Disclaimer: All the previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 2
Severus woke up suddenly. He stared at the pale green walls and realized he was in the hospital wing, but he couldn't remember why he was here. He didn't recall having any kind of accident severe enough to require hospitalization. He glanced at the tall windows, deciding from the brightness that it must be morning. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his head and the nausea that followed let him know that it wasn't a good idea. He winced as he lay back, feeling achy and sore, like he used to after one of Tobias's beatings. He glanced around, but it appeared he was the only one in the hospital wing. He heard a door open then Madam Pomfrey was at his side. She appeared so fast that he assumed she must have put some kind of a charm on him that would alert her immediately when he regained consciousness.
"Mr. Snape, it's good to see you're awake. You've been unconsciousness since Miss Evans, Miss Downing, and Mr. Longbottom brought you in yesterday afternoon." As she spoke the Medi-Witch waved her wand over Severus, to assess his current condition. A piece of parchment appeared with the results, but she didn't tell him what they were.
"What happened to me?" Severus asked.
"You don't remember?"
"No …" He jerked up suddenly and tried to get out of bed, but Madam Pomfrey forced him back down. "What do you think you're doing, Mr. Snape?" She demanded.
"My OWLs, I can't miss my OWLs!" Severus groaned.
"You finished your OWLs yesterday so there's nothing to be concerned about. You sustained a bad concussion and a nasty gash on the back of your head when you hit the ground yesterday so I'm not surprised you can't remember much." She gave him two potions, one for pain and the other for nausea and watched to make sure he drank them.
"Where's Lily?"
"I'm going to send Tippy to get her once breakfast is over. She demanded that she be allowed to stay with you all night. I had to threaten to get Professor McGonagall in order to get her to leave." Madam Pomfrey smiled. "I promised her I'd let her know immediately when you were conscious."
Severus knew Tippy was one of the Hogwarts house-elves who helped Madam Pomfrey and whom Madam Pomfrey considered invaluable. He lay back, trying to remember what had occurred yesterday. He looked up as she brought a tray with a bowl of broth and a spoon and set it down in front of him. "If you can keep this broth down then I think you can probably handle solid food for lunch."
"You said I hit the ground. Did I fall down the stairs?" Severus asked as he picked up his spoon, dipped it into the broth, and began to eat slowly.
Madam Pomfrey sighed then replied, "No. Mr. Potter used the Levicorpus jinx on you, but I'm afraid his counter-jinx needs a lot more work. You don't just cancel a spell and leave a person crashing to the ground." She shook her head.
At that moment the doors burst open and Lily came running over to him. She threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. "Sev, I was so scared!" She wept. "Those horrible toerags hurt you so badly!"
"It's okay, Lily, I'm okay," Severus murmured with his cheek resting on Lily's soft hair, surrounded by the scent of the herbal shampoo she used.
"Careful, Lily," Madam Pomfrey cautioned her then added waspishly, "Those so-called Marauders already did enough damage to be going on with!" She looked at Severus and said sternly. "I want to see you eat all of that broth, too, Mr. Snape. Severus picked up his spoon again and began eating the broth though he wasn't hungry. Once he'd finished, Madam Pomfrey vanished his bowl and spoon.
Alice and Frank had come with Lily to visit Sev. Frank grinned and said, "You should have seen, Lily, Sev! She was mad as a dragon and threatened to … to end Potter's, Black's and Pettigrew's family lines if they didn't stay away from you and her!"
"Emasculate is the word I believe you're looking for, Mr. Longbottom," The Medi-Witch commented as she passed them going back to her office.
There was a shocked silence then Alice put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter as Frank turned red. "I didn't realize she was listening," he said.
"Is there a spell for that?" Alice asked Lily in a whisper.
"I don't know," Lily answered with a shrug, "But as long as Potter and his cronies are convinced I'll do it, maybe they'll leave us alone."
"Does mum know what happened to me?" Severus asked. His mum, Eileen, was a Potions Mistress and worked at St. Mungo's.
Lily nodded. "They had to notify her because you'd been seriously injured. She was here briefly last night to make sure you were okay and asked me to tell you she'd be back later this afternoon." Lily dropped her voice to a whisper. "She was very angry when Madam Pomfrey told her what had happened to you."
Severus nodded. He knew his mum had a temper; one he'd inherited from her and had to work hard to control it.
"I think she's meeting with Dumbledore today. I know she demanded to see him last night, but he was at a meeting of the Wizengamot," Lily added.
