Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

xxxx

Surprise

Inus managed the stairs although it was slow going since he didn't want to put any weight on the weak leg. Finally, he could make good speed on the straight corridor to Severus's quarters.

William Sykes's portrait greeted him. "He's expecting you." Now Inus knew where he recognized the name; it was a Charles Dickens character.

"Thank you," Inus said.

"Congratulations on your win," the portrait said.

"Thanks." Inus entered the room. He noticed that the room seemed a little bigger like the magic of the castle was compensating for his crutches.

Severus smiled putting his feet on the cushion in front of the overstuffed chair. "Take a seat. You look knackered."

"It would have been easier if there was a lift." Inus sat down on the settee.

"The surprise is in the bedroom," Severus said.

"I'm not well enough to shag," Inus said.

Severus moved to in front on Inus and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Just a little groping."

Inus yawned.

Severus put his hand on Inus's shoulder. "The students will learn that you have your memory back."

"I'll tell them that my private life isn't their business." Inus looked into Severus's eyes. "You're blocking me."

"If I let you read my mind, it wouldn't be a surprise." Severus sat beside him.

"I like feeling you. It's like a warm blanket or a lovey. I had these two stuffed animals that I slept with every night until the December after my eleventh birthday." Inus was talking about Quirrell's youth but Severus would know that.

"The other boys in Ravenclaw must have loved that." Severus muffed his hair.

"A muggle born boy had a white bear that he called Edward Bear. I seem to recall that it looked nothing like Winnie-the-Pooh. I didn't know about A.A. Milne then." Inus smiled at Severus. "No one made fun of him, but I had these two loveys and they all thought it was funny that the sickly boy slept with his stuffed animals and said things like Bobby and Harvey were the only friends that I would ever have. I cried as I left them at home on the winter holiday."

"Do you still have Bobby and Harvey?" Severus moved a finger lovingly over Inus's face.

"My mother kept them. I haven't slept with them for many years. They sit on a bookshelf forgotten. My mum says that I can give them to my children, but I doubt that will ever be the case." Inus smiled at Severus. "I can hobble to the bedroom for my surprise."

It took a bit of effort to get on his crutches. Poppy insisted that in a few weeks he would be strong enough to use a cane since it would be good for him to be able to draw a wand while travelling. Inus leaned on his crutches and turned the doorknob. He noticed that the room was larger than before and there was a second five-drawer dresser.

Inus walked over to the dresser and noticed a folded wheelchair between it and the wardrobe. "The wheelchair isn't much of a surprise."

"It would make travelling outside the school easier," Severus said.

"I'd rather be standing." Inus opened the top draw of the dressing carefully putting all his weight on the good leg and crutches. "My clothes."

"Look in the wardrobe," Severus insisted.

Inus closed the drawer. Inus opened the door of the wardrobe. "A walk-in. My robes, dress shirts and trousers are on one side." Inus hugged Severus allowing his crutches to fall on the floor. "I can't thank you enough."

"I love you and that's forever." Severus kissed his forehead.

"I don't even know how I'll manage the stairs everyday." Inus sat down on the large bed.

"You can use a feather-weight spell on your weak leg, so your leg won't drag as much." Severus collapsed on the bed beside Inus.

"I can't believe you did this all since you left the hospital wing." Inus started to unbuttoned Severus's jacket.

"The house elves did the work. The house parents' quarters increase to the size needed for their use and comfort. The floor space is now big enough to wheel a chair through them. The kitchenette is even wheelchair accessible. Unfortunately, the castle isn't." Severus removed his clothes with the flick of his wand.

Inus hurried out of his own. It hurt to remove his shorts over the injured leg. "I need a little painkiller. The leg is sensitive."

"I thought the nerves were deadened."

"Not all of them. Behind the knee is quite tender. Poppy says if she deadens it that I might lose the limited mobility that I have."

Severus helped Inus out of his shorts. "I avoid touching that spot. Tell me if I hurt you."

"You'll hear me scream. I no longer feel like brave, stupid little Harry Potter, to think that I thought he was so great before he entered our school."

Severus kissed Inus slowly. "You have that boy's soul."

"I apologised to those I trespassed against and asked the gods to forgive me for those that I hurt through my actions or inactions and don't know personally. Karkaroff promised to talk to the parole board in Germany and give my father a job at his school."

"Did you talk to Moody?" Severus moved a hand over Inus's back.

Inus lied on his stomach and propped his head up slightly. "Yes. He accepted my apology and told me that he was happy that I wanted to set things right."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I should serve time for my crimes."

Severus put some lotion of Inus's back and kneaded it in. "You suffered enough."

"I allowed the Dark Lord to use me." Inus didn't say Lord Voldemort because using the Dark Lord's name made Severus uneasy.

"So did I." Severus kissed the top of Inus's back. "You kept him out of your mind. He couldn't read your thoughts. You had your defences up even while you slept."

