nerve to think he's busy. All he has to do is teach."
She saw Severus's lips twitch, knowing he was biting back telling her there was a great deal more to James's position than merely teaching. Especially now he was Head of Gryffindor House, since Remus took over Severus's position. Mercifully, James had no interest in being the Deputy Head. Not that putting two Marauders in charge of something was ever a wise choice.
"I know of no one busier, apart from perhaps Mrs. Longbottom."
Lily hummed and smiled. Hermione Longbottom was a revelation, and reminded Lily frequently of herself. Hermione also wrote for Luna's publication on occasion, also was on a board of directors for an activism organization, also ran her own enterprise, also had Ministry responsibilities – albeit as an Office Head and not a Department Head – and on top of it helped Neville run his side enterprise of the family greenhouses, which was one of the most prominent ingredient suppliers in Europe. The Potter & Whitby contract was a substantial source of that prominence, but they did a great deal of other business, as well.
"She is quite a force, isn't she?" Lily said, grinning. "And how is Narcissa this morning?"
Severus sighed, rubbing his eyes. Lily knew the strain of watching such a strong woman he cared for waste away was wearing on him, but she said nothing. She'd learned long ago men wanted to maintain their illusion of solitary strength, even if it was only an illusion.
"She is trying to fool me. She attempts to look stronger than she is, sitting in the balcony chair instead of in her bed. But I know."
Lily hummed, pulling out a file to show him the progress the Epidemic and Disaster Squad had made.
"Doris's latest report?" he asked, taking it. Lily hummed again, eager to share with him all the progress made before she looked in on the patients.
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Draco sat down in his office and took a few deep breaths. Percy Weasley and Emma Dobbs would be checking in shortly, but he felt he needed a few minutes to himself, just to think about how he would attack the matters at hand. Astoria's hands had been shaking, although she showed signs of the false remission. A year, maybe two of the false remission. Briefly having his wife back, and in ten, fifteen, maybe twenty years she would be as weak as his mother.
He'd seen all the reports from Madam Potter's office, and the reports were progress. They'd worked hard to overhaul the healthcare of the wizarding world using their combined positions of familial power to haul their society into the modern world. Vaccination was normal, health screenings of Muggle-born children entering their world a must. The Muggles all understood, even if the wizarding parents were puzzled by the concepts of preventative medicine.
Hopefully, he mused, no one else would lose what he'd all but lost to this illness, or others like it.
A knock at the door.
"Minister?"
He bit the inside of his lip. Percy had arrived, and Emma Dobbs would be coming shortly.
"Enter," Draco said, sitting straighter, opening his diary to determine what his schedule was for the day. Completely packed, as usual, but he'd managed to carve out fifteen minutes for himself in the afternoon. The negative of working lunches was he had very little time for himself.
Percy poked his head in and smiled before pulling the rest of his body in, pressing his glasses up his nose ways.
"Good morning, Percy," Draco said, rubbing his jaw. "How is the family?"
"You've heard about Lucy recently," Percy said brightly. His daughter reported directly to Madam Potter. "All is well in the Artefact Accidents office in Birmingham. Things are good across the board. I suppose you don't want to hear the tales of the whole extended Weasley clan."
"As interesting as I am sure that would be," Draco said with a small, sympathetic smile, "I can't say we could spare the time."
Percy nodded. The Weasley clan did wide and various things, although several of Percy's brothers were running a prolific joke shop business. He quickly asked Percy to sit to avoid the inevitable questions about Draco's family.
Draco didn't like to speak at work about his wife and mother. The world knew why he pushed so hard on the health initiatives. There was no need to discuss it on top of everything else. He thought of the slight tremble in Astoria's hands that morning and he wondered what Madam Potter would have to report after her weekly visit to his home.
But he could not imagine it was anything positive.
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Astoria submitted herself as gracefully as possible to the examination by Madam Potter while Severus read over the research brought along with test kits and medicine. Fresh ingredients and even some specially brewed potions done by Madam Potter's daughter-in-law.
"I've heard Columbine Peakes has moved in with your son and his family," Astoria said conversationally.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Well, it's a large house, and Colly certainly is all but part of the family. I expect the girls will be getting a flat sometime soon. They're waiting until Colly's saved up enough to pay her half. Wants to pull her weight."
Astoria hummed, but she knew the truth. Catherine had confided in Draco that her daughter and Columbine Peakes were in a relationship. She'd mentioned it because Scorpius had expressed…interest in potentially courting Cynthia, and Catherine felt it prudent to spare Scorpius the embarrassment of a refusal. She let Draco spin it how he wanted to Scorpius, who took the matter very well.
