Aftermaths, Part 142

by Geri ([email protected])

Rating: Mostly PG-13, but NC-17 for overall story

Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise

Warning: AU; events that occurred at the end of Order of the Phoenix were significantly altered from the book.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, and Phoenix Rising.

Summary: The various characters deal with the aftermath of the war, and Snape and Lupin try to build a family together with Theodore and Dylan. However, some people are unable to let go of the past...

Author's note 1: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts.

Author's note 2: I borrowed from two different Japanese folk tales to create the background for the crane people. The first is the story that Takeshi already mentioned, of a crane turning into a woman and marrying the man who saved her. The other is a completely different tale, of a man who steals the cloak of a celestial maiden and forces her to remain with him, since she cannot return to her home in the heavens without it. It actually has nothing to do with the cranes, but the two stories seemed to fit together somehow, since they both deal with non-human women marrying human men. Or maybe itÕs because I was recently reading the Ceres manga by Yu Watase, which is based on the legend of the celestial maiden.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Hob, who belongs to William Mayne; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
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Takeshi was supposed to be off on Saturday, but he arrived at St. Mungo's early in the morning to check on Aric. He found the Slytherin boy sleeping soundly, clutching a white feather tightly in one fist. Takeshi laughed softly, feeling very touched. Lukas had stayed with Aric throughout the night, and was asleep in the other bed. Takeshi worked quietly, changing the bandages and dressing on Aric's bite wound without waking either of them. Then he went to check with Smethwyck on Aric's progress.

The Healer looked relieved to see him when Takeshi knocked on his office door. "Ah, Mr. Kimura, I'm glad to see you. I thought you might come in to check on your young friend."

"I just changed his bandages; the bite wound seems to be healing properly," Takeshi said. "How is he recovering from the poisoning?"

"Very well; much better than we expected," Smethwyck told him. "It must be due to his lycanthropy. He should be able to return to Hogwarts in a few days. You know, as a newly-turned werewolf, his healing powers are actually much weaker than they will be after he undergoes his first transformation. I'm not sure that the Blood Poisoning spell would actually have killed Master Diggory even if it had struck him as Williamson intended."

"Williamson is a sadist," Takeshi said contemptuously. "He could have just used a Killing Curse, but I think that he wanted to watch Lukas suffer."

"Well, perhaps we should be grateful for that," Smethwyck said soberly. "Even a werewolf cannot survive a Killing Curse. Your friend would be dead if he had been struck by that spell instead."

"You're right," Takeshi said, his knees going a little wobbly at the thought, and he clutched at the door frame for support.

"Are you all right, Mr. Kimura?" Smethwyck asked in alarm.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Takeshi assured him. "The thought of Aric being hit with a Killing Curse just shook me up a little."

"Ahem," said a voice from within the office. It sounded like Augustus Pye, but Takeshi didn't see anyone in the office besides Smethwyck.

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Pye," Smethwyck said. "I got a little wrapped up in my conversation with Mr. Kimura, and I almost forgot you were there." The Healer stepped back and ushered Takeshi into the office, and he saw that there was a communication mirror sitting on Smethwyck's desk. Pye's face smiled at him from within it.

"Actually, I'm glad that you're here, Mr. Kimura," Smethwyck said. "I know it's your day off, and I hate to ask this of you, but since you're already here, would you mind working overtime today? It seems that Mr. Pye won't be able to come in today."

"I'm really sorry, Takeshi!" Pye said. "I know you already covered for me yesterday, and it sounds like you had quite a bit of excitement going on at the hospital, too! I swear that I'll make it up to you!"

"It's all right, I was going to stay to keep an eye on Aric, anyway," Takeshi said, feeling a little puzzled. "But why aren't you coming in?"

"I've eloped!" Pye exclaimed, grinning as he held up his left hand, which was now sporting a gold wedding band. "Actually, I'm in France right now with my new bride!"

"What?!" Takeshi exclaimed. "Did the party go well, then?"

"No, the party was a disaster!" Pye said cheerfully. "My girlfriend's parents had decided to betroth her to another guy, from an old and wealthy Slytherin family. I was trying to make a last-ditch effort to persuade them to change their minds when we got the news that Miranda's fiance had been bitten by a werewolf."

