Disclaimer: S.O.S. Not mine if recognizable as belonging to the world of Harry Potter, created by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Thirty-One: Happily Ever After

The pain. Oh, dear Merlin, the pain! Harry tried to scream as his body was ripped apart when Amarth heeded the call of the moon and shifted, but he found that all movement was restricted. The burning, tearing sensation screamed through his body as claws sprouted from fingers and toes, bones and muscles lengthened into a long sleek animal body, and organs rearranged themselves inside of him. Unable to move in an effort to alleviate some of the pain, Harry lashed out in the only way he could – through his mind.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the pain ceased and Amarth went limp inside his own mind, as his body was still frozen. As he calmed down, he became aware of the voice calling to him. Harry? Harry! Are you all awake? Are you okay? Oh, please, for the love of Merlin, tell me you're all right! the voice pleaded.

Amarth sighed silently and replied I'm okay, love. I think. I don't know. I can't move. Why can't I move! The last cry came out desperately, its edges tinged in panic.

Soothing warmth was pushed through the bond by Severus, and Amarth gradually calmed down enough to take in his surroundings. Bright lights, medicinal scents, a feeling of sterility that actually made anybody unfortunate enough to be there feel sick and nauseous; Amarth was trapped in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. It didn't really surprise him, though. He just couldn't seem to avoid landing here at least once a month, often for long periods of time.

Disgruntled, Amarth waited impatiently for his mate to arrive and tell him why the hell he couldn't move. More importantly, Severus had better have a good reason for leaving him here in Madame Pomfrey's not-so-tender mercies.

Shortly thereafter, Severus stepped into the hospital wing, followed by Lucius, Draco, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione. Amarth wondered briefly where his godfathers were, until he remembered that he hadn't been the only one forced to shift. Suddenly it occurred to him that he hadn't been aware of anything until tonight, which meant that he had been in a coma for the past month after he and Sirius had drained Bellatrix of all her magic, leaving her as nothing more than a Squib. No wonder Severus had sounded so frantic.

As Severus removed the binds on him and nullified the paralyzing potions that been force-fed to him, Amarth shifted his healed body and opened his eyes, gazing at his surroundings.

Noticing the tears in his lover's eyes, Amarth attempted to stand and nuzzle the onyx-eyed wizard, but his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed heavily back onto the bed. Draco climbed quickly onto the bed, curling up around this bond-brother as Severus went to get some more potions. The Weasley twins also clambered onto the bed, one curling up in front of Amarth and the other lying at Draco's back. Lucius Malfoy just watched the proceedings, amused when Amarth's grumpiness at not being able to do so much as stand traveled through the bond in the form of incoherent mutterings.

When Severus returned, he poured several replenishing and energizing potions down Amarth's throat, explaining shortly, "I expect you want out of here now that you're awake, but nobody here can carry you as you are now. Seeing as that you've been out for the past three months, you'll need all these just to make it down to our quarters." It took Amarth several moments to comprehend what he had been told. Three months…they were captured in mid-January and rescued at the end of the month, which meant that it was now the end of April, the month before May, before…

Shit! Amarth exclaimed, bolting upright in the bed and staring at Severus, pleading for an answer.

Severus smiled and thought back at him, Don't worry. Our wedding is in two weeks, but we can put it off if we need to. Minerva and Miss Granger have planned for most of our wedding, including the guest list, with only minimal input on my part. We just have to come up with our vows.

Amarth nodded his great head and lay back down on the bed, not quite ready to move yet. The three other wizards curled closer to him, holding Amarth tightly as if to reassure themselves that he was really all right. When they were convinced, they gave him one last hug and slipped off the bed and out the door. Ron and Hermione were next, giving him a hug and making him promise to come visit them as soon as he was able to before leaving as well, so that only Lucius and Severus remained.

Lucius turned to face Amarth and smiled. "We didn't lose anybody. A few of the Shadowen were injured, but they've been healed and are back home with their families. None of them were arrested. All the Skullbearers that were at the battle were arrested, and they're working on finding the others, but it's difficult. Apparently, one of the stipulations for them joining Bellatrix was that the Marks would disappear should she be defeated. Our Dark Lady is currently spending time in Azkaban. I do believe that she has been placed right across from Riddle's cell. I wonder how they're getting on," he wondered out loud.

Amarth's eyes danced as he leapt lightly to the floor. Did anybody mention her opinions of him to our dear friend Tom?

