Fever and Delirium
It takes longer than he would like, but Severus gets Draco's heart to resume beating. Using every stabilisation spell he'd ever learned, he grabbed Draco from the floor and followed Potter to Grimmauld.
If he was going to save his godson, he would need help. As much as he was loath to admit it, Lupin had experience, and a decent understanding of potions.
He cast a quick tempus, checking that the sun had risen. He would be tired and sore, but if he wanted Severus to make him wolfsbane ever again, he would deal with it.
He appeared in the entrance, and already Walburga was screaming, she seemed to pause for once in her miserable existence, but only long enough to realise who Severus was carrying.
"My Draco! Filthy mudblood hands on my precious nephew! Unhand him!" She wailed.
He spelled the curtains closed with a flick, already searching for the door to the dungeons.
Lupin and Black came out only a second later, both pausing at the amount of blood.
Severus continued his spells, waving Lupin over impatiently.
"Go to the kitchen, Sirius." He said, eyes not leaving the teenager in front of him.
"Moony I-"
"Go." he commanded, walking forward to kneel at Draco's side. Sirius, sensing he had no leg to stand on, retreated back to the kitchen, where Harry was still blankly staring into a cup of hot chocolate.
Remus helped Severus move Draco to the potions room. There was far too much blood.
Mentally, Remus prepared himself to bury someone today.
He recognized the body in Severus' arms, It was Draco Malfoy, Narcissa's son.
Severus cleared the table with a flick of his wand, sending bottles and mysterious smoking liquids onto the floor. He pulled open the cabinets, shoving things aside to dig through them.
Remus got to work taking Draco's shirt off, trying to catalogue the wounds. He hesitated when he got to the left forearm, eyes drawn like a magnet to the bright stain of the dark mark. He shook his head, forcing himself to continue, whatever mistakes he had made, Draco needed help now.
But when he got to Draco's right arm, he froze truly.
"Severus." He called, his voice shaking.
"What." The potions master snarled, not looking up from his mortar and pestle.
"Severus," He said again, harsher this time, "These-" he looked up, "This is a werewolf bite."
Severus swore under his breath, sweeping over to look at the wounds himself.
"This is-" he looked at Remus, "I know this spell. Move."
Remus let himself be pushed aside as Severus started to hum softly, an eerie blue glow coming out of his wand. He repeated the song a few times before the wounds began to close, deep red gashes scabbing over before his eyes.
"If that imbecile had called me earlier I would have been able to prevent most of the scars. But it will have to do." He said finally, wiping his hands on his robe.
"What about the bites?" Remus asked, mouth grim.
Severus hesitated, "I don't know. It is . . . unlikely he is infected, but they may cause issues."
Remus stared, "What do you mean he isn't infected? How is that possible?"
Severus pursed his lips, "The Malfoy and Black bloodlines are magical anomalies. Theoretically, he should not be able to carry lycanthropy."
Was it possible? To think there was a way to have avoided becoming the monster he was, was simultaneously reliving and horrifying. From the way Severus made it sound, it was genetic, but then why hadn't Sirius told him? Sirius was the last living member of the House of Black, he should've known.
Had he purposely withheld it from Remus?
He closed his eyes against the onslaught of information, "Theoretically?" he asked.
"It is untested." Severus replied.
Oh the smug son-of-a-bitch, he was probably glad to rub it in his face, the-
Remus took a deep breath in through his nose, letting it out slowly, "What do we do then? We have to treat the wounds either way."
Severus nodded once, "I trust you don't keep liquid silver in the house?"
"No."
"Very well." He pulled a small potions knife out of his robes and walked to hold Draco's arm out.
Remus lunged forward, grabbing Severus, "Wait! Are you just going to-"
Severus yanked his arm away, "I am not amputating it, who do you think I am? Some incompetent healer? No." He pressed the flat of the knife to the wound, which immediately began to sizzle. The smell of burned flesh filled the room, making Remus cover his nose and back away.
Good potions knives were always silver.
Draco's head rolled to the side, still unconscious, though he did let out a low groan of pain.
"What-" he started.
"Quiet." Severus commanded, "We must burn the venom out."