"W-wait a minute!" Takeshi stammered. "You mean to say, your girlfriend is Miranda Tierney?!"

"Oh, do you know her?" Pye asked. "Come say hello to Takeshi, honey."

A pretty blonde girl squeezed into the mirror frame and waved at Takeshi. "Hello!" she said. "Thanks for covering for Gus! Sorry to spring this on you at the last minute."

"I...I don't know Miranda," Takeshi said, feeling a little dazed. "But I do know her fiance. Or her ex-fiance, rather."

"That's right, Healer Smethwyck said that you're friends with the poor fellow who got bitten," Pye said. "I do feel bad for him, and I would never wish such a fate on anyone, but...well, I do have to admit that it worked in our favor. When the news arrived, an uproar broke out at the party, and we were able to sneak out in the confusion."

"I know someone who has a Portkey to France, and I bribed him to send us through," Miranda said. "And we got married before my parents could figure out where we'd gone and try to stop us. We'll honeymoon here for a few days, and by the time we get back, things should have cooled down a bit. My parents won't be happy, but I think they'll accept it. Gus is a pureblood, even if his family isn't as old or wealthy as the Dietriches, and it'll be much less scandalous for me to be married to him than engaged to a werewolf."

"How nice that everything worked out for you, then," Takeshi said coldly.

Miranda flushed. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded. Aric seems like a nice guy, and I'm sorry that this happened to him. He didn't want to marry me in the first place, so I didn't think he'd mind if I eloped with Gus, and my parents would have broken off the engagement even if I'd stayed. Is he going to be all right? If there's anything we can do help him..."

She sounded sincerely concerned, and Takeshi softened a little. "He'll be all right, although it will take a couple of weeks for him to heal completely."

"But what about his family?" Miranda asked softly.

She was a pureblood, and she knew how purebloods reacted to someone whose blood became tainted. Miranda was not what Takeshi had expected; he had expected someone spoiled and snooty. And he hadn't realized that she was so pretty. She seemed like someone that Aric might have been willing to marry, had he not been in love with Takeshi. Like someone he might have eventually come to accept, even like, perhaps even love, if he had gone through with the arranged marriage. And Takeshi felt a twinge of jealousy, although he knew that he was being ridiculous. He knew that Aric loved him, after all, and Miranda was obviously smitten with Pye.

"His family reacted, well...as you might expect," Takeshi replied. "They did not disown him outright, but the heirship was taken from him. But he does have friends who will stand by him, myself included."

Miranda and Pye exchanged a look. "We'll stand as his friends, too, if you think that won't be too awkward," Pye said solemnly. "I mean, with me marrying his fiancee and all. But Miranda says that he didn't want the marriage, that it was all his parents' idea."

"Won't your family object to you befriending a werewolf?" Takeshi asked Miranda.

"Probably," she replied. "But I've already defied them once." She grinned at Pye. "I find it quite liberating. They can disown me if they want, but it will only cause more of a scandal by drawing everyone's attention to it if they do." She added playfully, "Besides, I'm a married woman now. I answer only to my lord husband."

Pye smiled at her, looking completely infatuated, and Takeshi had no doubt that Miranda had her "lord husband" wrapped around her little finger. "I'd like to get to know Aric," Pye said. "I imagine I'll be meeting him eventually, anyway, since I'll be working at the clinic this summer."

Takeshi decided not to mention right now that he intended to take Aric back home with him to meet his family in Japan. He hadn't even discussed the matter with Aric yet. He wanted to give Aric some time to get adjusted to being a werewolf before further stressing him by proposing a trip to meet his new in-laws. "I'll introduce you to him when you get back from your honeymoon, then," was all that Takeshi said to Pye.

"And I'll help at the clinic, too," Miranda volunteered. "To make up for you taking Gus's shifts. I'm not really much good at potion-brewing, but I could help with the paperwork."

Takeshi's opinion of her rose another notch, but he was surprised, given her background. "That would be very helpful," he said politely, but his shock must have shown on his face, because Miranda grinned mischievously.

