Disclaimer: The characters and places and stuff belong to JKR. But for now, they are at my mercy. *evil grin* I'll return them as soon as I'm finished…maybe.
This is the sequel to "The Long Hard Road." To understand this story, you must first read that one. It is located at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=949557
Sylvanus Snape: In answer to your questions, Ron will be in attendance at the wedding. Also, later in the story there will probably be some discussion of what happened to Pansy and everyone.
In this chapter: Quality time with Harry and George… And an incident involving Sean
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One evening in late February, Harry was flying over the Quidditch pitch with George, tossing a Quaffle back and forth as they talked.
"What do you and Draco plan on doing after the wedding?" George wondered. "Going on a honeymoon or anything?"
"Probably," Harry confirmed, throwing the Quaffle back at his friend. "We haven't decided where, though. Other than that, we'll find a place to live, find some work... We might have a couple of kids later on. Draco found this clinic where a woman would be inseminated to carry our baby for us. Apparently, there's also a potion that would enable one of us to actually become pregnant, and it would change our anatomy temporarily so that we could carry the child. We haven't really talked too much about it, though."
"Do you have any ideas on where you want to live?" George asked. Harry shook his head.
"We're going to start looking soon," he responded. "If we don't have a place by the time we're married, we're going to move in with Sev and Katie, until we do find a place."
"Fred and I have been looking for a flat," George told him. "We've found a couple good ones; you and Draco might like them. They're in London." He changed the subject. "So you want to teach after you graduate. What does Draco want to do?"
"I'm not sure," Harry said as the two landed on the ground. "He hasn't expressed much of a desire to work, and it's not like we really need the money. Draco owns the entire Malfoy estate, and after selling the Manor...that's a lot of money. And I have everything my mum and dad left me... Maybe we'll both just take a year off and decide what we want to do. I'd like to teach, but I'm not really sure."
As Harry and George headed into the castle, they heard voices coming from a hallway. Two voices were taunting, and a third was whimpering, as though the person were in pain.
"Are you a pouf, too? Just like your parents and brother. They deserve to die, you know. It's unnatural, what they are."
Harry and George knew exactly who was being taunted when they heard these words. They began to sprint down the hall. Another voice spoke.
"Hey, wait a minute. You're a werewolf, too, aren't you? Yeah, you are, and your sister, and your daddy, too. My uncle helps capture and execute werewolves for the American Ministry, did you know that?"
"Hey, Steve, look at this: I just happened to have a knife in my pocket, and some silver dust!"
Within seconds, a shriek of pain echoed through the hallway, along with cries of "Stupefy" as Harry and George finally found the sources of the voices. Two Slytherin fourth-years were now lying stunned on the floor.
Sean, meanwhile, had collapsed on the floor, pale and convulsing with pain. His left eye was bruised, and his nose was bleeding. Both of his hands were sliced open, and it looked like silver dust had been poured all over his hands and arms. The boy's eyes were wide-open in shock and staring up at his brother, who quickly knelt down next to him.
"Sean! Sean, buddy, try to take deep breaths, okay?" Harry said, panic evident in his voice and tears welling up in his eyes. "Damn it, I should have gotten here sooner!"
Harry wrapped his hands around his brother's and closed his eyes, concentrating on his magical energy. When he opened his eyes, the cuts on Sean's hands had healed slightly, but the boy's pain hadn't lessened.
"Merlin, why isn't it working?!" Harry cried in frustration as tears spilled from his eyes.
He gathered Sean into his arms and stood up, looking around as he thought of what he should do.
"Severus is closest," Harry muttered, and he and George took off for Severus's quarters.
Once there, George spoke the password, and Harry rushed into the room.
"Severus!" Harry shouted, frantically. "Severus, help!"
The Potions Master came rushing into the living room when he sensed the urgency in Harry's tone. He found Harry lowering Sean, now barely conscious, to the sofa. Moving closer, Severus saw the damage that had been done to the boy.
"Merlin, who did that to him?" Severus asked, kneeling down by the couch with Harry.
"Two of your fourth-year Slytherins," George explained as Harry tried desperately to heal his brother. "Apparently, they beat him up some before cutting his hands open and pouring silver dust over him. We got there just a second after, stunned them, and Harry tried to heal him, but it wouldn't work."
"Harry," Severus said, gently. "Go upstairs and get Remus. I'm pretty sure he's in his classroom right now. Bring him up to the infirmary. George, go tell Poppy I'm bringing Sean up."
Harry ran as quickly as he could up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Once there, he found his father sitting at his desk, waiting for two students to finish a make-up test. Seeing the state that Harry was in, Remus jumped up and placed his hands on his son's shoulders.
"Harry, shh, Harry, calm down," Remus soothed him, squeezing his shoulders. "Calm down and tell me what's wrong."
"Slytherins...Sean...Fight..." Harry choked out. "Silver dust, all over... Tried to heal him, it wouldn't work! Took him to Sev...infirmary..."
"Shite," Remus muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked at the two students, who were watching. "Finish your tests, put them on my desk, and then you can leave. Harry, come on."
Remus and Harry rushed up to the infirmary, where Severus was lowering Sean to a bed. The boy was now completely unconscious, and his body twitched slightly as Severus and Poppy tried to heal him.
"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked, tearfully. Poppy looked up and gave Harry and Remus sympathetic looks.
"Truthfully, the silver may have already done severe damage," she said, softly. "It's quickly spreading through his bloodstream, and treatment may not help. But that won't stop me from trying."
"What will you do?" Remus wondered, wrapping an arm around Harry and pulling him close.
"There are a potion and a spell that will remove as much of the silver as possible from Sean's body," Poppy explained. "After that, I don't know what I'll do. I have to wait and see how much is leftover and what the damage is. For now, there's nothing for you or Harry to do, Remus. You might like to go home and tell your husband what happened."
"Thank you, Poppy," Remus said, quietly.
He reached down to grip Harry's hand and began to lead him toward the fireplace. Harry stopped and looked at George.
"Find Draco and tell him I need him when I get back."
George nodded, and Harry and Remus stepped through the fireplace and into the Lupin-Black home. Sirius was sitting on the sofa, with Kayla in his lap. Kayla was running her finger along the page of a book, reading slowly to Sirius. The dark-haired man glanced up quickly, then looked back down at the book.
"Hi, Harry," he said. In a flatter tone, he said, "Remus."
"Dad, some Slytherins attacked Sean with silver dust," Harry blurted out, glancing curiously between his fathers, who didn't seem to be happy with one another.
At those words, Sirius and Kayla both looked up, in shock. Any sign of bitterness in Sirius's face had left. He swallowed hard, then spoke.
"Is he-- Is he all right?"
"We won't know for a while," Remus sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face. "Poppy's doing everything she can for him. She said there's a potion...and a spell...to remove as much of the silver as possible. It's spreading through his bloodstream, and it may have already done severe damage. After the potion and spell are finished working, she'll find out how much of the silver's left, and what kind of damage it's done. Until then, there's nothing for us to do."
With that, Remus lifted Kayla, now near tears, up into his arms and went upstairs with her. Harry sat down with Sirius and laid his head on his father's shoulder. Sirius sighed and reached a hand up to run his fingers through Harry's hair.
"George and I found him," Harry explained, his voice no more than a whisper. "They were making fun of him because of how me, you, and Daddy are... And because he's a werewolf... They beat him up a little, then they cut his hands open with a knife and poured silver dust on his arms and in his hands.
"He was in so much pain, Dad. He was screaming and crying and shaking, and I couldn't do anything to help him..."