Remus stared in horror. He didn't remember much of being bitten, but he didn't have any burn scars, had they done the same to him?
Eventually, Severus pulled the knife back, examining the wound. The cauterization had stopped the bleeding, but now there was a large circle of burns on his forearm, all fang shaped.
Remus thought of his own bite scar, right at the junction of his neck and shoulder.
Looking anywhere but the burn, he scanned for more injuries.
"Fuck." He breathed, "Severus, his knee."
Severus pushed him aside, quickly cutting the pant leg away. He didn't swear, but the way his face went even paler than it already was spoke volumes.
"It's a joint wound, it will have already spread further, we can try the same method, but it won't be so effective." He stated, almost clinical, except for the way his voice shook slightly.
"He will have to burn it out naturally."
Remus took a step forward, "No. You can't-"
"He is not you, Lupin!" Severus whirled on him, snarling, "He is no ordinary wizard, and he is in his ancestral home. He has a better chance than anyone else could even hope for."
He looked back over to Draco, "He will need a room."
—-------
The next day, the fever began. Remus did all he could, but Severus had to return to Hogwarts before someone became suspicious, and it was no ordinary sickness. This was different than caring for James and Sirius's colds, this was trying to burn out a blood curse. His temperature kept climbing and climbing, far past anything that a normal human could withstand without dying horribly. Remus just had to trust Severus' words about ancestral magic aiding him.
Two days after that, Draco woke up.
Remus was relieved beyond belief, even if his fever hadn't gone down.
But then the hallucinations started.
Remus had come in from getting more cold soup, to find Draco sitting up straight.
"Mother?" he said, voice horse and raw from, well, everything, "Why are we at Grimmauld? Has someone died?"
"Draco," Remus breathed, "Are you hungry?"
"Where is Mipsy?" He looked around, eyes hazy, "I'm the dead one? Aren't I?" Remus took a careful step forward, slowly raising his hand to Draco's forehead, only to immediately jerk back at the burning heat.
"I can feel it. I've died." Draco kept on, completely unaware of Remus' presence.
"Draco, have some soup." He asked, pouring some of the sedatives Severus had made into it.
"He doesn't like soup." Draco said, sounding confused.
Remus blinked, "Who doesn't like soup?" He asked.
"The Dark Lord. Why are we having soup? You know what happened last time."
Remus felt his heart pang, "He's out." He tried, offering the bowl to Draco.
"Oh. He'll be furious when Aunt Bella tells." Draco replied, taking the bowl.
"Bellatrix isn't here either, Draco." Remus said, trying to soothe.
Draco laughed, a harsh, cracked, awful laugh, "That's what you think. I can feel her." He tipped the soup into his mouth, somehow spilling none despite the way he swayed.
Remus froze, "What do you mean?"
"We're the same, that's why you're so afraid all the time. I can feel it" Draco smiled tiredly, eyes beginning to shut.
"Draco!" Remus tried, grabbing his shoulder. He jerked back again, however, the fever still hot enough to almost burn his hands.
It continued like that for a few days, before the screaming began. His fever had started to fall, though Remus still couldn't touch him, and he'd made the mistake of thinking the worst was over.
He was in the kitchen with Sirius and Harry, the atmosphere icy. After apperating directly into the living room, covered in blood that wasn't his own, Harry had been nearly comatose. They hadn't gotten the full story from him until after Severus had already left Draco in their care (However unwillingly)
Sirius had immediately taken Harry's side, while Remus was more hesitant. It was an honest mistake, but one with disastrous consequences, and Remus wouldn't pretend everything was fine.
Sirius had never fully recovered from Azkaban, and he shot between the mentality of an old, old man and a twenty-something with startling speed. The one thing that never changed, however, was his inability to tell James Potter no.
Harry didn't even need to ask before Sirius handed him everything on a silver platter, and not that Remus didn't think Harry deserved it all, but he couldn't help but feel it was a wildly unsustainable thing.
Convincing Sirius of this was near impossible, but if anyone could do it, it was Remus.
But until then, things were tense. He had been sitting in the kitchen, sipping his coffee, when Sirius tried to argue again for the 100th time.
