Lionsnake Manor

Lionsnake Manor

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Worried Decisions

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"Masters Sirius! Masters Sirius!"

Sirius grumbled slightly. "Go 'way," he commanded. He did not appreciate being woken up so soon after sex.

"Wake up, Masters Sirius! Masters Severus is not well!"

Now, Sirius was wholly awake, staring right into the wide, concerned eyes of a house-elf. "What?" he blurted out, sitting up on the bed. "What's wrong with Severus?" He couldn't help but be worried. Severus always kept sure not to show any signs of weakness. Therefore, if he was "not well," something had to be really wrong.

"Twinky finds Masters Severus in Masters' library. Masters Severus is not awake!"

"He's fallen asleep in his library?" asked Sirius, blinking in confusion. What the hell was Severus doing in his library when everybody else was comfortably in their bed? And why had he fallen asleep? That was definitely very un-Severus-like. The Potions Master slept very little overall, and never anywhere outside their bed.

The house-elf's answer, however, made him even more worried. "Not sleep, Masters Sirius," Twinky said, "not awake. Masters Severus is..." After a moment of frowning thoughtfully, the creature realized, "Faint! Faint is what Masters Severus is!"

This made Sirius instantly leap out of the bed and rush towards the door, not even bothering to put on his robe. He stopped on his place, however, as he heard a voice behind him.

"Where in Salazar's name are you running naked, Sirius?" asked Draco, accompanying his question with a loud yawn. The blond young man sat on the huge bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Not that I didn't appreciate the sight, but..."

"Masters Severus is not well, Masters Draco!" Twinky shrieked before Sirius could even open his mouth. "Twinky find Masters Severus faint in Master Severus's library!"

That certainly startled Draco wholly awake. "Let's go," he breathed and rushed to Sirius's side.

So, they both ran towards Severus's personal library, a worried house-elf whining on their heels. Horrible thoughts were flowing through their minds. There certainly was no "safe" reason for Severus's sudden fainting. However, fainting for no seeming reason was the first noticeable symptom of the Dark Plague. And with Severus, the risk was even greater than with Remus and Lucius -- despite his husbands' continuous protests, Severus had continued researching and brewing Dark potions.

When they at last arrived to their destination, they truly found Severus lying on the floor, unconscious. On the floor next to the darkhaired Slytherin they saw one of his seemingly endless books concentrating on potions of all kinds. Realizing that they hadn't thought of bringing their wands, Sirius turned towards the house-elf, who had followed them all the way there.

"Fetch our wands," he commanded, then quickly added, "and bring our robes, too." It was freezing, even though the thick woollen carpet on the floor protected their bare feet from the icy cold stone floor.

The house-elf nodded vigorously and disappeared. A moment later it returned, two robes and wands in its tiny arms. Sirius and Draco both took their own robes and wands, quickly putting on the robes.

As soon as Sirius had slipped on his robe to cover his naked body, he pointed a wand at the collapsed man. "Enervate," he whispered.

For a couple of seconds they both waited nervously to see whether Severus would wake up. If he didn't, that would mean that he indeed had the Dark Plague -- and that would be a disaster. If he truly had caught the disease, not only would it be hard and dangerous to Severus himself, but he'd also have to be separated from Remus and Lucius to protect the two from getting infected.

Fortunately, however, a moment later Severus's eyelids fluttered slightly. To their great relief the Potions Master then woke completely, opening his eyes and sitting up. "What -- oh, yes. Of course," he said quietly, massaging his temples with his fingertips.

"Severus, what in Salazar's name happened?" asked Draco worriedly. "Why on Earth did you faint?"

"I found a potion that is a direct result of the cross-effective ingredients of the Wolfsbane Potion and the Dark Plague antidote reacting together," the ex-Death Eater said quietly. "Even the amounts of the ingredients are correct, there's no way it wouldn't happen."

"And what's that potion?" asked Sirius, frowning slightly. This did not sound good. What would happen to Remus?"

"Well, see it for yourself," sighed Severus, taking the potion book to his hands. Flipping a couple of pages backwards from the page that had been open when the book had fallen from his hands, he then shoved it for his husbands to see.

As Sirius saw the recipe, he cursed aloud. Draco, on the other hand, went pale and whispered, "Oh, sweet Merlin."

"Exactly," muttered Severus gloomily. "A male pregnancy potion. One of the strongest, even -- one that will stand even a werewolf transformation."

