AN: Happy Mother's Day to all! It's the official holiday today here in the US, though I'm afraid I'm ignorant regarding other countries. Regardless of your home country, if you are a mother, I would like to say thank you for what you have done to put up with your kids. I'm sure it can't be easy. Shout out to my mom for being a great woman who I can really look up to and who understands me better than I myself do at times. She is truly an amazing woman and I am immeasurably grateful to have her. Now, on to the part you all came here for.
Severus was in his apothecary hating the world when Sirius, Remus, and Hermione all came by. "We found nothing," Sirius admitted dejectedly. "It seems we're at a dead end now."
"I'm not giving up until he is safe at home," Severus said stiffly.
"Neither are we," Remus said. "We're just going to have to think of some new ideas. Perhaps—what's that?"
They all turned to see a Patronus in the shape of a fox enter the room. It stood before Severus and said in Draco's voice, "Severus, you need to come home now. Harry's here and he needs you."
Without hesitation, all four of them apparated straight to the Snape residence to see Draco on the couch in the sitting room, holding an exhausted-looking Ivy. "Ivy," Severus breathed before rushing forward and taking her easily from Draco's hold. "Are you alright, Sweetie." Ivy silently nodded into his shoulder where she'd buried her face. "Where did you find them?" Severus asked Draco as he held his daughter close.
"They were walking down a road. Apparently they'd been kidnapped and escaped. Harry's not in great shape though. He's in heat, and he was beginning to look like he wanted to jump me once I apparated us here, then he excused himself to your room. I would suggest you go up there. We can take care of Ivy in your absence."
"Papa, is Daddy okay?" Ivy asked.
"He's going to be just fine. I'm gonna go take care of him. You stay with your granddaddy" (Remus) "and your grandpapa" (Sirius) "and be good for me, okay?"
"Okay, Papa," Ivy agreed as she was passed over to Remus's waiting arms.
"We'll take good care of her," Remus assured.
Knowing they would, Severus rushed to the room he shared with Harry. He could smell his mate's heat before he even got within sight of the door. He went inside quickly. He'd never been so glad to see his mate… whose bond with him had been broken. He shoved down a deep feeling of emptiness at the thought; they would fix that later. There were more immediate needs to be taken care of. "Sev," Harry moaned, knowing immediately when Severus entered the room.
"I'm right here. I'm going to look after you," Severus promised. As he got closer to Harry, the smell of blood reached his nostrils. "You're hurt," he said, hesitating. Should he patch him up first, or take care of the first wave of Harry's heat? At least he hoped it was the first wave. If it wasn't the first wave, that would mean that Nathaniel had forcefully knotted him, and that was not alright.
"That's not what's killing me right now. I need you so bad. It hurts. Please take care of this first, then you can patch me up, okay?"
"Okay," Severus agreed, suddenly speeding up and practically tearing his clothes off in his haste.
Sirius, Remus, Ivy, Draco, and Hermione all went outside once Severus had gotten upstairs. They weren't sure if Severus would have the presence of mind to use silencing charms – Harry certainly wouldn't – and none of them wanted to be in earshot of their activities. "Do you think you could remember where exactly you found them and take us back?" Sirius asked Draco.
"I should be able to," Draco answered. "Do you want to go now?"
"Yes. I want to make sure that Nathaniel doesn't get away with this. I don't want him anywhere near Remus, though. Are you okay with staying here?" he asked his mate, just to make sure.
"Yeah. I'll look after Ivy while you're gone. Perhaps it would be best if Hermione stayed here as well."
"I can agree to that," Hermione said readily. She wasn't really interested in going to a place where Harry and his pup had been held prisoner.
"Alright, let's go," Sirius said, moving closer to Draco. Draco took his arm and was about to apparate when he was stopped by Remus.
"Wait!" he said quickly. "Don't do anything to Nathaniel. I know you want to Sirius, but give Severus the chance. As much as I know we both want him dead, Severus deserves enacting vengeance more than any of us do."
"Very well, I will do my best," Sirius agreed, knowing he couldn't actually promise for sure he wouldn't maim the person who hurt two valuable members of his family... He soon found himself on a little-used road in an unfamiliar area. "Is this the place you found them?" he asked Draco.
"Yeah," Draco said. "They were coming from that direction," he said, pointing.
"Okay, then," Sirius said, heading in the direction of Draco's pointed finger. They walked quite a distance in tense silence before Sirius saw a very recognizable house on the side of the road. "They were here," he said, drawing his wand carefully as he approached the house whose likeness had been captured in Nathaniel's basement, noticing Draco do the same. The door to the cabin was unlocked, so they entered, though with much trepidation.