"I just don't get why you would help him this much, it's Malfoy's kid!"
Remus just looked at him, "It's also Narcissa's kid, Pad."
It got Sirius to pause, just as it always did, but this time, the silence was punctuated with a high and terrified scream.
The three of them immediately went for their wands, before remembering their house guest, at which point Remus grabbed the expandable bag Severus had given him and ran for Draco's room.
Sliding around the corner, Remus was relieved to see the door was still closed. Grimmauld Place was big enough it would be near impossible to find a teenager who didn't want to be found.
Throwing open the door, he paused when the screaming only grew louder. Draco was thrashing on the floor, clawing at his skin, his long nails wracking lines across his already torn to shreds shirt. Just from where he was standing, Remus could see long lines of red across his arms and face. He convulsed, nearly slamming his head into the bedframe, and Remus rushed forward to hold him down.
He knew these, at least. This was a cruciatus flashback. He should have known, Sirius had them too when he was sick. It was the mind's version of a scar, since the curse left no physical ones.
As he pinned Draco's arms to the side, holding him to the floor, the screams took on a new pitch.
"No! No-no-no- Please! I won't- I'll do it! Stop! Please! " Tears ran down his face, utterly terrified, but Remus just held on tighter.
He grit his teeth, Draco was stronger than he looked, Remus wouldn't be able to give him the potion and keep him from hurting himself at the same time.
He looked up desperately, wondering if his call would be heard over the sound of screaming, but Sirius was already there.
He looked just as horrified as Remus felt, just standing in the doorway.
Remus called out to him, "Sirius, I need you to get the purple potion." he nodded his head to the bag beside him, tossed away to hold Draco down. Sirius hesitated, but Remus just repeated himself, " Sirius."
His tone made his husband come forward finally, grabbing the bag and riffleing for the potion. He finally found it with a small 'ah ha!' and tried to hand it to Remus.
He paused at the look on Remus' face, flicking his eye's down to the screaming, convulsing teenager he was currently holding down.
"Oh, yeah, right." He uncorked the potion, going for Draco's face, but Draco saw him, and began to struggle with renewed vigour.
"No- Aunt Bella, no, please I swear it won't happen again- you can't-"
Sirius flinched back hard, eyes wide. He looked back at Remus, unsure, but Remus just nodded.
"Pad, he's delirious and hallucinating, he doesn't think that, I don't think that, pour it, quickly." Remus said, jerking back at a particularly violent lurch from Draco.
"Right. Alright. I can do this. He's like what? Twelve? I can take him." He lunged forward suddenly, pouring the potion down Draco's throat.
Almost immediately, he stilled. It was almost concerning, and Remus unconsciously went to check his pulse. Finding it, and feeling it beat hummingbird fast, but slowing, he relaxed.
He let go, sitting back, and sighed. Letting his head thunk against the wall, he finally shut his eyes.
"Was that-"
"Flashback." Remus confirmed.
"Do I- Am I the same way?" Sirius asked.
Remus looked at Draco, who for the first time in a few days, almost looked peaceful. "No." He said finally, "Yours aren't as bad."
Sirius looked stricken, but whatever he felt was interrupted by Harry.
"Flashback? Of what?"
Remus jerked his eyes open, in all the panic, he hadn't seen Harry, who must've been right behind Sirius.
The two adults shared a look, "Harry, I'm not sure we should tell you." Remus said, looking at Harry steadily.
Harry looked furious at that, "No. If I-" He paused, biting his cheek, "If it's my fault I need to know."
Sirius looked sadly at Harry, "Harry, no. It's not your fault, he-"
Remus cut in, "What I meant, Harry, was that it's Draco's secret to tell."
Sirius snapped his mouth closed, but stayed silent. Harry looked between them both, eyes narrowed, but seemed to accept the answer.
After a few more days, the fever broke fully, and the screaming stopped. Draco slept, barely waking up to sip at the cold soup Remus gave him.
On the final day of his sickness, Remus went to his room, hoping he would be awake and coherent enough to talk. But when he opened the door, the room was empty.