"And Lucius is his mate for this full moon," muttered Sirius. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Just that," murmured Draco. Then he raised his eyes at Severus, looking worried. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked concernedly. "Remus will definitely not accept an abort, no matter what. And we cannot put him through the pregnancy only to have him lose the baby to the Dark Plague as soon as it's been born!"

"You're right, we cannot do that," said Severus, sighing. "Neither can we tell Remus, at least not before the full moon is over; he has enough worries as it is. I fear that the only thing we can do is to tell Lucius to use protection spells without Remus noticing, and hope desperately that they haven't already managed to create a child."

"For anything I know Lucius, they already have triplets coming," Draco said with a deep frown. "But you're right, we cannot do anything else. There's no way we could tell Remus."

"If something happens, it will be my fault," said Severus with another sigh. "I didn't check the potions properly before allowing him to use both simultaneously. It'll be my fault, like everything is always my fault," he then added with a gloomy voice.

"Stop that," scolded Sirius, frowning. "What do you mean everything is your fault? What is your fault? Not this, anyway. You couldn't have known."

"Everything is my fault," argued Severus stubbornly. "It was because of my prejudices that we four older didn't get together sooner. And it was because of my attitudes that Harry and Draco didn't get together sooner. Shit, it was because of me that you fell to that trap during the War!"

"For Merlin's sake, listen to yourself," sighed Sirius. "Severus, we didn't get together sooner because of my prejudices against Slytherins, and my stupidity that almost got you killed. It was because of Harry's and Draco's own attitudes, as well as the House prejudices that were not your doing, that the two didn't get together before they turned sixteen. And it most certainly was not your fault that I and Remus fell to that trap. The trap was set by Voldemort, you were a bait, and it was all our fault that we were stupid enough not to notice that it was a trap!"

"He's right, you know," said Draco quietly, placing his hand on the arm of the younger one of his husbands present right then. "None of those things is your fault, Severus. So, before you get too involved in your own personal guilt trip, think sensibly. We most certainly aren't going to allow you to go down that road again."

Severus sighed and shook his head. He knew that the two were right, however. Just as well he knew that there was no helping his thoughts -- nobody knew exactly why, but somehow the Wars and the years of spying had installed a kind of depression inside him. Only a year before he'd sunk really deep to self-blame and depression, even to the point of cutting himself and harbouring suicidal thoughts. Thankfully, his soulmates had saved him from such an ill fate.

"Now, we need a plan," said Sirius, trying to lead the conversation away from the worst direction. "What about this: I and Draco distract Remus for a while. Meanwhile, you, Severus, then explain everything to Lucius, as you know the situation best -- I don't even know exactly how that male pregnancy potion is created, I'm only taking your word for it."

"Sounds simple enough that it might even work," mused Draco aloud. "However, there's still one question mark, and a big one. Exactly how are we going to lure Remus away from his chosen mate?"

"How on Earth could I know?" asked Sirius, flashing his most charming grin. "I'm a Gryffindor, I only can make general plans. Take care of the details now, my dear Slytherins."

"Brat," huffed Severus. "I'll shove details up your arse." After a second of frowning thoughtfully, he snapped his fingers. "Of course," he said. "It's quite simple, really. You two need his help with something -- quick, make up something you might be interested in but can't understand. And to make sure that he's out of hearing when I talk with Lucius, I'll ask Lucius to help me with some imaginary potion. Then, when we are in my laboratory and you're keeping Remus busy elsewhere, we'll be able to talk without Remus hearing."

"Sounds great," said Sirius, flashing a grin. "Quick, Draco. Put your Slytherin mind in use. What are we going to ask his help with?"

"Easy," said the younger Slytherin with a slight grin. "We're of course interested in hearing of werewolves' mating habits, and exactly how the mate bond is different from our soulmate bond."

That made Sirius groan aloud. "You can't be serious," he said with a whiny voice.

"Well, I am interested in that," replied Draco, grinning even more -- they all knew about Sirius's impatience with anything too theoretical. "Might as well take all the benefit we only can from this situation. Besides, you said that it was up to us to set the details. Suffer the consequences, now."

"Fine," grumbled Sirius, causing the two Slytherins to smirk triumphantly. "Now, let's go." And so, the Animagus started to make his way out of the little library and towards the part of the Manor where Remus's around-full-moon quarters were, and where the werewolf and Lucius were currently residing. Draco and Severus followed.

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