The serpent had delivered on his promise. But the battle had been hard won and when the pride had realized all that had happened. They took the lioness away, far away to keep her safe from the believed the evil the serpent still had inside.
oOOo
Ginny sighed heavily looking down at Hermione's sleeping form while the Healer checked her vitals. She had been asleep since they had brought her to their home, having quickly converted their meager study into some semblance of a bedroom. They had pushed everything to the walls, the desk was laden with books and other papers with hardly enough room for anything else, it was hardly anything to be proud off but they had done their best. The bed that Hermione laid on was hardly large enough for her, having been hastily transfigured from the desk chair its sheets snatched from the upstairs closet and shrunk to fit the frame. The blanket had been one of the gifts Molly had given them as a wedding present and as winter started to come into season, it hardly seemed adequate.
They had stood watch in shifts, neither one able to truly sleep, with Harry slated to return to work tomorrow and nearly two days had already passed, the couple was beyond exhausted. They had made a promise that one if not both of them would be there when she woke, though as the hours had dragged on, their hope had started to turn sour. The healer came once each day, in the late evening after his shift. They had all agreed, never to reveal what he had done for them as it would most likely send him on a one way trip to Azkaban.
"She's fine, sleeping still, her body is just trying to reorient itself."
Ginny nodded, he had said it could take up to 72 hours before she would come around but all Ginny could see was her wasting away like she had when she had first fallen ill. Even though she looked healthy now, Ginny still held her concerns.
"What about Professor Snape?"
Draco had taken him away, just as they had Hermione, despite the warnings. He was extremely protective of him and refused everyone except the Healer who had fought and urged him to see reason.
"He's coming around..."
Ginny noticed his skittish nature and narrowed her. eyes, "He's ordered you not to say anything hasn't he?"
He gave her a solemn nod, Snape was not a man he dared to cross, even as invalid as he was, there would be a time when he wouldn't be and he very much valued the breath in his lungs.
"I had mentioned the memory loss, yes?" He pulled the blanket back under Hermione's chin before pushing himself up to his feet.
Ginny crossed her arms but nodded her head, "How far back...has he gone?"
"Far enough. I don't think it wise to approach until he's collected all the time he's lost..."
Ginny's eyes turned to Hermione, deeply sad, "Will it happen to her too?"
"It's hard to say...her mind was already damaged before this...I really can't say where she'll wake up..."
"But she will wake up." Harry's voice joined them then as he came into the room having put Albus to bed.
"Undoubtedly, I would guess in the next 12 hours or so." He turned going to his bag, "She'll feel weak, but it will only be temporary. Still, these potions will help with the pain. Her back was very difficult to mend. No doubt she will have discomfort for a while." He pulled out six potions and two salves setting them out on the tiny space the desk had left. As he explained their purpose and their schedule, his time piece let out a soft chirp.
"I need to go now, " He gave them a look so they knew to whom he was going without having to actually say. "Please send word if she wakes before I come tomorrow."
"Of course." Harry held Ginny's shoulders as the man excused himself, once the front door had shut he shifted massaging her shoulders.
"I'll take the night shift for you love, you look absolutely exhausted."
"Thank you, but I've taken leave so you don't have to miss work." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek yawning heavily.
"But the only reason the team would excuse you is if you were..."
She smiled and put her hands over her stomach.
"Really?"
"Really, really."
"That's wonderful news." Harry couldn't help kissing her. She hummed as he wrapped her tightly to him.
Ginny smiled and held him back tightly, "You need your strength, I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? I mean with-"
"Yes, you need to be on top of your game, I don't want you getting injured. Or worse." She gave him a soft smile thumbing his cheek.
oOOo
Severus growled low in his throat as the healer ran his diagnostic spell. Though he had managed to get himself into a chair, he was still too weak to stand and walk away from the intrusive man. He had woken a mere 6 hours after being transported to Dracos' new home. Situated in a small guest bedroom, with sickly white wallpaper and flowered sheets. The man had not been too pleased when he had woke. Stuck somewhere in the distant past, he had found himself extremely disoriented and uncoordinated. It had taken the better half of the day to sort his mind into some semblance of a timeline, though he had found his mobility to be his number one concern. His strength had returned far enough that he was able to keep the coddling blond from touching him. How he loathed being touched. He hated it more than, pity. He could see it in the blond's eyes every time he'd tried to give him something for pain. He'd tried not to let his discomfort show, but there was only so much you could do when your stomach and chest had been flayed open and your arm had barely any muscle left to curl your fingers. So there he sat, like a putrid child glaring daggers down at he man who had been coming to see to his progress.
"Are you quite finished?"
The young man vanished away the charm and started on changing the dressing on his arm, but he was taking his sweet time. Severus gritted his teeth as the final layer pulled away, sticky with salve and discolored from dried blood.
