The Heart of Wolf

Heart of the Wolf

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Find Out

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5 Moons, 1 Fortnight, 1 Week, 5 Nights

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"Are you sure you are all right, Severus?" asked Remus, frowning in concern as he and his mate walked through the corridors on their way to a staff meeting -- a "perfect" way to spend another day of the Christmas holidays. "You smell... not sick, really, but a bit... off." Amber eyes examined the man on his side. Now that he thought about it, Severus was pale, unusually so even for him. Previously pale, the Slytherin had become even more so after being Turned, but now he was simply white. And this did definitely not make Remus any less worried about the odd change in Severus' scent.

"There's nothing wrong with me," snapped the other man. Brushing a strand of silver hair behind his ear, he let a tiny growl escape his lips. "What are you, a mediwizard?"

"No, I'm not a mediwizard," replied Remus, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, heroically resisting the overwhelming urge to sigh. "I am just your concerned mate and husband, that's all."

"Well, there's no reason to be concerned," Severus huffed. "I'm all right, believe me."

"Well, if you say so..." Remus said. However, he still kept an eye on his mate as they entered the staffroom. He was convinced that something was wrong with his beloved, and he was going to find out what it was.

The meeting was a casual one in nature, just an update of what was going on and what was going to happen. Scattered on the mismatched chairs in the room, the professors all tried to keep up an interested expression while they pretended to listen to Trelawney, who had decided to grace them with her presence. Well, Fred and George didn't even pretend; they were busy whispering something to each other. Remus glanced at Dumbledore, certain that the Headmaster's mind was far away despite his extremely interested expression. Otherwise, he would have definitely at least glanced in a reprimand at the two youngest members of the staff.

Sighing quietly to himself, Remus glanced warily at Severus, who was seated in his usual chair in one corner of the room. Like everybody else, Severus seemed hardly aware of what was being said. For a moment Remus became mesmerized by his mate's sheer beauty. The amber eyes seemed glazed over, the golden freckles of the upcoming full moon flickering in the candlelight. Severus' almost literally silver hair fell down to his shoulders as a fine sheet, portraying an only slightly fragmented reflection of his surroundings. Although pale, his face was also serene, strangely peaceful as the Potions Master's mind was absent.

Suddenly, however, Remus was startled just like everybody else in the room as Severus shot up from his chair, his eyes blazing with rage. "That's enough1" he roared, his enraged glare directed at poor Trelawney. "If I have to hear another one of your implications, I swear I'll rip your head off!"

"Implications? What do you mean?" asked the Divination Professor in feigned innocence. "I merely wanted to share with you what the spirits have decided to reveal to me."

"Oh, yes? Somehow all your visions lately seem to involve not only your traditional horrible death, but also a full moon and silver. It seems rather clear to me just what you are implying. Either one of my pack is going to die by silver, or I, the only known silver werewolf in existence, am going to kill someone as a wolf. Well, you know what? Neither is about to happen! So shut the fuck up, you bitch!"

Now, Dumbledore looked scandalized, while the others all just stared in shock. "Severus," the Headmaster said slowly, "I really don't think --" However, he was cut off immediately.

"No, you definitely don't!" the Potions Master snapped. "You never do, and that's exactly your problem!"

Remus bit his lip. Only once before had he seen his mate this angry, and that time had not ended well. Usually Severus was more collected than even Dumbledore himself, but when he finally lost control...

Standing up as well, he took a step towards his mate, wanting to do whatever little he could to remedy the situation. "Do calm down, Severus," he pleaded. "You're obviously not yourself. Just --"

"And you!" yelled the silver-haired werewolf, directing his blazing amber eyes now at a pair of similarly coloured ones. "Do you get some kind of twisted amusement out of seeing me being weaker than you? Is that why you insist on seeing something wrong with me all the --"

Remus assumed the last word would have been "time". However, he never found out, since at that very moment Severus suddenly collapsed. With a startled cry, Remus rushed forward.

Being the first one to reach Severus' side, Remus immediately kneeled down next to his mate. As he caught a sniff of the other man's scent, however, he froze momentarily. A strangely protective urge rose from somewhere within him. It wasn't the usual werewolf instinct to protect one's pack and mate; no, this was something deeper. It was something so overwhelming that he couldn't resist it, his only thought now to let nobody approach his mate. Glaring at the people around him, Remus bared his teeth and growled in a threat. Nobody was allowed near his beloved. He had to protect Severus from others!

