Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. *sad face*

Chapter 78

Remus' confession

Severus was sitting in his bed contemplating. Not concerning his school work, or the projects he's been working on or even The Dark Lord, who had been making the headlines far to much recently. No he was trying to figure out how he was going to get more alone time with Lily, especially with the Christmas holiday approaching. They weren't of age until January so unless they were at his house he could not use his wand to cast a contraceptive charm and there was no bloody way he was going to put his faith in muggle condoms. He supposed he could nick his mum's wand but… probably not the best idea, if there was an emergency and she needed it there could be serious repercussions.

Turning on his side, his focus turned to the glowing, round moon that shown outside the large tower window. Remus often stays awake until dawn when the moon is at its fullest, happily mocking the object that was once a form of monthly torment. He did notice that for some strange reason his blood-brother had seemed to have been avoiding him recently. Lily thought he was reading too much into it, he guessed he would just have to wait and see. If it continued much longer however he would take him aside and talk to him about it.

There was also the issue with Mrs. Black, they still had not heard anything back concerning the matter, though Sirius had promised he would write him when he arrived home with any news.

"Meow."

Severus turned at the soft meow of his feline friend. His little white ball of fluff walked over from the end of the bed where he had been laying and decided to rest himself right on Severus' chest.

"Winter, what are you doing?" He asked with a laugh. She would sit in his lap when he was reading or studying, but at night she always preferred to lay at the end of his bed.

The cat meowed once again this time as she began to pussyfoot his chest. It was odd because he never recalled her doing that on him before. Just as he was about to pick her up and put her back on the end of the bed, he felt it. A strange tightness in his chest that began to slowly round his back and then, before he really had time to contemplate what was going on he found himself suddenly gasping for breath. It didn't take but a moment to realize what was going on. He was having an allergic reaction or at least that was what he assumed was going on. He hadn't had one since that fateful day that he had almost died, but he sure as hell remembered what it felt like.

"Oh, shit!" Shooting up in bed he grabbed his potion bottle from his bedside table, pulled off the cork and drank it down. It took a minute but his breathing began to slowly return to normal, though something still didn't feel right. Grabbing his wand he slowly got out of bed, his faithful kitty following right behind him as he walked over to the next bed, to wake up his roommate.

"James," He called out pushing on his sleeping friends shoulder. "James, get up."

Groggily James' eyes fluttered open. "Severus...what… are you okay?" He asked looking up at the ghostly pale face of his good friend.

"No. I had an allergy attack, I took my potion and it helped but I still don't feel right. Can you go get Professor Flintwick, please."

"Yeah, yeah, right now." He said throwing off the covers and pushing on his slippers. "Here, sit down," He motioned for his Severus sit down on the edge of his bed before racing off to get their head of house.

XXX

Lily sat down in the chair beside his hospital bed, taking his hand he gazed down at his sleeping form. Her poor Sev...he had been fine for months with no sign of any issue and then out of nowhere he had an attack. He had taken his potion which helped a little but didn't stop it completely. They knew there was a possibility that he could have another attack, which was why he had the potion, still he had been fine up until now so no one had expected anything to happen. Most still thought it was due to an allergic reaction to a Chizpurfle bite but she knew better.

He was poisoned.

He was now extremely careful when handling ingredients, making sure to wear his dragonhide gloves. He had also be extremely careful about what he eats as he had developed some food allergies as well and while the healer said the food issues were more intolerances and would only result in an upset stomach, he didn't want to take any chances.. So the question was, had he accidentally been infected by one of the creatures he was now allergic to or was the poison still in his system slowly breaking down his system and causing more severe allergies.

At the sound of a soft "meow" Lily looked down at the end of the bed to see Winter curled up atop Sev's feet. "I know, sweetie, he'll be OK. He just needs to rest."

"That's good to know." Lily turned to see Remus, who gave her a kind smile. "James told me what happened." He said pulling a chair up next to Lily.

Lily let go of her boyfriends hand, reaching up she brushed his bangs from his eyes. Placing he hand back in her lap she turned to look at Remus. "His potion helped at first, but he still didn't feel good, so while Madam Pomfy tried to help they floo called the healer that treated him at St. Mungo's. By the time he arrived Sev was starting to having breathing issues again."

Remus sighed and closed his eyes. He felt awful. He had been ignoring his brother because he had feelings for his girl and didn't know how to deal with it. Her beautiful emerald eyes looked so sad, he could see the worry and fear swelling in him. He hated to see her like that.

