Remus easily located the room in which David was in by the noise he was making. David was rigid, his fists clenched, but it was obvious that he had been thrashing about earlier since his blankets were tangled round his legs half off the bed.
"David! David! Wake up!" called Remus loudly, but he got no response. Seeing no other option he moved closer and shook David's shoulder. "David, you've got to wake up." David continued to scream in agony and did not register the contact. In desperation Remus found himself reaching out to David with his mind and begging him to wake up. Somehow it worked. Remus felt David's body go limp and at the same time his hoarse screams ceased and his eyes flew open.
"You're safe," Remus reassured him, "you're in Sirius's house. It was just a bad dream. It wasn't real."
David shook his head slightly and then winced, gagged and lurched to lean over the side of his bed before retching violently and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor. Remus banished the vomit and transfigured the clock on the bedside table into a mug which he filled with water from his wand. He gently propped David into a sitting position, perched on the bed and helped him drink since his arms were twitching too much to manage to hold the mug on his own.
"Thanks," David murmured after he had gulped down half the water. "I'm sorry for waking you."
"You didn't," said Remus. "It's not even midnight yet. How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been trampled by a dragon while under a jelly legs jinx and a woodpecker has taken up residence on my skull. I lost count after the third cruciatus."
"David, it was just a dream. The pain is in your mind," said Remus soothingly as he brushed David's hair back from his sweaty forehead. He froze as a bloody lightning bolt cut was revealed.
"Your scar!" he croaked in surprise.
David sighed heavily. "Remus, when Voldemort tried to kill me he left me with more than a scar, I'm connected to him. I healed the scar but the connection is still there. I can feel when he is near by, or particularly emotional and sometimes I have visions of what he is doing. When he casts the cruciatus curse while I am having a vision I feel the curse. It can reopen the scar. He was a bit wand happy this evening. I think he's still at it so I am extremely grateful that you woke me up before I lost my sanity. I'll be able to heal the scar again in the morning."
Remus, who had paled considerably as he listened to David's explanation, asked tentatively, "So Voldemort's back?"
"No," said David firmly. "Not yet, but it won't be much longer. They mentioned Christmas, so I think that could be when they are planning to do the resurrection." As David was speaking the door bell sounded. Remus raised his wand and sent a message to Sirius.
"They won't have heard it," he explained. "Sirius put up a silencing charm around the sitting room so that we wouldn't disturb you." David nodded, but did not comment on why Remus had come to wake him. He had no intention of alerting Remus to their soul-mate bond, hopefully Remus had not realised its existence; he had not mentioned it so far at least. There were sounds of a kafuffle downstairs followed by Sirius and Severus appearing in the doorway.
"Vision?" asked Severus as he strode in and started taking phials of potions out of his bag and putting them on the bedside table.
"Yes," said David weakly, his eyes crossing as he tried to focus on Severus and his arms still twitching on top of his blankets. "Voldie's debut. They planned his resurrection, tortured and killed Peter followed by cruciatus all round. Headache, nausea, muscle spasms and difficulty concentrating."
Severus started pouring potions down David's throat, swatting away his trembling hands as they tried to help. "Pettigrew's dead?" asked Sirius processing what David had said. David nodded almost spilling the potion Severus was trying to feed him. Severus scowled grabbed hold of his head to keep him still while he finished.
"Questions can wait until tomorrow Black," he ordered selecting another phial. David gagged on the contents and brought his hands up to move it away as he tried to turn his head but Severus was still holding it. "I know it tastes foul," said Severus uncharacteristically sympathetic, "but you must drink it." David continued to shy away. Remus tried to come to terms with the concept of Severus sounding sympathetic while being bombarded with fear through the soul-mate bond. "Hold him still Lupin," Severus ordered as he poured the rest of the potion into David's mouth before covering his mouth and nose to force him to swallow.
"You bastard!" cursed David weakly as soon as he could speak. "You need to make me vomit it up quickly! Didn't you think that perhaps there was a good reason I didn't want to swallow that? I could taste the moldwart seeds. I've got ferngrass in my system." His skin was starting to turn blue in patches as he spoke.
"What the hell are you doing ingesting ferngrass?" asked Severus as forced his fingers down his son's throat make him throw up pulling him to lean over the side of the bed so that he would not end up covered in the contents of David's stomach as he retched. Vanishing the mess once the retching stopped he helped David lie back down. His face had bright blue patches.
"It's still in his system," declared Severus as the patches spread and David's eyes rolled up in his head. "We need to get him to St Mungo's."
"We can't," said Remus sweeping David's hair away from his forehead to reveal his scar. "There'll be too many questions asked."
"Black," said Severus, "do you have a stocked potions lab?" Remus would have laughed if the situation was not so serious. Severus was speaking to Sirius without insulting him.