"I'd be done a lot faster if you'd relax your grip." The healer wasn't cowed by the man's sharp tongue and pulled up a clean clothe to wipe away what was left over.
Relax his grip? Severus sneered, it hurt! His entire body felt like he had done the tango with a cheese grater. Not that he would ever, admit to it. He let out a sharp huff, his eyes cutting away to the blond that was looming quietly in the corner. His face made his stomach churn. Draco, he had called himself, claiming to be the heir to Lucius though he had been suspiciously unable to present the man himself for authentication. His eyes narrowed and his leg jerked as the healer pulled back a piece of dead skin that was still very much attached to his person.
"Sorry," Max mumbled using his wand to sever the caught skin. He felt the vein under his thumb twitch and glanced up at Snape, "Are you absolutely sure you're not in pain? It's common to hav-"
"Just finish or give me a wand and let me do it myself." His voice was low, dangerously low and Max glanced to the side when Draco shook his head. Severus' wand had never been recovered and Draco wasn't about to put anything remotely powerful near the man until he could actually recall who he was.
"Are you sure you don't want anything for pain?" Max still had to clean the wounds on his chest and back, and at the rate they were going it was going to take all night.
"I want you to leave me alone." He jerked his arm free looking down at the raw flesh. His jaw twitched from the deep burn the open wound inflicted but still, he did not speak to it. He was just about to push himself from the chair a when a spell hit him from behind. He struggled but ultimately fell victim to the charm, his eyes rolling closed as he fell into a deep sleep.
Max looked to Draco affronted by his careless actions.
"He was giving me a headache." Draco knew it was dangerous to cast the spell but he was already at his wit's end keeping the man warded in his room for all their safety.
"You really shouldn't." His protest was weak. He pulled the arm he had been working on from the sleeping man's lap. He cleaned and redressed the area in silence. Coming back to his feet he ran his wand down the front of the black pajamas top splitting the silken fabric. He pushed it aside turning his head.
"That's new."
"What?" Draco pushed himself from the wall coming over, his brow furrowed as he too looked at the odd mark that had come to be over the man's heart. It looked like a scar, but it was smooth, like a red ink that had been smudged over his skin, it hadn't been there during their initial healing. It ran straight across, about four inches long maybe 2 centimeters wide with spider webbed edges. Max furrowed his brow and with pure curiosity touched his finger tips to it.
"Merlin!" He hissed snapping hand back looking down at his fingers. He looked back as the mark glowed a soft golden color before fading again. His eyes widened and he looked at Draco.
"It's the fate line..."
oOOo
Hermione gasped softly, her eyes shooting open. Her body felt as if she were laying under a huge boulder. Her vision was dark, sort of tunneled as she tried to force her vision to clear. There was a voice, soft, definitely female. She struggled against her body as she tried to orient to the sound. A head came into vision but the name stalled on her lips did not match the name her mind sluggishly tried to recall. The eyes were wrong.
There was a dull pain creeping up from the back of mind as she tried to remember, but just as the leaves of fall flutter away to the gentle breeze, her mind became a deep void Her eyes closed of their own volition and she found herself being dragged into a warped dream scape.
The world around her felt cold and even darker, but she didn't feel afraid. In fact, she felt safer than she had ever felt. She turned slowly as the world slowly grew in shape. Doors slowly started to appear, floating listlessly in the void.
She turned slowly, she could feel someone else. Her eyes scanned the darkness. Colors started to swirl in and out around the horizon, cautiously she moved forward. She ducked under a slowly rotating door before continuing on. Despite her curiosity, she didn't dare touch them. Suddenly, a dark cloak became visible and her heart thumped.
"Hello?" Her voice was soft but seemed to come from all around. The person ahead of her slowly turned their head.
"What are you doing here?" Their tone was sharp, accusatory. It wasn't deep it sounded like the forced authority of someone in their teens.
"I...I'm...not sure..." Her voice was genuine but her answer didn't appease the young man one bit.
"Get out!" He turned to her then, and though she could see, she couldn't make out his features. What she did notice was the silver crest on his school robes. When he started towards her she couldn't help but peddle backward. Her hands held behind her for any obstacle.
His progress towards her seemed to jump and she gasped as she felt warm wood beneath her fingers. The door shuddered but didn't open and she felt something coiling in the pit of her stomach. She made herself tall against it. It was then she felt his warm fingers press into her throat, she felt a strong pull near her heart and her eyes searched his face but despite her efforts, he remained unseen.
"Hermione?"
"Hermione? Can you hear us?"
"I swear she opened her eyes..."
