Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money here.

AN: This story was written for the 2010 ss/hg_exchange as a gift for lady_karelia. Many thanks to my wonderful betas, dreamy_dragon73 and Clairvoyant.

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"Jamie?" Hermione's face drained of all color. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. This wasn't happening; this couldn't be happening. She swallowed hard. "Is he... is he? Oh, gods, he's not..."

"No!" exclaimed Lucius suddenly, as if realizing what she was thinking. "No, he's alive for now. But he's very, very ill, Hermione. There are very few who have survived once the plague's been contracted. Sweetheart, I'm so sorry."

"Jamie," she whispered. Then she crossed arms on the table and laid her head down. She had to think. What to do? What to do?

Lucius and Severus each leaned in close on either side, holding her, offering support.

Suddenly, Hermione sat straight up. "We have to go back; we have to do the ritual right now. Today... tomorrow. That could turn things around. That's what we have to do...as soon as we can."

Severus turned her to face him, his hands gently grasping her arms as he explained slowly and calmly. "Hermione, that's not possible. I explained earlier, remember? The ritual takes time, preparation. It's not just a matter of the three of us joining for sex; as enjoyable as that would be, it wouldn't achieve what we need for it to work. I believe for the best results we should try to incorporate one of the days the old ones celebrated. Ostara has already passed. Beltane is approaching, but that is too soon...there's not enough time. Even Litha, the summer solstice is too close. I think we need several months, which puts us at Mabon, the autumnal equinox."

"But that's nearly six months! No. Severus, that's too late. Jamie needs me to do something now," she said, clenching her fists in his shirt.

Suddenly, Severus sprang up from his chair with such force that the chair crashed over backwards. "The Spiralhorn Sprouts!" he nearly shouted.

"Severus, how can you worry about those stupid sprouts now!" Hermione responded angrily.

He grabbed her again and gave her a little shake. "Think, Hermione, think. You've read the research. The potion made with the sprouts is supposed to..."

"...save a person even on the very brink of death. Oh my gods, Severus! I'm sorry. You're right. I wasn't thinking clearly. That could be the solution. We need to find those sprouts. Everything is starting to thaw; it should be anytime. I'll help you look. Let's get out there right now."

Lucius pulled her back around to face him. "No, Hermione, you need to go back to England..."

"Lucius, don't you understand? We need to help Severus find those sprouts."

He sat her down in the chair and knelt before her. "Hermione, I agree Severus' potion with these sprouts may be the key. But you can't wait for that, darling, you must go back now. I'm not trying to be negative, but even... when we find them, it's still going to take time for him to brew the potion. You mustn't wait that long. Young James needs you now, love. Potter needs you now. Kingsley says he's at the end of his rope."

"Oh, Lucius. Poor Harry. He must be going mad; Jamie is everything to him; You're right, of course, I need to go back immediately. How much time, Lucius? Before the plague runs its course? How long do we have?"

"I'm not sure. Normally several weeks, I think. But... he is so very young, I don't know if he'll be able to last that long. We can only hope there's enough time. I have a Portkey ready. I'll escort you back, then I'll come back here and help Severus."

Severus stood at her side and agreed, "He's right, and I'll get Art and Little Anne. We'll have them get all 'the boys' to help, too. If those damn sprouts are out there, we'll find them, I swear."

~

When they arrived in England, Lucius immediately escorted Hermione to St. Mungo's. They were shown to a private waiting area where George, Angelina, Bill and Charlie were waiting. Just after Lucius and Hermione arrived, Harry entered, and Hermione flew into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Harry choked back a sob as he pulled Hermione close to him, squeezing his best friend so hard she could barely breathe. "I'm so glad you're home, sis. I don't know what to do, I feel so helpless. It's so hopeless. He's my little boy. I can't lose him too, I just can't." Harry confided to his oldest and dearest friend. "I'm scared, Hermione, so scared. I don't think I can survive this; to lose him now, it's more than I can bear."

