It was the last day of school before summer holidays. There was excited speaking all around the Great Hall. Rin was feeling pretty down, after today he would be a fully trained wizard. He didn't know what he wanted to do with life but knew it involved Tunie. He couldn't imagine not being with her anymore. The next two years will be hell with her here at Hogwarts and him doing grown up things.

"Attention students, sorry to say but it's time for my long and boring end of the year speech," Dumbledore said from his podium. "First I would like to congratulate our 7th Years for a wonderful 7 years. You will be missed but we know you'll do splendid in your endeavors to come. While we are saying goodbye our visiting professor has reached the end of his two years with us. Give Professor Karkaroff a hand for doing a wonderful job." There was forced applause. Dumbledore turned toward Professor Karkaroff. "We hope you have a long and happy life as the permanent Professor of the Defense of the Dark Arts at the Durmstrang Institute. Enough of the goodbyes, let's tuck in."

Severus was sitting beside him, the only reason he knew that tension fled the younger boy's body. Over the last year and a half, he had noticed Severus was always so tense around the man. Professor Karkaroff was a young professor, only working at Hogwarts to help with his English and make political connections.

If it had been a bludger it would have hit him. Leaning over, he put his lips to Severus's ear. "It's Karkaroff, isn't it?"

Severus jumped a little where he sat and looked over at him with huge black eyes. "Why-why would you say that?"

"I'm not thick. It just took me a while to realize you freeze up anytime he's near and you always avoid looking at the staff table. Why didn't you tell us?" Rin was upset at being left out of this information.

"I knew what you two would do. I wouldn't have finished the words before you and Petunia ran to Dumbledore."

"He shouldn't have been touching you or anything else. He's an adult wizard. There are laws against that."

"Just drop it, he's leaving." Severus didn't eat, he got up and left the Great Hall. He needed a place away from Rin and Petunia. The Room of Requirement was an option, but he needed air. There was two hours before curfew, the Black Lake was always a good place to think. There was a tree he liked to study under. It was too late to study, but he could just listen to the owls going out for their nightly feed.

Resting his head against the tree he nodded off, feeling safe away from everyone. If he weren't so exhausted he would have felt the dark presence standing over his sleeping form before it was too late.

"A little sleeping Prince, how fortunate for me."

"Where is Severus?" James asked as they crammed themselves into one compartment.

"I think he wanted to be alone. Rin's going to Peru before he starts his internship at St. Mungo's and I'm going to be gone all summer too. I think he's feeling left out. Not to mention, he broke up with Tiberius a few days ago," Petunia said. She was squished between Lily and Peter. Peter was tense, she knew it was because he hated going home, probably even more than Sirius or Rin. Remus was talented at healing spells. She overheard them speaking once. Remus was healing scars that Peter had collected over his life. As long as they weren't caused by dark magic or dark creatures it would heal completely leaving no scar. How his parents couldn't be considered dark creatures after the things they had done to him, she didn't know. She could never treat a child that horrible, no matter how much she didn't want them.

There was a look that crossed Sirius and James's faces. She didn't think too much on it, James and Sirius had hated Severus with Tiberius. First they said he was too dumb for Sev, then they said he was too old and that he would want more from him than he was ready to give, little did they know.

"Why did he break up with the ape?" Sirius asked. So much for House comradery.

"He liked Tiberius but wasn't in love with him. He didn't think he would ever get those feelings. If he hadn't broke up with him he would just be leading him on. Let's just let him be, he likes the solitude when he's feeling raw. I didn't see him this morning so he's even hiding from me and Rin," Petunia said.

The rest of the train ride was filled with joking and laughing. Peter was quiet by the time they arrived at King's Cross. Leaning over she whispered, "Ask James to borrow his cloak, they can't hurt you if they can't find you."

Peter actually looked a little lighter. "You'd think he'd let me?"

She nodded, not wanting it to turn into a thing. She was never the most affectionate person. Everyone knew about Peter's parents; it was the worst kept secret at Hogwarts. Why Dumbledore never did anything she didn't know. Every holiday Peter would come back with a broken bone or several. Spending some time with Madame Pomfrey to heal them quickly.

Once they arrived at King's Cross she knew something was wrong. Severus always met her to say goodbye. Looking around she saw his grandparents looking around for him. Her parents wanted her to leave but she wouldn't until they knew where Severus was. Once the train was empty Severus's grandparents, her parents, her, and Lily started searching the train for him. The marauders bumbling around too.

"I FOUND HIM!" she heard her mother's voice yell.

She ran towards the voice and entered the last car of the train, where Slytherins usually camp out. He was just sitting on the very last row of seats in the very back. Even with all the noise around him, he didn't even move.

"Is he breathing?" Mrs. Prince asked, clutching at her chest.

Her husband got down on the ground, not easy for a man his age. Everyone stood completely still while the other man leaned down and put his ear to his grandson's mouth.

"He is but it's weak. We'll take him right away to St. Mungo's," Mr. Prince said.

"Let us know if…just let us know please," James's father said, arm slung around his son's shoulders.