Pleading voices chorused in her ears and she couldn't help but groan and turn her head away. Her dream was fading fast but the feel of his fingers lingered. Who was he? Why did he feel so important? Hermione's eyes slowly opened to the pleading voice's commands and she felt the world spinning anew. Her hand twitched as she willed it to try and cradle her aching head. Her eyes came into focus next, into the worried eyes of brown and familiar green.
Ginny and Harry gave her a tentative smile leaning back to give her some air. Their hearts were in their throats as they waited for her to recognize them.
Hermione gave them a weak reflexive smile, her hand finally making it to her brow. Memories slowly started to trickle in, drops of summer rain upon a tin roof. She turned her eyes to Harry first her body relaxing to his soft face. Did he take an aging potion? She didn't remember him having such a shadow on his face. The last of her dream faded away and she found the strength to turn her head towards Ginny. Someone was missing.
"Where's...Ron?" Her voice sounded dry and coarse. Her throat pulsing as if she'd spent hours screaming.
Harry and Ginny exchanged mirrored looks of concern that only made the knot in her stomach grow tighter.
"He's...not here right now..."
"Where is he?" Hermione looked more than worried, her eyes flicking between the two of them making her a bit dizzy. Why couldn't she move her right arm? Why did her chest feel unbelievably tight? So many questions floated over her eyes as she tried to keep them in focus.
"What year is it?"
"Ginny!" Harry grabbed her arm pulling her away from a rather confused albeit sleepy looking Hermione.
"What? I'm not playing about or dancing around issues that could make things worse. " Harry tried to shush her and pulled her out into the hall casting a silencing ward over the door way.
"The first thing we need to do is contact Healer Darling." Harry was very stern holding his finger as if he were scolding a child.
Ginny's eyes flared, "If you value that finger you better remove it from my face." Her voice was just as hard as his and he knew he'd let the stress of the situation get to him. He mumbled an apology hanging his head in shame while Ginny took a breath looking into the doorway, Hermione was watching them, closely.
"Look, you send a message to Healer Darling and I promise to not to say anything that may be too upsetting. "
"Deal."
"Deal" Ginny leaning up giving him a chaste kiss on his cheek before coming back into the room with a cautious smile on her face.
oOOo
Healer Darling was just finishing the wrapping over Snape's chest when he felt the paper in his pocket grow warm. He pulled back after placing a small sticking charm on the bandage, pulling out the paper his brows rose curiously.
"What?" Draco straightened from the curious look the healer gave to the paper.
"She's awake." He blinked and looked at his watch. He had left there not more than an hour ago. He had been so sure she would come around sometime in the late morning. His eyes turned to the man's slightly pinched face.
"I need to go back. Do you think he'll take these potions?" Draco looked down at the wide assortment and shook his head, "I barely got him to drink water, I hardly doubt he will, but I'll keep them just in case." He accepted the potions setting them on the bedside table.
"Is he healing?"
"Yes, but he'd heal a lot faster if he'd take his potions. His body is under so much stress I'm more worried about a heart attack than anything else."
"I'll see what I can do." Draco rubbed his brow looking down at the man who meant so much to him. His acid tongue had been relentless during his time awake, he wasn't how much more he could endure.
Healer Darling saw himself out just as he had before, he rubbed his face as he thought about the timing. It was almost as if something was still between them, actively searching to bring them together again. He knew why the two ends of the spectrum chose to keep them apart but the more he thought about the circumstance, the more worried he became.
oOOo
Ginny tried to keep the ambivalence off her face as she helped Hermione raise her head to take a drink of water. Her one elbow was completely wrapped up to her shoulder, preventing any possible assistance and the other was still trembling against the glass they held to her lips. Hermione had uncharacteristically gone silent when the red head had returned. It only worried Ginny more, though, when she requested water, she had been slightly relieved. There was a bit of shuffling as both girls tried to sort out the best way for her to drink. Her chest was just as tightly wrapped and even the small movement of lifting her head had been a jarring experience.
They settled for propping her head the best they could and using a straw. Hermione managed a few small sips before she let her head fall back into Ginny's hand. Her body was tingling all over and her brain felt like a right mess. The last organized thing she could recall was being in the department of mysteries with Harry and Neville when everything had suddenly gone black. She turned her head away as Ginny offered her another drink. A frown painting her face. It all felt wrong.
Ginny sighed softly, her brow bent with worry. Chewing her bottom lip, she set the glass aside, carefully adjusting her position on the bed. She stifled a deep yawn as Harry returned looking a bit more hopeful than she.
"He's on his way." He said softly pulling an old desk chair next to the bed. He gave Hermione a soft smile and reached to take the non-bandaged hand that rested over her stomach. When her fingers wrapped into his own he let out a slow breath and rubbed the back of her bruised hand gently with his thumb. The battle was far from over.
