Minerva hated patrolling.
Sure, she understood why it needed to happen. After Voldemort's return at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, it was clear that Hogwarts was in danger as long as Harry Potter was there. Albus Dumbledore had been right to create patrolling schedules for the teachers. But that didn't make her any more apt to enjoy lurking around the corridors at night when she should have been sleeping.
The Head of Gryffindor yawned loudly, not bothering to stifle it. It wasn't like anyone was going to see her anyway. The halls were quiet; the only sound was the clatter of Minerva's boots on the floor.
But then she heard something- another set of footsteps. Heart beginning to pound, Minerva moved slowly toward the noise, lit wand ready in front of her. "Who's there?" she called out, her voice steady. She was a Gryffindor, after all.
The footsteps sounded strange, slow and uneven. The closer she got, Minerva could also hear laborious, harsh breathing and the occasional gasp of pain. The professor lowered her wand slightly. Whoever it was was obviously in pain, and therefore, less likely to be someone who could possibly pose a threat to Hogwarts.
"Who's there?" she shouted again, heading toward the source of the noise.
"M…Minerva… don't…"
He knows my name, thought Minerva with a jolt of shock. But then, she realized… she recognized the voice. I know his name, too.
"Severus?" she asked the disembodied voice incredulously.
And then she saw him. The Potions Master was limping pathetically down the corridor, his ashen face full of pain. She noticed that he wasn't putting much weight on his right leg. Concerned, Minerva rushed to his side, but he waved her away.
"Let me help you, idiot." Minerva snapped, reaching for him once again. "You're injured."
"Leave me a…alone…" Severus said, shying away from her touch. However, he stumbled and slipped, falling onto his backside with a scream of pain as he landed on his hurt leg.
"Severus!" Minerva exclaimed, kneeling down beside him. "Where the hell have you been? You look like you've just come out of a fight! Have you been spying for Albus again?" When his dark eyes flitted away from hers, looking guilty, she knew she'd guessed right. "Oh, I knew it. This spying thing is doing more bad than it does good."
"Albus… g…get Albus…" gasped Severus, struggling to get back to his feet. The little colour in his face drained away.
Minerva grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him to his feet. The man's legs shook; she pulled one of his arms around her shoulders so that she was half-carrying him. "Come on, Severus. We're going down to the hospital wing."
"Absolutely not." said Severus, although he didn't struggle again- evidently, he'd learned his lesson. "I need to see Albus. Not Poppy. Please, not Poppy."
"Honestly," began Minerva. "Sometimes I think you've forgotten how to take care of yourself." And with that, she started toward the hospital wing.
• • •
"Minerva, Severus, what time is it?" hissed Poppy crossly, rubbing her eyes and glaring at the two professors.
"Sorry, Poppy, but it's an emergency." Minerva said gravely. "I found him in the hallway when I was on patrol." She gestured toward Severus, who glared at her.
"I hate you, Minerva." he growled.
"Don't worry, Severus, I assure you that you aren't my favourite person here, either." Minerva replied, raising one eyebrow. She had meant it to be playful, but concern for her colleague- and friend- was stewing inside of her, making it hard for her to joke around.
Poppy scoffed angrily. "Again, Severus? Honestly…" She sighed, and stepped forward to take him from Minerva. The Transfiguration professor stepped back as Poppy dropped Severus onto one of the many beds in the hospital wing.
"Where are you injured?" asked Poppy, as she helped him take off his long cloak.
"I'm fine-"
"If you don't tell me, I'm going to strip you down so I can see for myself." Poppy hissed warningly.
Severus scowled. "Fine." he said finally, his tone vehement. "I think my right ankle is broken. Few broken ribs… maybe. Hit my head too."
"Alright, that's manageable." Poppy seemed to relax a bit. "How did it happen, Severus?"
"The Dark Lord likes to remind us sometimes exactly how much power he holds over us." Severus shrugged, his dark eyes darting away from the women's. "Getting the CruciatusCurseused on you while you're standing at the top of the stairs… not a good combination."
Both women winced. "Oh, Severus…" sighed Minerva.
"Don't, Minerva. I'm fine. I'm here, aren't I?"
Poppy looked from Minerva to Severus. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get something for the pain, Severus, and I'll fix you up when I return." She headed away from the bed. Minerva moved closer to her dark-haired colleague, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Minerva, why don't you go back to bed?" suggested the Potions Master. "You've done enough for me tonight."
"Don't talk like that." Minerva said. "I'm going to stay until you've recovered."
