Joe Reaves (featheredwolf) wrote in 50episodes, @ 2007-10-26 20:10:00 |
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Current mood: | creative |
The Apothecary, Empire Records/Harry Potter, PG
Title The Apothecary
Characters Joe, Snape, Berko, Warren, AJ
Rating PG
Prompt #23 Healing (50 Episodes)
Summary Master Snape checks out Joe's newest cub.
Universe Huminals
Master Snape looked up from his ledger where he was making notes about which ingredients he'd need to restock in the near future and nodded politely to the panther who had come in.
“Can I help you?” he asked. The panther wasn't one of his regular customers but he did look vaguely familiar. Master Snape couldn't quite place him though and that annoyed him.
“My boss wants you to make a house call this afternoon if it's not inconvenient,” he said with a smile. “He's just found a newborn puppy. The mother and his littermates are dead and Joe wants you to check the little one out. He seems OK but we weren't exactly prepared for a sudden arrival, so we're not sure what to do with him.”
Master Snape nodded; he knew who the panther was now. Most people knew Joe at least by sight and he'd been to the club before on business when his older son had sprained a wing after a bad landing. “A puppy, you say?” he asked, running through the list of supplies he should take with him in his head as he spoke. “Do you know what the mother died of?”
“No idea, sorry,” the panther told him. “He went out to the desert with AJ and came back with a puppy.” He grinned. “It was a bit of a shock. I'm going to pick baby bottles and milk up at the market. Is there anything else I should get?”
Master Snape rolled his eyes. Bottles and milk and they thought that was all they'd need. Sometimes he understood why his pregnant patients thought all men were stupid. “I'll make you a list,” he said dryly. “A puppy is a lot of work and they start crawling early, so Joe will have to start baby-proofing the private part of the club as soon as possible as well.”
“Baby proofing?” the panther asked again.
Master Snape sighed. “I'll make him a list as well.” He pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly jotted down a long list of supplies that would be necessary over the next couple of days. “You'll need to buy all if this today if possible. I can recommend some suppliers if you need me to, but you should be able to find it all in the market.”
The panther read through the list carefully, his eyebrows raising as he worked his way through it. “We really need all of this?”
“You really need all of that,” Master Snape told him sharply. “Now get on with you; you have a lot to do and I need to visit my new patient.
The panther laughed at his impatient tone and strolled towards the door, waving casually at him as he went. “Thanks, Snape. I'll see you around.”
Master Snape muttered at the use of his name on its own but didn't say anything loud enough for the panther to hear. He gathered his supplies and packed them into a smart doctor's bag, which had been a gift from a grateful patient one Christmas, and headed out to meet the puppy. He stuck a note on the door before he left for any customers who might come by, saying he was out on a house call and to leave him a message if it was urgent and he'd get back to them as soon as possible.
*****
AJ opened the door and let Master Snape into the club. Backing away quickly, he let the Komodo dragon pass him and stride confidently towards the bedrooms as if he lived there.
He followed behind the apothecary meekly as Master Snape swept through the corridors and towards the sound of crying. Joe was singing softly, trying to soothe his cub, but the puppy was whining loudly and didn't seem to want to calm down.
“Oh, Master Snape,” Joe said with relief when he came in. “Thank goodness. I don't know whether he's just hungry or if he's hurt in some way.” He glanced over at AJ and lowered his voice. “His mother died not long after he was born and his littermates were either stillborn or died just after birth; they were already cold when I got to them.”
Master Snape gently took the wriggling, crying bundle and laid him on the table, unwrapping him and quickly checking him over for any infirmities. He took the puppy's pulse and then gently placed him on the scales he'd brought with him. The puppy didn't stop crying for even a second, his face was all screwed up and turning red as he continued to wail.
“He's a little on the small side and I think he's dehydrated,” he told Joe. “But other than that he doesn't seem to be sick. His temperature is normal and he's got a very healthy set of lungs,” he added wryly.
“So he's just hungry?” Joe asked.
Master Snape nodded. “He needs to be fed as soon as possible. If his mother was as weak as you say he probably hasn't nursed at all yet which is why he's dehydrated.” He carefully wrapped the puppy up again and handed him over to Joe. “I brought some milk with me since your assistant will be gone for quite some time. I gave him a rather lengthy list of things you'd need.”
He pulled a bottle out of his bag and filled it with milk. “You need to heat it before feeding him. I'll show you how to do it now and then you can feed him.”
Joe carried the puppy to the kitchen and Master Snape showed him how long and on what setting he'd need to heat it.
“Dad, why won't he stop crying?” AJ asked. “My head hurts.”
“He's hungry,” Master Snape said before Joe could answer. “Crying is the only way he can communicate so you're going to have to get used to it. He hasn't eaten since he was born and he's not happy about it.”
AJ looked at him, not sure if he should ask anything else.
Master Snape sighed. “What else do you want to know?” he asked. “I can practically hear you thinking. Just ask me whatever it is rather than standing there like an idiot. I know you have a tongue in your head.”
AJ moved a little closer to Joe. “You said he was small. Is that because his mother had three other babies as well? Is he going to be OK?”
“Very good,” Master Snape said approvingly. “Huminals who have more than one youngling at a time tend to have much smaller babies than huminals who have only one, like birds do. But he's smaller than I would expect even for one of a litter. It's probably because his mother wasn't eating as much as she should have been during the later stages of her pregnancy, so the babies couldn't grow as well as they should have. And yes, with you and your father looking after him, I'm sure he'll be all right. He should start putting on weight right away and by the time he starts crawling he shouldn't be much smaller than average.”
AJ nodded shyly and smiled at him. “Thank you,” he said when Joe surreptitiously prodded him.
“You're most welcome,” Master Snape told him. “I am happy to answer any intelligent questions you or your father have about the puppy. What are you going to call him?” he asked Joe. “We can't keep referring to him 'the puppy'.”
“We hadn't decided yet,” Joe admitted. “What do you think AJ? What shall we call your new brother?”
AJ wrapped his wings around himself and thought about it. “What about Warren?” he suggested.
Joe nodded. “I like it. Very well, Warren it is.”
Master Snape smiled. “Well, now you've got that out of the way, let's get him fed.”