The teachers all stared in shock at the two werewolves. Not only had they been startled by Severus' sudden collapsing, but Remus' behaviour was actually frightening. Dumbledore took a step forward, but this made Remus again growl in a threat. The Headmaster stepped back.

"Calm down, Remus," Dumbledore said soothingly, trying not to enrage the werewolf any further. "We don't want to hurt you or Severus; we merely want to see just what is wrong with him."

However, Remus did not give in. Instead, he moved between his unconscious mate and the full humans, his eyes flashing golden. Another growl escaped his lips, clearly telling them not to approach.

After a moment of more attempts at calming down the overprotective werewolf, all in vain, Fred Weasley headed for the door. "I will get young Alan here," he said. "Maybe he can get through to Remus."

The others all agreed with this idea. By now some had even drawn their wands, fearing that Remus might attack if he felt too threatened. It was obvious that he was now acting on a wolf's instincts.

Everybody was thus relieved when Fred finally returned, a small red-haired boy following him. Alan didn't seem to require any explanations. Not even bothering to greet the teachers, he immediately crouched down in front of his adopted fathers. "Father?" he asked carefully. "Father, you have to let others near Dad. Nobody is going to hurt him." However, Remus didn't listen to him.

Sighing, Alan slowly inched forward. As Remus growled threateningly, however, he stopped. "Alpha?" he asked, deciding to try a different approach. "Alpha, it's me. It's Beta. I'm of the pack." Now, bit of recognition flickered in the adult werewolf's golden eyes. Encouraged by this, Alan dared to approach a bit more. And, although Remus looked wary, he didn't try to attack.

"You have to let these humans help Second Alpha," pleaded the boy, everybody else watching his attempt. "They can help him, Alpha. They can find out what is wrong with Second Alpha. Let them help."

Alan slowly inched forward. However, just as he came to Remus and started to try to get around him to Severus, the alpha werewolf lashed out, growling. Now, the boy bit his lip and retreated.

"What shall we do now?" asked Dumbledore. "I fear we can't do much with magic. As a human he could easily be stunned, but when the wolf is in charge, there's little we can do about him."

"Headmaster?" asked Alan timidly. "I managed to smell Dad, and I think I know what's wrong with him. However, I also think that nobody can make Father leave his side at the moment, except if he can be made to protect somebody else -- and managing that is definitely difficult."

"Protect?" questioned Filius Flitwick. "I mean, he obviously is protective of Severus, and that's why he won't allow us near. But why is the only solution for him to protect something else?"

"Because he's currently in a hyper protective mode," the red-haired boy replied. "He can't snap out of it until Dad is awake -- and we can't awaken him as long as Father stays close to him. However, he can maybe be made to protect somebody else, which would allow us access to dad. So, one of you has to attack me." The latest statement was said just as calmly as everything else.

"What?" Minerva McGonagall looked shocked. "Wouldn't that just make him to attack us?"

"Not necessarily, Ma'am," Alan explained patiently. "In addition to protective, he's also defensive, and won't fight if you cease your threat. After all, he has to stay out of harm himself to be able to protect."

"And the only thing he would be more eager to protect that his mate is his cub," Dumbledore concluded. "Therefore you would manage to draw him from Severus' side and to your protection."

At this, however, Alan frowned. "I can't promise that, although I think so," he confessed. "This runs deeper than just mates and cubs. At the moment even I am feeling the urge to protect Dad."

This made most teachers look half confused, half curious. Dumbledore, however, merely nodded gravely. "Are you ready, my boy?" he asked gently from Alan. As the cub nodded, the Headmaster raised his wand and pointed it at the child. "Stupefy," he said quietly, and a bolt of light hit the child.

Despite the fact that Dumbledore intentionally put only minimal power behind the spell, Alan made a rather impressive fall to the floor. Instead of getting up, however, he just lay there, whimpering pitifully.

Now, Remus' expression changed. The moment the Headmaster had raised his wand the greying werewolf had turned wary, and now he became simply furious as he saw his cub, struck to the ground and whimpering in pain and fear. In a flash he was at Alan's side, glaring murderously at the Headmaster and growling at him. However, as Alan clutched on his robes and whimpered some more, targeting the wolf's deepest instincts, the DADA Professor turned to his adopted son, wrapping his arms comfortingly around the child. He still casted glares at his colleagues over his shoulder.

