May 8, 2011 Prompt: Sunshine
IV. Waking
Waking, to Severus, had always made him feel disjointed from the world and his life, and everything but the aches of his body. It always took several moments for complete and utter consciousness to seep into his brain and for him to recall who he was, and everything he had been through. Once it seeped in, he felt a different ache, deep inside him, that made him wish to sleep and never wake again. But his responsibilities started pressing on him before he could indulge in his brief desire, and groaning he got to his feet.
This morning, Severus was blinded by a shaft of light. It pained his eyes so much that he was momentarily distracted by the aches of his body. A shadow casting over him momentarily relieved his eyes enough that he could begin blinking them open. With a groan, he struggled to remember why he felt so awful and he wondered where he was.
His gaze was bleary for a moment, and his eyes seemed to land upon a ray of pure sunshine. He thought for a moment that he was staring at an angel. That is until he realized said angels, increasingly defined features were very familiar to him and that if he were dead, he probably wouldn't be in so much pain.
Severus closed his eyes, groaning deeply at the pain that he felt all over him. Belatedly, he wondered where he was, and what had happened. Until he remembered Voldemort sicking his snake on him. Severus' eyes snapped open again as his heart started beating hard.
"It's all right, Professor Snape," he heard that renowned sing-song voice say as a warm and small hand was pressed to his chest and keeping him down. Severus looked to the person hovering over him and almost gasped. Luna Lovegood was there, her hair framing her on their side and the sun behind her which she blocked, creating a halo effect around her head. "You're safe, but you shouldn't get excited, you're still very weak.
Severus merely looked into Luna's reassuring blue eyes, looking down at him calmly. "Where am I?" he croaked, his throat felt terribly tight and try. And his throat rather hurt painfully.
"In St. Mungo's. They've been treating you for weeks. It's rather a show of your strength that you were at all alive when they found you," Luna replied bluntly, something most would have probably neglected mentioning. "I thought you might want to see a friendly face when you woke up."
Unknowingly, Severus hand gripped Luna's with astounding strength, enough to bruise. "What about the Dark Lord?" He asked, not really caring about all the other things that Luna had mentioned. If Luna was pained or had noticed it at all that he was even touching her.
"I should tell someone you're awake," Luna said absently. "Have to visit George and see how he's doing," she said with a slight frown as she nodded her bead. She then turned to Professor Snape and pried his fingers from her arm as though that were the most natuarly thing in the world. "Harry would also like to see you," she said as she stood, before turning and bouncing out of the room before Severus could think of anything to say.
He sighed in exasperation, though he supposed he at least now new that Harry Potter was fine. That had to be a good sign, didn't it?
TBC...
A/n: Please review!