Hermione held him as they cried together in their fear. Then she tried to reassure him. "Oh, Harry, I wish I'd been here for you, for both of you. We aren't going to lose him. Severus has an idea, Harry. He's on the trail of a very rare, very potent potion ingredient. It could be the solution...the miracle we need. Don't lose hope yet. You must stay strong for James. He has to fight, to hang on until Severus can find these sprouts and brew the potion."

Harry looked up at her through reddened eyes, but here was a spark of hope in them. "You found him? You found Professor Snape?"

Lucius approached and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's true, Harry. I'm going back there now, to Ontario, to help Severus search."

The hope in Harry's eyes dimmed at the news. "So, he doesn't actually have this plant yet. It's all just chance then, isn't it?"

"Harry, it's the best chance we have," Hermione said. "This is Severus Snape we're talking about. He can 'bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death.' He is our best chance."

Hermione later went in to visit James and was able to briefly bring a smile to the little boy's face. He looked so very small in the big hospital bed, the sheets rumpled around him and a plushie dragon clutched in his arms. His face was flushed, and as she bent to brush a kiss across his brow, she could feel the heat of the fever radiating from him.

"Aunt Mymee, you're back! I missed you soooo much!"

"I've missed you too, Jamie, my love."

"I'm so hot, Aunt Mymee. I don't feel very good, an' I wanna to go home," the little boy grumbled.

"I know, sweetie. But you have to be strong. I have a friend who's working on a potion to help make you better. So, promise me you'll fight as hard as you can, Jamie. Don't give up, you mustn't ever give up, love."

"I'll try, Auntie," agreed the little boy in a weak voice.

~

All three of the Weasley brothers wanted to go back with Lucius to help with the search. After some discussion, they finally decided that since no one knew positively where the sprouts might be, it would be counter-productive to have legions of people tromping through the woods, possibly crushing the tender shoots before they even had a chance to show themselves. Lucius finally convinced all but Charlie to stay with Harry. Living on the dragon reservation, Charlie was used to harsh conditions, and his keen eyes could be an asset in searching from the air.

Before leaving, Lucius came to say his goodbyes to Hermione. They slipped away from the group for a few minutes of privacy. Finding an empty room, Lucius pulled her inside and locked the door. He then took her in his arms and just held her, offering her what comfort he could.

"Oh, Lucius, he's so small and so ill. I'm really afraid that whatever happens it may be too little, too late," she whispered.

"Don't give up hope, love. If anyone can do this, it's Severus. We will be doing all we can. Your job is to be here for Harry and the boy. Stay strong: they will need to draw from your strength."

"I'll do my best, Lucius, but right now I don't feel very strong. I feel terrified. This is something I have no control over, and it's so frustrating." Hermione pulled him over to a chair by the window pushed him to sit and climbed into his lap. "Just hold me for a bit before you have to go, will you, Lucius? Please?"

"Of course, my dear. I'd hold you all night if I could." Lucius stroked her hair and traced little circles on her back.

"So, I take it by Severus' state of disarray on my arrival that you two have worked out your differences?"

It made Hermione smile to remember Severus rushing to her defense in nothing but a towel with shaving cream on his face, his wand at the ready. "Yes, we have," she responded with a chuckle. "We did have a bit of a tough go of it at first, but you were absolutely right. With you gone we simply had to learn how to deal with each other."

"And did you take my advice and seduce him?"

"No, not really. If anything, I think he seduced me," she answered, blushing at the memory.

"We'd had a confrontation and decided that we both needed to voice our feelings and concerns. Somehow that whole thing ended with Severus kissing me and telling me in his oh so sexy voice all the things he planned to do with me...to me...in very explicit detail. After that, I basically just melted into a giant puddle of goo, and he had his way with me. It was wonderful," Hermione concluded with a knowing smile.

"I'll just bet it was. Now, why didn't I think of doing that?

"Once this is all resolved, and young James is cured, we will proceed with the triad then?"