"I never learned occulency formally."

Severus planted more kissed on Inus's back.

Inus said, "My mind turns to mush when you do that."

"You don't need to think. Just enjoy what I'm doing," Severus said. "We agreed that you would stay in the hospital wing until Poppy did all that she could do for your leg. I'll put a little lotion on it."

"I won't feel it."

"You said some parts are very sensitive. For your own knowledge, we should know which parts are more sensitive." Severus put lotion on Inus's bottom and then moved one hand slowly over the injured leg. The large spider bite left a permanent scar, but there was no apparent bruising and the bone and muscle looked normal. "One would think after all that training that you would develop a little more muscle."

"My arms are going to get stronger." Inus turned toward Severus. He thought about the option of using a chair to get to his classroom and to the Great Hall. He could easily levitate it up the stairs and use his arms to get around the castle.

Visiting Sibyll in her rooms felt like an impossible task. He could fire talk with her and she could visit him at the Slytherin house parents' quarters. She must have felt that he had more important visitors and didn't comfortable visiting him at the hospital wing.

Severus put a hand on a tender spot and Inus bit his lip.

"That's sore," Inus said.

"I'll be more gentle. Did Poppy give you painkilling potion?"

"Some. She pointed out the page so I could make more when I needed it." Inus laughed. Why did he have to tell Poppy that he had his memory back?

"She's fearful of addiction." Severus moved his hand down the calf slowly.

"Addiction doesn't matter since I'm going to have the pain the rest of my life." Inus grimaced. "That's another sore spot."

"Behind the knee and just above the ankle." Severus lifted his hand from the leg. "I'll check your foot."

Inus looked at Severus's hand move over his foot. He couldn't really feel the hand there. "It hurts like hell when I put weigh on it. Touch me heavy enough to tickle."

Severus ran a finger over the back of his foot. The normal reflex was there, but Inus was no longer ticklish. Severus ran a finger over the uninjured leg and Inus giggled. Severus put the toes of Inus's foot in his mouth and did it with the other.

Inus wiggled and tried to pull his normal foot away. "My foot is ticklish."

"You have sexy feet."

"Hobbit feet." His feet weren't really large. The two times he used the Polyjuice Potion his feet grew larger.

"I read Tolkien as a boy," Severus said.

"I need you inside me. I burn."

"Why don't you take a look at the bathroom?" Severus lifted Inus off the bed.

"I can hop," Inus insisted.

Severus put Inus back on the bed. Severus got the walker that he had folded in the walk-in wardrobe. He pulled it open.

Inus put his feet on the floor beside the walker. He put his hands on the front of the walker and step off the bed. He moved the walker in front of him as he took small steps. His left leg ached as he put weight on it. He felt like it took half an hour to get to the bath. Severus had only started filling the large bath. It was big enough for two large adults. He could sit in and spread out. "It's beautiful."

"The house-elf said that it was designed for someone handicapped. You can pull yourself up on the metal bars," Severus explained. "Do you want me to lift you into it?"

"Join me."

"Another time. There is a separate shower just as large."

"I see it." The shower was big enough for two adults to stand in it and not touch each other. However, he planned to touch Severus all over when they took a shower together. "You have no excuse not to be clean."

"You'll have to bath me." Severus laughed. He put his hand into the filling tub. "It seems warm enough." He picked up Inus. "In you go." Severus put Inus gently into the warm water.

"It feels great. You should join me."

"You need to soak. I'll take a fast shower later." Severus kissed his forehead.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Inus could feel that Severus lifted the shield that he up earlier. Inus could feel the love Severus had for him.

"If I get in do you promise to soak your leg?"

"I stay in the bath a little longer." Inus wanted to play with Severus. "I never shared a bath with anyone."

"Neither have I. My sister was much older so we never bathed together." Severus climbed into the bath. "We could turn on the jets."

"Not this time." Inus started to soap Severus's legs.

"I showered this morning."

"A little more water won't hurt." Inus started to wash one of Severus's foot. "You smell so good clean. You rarely talk about your family and they're rarely in your surface thoughts."

"My only sister is nine years older than I. My father died a year after my mother. My sister and I have never been close. We lost contact somewhere along the years. She was an auror when the Death Eaters were arrested after Voldemort vanished. She told Headmaster Dumbledore that I belonged in prison."

"Loving family?"

"I feel that I hardly know you and you invited me to share your life." Inus cleaned Severus's other foot. "You know everything about me."

"If we knew everything about each other, we wouldn't have anything to talk about."

"It's just that I feel my life is an open book."

Severus started to wash Inus. "It isn't."

"I'm afraid that if I don't talk about it. That I will forget again."

"Inus, you won't forget."

"I don't want to forget how good your love feels." Inus closed his eyes as he felt Severus move a bath sponge over his body.