-II-

"Move, Black Hawk, or I will make you move!" Light Arrow thundered, and Black Hawk held his ears. He already could feel a headache coming up.

"Rose, can you and Crying Horse handle him until we are finished with Severus?" Light Arrow asked his daughter.

"Sure, Dad. We will get him under a cold shower."

"Move!" was everything Light Arrow said in Severus' direction. "Don't think for a moment that I believe that story you two came up with."

Severus dreaded the interrogation that surely would come now. He wouldn't give away why he was hurt, and he hoped Crying Horse would stick to the story as well. It was quite the stunt the young man had pulled on Light Arrow. Severus would have never guessed that Crying Horse would dare to lie to Light Arrow for him.

-II-

"Sit down, Severus, and let me help you to get that jumper over your head," White Cloud said calmly when they arrived in Severus' room.

"I can do this alone," Severus replied grumpily and tried to wriggle out of his jumper. Only under great pain and with White Cloud's help was he able to. Afterwards he was sweating and panting in pain.

"Lie down and relax, while your father tries to help you," White Cloud instructed Severus strictly.

Light Arrow had let White Cloud handle the situation until now to calm down. Not that it had helped a lot.

The moment Severus was in a horizontal position, Light Arrow sat down beside his torso and laid his hands on Severus shoulder. "How did that happen?"

Severus tried to play at being reasonable. That normally worked best for Light Arrow, and he could still go on ignoring mode when the first tactic didn't work. "Crying Horse already told you. I got in a little fight with someone, and he hurt my shoulder."

"Who was that man?"

This question Severus couldn't answer without lying. Or could he? "It doesn't matter, Light Arrow. I'm tired can I sleep now? Is something broken?"

Light Arrow grabbed Severus' shirt at its front. "You are lying to me, and I don't like that, Severus. Why are you doing it?"

"I am not lying!" Severus said, frustrated.

Light Arrow growled, not knowing what to say to his stubborn son.

White Cloud laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "This leads us nowhere, Joseph. Leave it be as it is."

"Leave it be?" Light Arrow turned angry to his wife. "I thought that it was a bad idea from the beginning. Something is definitely wrong about this all. The wards tell me that there is more about it than they give away and it isn't something good."

"I know, Joseph. I can feel it myself, but I think it is for the best that we leave it be for now."

"One of my sons is hurt and doesn't tell me the true story behind it, and another one is totally intoxicated, even so he knew from the beginning that it would have been better for him not to drink at all. Now you tell me I should calm down and let it be?"

"And one son had brought them all back in one piece, Joseph. Maybe you should look at it that way," White Cloud suggested calmly.

Light Arrow breathed deeply and closed his eyes. After a few seconds of calming down, he opened his eyes again. "You are right," he said, defeated. Then he looked at Severus. "We will speak tomorrow. I cannot do much for your shoulder at the moment. The doc needs to have a look at it tomorrow. I will drive you to him after breakfast." Sadly he laid his hand on Severus healthy shoulder. "I wish you would talk to me openly. What a miserable father must I be."

Of everything he could have said, he had to say this. Now not only Severus' shoulder hurt like hell but his heart even more. Not knowing how to react on that, he turned his face to the wall. The door was opened and closed, but Severus sensed that he wasn't alone in the room. That was confirmed when a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. "I don't know what happened today, but it won't help to lock it up inside of you. I understand when you need time to reflect on your own, but don't swallow the problems down. How much is your shoulder hurting?"

"I'm fine," Severus said miserably.

"What did you tell Harry about lying to himself? So how much is your shoulder hurting?"

Severus groaned. "A lot, even without moving it."

"I will try if I can find a potion or salve that could help you, but first I need to know if you drank any alcohol. You know some of the pain killers react badly with it."

"I didn't drink anything... but I'm not the one to credit for this," Severus said, frustrated.

"Then you should give credit to whom the credit belongs when you are able to think straight again. Now you should do something against those shaking hands, Severus. I'm sure the doc has given you something for an emergency."

Damn, how could he be so stupid to forget it? Of course Doc Martens had given him something to fight withdrawal symptoms. Severus looked at White Cloud surprised. "I totally forgot... ehm... can you get it for me? It's in the desk drawer. The green package."

White Cloud smiled warmly at him. "Of course."

After Severus had taken two of the pills, he sighed relieved. "Maybe it's better if I try to fall asleep without the pain killer. Who knows how it reacts with the pills."

"I could contact Doc Martens. It's still early enough," White Cloud offered.

"No, please not. It's bearable. I promise." The last part was added because of her skeptical look.

"Okay, but if it gets worse and the wards don't inform us, come to us and ask for help, Severus. We don't know what's wrong with your shoulder, only that it isn't dislocated. So it's safe to wait until tomorrow, but we're not sure if the pain will get worse."