"Oh, my parents won't like that either, but what they don't know won't hurt them. It's not like any of their friends are likely to stop by the clinic. Anyway, even if they do find out, I don't care what they think. And I think it will be fun helping Gus at the clinic. I've never met a werewolf before." Miranda's eyes gleamed with excitement. Takeshi had almost forgotten that some of the young purebloods got a thrill out of seeking out the forbidden; most of Ash's customers were wealthy young purebloods, after all. Buying Muggle toys was a relatively harmless way for them to rebel, and before all the bad publicity generated by Williamson's fake werewolf attacks, the werewolves had become glamorous figures to many of the young wizards. Maybe the wolf-shaped good luck carvings would come back into fashion now.

"Well, I have met Aric, of course," Miranda continued. "But he wasn't a werewolf when I met him, so I guess that doesn't really count."

"He is the same person that he was before," Takeshi said quietly. "The only difference is that he will transform into a wolf once every month. But his heart and his soul are still the same."

Miranda's expression turned a little more serious, at that reminder that the werewolves were real people, and not just stories in the Daily Prophet. "Well, Gus says that you're an expert on werewolves, so I guess you would know. I don't really know Aric; we only talked for a little while at the Quidditch match yesterday. But he must be brave, if he risked his life to save his teacher. Although truthfully, that sounds more like the sort of thing a Gryffindor would do."

Takeshi smiled. "Slytherins can be brave, noble fools, too, it seems."

"Thanks for covering for me, Takeshi," Pye said. "We'll be back in a few days, and you can meet my lovely bride in person."

"You're welcome, and congratulations on your marriage, Augustus," Takeshi said, and Pye beamed at him. "I must confess that I'm a little confused, though. You never mentioned that your 'future Mrs. Pye' was betrothed to someone else."

"Well, it's kind of complicated," Pye said. "We met at a nightclub several months ago..."

"I was hitting all the clubs, celebrating my freedom after graduating from Beauxbatons," Miranda continued, smiling impishly. "I have a reputation for being a little wild, you know. Well, at least it seems that way to the stuffy old pureblood ladies who sit around gossiping over tea all day. Anyway, I was flirting with a handsome young man, when the girl he was with took exception and tried to smash a beer bottle into my face." She sniffed disdainfully, looking a bit more like the spoiled pureblood that Takeshi had been expecting. "Obviously a very common, low-bred wench."

"And what do highborn wenches do when someone tries to steal their boyfriends?" Takeshi inquired.

"Nothing so crude as that!" Miranda said scornfully. "Personally, I would have cast a hex--covered my victim's pretty face with a lot of ugly warts or something."

"I would still love you even if you were covered with warts, my dear," Pye said loyally.

Miranda smiled. "Anyway, my face did get cut, although not very badly. And Gus happened to be at the club that night with some friends from St. Mungo's, and he came over and tended my wounds. He was very sweet and gallant, and he did a good job with the healing spells, too." She gestured at her face; her skin was flawlessly fair and smooth. "See? No scars."

"So we started dating," Pye said, picking up the story. "Things got serious, and eventually Miranda brought me home to meet her parents. And then we got a big shock."

"Gus is a pureblood, so I didn't think they'd object," Miranda said. "I thought they'd be pleased that I settled down and wasn't 'running wild' anymore."

"But they decided that I wasn't good enough for Miranda," Pye said, still looking a little hurt at the memory. "My blood may be pure, but my family doesn't have much money or influence. I do have a good job at St. Mungo's, but Miranda's parents wanted something more. They wanted Miranda to make a 'socially advantageous match'. They said it would be a waste for her to marry me, because my family had nothing to offer them."

"That's when they began negotiating a marriage alliance with the Dietrich family behind my back," Miranda said. "And then the next thing I knew, I was being whisked off to France with my parents. I didn't even have time to say goodbye to Gus."

"She tried to send me letters, but her parents kept intercepting them, so I didn't know that the betrothal contract had actually been signed," Pye said. "I knew that they were trying to find a 'more suitable' husband for Miranda, but I didn't realize just how far things had gotten. I kept thinking that they would come around eventually. When Miranda got back from France, she managed to sneak my name onto the invitation list for her mother's birthday party."

