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.
In this chapter: The Ministry is a bunch of idiots, why is Snape acting weird, and recovery
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Chapter 14
"Incompetent Ministry fools," Severus muttered an hour or so later, dropping to the sofa as Sirius came into the suite.
"Damn right," Sirius agreed, worry written all over his face. "Is he all right?"
"He'll be fine," Severus told him, tiredly. "He's unconscious, and he has a light fever, but that's nothing compared to how he was two hours ago. He should wake up soon."
"Can I see him?"
"Of course," Severus yawned, pointing towards the bedroom. "Lupin's in there with him, and Draco."
Sirius went into the room, and a minute later, Draco came out, rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair. He dropped down to the couch next to his godfather and laid his head on Severus's shoulder.
"Uncle Sev, can I take a nap in your bed?"
"If you can tolerate sharing the bed with me," Severus replied. "I need one as well."
Draco went into the master bedroom, while Severus made a pitstop at Harry's room. He went to the bed and checked Harry's fever and breathing, then looked at Sirius and Remus.
"Draco and I are going to get some sleep," he told them. "So please don't make any noise. Harry is charmed so that I'll be alerted if anything goes wrong. Keep bringing his fever down. Come and get me when he wakes up. If he doesn't wake up within the next hour or so, come and get me. Don't make a mess of anything. You're free to use my kitchen and bathroom, if need be, but do not go anywhere near my lab."
With that, Severus went into the master bedroom and left the door cracked open. Then he collapsed onto the bed next to his godson and shut his eyes, letting out a breath.
"Uncle Sev?"
Severus opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Draco, who was staring back at him.
"Why don't they ask beforehand if a witness has taken a potion, to see if it will react with Veritaserum?"
"Because they're incompetent Ministry idiots..." Severus muttered. "Hopefully, after the incident today, Arthur will change that so that they're required to ask..." He sighed. "If only I'd stopped it sooner, we wouldn't be having this problem..."
"Uncle Sev?" Draco said again after a moment. Severus noticed that he sounded a little choked up. "I already lost Aidan and Mum and Dad, and I almost lost Harry today... I-I don't think I could stand to lose anyone else... Promise me you won't leave me, and you won't let Harry leave me, either."
"I promise that I will do everything in my power to prevent myself and Harry from leaving you, Draco," Severus said, softly, as he touched his godson's cheek. "You don't have to worry about losing anyone else for a long time, if I have anything to say about it."
~~~
Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus were sitting with Harry, who had yet to wake up. His fever had gone down quite a bit, but his body still trembled slightly, and he occasionally let out another cough.
"Moony?" Sirius said, suddenly, as he ran his fingers up and down Harry's arm. "Is it just me, or has Snape been acting weird?" Remus chuckled.
"Nice, you mean?" Sirius nodded. "I didn't know that 'nice' was the equivalent of 'weird.' Besides, he's nice to me every month when he makes my Wolfsbane Potion. It's not that unusual."
"It's just, he went up to tell Epstein that Harry couldn't take Veritaserum. He was being all careful and gentle when he left the courtroom with Harry, and he was being sincere to me when he told me not to screw up the trial by leaving. He exhausted himself to taking care of Harry. Hell, he's calling him by his given name! It's weird, I tell you!"
Sirius suddenly lowered his voice.
"And you know the strangest part? He looked like he'd been...crying." Remus sighed, shaking his head.
"Come on, Siri, leave Severus alone. Haven't you considered the fact that maybe he cares about Harry? He's not heartless, you know. I mean, look at how well he's been taking care of him since he got him out of those wretched Muggles' house. He's been taking damn good care of him, keeping him safe and comfortable. You can't do that if you don't care for someone even a little bit. And I think Harry's grown rather fond of Severus, as well."
The conversation was interrupted by a quiet moan from Harry. He turned his head from side to side a couple of times before slowly opening his eyes.
"Too loud..." Harry rasped.
"Sorry, love," Sirius said, softly. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm not dead?" Harry murmured. Sirius shook his head, smiling.
"Snape saves the day once again," he told Harry, lightly.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, and his godfathers wondered if perhaps he'd fallen back asleep. Then he opened his eyes again, and they were a little unfocused as he looked up at Sirius.
"Se--" He wet his lips and tried again. "Severus..." Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"What about him?" And why would you say his name after waking up?
"Eyes..." Harry whispered.
Remus and Sirius exchanged a look, and Remus nodded before leaving the room. Sirius looked back down at Harry and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. After a few moments, Remus returned with Severus, who strode over to the bed and sat next to Harry. The young wizard smiled weakly at the sight of Severus.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" Severus asked, softly, as he checked his temperature and looked into his eyes.
"Cold..." Harry sighed.
He reached a shaky hand up to touch Severus's face. Severus took his hand and pushed it down to rest on Harry's chest. Then Severus pointed towards a corner of the room, where Harry's pajama shirt was draped over a chair. Sirius grabbed it and slipped it over Harry's head, while Severus helped Harry to sit up. Once the shirt was on, Harry lay back down, and Severus resumed his examination.