Lucius gazed back at him innocently as he replied, "Oh, I don't know. I may have accidentally let it slip when I went to visit Riddle in prison to give him news of Nagini and of the world around him." Amarth snorted and thanked Lucius before turning to Severus, who just smiled at him softly before turning around and gliding out of the Infirmary, Amarth padding alongside him.

They remained silent on the way to the dungeons, taking comfort in each other's presence. Amarth already felt the potions wearing off and stopped, turning to Severus, who looked back at him expectantly, waiting for him to say whatever it is he wanted to say. Why don't you just hit me with some charms and hexes and let me convert the magic into strength so that I recover more quickly?

Severus blinked, then flushed lightly and Amarth smirked inwardly. Apparently, Severus had forgotten that he was capable of converting spells into energy, falling back onto what he was most familiar with to help Amarth – potions.

Quickly, Severus threw a series of strong spells at Amarth, which he absorbed into himself and used to strengthen him to the point where he could easily make it the rest of the way to the dungeons. With that accomplished, they started moving again, Severus informing Amarth that Dumbledore wished to speak with them the following afternoon, and that he'd be showing up after lunch.

Speaking of Dumbledore, Amarth wondered about whether or not he'd be graduating with the rest of his year mates, even though he was technically an apprentice and not a regular student. Severus assured him that he'd receive his Hogwarts diploma at the end of May with his friends. Amarth was pleased and bounded ahead of his mate after nuzzling his hand affectionately.

As he neared the dungeon, Amarth heard scratching and smelled two canines – a wolf and a large dog. His godfathers were in their chambers! Growling delightedly, the Jachyra surged forward, stopping outside the door to their chambers and waiting impatiently for Severus to open the door. Once he had done so, Amarth pounced on Moony, his tail lashing behind him as he greeted the canine duo. Padfoot nuzzled him and licked along his face, happy to see him.

After their rather enthusiastic greeting, the three animals curled up in front of the fire. Amarth looked back from his position behind Padfoot and Moony and gazed at Severus, who was watching them with a look of longing on his face. Quietly, he offered Come join us?

Severus shook his head. I am human, Amarth. I cannot join you and be comfortable doing so.

Amarth rolled his eyes and retorted, Are you, or are you not, an animagus now?

Severus' eyes widened, but then he bit his lower lip, staring back at the Jachyra doubtfully. Would it be okay?

Amarth nodded for the three of them, informing his godfathers of what was happening. They too stared at Severus, wagging their tails and inviting him to join them for the night. The raven-haired man smiled happily and shifted into a Basilisk, curling up around all three of them. Curled together, Severus' warm scales undulated around them with every breath, creating a soothing rhythm that soon had them all drifting to sleep.

BREAK

Harry paced nervously as he waited for the wedding to start. Sirius was with him while Remus was with Severus. Sirius had wanted to be with Harry's husband, but they all refused flat-out – the poor man was agitated enough as it was, and Sirius' teasing wouldn't help matters any. So in retribution, Sirius teased his godson to the point where the young man was flushing with embarrassment and nearly dancing in anticipation. Outside on the Quidditch pitch, which had been temporarily renovated for their wedding, Harry could hear the staff and students talking amongst themselves. Harry's and Severus' families and close friends were sitting up front, and everybody else filled in behind them.

Molly Weasley had nearly suffocated poor Harry with her well-wishes and exuberant hugs, but at least he hadn't had it nearly as bad as Severus, who was reminded of just why you didn't piss of the Weasley matriarch.

A chime went off in the room and Harry jumped, turning to face the door nervously. Sirius, all business and encouragement now, offered his arm to Harry—he would be the one giving him away to Severus—and murmured, "It'll be all right, Harry. You have everything you need, and you've memorized your vows by heart. Nothing is going to get in the way of your happiness. So breathe, okay?"

Harry chuckled nervously and nodded. "Okay." With that, he braced himself as the doors opened onto the rolling lawn of Hogwarts. It was finally time to make his dreams come true, he thought as he strode out into the sunlight.

BREAK

Sirius nuzzled against Remus that evening, sighing contentedly when the werewolf held him tightly against his bare chest. "I already miss him, Moony," he sighed, and Remus just nodded. "Don't worry so much, Sirius. They'll be back after their honeymoon, and then we'll get to see Harry often. After all, he's out of school now, and until he decides what he wants to do, he'll be staying in Snape Manor. Severus has already promised that we could visit whenever we wanted to." Sirius nodded, mollified for the moment.