Seeing their opportunity arise, the other teachers immediately erected a barrier between Severus and the other two werewolves to prevent further interference from Remus. As he saw them approaching his mate, Remus became anxious and slightly angry, trying to get to them, but another whimper from Alan held him back. Deciding to find out what was wrong with the Potions Master -- who never would have voluntarily entered the Hospital Wing -- Dumbledore instructed them to take Severus right into the Infirmary instead of awakening him first. Telling a few teachers to keep an eye on Remus, he then followed.

As Severus was carried away, Remus slowly calmed down. At last he shook his head as if to clear it, obviously confused about just what had just happened. Seeing his expression, Minerva said in her usual sensible style, "Take your Father into your quarters, Alan. I think he could use some rest."

Alan nodded, then grasped his father's hand, starting to lead him out of the room. "That was a good one, Alan," Remus said quietly as they walked down the corridor. "Very well done, cub."

The boy beamed at him. Then, however, the child asked, "Did I smell right, Father? Is Dad really..."

Now, Remus chuckled, albeit weakly. "Yes, Alan," he said gently. "I do think you smelt right." With another smile, he added, "Soon you won't be the only cub in the pack."

*

Some time later Severus lay on an Infirmary bed -- on which he had been magically bound, as he was known to hate medical examinations -- and waited impatiently for Poppy Pomfrey to be done. "I already told you, there's nothing wrong with me!" he snapped. "Let me go, woman!"

"No, I won't," the mediwitch replied calmly. "Not before I have fully examined you." She casted a couple of charms more, examined the results, and then raised her eyebrows. "Say, Severus," she said with a perfectly casual tone, "Have you felt anything strange lately? Like random nausea in the morning, maybe?"

"No," snapped the Potions Master. "And even if I had, I wouldn't tell you."

"So you have," Poppy concluded calmly, too used to dealing with the man to be fazed by him. "Not that I'm surprised, actually." With a smile, she added, "Congratulations, Severus."

"Congratulations for what?" he asked irritably. "For getting sick and weak once again?"

"Oh, no," she replied, still smiling. "Congratulations on your cubs. You are pregnant."

For a moment the silver-haired werewolf just stared at her, disbelieving. Then, Severus simply exploded. "But that's impossible!" he protested. "I can't be pregnant! I'm male, for crying out loud!"

"I know that, Severus," the mediwitch told him, ever patient. "However, you're also a werewolf. I don't know if you knew this, but among werewolves, some males are referred to as fertile males, which means they can bear children. Due to the changes in your body after being Turned, you are now one of them."

"That is impossible," he still protested. "I don't even have a womb! Where would the child be?"

"Actually..." Poppy tapped his stomach with her wand, murmuring something. In an instant a three-dimensional, mostly transparent picture floated in the air over his stomach. "This," she said, "is an exact picture of your internal organs. And, as you can very well see, you do have a womb, right here." She pointed her wand at one spot in the illusion, where Severus could indeed see something that most certainly didn't belong inside a male body. "It's just connected to your rectum, not the vagina, as you don't have one."

"Still, that's ridiculous." There was no way Severus would accept this as reality. "If I truly had a womb capable of producing children, I do figure I would at least menstruate. Which I haven't."

Poppy sighed and rolled her eyes, obviously tired of arguing with him. "Werewolves don't menstruate, Severus -- neither male nor female. It is simply not necessary, thanks to your fast abilities of recovery. Only if the conception actually happens will the lining of the womb change to allow the implantation of the fertilized egg. Therefore, when you fail to conceive, there isn't anything for your body to dispose of."

Although Severus' stubborn nature still was against the thought, a dreading feeling was creeping to the bottom of his stomach. Suddenly all seemed to make sense -- more so than he would have wanted to. The tingling feeling in his stomach when Remus and he had made love for the first time, the throwing up in the mornings he'd tried to hide from his mate, the random dizzy spells, everything. All this seemed to add up to one thing -- he was pregnant. Except that he couldn't be. He was a man. He couldn't be pregnant!

"Severus?" asked Poppy. "Severus, you're now free to go -- to tell to Remus, I assume. I'll still expect you back here for regular checkups, though -- and of course you'll have to change your habits quite a bit. No staying up late or skipping meals anymore, and I'll have to talk with Albus about the lessons, and --"

For a moment, the werewolf just stared at her. And then, his yell of rage was heard throughout the castle.