The Heart of Night

Heart of the Night

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Be Happy

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3 Moons, 9 Nights

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Remus blinked as he slowly came to. Once his hazy mind had cleared enough for him to actually see his surroundings, he was greatly relieved to see the Hogwarts Infirmary, all too familiar after his numerous visits. The second emotion that came to him was panic, then despair as he remembered the last moments before losing his consciousness. Severus... Severus was dead.

Then, however, he heard the sound of breathing from his side, somehow... comfortable. Turning his head, he was then left to stare. What he saw on the bed next to his was exactly what had expected to never see.

Severus lay on the bed, looking very fragile and vulnerable. His pale body was now flesh, however, and not cold silver. Remus' instincts no more told him to avoid his lover's touch in fear of hurting himself. However, Severus' hair indeed was like pure silver, greyish-white and sparkling in the light. And, as Remus watched his sleeping mate, a new name sprang into his mind. Fierce Silver Flame.

"What is this?" he muttered, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Severus died... or, at least, he should have. Even a human would die if they were turned into metal; a werewolf turned into a silver statue should be a lost cause. And how on Earth am I alive, too?"

"I believe that I can answer your questions," the werewolf heard from the doorway. Turning to look there, he saw Dumbledore smiling at him. The old Headmaster looked a bit tired, but otherwise he appeared fine. Relieved to see this, Remus slid his legs over the edge of his bed, standing up on unsteady legs. Once he was somewhat sure he wouldn't fall over, he turned towards Dumbledore.

"Well, then answer them, please," he asked quietly. "I fear I do not understand. How exactly are we both alive? You did kill Voldemort, didn't you? Severus Knew it. Just how did it all go?"

"Voldemort repeated his old mistake," Dumbledore told him with a small smile. "As Severus had given his life for you, Voldemort attempting to kill you backfired on him. This time, however, we were ready, and he was destroyed for good. And, as both you and Severus are powerful, adult wizards, the power going through you was a lot stronger -- and thanks to your bond, that power saved both your lives."

Remus nodded silently. Then he asked, fearing the answer, "And -- and the cub?"

To his great relief, the Headmaster broke into a broad smile. "Your dear Alan still lives," he told. "We found him from one of the cells, quite shaken and slightly injured, but thankfully alive. He's already recovered and is eagerly awaiting to meet you both again."

"Recovered... Exactly how long were we out of it?" Remus asked, confused. Obviously time had passed, but how much, he had no idea. It couldn't have been too long, though, as the moon's pull wasn't much weaker than it had been the last time he'd been awake, but he couldn't tell the exact amount of days.

"For three days, I believe," the Headmaster replied, ever cheerful. "Do not worry. I am certain Severus will wake up soon enough. Poppy examined him this morning, saying that he would soon recover."

As if to prove his words true the darkhaired werewolf stirred a bit, then blinked slowly as he woke. Unable to help himself, Remus immediately flew to the Potions Master's neck. "Severus!" he exclaimed, hugging the other man like his very life depended on his hold on his lover. "Oh, I thought you were dead!"

"So thought I, too," mumbled Severus, weakly returning the embrace. "But I couldn't let you die, now could I?" Turning towards Dumbledore, he then asked, "What happened? And... what about Alan?"

The Headmaster told him the same things he'd told to Remus. As Severus heard that Alan was all right, he let out a sigh of relief. "Get him here, then," he demanded. "I want to see him for myself."

"He's already been notified," Dumbledore told him. "In fact, I believe that he should be here right about..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a redheaded hurricane by the name of Alan Mortimer hurried in. "Alpha!" shrieked the child, running to Remus' side. "You're awake! And --" As he turned to look at Severus, his eyes widened as his wolf sensed something new. "Second Alpha! You're both well again!"

"Second Alpha?" echoed Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling even more than usually. "My, my..."

"Shut up, Albus," snapped Severus sharply. Then the look in his eyes instantly turned into a much gentler one as he turned towards Alan, reaching out his arms. "Come here, Cub," he said affectionately. As the child indeed ran to him, climbing into his lap, tiny as he was, Severus wrapped his arms around the boy and ruffled his flaming red hair. "Don't you dare make me that worried ever again, Cub."

"I'll honestly try not to, Second Alpha," the boy replied brightly. He then hugged the Potions Master.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, call me Severus," the now silver-haired werewolf replied. Just then the child seemed to notice the new trait of his, too, as he started to finger the shiny tresses.

"Wow," Alan muttered. "They're just like silver -- they even reflect light, like old silver mirrors -- but they don't burn. That must have been some incredible magic!" Flashing a grin, he added, "But you two did take down You-Know-Who, didn't you? So of course it was powerful magic you used!"

Severus frowned a bit at that. "Actually, we didn't --" he started to say, only to be cut off.

