Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling and no money is being made from this story.
A/N:Finally an update!This is only a part of the seventh chapter but writers block hit me in the middle of it so I decided to post what I had. I apologize to the reviewer who a significant amount of time ago I said it would be up in a week, I offer no excuse just an honest apology. That goes for everyone else as well.
Chapter 7: Recuperation
As soon as Remus arrived at Hogwarts he dashed up to the Hospital Wing, Harry still in his arms. After Poppy finished scanning him she made his unconscious form swallow some nutrient and hydration potions then turned to Remus, "There is nothing else I can do for him, he will just have to sleep" Remus though had other ideas.
After searching the entire castle, Remus found himself outside the Headmaster's office.
"Remus, What can I do for you?"
"I was looking for Severus; can you tell me where he is?"
"He is with Voldemort and will be there until Monday morning "
"But it is only Friday now, that is too long," Remus paused
"May I enquire as to why you want Severus?" Dumbledore asked in the gap left by Remus' pause.
"I need him to help Harry who is currently in the Hospital Wing. Wait!" Remus exclaimed as Albus made to stand "I need to tell you what I found out. You see, Harry seemed to be abnormally tired after the first transformations that I witnessed, so when I came back I did some research. Did you know that were-leopards have a mating season? Well they do. During the blue moon they transform at night to get sustenance so that the human will be able to mate during the day. The human draws the strength it needs from its mate because the leopard uses a large amount of the energy of the human and most of that goes into making them fertile, both leopard and human are fertile. It is particularly bad for an unmated were-leopard because they are not making up any of the energy the leopard is taking. Harry was completely exhausted and immobilized when I found him. I don't know if he will survive another blue moon alone. Anyway that is why I wanted Severus I was thinking that if he sat by Harry it might help"
"Oh" was all the Headmaster could say.
Back in the Hospital Wing Poppy was disturbed by a sound, she rushed out into the ward only to stop short in surprise. "Dad," Harry cried "dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, mate, mate, no mate don't want me I don't want mate, dad, dad, dad ..." and so on. Poppy was completely baffled, she hoped he wasn't hallucinating so she sat and watched him. He was still muttering five minutes later when the werewolf came in followed by the Headmaster. After listening to Harry for a moment Remus semi-smiled "I think he may be referring to me, as he called me dad one morning after his transformation" gently lifting Harry, Remus climbed onto the bed, leaning against the headboard and pulled Harry close. Harry stopped muttering and snuggled close, smiling slightly in his sleep.
On Monday morning when he returned Severus sat with Harry for a couple of hours. When he saw signs that Harry was waking up Severus left quickly. He thought because of what he had said that Harry should have the right to find him if he wanted to and to not have to deal with him if that is what Harry wanted.
Harry awoke slowly. The last thing he remembered was Remus looking after him in leopard form. Seeing the familiar looking ceiling above him allowed him to form some conclusions. Obviously Remus had brought him back to Hogwarts. Feeling fine and wanting to stay in the Hospital Wing; Harry looked around for madam Pomfrey before standing up. He had a bit of a dizzy spell when he was on his feet but recovering, he scampered making his escape and heading down to the Chamber of Secrets. Upon entering the Chamber, Harry was surprised to find himself enveloped in two pair of arms.
"Harry! Where were you? When did you get back? Why did you leave? Are you going to sit your NEWTs with us?" Harry laughed at the last question, it was so like Hermione.
"Relax Hermione, I'm not quite sure when I got back but I woke up in the Hospital Wing this morning. I left because Severus rejected me and yes I will indeed be sitting NEWTs especially now that I am here."
"Oh good, come study with us"
"Sure, hi Draco"
"Hi, before we study, Harry I need to ask you a favour."
"Sure"
"My Father was discovered as a spy in April and the Dark Lord is draining his magic through the Dark Mark. Would you be able to remove it, soon? Before he dies, please?" Draco was whispering at the end.
"Of course, I will do it now. Take me to him."
Draco led Harry to a room in the dungeons near Severus' and though this made Harry nervous he was determined to help Lucius.
