Authors note: lots of male on male fluffiness happening.
Sleeping Beauty Awakes
"Whomever it is that is currently breathing into my nose, you have dog breath, would you kindly desist" The familiar bite to the potions Masters words helped rouse the sleeping occupants, that and the wriggling and poking.
"You're awake!" Lucius couldn't stop the sound of unadulterated glee from his voice and wrapped the thinner man in his arms, squeezing him tightly.
"I'm awake and struggling to breathe" Severus kissed his mate on the cheek, offering him a shy smile, before turning his face to give Remus who'd been patiently poking him a long hard kiss. They broke away both breathing hard and faces flushed, signs of arousal prominent on both of their bodies. Turning his head again he shot dog breath a look, lifting a brow at the soft plucking at his fingers.
"So do I get a kiss?" Sirius did his best puppy dog eyes at the gaunt man, who crooked his finger and beckoned him closer.
When they were mere millimetres away from each other he whispered, "Not a chance with that breath Black" smirking at the whine, but still planting a soft quick kiss against his lips. Payment he guessed for being so silly as to think that he, the merciless master of Slytherin would fall for the puppy look!
Snuggling into the arms of his blonde lover, and accepting the gentle caress against his neck from his amber eyed mate, he let himself fall back into a slumberous wakefulness. All four enjoying the quiet peace of the hut, none of them awake enough to deal with the outside world.
It was Remus who broke the peace, as it hit him where they were, the unfamiliar bed, and the smell of damp dog that had invaded all of the soft furnishings in the hut.
"So love, what was the big idea kissing a student like that?" Smiling at the pout on his lovers lips, the frown that chased the pout away, and the fingertips that stroked the frown into a blissful smile. Lucius had the touch for making Sev forget to frown, he could turn any sour expression in a matter of seconds.
"I was running low, and I still had to get something, though looking back I should have used a time turner, god how stupid am I!" he sat up, instantly forgetting the others as he started thinking back, not that anyone else was worried, he often did it, getting up in the middle of sex to go to his lab, working furiously for hours before returning to bed. "If I'd used the time turner then I could have planned, maybe I could have stopped it. I could have definitely done more, why on earth didn't it occur to me at the time? Stupid stupid stupid, I could have taken half an hour to sit down and think logically. Why the hell didn't Dumbledore suggest it, he suggested it for that stupid Hippogriff, obviously a Hippogriff is more important than us. Stupid old man, but he was in as much of a panic as I was. Stupid stupid stupid."
He was pacing now, having slipped from he bed, pacing back and forth, pinching the bridge of his nose, his forehead creased to high heaven, and his lips set in a thin line, "And now what, outsides without power, the safeguards on the dangerous materials, damn it all to hell, so much for my prediction, we'll be looking at –" He turned, standing stock still as he stared at the three on the bed, "What day is it?"
"We've been under the influence of one of your sleeping draughts, so anywhere between two days and ten?"
"You have no idea what day it is at all? Remus, can you feel the moon?"
"Severus you know as well as I do, that I don't feel the moon until I change," He held the note of exasperation out of his voice, but only just, whilst the man stood still for a second before slumping to the floor in what looked like defeat.
"So we don't know where we are in the moon cycle, we don't know what day it so I can't use a time turner, because I don't know how far to go back, and we have no idea what time of day it is,"
"Actually that we can know, all you need is to step outside and look at the suns position."
"Great Black, you go do that and let me know when you find out" Sirius couldn't help but note the utter scorn in Severus' voice, but did as he was bid, returning moments later with a look of confusion on his face. "It's almost pitch black out there, but it's definitely day time, that much I know, I can feel it when the sun is down?"
"I'm sure it is daylight out there," this time the sarcasm was gone, and the three just blankly stared at the man settled on the floor, "Ok kiddies, you remember our Muggle Studies lectures, when we were told about the Muggle World Wars, and Hiroshima with the nuclear weapons?" the Vague nods were enough to nudge him to continue.
"That was 61 years ago, you can imagine how Muggles have advanced with technology such as this." He paused again letting the information sink in further, the realization of the capabilities dawning on their faces, none of them being particularly slow on the uptake.
"Whilst Sirius may not be aware, I have been acting as our Wizarding delegate with the British Muggle Government, and have been for some years. While I thought myself to be keen on the current affairs the British Prime Minister, the Muggle equivalent to Fudge, has kept quiet about a private feud between two superpowers, America and the Middle East, both have fallen out and the crux of the matter was neither were backing down.