Remus smiled gently and kissed the top of Sirius' hair, making the animagus coo in pleasure at the touch. "One big happy family," he murmured drowsily, starting to drift off to sleep. "Hmm…would you like to make our family even bigger?" he asked idly.

Sirius just murmured a sleepy, "Hmm," and Remus grinned wickedly.

"Then perhaps I'll talk to Severus about making us a potion so that we can have our own children."

Sirius just gave another noncommittal murmur, but then his eyes snapped open and he twisted around to stare up at his lover, his eyes wide and surprised. "What!" he demanded, and Remus laughed, shrugging.

"I just thought that we might like to have our own children. We never really had a chance to raise Harry, and now he's all grown up and married. We're not getting any younger, and I rather like the idea of having our own child. Besides, I imagine that young Harry might like to have some siblings."

Sirius just stared at him for several long moments, his face unreadable, until Remus started to squirm uncomfortably, flushing. Then he smiled brightly, "Make you a deal. I don't have a problem with it, and I might just like to have a child of our own, but we have to get Harry's blessing first. I don't want him to feel that we're going to abandon him as soon as we have a child of our own." Remus nodded easily in acquiescence, smiling brightly at Sirius and giving his lover a firm kiss.

Sirius smirked and responded eagerly, shifting so that he was positioned on top of Remus, his long body completely covering that of the smaller man. Settled, he smiled down at the love of his life, his mate, and said, "Well, I'm still not sure about this, Moony. I think you're going to have to convince me a little better than that."

Remus just grinned back at his lover and teased, "As you wish, love."

BREAK

Ron grinned at Hermione, tugging her gently onto his lap so that he could kiss her. Breaking away, he grinned abashedly up at her. She smiled in return, murmuring, "That wedding was beautiful, wasn't it, Ron? And there were so many people there, all wishing Harry and Severus the best."

Ron smirked, "Yeah, but I thought Mum was going to kill them both. I almost feel sorry for Snape." Hermione glared at him reprovingly, but he ignored it, pulling her down for another kiss.

BREAK

Draco sighed happily, snuggled between his two lovers. George nuzzled him from behind while Fred kissed along his jaw and throat. Slitting his eyes open, Draco smiled up at the twins. "Heh, who'd have thought I'd ever hook up with any Weasley, nevermind two of them."

George inserted one of his legs between Draco's and murmured, "Eh, who'd have thought we'd ever hook up with a Malfoy. I'm sure your father must have been devastated when you first introduced us." Fred murmured his agreement, now tracing random paths along Draco's chest.

The twins shared a glance between them that Draco caught, and he looked at them questioningly. "What is it, you two?"

They flushed lightly and looked down at him. "Well, you've introduced us to your parents, and we were wondering if we could introduce you to ours."

Before Draco could open his mouth to reply, George piped up, "I know you've met everyone before, but we're talking about taking you to the Burrow, letting you get to actually live as part of our family."

Draco blinked, then smiled tentatively up at them. "You'd do that? You want to bring me to your home?" The twins nodded at him simultaneously and Draco flushed lightly, lowering his eyes as he replied, "I think…I would like that."

Fred and George smiled brightly at him, and the room was silent for a few seconds until George couldn't take it anymore. "All right, enough with the sentimental crap. Where are those kisses?" Laughter filled the room as the three wizards set about answering the question.

BREAK

Harry smiled at his lover as they lay sated and exhausted on their bed, nuzzling against him. "I'm glad we're finally married, Sev," he murmured. Severus voiced his agreement, holding Harry tightly. Shifting, the were-Jachyra moved upwards so that he could look at Severus' face when he told him the news, biting his lower lip nervously.

Severus looked up at him curiously, raising an eyebrow in query. "What is it, Harry? You've obviously got something to say, so spit it out." Harry sighed and lowered his head, giving Severus a firm kiss that left no doubt in either of their minds just how committed they were to each other.

Raising his head again, Harry asked, "You know the last time we made love? When I told you that something had changed, but I didn't know what?"

Severus nodded, his curiosity peaked. "Yes, I remember. You went to visit Madame Pomfrey a few days later."

Harry nodded and said, "Ummm…she told me what the problem was."

Severus' eyes widened and he asked quickly. "What is it? Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Ill?"

Harry shook his head quickly, placing a hand over his husband's mouth to stop the questions. Bracing himself, he stammered, "It's nothing like that. I'm…um…I'm p-pregnant."

Closing his eyes, he counted. When he reached ten, a yell shattered the silence, "You're what!"

THE END.