He opened his mouth to reply, but just then, Poppy returned, holding a bottled potion in her hand.
"Here you are." She placed them on his bedside table and started measuring out the dosage. "This is a Calming Draught." She held the spoon out to him.
"I can feed myself, thank you." Severus sat up, taking the spoon from her and swallowing its contents. Immediately, a bit of the sourness vanished from his face, and his erratic breathing slowed.
"There you go." Poppy smiled sidelong at Minerva, and then looked back down at Severus. "Lie down, Severus, and I can fix your broken bones."
The Potions Master complied, lying back down on the bed.
"This may hurt a bit." Poppy admitted, shaking back her sleeves and pulling her wand from her pocket.
"Can't hurt more than what I've already gone through tonight." Severus grunted.
"True. Alright…" She first pointed her wand at his ribs. There was a loud crack and Severus stiffened; Minerva reached for his hand and, surprisingly, he didn't reject her touch.
"There. Just once more…" Poppy pointed her wand at his right ankle next. There was another crack, and Severus squeezed Minerva's fingers tightly.
"Alright, that's all." Poppy said, patting Severus on the shoulder lightly. "Now, the bones may have healed, but you still may have some bruising and it will most likely hurt for a while longer. I won't have you up and about until tomorrow afternoon at least, alright?"
"I wasn't… wasn't planning on any outings anyway, Poppy." panted Severus.
"Good, that's what I thought. I'll go get some ice for your head- you did say you'd hit it, right? Anyway, I want you in here tonight so I can watch over you, alright?"
"Fine."
His hand was still curled in Minerva's- perhaps he hadn't noticed yet. But Minerva smiled, happy that she was giving him some comfort, whether he knew it or not.
"Poppy?"
Minerva and Severus looked up at the voice. Poppy whirled around, holding a pack of ice. "Headmaster!" she exclaimed.
Albus walked over to her. "Hello, Poppy. Sorry to interrupt you on this fine evening. I was simply wondering whether you'd seen Severus?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I have." Poppy's eyes narrowed, and she gestured toward the bed where Severus and Minerva were.
"Ah." Albus approached the bed. "Severus… you have returned. I was a bit concerned when you did not come to see me…"
"I was a little busy." Severus said through his teeth.
"I see." Albus looked over the scene, from the bottle of Calming Draught, to Minerva holding Severus's hand, and finally to Poppy, holding the pack of ice and looking harried. The Headmaster headed over to Severus's bedside.
After a few moments of tired struggling, Severus managed to sit up again. "What do you want, Headmaster?" he asked flatly.
"I just came to see how tonight's meeting with Voldemort-" all three, including Severus himself, winced at Albus's reckless use of the name. "-went. But… judging from the fact that you're here in the hospital wing… I take it the meeting did not go well?"
The Potions Master scoffed. "I'm fine." he lied fiercely.
"He's recovering nicely." Poppy added, sending a warm, sympathetic smile the Potion Master's way. Unsurprisingly, he did not return it.
"That's good." A smile spread across Albus's old face. "Because- although I regret this deeply, Severus, you've done so well- I need you to go back there, as soon as possible."
"What?" gasped Minerva, horrified. She felt as if she'd just been slapped.
Poppy was shaking her head resolutely. "No, no. Absolutely not."
Severus scowled at the elderly Headmaster, his expression as fierce as ever. However, there was a glint of dismay hiding in his dark eyes. He did not speak.
"I'm sorry, Minerva, Poppy. But I have no choice." He turned back to the Potions professor. "Severus, I need you to ask Voldemort what his next attack plan is."
"I can't do that." growled Severus. "Asking something like that will reward me with the Cruciatus Curse or worse. He may become suspicious."
"I know." Albus said gravely. "I need to know how much he trusts you."
"Let me get this straight." Severus's voice was bursting with barely controlled rage, yet he didn't sound scared. "You want to know how much the Dark Lord trusts me. If he trusts me enough to tell me his plans, then I'll know his plans. But you're willing to have me killed if he doesn't?"
Minerva began, "Don't worry, Severus, we aren't going to let-"
Severus cut her off. "I'm not worried, Minerva." He glanced back up at Albus, obsidian eyes narrowed and full of resentment. "I just never would have dreamed that you'd think your own spy so expendable."
His words obviously stung Albus, who was quick to respond. "Oh, my boy, on the contrary. I do not think you are expendable, not at all…"
Minerva glanced at Poppy, and found her own worry reflected right back at her. She knew that her colleague was thinking the same things as she was.
