Unforeseen Circumstances

Unforeseen Circumstances

Chapter 18

Severus stared at the door for a long moment before taking a deep breath and entering the room. As he entered the room, the first thing Severus noticed was Draco curled into a little ball in the center of the bed with dried tear tracks running down his face. At the physical evidence of the hurt he’d inflicted to his husband, Severus felt like his heart was breaking.

Severus walked slowly to the bed, stripping his clothes as he went. He knew he had a lot of amending to do, but right now, he really needed to hold his husband in his arms to reassure himself that Draco was still there and hadn’t left him yet. Severus climbed into the bed and pulled the sleeping blonde into his arms, tucking that sleeping face on his chest below his chin. Within moments, he too was asleep.

*****

“Do you think they’ll be all right, Luc?” asked Harry quietly, following his husband to their room.

“I think that eventually their relationship will be restored, but I am equally sure that Draco will make Severus suffer for the pain he caused,” said Lucius gravely. “Draco is not as forgiving as you are, love. It will take time, but he will forgive Severus.”

“You’re not telling me anything new. After all, Draco and I wouldn’t have had nearly as many problems as we did if he had forgiven my refusal of his friendship in first year rather than try to get revenge for the slight. Most of the fights we had were caused by him,” said Harry ruefully.

“I, for one, can’t wait to see the great Severus Snape knocked down a peg or ten,” said Lucius gleefully.

Harry just shook his head at Lucius’ joyful anticipation of Draco’s revenge against Severus. He knew that most of it stemmed from Lucius’ desire to see his son happy, but quite a bit of it was just a simple desire to see his old friend so unsettled.

*****

Draco woke slowly, stretching from being in one position for too long, and cuddled into the warmth beside him. Well, he cuddled until the events from earlier that day come crashing down on him. Draco immediately got angry that Severus had dared to sleep in the same bed with him after all but accusing him of cheating on him.

Carefully climbing from the bed, Draco grabbed his wand and pointed it at Severus. Deliberating on which spell to use, Draco smirked evilly and set to work. After numerous spells changing Severus’ hair colour to neon green, purple polka dots dotting his face, vanishing his eyebrows, and changing the colour of his robes to various pastel shades, Draco was nearly finished. As a final treat, his last spell ensured that the spell would last for at least seven days.

Draco then conjured a bucket of icy water directly over Severus, walked to the door and opened it, and tipped the bucket over, sloshing Severus with the icy cold water, before walking calmly out the door.

Severus, on the other hand, sat on the bed gasping as the icy water literally took his breath away. He couldn’t even be angry at Draco for doing that because he knew full well that he deserved it. That attitude lasted for all of five minutes. Just long enough to get into the bathroom and see his reflection, in fact. Once he realized that he couldn’t undo the hexes, then he got angry. He couldn’t believe that Draco would humiliate him in such a public manner.

*****

Harry and Lucius were already sitting at the Slytherin table at dinnertime when Draco stalked through the Great Hall doors. Draco just calmly walked over to the Slytherin table and calmly sat beside Harry. He ignored the questioning looks from Harry for the moment and started eating.

“Draco, are you alright?” asked Harry worriedly, after several long moments of silence.

“I’m fine, Harry, and you?” asked Draco politely. He knew Severus would be angry with him, but at the moment he just didn’t care.

“Draco, please talk to me,” beseeched Harry softly. He knew very well that Draco wasn’t alright, and it hurt to see Draco withdraw behind that cold mask again. “Did Severus say something else to you?”

“I haven’t talked to Severus,” said Draco bluntly. “I woke up with him in the bed, and it just made me so angry that he would hold me like that after the things he said yesterday. So I hexed him.”

“Hexed him how?” asked Harry worriedly. He had a really bad feeling about this.

“I turned his hair green, put purple polka dots on his face, vanished his eyebrows, and coloured his wardrobe in pastels,” said Draco calmly.

“Oh,” said Harry. ‘Yep, this is bad,’ he thought to himself.

“What, you’re not going to yell at me for being a vengeful little Slytherin with no considerations for other people’s pride and dignity?” asked Draco spitefully. He could practically feel the disapproval coming off of Harry in waves.

“Draco, although I don’t particularly care for your methods, I don’t blame you for being angry at him, or for wanting to hurt him just as much. It’s a natural reaction to being hurt like that, instinctual even. I think you may have made things worse, but I won’t condemn you for it. You’re my big brother and I love you as such. You know that if you need me, I’ll be there for you,” said Harry quietly, staring at Draco intently. “You’re not the only one that wanted to hurt Severus because of this. He’s lucky I didn’t hex his balls off for that.”

Draco was staring at Harry in total astonishment by the end of his tirade. He couldn’t believe that Harry had been so angry on his behalf after all the things he’d done to the brunette over the last six years. He suddenly just broke down and threw himself into Harry’s arms, sobbing his heart out. He didn’t even care that he was in the Great Hall where everyone could see him.

Harry just rocked and soothed the distraught blonde, looking towards Lucius helplessly. “Lucius, I think you need to go talk to Severus. You know, soothe the savage beast. Draco hexed him in a… well, let’s just say a very noticeable way. If Severus gets near Draco right now, he’s guaranteed to say something to damage their relationship beyond repair,” Harry whispered to Lucius. Lucius just nodded and left immediately.

“Draco, how about we go visit Madame Pomfrey?” asked Harry, as Draco’s tears slowed to a stop. “All this stress can’t be good for the baby.” Draco just nodded weakly and allowed Harry to lead him to the infirmary.