When she was fourteen she broke the habit of biting her nails, but this was tempting her to start again. They wouldn't let them go back when the healers took Severus into a room. She just wanted to be with her grandson.

She felt the ghost of a touch on her back. Turning, she saw her husband, he slid his hand into hers. "It'll be fine, he's a strong wizard."

"He might be a strong wizard but he's still a little boy," she told him, letting go of his hand. "He won't even be sixteen for more than half a year."

After that, they waited in silence, when Severus's friends arrived one by one they didn't question it. First was Petunia then Rin followed by James and Sirius, then a rough looking boy with brown hair, lastly a squat boy with blond hair.

The four Gryffindor boys chatted together in a corner of the waiting room. Rin and Petunia had stayed by them, as silent and worried faced as the two of them.

Finally, Head Healer Thatcher came out with a solemn face.

"Nexis, Flora, I'm sorry I don't have better news. He's been put under the Vasitori curse, better known as the Thousand Nights' Sleep curse."

Her heart sank, she couldn't stop the tears. "There's no counter spell for that, is there?" She had a little hope something had been made in the last forty years, which was the last time she knew of anyone being hit with that curse. They were still probably up in some bed, sleeping away. In the old times the body would waste away. But healers have taken after the muggles on somethings like that.

"No, there is no cure we have. The only way to wake him is if the wizard or witch who cast the curse releases it."

"Is there any way to find out who did it?" Petunia asked, she looked close to tears. The girl wasn't known for showing emotion, so it was shocking to see.

"No. I'm sorry. He's comfortable and you can see him. I do have one more thing to speak to you about…alone." The healer had looked sternly at the kids surrounding them, then started to lead them away from the kids.

"Wormtail," James said, not even looking at the boy.

"Got it," Peter said, leaving them to go to the loo.

It wasn't easy for him to shift without James and Sirius with him, but he was the only one that could do it. James had left his cloak in his trunk; his parent had already taken it home. In a hidden corner, he turned into his rat form. He hoped no one found his clothes.

Quickly he ran back to where the others were and saw James pointing at a room with a cracked open door. It was like they wanted him to listen in if they had known. Quietly, he slowly entered the room and moved under a desk so they wouldn't see him.

"I don't understand," Mrs. Prince said.

"While we were checking everything on your grandson, we discovered he has carried a baby in his magically formed uterus. Because he's the first male ever able to carry a baby this is very new to us. We don't know if he lost the baby or if it was born. All we can tell is that it was there at one point."

"There must be a mistake, Severus isn't that kind of lad. He still gets embarrassed when his friends kiss or when we hug in front of him. There is a mistake. If he had, he would have told us," Mr. Prince said.

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. The healer was saying that Severus had a baby. That was impossible they had been around him since they were first years. The only time they weren't was the end of their fourth year because Severus seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. Something clattered to the floor, making him jump and scurry out the door. Going back to the corner, he shifted and dressed back in his clothes.

Once he was back with his friends he knew he would have to tell them. James and Sirius wouldn't let him stay quiet. They weren't bad people just very used to always getting their own way. James was the miracle son of the Potters, a rich family. Sirius was the oldest son of the House of Black, they didn't like him, but he was still their heir, so he got anything he wanted except his freedom.

"So Wormtail, what did the healer want to tell them?" Sirius asked, getting into Peter's personal space.

"Well-a-well…"

"Spit it out," James said a little angerly.

"They were talking crazy. The healer said that during the exam he found evidence that Severus had been pregnant."

"I knew that fucking Tiberius was too much of a creep for him," James ground out.

Peter had noticed neither of Severus's best friends look surprised. Apparently he hadn't been the only one watching them.

"You two knew?" Remus asked. Remus didn't sound angry like Sirius and James, he just sounded sad.

"Of course, we did. The other father wasn't Tiberius. I didn't introduce them until well after the baby was born," Petunia said, her chin held high.

"Whose baby is it?" James asked.

"Did they force themselves on him?" Sirius asked.

"Was he hurt?" Remus asked.

"Where's the baby?" he decided to ask.

"So, we only know a few of the answers to those questions. First, we don't know who the other father is, he never told us. Second, we don't know the circumstances of the conception. Third, we don't know. Fourth, he's with a new family. They've adopted him and he is their own. That's all we're saying," Rin told them. He looked guilty when he said he didn't know who the other father was though.

That's what anyone of the Marauders would do for each other. He always felt like the unneeded one of his group but still part of it. If something like this happened to one of them, no one would get it out of them. They would do exactly as Rin and Petunia are doing. So why did Sirius and James look ready to murder someone. They may only be fifteen, but they were two of the most talented wizards in the school. Second and third to Severus but they didn't really believe he was better than them. They may be kings of the jinxes, but Severus had the deeper magic down.

"I never even saw him with anyone that wasn't us or Gideon," Remus added.

"Gideon," James said like he just solved the puzzle.

"It's not Gideon, we asked," Petunia said.

"He's only ever with us, with Gideon or alone in the library," Sirius said, throwing his arms in the air.

