Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. All credit goes to JK Rowling. If you see something you remember from the books or films, it does not belong to me. You can't sue me, I don't have any money.
Authors note: The only reason why I haven't updated my other stories lately is because I'm on holiday and I've gotten lazy. Please expect updates some time next week. This is just a short little something to tide everyone over until then.
Severus sat down heavily on the edge of the bathtub and turned the taps as far as they would go, rapidly filling the tub with water.
Every muscle in his body ached.
The Dark Lord had been in a foul mood and doled out punishments indiscriminately tonight, all of them getting a turn to suffer. He had to admit, he got off far easier than some of the others, it was a minor miracle that Lucius and Macnair walked away without assistance.
He stood and striped his robes of, tossing them into the furthest corner of the room. They were bloodstained and torn in places, but the house elves could take care of it later. He moved over to the full length mirror to examine himself.
Thankfully the blood on the robes didn't appear to be his. Even so, he had more than enough to worry about: there were several old bruises that the usual ointments didn't have any effect on, and he felt sure there would be more tomorrow. For some reason his wrists were stiff, and the vision in his left eye was a little blurry, causing a persistent headache. Of course, these were only the fresh injuries, his hips were going, his right knee pained him despite all the potions he was taking, and he had several scars over his back and shoulders. He'd lost weight, there was loose skin around his waist. He was sure he had more wrinkles than he'd had a month ago and there were bruise like circles under his eyes.
He slipped carefully into the steaming water and closed his eyes for a few minutes, giving the heat time to sooth his pains.
He wasn't even forty yet, but he felt like an old man. He was tired. It was the sort of exhaustion that seemed to seep into your bones, and no amount of sleep would help.
He knew there was no way he would survive this war. His will to fight had left him completely and he was just trying to stay alive long enough to help Potter and friends.
This was the reason for the Dark Lord's displeasure. Potter, Weasley and the Granger girl seemed to have disappeared completely. As far as he knew, anyway. Severus had a fairly good idea of where they were, but he would have to take this information to the grave. Potter needed to be protected at all costs, he was their only hope.
Potter. The boy could be so like his father at times, arrogant, full of himself, with no respect or care for others. But Lily was there too... His Lily, with her smile and those beautiful green eyes...
He would do it for her, no other reason.
He would go on, even if it killed him.