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SLYTHERIN BOY

Chapter Seventeen: Recover and Recollect

He slept for two days before he finally woke up. He was blinking lazily at the ceiling that day when Ron was passing by. Ron noticed the movement, and stopped stark still in the hallway.

"He's awake!" He whispered to himself, before cautiously walking into the room. He walked up next to the bed, and the foggy black eyes directed themselves at him. Ron's eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn't right here. Severus was awake, certainly, but there was something wrong about it.

"Severus?" he said. A choked noise came from Severus's throat.

"Are you okay? Say something, please…" Ron looked very worried. Severus's entire body seemed to be trembling.

"K-Keh…" Severus didn't seem to be able to form words. He clenched his eyes closed and turned his face away from Ron. Ron, frightened, went to tell his mother what had happened.

****

Severus was slowly but surely recovering. He was incredibly weak, but after two days of wakefulness, he was at least present in mind and able to speak again. Ron visited him often, a strange compelling feeling that he should be watching over the weakened boy.

"Hullo," Ron said, walking into the room.

"Mm," Severus murmured.

"How're you feeling?" Ron asked, sitting down in a chair that he'd set next to the bed.

"Like shit," Severus said. "I can't even barely move," he scowled. "I feel like all the energy's been sucked out of my body,"

"You look like it, too," Ron said.

"Oh, thanks," Severus glanced at Ron sardonically. Ron grinned.

"It's okay, you'll get better," Ron said. He reached out and brushed Severus's hand with his fingers. He took Severus's hand from the bed, cradling it and examining Severus's fingers self-consciously. He was embarrassed that he was having such tender and sympathetic feelings for his former professor. He brushed his own fingers in feather-soft touches on Severus's. Severus watched with an analytical eye.

"That tickles," he murmured slightly. Ron smiled faintly, but ceased the soft caresses. "How does it feel to have your Dark Mark gone, then?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Severus said, looking slightly startled.

"Haven't you noticed yet?" Ron looked into the other boy's face. "All of your scars, all of them, and your dark mark, they're all gone. It all happened in that big weird thing, that big floating ball of light you were in after you passed out. And it kept saying things about you being an impure vessel and that you had a task you were supposed to have done by the time you were thirty-five but because of the dark mark, or maybe because you got caught up with the Deatheaters, either way, it caused a chain of events that prevented you from completing the task. Then it said something about the vessel being altered so better to complete the task… you're supposed to locate another vessel and unite in body and spirit or something like that," Ron said. "Didn't you know? Don't you remember?"

"I don't remember anything except for having that migraine and then there was a flash of white… then I woke up and I couldn't move or talk…" Severus said. "You can't be serious?" he looked on the edge of hysteria. "My mark! It's gone?!" he hissed. He jerked his arm away from Ron and snatched the sleeve of the pajamas he was wearing up to his elbow. His fingers trembled as he viewed the pale, flawless skin. Free of the Dark Mark, free of the tattered mess of scarred flesh around it… free of it all. He ran a hand along his arm, a ridiculous giggle emerging from his throat. He slumped back against his pillow, his head back. He let his now pure arm drop over his forehead, cradling his head as he laughed.

"I can't believe it!" he said at long last. Ron had been startled and unnerved by the loud laughter. "Oh, I'm so happy I could cry," Severus sighed. "But how..? There's nothing can remove the Dark Mark… it's just… it's a miracle… it's impossible…"

Ron smiled, as Severus let his arm fall to his lap where he continued to look at it in wonder. Ron brushed a dark lock of hair from Severus's face. Severus looked at the red haired boy.

There was a moment of silence, before Ron stood and kissed Severus on the forehead, before turning and leaving the room.

****

Ron was startled to see his mother in the hallway as he was leaving the room. Had she seen? Did she know? Questions raced through him, his heart pounding and lurching in his chest. She smiled at him as he passed, and he managed to slip past her without questioning. His relief was blatant on his face as he escaped, and she felt a twinge of sadness as she walked into Severus's room.