The very fact that Lucius didn't say if James was cured, but simply assumed that Severus would find the cure, endeared him to Hermione's heart far more than a hundred red roses, ten pounds of Honeyduke's finest chocolate or anything else he could have done. "Yes, I think we are in full agreement on that point," she replied. "Once everything has settled, Severus will begin training us in the Tantric methods necessary to complete the ritual. And by the way, why didn't you tell me that he was already trained in Tantric magic? Withholding information again?"

"You were so positive that he wouldn't agree to join the triad. I didn't want to get your hopes up."

"Hmm... maybe so. Still, you know how much I dislike not having all of the pertinent data. Don't do it again, Lucius, or I promise you there will be hell to pay."

"Yes, dear," he said with with mock display of meekness. "Whatever you say, dear."

"Oh, you!" she replied with a teasing slap on his arm.

~

The following days took on a repetitive feel as one day followed the next with little change. Hermione spent all of her waking hours at St. Mungo's, either at Jamie's side or Harry's. She would stay there for unending hours until George or Bill or Kingsley would realize that she had been there for a ridiculously long amount of time and would drag her home to 12 Grimmauld Place. She would be ordered to sleep, but after far too short a time, she would find herself awakened by nightmares of attending Jamie's funeral and would rush back to the hospital to reassure herself that there was still time.

There were several occasions that were touch and go as the little boy's temperature spiked far too high, and he slipped into a delirium. Hermione resorted to Muggle means when magical treatment failed to lower his fever, and she would sponge him with lukewarm water, give him Muggle fever medications and force juices and fluids down him. She physically threw one Healer out of the room, and Harry had to hold her back from doing bodily harm to the woman after she had suggested that the time had come to just let the boy go in peace. It was at that point Harry and Hermione agreed to take James home to Grimmauld Place. By their own admission there was nothing more the St. Mungo's staff could offer.

On day ten came the first breakthrough when they received news from Charlie that they had actually found several clusters of what Severus believed were the Spiralhorn Sprouts. It would take at least three to four more days before they were mature enough to harvest, and then the potion still needed to be brewed.

She received regular updates from Lucius, who reported that Severus was working himself ragged. He toiled for long hours until, like Hermione, he had to be forced to rest for his own good, lest he collapse from exhaustion. She wrote back to both Lucius and Severus and tried to let them know how much their actions meant to her, but the words felt inadequate, and she wished that she could see and touch and hold both of her wizards.

Oh, Merlin, when had she started thinking of them as her wizards? she wondered. And yet, once the thought was there and had voiced itself in her brain, she was unable to erase it from her mind. Finally, she decided she rather liked the idea and decided to leave it where it was.

It was on day fourteen that Charlie returned to England. Enough of the sprouts had been located and harvested for Severus to use for his potion making. Since Charlie's potion skills were nothing more than the bare basics, he had opted to return to England to be with his family. He reported that Snape had estimated it would take several days to brew and test the potion. It gave them all a new hope, but with each day that passed James' condition continued to deteriorate. Hermione was desolate.

On day nineteen they had all come to accept that James would most likely not live out the day. The entire family was gathered around the little boy's bedside. Harry was sitting on one side of the bed, and Hermione knelt on the other; they both held one of the little boy's hands. Harry kept lightly stroking his son's cheek or hair while Hermione held Jamie's little hand in hers and kissed the back of it or stroked it against her cheek.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the hallway, and the door swung wide to admit both Lucius and Severus. The dark-haired wizard looked haggard as he stalked into the room to stand behind Hermione. She surged to her feet to throw herself at him and wrapped him in her arms. Seeing Lucius right behind him, she reached for him with a free hand to join in a three-way embrace.

Most of the Weasleys looked a bit surprised by the display, but Charlie and Harry did not seem at all concerned at all by the show of affection.

"Oh, Severus," choked Hermione. "I'm afraid it's too late; he is on his deathbed."