Severus shrugged. "It doesn't matter what mum says. He won't do anything to Potter, Black, or Pettigrew anyway. He never did before," He said bitterly, thinking back to what had almost happened to him the previous fall; the night Black had tricked him into going down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack to meet a fully transformed Werewolf. True, Potter had saved him, but it was only because he was worried about his own skin if he'd been injured or killed by Lupin. None of them had seemed concerned that they had placed Lupin in possible jeopardy, too. Dumbledore had made him swear he'd never reveal what he saw there or risk expulsion, but Potter, Black, and Pettigrew had gotten away without any punishment and Potter had even received 200 house points for supposedly saving him.
"You should know that Remus and Lily turned them in to both Dumbledore and McGonagall," Frank said then continued, "Remus is really a good guy. I don't know why he hangs around with the rest of those prats."
"He's been friends with them since first year," Alice pointed out. "Fifth year is kind of late to be making new friends and he seems to be sickly, too. He's gone at least two days every month so that doesn't help with trying to make new friends," She said in a sympathetic tone.
Both Lily and Severus knew about Remus's "furry little problem" as Potter always referred to it. She wondered if he feared the other Marauders would turn on him if he tried to correct their behavior or quit associating with them and spread word of his condition around the school in revenge.
They visited until lunchtime and Alice and Frank excused themselves to go to the Great Hall, promising to visit later. "Do you want us to bring you and Sev lunch, Lily?" Alice called, but just then there was a pop and Tippy appeared. "Does Miss Lily or Mr. Severus require anything from Tippy?"
"Never mind, Alice, I'll ask Tippy if she can bring Sev and I some lunch," Lily called. She turned back to Tippy. "Tippy, if you could bring us some sandwiches, Pumpkin juice, and some dessert that would be great," Lily said smiling at the tiny female elf. Like the other house elves, she was dressed in a tea towel with the Hogwarts crest on it.
"Right away, Miss Lily!" Tippy squeaked happily, bowing. She left with a pop and within minutes another pop announced her return. She was carrying a tray containing a plate loaded with sandwiches, a pitcher of Pumpkin juice, and two pieces of apple cobbler.
"Thank you, Tippy," Lily said taking the tray from her. "This looks delicious!"
"Yes, thank you, Tippy. Your service is excellent," Sev added
Tippy gave a huge grin and squeaked excitedly, "Miss Lily and Mr. Severus is welcome. Tippy is always glad to serve Miss Lily and Mr. Severus!" She bowed and disappeared again with another pop.
The sandwiches were chicken salad and egg salad. Lily took a chicken salad and Severus an egg salad and Lily poured them each a glass of Pumpkin juice. The pitcher quickly refilled.
Severus took a bite of his sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. "Avery would be on my arse with both feet if he heard me thank Tippy," he commented.
"Why? They perform all kinds of services for us and they're always so happy to do them so why shouldn't we thank them?"
"He says it's the duty of house elves to serve wizards and they don't need to be thanked because that gives them ideas above their station."
Lily sighed. "Sev, why do you talk to those Death Eater wanabees? They're pure evil and they give me the absolute willies! I know you don't support any of their pureblood ideas or their enthusiasm for You-Know-Who."
"Things aren't always what they seem, Lily," Severus began. 'You're right I don't accept their pureblood dogma and I despise You-Know-Who and they've been pressuring me to support him. However, I'm a Prefect so I've got to be aware of what they're saying and doing; who they're trying to recruit, and what recruiting methods they're using so that requires me to talk to them despite my personal dislikes. I'm trying to protect and prevent them from recruiting the younger children, but I think I've already lost Regulus to them."
"He's Black's younger brother?" Severus nodded. "Can't Slughorn stop them from doing it?"
"I doubt Slughorn even knows what's going on in his own house!" Severus replied scornfully.
"It's hard when I hear people attacking you and calling you a Death Eater," Lily whispered, thinking of the Ravenclaw boy from yesterday.
Severus squeezed her hand. "I know, Lily, but I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing if everybody in school knew I was only listening to their crap to protect the younger children. I am sorry though that you're getting tarred with the same brush."
"I don't care about that, Sev; I can stand anything they want to throw at me." She smiled at him and held his hand tightly.
They heard the doors open and to their shock saw Remus coming towards them. He appeared nervous and uneasy. He stopped beside the bed and nodded at both of them. "Lily, can I have a few minutes alone with Severus?"
She brushed her hand through Severus' hair and said, "I'll just be outside, okay?"
Severus nodded then turned to Lupin and asked coolly, "What do you want, Lupin?"
Remus cleared his throat nervously and replied, "I want to apologize for what happened yesterday. I should have stopped James and Sirius before it went so far. I want you to know that Lily and I did turn them in to Professor McGonagall and to Professor Dumbledore."
"It's not likely they'll receive any punishment since they never have before," Severus commented with a shrug.
