I: Hearing
'Professor Snape, can you hear me?'
Yes, he could hear her. But he could not answer her.
He could not move his lips. He could not even feel his tongue or his throat.
'Do not try to speak, Professor Snape.'
He knew that voice. He had heard it before, in his sleep, in his dreams. But he did not know whom it belonged to. He just knew that is was soothing, comforting.
'You are at St. Mungo's, Professor Snape,' the voice went on. 'You have been unconscious for almost three months. We are very happy that you have come around.'
* * *
St. Mungo's? Unconscious?
Severus' mind tried to make sense of the words he had just heard but couldn't.
What had happened? Why was he here? Why was he unable to speak? And why was everything around him pitch black? He was certain that he had opened his eyes. Or had he?
Then suddenly, his mind was flooded with images: the Shrieking Shack, the Dark Lord, Nagini. Pain, blood, his blood.
Every muscle in his body tensed up.
Once more he fought against the enchanted cage. Once more he failed.
Once more he fell to his knees.
Once more he died.
* * *
'Hush now, don't struggle. You will only make it worse.'
There was that voice again. It made him calm down, made him relax.
Severus felt himself being pushed back into the pillows by warm, soft hands.
He knew those hands as well. They had touched his aching body, had taken away the pain. They were small, and their touch was tender.
Then the hands let go, and he felt cold. Alone.
He heard footsteps and tensed up once more.
'You have nothing to fear, Severus. The war is over. The Light has won.'
That voice he knew. It was Minerva's.
* * *
'Potter told us you had fallen,' Minerva said. 'We thought we had lost you. But Fawkes saved you.'
Fawkes. Severus remembered the Phoenix's beautiful song. It had been just as soothing as the voice he had heard in his dreams.
Who was it that had spoken to him, he wondered again. Where was she now? And would she come back?
'Fawkes' tears made you survive,' Minerva went on, 'but we didn't know if you would ever wake up again. Many of us had given up hope.'
'Professor Snape needs to rest now.'
The voice.
Severus relaxed. She had come back.
* * *
She spoke to him in a soft tone, changed his bandages with tender hands.
'Your wounds are healing nicely, Professor. Another week and we will be able to remove the spell on your vocal cords.'
So that was why he was unable to speak. That was why he could not feel his throat.
'With some practice, your voice will sound just as silky as it always has.'
Why did she know how his voice had sounded, Severus wondered. He would ask her about it as soon as he was able to.
And he would also ask her about her name.