"Do you know if the healers have said anything about what might have caused the episode?" He asked trying hard to divert his mind from the enchanting creature sitting beside him.

"No," She said, shaking her head, "They won't tell me anything. I know his mum was here for about an hour but had to go home. She'll probably be back though, once she gets things settled at home."

"This is so unfair. He… he doesn't deserve this. I really hate Wallagbra Black." Severus had told Remus that Regulus had admitted that it was his mum who poisoned Severus but also asked him not to spread it around, that they had a plan to deal with it.

"You and me both." Now more than ever Lily seriously wanted to contact the Aurors. She knew it would have a negative effect on Sirius and Regulus' family and she felt bad about that, but this woman shouldn't be roaming around free. She was dangerous and from what Regulus had said, mentally unstable.

Lily then turned to Remus, her eyes full of concern but for a different reason then that of her ill boyfriend. "Remus, have you been OK? Severus mentioned you seemed to be avoiding him, he really concerned about you."

Remus ducked his head and nodded, "I have an issue I'm working through… I can't really talk to Severus about it." He admitted vaguely.

"Why not, he's your friend, your brother. I'm sure he would be there for you, help you out if he can ."

The former werewolf gave a humorous laugh, "He can't really help me with this Lily. In fact I think if I told him what was going on in my mind lately he would hex the bloody hell out of me."

Lily gave her housemate a look of utter disbelief. "He's your his brother, he wouldn't do that to you."

Remus let out a long, deep breath, his blue eyes locked with Lily's green, "Do you remember in our third year when James got drunk and kissed you?"

"Yes…" She answered still not sure where this was going.

"And do you remember what Severus' reaction was."

She nodded in affirmation. Of course she remembered, he completely over-reacted throwing James up against the wall and threatening him.

"Well, if he did that to James who was completely wasted at the time, what do you think he would do to me if I told him I… had a crush on you?"

Lily gasped her eyes widened in complete shock. "You-you fancy me?"

Remus gave a humorous laugh, "A lot of guys fancy you Lily, I... my feelings are a bit more complicated than that."

Way more complicated. He was pretty sure he was in love with her yet he knew he had absolutely no chance in hell of having her. First he could never do that to Severus but also he was way out of her league.

Looking back down at his lap, unable to tell her while gazing into her beautiful eyes, he confessed his true feelings. "I have always thought you were pretty Lily, you'd have to be blind not to but lately...it's like this part of me that I had repressed sort of erupted and all these feelings of-of longing surfaced and I bloody hell don't know what to do about it."

There was a good minuet of utter silence before the red-headed Gryffindor finally managed to say, "Remus… I-I love Sev."

"I know you do, Lily and he loves you and I would never do anything to try and destroy that. I just wish my feelings would go away… but I don't think they will any time soon."

Lily looked back over at her sleeping boyfriend, once again taking his hand in hers. "Maybe you're right Remus, maybe you shouldn't tell Sev, but… please stop avoiding him, it makes him worry about you."

Remus gave Lily a quiet, "Okay," Before standing and silently walking out.

XXX

Severus had a migraine. He hadn't had one since his previous life and it was annoying to say the least. Madam Pomfry had given him a pain potion, which took the edge off, but it was still there and until be could brew some of his personal pain reliever he doubted it would go away on it's own. He had been in the hospital wing for three days and he wasn't going to be allowed to leave until Healer Delaney returned with the results of further tests.

His mum had come by a few times, she explained they were trying to find out what caused the attack, if I was bitten by one of the magical creatures I had been diagnosed as being allergic to or if something else caused it. Severus, however knew damn well the poison was still in his system, slowly but surely wreaking havoc with immune system and if he didn;t figure out a cure he was most likely going to have to deal with it for the rest of his life, that is if it didn't wind up killing him at some point down the line.

"Morning, Sev."

Severus' contemplative frown turned into a grin at the sight of the girl he loved. "Good morning."

Pulling up a chair she sat down beside his bed and quickly leaned in and kissed him. "Do you know when you're going to get out of here?" She asked.

"Healer Delaney is supposed to be by later today with the results of the tests. Hopefully they have come to a conclusion of sorts that will allow then to free me from my confinement."

Lily gave a small laugh at his over extended use of vocabulary. "I hope so too."

