My Brother is a Teenage Werewolf

Chapter 4

Age 19- After a Death Eater Meeting where Remus has to patch up Severus. 

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Remus sat, nearly dozing on the couch, in Severus's quarters at Hogwarts. It was just past four in the morning, and so far, there had been no sign of his brother. To say that the just-turned nineteen-year-old was worried would be an understatement. He always worried when Severus was gone at the meetings. Although never having been to one himself, he was still certain that they weren't the sort where a secretary took notes and brought up recent events.

Remus sighed and scrubbed his hands down his face in an attempt to wake himself up a little more. He glanced over the vials of potion that sat atop the coffee table in preparation for whatever state Severus might arrive in. The last time hadn't been too bad, but Remus wasn't foolish enough to think that his brother would fare so well twice in a row.

It was then that the floo roared to life, spitting green flames from the hearth as a figure cloaked in black stumbled out.

"Severus!" Remus shot up from the couch and a second later he caught Severus around the middle, just before he could have fallen to the floor.

"Le'go," Severus protested as he tried to take a step away from Remus, who held tightly to him, holding him up.

Severus's breathing was labored as if each one was torture. He was shaking, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. Sweat poured down his face and Remus could feel wetness through his cloak.

"Where are you hurt?" Remus asked, trying to maneuver Severus towards the couch.

"Get off me." Severus again tried to push Remus away, but his body simply wasn't strong enough. Instead, he only managed to stumble a bit before Remus held him back upright.

"Stop," Remus said firmly. "Let me help you, damnit."

"I-I don't n-need your help, Remus. Just go home!"

"No." Remus finally managed to get Severus over to the couch and helped him ease down onto it. "Now, where are you hurt? I swear, Severus, if you force me to have to check you myself, we're both going to be very upset about it."

Severus remained still for a moment longer before he shakily began to fumble with the clasp of his cloak. Remus reached to help him when Severus had trouble and Severus tried to push his hands away.

"Stop being so stubborn, you idiot," Remus muttered as he carefully began to pull the cloak off. Severus groaned as the movement pulled at the cuts on his chest. "Sorry," Remus apologized. He then pulled his wand out and pointed it at his brother. He quickly said the spell that caused Severus's cloak and shirt to vanish easily. Severus glared up at him, but Remus paid him no mind. "I wish you'd known that spell when we were younger. Would have made it a lot easier when I came home that night."

They both remained quiet as they remembered the night three years ago. Remus had cut himself so badly during the full moon that his shirt had gotten stuck to the wound in his side because of all the dried blood. That had been the first of many long nights for the both of them.

Remus inspected Severus's chest and winced at the sight the cutting curse had left. The slice ran from his collar bone down and across to his right ribs. "Merlin," he breathed. He picked through the vials on the table for a moment before holding up a jar filled with a yellow liquid.

"Not that o-one," Severus said quickly. "Get the-" He paused as his body was wracked with another round of intense jerks that prevented him from doing anything but waiting out the seizing of his arms and legs. He closed his eyes tightly against the pain that came from being unable to control his own body. Remus stood by feeling miserable, and yet knowing there was nothing he could do to help in the moment.

When at last it passed, Severus lay against the back of the couch, panting and clutching his chest. "Get the blue one," he said through gritted teeth. "It'll help stop the sh-sh-shaking." Severus gasped in pain and Remus hurried to switch out the vial for the correct one. Finding it, he moved back to Severus's side and uncorked the vial before bringing it to his lips. 

"Here," Remus said. "Take all of it."

Severus began to slowly swallow the potion, sighing as he immediately started to feel the effects. His muscles began to relax, though his limbs felt too weak to move on his own.

"Okay, just lie back now. The yellow one, right?" Remus asked. Severus nodded as Remus helped him recline so that the arm of the couch acted as a pillow for his head.

Remus turned back to the potions and once again picked up the yellow one. It was a salve to clean the wound before he could heal it. The cutting curse had been done with dark magic though, and Remus wondered if the little he had in the jar would be enough. Without giving him time to second guess himself, Remus dipped his hand into the salve and, as gently as he could, began to spread it across the cut.

Severus half-rose from the couch as he screamed, his hands grabbing hold of Remus's shirt without realizing it. His face was pinched in agony as he closed his eyes tightly and tried to stifle his screams by biting down on his knuckles. 

Remus watched as black smoke rose and curled in tiny wisps from the wound. "Is that enough?!" Remus prayed that it was. "Sev, is it enough?"

Severus shook his head as he tried to breathe through the pain, tears running down his face. Remus grew even more concerned at the sight. Severus never cried, especially not in front of him, and to see him this way, in so much pain that he didn't try to be stoic, had him extremely worried. He lifted his hand and placed it atop Severus's own where it was wound tightly in Remus's shirt.

"Alright," he said, hoping his voice sounded steadier than he felt. "Here we go, then." He dipped his free hand back into the salve and as quickly as he could, smeared it across the wound. Again, black smoke rose out of it and Severus screamed once more. Though this time, Remus reached around Severus and pulled him towards him so that Severus's head rested against Remus's shoulder. Remus could feel his brother's shoulders and back shaking as he cried out in pain and Remus physically hurt for him. Why?! Remus screamed inside his head. Why does he need to be the one to do this?! Why can't someone else be the spy?!

The next moment, he felt Severus's body relax in his hold and knew that he had passed out. He gently pulled back and sighed at the sight of his brother, limp and unconscious, hair sweaty and sticking to his face. Remus gently lay Severus back down on the couch, noticing that the wound was no longer smoking.

He set to work with the other potions, muttering a spell to get a few into him and using others to clean and heal the other cuts and bruises that littered his body.

They must have been practicing cutting curses tonight, he thought as he watched the last one begin to slowly heal. Every so often, Severus's body would jerk in another light spasm, but the worst was over, and for that Remus was grateful.

He took the blanket from Severus's bed and tucked it around him before taking a seat on the floor in front of the couch. Remus thought absently that the least Severus could do was get a couple chairs to put across from the couch so that he would have a place to sit. He leaned his head back against the couch as he listened to Severus's breathing, which had finally evened out. The clock above the mantle chimed six and Remus stretched his legs out under the coffee table. Maybe just a small nap would do him some good. 

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AN: I hope you liked this chapter. I hate that I'm skipping around in the timeline, but hopefully nothing is too confusing. 
Saturdays are for two chapters, so the next one is already on the way :)