The Headmaster

Chapter 27 The Headmaster

Minerva stood on her toes as she looked over the heads of the small group that had gathered for the race between Dumbledore and Snape. Alvin had promised her that he would be there, but he was no where to be seen. Already wondering if she had made the right decision in accepting his marriage proposal, his absence only made her more anxious. She looked about the pitch one more time before turning her attention to the events of the day. Albus was now walking; admittedly, he relied heavily on magic to keep him standing, but he was progressing better than predicted as the Healers had warned everyone that he might never walk again. Severus didn’t fair much better but was able to walk without the use of magic. Harry walked next to him with his hand placed on Severus’s lower back for support.

Severus saw the tears in his mentor’s eyes as he approached. A gnarled and wrinkled hand lovingly patted Severus’s cheek.

“Are you ready to be humiliated, my boy?” Albus said; the never ending twinkle danced in his eyes.

“Bring it on, old man,” Severus grinned. “I’ll teach you never to dally with a Slytherin.”

The two headed back to their respective wheelchairs.

“Just a moment please,” Hermione spoke up.

“We, the judges,” she gestured between her and Remus, “have decided that neither one of you can be trusted…”

“Hermione!” Albus said with a shocked but grinning look on his face.

He mockingly placed his hand over his heart and continued, “How could you say something so hurtful? When have I ever been deceitful?”

“I assure you Miss Granger that a Slytherin would never be caught cheating…”Severus explained.

“Which means that you are sneaker than most,” Remus added with a smile on his face.

“Since it’s obvious that the two of you can not be trusted, ‘we’ have decided that you will race in each other’s chair. There will be no charms used other than the ones that were originally put on the wheelchairs,” Hermione explained. “Now, let the race begin.”

Reluctantly, Albus and Severus switched chairs. Remus had just finished removing no fewer than six charms on Severus’s chair when the Headmaster lowered himself into the seat.

“Six charms, how utterly indefensible,” Albus scolded Severus.

“Don’t be smug,” Hermione warned the old wizard, “I found seven on yours.”

Dumbledore’s cheeks reddened, “I must be getting old if you were able to detect my charms so easily.”

Hermione stepped over and covered the Headmaster’s legs with a wool throw.

“No, your charms were very well hidden,” she whispered in his ear as she tucked the blanket around his frail legs. “I’m just very good at locating them.”

Hermione pushed the older wizard’s chair to the starting gate while Remus did the same for Severus.

“Remember you two, you both are recovering so please don’t let your pride get in the way. If you feel as if something is not right, stop. Poppy is here to be sure you are taken care of.”

The Potions Master sat straight in his chair.

“I finish what I start,” he informed Remus.

Harry placed a hand on Severus shoulder as he leaned in and spoke softly into the stubborn man’s ear.

“You ‘will’ stop if you feel bad,” he ordered, “Understood?”

Severus remained emotionless. His only response was the slightest of nods.

“Excellent. Good luck,” he leaned in and kissed his lover’s cheek.

“Is everyone ready?” Remus asked as he raised his hand to start the race.

“Ready…set…go.” Remus dropped his arm.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Draco leaned against the wall in St. Mungo’s. He stood on one foot while the other one was braced against the wall. His arms were folded tightly against his chest, a half empty cup of coffee dangled precariously from his fingers. Luna had him give up smoking years before, but it didn’t change the fact he would desperately love a drag right now.

“Have you been there all night?” Alvin asked as he stepped out of the emergency room door.

“I had to stay. Had to find out if were too late or not…”

“We were too late for Jake--he died a few moments ago,” Alvin informed Draco.

“Fuck!” Draco threw the cup of coffee he was drinking against the cream covered wall of the hospital.

“Draco, you misunderstand me. Jake is gone, but I got enough of his blood and magic to save Severus. As long as he is not exerting himself too much and depleting the little magic he has, he should make a full recovery.”

“You mean exerting himself like in a race?” Draco spoke slowly, in fear of the answer.

“I wouldn’t suggest a … oh shit, the race!” Healer Montague stammered.

The hospital shook on its foundation as the two wizards apparated out of it and into the middle of the Quidditch field.

Draco saw the two wizards neck to neck circling high above the field. With an eye on his godfather Draco ran to Harry and grabbed both of his shoulders and yelled over the cheers of the crowd to stop the race.

“What? What’s wrong?” Harry asked when he saw Alvin running towards him.

“He’s deathly ill. Stop the race!” Draco screamed.

The look on Draco’s face, more than the words that were spoken, made Harry aware of how serious the situation was. Before he could react to what was being said Harry heard a scream come from the small crowd. He turned in time to see Severus slip from his chair like melted butter and start falling to the earth below. The magical wheelchair that Severus was racing took a nosedive, following the wizard to the ground.

Severus was falling too fast for Harry’s floating charm to do much but to slow down his rate of descent. Draco rushed to the field and offered his own spell to help slow down his godfather. The tumbling chair quickly overtook and passed the Potions Master, landing on Draco’s left shoulder. Even though the pain was excruciating Draco remained on his feet, his arms opened wide, to catch Severus.