"Harry, look at me," Severus said, firmly, as Harry's eyes began to lose focus again. Harry blinked and looked back up at Severus. "Are you in any pain?" Harry nodded. "What hurts?"
"Chest...throat..." Harry murmured. "Stomach, too..."
"Do you feel nauseous?" Harry nodded. "You might for a little while."
Severus summoned the garbage can from the other side of the room and placed it on the floor by Harry's bed.
"In case you get sick," he told Harry. "Black, go into my kitchen. In a cupboard above the sink is a box of crackers. Bring them in here, along with a glass of water."
Sirius did as he was told and brought the crackers and water in. Severus took a cracker and held it up to Harry's mouth, and Harry obediently nibbled on it a little. He turned his head away when the cracker was half-gone, and Severus placed it on the bedside table. He then lifted Harry up so that he could drink some water.
"Does that feel better?" Severus asked. Harry just nodded his head, closing his eyes. "Just stay here and rest. Go to sleep if you want to. I'm sure Black and Lupin won't be leaving your side much, so tell them if you need anything. I'll be in my room, if you need me."
"Thank you..." Harry said, quietly. Severus nodded and rested his hand on Harry's head for a few seconds before leaving the room. "Siri?"
"Yes, love?" Sirius said, softly, as he took one of Harry's hands in both of his.
"My bear..."
Harry pointed a finger over the side of his bed, and Sirius picked up the teddy bear he'd given Harry. He placed the bear in his godson's arms, and Harry held it to his chest, mumbling a word of gratitude.
"Has he been helping?" Sirius asked. Harry smiled and nodded. "Good, good."
"Anyone else coming to visit?" Harry wondered as Remus enlarged the bed and lay down with him. Sirius lay on his other side.
"Not today, I don't think," Remus replied. "Maybe tomorrow, depending on how you're feeling. I owled the Weasleys about half an hour ago and let them know that you'll be all right."
The three lay in a comfortable silence for a few moments. Harry was about to fall asleep again, but he suddenly struggled to get up. Remus took one look at his green-tinged face and got out of the way before helping Harry to sit up and lean over towards the garbage can. Remus gently rubbed Harry's back, while Sirius pulled his godson's hair away from his face as Harry threw up.
After a few minutes, Harry took a breath and exhaled slowly. Then he carefully lay back down on the bed, closing his eyes. Sirius and Remus exchanged a look when they saw that there was blood dripping from Harry's mouth.
"Clean that up and help him drink some water," Remus told his lover. "I'll be right back."
With that, he crossed the hall and slowly opened the door to Severus's room. Draco was sleeping soundly on the bed, but his godfather seemed to be a light sleeper, for as soon as Remus took a step into the room, Severus opened his eyes and sat up on the bed, looking at him.
"Severus," Remus said, softly, so that he wouldn't wake Draco. "Is it normal for him to be throwing up blood?"
"How much blood?"
"I didn't see how much, but when he was finished, there was some dripping from his mouth. I don't think there was a lot, though."
"If it happens again, look to see how much there is. If there's a lot, come and get me immediately. If it's just a little, then that's normal. It's the remains of what he coughed up earlier; the rest had to come up eventually. Otherwise, he might choke to death on it." Remus nodded.
"Thank you, Severus."
He left the room and went back into Harry's room, where Harry was lying on his side as Sirius rubbed his back and told him a story.
"...And when all the teachers drank from their goblets, they each had a new hair color," Sirius finished, smiling as Harry gave a weak and tired laugh. Sirius then looked up at Remus. "Well?"
"He said that if it happens again, look to see how much blood there is. If there's a lot, that's bad. If it's not much, that's normal."
"Normal!" Sirius exclaimed. "Coughing up blood is not normal!"
"Siri, quiet..." Harry whined. "I'm tired..."
"Sorry, love," Sirius apologized in a quieter voice. Remus hurried to explain.
"Severus said that before he gave Harry the remedy, he was coughing up blood. The blood he threw up is what didn't come up earlier, and it needs to come up eventually, or else he could choke to death on it."
"Stop talking about blood," Harry muttered, curling up against Sirius's chest. "I don't like blood..."
"Sorry, darling," Remus said, softly. He leaned over to place a kiss on Harry's temple. "Do you want Sirius to transform and lay down with you? That might help you get to sleep faster. And I could read The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy to you, would you like that?"
"It's at your house, isn't it?" Harry yawned, cuddling up to Sirius, who had since transformed. Remus shook his head and pulled the small book out of his robes.
"I got another copy to carry with me, just in case it was needed," he told Harry, smirking. "Smart planning on my part, eh?"
Harry nodded, smiling, and Remus lay down on his empty side. Harry let out a content sigh as Remus reached over and rested his hand on Harry's hair, gently stroking it as he opened the book.
"One day Petey, who was a puppy, said to his mother, who was a dog, "I'd like a boy for Christmas..."