"Perhaps not, muirnín," whispered Severus in her ear. He turned to Harry and spoke. "Mr. Potter... Harry. There may yet be time. However, I must tell you truthfully this potion has not been used in nearly a hundred years. The only evidence I have is purely anecdotal. I have tested it successfully on field mice and nifflers, but I have no real proof of its efficacy in humans...wizards. I have no idea how your son might react to it."

"Professor Snape, at this point we have no hope left. He is dying. If we do nothing, he will die. If there is even one chance in a million, please... please give it to him."

Severus measured out the proper dose, then sat at the edge of the little boy's bed.

"Severus, what are you waiting for?" demanded Hermione.

"This is the hardest part, a chuisle. This is literally a 'last chance' potion. It must be administered at the very last possible moment. As horrifying as it is for the loved ones, we must wait. I'm so very sorry to put you through this."

They waited in silence except for the sniffles and subdued sobs from the aunts and uncles and the harsh labored breathing of the patient. James' lips looked blue, his skin took on a deathly greyish pallor, his breathing deteriorated to a painfully labored gasp. At what seemed like the final desperate gurgle, Severus' hand swooped in, and parting the boy's lips, he poured the potion into his mouth and gently massaged his throat. "Swallow, boy, swallow," he commanded.

He felt the boy's throat muscles contract slightly, and as the potion slid slowly down, there was an almost instantaneous response. James breathed a heavy sigh and his breathing evened. Slowly, his blue lips pinked up, and his deathly pallor brightened.

"Oh, my dear gods above," gasped Hermione. "It's working!" She reached across Jamie to clasp Harry's hand. "Harry, he's brought us our miracle!"

At that moment James's eyes blinked open. "Daddy?" His little voice was weak and scratchy, but the sound was music to their ears. The Weasley aunts and uncles who were huddled around the end of the bed embraced each other in relief. After a few minutes of quiet rejoicing, they slipped from the room, giving the little family some time.

Hermione collapsed into sobs. Lucius, who had knelt next to her, cuddled her close in support, and Severus slid off the edge of the bed on her other side to wrap his arms around her too.

"Daddy?" whispered James. "Why is Aunt Mymee crying, and who are those boys hugging her?"

Harry snorted through his own tears. "Sometimes people cry when they're happy, son. And your Aunt Mymee is very, very happy that you are going to get better now. And those two boys are good friends of hers. Mr. Snape, the dark-haired one, made the potion that helped you get better."

"Oh, she told me about him. Who's the other one... the pretty one?"

This time it was Severus who snorted. Pulling slightly away from her two wizards, Hermione answered the boy, "This is Mr. Malfoy, Jamie. He helped me search for Mr. Snape. We had to travel far away and solve lots of clues to figure out where he was."

"You had a 'venture, Auntie, just like you usta' have with my daddy and Uncle Ron."

"Why, I suppose you're right, Jamie," she replied, leaning back against her wizards with a satisfied smile. "It was a wonderful adventure, indeed."

Harry leaned in to whisper into his son's ear. "I have a feeling that before long those boys will be your two newest uncles, mate."

"Cool," he responded with a yawn as his eyes drifted shut in a peaceful sleep.

Harry bent down to kiss his son's forehead. Then, he came around the bed and clasped Severus on the shoulder. "I can never thank you enough, sir... er... Severus. Hermione's right, you have truly brought us a miracle."

~

Hermione awoke the next morning in her own bed, which she had enlarged to accommodate two extra man-sized bodies. Severus was still sound asleep next to her; he had been totally exhausted. According to Lucius, Severus had not slept for more than ten to fifteen minutes at any given time for the past five days.

Realizing her other wizard had left the bed for a trip to the loo, Hermione slipped out as well. Intercepting Lucius on his way back to the bed, she led him instead to a comfy chair across the room.

With a wicked smile on her face, she dropped gracefully to her knees between his legs. She ran her fingers up and down his legs, teasingly sliding under the edges of the silk boxers he'd slept in, drawing ever closer to his groin.

"What are you up to, witch?"