"Yes, I will come, Mum," Severus said. He very, very seldom used that title with her. The only reason he did it know was because he could feel her worry and her urge to lighten the pain. She always was bad in seeing people in pain. Maybe that's the reason why she is so much against rough housing, even so everyone else sees it much more lightly in the camp.

Severus lay awake for more than two hours. He just couldn't fall asleep. The pain and his thinking about his mistakes this evening were holding him awake. His skills as a former spy let him fumble for his wand when the door handle was silently pushed down. Unfortunately the pain in his shoulder made it impossible to grab his wand and he groaned in pain.

That groaning made the person at the other side aware of Severus' vigil and Red Horse stepped quickly into the room. "What are you doing?" He asked while coming in big steps closer to the bed.

Severus held his shoulder. The sudden movement when he had grabbed for his wand had shot an unbearable jet of pain in his shoulder that now only ebbed down slowly. "Can you get me a cooling pack?" Severus managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"Sure. I'll be back soon." Two minutes later Red Horse was back. "I shall get that salve on your shoulder before you put the cooling pack on it."

Severus didn't protest and let Red Horse open his pajama top to apply the salve on his shoulder.

"Okay, that should hold." Red Horse adjusted the small sling with that he had fixed the cooling pack on Severus' shoulder.

Slowly the pain ebbed down, and Severus could breathe deeply.

After sitting down on the bed, Red Horse asked, "What happened? The old man is sitting down in the living room in front of the fireplace, staring holes in it. White Cloud is trying to get him to come into bed."

"The evening went bad," Severus said.

"A bit more information would be great, Sev. Until know I know nothing besides that you have obviously hurt your shoulder. Did you fight with him?"

Severus sighed. "Promise to not tell them."

Red Horse rolled his eyes. "I promise."

"It was Crying Horse."

"Crying Horse? You fought with Crying Horse? I thought this evening was about letting him see that he is one of us."

"Yeah, but like I said, everything was going bad."

"Okay, okay, tell me from the beginning."

Sighing again, Severus started to tell Red Horse about the evening.

"What do you expect me to say to this?"

"Nothing. I know you are angry, but hey you could have come with us and maybe then it wouldn't have-"

"Oh no, Sev. That won't work. You could have watched out for yourself very well alone. You lived outside the camp much longer than any other of us. I already had a bad feeling about Black Hawk when you left. He was way too cheerful and hyper. We all know him well enough to know that this normally is a sign that he doesn't have himself under control. And you should have taken your pills with you."

"I thought I could do without it, okay. Everything went well lately, and I totally forgot about the emergency pills."

"Since when does anything go just well for us. That should have given you to think." He looked at Severus and felt the urge to ruffle his hair. Knowing that, even with a hurt shoulder, his brother wouldn't react well to it, he just smiled at him. "Everything is okay. Crying Horse got you two safely home. Maybe you even managed your goal for this whole mission with that."

Severus screwed his face questioningly.

"Maybe Light Arrow will think even better about Crying Horse now where he rescued you two."

"Rescued?"

"Yeah, rescued," Red Horse said seriously. "We both know that all your effort of the last months would have been for nothing if you'd drunk just one stupid sip of alcohol. Black Hawk could have been even worse or could have gotten himself in trouble if Crying Horse hadn't have got you two out of the pub that quickly. So I would damn well call it a rescue."

Severus groaned. "Fine, you are right."

"Oh, my, I would have never thought that Crying Horse would attack you like this. That boy has balls. He always was good in wrestling and you always were a-"

"Yes, I know, but believe me outside this camp I'm better than many others in wrestling. It rescued my life a few times."

"Then my training was good for something," Red Horse said, amused.

Severus snorted. Then he remembered Red Horse's words at the car. "Have you been to the wild horses with Draco?"

Red Horse's face fell. "No, he had one of his diarrhea problems, and so he couldn't come with me. Maybe tomorrow. That will even give us more time to speak. We could start after lunch if Light Arrow doesn't have other plans. I don't know if Black Hawk will be up for working tomorrow or if he will be in more trouble with Light Arrow. So I don't know if I will have time. The morning is booked up. Crying Horse need to drive the kids to school, and Light Arrow will drive you to the doc. If Black Hawk is still unavailable, I will be alone with the horses."

"Yeah, I don't look forward to tomorrow myself."

"Don't worry, Sev. Dad will cool down. In the end you didn't drink, and you all came home in one piece."

"I wish I could see this all as positive as you do. Unfortunately I know what I thought, and what I did this evening." Severus turned away from Red Horse.

"You need rest, Sev. Try to sleep." After petting Severus' shoulder one last time, Red Horse left the room.

/

"Morning everyone," Doc Martens said cheerfully when he emerged from the fireplace.

The three people at the table looked at him surprised. Rose even let her cup drop. Quickly White Cloud vanished the spilled coffee and filled the cup of her daughter again. Light Arrow meanwhile stood up to greet the doctor.