"My father's secretary wrote up and sent out the invitations," Miranda explained. "She doesn't know Gus, so he was just another name on the list, and she didn't think anything of it."

"I thought I'd make one last-ditch attempt to get them to change their minds," Pye said earnestly. "Healer Smethwyck told me I'll be promoted to full Healer status soon, and I thought that might make a difference with them. I thought if I could just convince them how much we love each other, and that I would take good care of Miranda, that they would change their minds."

Pye had been a Gryffindor at Hogwarts. He was an idealist and a romantic who believed that love would triumph over all. But Takeshi could see from the sad and slightly cynical smile on Miranda's face, that she had known Pye's efforts probably would have failed.

"And I was trying to work up the courage to run off with Gus, if necessary, and let my parents disown me," Miranda said.

How ironic; it seemed that Aric and his fiancee had shared the same problem all along, unbeknownst to each other. "It's not easy, to cut yourself off from your family," Takeshi said sympathetically.

"Well, I don't think that will happen," Pye said cheerfully. "Miranda's parents were pretty upset when we told them that we had eloped, but so far they haven't disowned her yet. So anyway, I didn't mean to mislead you, Takeshi, but it seemed too complicated to explain the whole story to you, so I just said that I needed the day off to attend my girlfriend's mother's birthday party. But I would have told you the whole truth if I had known that Miranda's fiance was your friend."

"That's all right," Takeshi said. After all, there were quite a few things about himself and Aric that Pye didn't know, but he didn't think that this was really the time and place to get into it. "I'm happy for you two, and I can guarantee that Aric won't be upset about your marriage. If anything, he'll probably be relieved."

"Oh, that's good," Pye said, looking relieved himself. "Well, goodbye, then. We'll bring back some souvenirs from France for you!"

"Enjoy your honeymoon," Takeshi told him, then left the office and got to work. He tended to Pye's patients, checking on their conditions and dispensing medication when necessary. He was glad that Williamson had been put in a different ward, because Hippocratic oath or not, he didn't think that he could bring himself to treat the man who had nearly murdered his mate. He had heard that Snape had agreed to brew the antidote potion, and he took a bit of vindictive pleasure in knowing that Snape would go out of his way to make Williamson's potion as foul-tasting as possible--and the antidote wasn't particularly pleasant to begin with.

After he'd made his rounds, he went back to Aric's room to see if he was awake, and was alarmed to find Lukas helping a pale and sweaty Aric hobble across the room and climb back into bed.

"What happened?!" Takeshi exclaimed.

"Nothing," Aric said, looking embarrassed. "I just needed to go to the bathroom, that's all."

"I was asleep," Lukas said dryly, "and instead of waking me up or calling for a nurse, he decided to get up on his own, despite having been bitten by a werewolf and having received a dose of poison that would have killed an elephant. He actually did make it there on his own somehow, but he collapsed on the way back, and the crash woke me up."

Aric flushed. "Using a bedpan is rather humiliating, and all the students at Hogwarts have an aversion to them, anyway."

"Yes, I do remember that bedpan-scrubbing is Professor Snape's favorite punishment," Takeshi said. "But you can always ring for help if you need it." He pointed to a rope hanging from the ceiling, which would ring a chime when pulled on, that would summon a nurse or mediwizard.

"I didn't think that just walking across the room would be so tiring," Aric said sheepishly.

"You nearly died yesterday, Aric," Takeshi told him, trembling a little at the thought. "The Sanguis Veneno spell is especially deadly, because it moves the poison through the body so quickly that it's difficult to get the patient to a Healer in time. It will take some time for your body to repair the damage inflicted by the poison."

"So how long before I can go to the bathroom alone?" Aric grumbled.

"You'll probably feel very weak for the next couple of days, although it's difficult to say exactly, since I'm not sure how much your lycanthropic healing powers will speed up your recovery. But the Healers recommend bed rest for the next few days."

Aric looked a bit sulky, and Lukas told him sharply, "It's better than being dead, Mr. Dietrich!"