*****

“Severus, are you in here?” called Lucius, scanning the room for any sign of Severus.

“Go the hell away,” growled Severus. It sounded like he was in his room.

“We need to talk and now. I know that Draco hexed you so you might as well just come on out here,” said Lucius firmly.

Severus stalked to the bedroom door and ripped it open. Lucius could only stare at the Potion’s Master in shock and try not to laugh. “This is what your son did to me. I can’t teach my classes looking like this. If I get my hands on-“ said Severus, in full rant mode.

“I wouldn’t complete that statement if I were you,” growled Lucius. “You hurt my son. Do you even remember how you felt the day after my wedding to Harry when I was ranting about breaking our bond because our lives were irrevocably bond together? If not, I’ll remind you. You punched me in the jaw and brought Harry down here. You were angry because I had unwittingly hurt your ‘son’ and you don’t expect me to feel a little vindicated that Draco got his own revenge?

“It’s not the same,” muttered Severus stubbornly.

“It’s exactly the same. The only question is whether or not you’re going to allow this to ruin your marriage,” said Lucius calmly. “Oh, Harry took Draco to the infirmary because he broke down completely in the Great Hall. Congratulations. You are the only one who’s managed to hurt Draco enough to break him like that.”

Lucius smiled viciously when Severus flinched. He walked to the door and paused. “Severus, Harry loves you, but if you don’t fix this, he may follow through on his threat to hex your balls off. He was a bit upset to see his big brother crying and clinging to him. Just thought you might want to know.” With that, Lucius left the room and headed towards the infirmary.

“Damn, an unhappy Harry is a dangerous Harry. An unhappy, pregnant Harry is a lethal Harry. Gods, as much as it pains me to admit this, even to myself, Lucius is right. I reacted just the same, but at least this time the wronged person did the damage. Well, here goes nothing,” said Severus, taking a deep breath and leaving the safety of his quarters to visit his distraught husband in the infirmary.

*****

“Harry, what are you and Draco doing back so soon?” asked Poppy as soon as they entered the infirmary.

“Draco, why don’t you go lie down on a bed and get some rest? You don’t look like you feel very well,” said Harry quietly, guiding Draco to the nearest bed. Once Draco was settled, Harry turned to Madame Pomfrey. “Draco, told Sev about the baby, and let’s just say that he didn’t take it so well. He basically accused Draco of cheating on him. Well, Draco was understandably upset, so he hexed Severus while he was asleep. You probably won’t be seeing him for several days at least.”

“When will that man learn to keep his snide comments to himself?” asked Poppy exasperatedly. “Let me run some tests on him to make sure everything is alright.”

Draco suddenly cried out, clutching his abdomen and curling up with the pain. Poppy ran to his bedside, wand already out and running tests when she reached him. “Harry, give me that blue potion on the second shelf and the lavender potion on the fourth shelf,” she ordered quickly.

Harry rushed to obey and came back with the required potions within seconds. “Lift his head and hold his mouth open,” she ordered once again. She poured the potions down his throat and waited anxiously as Draco slowly relaxed completely. Using her wand, she ran a few more tests and sighed in relief.

“What just happened?” asked Harry worriedly, stroking Draco’s hair soothingly.

“He almost miscarried. I had to give him a muscle relaxer to stop the cramps and sleeping draught. He’ll also have to be on bed rest for a week or two to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Poppy quietly. “He’s stabilized for now, but call me immediately if he looks to be in any kind of pain.”

“I will,” said Harry.

Lucius suddenly stormed into the infirmary, looking angry at the world. As soon as he saw Harry sitting beside a sleeping Draco with tears pooling in his eyes, he rushed to Harry and pulled him into his arms. “What’s wrong, love? What happened?”

“Draco nearly miscarried,” said Harry sadly. “Poppy managed to stop the cramps and prevent the miscarriage for the moment, but he’s on bed rest for at least a week to make sure the miscarriage was stopped for good.”

Unbeknownst to Harry and Lucius, Severus had crept silently into the infirmary to check on Draco. When he heard Harry tell Lucius about Draco’s threat of miscarriage, Severus rushed to Draco’s bedside. “I am so sorry, Draco. Please forgive me. I love you so much. I don’t want to lose you or our baby. I’m sorry,” he whispered to the sleeping blonde. He looked up, startled, when he felt slender arms wrap around him. He saw that it was Harry hugging him and felt a little better. “I thought you wanted to hex my balls off.”

“I did,” said Harry bluntly. “But if I can forgive Lucius for being stupid, I can forgive you for being even more stupid.”

Lucius and Severus both smiled at that comment. “Thank you, Harry. I never really understood how you could forgive people so easily, but I’m thankful for that amazing gift all the same,” said Severus, returning the hug tightly.

“Just make sure that when Draco wakes up, you tell him the same thing you said when he was asleep. If you hurt him again, I will make good on my threat and add to it,” said Harry firmly.

“Duly noted,” said Severus quietly. “I don’t intend to hurt again. My life would be nothing without Draco and our baby. I love them both. After all, I just walked through the school like this to be with him. That’s saying something.”

“I love you too, Sev,” whispered a voice from the bed. Severus looked down and saw Draco blinking hazily at him.

“Oh, thank the gods,” cried Severus. “I am so sorry, love. Please forgive me. I love you.”

Harry and Lucius smiled at the poignant scene and silently left the infirmary.