Harriet Potter and the Alpha in the Dungeon

Chapter 59 - Severus, The Helpful Alpha

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Harriet hadn't anticipated that her morning excursion would cause any sort of lingering problem.

It had only been a few hours since she had fed her son, what difference would it make?

She quickly understood exactly how serious her offense against her body and her baby had been as she carried a sharp, stinging ache in her breasts for the rest of the day.

Little Sev continued on his usual feeding schedule, but that failed to alleviate Harriet's discomfort, much to her horror.

Her breasts grew alarmingly bigger, her flesh reddened, and by that evening, she felt the clammy beginnings of a fever flush her cheeks.

Harriet had managed to conceal her discomfort from Severus until he walked into their son's room that night and found her rocking Little Sev.

Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks as their baby nursed.

His plans to confront Ingrid were quickly cast aside.

"My love!" Severus cried as he glided towards her, "My love!.....What's the matter?!......Why do you weep?!......Are you not feeling like yourself again?"

Severus's pale face clouded with anxious worry as dread bloomed in his heart.

Had Ingrid's spell not been successful?

Was Harriet still suffering under the burden of curses?

"No.....it's not that." Harriet sighed as she laid her head back against the rocking chair and closed her eyes.

"Then tell me what troubles you this instant!" Severus commanded.

His words seemed authoritative, but the undertone in his deep voice sounded indescribably soft.

As he gazed at Harriet, his black eyes glimmered with sympathetic anguish and a deep longing to help ease whatever discomfort his mate felt.

"Sev, it's so painful....It hurts!" Harriet sighed as she opened her eyes and glanced down at their baby, "It's like he's pulling glass through my breasts and I.....I think I'm falling ill."

Severus's frown melted into a scowl of grave concern as he lifted a hand and pressed it against Harriet's forehead.

He had assumed her tears had initiated the flush of her cheeks, but as soon as he felt the warmth that radiated from her, his dark eyes widened.

Severus wondered whether or not he should halt his son's meal and seek out some sort of substitute, frightened his little one may catch his mate's sickness.

Before he took drastic action either way, he quickly sent out a request to have a healer visit their cottage as soon as possible.

Less than fifteen minutes later, a knock fell on the Snape family's front door.

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The emergency healer who had come to examine Harriet was a kind, older witch with a soothing voice and gentle hands.

By the time she escorted Harriet to her nest, Little Sev had finished his meal and lay protectively swaddled in his father's arms.

"Alright, then, love, let me have a look at you." The healer whispered as her patient lay back against the pillows, shaking and trembling.

Harriet let out a sigh and closed her eyes as the healer slowly moved her wand over her body in a head to toe diagnostic magical scan.

Severus watched anxiously from his seat at Harriet's bedside as the healer quickly completed her enchantment and asked, "Your husband mentioned you were having pain, my dear?"