Although Severus never complained, Minerva knew that this spying was taking its toll on him. Most of the time he came back to Hogwarts with some kind of injury; thankfully it wasn't always as serious as it had been this time. And although he was usually snippy and rather unfriendly by nature, Minerva had found him so much angrier these days; no doubt due to the lack of sleep and all-around care that he was so desperately lacking.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Poppy beat her to it. "Albus, he's just a boy." she pleaded. "This isn't doing him any good. You have to stop this."
"I can fight for myself, thank you, Poppy!" exclaimed Severus, outraged. "And I'm not a boy! I'm a man, and I can make my own decisions!"
"So you want to do this?" asked Minerva incredulously. "You can't possibly want to… Severus, you're killing yourself, slowly but surely…"
"I'm doing this for a reason… for a damn good cause, Minerva… my life is not as important as-"
Poppy turned back to Albus. "See, look. You can't take advantage of his lack of self-care anymore. You're condoning this… this torture. I know Severus's assistance is quite valuable, but someday you won't have a spy anymore and you'll wish you'd listened to us."
"Poppy!" Severus shouted. "I said I could fight for myself!"
"But you can't!" Poppy yelled back. "You don't care what happens to you, because you think your life is worth nothing, and that no one would miss you if you were gone. But you have friends right here-" she gestured to herself and to Minerva, who nodded fiercely. "-who think that you're being an idiot-"
"Shut up!" screamed the Potions Master, jumping to his feet. Immediately, he winced and gasped, unsteady. Minerva reached out to help him, but he waved her away and staggered away from the bed.
"Severus-"
"You don't understand. None of you do!" Severus yelled, waving his arms around erratically. "And I can't… I…" With a loud huff, he rushed out of the hospital wing as fast as his bruised body could manage.
Albus headed after him. Minerva scrambled to her feet and made to follow, but Poppy's solemn voice stopped her. "Minerva, no, don't bother."
"But Severus-"
"-is a very stubborn man, and he won't come quietly now that he's all riled up." the matron said.
Minerva sighed, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. Severus's long black cloak was still there, strewn carelessly on the floor. The Transfiguration professor picked it up. It was streaked with dirt. With a wave of her wand, she removed the dirt, making it silky and soft once more.
"I'd better bring this back to him." she said quietly.
"Oh, Minerva, don't-"
But Minerva was also a very stubborn woman. With Severus's cloak in hand, she stood back up and headed out the way the Potions Master had gone.
Unsurprisingly, she caught up with him about halfway down to the Potions classroom in the dungeons. "Severus!" called Minerva.
"Leave me alone, Minerva!" He didn't look back at her.
"I'm not here to talk." She was beside him now; he looked small and hunched beside her tall, looming figure. "I just came to give you this."
Severus looked down at the cloak she was offering him. "Oh." He took it from her with a small, muttered, 'thank you'.
Once again, the night air was thick with silence. Minerva kept walking beside him, although she didn't know why. Chances were, he didn't want her in his quarters. But just in case…
"Listen… Severus." Minerva began, slowly and awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "I know you probably don't want to talk to me, so I'll make it quick. I, uh… I'm sorry for all that, back there. I think Poppy would be, too-"
"No, she wouldn't." Severus interrupted, looking up at her now with a glint in his dark eyes.
"No, you're right, she wouldn't." Minerva laughed. "Okay, so just me. I'm sorry. That was none of my business… yours and Albus's, obviously… and I had no right. I just hate seeing you like that, Severus. Hurt… and angry… and scared."
"Don't apologize." Severus said. "I hate Albus."
"You hate-?"
"I don't spy for him. I told you, you don't understand. It's bigger than Albus. And if I didn't have a better reason to do this, I would have stopped a long time ago." Severus explained.
They were at his quarters now, standing by the door. Severus's hand flicked over and turned the knob. Minerva knew it was her time to leave.
"Well… I hope you sleep well and feel better in the morning, Severus." she said, although she knew he would do neither.
The Potions Master gave her a curt nod in response. Minerva turned around and began to head towards the door. However, a loud and abrupt call of, "Wait." made her stop.
"What is it?" she asked, turning back.
"I wanted to say… thank you… for helping me before." It looked like words were nearly painful for him to speak, but he kept at it. "For bringing me to the hospital wing… and for standing up for me. It… it means a lot to know that I have a… a friend."
A smile spread across Minerva's face. "Oh, Severus… you're welcome."
And, as he slipped into the darkness of his quarters, Minerva thought she saw the ghost of a smile flicker across his thin lips- but of course, with Severus, you never knew for sure.
end