Set about five and a half years post-war, EWE, AU in that Snape survived the bite. T for a tiny bit of language!
The Case of the Sudden Seizure
(or, The Case of the Surprise Visitor, part 2)
prompt: vicious
"Must you always chop your asphodel roots so slowly?" the cutting voice remarked from just over her shoulder.
"I must always chop my asphodel roots so precisely, yes," Hermione replied. "If you'd rather I sacrifice the quality of my ingredients to do things your way, however, I would of course oblige you..."
An impatient huff was her only answer, and Hermione grimly continued her painstaking work. Professor Snape had been a nightmare to work with just as he'd promised nearly six months ago when he came to retrieve her from Z&Z. He constantly criticized everything about her, from her brewing habits to her personal hygiene, from her "ignorant opinions" to her "hopelessly moronic" friends, from her oversized ego to her oversized hair.
It hadn't taken Hermione long to realize, however, that he did so more out of frustration with his own situation than any personal vendetta against her. Oh, he still didn't much like her, that was obvious, but he had grudgingly admitted that she showed some degree of promise, and she was content to know that deep down (deep, deep down) he might possibly come to respect her.
No, his words grew harsher with each further deterioration of his physical abilities, and it was that knowledge that gave Hermione the super-human patience to deal civilly with him. If she suddenly found herself unable to perform the most basic of daily functions, she suspected she'd be rather cranky, too. So she did her best to let his insults pass her by and focused on the directives hidden amongst the barbs. Returning her attention to her work, she picked up her stirring rod and prepared to add the asphodel.
"You should be using the silver stirring rod. Even my first-years know that." Professor Snape's clipped words were even more pronounced today—Hermione knew him well enough by now to know that meant he was in more pain than usual.
"I don't need the solid silver stirring rod until later when I add the drop of unicorn blood. Before then, the silver-plated rod will suffice, and will save me the added step of purifying the silver rod in between stirring the potion and adding the blood," Hermione explained calmly. Honestly, the man knew what she was doing and why; he just refused to give her any credit at all.
"Perhaps you have been erroneously led to believe that the silver-plated rod will not compromise the properties of the—mmpf!"
Hermione sprang into action quickly as Professor Snape fell forward onto her, grabbing his shoulders and spinning them so they wouldn't fall onto the boiling cauldron. Struggling mightily, she lowered him to the ground, his dead weight making it difficult to lay him down gently. His entire body was spasming and his eyes were squeezed shut. He was clearly in a great deal of pain.
Firing off her Patronus to Madam Pomfrey, Hermione checked his vital signs and Summoned a seizure-halting potion. Deftly loosening the tight collar at his neck, she pried his mouth open and administered the potion, breathing a sigh of relief as his spasms slowed. She was brushing the hair away from his face when Madam Pomfrey and Headmistress McGonagall burst in.
"Hermione? What's happened?" the Mediwitch asked her a touch frantically.
"We were just brewing when he had a seizure, I think," Hermione responded. "At least, he responded to the anti-seizure potion I gave him."
"Poor dear...I had hoped his last one was an unlucky occurrence." Madam Pomfrey levitated Professor Snape up to her waist-level and began to check his vital signs just as Hermione had done.
"This wasn't his first episode?" Hermione asked, concerned. Surely she ought to have been informed of the extent of his condition, given that she was in close proximity with the man nearly all day, every day.
"I'm afraid not," Professor McGonagall spoke up. "Something similar occurred last month at the staff meeting—I've never seen such a commotion as everyone tried to subdue his shakes. He's still refusing to make eye contact with most of the other professors."
"I'd forgotten about that one," Madam Pomfrey admitted. "I was thinking of the episode he had about a week ago during his nighttime rounds. Thankfully the Hufflepuff prefects found him on their way back to their common room or who knows what might have happened."
Hermione felt her heart sink. It seemed that Professor Snape's injuries were destroying his body at a faster and faster rate. Much as she detested his attitude, she hated to see anyone in obvious pain, especially a man who had given so much of his life to protecting Harry. Now that his seizure had passed, Professor Snape almost looked like he was sleeping, and Hermione marveled at how much younger he looked when his face wasn't contorted in anger or disdain. Looking up, she saw Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall conferring quietly.
