When Harry wakes up, he is unable to open his eyes, not because of light, just simply because his lids are too heavy to lift, and he finds that he is unable to move any part of his body
He releases a moan as he attempts to move his head, open his eyes, lift his arm...anything...and it draws someone towards him
"Mr. Potter, I must insist that you lie still," He recognizes the voice of Madame Pomfrey, "Open your mouth," She instructs, and he does as he's asked, feeling a vial being placed at this lips, and he swallows the invasive liquid as quickly as possible
When he is able to move his limbs and open his eyes, he does such to see the familiar surroundings of the infirmary. He looks to his left to find Severus lying on his back, still passed out
"Has he...?" Harry begins, but Pomfrey cuts him off
"He has not. But I expect he will shortly now. Here, drink this, too," He drinks a potion that clears his head, bringing back memories of the final battle
"How long ago?" he asks, shaking off visions of bloodshed
"Six days," she says without requesting clarification
Harry exhales on a long breath, staring at Severus' pale face. He places his right hand on the man's left cheek and tenderly runs his thumb over the parched, parted lips
The form inhales sharply, if not raggedly so, and begins the struggle to move, just as Harry had done minutes earlier
"Shhh, Severus," Harry soothes, "Open your mouth and drink these for me"
Severus complies with the order and then blinks his eyes open. He smiles weakly as his eyes land on the face of his young lover
"Did you do it?" He asks
"You both did it," Pomfrey says, "Now drink this potion, too, it'll help clear your head"
He does, and Harry can tell that he remembers the battle now, too
"We did it together," Harry says softly
"You gave the final blow, I was merely there," Severus tries to insist
"No, you lent me your magic so I could kill him off. We did it together, no matter what you say, and I would never have it any other way"
"Ok, Harry," Severus nods before they share a gentle, loving kiss, "How long have I been out of it?" He asks once they break apart
"About five minutes longer than me. We were both out for six days, apparently"
"Six days? That's..."
"A long time, yes," Harry smiles
"Well...yes..." Severus was becoming introverted, and Harry didn't like it
"Severus...what is it?"
"Huh?" The older man shakes his head as if to clear it, "Nothing...nothing at all. Just got lost in my thoughts for a second. Poppy," He turns to the medi-witch who is straightening a cabinet not too far away
"Yes, Severus?" She makes her way over to the enlarged bed
"Are...are we ok? Is there anything...you know...?" He leaves the question open, knowing she'll understand
"Peanut..." She says her petname for him sadly. Ever since he was a young boy, he had been in the infirmary an incredible amount, and it had comforted him to be refered to in a personal manner after all these years, knowing that someone who truly cared was working on him
But he knew what the use of the name meant. It meant something was worse than he thought, "Poppy...is it that bad? Tell me," the harsh demeanor that most people have come to know is gone, and what is left is an extremely vulnerable man
"I..." she struggles. Harry doesn't know that he's ever seen the school nurse so emotional and caught up in a student's life
"Please," Severus begs
"...I'll get Dumbledore," She says and rushes into her office to fire-call the Headmaster
"Severus..." Harry says once she's gone and the older man hasn't said anything to him, "what's going on? What's wrong?"
"I don't know what's wrong for sure...and hopefully it is nothing, but Poppy never uses my pet name unless it is in a situation which I need her comfort, because it is worse than what I thought"
"And her getting the Headmaster..."
"Could mean it's all the worse"
"Why'd you become all pensive when I told you we'd been out for six days?" Harry asks after awhile
"Because...for some reason, my family has a...messed up tradition, if you will, for, upon falling unconscious, staying as such for six days. If it's less than that, it's not serious, if it's more...well...no one's ever come out after more. However, if it is simply six, then it usually means that it is something serious. I, myself, have woken up after six days two times before this, and both times it was bad as it was said to be"
There is silence between the pair...Harry has nothing to say to that, all his power being concentrated on praying that this time would be different, that his lover isn't seriously injured or anything
Pomfrey comes back into the room with Albus and the two stand on either side of the bed holding the couple, Dumbledore on Harry's side and Poppy on Severus'
"It's good to see you two finally awake," Dumbledore greets, his smile fake and his eyes unsparkling
"Albus, just tell us what's going on...if there's anything," Severus says exasperatedly
"Poppy, do you wish to deliver the news?"
Harry and Severus direct their gazes at the medi-witch now, and they see her close her shinning eyes before shaking her head, refusing the Headmaster
"I am afraid that a few things were discovered while you two were incapacitated," he starts regretfully, "some things were able to be fixed, and were...some will be able to be fixed, and they will be in due time. However, there is one thing that is giving us quite some trouble"
"Albus, can you quit being so criptic and simply inform us of what is going on?" Severus sighs agitatedly
"One of the curses that Voldemort threw at Harry was...something we haven't seen in quite some time. It was a form of ancient black magic which we are unable to counter, because it was created without a counter for it, just as most of the other dark spells out there"
"What does it do?" Harry asks fearfully, holding Severus' right hand in his left while leaning the left side of his body against Severus for support
"It can go one of two ways," he begins again, "one being the calm route. In this case, you will merely...waste away. Your organs will shut down...you will feel older than you truly are, and usually it ends with your heart and lungs giving out," Dumbledore takes a deep breath before continueing, "The other way is the less than gentle way. You will go into fits of seizure's, you will begin coughing up blood, you will scarcely be able to breathe. All this will continue until you are effectively lifeless...I'm so sorry, my boys," Dumbledore whispers at the end, looking at the spot which had captivated his attention once he began explaining the harsher side the spell could take
"H...how long until it begins to take effect?" Harry stutters, his breathing rushed
"It's difficult to say, but I would guess no sooner than three days from now, and no later than five," Poppy says, tears streaming from her eyes
Harry turns to Severus, both with tears running down their faces, and says: "I'm sorry, Severus. I wish I wouldn't have to leave you like this..."
"Harry...Severus," Dumbledore interupts, then falters before speaking again, "Due to your bond..." he can't finish the statement
"You won't be leaving me, Harry," Severus says, "I will be dying with you"
"...Severus, there is more to it than that," Dumbledore says regretfully
"What do you mean?"
"You will have to suffer as he does. Whichever way the curse goes, you will feel the same effects that Harry does. The spell sees you as one person, due to your combined souls, so it will attack both of you the same way"
"I will suffer what he suffers," Severus says slowly
"And die my death," Harry says sadly before burying his face in Severus' chest, "I'm so sorry, Severus," he sobs
The older man holds the smaller frame to his body, releasing his own tears into the younger's hair. It's this position in which the Headmaster and the medi-witch leave the pair to adjust to the news
So this is the new installment. Wee! Right now it's looking at only being two chapters, but one can never really tell if a plot bunny is going to make its way into ones brain, right?
I hope this doesn't disappoint (except maybe you're disappointed they're dying...)
I'm typing this on my new laptop (eeeek:-D) and it doesn't have Word installed on it yet, so I attempted to proof-read thoroughly, but the human eye can only catch so much, so I apologize if there are spelling mistakes. Grammar ones would be mine, though, as Word doesn't always fix that
But yes, anyway...please tell me what you think of this so far