"They're getting detention this time. Not only for the last two weeks of the term, but they're also required to come back here during the summer, and work with Mr. Filch. Since they've played numerous pranks on him I don't expect it will be pleasant for them," Remus explained as he sat down in the chair Lily had vacated. "I also want you to know that I had nothing to do with what they did to you last fall. You see I don't remember what happens when I'm transformed and of course neither James nor Sirius told me what they had done. I just found out about it because they were laughing about it last night. If I had had any idea they were planning to expose you to me when I was fully transformed I want you to know I would have gone to Professor Dumbledore immediately."
As much as he hated the Marauders, he found himself wanting to believe Remus. "Well, you know now those three aren't above using your condition as a weapon against somebody they dislike."
Remus sighed softly. "They were the first friends I've had since I received the bite at five so I guess I've been a little too willing to overlook their worst flaws, but in truth I don't have a lot in common with them."
"Lily is the first real friend I've ever had," Severus admitted. "You don't make friends easily when everybody knows your father's a drunk and beats the crap out of you and your mum every chance he got and the Muggle Police Constables are at your door at least once a week." He dropped his head, allowing his hair to hide his face. "Lily knew about my home life, but she never looked at me as an odd freak as the rest of the neighborhood did."
"Well, I guess we have something in common," Remus remarked. "Why don't we be friends instead of enemies, Severus?"
Severus smiled and replied, "My friends call me, Sev." He extended his hand.
Remus took it and they shook. "My friends call me Moony, but I prefer Remus."
"Remus, it is," Severus agreed.
Lily came back in and Remus vacated the chair he'd been sitting in. "Have you had lunch, Remus?" Lily asked. She pointed at the sandwich-filled plate. "Tippy brought a lot of lunch so help yourself if you're hungry."
"Thanks, Lily. I didn't have lunch. I've been avoiding James, Sirius, and Peter. I've heard rumors through the Hogwarts grapevine that they're none too pleased with my defending Sev. I half-expected to wake up this morning and find my bed curtains permanently jinxed together." He conjured a chair to sit on and took some sandwiches off the plate and then conjured a glass into which Lily poured Pumpkin Juice.
"I'm sorry …" Severus began, but stopped when Remus raised his hand. "This is in no way your fault, Sev," he said sternly. "James and Sirius have had this coming for a long time."
"It's too bad Gryffindor Prefects don't have their own quarters like we do in Slytherin," Severus remarked. "I keep mine warded so nobody with bad intentions can enter and do any kind of mischief."
They heard the doors open and turned to see Alice and Frank coming in. Both were hooting with laughter. They hurried over to Sev's bed. "Guys, you'll never believe what happened at lunch!" Alice said.
"Let me guess," Lily said. "Potter tried to hex somebody; his hex backfired and turned him into a toad!"
"It's almost as good!" Alice replied. "Mr. Filch came in as pleased as he could be and announced to Potter, Black and Pettigrew that he had several bathrooms that needed cleaning and by the way, the last time they were cleaned was probably around 1900. The Marauders turned sort of green and everybody around them started laughing."
"It serves the spoiled brats right!" Lily snapped. "Especially, Potter!"
"I suspect Potter was raised to think he could have, say, or do whatever he wanted," Frank said.
"James once told us that he was a late-in-life baby and that his parents never expected to have any children," Remus added.
"So they spoiled the sole heir to the Potter fortune rotten," Severus concluded.
"Well, I don't think James is going to have a very good summer," Remus chuckled. "It sounds as if detention with Mr. Filch is going to be anything but pleasant."
"He deserves it, the arrogant prick!" Lily added.
By the time Eileen arrived, it was late afternoon. She swept through the doors, up to Severus' bed and gave him a hug and then gave Lily a hug. "How are you feeling, Sev?"
"I feel much better, Mum. Madam Pomfrey says I can get out of here tomorrow," Severus replied. He looked at his mother. Eileen was tall, at least 5'8 and it was obvious that Severus had inherited his height and coloring from her. Although she was only in her late thirties, Eileen looked older, the cruel, stressful years with Tobias marking her permanently. "You looked tired, Mum. I hope you aren't overdoing things."
Eileen sighed and sat down next to Lily. "We, that is, the staff of St. Mungo's, have been helping out with the victims of the explosion at that Muggle manufacturing plant two nights ago. The Muggle Prime Minister contacted Minister Bagnold and requested our help."
Lily nodded. "I heard about it from mum and dad. It was a plant where they build Muggle cars. They said there was something like three hundred people seriously injured and so far the police and fire inspectors can't find any reason for the explosion. Dad says generally they can find the cause within a couple of days." Lily's parents were Muggles, and her dad was a professor who taught economics at the University of Manchester.
"Some of the injuries are horrendous," Eileen said sadly. "They have ghastly burns and skeletal damage mostly."
"Are people at St. Mungo's thinking that You-Know-Who had something to do with this?" Severus asked shrewdly.