Draco’s world darkened into blackness when he caught Severus’s slack body and fellto his knees. Gravity took over and Draco slumped forward onto his godfather’s prone body. Harry was immediately at his lover’s side, Alvin close behind him. Harry turned and snarled possessively at Alvin, who was trying to get close enough to the fallen wizard to check his out.

“Harry I know how you feel--I truly do. If anyone ever came close to Minerva, I would tear out his limbs, but I have to treat him now or you won’t have him around long enough to make him yours,” Alvin spoke calmly.

Harry felt strong hands pull him from Severus. He turned to argue only to be caught in Adam’s embrace.

“Let the man do his job,” Adam ordered, tightly holding onto Harry to prevent him from pulling away and getting in the way of the Healer.

“Poppy, would you please check on Draco? I have a mild analgesic in my bag,” Alvin asked the Medi-Witch, pulling out the first of many vials that Severus would be taking over the next week and easing it slowly down the unconscious man’s throat.

“We should know in a few minutes if the elixir is working or not,” Alvin explained as he sat up Severus in a sitting position.

The Potions Master’s shoulders were slumped forward. Harry gnawed on his lower lip until it started to bleed. He wanted to push the curtain of hair from Severus’s face, to look into his black eyes and know that he was all right, but Adam held him with a firm grip.

Minerva sat down in the muck next to her boy and held Severus’s cold hand, rubbing it warm between her hands.

“Hey, why can she hold him and I can’t?” Harry whined.

He didn’t like sounding petulant, and knew that Severus would have bawled him out for acting childish, but he was not happy standing on the sideline instead of being by the man he loved.

“I have my reasons,” Alvin explained with a grin. “Mainly because we are going to be living together and I don’t want to start off our life together arguing.”

Minerva took the time from stroking Severus’s hand to give her fiancé a loving slap on the shoulder. A blush rose on her face as she went about warming Severus icy fingers.

Once Severus started to choke and cough, Harry no longer could be contained. He pulled away from Adam and gave Minerva a hard shove out of his way so he would be able to pull Severus into his arms. Minerva, sitting in a mud puddle with her legs splayed open, gave a glare at the young man that would have done Severus proud. Alvin, satisfied that Severus was well on his way to recovery, helped Minerva off the cold damp ground and brushed her robes clean, copping a feel as he did so. She tried to slap his hand as he went to grab her arse, only to find herself securely held in his strong arms.

“Harry, you can take Severus home. I’ll be by later with the medicine he will be taking for the next week. He should be…” Alvin paused trying to find the right word to use, “fully functional by the end of the day.”

Harry’s eyes widened and an evil grin crept onto his face, “Fully functional? Are you sure?”

“Yes, but let him decide if he’s up to any extracurricular activities or not,” Alvin instructed.

“If I had known I was going to wake up listening to innuendoes concerning my godfather and Potter, I think I would have remained unconscious,” Draco groaned as he tried to stand, only to find himself being pushed back to the ground by Poppy.

“You have a broken clavicle that needs to mend,” Poppy informed Draco. “You have a choice: you can stay here at Hogwarts in the infirmary, go to St. Mungo’s, or you can heal at home, where I have no doubt that Luna can keep a close eye on you.”

“Even though the thought of staying at home under the loving care of my wife is preferable, she is about to give birth to our child and I would rather not put any undue stress on her, if at all possible. I guess I’ll be staying the night at St. Mungo’s. Would someone please inform Luna for me?” Draco asked.

“Remus and I will floo over and explain what happened,” Hermione informed the Slytherin.

“I would appreciate that. Could you try to prevent her from rushing to the hospital to check on me?” Draco grimaced when the pain shot through his shoulder.

“I’ll try, but you know that once Luna decides on something it’s next to impossible to stop her,” Remus pointed out.

Draco could only nod his head in agreement. In all the years that the two have been together, Draco had yet to win an argument with his wife. He smiled. She was the reason he turned out as well as he did. If it weren’t for Luna, he would probably be in Azkaban rotting away.

Harry kissed the top of Severus’s head and was slightly alarmed that there was no response. He looked up with worried eyes at the Healer who seemed to know what Harry was thinking.

“There is a sleeping agent in the potion. He should regain consciousness in a few hours and, hopefully, feel better than he has in a long time,” Alvin explained.

Harry was about to lift up Severus and carry him back to the castle when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name. Turning his head, he saw Ron scurrying across the field waving a newspaper in the air.

Breathless, Ron could barely speak as he handed Harry the paper. Bewildered, Harry took the paper and read the headline.

“Sorry,” Ron stammered.

Draco could tell it wasn’t the Prophet that Ron had brought but the rag of a newspaper, The Wizarding Gazette. He snarled. The newspaper was known to write lies and half-truths, but he also knew the public would devour every word written.

“What does it say?” Hermione craned her neck trying to read over Harry’s shoulder.

“The truth,” Harry said as he dropped the paper. Dejected, he lifted Severus to his chest and pulled him close. He would enjoy the little time the two would have together, for when Severus finally read the paper he would, once he was done yelling at him, more than likely never speak to the Chosen One again.

Remus picked up the paper and read the headline. He gave a long, slow whistle and handed the paper to Hermione.

Hermione bit her lips and her brow furrowed as she said, “Crap!”


Tbc