"Christmas holiday starts in two days and I was really hoping to have some free time before we left for home."

What he really wanted was a chance to take Lily back to the room of requirement and make love to her again. They doubted they would have the opportunity during their Christmas holiday.

"It's good to see you up and chatting Mr. Snape."

Severus looked up to see Healer Delaney walk through the main doors of the hospital wing, though by the despairing look on his face Severus had a feeling he wasn't bringing good news.

"How are you feeling?" He asked giving his patient a small smile.

"I feel fine now? Just a little anxious to get out of here."

"Yes, I can understand that. You should be able to go about life as usual very soon but there is a couple of things I need to talk to you about."

"Did the tests reveal anything?" He asked.

Lily's grip tightened on her boyfriends hand, she was as nervous as he was about what they may or may not have found. Was he bitten by one of the creatures he was now allergic due to the poison or had he somehow developed further allergies? Or was it all together something completely different?

"We did ...Mr. Snape perhaps we should discuss this in private?" Healer Delaney suggested motioning to Lily.

"Oh… of course." Lily said, releasing Severus' hand and standing. "I'll just be in the hall."

Severus really didn't want Lily to leave. He was by far a much calmer person when she was with him but he understood the need for confidentiality.

Healer Delaney waited until Lily had left closing the door behind her. "I've already talked to your parents." He said taking the seat Lily had just vacated. "They gave me permission to talk to you without them present."

"OK." He assumed whatever it was they had found could not have been that bad otherwise his parents would be the one breaking the news. Still, he had a feeling it was more than a simple allergic reaction to a magical creature bite. Perhaps, he wondered, if they had finally realized, as he had weeks ago, that he had been poisoned.

"Severus, you know what Asthma is, correct?"

"Yes...I had an asthma attack?" The reaction he had seemed far too severe to be just an asthma attack, then again he had never had asthma before, but he had seen children in his classes have them, usually they would quickly drink down a potion or use an inhaler and they would be fine.

"Yes, but I'm afraid it's more complicated than that. There is a condition called Pneumomediastinum, it happens when a person develops air in their mediastinum, which is a space between the lungs and other organs in the chest cavity. It is...rare, especially to witches and wizards. Usually an attack will resolve itself but in your case it did not...Severus, I don't have any proof but I think all of the health issues you have been dealing with are far more than a bad reaction to a magical creature bite. First your immune system was compromised and now your respiratory system. Right now we have ways to treat what you are suffering from but I am worried you may have further complications down the line."

There was a full moment of silence as Severus processed what he had just been told. He knew there was a possibility that there was still a small amount of poison in his body, but he had been hopeful it was minuet enough that it wouldn't cause any further issues. He hadn't even had a hint of a problem until the moment of the attack.

"Healer Delaney…. I think I was poisoned."

He put it out there, more then anything to see if he would agree with him. He wouldn't tell him that he knew for a fact that he was or who had done it, just that the thought had crossed his mind.

The healer sighed but nodded, "It's a possibility but if it's a poison it's a difficult one to trace or the amount is so small that we just can't locate it. Either way I think it best to monitor you more carefully so until further notice you will be having bi-weekley appointments with me at St. Mungo's, and I have also prescribed you an emergency inhaler in case you have breathing problems again. There is a potion available but honestly the muggle inhaler works faster and in your case I think that's our better bet. I also," He continued, reaching into his pocket pulling out what Severus recognized as his medical alert bracelet. He hadn't even realized he had taken it from him, "added the asthma and Pneumomediastinum to your bracelet," He said handing it to him.

"Oh, thanks." He said clipping it onto his wrist.

"Oh course." He replied standing. "Don't worry Severus, well get to the bottom of it."

With the sudden realization of how severe his condition was, Severus knew the only way he was going to be able to end this once and for all was to find an antidote to the poison. The problem was, he didn't think there was one, at least none he had found in his research which meant he would have to create one himself.

XXX

Lily laid her head on her boyfriend's shoulder as she let out a long yawn. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. James and Narcissa were sitting opposite them on the train ride home, and had started a conversation about what they planned to do over their holiday breaks. She was honestly too tired to really pay attention. She hadn't gotten back to her dorm room until after three that morning and wasn't asleep to almost an hour later. So holding a meaningful conversation on three and a half hours of sleep wasn't going to happen. Still, it was worth it. They had gotten to spend another amazing night together in each others arms in the room of requirement.