"I say was, the reason it is black out there is because just before the New Year turned, both countries set off their nuclear weapons. The reason for my fatigued state on that day is because we were trying to save as much as possible. At the moment there is a shield protecting us right down to the molten lava below us from the effects of the radiation. Unfortunately we are not only dealing with weapons, but also with the power stations that worked off nuclear power, the fail safes that kept them safe will no longer be in place as all of the power systems will be out due to the whole damn country being blown to kingdom come…" He offered them a weak smile, while they sat in silence, their bodies numb with shock, not quite taking in what was said, not understanding the full implications.
"So now folks, now we have to up sticks and shift over to Faerun, instead of as Dumbledore and I were thinking waiting out the damage. Guess what though, to do so means we'll have stick most people under stasis, it's going to be difficult enough to move without all those people milling about. We'll need to ration, as we'll be running out of food, oh and we have a muggle town with us." He stopped before kicking weakly at the floor.
"Before you start debating the pros and cons, it's not an option. We are going to Faerun and that's it, we can't stay here, we'd need to wait out two hundred years at least before we'd even be able to consider lowering the shield, if we get it wrong then the two hundred years we waited out and survived, and that's an if we have survived it, will be a waste as we'll die slowly, or best case scenario die instantly due to weather conditions. There may still be life outside of our shield but you need to think that the world outside is obliterated, life outside will be tainted, it will die out painfully and there is nothing we can do to help because we would be endangering ourselves to do so.
"So we have to sort out those who have to remain out of stasis – yes that's you Remus, the nature of the beasts within Were creatures tear the body apart if in stasis, they change regardless but the way that the body is frozen doesn't allow for the movements of transformation. So we have to make sure we carefully without causing a panic section off those with of a were nature. Personally on the side of caution I would suggest all non fully human's to remain out of stasis. However that would include the Veela and I for one would not look forward to having a school full of Were creatures battling it out for their amusement." Scowling at the floor, scuffing at the baked earth he sighed.
"Ok, nix that idea, anyone who will not be in danger will be placed in stasis. Exceptions to this will be those who are needed for the continuation. I requested Molly Weasley be sent to my rooms by Dumbledore, however I doubt this will have been done." He smiled weakly at Lucius who'd slithered across the floor to his side, Remus though was stilled stunned on the bed, not that he blamed any of them for the shock.
"Can I ask why?" Came Lucius' soft voice, he'd never been fond of the Weasleys, Arthur especially, he resented the fact that they had adopted a massive family, while his large family were lost forever, it was salt on his wounds, and the man breathed every breath for that family. If not for their own loss, Lucius would have smiled, the Weasley's had after all been given the world, a childless couple who gained seven beautiful children, why shouldn't he babble, just not around him.
"We'll need to ration love, and Molly is the queen of rationing, she knows exactly what is low and what is plentiful, she is also a born mother, people like her, approach her. How many people approach us for anything? I'm the greasy git, you are the Malfoy, Remus is the Werewolf, and Black is a prat." He shot a quick look at Sirius, blushing at his forwardness, while he hadn't asked Lucius to stay with him, he knew he would, though Sirius was another matter. His fears were soon soothed when both Remus and Sirius drifted off the bed and enveloped both of them in a warm hug.
"So does this mean I'm officially pack?" Sirius asked, his voice soft and cautious, before being pulled into the middle of the hug.
"Yes Siri, means your ours now" Remus' voice took on a mock sinister tone, and for a moment the other troubles were forgotten as they swept up their newest member in claiming kisses, breaking off only when their lips began to feel bruised, all four a picture of wanton lust, hair mussed and rouged cheeks.
Coughing Remus dragged their attention back to the matter at hand, his method of stopping the looks that they were all shooting each other from capitulating in full on sex.
"Uh yes, so actually all of the Weasley's would be useful, in their own way each talented in their own fields, and the twin's with Molly to oversee them shouldn't be a problem, Arthur would be around as well, as you can not single him out from all the others," Severus gently kissed Lucius, easing the small frown from his face, he knew how much it hurt his love, but it was necessary.
"As long as I don't have to listen to him babble all day long about how wonderful it is to be a Weasley, you know he makes it sound it's a bad thing to be anything but Sev" His voice picked up a slight whine to it, much to the others amusement.
"Luc love, as long as you don't try starting arguments you can stay well away from the man," He smiled, nuzzling at his lovers neck, wriggling himself at the soft purrs, again Remus coughed for much the same reason as before.