"So what can we do?" Hermione asked briskly. He would clearly need some recovery time, and then there would need to be a treatment plan, and perhaps a pain management plan...
The two older women started as though they'd forgotten Hermione was present. Looking at her sympathetically, Madam Pomfrey patted Hermione's shoulder. "We'll take it from here, dear. You reacted marvelously. I'm sure Severus will be very thankful once he's rested up a bit."
Hermione doubted that very much, but she allowed the comment to pass, more interested in something else the Mediwitch had said. "Wouldn't it be prudent for me to become more familiar with his symptoms and their treatment? I'm with him nearly all day and quite often at night, so it makes sense for me to help with his care."
Madam Pomfrey's eyebrows raised in surprise. "That's quite noble of you, my dear, but I'm certain that Severus would not wish for a former student to be privy to the details of his personal health."
The Headmistress snorted indelicately. "If you think that Severus' wishes in the matter are going to deter Miss Granger, you don't know her very well." She softened her words with a smile at Hermione, which Hermione returned.
"I wouldn't need to know everything, just what I'm likely to come up against and how it's been treated in the past. Honestly, I was just lucky that I picked the anti-seizure potion tonight—if it hadn't truly been a seizure I could have done considerable damage." She frowned as she belatedly realized the truth of her words.
Madam Pomfrey exchanged a glance with the Headmistress before looking back at Hermione. "Very well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have another pair of eyes looking out for him," the Mediwitch conceded. "But there are certain details I am not at liberty to divulge."
Hermione nodded her understanding and looked at Professor Snape solemnly. It seemed that she had just added another responsibility to her list of unpleasant duties.
~o~
A small shuffling noise registered in Hermione's brain and she stirred, wincing at the protestations of numerous cramped muscles. Gingerly stretching, she remembered that she'd come to watch over Professor Snape last night so that Madam Pomfrey could get some rest. It seemed that she'd fallen asleep in the bedside chair.
"Apparently I have died and gone straight to hell," her former professor grumbled. Hermione sat up fully and tried to tamp down her scathing response.
"No such luck, I'm afraid," she chirped instead. "You're in the Hospital Wing. You suffered a seizure yesterday in the lab. Madam Pomfrey wants you to rest for a day or two but otherwise declares you're as good as—" she stumbled over the word new and instead decided upon "—as you're going to get."
Professor Snape sat up, cursing under his breath as the abrupt change in position no doubt caused some additional pain, and flung the bedcovers off.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, panicking, as she leapt to her feet to try and stop the man who was now swinging his feet over the side of the bed.
"Leaving," came the curt reply. Hermione frantically glanced towards Madam Pomfrey's office but the Mediwitch was nowhere to be seen. Looking back at Professor Snape, she realized he was clad in nothing but a long hospital gown and that he was attempting to stand. She made a hasty decision and placed her hands on his shoulders, shoving him back towards the bed.
"You have to rest!" she exclaimed, terrified of the repercussions of putting her hands on her professor but even more concerned with the way his naturally pale face was quickly turning bloodless. "Professor, please lie back down!"
He glared at her but seemed to cease his forward movement. "I will do what I please and no silly little girl is going to dictate otherwise!" he snarled. "Remove your hands at once!"
"Only if you promise to lie back down," Hermione pleaded.
Professor Snape let out a feral growl but did as she asked. "I am only complying because the pounding in my head indicates it would be unwise to try to stand. It has nothing to do with you or that fickle-minded Poppy Pomfrey."
"Of course," Hermione agreed, choosing not to argue with him over this.
"Fickle, Severus?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she approached the bed. "That's interesting. I believe last time you referred to me as 'hopelessly stuck in my outmoded ways.' Well, I'm glad to know I've shown some improvement."
Hermione bit back a smile as the Mediwitch reached the bed and took over, checking Professor Snape's vitals and examining his eyes with a small light. Hermione turned to look out the small window, trying to give her former professor a degree of privacy. She had no doubt he would make her pay for this humiliation later, though.
