Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I'm not a native speaker of English!
Thanks a lot to my wonderful beta, saiyanwizardgurl, for correcting my mistakes.
Chapter 2 – Severus Arrives at the Grangers
"Damn," Severus cursed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Each Apparition had worsened his headache and the dizziness he felt. His throat was sore and he had problems swallowing. He wished he could crawl into bed and hide there until the epidemic was over. Thank Merlin, this is the last student I have to check on, he thought, relieved. Ten of the Muggle-born students he had checked on had caught the illness, and he had given their parents the instructions on how to care for them and the potions that would speed up their recovery. Of those families, two parents had caught the illness from their child. He even had to use his Self-refilling antidote Vial twice because the students had taken antibiotics. Now it's only the little know-it-all I have to check on, Severus thought and slowly walked into the direction of the Grangers' house. With each step, he felt worse. Damn, I should have taken something before I left. I just hope I won't meet Poppy when I return to Hogwarts. Good thing I told her that I would visit a friend after checking on the students. She probably won't even check to see if I have returned yet. Severus grinned, satisfied with himself.
Standing in front of the door, Severus sighed and steadied himself on the frame. "Just one more. Get a hold of yourself, Severus," he ordered himself. After taking a deep breath, he pushed the doorbell. Whatever he had been expecting, it was not Molly Weasley at the door. He also did not expect that he would feel darkness overcome him the moment he caught sight of her. With a loud crash, he fell into the house. Molly had no chance to catch him; she could only lessen the impact. The sound of shattered glass vanished Molly's hope for an antidote for the adult Grangers in an instant.
"What happened, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione's scared voice could be heard behind Molly while she tried to heave the unconscious man completely into the house.
"I fear our help from Hogwarts needs help himself," Molly pressed out between her teeth while straining to pull the Potions Master in the direction of the guest room.
"I'll help you," Hermione said, kicking the door shut and taking the professor's legs. With some difficulty, they managed to heave the unconscious man onto one of the guest beds. "Do you think he has the illness?"
"No, I'm sure he took the immunization, but I know him well enough to know that he has something else he didn't think necessary to care for until it was too late. I will try to wake him, but I think it is better if you leave for now," Molly said while eying Severus closely.
Hermione felt dizzy and started to sway. Carrying the Professor had worsened her condition.
"Hermione, you shouldn't even have been out of bed." She stood up and took Hermione by the arm. "I will take you back to bed, and you will stay there until I tell you different," Molly instructed firmly.
After tucking Hermione in, Molly went back to Severus, taking the small bag she had packed to carry between Hermione's and her parents' rooms with her. She sat down on the bed. Merlin, I will lose at least ten kilos from running between rooms. I have to find another solution if this continues, but at least someone will miss Severus and check for him, she thought hopefully.
Severus woke up with a jolt when Molly placed the smelling salts under his nose. "Uhh," he groaned and grabbed his hammering head.
"Calm down, Severus," Molly instructed and laid a hand on his chest to push him back down gently. "I have to check what's wrong with you. You have taken the immunization against Molus Molussus, right?"
"Of course, Molly." Severus fought against unconsciousness again. "What are you doing here?"
"Hush, and let me check you throat. Open up," she ordered with a small lamp in her hand to check his throat.
"I don't need your help, Molly," Severus said and tried to stand up. He did not get far. The dizziness overcame him so hard that he could not differentiate up and down. His stomach protested, and he threw up. Thank Merlin I predicted this, Molly thought while holding a bowl in front of the sick man. "There, there," Molly said calmly as she supported Severus.
Never in his life had Severus ever been so embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he croaked. His throat was on fire.
"You don't have to be sorry for throwing up, but be sorry for not listening to me. I hope this will change now, young man," Molly said sternly. She remembered how Poppy had often taken care for the stubborn man and strict tone was working better on him. "You will lie down now and let me check on you."
"You cannot use magic," Severus stated miserably as he lie down.
"I don't need magic to examine you or help you. Now open up," Molly ordered.
Severus glared at her. "I just threw up."
"I know, Severus." Rolling her eyes when he blushed and almost made a puppy look at her, she grabbed for the water glass on the night table. After helping him to drink and rinse his mouth, she ordered again, "Open up." This time, he obeyed.
"Your throat his very red and swollen, and you have white patches on your tonsils. I fear you have caught tonsillitis while checking on the Muggleborns," Molly explained calmly. "You haven't taken care of yourself lately, and so your underweight body has problems fighting illness. You need total bed rest, and we have to try to lower you fever. Open up again," Molly ordered.
Too exhausted to protest, Severus obeyed once more.
"39.4°C," Molly stated, looking angrily at him. "It will even get higher if I don't get you any medicine. I have to check around the house," Molly said more to herself than to the drowsy man on the bed.
"Send someone for help," Severus croaked.
"I can't. Hermione is ill with Molus Molussus, so I can't leave her alone. Her parents are in a comatose condition because they took antibiotics." Seeing that he wanted to say something to that, she stopped him by laying a finger on his lips. "Spare your throat the pain of speaking. The vial of antidote broke when you fell."
Severus groaned and closed his eyes desperately.
"Shh, Severus. None of my family knows where we are, but I'm sure Albus will check for you soon when you don't come back."
"Nobody will come. They think I'm with a friend now." Severus shook his head, but grabbed it immediately because his headache became worse.
"Headache? I can give you some Muggle medicine for it." She rummaged in her bag and took out an aspirin. "Here, this should help you a little." She gave him the pill with a glass of water. "It's not a potion, but it's better than nothing." Molly sighed. She knew that Severus would not like what she was about to say at all. "Severus, I will have to move Hermione into this room. I cannot run from one room to the other all the time. I have to check on the Grangers as well."
"Merlin, please, Molly – " Severus looked pleadingly at her.
"There is no other way. We have to sit this out until you or Hermione is well enough for me to leave you alone for a moment to contact someone. Until then, we are stuck here." Seeing that Severus had given up protesting, she went over to the cupboard and fetched a pair of pajamas. "Come on, Severus. Let's get this over with." It took some time and a few curses from Severus until they both managed to get him into the pajamas. He was close to passing out now. "Try to sleep a little, Severus. I will look for some medicine for you and settle Ms. Granger in."
Hermione didn't complain when Molly told her the plan. On the contrary, she was happy to not have to stay alone. Molly took Hermione's mattress with them as well so that she could get a few hours' sleep without having an aching back from the uncomfortable chair. The short stress exhausted Hermione so much that she started to sway. Molly was able to catch her and move her into the second bed in the guest room. "Sleep a little, Hermione. I will check on your parents and see if there is any medication for Professor Snape in the house."
"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked as she grabbed for Molly's arm to prevent her from leaving.
"He has tonsillitis," Molly explained.
"Oh, that's awful. I had that last year. I think there still is an antibiotic for it in the small medicine shelf in my parents' bedroom."
"I will check, Hermione, thank you," Molly assured her and left the room.
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