"The twins converted the attic into a lab for their business. I don't know what kind of ingredients they have stocked though." Sirius returned the favour and did not point out that the mess was mainly Severus's fault.
"It's worth a try," said Severus. "If they don't have what I need we'll have to take him to St Mungo's even if we have to skin his forehead first. Lupin, run a hot bath and keep him in it while I'm working. It'll give us an extra couple of hours. Don't use magic on him, even a levitation charm, it'll make things worse. If the blotches turn magenta get me immediately." Severus grabbed David's bag to see if there was a clue to what ferngrass containing potion he had been taking and the two black haired wizards left to find the twins. Remus thanked his lycanthropic induced strength as he picked up David and carried him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift towards the bathroom.
It turned out that the twins kept their laboratory well stocked with the common potions ingredients and several of the less common, if not downright illegal, ones. Severus explained that David had had a bad reaction to a potion but had a phobia of hospitals and so they needed to treat him without taking him to St Mungo's if they could. He had then drafted in Tonks who had been a former student of his and done very well in her potions NEWT (as she needed to do to become an auror) to help him. Fred and George also offered their services and after performing sobering charms on the whole lot of them Severus accepted and set them to work preparing ingredients.
Meanwhile Severus investigated David's belongings and discovered the potions he carried around. Unsurprisingly there was a calming draft and a headache draft as many in the Wizarding World would possess. The two phials of revitalicorpus were no surprise either, but Severus hit the jackpot with the final phial of blood red sludge. It was simply labelled 'ex' but the sent of ferngrass was unmistakeable. Severus sniffed it thoughtfully closing his eyes to better concentrate on the mess of ingredients.
"Sirius?" asked Severus turning to his old rival and gesturing for him to accompany him outside the laboratory and out of earshot. "When I arrived you didn't know there was anything wrong with David, but Remus was already with him. I knew because of the parental bond, how did Remus know but you didn't?"
"David had gone to bed. We had a silencing charm up, but Remus started getting restless and then left. You're not going to like this Snape, but Remus and David are probably soul-mates."
To Sirius's surprise Severus did not hex him or start cursing, he simply looked very tired and nodded. "I think David knew," he said slowly, "I think the ferngrass came from an antianimamourus potion."
"The hypocritical brat!" exclaimed Sirius angrily. "He's been defending Remus at Hogwarts when people were dismissive of him as a werewolf and kept telling him that it's not the beast but the character that counts and yet he'd rather loose his own chance of being with his soul-mate as he needs to be to carry on his line, than marry a werewolf. I thought he cared about Remus; this is going to crush him."
Severus allowed Sirius to rant before putting his own view forward. "It's possible that that was not his motivation," he said. "I have performed the mind ritual with my son, and while he refuses to show me some of his memories, I know him better than you do, I do not think he is hypocritical. Also he was aware of an attempt at matchmaking the pair of them and asked me to help him disrupt it; he claimed he was not ready for a relationship so soon after Azkaban. I think you should reserve judgement until you talk to him." He continued hurriedly as Sirius started to speak again. "If you plan to lecture him on his idiocy and the selfishness of his actions you have my full support. I have a few choice words to say to him on the subject myself, but I think that this has more to do with his own low sense of self-worth than anything else. Once we've yelled at him we may well need to boost his self-esteem. And to think I used to call him arrogant." Sirius stared at him. "What? I can be insightful; it's useful for a spy. I can also be parental when I want to be."
"You care about him," said Sirius simply. "I don't think I'd realised that before."
"I'd hardly have stolen out of Hogwarts to be here tonight if I didn't. Who knows what my students are getting up to in my absence?"
"I can't say I like you," declared Sirius, "but David showed us a message earlier from James and he asked me to get along with you, and you do care about David and he said you'd tried to save his life several times, so I'm willing to try to start again." He extended his hand. "My name's Sirius Black."
"Severus Snape," said the other shaking his hand. "I wouldn't have chosen you to be his godfather if I didn't think we'd make up some day." Sirius looked shocked at the notion that it was Severus who had wanted him to be godfather. "Both of us were idiots in school, and the person you've known the last few years isn't really me either. It's my spy persona which became a mask to hide behind when I thought David had died. This summer we decided I'd keep it up until the Dark Lord is gone and then I'll be replaced by Severus Antirrhinum and be myself and nobody will connect the two names. Then I'll be free of the stigma of being a former Death Eater. Don't expect me to behave like I like you in public yet."
"I have no problem continuing to annoy you when anyone's watching. It'll be fun."
Severus rolled his eyes at the childishness and Sirius laughed at the uncharacteristic expression before both sobered up and walked back into the laboratory glaring like the schoolyard enemies they had once been. Now that Severus was pretty certain what David had been taking he could make a more specific antidote.