"No, no, remain seated. I just heard through the grapevine that maybe there are two people here who could need my help. So I thought I come over before my morning practice hour starts."

"The grapevine. Merlin was it that bad?" Light Arrow asked, shocked. "Should I visit the town to smooth things?"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea, I would say, Light Arrow. Still, it's nothing to get a heart attack over."

"Excuse me when I can't share your cheerfulness, doc, but I had a bad night and don't look forward to the day either."

"You have to excuse him, you know how he is," White Cloud said while giving the doc a cup of coffee.

"And he is right, Mom. I don't understand how you can be so calm. Black Hawk proved one more time that he is totally unreasonable as soon as he leaves the camp, and we still don't know what Severus did to get his arm hurt. My damn husband didn't helping at all to enlighten things," Rose said angrily.

"Oh my, maybe I should have come even earlier before you all heated up like that. Where is Crying Horse? Is he hiding from you, Rose?"

The glare Rose threw in the doc's direction made him look at the only reasonable person in the room; White Cloud. "I would like to have a look at both. Not that I think Black Hawk has more than a hangover, but maybe he needs some mental support."

"Why don't you tell us what you know?" Rose asked.

"Because I think that Black Hawk and Severus should be the ones to tell you what happened, Rose. They made a mistake, and they need to realize it for themselves."

Rose sighed frustrated.

"As you are already here to have a look at Severus' shoulder, I will use the time to drive into the town to speak with Lou and, if needed, apologize for their behavior. Do I have to stop at the police station as well?"

"Like I already said, Light Arrow, it wasn't that bad. Just visit Lou. He is a bit angry."

Ten minutes later the doctor knocked at Severus' door.

The knocking woke Severus. He realized that he was pressing Tas against his chest, and he quickly threw the plushy through the whole room in hope it would land on the cupboard, out of sight from whomever would come in now. Unfortunately his timing and his ability to aim with a damaged shoulder was very bad and the plushy almost hit the doc. Severus' groan of pain made the doctor swallow any comment that was lying on his lips about the plushy. In a few big strides he was over by his patient. "Don't tense! Relax!" His hand on Severus chest send calming magic into the man. When Severus had calmed down, he pried his hand from the damaged shoulder and started to undress his patient. "Let's see, what's wrong with it," he muttered to himself or the room or whatever.

Severus just lay there panting, trying to breathe the pain away.

"It seems you have hurt some muscles and sinews. I will numb your shoulder now and then heal it. You know the drill better than me, so be prepared for some pain over the numbness."

Severus didn't reply, he just closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together. When the doctor finally was finished, Severus had the feeling his shoulder was burning up. The numbness was gone almost completely. "Can't you give me something against the pain?"

"First I need to know a few other things, Severus. For example if you drank anything yesterday and what you already took against the pain or any other problems."

"Other problems," Severus snorted.

"And?"

"I didn't drink anything, and I only applied one of White Clouds salves and a cooling pack... and I took the emergency pills."

"How many," the doc asked almost casually while he rummaged in his bag.

"Two when we came back... and two in the night," Severus said ashamed and turned away.

"That's what they are for, Severus. Now turn around again and let me check you a bit closer."

Severus breathed in deeply to find the courage to face the doctor again.

"Okay, look at my ear," Doc Martens said while he laid his left hand on Severus' forehead and lightened with a small glow of his wand in Severus' eyes. "The medication is still active in your system. So you must have taken it very early in the morning. Nevertheless it is less enough to give you a pain killer. Take the potion each eight hours. Only over night you can wait a bit longer to take the next doses. On Wednesday, when I'm here for the barbecue, I will check the shoulder again. If it gets worse, call me. No emergency pills during the time you take the pain killer. If your normal medication doesn't help, call me immediately and don't wait, trying to get it under control yourself. You would make all your hard work be for nothing. I can give you another medication for an emergency, but I'm not allowed to give that concoction out of hand. So call me, Severus!" The doctor emphasized his last sentence with an intensive stare at Severus.

Again Severus sighed. "I got it!"

"Good. Now drink this. The rest will be with White Cloud. You know the drill."

Severus rolled his eyes and tried to sit up to take the potion.

"No, wait. Let me fix your arm first." Before Severus could protest, his arm was paralyzed and drawn to his body in an angle.

"I need to teach," Severus protested.

"You will stay in bed for today and won't work for the rest of the week," the doctor said in a no-nonsense tone.

"What shall I do the whole day?"

"Most important not thinking too much. Speak with the people you need to speak with to get whatever is troubling you from your chest and then let the others entertain you. I'm sure they will find something to make you forget the pain. You know the painkiller will only lessen the pain and not make it-"

"I'm a Potion's Master," Severus said grumpily. "Am I at least allowed to go to the meals?"

"Not today, Severus. You will stay in bed and the next days you will rest."

Severus rolled his eyes. Just fantastic, and there he had thought it couldn't get worse.