Untying his dressing gown, she slowly pushed back the silk and slipped her fingers around the top of his boxers, sliding them down. "Lift up," she commanded, and as he complied she slid them down his legs and off completely, her fingers gliding over the firm muscles appreciatively.

"Ummmmm..." she hummed as his cock sprang to life, and he widened his legs to give her better access. One of her hands delved lower to caress and play with his sack as the other closed around the base of his cock with a loose grip to stroke up and down, causing him to groan out loud.

"Shhhhh..." she admonished. "I don't want to wake up Severus. He drove himself to exhaustion; he needs his rest. But I've wanted to do this for so long, Lucius, fantasized about it. I can't wait any longer." Saying that, her tongue flicked out to travel up and down his cock again and again until she dropped to nuzzle his balls. She took first one then the other into her warm mouth to suck it and roll her tongue around it. His fingers tightened on the arms of the chair as he tried to contain his moans of pleasure. Hermione rose up on her knees and engulfed him in her mouth, sliding down his shaft as far as she could and back up, sucking as she went, giving a little swirl around the tip with her tongue.

She widened her knees and brought one hand down to touch herself as she continued to suck and bob up and down on Lucius' cock. As he approached the point of no return, he wrapped his fingers through her hair and pulled her off him with a soft pop. Hermione whined and tried to get her mouth back around him. "Stop, love. Please, I want you. I want to come inside this first time. Come to me, take me inside."

Finally understanding his words, she rose to her feet and climbed onto his lap. Pulling up her nightgown, she straddled his legs and with a sigh of pleasure, settled herself on his hard cock. "Oh, my sweet Merlin, Lucius, you feel so good. I've wanted this for so long, dreamed of being with you, with both my wizards." Hermione moaned. "I never would have imagined myself like this."

Lucius gathered her gown up to her waist and pulled it up as she lifted her arms, so he could peel it up over her head and toss it aside. Then he caressed her breasts as he kissed her, slowly at first, then deeper. He nuzzled down her neck, across her collarbones and down further to lick and suckle her nipples into tight tender buds. They rocked together for several minutes, the tension building until they were thrusting against each other with abandon, each reaching for that elusive peak. They soon reached the pinnacle and tumbled over with a loud shout of completion from Lucius and a long keening cry from Hermione.

"Well, that was a most entertaining display to awake to," drawled Severus from the bed.

With a giggle, Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Severus, uncovered and completely nude. He was lying on his left side, his head propped up on his left hand, his right hip bent up, foot planted on the bed as he leisurely stroked his engorged penis.

"We were trying to be quiet about it; we didn't want to wake you," she said as she crossed the room to slide onto the bed next to him. She kissed the side of his neck and replaced his fingers on his cock with her own.

"Really? And you think that was being quiet?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"We got carried away," she explained with a blush as Lucius climbed in behind her and brushed her hair to the side so he could nibble on her shoulder. One hand reached around her to tweak one of Severus' nipples before sliding down to fondle Hermione's breast.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Er... Hermione?  Are you... er... all right in there?" Harry's voice asked quietly from the other side. "The others wanted me to check."

"Oh, fuck. We didn't use any Silencing Charms!" she whispered before collapsing in nervous giggles. "Uhhh... yes, Harry... ummm... that is... uh..."

Lucius finally took mercy on her and called out to Harry. "Hermione is fine, Harry. We will endeavor to be more quiet or to make better use of privacy spells from here on out."

"Yes," added Severus helpfully. "And don't expect to see any of us for the next day or possibly two. I am quite certain we will not be leaving the comfort of our bed anytime soon. We are all so very exhausted, you know."

"Right... exhausted," they heard Harry mutter. "Listen, just to be on the safe side, I'm casting my own silencing spell on this whole wing. Enjoy, you three, see you in a day or two."

Hermione slapped her hand over her eyes. "Oh, my gods!" she exclaimed in embarrassment.

A short while later there was no embarrassment at all involved in her cries of fulfillment.

tbc