Draco paused before the door, "umm, Harry, Severus might be in there because as Father gets weaker he needs help and Severus has been the one helping him" Harry just nodded and Draco pushed open the door. A quick look around revealed that Severus wasn't there so Harry walked over to Lucius. "Mr Malfoy it is Harry I am going to remove the Mark now, stay as still as you can" Harry paused "Draco do you have a picture of the tattoo he wanted?"
"Yes, we got him to draw it before he got too weak just in case he was really bad when you arrived" Harry winced slightly at being unavailable when he was needed but nodded nonetheless and Draco handed him a bit of parchment and before taking up a position behind Harry along with Hermione as Harry bent forward over Lucius' forearm.
A couple of minutes after Harry began Severus walked through the door. The only thing he could see were Hermione's and Draco's backs and he could fell a large magical working taking place. He saw red "what in the name of Merlin are you imbeciles doing? You know he can't handle having any large magic around him, it will only speed up the drain and he has very little magic left!"
Hermione and Draco after looking at each other moved aside to let Severus see Harry who was surprisingly still engrossed in healing Lucius, the sounds of Parseltongue never faltering even when Snape yelled. Snape stared at the boy who had been in the Hospital Wing that morning before joining Malfoy Jr. and Granger in their silent vigil.
After about 10 minutes of hissing at the Mark, Harry's legs collapsed beneath him. Draco rushed forward to help him. Harry took a few gasping breaths before taking a deep breath and looking directly into Draco's eyes said "it is not finished yet, you will have to hold me up until it is, please?" Draco nodded and pulled him to his feet, standing behind him with his arms around Harry's waist giving him the physical support he needed. Five minutes later Harry whispered hoarsely "Done" and slumped in Draco's arms. When Severus came forward to claim Harry, Draco didn't argue too much figuring he was in good hands instead he ran to his Father who was waking.
"Draco bring him to the Hospital Wing I want Poppy to check him over" Severus ordered as he left the room, Harry in his arms.
Poppy was surprised to say the least when Severus walked in carrying Harry particularly as she was just about to check on him and had not realized that he was gone. She was mores surprised less than 5 minutes later when Lucius Malfoy walked in under his own power with only minimal assistance from Draco. "Lucius what are you doing? Get in a bed this instant; and Draco you should have known better" Poppy glared at them both before walking over to where Severus had lain Harry down. "Now, tell me what happened"
It was Lucius who eventually spoke up. "He removed the Dark Mark Poppy and it feels marvellous"
"Right," she replied with her wand out "that explains why I can detect severe magical exhaustion in Harry then. There was no way he was ready for that! You are lucky he is still alive!" Poppy visibly calmed herself down. Finding nothing wrong with Harry besides the magical exhaustion she left Severus sitting watch over Harry and went over to Lucius. Forcing him to lie on the bed she ran her wand over his body. It brought tears to her eyes to run her wand over his left arm and not feel darkness emanating from it. When she reached his navel she paused, something was odd. She would possibly call it a bundle of light magic but she wasn't sure. "Lucius, could you remove your shirt please?"
When his shirt was removed she just stared at his stomach her behaviour calling over both Draco and Severus. On Lucius' stomach was a tattoo. It was a wide circular band around his belly button (like a donut); most of the inside of the circle was what looked to be a Celtic design but at the very top of it (12 on a clock) was a lightning bolt. Also around the outside of the circle was what looked to be some sort of spidery writing, though none of them could read it. Lucius, looking down at it smiled and said "that looks like the tattoo I wanted Harry to replace the Dark Mark with however, it is slightly different. My design didn't have the lightning bolt or the writing."
Poppy smiled "well that explains the magic I sensed. From what I can tell everything is alright with you Lucius but I want you to stay here overnight just to rest without being bothered. I also want you to come back when Harry wakes up just to make sure everything is truly alright after he explains."
"Certainly ma'am"
Poppy retreated, still smiling back to her office to leave the men to talk.
A/N: This seemed like a good place to leave it. I apologize for the length but to make up for it next chapter I will probably explain Severus' comment about Voldemort as well as a few other things. I also hope the next chapter will be up quicker!