Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all characters, settings, etc. I do not own anything.
Hermione was running as fast as she could to the Whomping Willow. She had to get to the Shrieking Shack. She had hope that Severus Snape was not dead. He was definitely in critical condition. He had been bitten by Nagini and she had witnessed him weakly offer his memories to Harry. She had been too shocked to think of something to do on the spot. For all Harry and Ron knew, Snape was dead. However, she had faith that the poison wouldn't kill him rapidly. It hadn't killed Arthur Weasley that quickly. But, then again Mr. Weasley had been bit in the arm and not in the neck where major blood vessels were found...
He's just unconscious. He's in shock. His body has shut down in an attempt to deal with the trauma. He can still live. Hermione told herself for the umpteenth time.
She stopped suddenly, taking her wand out to levitate a nearby twig to touch the Willow's gnarled knot. The tree stopped stirring and froze in place. Hermione made her way through the opening at the tree's roots and crawled through the cramped passageway. She finally arrived in the shack.
Severus Snape lay on the dusty, stained floor. A pool of blood surrounded his body. He wasn't moving. Hermione walked over to his body
"Professor," she said. There wasn't a response. She hoped he wasn't actually dead. She rummaged her beaded bag quickly. She pulled out the bezoars she had Summoned from the dungeons earlier and the Blood Replenishing potions she had stolen from the Infirmary. She was going to attempt to save Severus Snape.
She straightened his head and brushed away the greasy, black hair matted with blood and sweat. She seized his mouth opened and put in the first bezoar. She forced his jaw closed to force him to swallow the stone. She felt a faint warmth on her hand.
Hermione's eyes widened. The warmth was his breath! She put her hand closer to his large, protuberant nose and was relieved when she felt the warmth again. It was erratic; pausing all together for a long moment but, returning once more.
"O-Okay, P-Professor," she said was her attempt to calm her nerves. It was better to talk to the man as if he was alive. If she believed hard enough, he just might remain alive. "You've lost a lot of blood but, it seems to have stopped-"
As if on cue, the ghastly wound on Snape's neck began spurting blood out again. Hermione groaned and pulled off her jacket. She used put the jacket between her hand and Snape's neck, putting pressure on the wound.
"Shit!" she cursed. "Of course it would start to bleed now."
With her free hand, she Summoned the bezoars and potion vials closer to her reach. It proved a difficult task to open the vials with one hand. At last, she managed to take the stopper off with her teeth and pour the potion into Snape's mouth. She waited a few moments to see any improvement in his complexion. Any sign of the ghostly pale complexion getting warmer would be a good sign. Hermione didn't see a visible change in his complexion but, it was dark in the shack anyway.
She opened another vial and poured the potion into his mouth once more. She hoped he wouldn't aspirate the liquid. That would be doing more harm than good. The wound was still bleeding but, the throbbing slowed and Hermione took it as a sign that the bleeding was going to stop again. It was probably cyclic: the wound would bleed out profusely and suddenly pause. Maybe this was a sign that the man's body was trying to repair itself: an attempt to stop the bleeding.
She remembered what she heard about Arthur Weasley's bite from Nagini. It would not stop bleeding. Why was it different on Snape? Maybe it wasn't ? Maybe this was how Nagini's venom worked? It caused the victim to bleed out large volumes of blood and paused momentarily only to resume bleeding once again; almost like a taunt? Maybe Snape was just stronger and healthier. She doubted he was exceptionally healthier given his regular gaunt, thin, sallow appearance. It was a curious occurrence.
But, she didn't have time to think about the academic reasoning behind the nature of the wound! The wound had stopped bleeding again. In a hurry, Hermione took the opportunity to open the remaining vials of the Blood Replenishing Potion and forced a second bezoar in the man's mouth. She doubted the bezoars would extract all of the poison but, she hoped they would extract a sufficient amount to leave the professor stable. Hermione knew that he would need adequate medical attention. What she was doing was simply makeshift and she needed to contact St. Mungo's. It would be fruitless to call on Madam Pomfrey. It was a possibility that she would refuse to take care of Snape. He wasn't exactly a hero and he was indirectly responsible for the tortious injuries inflicted a mass of Hogwarts students.
She was at all loss on how to approach contacting St. Mungo's. Should she send a Patronus? Could she muster up a memory cheerful enough for one? An owl was out of the question, so was the Floo Network as there wasn't Floo powder available to use on the boarded up fireplace. Apparition was obvious but, she was nervous. Was the Shrieking Shack still on Hogwarts grounds? Would Apparition even be possible? She thought back to the time Ron had been Splinched in the mad dash out of the Ministry. The last thing Snape needed was to be Splinched by her when he was already in critical condition. She wouldn't risk it.
Think, Hermione! Think! she said, suddenly aware of how fast she was breathing. The site of the bite! Essence of Dittany!
"Accio Dittany!" she yelled. It was better to apply the oil on the bite before it began to bleed again. Otherwise the oil would probably run off with the blood and it would be ineffective.
"Tergeo!" she said. The dried blood cleared and the tissues were exposed. Hermione rubbed the oil between her palms and covered the exposed tissue. Small sections of skin and tissue were regenerated but, not nearly enough for the whole bite to be covered.
"Episkey!" she tried, knowing very well that it wasn't a very effective charm for an injury of this magnitude. Some small residual bleeding stopped but, there was no drastic change.
As Hermione poured a third vial of Blood Replenishing potion into Snape's mouth, she had an idea. A Portkey! That's it! But, it's illegal to make one without the Ministry's permission… She shook her head at the ridiculous thought. The Ministry was basically nonexistent after tonight with the downfall of Voldemort's regime. Fuck it! This is an emergency!
She made sure Snape's neck wasn't bleeding profusely again and Summoned a book from her bag. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk came zooming out and Hermione searched frantically for the section on Portkeys.
"Portus? I should've guessed." she muttered to herself. She picked up an empty vial of the Blood Replenishing potion. She turned to practice the wand movement and noticed the new gush of blood from the snake bite. She knew she didn't have time to practice when she heard gurgling sounds from the man. He was aspirating on his own blood!
"Portus!" she said performing the spell on the vial, keeping in mind the destination. Please take us to the St. Mungo's lobby! Please! she said stuffing her beaded bag down her jumper and grabbing Snape's hand. She imagined the lobby she had been to in her fifth year. The annoyed Welcome Witch and Healers in lime green robes…
Finally, she grabbed hold of the vial and felt her legs leaving the ground. There was the familiar unpleasant sensation, reminiscent of Apparition, swirls of color and what sounded like howling wind. Please let it be the St. Mungo's lobby.