"There are always rumors about You-Know-Who flying around when anything like this happens. I suspect that's what he counts on to increase his power and the fear of him." She looked at her watch and sighed then complained, "I'm supposed to be meeting with Dumbledore, but I swear as powerful as that man's supposed to be, he has no sense of time."
Dumbledore came into the ward ten minutes later and over to where Eileen sat. "Eileen, how are you? Please accept my apologies for being unavailable when you were here last night." As usual he was dressed garishly in a bright blue robe patterned with gold stars and silver unicorns with a matching pointed hat. His white hair was very long and his beard almost as long as his hair. His half-moon glasses sat at the edge of his crooked nose and his blue eyes twinkled behind them.
"Headmaster," Eileen nodded and stood up.
"Severus, my boy, how are you feeling?"
"Much better, Professor," Severus answered politely
"I have no doubt Madam Pomfrey and Miss Evans are taking good care of you."
"Yes, Sir," Lily said with a blush.
"Eileen, shall we adjourn to my office?" Dumbledore asked politely, offering her his arm in a courtly fashion.
She nodded then turned back to Severus for a moment. "Sev, I'll stop in and see you before I leave."
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Dumbledore and Eileen went into his office. He transfigured one of the chairs in front of his desk into a squishy armchair, much like those in the Gryffindor common room. "Please be seated, Eileen, and I'll have the elves bring us some refreshments." Cissy, the head elf at Hogwarts, popped into the room at his summons. "Yes, Headmaster Professor Dumbledore. What can Cissy get for you?"
"Cissy, would you bring us tea and some cookies, please," Dumbledore requested.
"Cissy will be glad to do that right away, Headmaster Professor Dumbledore." She popped out of the office, but came back in a few minutes, carrying a tray containing a teapot wrapped in a colorful cozy, two cup and saucers, and a plate of cookies.
"Thank you very much, Cissy," Dumbledore said taking the tea tray from her. He poured a cup of tea for Eileen and himself and offered her the plate of cookies.
Eileen took a cookie to be polite and waited until Dumbledore was seated again. "Headmaster, the reason I wanted to talk with you is because of this continued bullying of Sev by Potter, Black, and Pettigrew. It started the very first time he met them with them calling him Snivellus and testing their spell work on him. They've put him in the hospital several times for incorrectly cast spells alone!"
"Come, Eileen, those were just boyish pranks or young wizards testing their powers. I'm sure they've never met to deliberately hurt Severus …"
Eileen slammed down her cup, the tea sloshing violently over the edge of the cup. "They never met to hurt him! Merlin, give me patience! Is that what you call hanging Sev upside down and then dropping him on his head? He could have snapped his neck if he'd fallen wrong!"
"They've been given detention for the entire summer, Eileen. I'm leaving them in Mr. Filch's capable hands and they will be doing whatever he decides needs to be done without magic."
"And they have to practically kill my son before they get detention! They've been bullying him for the last five years, it's only gotten worse since Sev, and Lily started going out as a couple. The things they do to him now are meant to hurt and humiliate him as much as possible. Sev says he's tried to avoid these bullies by going to class early or else coming in just before the bell; he says he tried going a different way to class, but no matter what he does, they're always waiting for him with their wands out." Eileen got up. "I'm giving you fair warning, Headmaster. Either this stops right now or I'm going to the Board of Governors and lodge a complaint!" She left the room in a righteous anger.
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Severus watched until his mother and Dumbledore leave then back to Lily. "She's probably going to give Dumbledore hell."
"I don't blame her at all!" Lily exclaimed. "Families like the Potters, Blacks and the Malfoy's think because they're purebloods, rich and powerful they can get away with anything!"
"I know, but that's the way it's always been," Severus replied then changed the subject. "I was thinking maybe we could help mum with her brewing this summer. You know she does a lot of private brewing at home for people and they've come to rely on her for her potions and salves." This was how his mother had kept food on the table when Tobias was frequently out of work or off on a drunk, but Lily knew that.
"That's a great idea, Sev," Lily replied enthusiastically. Eileen was an excellent teacher and she had learned a lot from her in the past. "She does look awfully tired; I imagine she's been brewing practically non-stop after this Muggle disaster."
When Eileen returned from her meeting with Dumbledore, Severus told her about what he and Lily had discussed. Her eyes filled with tears as she gave him a hug and a kiss. He was truly the best that had come out of her marriage with Tobias. "On one condition," Eileen held up a finger. "You two don't spend the entire summer helping me brew and that you make time to relax and have fun because that's the whole point of summer."
"Okay," Severus agreed for him and Lily.
"Okay then," She agreed. "Now be sure and owl me so I know how you're doing and owl me right away when you get your OWL results. Professor Dumbledore thinks you might get them before school is out." She kissed him. "Love you, Sev."
Severus turned red and muttered, "Love you, too, Mum."