Remus sat David on the floor leaning against the wall as he filled the sunken bath with hot water. While it was running he tried to remove David's pyjamas but they wouldn't budge. The buttons on the shirt refused to undo and try as he might he could not remove the trousers either. Since he could not use magic he was unable to banish the garments although he had a sneaking suspicion that would not work either. It appeared David would be bathing fully clothed. He noticed a David was wearing a wooden ring which would definitely be damaged by the water, but that would not come off either. He was debating how to manoeuvre the unconscious wizard into the bath when Sirius arrived.
"Severus banished me from the lab," he said. "He doesn't think much of my potion skills."
"Severus?" asked Remus with a raised eyebrow.
"We called a truce."
Remus smiled. "It seems Prongs succeeded where Albus couldn't. Now help me get him in the water."
After an explanation about the pyjamas followed by Sirius's own attempts to remove them both wizards removed their own robes and rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs to prevent them from getting wet before taking an end of David each and hefting him into the water. Remus kept hold of his shoulders and sat at the head of the bath his feet in the water holding David's head against his knees.
"That's going to be awfully uncomfortable in a few minutes," said Sirius.
"You have a better idea?"
"Yes, get in the bath. You can lean him against you. It'll be easier to keep him submerged too.
"We wouldn't have this problem if you had a normal bath instead of this large sunken puddle," grumbled Remus.
"Yes but the Blacks are special," said Sirius smirking. "This sunken menace was the in thing in pureblood circles when the house was built."
The hot water had started to affect David who was now partly conscious even if not coherent and was mumbling to himself about the importance of keeping lobsters away from pink jelly when polishing shoes and other nonsense. Sirius gestured between Remus and the bath expectantly.
"Not a chance," said Remus. "You do it. If David wakes up to find me sitting behind him he'll throw a fit."
"And he won't with me?" asked Sirius cynically.
"Unless there's something you haven't told me," said Remus. The blank look on Sirius's face made him realise he would have to explain further. "He won't mind as much because you're not gay." Sirius did not move. Remus coloured and fixed his eyes on the wall. "Stop being so obtuse. David's a rape victim and I'm attracted to him and have been completely hard since I carried him in here and the heat isn't exactly helping. If he wakes up and notices he'll freak out. Now get in the bath and take over before my back decides that being bent double is the way forward. It's starting to get quite painful."
Sirius bent down and tested the water with his hand. "I expect he'd be more comfortable if I keep my clothes on, but I can't in that heat," he said before striping down to his underwear and getting in the water. A few moments of awkward manoeuvring got him sitting against the wall of the bath with David's head against his shoulder and his arm around David's chest and his legs hooked over David's keeping him as submerged as possible. It was lucky that Sirius was the taller wizard by several inches. David was still muttering nonsense to himself as Remus stood up and stretched out his back and shoulders with a satisfying series of clicks.
"Remus, why don't you leave for a few minutes and cool off," suggested Sirius. "I'd be really grateful if you could bring me a cold drink back with you before the humidity gets to me. When you return you can also explain exactly what you meant by David being a rape victim."
Before Remus returned he came to the conclusion that it was vital Sirius not know who might, or might not if polyjuice had been used, have raped his godson. Sirius was likely to end up hexing Albus if he found out, proof of guilt be damned. He resolved to speak only in general terms. He also hoped that the fates were kind and David would not wake up to find himself being held in a bath by someone he could not see.
As it was Remus got his wish, David did not regain consciousness during the night. He discussed with Sirius ideas for finding out exactly what had happened to David. Sirius had the same idea that Remus and Severus had already been working on, to guess who he gave the vow to and use polyjuice to impersonate that person and get rid of it. Remus was forced to explain that while it was a good plan, they had been unable to test it because the secrecy vow interfered with Severus's ability to brew polyjuice. They believed that since Severus thought it would enable him to talk about those events against the will of the vow the vow forced him not to do it. Remus himself was not a competent enough potions maker. Sirius offered to give it a try, but he had not brewed anything for years either. He suggested that Tonks might help since she had got an O on her potions NEWT but Remus was against involving an outsider who might wonder why they wanted polyjuice, particularly if that outsider was an auror and therefore by nosy by profession.
An hour later David remained blissfully unaware as the antidote was forced down his throat, followed by second helpings of the potions he took earlier but had been lost with the rest of the contents of his stomach. Severus left hurriedly after seeing the blotches beginning to fade. He instructed Sirius to keep David in the bath until they disappeared completely before returning to Hogwarts in the hope that his absence had not been noticed. He promised to return the following day sharing a look with Sirius that told him to wait for him so that they could tackle David about trying to destroy his soul-mate bond together.
They finally got David out of the water and into his bed, having spelled him dry because his pyjamas still refused to budge. Remus left David a note on his bedside table to remind him about his scar and explain that they had locked him in so nobody could see it, while Sirius cast a charm to alert them both when he woke up. The two exhausted wizards made it to their own beds shortly after four in the morning. Both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.