"Dumbledore and Harry will be in stasis." The three glanced at Sirius, each expecting a protest, but he merely held his hands up and nodded in acceptance.
"Can understand why, he's the Boy Who Lived, and Dumbledore is the greatest Wizard of our time, you need people like that for when you bring people out of stasis, who people can mimic, they'll take their lead from them" He looked smug as he figured at the reasoning behind it.
"Or because they are both major pains in the arse, and I trust neither to follow the rules" Lucius sniggered, while Remus merely smiled.
"I'll have you know Harry is my esteemed godson-"
"And he learnt everything from you"
"Well yes, but –"
"He wouldn't know how to follow rules if his life depended on it, I mean he thinks it does and still shows flagrant disregard for them."
"Psh"
"Psh back" both grinning as they noticed the closeness of the other two, and moved closer to join in. It devolved into an all out love fest, all four kissing and touching the others, reclaiming the pack, strengthening the bonds in place. And then when all were sated they snuggled up close, luxuriating in the warmth of the others.
"so, as I was saying… I was thinking we could do with a talented potions expert, and not because he's my godson Siri" Sev gently swirled his fingers across Lucius' chest, shyly glancing up at him.
"You want Draco to stay?" the look of blatant disbelief set Sirius off into fits of giggles, especially as he continued to speak, "I love my son more than anything but he is a spoilt little brat, for which I have you and Cissa to blame, and god help him rationing, he complained when I raised his allowance by inflation terms and not to the amount he desired. You're his head of house, you know how he is for following rules, he follows the rules he wants, if it suits my little Slytherin boy he'll do it, if not he wont."
"Very true, but you doubt my ability to keep the little rat bag in line" He arched an eyebrow and fell into giggles as Luc's fingers found his ticklish spot.
"You, oh king of haughtiness, were the one who spoilt him rotten, need I remind you of "Oh Uncle Sev, Daddy is so mean he doesn't give me anywhere like enough pocket money and you know how much potion ingredients cost" flutter of long lashes, simper simper simper, and then you'd hand over the money!" He mock glared at his pale lover, who sniffed in response.
"And did he not become one of the best students at potions after yours truly?"
"May I remind you that you were teaching him how to make simple potions as soon as he could stand upright and grasp a ladle?"
"And it paid off, if your son became destitute he would make a fine living from charging for intricate potions that cost little to make"
"Look, we've had this argument before I believe you, and it's a worthy talent and I know how you despair that none of us ingrates have the patience to create something as special as a potion, but you still spoilt him rotten! I will admit he does obey you though, and Remy will just sit on him until he capitulates." They grinned as Remus pushed Lucius over onto Siri in mock hurt.
"Ah, but does that mean that Draco will obey Molly Weasley?"
"He'll have to else he'll be made to suffer the consequences. I know full well that Molly Weasley has no qualms of turning her children over her knee, no matter what age they are" He smirked to himself, before succumbing to the warm embrace of his lovers.
"I told Albus that Poppy would be no good as a mediwizard, so our best bet would be St Mungo's staff, a few specialists and a few good all rounders. Charlie Weasley will be enough for the dragon specialist, with a few of the Were's as general back up, other than that we have a couple of new farms with cattle both dairy and meat, sheep, chickens, other farm animals, though no doubt I've forgotten important things, we've got ourselves a few orchards and a vineyard. I've acquired muggle staff to work them, but they'll need help so once again it'll be up to the general awake population to keep them running ship shape."
"I would suggest first order then is to sort everyone out, wake up only those who will be staying awake and leave those who wont be asleep in the main hall. After we have a talk about what's going to happen… you'll need to borrow power from some of them if you want to place everyone under stasis." Remus, ever the voice of reason.
"The stasis isn't a problem, the problem will be remapping out the shield, creating another just within the old, so that when we leave we don't take with us the dust which is currently resting on our barrier. After that, I'll take power and boost my levels to the max, until it hurts to store any more and then we'll move. So after we wake those who need to be woken, you're all going to have to pretty much run the show until we get settled on the other side. I'm going to be too busy messing about laying new wards and stasising people." He grinned, kissing the nearest of his mates to him softly. Yeah that was what would happen…
Authors note: The big delay was because I've actually written Chapters 4 and 5 before I started on Chapter 2. Anyway I know how Chapter 3 is going to go and then it'll be a fairly consistent update situation thingy.