"Is all this fuss really necessary?" she heard him ask Madam Pomfrey. "Surely one small spell of dizziness is not—"
"This is the third time it's happened, Severus, and a seizure is hardly a 'small spell of dizziness.'" Hermione heard Professor Snape cough awkwardly and turned to look at him again as Madam Pomfrey's lips pulled into a frown. "Ah, there have been more times and you haven't told me? Severus, how are we going to be able to help you if you won't allow it?"
"'We'? Don't tell me Miss Granger has offered to care for me, too." Since his sarcastic comment was actually true, Hermione thought it wise to remain silent and shared a glance with Madam Pomfrey. Apparently that was all the answer he needed, for he practically exploded out of the bed again. "No, Poppy, I will not allow it! No bloody Gryffindor know-it-all is going to come anywhere near me with the misguided notion of nurturing me. No."
He crossed his arms and took turns glaring at Hermione and Madam Pomfrey, his thin frame vibrating with anger. Hermione felt helplessly torn—should she back down and try to return their relationship to the way it had been prior to his episode, or should she forge ahead and do her best to look out for him? It was clear he needed more and more assistance on a daily basis and Hermione wasn't sure she could leave him be.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Severus. If it wasn't for Miss Granger's quick thinking, you might have suffered severe and permanent brain damage last night. Added to that, you've just given away that there have been other episodes of which I have not been made aware." Madam Pomfrey sighed and placed a gentle hand on Severus' shoulder. "All together...I'm afraid we can no longer stand by and watch as you attempt to muddle through on your own."
For a moment, it looked as though the life in Professor Snape's eyes had gone out: his face was almost unbearably defeated. Then the ire with which Hermione was so familiar roared to a blaze again.
"That's interesting, given that Miss Granger's tendency to 'stand by and watch' is what has landed me here in the first place!" he spat. Hermione recoiled. She had apologized for not doing more that night in the Shrieking Shack what felt like a hundred times, and she'd not tried to hide her guilt and disappointment in herself ever since she'd sat by his bedside close to six years ago. And yet he continued to throw it back in her face.
Hermione began to feel a little angry, herself. "Oh, I'd forgotten that you hadn't made any poor decisions when you were eighteen! No, Severus Snape has always walked the line of integrity!" she hurled at him.
Madam Pomfrey gasped but Hermione ignored her, advancing on Professor Snape. "I am sorry that we weren't able to help you that night. I am sorry to see what your life has become as a result. Hell, I'm even sorry that I was such an irritating, bothersome, know-it-all little bossypants for seven long years before that! But I will not continue to allow you to insult my intelligence, my character, or even my hair any longer. What's done is done and now we have to find a way to move forward. It's for your own good, you aggravating man!"
By the end of her tirade, Hermione found her finger jabbed into Professor Snape's chest, and she quickly pulled it back. For nearly a minute they stared at one another, Hermione's breaths coming in shallow pants as she began to worry that he would use an Unforgivable on her for her presumption.
Finally, however, the blank mask returned to his features. Professor Snape settled himself back on the bed and stoically faced away from the two women. "There is no need to be so vicious," he stated flatly. "If neither of you mind, I would like to rest now."
Throwing her hands in the air in frustration, Hermione turned and left his secluded corner, deciding to wait for the Mediwitch in her office. To her surprise, Professor McGonagall was standing just inside the doors to the Hospital Wing, a look of concern etched on her face. Drawing closer, Hermione stopped and stood with her old Head of House.
"How much did you hear?" she asked glumly, certain that a reprimand was imminent.
"Enough to know that Severus is still being stubborn," the Headmistress replied softly. Surprised, Hermione looked up, and Professor McGonagall gave her a grim smile. "Please don't give up on him yet, Miss Granger. He has been through so much, and it is terribly difficult for him to accept that people genuinely care about him."
"But I—" Hermione was about to protest that she didn't care about him, not like that, but she stopped. She suspected she'd be lying if she said she didn't, and that meant she had a great deal of thinking to do.
A/N: Okay, okay, this is going to be a three parter! Because I can't just leave off here. Anyway, I have zero medical knowledge so if I've said something untrue regarding seizures feel free to let me know. I also have zero claim on Harry Potter or anything associated with it! (There, I found a different way to say 'I'm not JK Rowling'!)