"Don't say anything, Severus," Dumbledore advised, a smile on his face. "Officially, you two have been declared the destroyers of the Dark Lord Voldemort. I'm pretty confident in saying that Chocolate Frog Cards won't be the only things you receive for that accomplishment."

Remus shook his head slowly, muttering something under his breath that Dumbledore didn't hear. Severus and Alan, however, did, and they both smirked. Then the DADA Professor asked, "What exactly happened to you, cub? All we know is that you were kidnapped by Death Eaters and then found again."

"Well, I don't exactly know, either," the child replied. "After I left you two in your quarters, I decided to go out for a walk. I guess I got rather far from the castle, but I didn't go outside the grounds, I swear! Anyway, suddenly I got this smell of a stranger. The next thing I knew I was hit by some curse -- I don't know what it was, but it hurt really badly. And, well, then I think I passed out, and woke up in a cell."

"Oh, you poor cub," Remus said, smiling at the child. "Well, now we're all safe and well, aren't we? So I think we can finally relax a bit." After this, he faked a pout. "Don't I get a hug, too?" he whined pitifully.

"Oh, shut up, you big baby," Severus said with a smirk. "Alan's now with me, and neither of us is going to move for some time. So, if you want a hug, you have to come over here."

Remus, who had sat back on the edge of his own bed, indeed did so. The Headmaster watched the happy family for a moment, then smiled, shook his head, and left.

Perhaps this ordeal had changed Severus' life for the better, not worse.

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5 Moons, 1 Fortnight, 1 Week

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Remus glanced at Alan, smiling a bit. "I think he's asleep," he commented, putting aside the book he had been reading aloud to the cub. "That's good. He needs all the rest he can get."

"Our poor little cub," muttered Severus, although the only emotions his voice held were affection and love. "Hopefully he will sleep without nightmares tonight. The one he had last week was certainly bad enough for the rest of the year." He wrapped an arm around Alan, holding the boy securely against his green-clad chest. The sleeping child mumbled a bit in his sleep, then moved a bit to get into a more comfortable position in his little nest consisting of a pillow and Severus' lap.

"Let's get him to bed," Remus suggested, a slight smile still adorning his lips. "No offense, but I still do think it'd be better for him to sleep there than in your lap for the whole night." The brunet werewolf carefully removed Alan's legs from his lap and then stood up, stretching himself. A yawn escaped his mouth as he did so. "You know, Severus... This has definitely been my best Christmas ever."

"Likewise." Severus smirked at him, then gathered Alan in his arms and stood up. "You know," he said, glancing down at the slumbering child, "for a Hufflepuff, he sure has great colours for a Gryffindor."

Remus laughed at that. "And here I was thinking that I was the Gryffindor in this pack," he said lightly. He, too, then glanced at Alan. The boy was wearing the sweater he had got from his mother after her death. It was warm yellow in colour, and a large, white waning moon decorated the chest. The almost golden sweater in combination with the boy's red hair truly did remind him of the Gryffindor colours.

"Oh, I do admit that," Severus chuckled, nodding towards Remus' red sweater. "Not only are you wearing red, but no self-respecting Slytherin would wear Muggle jeans -- not that they don't look good on you."

"Why, are you complimenting me?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow. "Now, that's very sweet of you."

"Well, you do look good in jeans," Severus said calmly as he carried Alan towards the child's room.

Remus followed his lifemate and child, content in knowing that they were truly both his now. After a simple wedding ceremony -- a mere formality to them, as nothing could be deeper than the mating bond between them, but things like that mattered to humans -- they had adopted the cub with little difficulty. The fact that they were all werewolves had certainly helped, as had Dumbledore's aid, but they knew that it could have never happened this fast if it wasn't for them taking down Voldemort. But now the cub was theirs by name and law as well as love and pack instinct, staying in their shared quarters as it was holiday at the moment. And, of course, the Weasley twins just had to talk about the "Pack of Lupin", much to Severus' irritation.

"However," continued Severus then as he laid the boy on the small bed, taking off his sweater and trousers, dressing him in his pyjamas, and tucking him in, "you do look better out of them." Then, he smirked.

Remus smirked back, shaking his head in amusement. "You're impossible, Severus," he said affectionately.

"So I am," replied his mate lightly, leading him out of their son's room. "After all, I am a Slytherin and proud of it. And that's exactly what you love about me, right?" His eyes almost twinkled, making him resemble Dumbledore for a fleeting second. It was a very creepy impression.

"Oh, no," Remus replied, smiling. "I do love you for that, yes, but also for a load of other reasons." Tugging at his mate's clothes, he added, "And, at the moment, the one on top of the list is that as good as you look in your perfectly neat Slytherin robes, you do look a lot better out of them."

"Oh?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "And what might you have in mind to do about that?"

"The same thing, I believe, as you had in mind about my jeans." And, with that, Remus learnt forward, slowly starting to open his mate's robes as they headed towards their bedroom.

Oh, yes. This was definitely their best Christmas, ever.

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