At first she was worried, knowing that Severus apparently now had severe asthma, that the physical activity may be more difficult for him. Boy was she wrong. In fact he seemed to go out of his way to show just how capable he was. Severus had told her that he was almost 100% sure that the Asthma attack was most likely caused by the poison, which was extremely concerning, though Severus had assured her they had it under control and he was in no immediate danger. While she didn't say anything she had a strong feeling he was keeping something from her but with everything he had gone through, she didn't feel right to push it. At least not right now.

The sixth years looked up as the compartment door slid open and in walked Remus. He gave his friends a small smile and a quick 'hello'.

"Remus." Severus grinned, "Good to see you, come on in."

Remus walked in and plopped himself down next to James. He had been thinking a lot about what Lily had told him, about how avoiding Severus was making his worry, and that was really the last thing he wanted to do to his brother. Besides it was Christmas and their families would be celebrating together this year, he didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas just because he was having fantasies about his brothers girlfriend.

"So, Severus, are you having a party during the holiday break this year?" Narcissa asked as she began to french braid her long, blonde hair.

"I don't have anything planned, it might just be a family thing this year."

"You should really try to get something together, mate." James said. "Your parties are always a blast."

He had, had a few birthday parties during the Christmas holidays at home since starting Hogwarts but not every year. And honestly he didn't feel like having a bunch of people over right now, he just wanted to spend time with his family and Lily.

When the train pulled into the station everyone said their goodbyes, wished them a happy Christmas and exited the train. Severus and Lily stayed together as, Mrs. Evans would be picking them up on the other side of the platform. Tobias couldn't get off work and Elieen didn't want to drag the triplets down to Kings Cross if she could avoid it, so Rose offered to get them. Severus waved to his brother by magic and told him he would "See him in a few days." Lily briefly glanced at Remus' direction but then quickly pulled her gaze back to her boyfriend. She would admit it felt a little awkward being around Remus now she knew how he felt about her, she really hoped he moved on from his feelings for her and the sooner the better.

XXX

Orion still didn't know exactly how to tell the boys their mother would no longer be living with them. He had sent her away weeks ago, but couldn't bring himself to tell them by letter that their mother was sent away to a mental health facility. He had confronted his wife about Regulus' claims and while she denied it at first, eventually the truth came out.

"He deserved it! I opened our home to that half-blood brat, and what does he do in return, he spreads lies about me, and had them printed in the Daily Prophet no less. I don't care how brilliant everyone says he is, he's better off dead."

Orion loved his wife but she had always been a bit high strung and was known to go a little overboard when she was riled up, but lately, especially since Durella's death she just hasn't been herself. He had tried to talk to her calmly and logically about his concerns for her well being, but as expected she didn't take it well. She assured him she was fine and she was simply doing what was best for their family.

He then gave her an ultimatum, leave the country and stay, for at least a year at a 'resort' for witches and wizards suffering from stress related issues or he would contact the Aurors himself. Walgurga knew he husband well enough to know when he was bluffing and when he wasn't and it was very clear that he was dead serious. She had called him insane, a traitor, half-blood lover and every other name she could think of, but she went nonetheless and there she will stay for at least a year if not longer. She would be away from her family, yes, but she would be in a place where she cannot hurt anyone and hopefully she would get the help she needs and will one day be able to return home.

He saw Sirius first, he was with a girl, about his age but a good foot shorter than him. She laughed at something he said but then shook her head. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and she headed off to whom Orion assumed were her parents. "Must be Anna." He said under his breath. His wife had mentioned he had shown an interest in her. He knew of her family, they were pure-bloods, not an old family but they were respectable enough.

His younger son then exited the train and seeing his brother joined him. They then, seeing their father headed towards him.

"Mum's not here." Regulus said, "She always picks us up."

Sirius just shrugged, sounded like good news to him. The less he had to deal with his crazy mother the better.

"Hello, dad." Sirius gave his dad a small smile. "While he didn't agree with most of his parents beliefs he did love them and he had always got along much better with his dad then his mum."

"Hello, boys. Good trip?"

"It was fine." Regulus replied, "Where's mother?"

Cygnus sighed and shook his head. "We will discuss it at home." He then took each of his sons hands in his and disapperated.

XXX

A/N: Hi everybody! Quick update, huh?! I don't want to give too much away about the next chapter, but a lot is going to happen. The Dark Lord Voldemort is on the move.