Lionsnake Manor

Lionsnake Manor

*

Misfortune

*

It was early in the morning -- more like night -- when Harry was suddenly startled awake by a strange sound. Blinking and trying to figure out what exactly he'd heard, he sat up on the bed. Then, the sound came again.

This time, however, he was able to tell where it had come from. The source of the small, whimpering sounds was the young blond wizard lying next to him.

"Draco?" he asked quietly, leaning towards the younger wizard. "Draco, love, what's wrong with you?"

The blond, however, did not answer. He merely groaned out again, his pale arms wrapped around his stomach.

Now really worried, Harry reached out to shake his shoulder. "Draco?" he asked quietly. "Wake up, please!"

"W-what?" mumbled Draco, blinking. As he caught the sight of the other young wizard's worried face, he sighed. "Help me, Harry," he whimpered. "It hurts -- it fucking hurts."

"What?" asked Harry, alarmed. "Where does it hurt?"

"M-my stomach," stammered Draco. As he raised his gaze up to Harry, the silver eyes were full of tears, tears of pain and fear. "Harry... I think that something's happened to my baby!"

This of course startled the darkhaired young wizard. "Oh, shit," he spat. Then, turning around in their bed, he whispered urgently, "Severus, wake up! Wake up now! Hey, Severus!" He shook the Potions Master's shoulder.

A moment later, Severus opened his eyes -- he'd always been a light sleeper. Harry sighed quietly in relief. Draco was maybe their only fully qualified mediwizard, but Severus was as good as. During the War, Severus had done little good in the battles -- even though his knowledge and skills in brewing potions were greater than those of anybody else, he could do a Lumos spell with his wand and that was about it. So, when he'd wanted to do something useful beyond brewing some healing potions that any fifth-year student could make -- even Neville -- Madam Pomfrey had trained him into an assistant for herself. With this training and his knowledge about all Wizarding medicines and cures, Severus made an excellent mediwizard whenever there was a need for one. And right now, with Draco himself whimpering in pain, he really was needed.

"...Harry?" mumbled Severus, looking up to the young wizard. "What's happened? Is something wrong?"

"Draco's hurting," Harry explained hurriedly, pointing at their younger blond husband. "He says it's his stomach. Please check soon whether the baby is okay!"

Only when he said this Harry himself began to understand that they might indeed lose one of their unborn children in such an early stage of pregnancy -- Remus was only a bit over a month along, and the others were just the month. As he thought about this, Severus's words began to echo in his mind. "Remus, you, and Draco are much more probable to have a miscarriage..."

It could not be. Draco could not lose his baby! That simply couldn't happen!

He watched worriedly as Severus crawled past him and crouched to examine the young blonde. After pressing the still flat stomach from about every direction and muttering some charms -- most scanning charms didn't require a wand, which suited Severus just well -- his expression turned even more serious than before. Ignoring Harry's worried questions, the Potions Master summoned a house-elf and told it to bring some potions that Harry did not recognize by name. The creature nodded and disappeared, only to pop into sight some time later with the requested potions in tow.

By this time, Lucius had woken up also -- another light sleeper. With them all now awake -- Remus's mating instincts hadn't yet let go of him after the full moon, so he and Sirius were sleeping in another room -- the elder blond and Harry watched quietly as Severus made Draco drink the potions. The young blond grimaced at the foul taste but downed the potions anyway, knowing that Severus would not make him drink anything he didn't need.

"What were those potions, anyway?" asked Harry quietly. "I didn't recognize any of the names."

At this, Severus lowered his eyes. "One of them will ease the pain," he said quietly. "The two others -- well, they'll help the body's natural recovery."

"Recovery?" echoed Lucius, raising his eyebrows. "From what, exactly?"

Now Severus raised his eyes, and even in the dim light of the bedroom they could see the pained look in them. "From having to reabsorb the temporary uterus as it is no more used."

Draco bit his bottom lip, closing his eyes and trembling a bit as the full meaning behind Severus's words sank in. "...I lost the baby," he whispered.

"It's not your fault," Lucius said, drawing the younger blond into a protective embrace. "It most definitely isn't your fault. It just happened, it could happen to anyone."

"He's right, you know," Severus said. "Really, Draco, you're the mediwizard here. You should know enough about pregnancies to realize that it can't be your fault."

Harry just nodded mutely in agreement, tears veiling his eyes. He hated being pregnant. The female hormones in his body made him unable to behave normally, making him oversensitive and sissy. He was almost the worst of them in that respect. Most of the time, he was the worst. Only Remus around full moon could be worse than he.

Just as he thought about that, he realized another thing. "Merlin," he muttered. "How the hell are we going to tell Remus?"

The three other wizards turned towards him, shocked. Sirius would bring no problems; whether it was because he was older or what but he hardly made any difference from his usual all-male self. Remus, however, was the one they had to be concerned about, especially this soon after the full moon. It would do no good for his baby if he got upset. Severus was determined to save the child once it was born, but there was little he could do for it before that.

"Well, we'll deal with that in the morning," Lucius said then determinedly. "Right now, we all need some more sleep. You especially, Draco -- and you, Harry." He placed a soft kiss on top of the youngest wizard's head, then continued, "Come on, loves. It'll do no good to anybody to stay awake right now." With this, he leant back to lie down on the bed, pulling Draco with himself, as the younger blond was still securely wrapped in his arms. Harry and Severus soon followed them, settling to both sides of their blond lovers. With minutes, Lucius, Draco, and Harry were all fast asleep, even though Draco's sleep was a bit restless.

Severus, however, did not sleep any more that night.