Astoria could understand the secrecy. There was plenty of it in their world, for all kinds of reasons, and while she saw no problem with Cynthia having a lesbian relationship if their parents didn't mind, she knew the kind of gossip it might cause.
Not bad press. Not when Blaise had bought out every news agency in England and Ireland, and several outlets in France. He owned the news media, including wireless, and even the social pages and gossip columns were carefully curated by Dennis Creevey. In fact, Columbine Peakes was the editor of the society pages, so the odds of her love life ever making the page without her wishing it were nil.
"This is all very tiresome," Astoria said with a sigh when the final blood sample was taken. "I don't suppose you'll have my results tonight?"
"It's possible, but don't hold your breath," Madam Potter said with a kind, light tone. "I've got a backlog of things I've put off. I'll do it first thing in the morning, though, before my toast if you'd like."
Astoria said quickly that Madam Potter shouldn't trouble herself, but she knew the meaning was understood – she was far more nervous than she'd dare let on, and Madam Potter would certainly process the tests at first opportunity in the morning, and give Severus the results right away. It would be nice to have some sense of where she stood. It was fairly clear she was close to being in full false remission, but what her timeline was, what she would have to present in a sugar coat to her husband…. That would depend on the practical facts presented by Severus and Madam Potter.
"Is that all you need?" Astoria asked stiffly, and Madam Potter said it certainly was. She also asked if Astoria had any questions.
Astoria assured her there were no questions, but the unspoken one hung between the two women, as it always did on these unfortunate visits, unanswered.
Can you save me?
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Catherine woke with a start from her nap and checked her watch. She'd meant to accomplish more on her article when she put Charles and Melinda in charge of the Birmingham branch for the day. And after closing, she was meant to meet up with Kevin, look over the books, fill special orders. Too much to do and not enough day to do it all.
She was startled by Harry sitting beside her on the settee, kissing her jaw.
She flinched away, and his body stiffened. Catherine bit her lip, wishing he wouldn't startle her like that. He was beginning to notice. And she had to do something before she lost him, the one truly good thing in her life.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," she lied.
"You mean waking," he said, teasing. Oh, he'd noticed, he was just trying to cover the moment in humor. She sank into the conversation as he told her that he'd started looking at flats for Columbine and Cynthia in Oxford. Not that he minded having them in the house. Not that they minded having someone else in the house. In fact, Catherine rather dreaded them leaving.
Ever since Cynthia came back from the continent, Catherine had felt something was wrong with her. She didn't like emptiness, she didn't like being alone, but she also felt every time Harry touched her that she didn't deserve him to be so close, that something she'd done was so terrible, he should never forgive her.
Only she didn't know what it was.
For six years, she'd toiled over her shared apothecary empire, provided a steady stream of potions for the Ministry's medical initiatives, as well as private clinics and specialists. She even wrote the potions research articles for Luna's academic relaunch of The Quibbler. She sat on the board for Hermione Longbottom's house-elf organization. She was a remarkably useful member of society.
But she didn't feel right, about herself or about her marriage, or even about the bed she slept in.
"I suppose Oxford is reasonably between Hogsmeade and Cardiff," she said, letting her fingers trace through Harry's hair. "They're more centrally located here, though."
"Yes," he said, leaning in to her touch. "But Oxford's more likely to have flats than way out here, love. And they don't want a house yet. And your mother will love visiting them. They're close enough to the cottage, they could go there for all their meals, if they wanted."
Catherine hummed. Both her parents would like to have Cynthia so close. Especially her father, in his retirement. Showering Cynthia with attention would give him more to do, something to focus on.
"Sounds reasonable," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Will you write this article for me?"
"I don't know the first thing about brewing," he said, laughing as he leaned in to kiss her jaw. This time, she had enough warning not to flinch or tense.
She sighed and said, "Well, if Cyn writes it, will you edit it?"
He laughed again, asked what she wanted for tea, and went downstairs to start cooking as soon as he had his answer. Catherine closed her eyes and wondered where to begin, looking for her answers.
A/N: So, Severus is living at Malfoy Manor, the wizarding world has created more infrastructure for health care but it might be too late, and Catherine struggles with feelings of shame and guilt she doesn't know how to explain or justify to herself.
Review Prompt: Anyone care to throw out a body count for this section?
Q&A: I answer your questions here, about anything and everything!
Cheers!
C