Takeshi smiled. "Why don't you go back to Hogwarts, Lukas? If he's well enough to complain, it means that he's recovering."

"I promised to stay with him," Lukas objected.

Takeshi noticed that the werewolf was still wearing the same robes that he'd had on yesterday, and that they were rumpled from being slept in. "At least go home, take a shower, change your clothes, and have something to eat. I can stay with Aric for now."

"Go on," Aric told him, looking a bit guilty now. "I'll be fine. You should at least get some breakfast."

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, then," Lukas said with a grin, and both Aric and Takeshi blushed. "And the term 'lovebird' is quite apt in your case, Takeshi. Why didn't you ever tell us that you were a non-human, too? Or part-human, anyway." He cuffed Takeshi lightly on the ear, the way he often cuffed his pack members, although much more gently than he would have struck his werewolves. "Surely you knew that we, of all people, would not have scorned you for having 'impure' blood."

"I'm sorry," Takeshi said apologetically. "It wasn't that I didn't trust you. But the crane folk are very secretive, and we aren't supposed to reveal our identities to people outside the Japanese wizarding community. And even in Japan, the pureblooded cranes usually keep to themselves, and don't mingle much with the other races. A few human men won crane wives with their bravery and compassion, but other unscrupulous men sometimes tried to take them by force--our women were prized for their beauty and their magical talent. This gave rise to other legends, of men who tried to force celestial maidens to become their brides by stealing their feather cloaks, without which they could not return to the heavens."

"Like the legends about the selkies, who could not return to the ocean when their sealskins were stolen," Lukas said.

"Yes, although the cloak is a device invented by some storyteller," Takeshi replied. "We don't need cloaks to transform. But a powerful enough sorcerer could bind and enslave a crane woman or man with a spell similar to an Imperius Curse. The crane folk are not fierce warriors like the tengu, and are not especially strong in the combative magics. So over the centuries, they became rather secretive and insular."

"But what about Chizuru?" Lukas asked. "Why did they let their princess travel so far from her home and teach at Hogwarts last year?"

Takeshi smiled. "Because her father, the ruler of the crane people, dotes on his daughter and can deny her nothing. And don't let Chizuru's sweet smile and gentle manner fool you; she can be quite stubborn when it comes to getting her way."

"Will you get in trouble for revealing your secret?" Aric asked anxiously.

"It's all right," Takeshi assured him. "You are my mate now...or you will be, I hope." Takeshi suddenly found himself feeling a little shy and uncertain. He knew that Aric loved him, but they had never made any formal pledges to each other.

But Aric smiled at him, blushing. "Of course," he said. "If you'll have me."

"Then that means you are part of my family now," Takeshi told him, feeling a sense of relief and joy. "Which means that you are not an outsider. And you are also part of Lukas's pack, so they are my family now as well. And Theodore is your cousin, so Remus and Professor Snape are now family to you through him. Which just leaves Professor Dumbledore, but I'm sure that he can keep a secret."

Lukas chuckled. "You're as sly and clever as a Slytherin, Takeshi. Well, I guess I will go back to the school for a little while, then, if you'll be all right, Aric. A shower would be nice."

Lukas left, and Aric said ruefully, "I wouldn't mind a shower, either. I feel pretty grubby. But I don't think I could stand up long enough to take one, and I'd probably pass out and drown in a bathtub."

"Well, I can help you with that, at least," Takeshi said cheerfully. He left the room briefly and returned with soap, towels, clean hospital robes, and a large basin of warm water.

"Wh...what are you doing?" Aric stuttered.

"I'm going to give you a bath, of course," Takeshi replied. "Unless you'd prefer to have one of the nurses do it." Aric's face turned bright red, and Takeshi said teasingly, "No, on second thought, that won't do. I'm not letting you get a bath from a pretty young nurse."

"It doesn't matter," Aric teased back. "You're prettier than any of the nurses."

And then Takeshi was the one blushing. "You can be charming when you wish, I see. I'm not sure that 'pretty' is the word I would use to describe myself, but I'll take it as a compliment."

Chapter 143

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