"Well," she said upon entering. Severus jumped slightly. His mind had obviously been elsewhere. He looked at her. "Ron is obviously quite smitten with you," she said.

Severus's eyes widened very slightly, and he opened his mouth to protest, but no words would come. "You… but… what?" he managed to say.

"Oh, don't be daft," Molly said. "I've known since he was a year old that he was, well," she shrugged. "Gay." She said bluntly. "I knew it even before he knew it. And he tries so hard, but there are some things that a mother just knows." She smiled. "I was prepared, already, because of you, actually. You helped me prepare. I think, deep down, Arthur knows, as well. He's probably just repressing it. I won't press Ron to be open with us, though. He'll do it when he feels he's ready." She smiled slightly. "Just tell me," she said. "Do you like him? Might I do a bit of matchmaking?" she lifted her eyebrow.

"Oh, please, Molly," Severus sighed. "Don't, don't, don't. He's a nice enough boy, I suppose, and he's quite attractive for a child, but keep in mind, I am thirty-five years old. And one of these days I'll have the potion's antidote, and then where will we be? I think it's an abysmal idea to do…" he sneered. "Matchmaking,"

She smiled. "I suppose you're right," she sighed.

He smirked slightly, and lay quietly for a few moments as she fussed about the room, adjusting his covers and pillows, and looking distractedly at the things he had left on the dresser before he had had his episode.

"Is something the matter?" he asked softly.

"We were contacted today," Molly said. "By one of your brothers…"

"Why?" he asked, his face pale. "Which?"

"He said his name was Tonnie,"

"Antonius," Severus frowned. "Why did he contact you?"

"Well," Molly said. "It seems that your father was killed in a rather violent automobile accident,"

"Oh," Severus said blankly. "I'm surprised they thought to tell me,"

"Well, your father seems to have left everything to you. Everything. The house, the furniture, the money, the belongings. Everything." She said.

"Left it to me? What about my mother?" he said.

"Your brother said that she went missing a few years back. She's been pronounced legally deceased, although he told me that no one in the family has any doubts that really she ran from your father, returning to her native country..?" she seemed confused about the native country.

"She's from Columbia," he said. "I have a lot of relatives who live there. My father was studying there, and he met her. They eventually got married. Of course, he was longing to return home, and he promised her a better life, as they were in poverty while there. So he brought her back to England, and taught her to speak English and whatnot. All of my brothers and I were born here, but we've been to Columbia numerous times to visit grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, you know. Family." He shrugged slightly. "It does make sense that she would leave him and go back there. My grandparents hit gold ten or fifteen years ago and have been living the high life ever sense. She was so afraid of my father, after he started drinking and getting violent. It's probably better for her to be with her family than with father."

"Anyways," Molly said. She worried the canvas strap of his camera bag slightly. "You've got to go claim it. If you don't claim it within six months, they'll auction it off."

"But… I can't! Look at me, I'm… a child!" Severus protested.

"They've given you a great deal of time, since we told them you were having… er… medical problems." Molly told him. "You've got six whole months. Surely by then you'll have been turned back, right?" she asked. "I'm sure you will, Severus."

He scowled darkly. "Well, I suppose. Was Tonnie rude?" he changed the subject.

"Actually, he was quite polite, though he looked a little sullen. He told me to tell you that all of your brothers were still unsure of how to talk to you. None of them ever had the same treatment as you did, and they don't really… relate. He did express an interest in having a sort of family reunion of sorts eventually, and he displayed concern over your medical status."

"A family reunion?" Severus asked.

"He said he wanted to meet you. The others do, too. They all… well, they haven't seen you since you were eleven, after all. They're quite a bit older than you, aren't they?" Molly asked.

"Tonnie was the closest to Tullius and I," Severus said. "And he was eight, no, nine years older than us. Of course, now Tully's dead, so I suppose he won't be attending the reunion." He grimaced.

"How many brothers do you have, again? I mean there was you and Tully, the twin, right?" she asked.

"Right," Severus responded. "I have twelve brothers, now that Tully's dead." He said.