"Yeah, the only other people he ever spends any time with is professors," he added. The others started to just stare at him, and he started to feel uncomfortable. "What?"

"A professor," James said like he found the answer.

"No, the professors here are above reproach," Remus denied.

They just stood there in silence for a few minutes. He watched as a woman holding a baby stepped out of the Floo and started screaming. She was a young redheaded woman with soft features. "HELP!," she screamed holding the baby closer to her chest. The baby looked fine, but his cheeks were rather pink. He must be running a fever, his own cheeks did that when he was sick.

"That's Gideon's sister," Petunia said. Peter looked over at his mate, her face was pale, paler than he'd ever seen. Rin who stood beside her looked just as pale. Peter had never been accused of being the smartest wizard but after a lifetime of reading his parents. Instead of seeing when he needs to hide, he saw extreme worry.

"That's Severus's baby isn't it?" he asked.

Both James and Sirius's mouths dropped. Remus looked thoughtful but not surprised.

"You can't tell anyone," Rin said sternly.

"He doesn't want the baby to be an outcast because of how he was born." Petunia's tone brokered no argument. "The wizarding community is close-minded to what they feel is not normal for them. It's insane but true." She was right, she must have learned a lot in the last five years.

Soon a man in his twenties with red hair came sprinting out of the Floo. He spotted a healer talking to some other worker at the hospital.

"I'm looking for my wife and son. His name is Matthew Weasley."

"Your son has been taken back already with your wife. Mr. Callaway will take you too them," the healer said.

"What are the odds both Severus and the baby had been brought into the hospital on the same day?" Remus asked,

No one spoke after that; they knew the answer. There was no way this was a coincidence. Something dark was covering father and son, they just didn't know what.

"You need rest, my love," Nexus said, reaching out for his wife's hand.

"I can't." She was looking at their grandson, crying on and off.

Nexus sat by her, waiting for her to feel like talking to him. While waiting he looked around at the many things in the room. It was brighter and more colorful than any room he had been in at St. Mungo's before. It took him a moment to realize it was because his grandson was a child. They put children in this wing. Last time Severus was in St. Mungo's he had been in a plain white room, but it was only for overnight. Them putting his grandson here meant they expected him to be here a while.

Who would use such a dark curse on his grandson? He was such an innocent lad. For a long time, he thought that curse should be unforgivable. They denied it because the caster could undo it. That didn't help if you didn't know who the caster was.

"Nexus?" his wife said suddenly.

"Yes?"

"We need to discuss the baby."

He huffed. "We don't even know if there is a baby. The healer couldn't be sure that he didn't lose it."

"I know how we find out."

He did too, Severus's best mates. Rin and Petunia. There was no way he went through something like this without them.

"I'll go see if any of them are still here." It had been hours since they arrived, but Rin and Petunia were not easily deterred.

When he got out to the waiting room the two weren't there. In fact, only one of the kids was there.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Nexus asked the boy.

He was a pudgy boy but with soft features and a head of blond hair.

"We're taking watches, I took the first."

"Won't your parents be missing you?"

The boy shivered at the mention of his parents. "They only care about me when they need someone to take their anger out on."

Nexus ground his teeth together. People abusing their children in anyway angered him. It had only gotten stronger finding out his own child let her magically deranged husband abuse her son. Not only that the abuse she did by giving him that potion.

He wondered if this boy knew about the pregnancy.

"Do you mind answering a question for me?"

Looking eager to please the boy nodded his head. "If I can."

"Have you noticed anything in the last few years, maybe Severus having a mysterious weight gain."

The boy closed his eyes seeming to argue internally before opening them again and looking guilty. "No, sir," the boy said, hanging his head in shame. He knew he wouldn't get the answer from the boy. Anyone that is staying in watch over a friend they couldn't even be near wasn't one to break a trusted secret.

"If that's what you say," Nexus said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. He could feel the tremor from the boy's body but just let him be.

It wasn't easy to get past the grandparents. The grandmother hadn't left the room since she got there. The boy was never meant to be under the curse for this long. He would have been fine if they hadn't started searching the train. There wasn't enough time to cast the counter curse.

But finally, he had his chance to fix his mistake. If the Dark Lord found out about the mishap than he would be punished severely. Severus had change so much since he was a younger student. The boy would be sixteen in six months' time. Maybe he could try his hand at seducing him. Last time he was much too young. Now though, the boy knew about sex and lust, after all if Karkaroff could bed him anyone could. The most important thing he learned from looking into his mind was finding out about the baby. Once the Dark Lord found out, he would take care of it himself. There was no way the baby would make it to the end of the year. The Dark Lord didn't want any complications getting Severus onside. If an accident happens while the creature was with the Weasleys, Severus will come to their side. After all, it would be the Weasleys fault if his child died.

There was the noise of someone coming through his Floo. He was laying low until the curse business was forgotten.

"Dolohov, you better have good news, or the Dark Lord will see your head on a pike," Igor said. He must have just come from Hogwarts.

"I have news you won't believe," he said, smiling at the man. Igor was weak, it would be fun to see if he would allow the Dark Lord to kill his son.