It wasn't hard to figure out that the door they should next open was the one that looked like the door to a prison cell. Sirius led the way and saw the figure who was frozen on the floor in the room. He recognized him as Nathaniel at once. "Look who it is," he said. "I guess Harry got the best of you, huh?" He lifted the body-bind, hoping that the other man would attack him and give him an even better reason to cause him immense pain, but he simply stayed down, seeming to know he was beaten. "Got nothing to say for yourself, then?" Sirius asked, challenging him.
"Maybe I don't want to say anything that might incriminate me in court," Nathaniel said with a sneer.
"Hm, how wise of you to be so cautious, and yet you're so foolish enough to think you'll actually survive that long. Surely you realize your mistakes? You knowingly kidnapped an alpha's mate and pup. You'll be lucky if he doesn't kill you. He'd be well within his legal rights, after what you've done. Not just him though – you've got me to deal with. You took my pup and my grand pup. To add to it, you've taken the cub of a werewolf. That is very dangerous indeed. No, I don't think you'll ever see the inside of a court room. As a matter of fact, you won't see anything other than this room for a while. I think I'm going to leave you here, where you were going to leave Harry, until Severus Snape has a chance to deal with you personally. I think he quite deserves it, don't you?" That being said, Sirius levitated Nathaniel onto the bed. The other man could do very little to stop the movement. Sirius bound the man's ankles and wrists to the bed so he would be unable to move. "Speaking of deserving things…" Sirius mused thoughtfully before sending a spell at the other man.
"What have you done?" Nathaniel gasped in pain.
"I've used a certain spell that causes you to feel all the pain you have inflicted on another human in the last week. You don't have any real injuries, so there's no risk of you dying of something as silly as an infection, but you'll feel every bit of the pain that Harry is feeling right now. Someone will be back in three days to give you a bit of water and clean whatever mess you might make of yourself. Have fun." After that parting comment, Sirius left the room, locked the door behind him, and left the house with Draco.
After the first wave of Harry's heat had passed, he felt much more in his right mind. He also felt more pain, because there wasn't an overwhelming need overshadowing it anymore. Severus hastily summoned his medical kit and set about healing Harry's wounds. He started with his back, which looked excruciating. He healed as much as he could and bandaged what was left. He then took a look at Harry's hand, holding it gently in his own. He felt himself freeze when he heard Harry softly say, "I'm sorry."
"Whatever for?" Severus asked him.
"Sev, look at me," Harry said miserably. "I let him get the best of me. I've fought much worse than him, and yet I let him take me and our daughter away from here and I didn't stop him from hurting me. I barely got away before he—before he r—raped me, and our bond is b—broken." Harry was high-strung from the combination of his heat and the terrifying experience of being kidnapped by his abusive ex-alpha, and he found himself shaking as tears left his eyes.
"Come here," Severus said, gently pulling Harry into his arms. "I need you to listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. None of that is your fault. Nathaniel is obviously very stupid or else he would not have interfered with my family, but he is also a skilled wizard. You were facing him on your own, and your pup's life seemed to be in danger. He is a man who tormented and abused you, so it could not have been easy to be in the same room as him. It would have been unlikely indeed if you had managed to overpower him in the beginning. You are hardly responsible for the fact that he caused you pain, and there is no need for you to apologize for that. You did fight back, and you did, somehow, manage to successfully escape before he could rape you again. The fact of the matter is, though, that if he had succeeded it would not have been your fault in the slightest. There is not a single thing you could have done beyond what you did.
"As for our bond, there is yet again no call for an apology from you or anyone else whose name is not Nathaniel Morgan. You didn't cause that to happen, and it can be mended again. We just need to find a person who can officiate a bonding ceremony. I need you to understand that there is absolutely nothing in this world that you ought to apologize for."
"I think I understand, now," Harry said quietly, feeling quite small.
"Alright, in that case let me take care of your hand while we have a break. I'm afraid it will take some time to heal, but I can speed the process as well as limit the pain."
"Thank you," Harry said.
"I'm happy to do it. I just wish it wasn't necessary."
Sev worked in silence for some time. Harry was feeling more and more like he was going to need Severus to get busy with other activities, but he could wait for the time being. Watching as the alpha cared for him with all the gentleness and kindness one might see a man use with a newborn bird who was as delicate as china, Harry became awash with emotions. "I love you so much, Sev."
"I love you, too, my Harry," Severus said tenderly.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was nearly being devoured by his omega.
AN: Thanks for reading! And thank you for all the helpful reviews regarding what should be done to Severus. That is still yet to come in full. And to anyone who has recently graduated: Congratulations! I can't wait to join you in a couple of years...