"Bigger family than even ours," Molly smirked. "You should tell Ron that you're the youngest of thirteen. Then maybe he won't feel like he can't live up to his mere five brothers."

"Yes, well. My father was extremely religious and didn't believe in contraceptives, apparently. At least that's what my mother told me when I asked why our family was so huge," Severus said. "At the time I was five or six, so I didn't know what a contraceptive was. My mum said that it was something people use to keep their families small and manageable, and that bigger families were better because they were more natural, that God wanted people to have big families."

Molly smiled slightly. "Do you remember your brothers at all?"

Severus shrugged. "Not really. I remember Tully, of course. But Tonnie was already out of the house when I was only eight, and the others are all older than him. So I kind of remember them, but for the most part, Tully and I were the only two who were ever home." He answered. "I remember that the second and third oldest in our family were twins as well. Cyprian and Demetr. They're fraternal too. I guess that's a hereditary thing or something."

"What kind of professions do they have?"

Severus shrugged. "I believe many of them work in law enforcement for the ministry. Cy and Demetr are Dragon Keepers together. Not sure what else," he said.

"Well. I think that as soon as you're yourself again you should write to Tonnie and arrange some time to have the reunion." Molly smiled brightly at him.

"Well. They do have the best wizards at St. Mungo's working on the potion's antidote… so… it should be soon, right?"

"I'm sure it will be." Molly smiled, and patted Severus on the head, before finally leaving the room. Severus slumped back against his pillow, thinking. The day had been a big one of revelations.

****

Within the next few days, Severus was able to get up and walk around again. He seemed to recover all at once, suddenly brimming with more energy than he'd felt in a long time. He was also feeling quite euphoric, strangely enough. He didn't stop to think of how peculiar it was that he was feeling so happy all of a sudden, when he'd been plagued with sorrow for nearly all his life.

He'd turned to a pastime that he hadn't laid hands on since he'd become a teacher, which was songwriting. He remembered to before he'd defected from Voldemort, and had been quite enthralled with music and dance, art and photography. Though a follower of the dark lord, he'd been very soulful and spent a lot of time absorbed in the beauty of self-expression and creativity. He had been quite a piano prodigy as a child and had used that to help him write songs and play music. It had given him a strange sense of wholeness at the time, and now he took up writing songs again. This time, though, they were much more uplifting and happy. So far, they were only written and sung in his head. He hadn't taken the time to play them on the piano yet, for fear of mockery.

However, as he was sitting in the living room alone one day, looking at the piano with a gnawing hunger, he was still painfully aware of the family in the house, up and about all doing their separate things.

It was only when Molly was walking by, and halted, seeing him looking speculatively at the piano, his hands in his pockets. "Are you going to play?" she asked, grinning widely. "You used to play for us all the time, remember?" she looked at him expectantly.

"Well, er, see, I don't… I haven't played in a long time." He said flatly.

"So do! Do! No one ever plays that old thing, it would be so nice to hear it again." She walked into the room, sitting down in an easy chair and watching him, waiting.

He took a step towards the piano. He chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Well, there was no deterring the old woman now; he had pretty much signed his own death warrant. He would have to play.

He slipped down at the bench, lifting the key cover and folding it back. He noticed the family was gathering. He cursed his luck that they should all be wandering by and noticing him at the same time.

With a sigh, he put his fingers to the key.

****

A/N : Ahhhh, I love Severus! He's so adorable! But Ron's mooning over him is starting to annoy me. It ain't gonna happen, babe, get over Severus and go find a boy your own age! Ah well. Sev's family is dysfunctional. I can't wait to meet them, though. I wonder what his brother's will be like? Will they ever have that reunion? I wonder. They'll have to wait until he's reasonably aged though. But if those fricken Mungo wizards don't get a step on it, they might have to wait a four or five years so he at least looks like an adult! Poor Severus. I hope they cure him :-) but then will he still be friends with Hermione, Harry, and Ron? Or will he think himself above that? I wonder… ^_~

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