THE CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG

by Alatarielrose

Rated M

Warnings: Violence, Noncon/Rape, Torture, Slash, Multiple pairings (VD/HP, HP/SS)

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, they belong to J.K. Rowling and I am just borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusement, enjoy!

Chapter 9

Snape stood to the side watching as Poppy, one of the most gentle people he knew, confronted one of the greatest wizards of all time. She was absolutely correct, the boy could not go back there. No one should have to live through what the boy had. Snape heard Albus agree that Harry could never go back but that brought up the question of where he would go. For the moment Harry would stay where he was, he was too injured to move and he'd need time to recover. Harry could stay at school over the winter holidays but during the summer all students were required to go home so the castle could be cleaned, the wards on the building reset and strengthened. Only a few teachers stayed over the break and even they were on shifts due to the fact that too many magical signatures would disrupt the magic put into the wards.

It would be a while yet before they'd have to worry about that though, most likely the boy would go to the Weasley's who'd always asked if they could take the small dark haired boy in. Severus did not want to be anywhere near the matriarch when she found out about what Harry had been through. He knew that the redhead thought of the boy as an adopted son and was supremely protective of those she loved.

Snape was drawn out of his thoughts at the Headmaster's sigh, "Let me know if there is any change. I must get back to oversee the wards and stall the Minister, he is trying to force my hand into taking another official as a teacher. I will not have another Umbridge in my school."

Poppy nodded and when the man was gone turned to Snape who was standing in the corner near the door and questioned irritatedly, "Are you going to come over here Severus and let me take a look at your arm? Or are you going to make me come to you? I know you've injured it, and it won't get any better on it's own." she chastised.

Putting up a disgruntled front he made his way over to the mediwizard who proceeded to poke his shoulder with her wand muttering a string of Latin. His shoulder glowed golden for a moment and warmed under the spell. "I had forgotten about it in leu of other more pressing matters." He responded once she had finished.

Tutting Poppy simply replied, "You'll need to take a muscle relaxer." She dug a bottle of pale blue liquid out of her satchel and handed it to him. "Your shoulder was badly strained and your arm will be almost completely useless to you tomorrow if you do not."

Severus noted that it was one of the muscle relaxants he brewed for the witch evey year and swallowed it without comment. He ignored Poppy's following statement, "If you feel you need it, take a pain reliever." Snape didn't think he'd need a pain potion but even if he did he tried to take them sparingly. He couldn't afford to be muddled on the chance that he would unexpectedly be called by the Dark Lord. The only times he usually considered taking them were after a punishment from Voldemort and only then because it was so rare for them to be injured by him and called immediately back.

"I've done everything I can for him right now Severus." Poppy informed. "Get some rest. I'll stay with him tonight and monitor him. It'll probably be a few days before he wakes. I'll do all I can before I leave, I can't stay later than midmorning. I'd agreed to teach a class in America on triage medicine at a leading university and I cannot postpone. I will leave you with all my stores and the name of someone to contact in case of an emergency. If Harry makes it through tonight he should recover, it'll just take time. Be patient with him, he will need a lot of support to get through this."

Snape nodded. "Very well. I'll make sure the golden boy recovers and is back in the fall. After all the Dark Lord wouldn't be happy if his enemy died in my bedroom." He smirked.

"That's horrible Severus!" Poppy mock scolded knowing that the dark wizard was just joking. "I'll stop back to see how you two are getting on when I've returned."

Snape just nodded. "Call Jade if you need anything or have her wake me if you need assistance."

"I will. Get some rest." Poppy coaxed.

Turning Snape left the door open, a quite "Good night." leaving his lips as he left the room to go to his own.

HPSSHPSSHPSS

Despite the fact that he had made it to bed sometime in the early hours of the morning, Severus Snape still woke up before 8. He went down to the kitchen and made a tray up for Poppy complete with strong tea, toast, fruit and oatmeal. He made a strong cup of coffee for himself and brought the tray up to the guest room. The scene was identical to the one the night before. Harry still lay on his stomach on the bed, towel draped over him, Poppy sitting on the chair next to the bed. The only change was she had transfigured it into a plushier chair with a foot stool so she could recline on it comfortably.

Seeing the man in the doorway she sat up more and smiled, "It's been a long time since someone brought me breakfast,"

Severus was glad he had trained himself not to show emotion, he didn't think he'd live it down if Poppy made him blush. Instead he simply stated, "I thought you could use the sustenance after the long night."

Knowing her statement had ruffled him even if he didn't show it, she chuckled, "Well it was very thoughtful, thank you." Placing the tray on the abandoned footstool he liberated his coffee as the Mediwitch reached for her tea and a slice of apple.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Snape asked, "Has there been any change?"

"No, he's still deeply unconscious, he hasn't so much as twitched since last night but his vitals have improved. His blood pressure has risen and while he is still fighting infection, the fever reducers seem to be keeping him from getting any worse. If they raise another degree or two he should be put into an ice bath. I've hesitated to do that to this point because the shock wouldn't be good for him and right now his fever isn't dangerously high, but if it should worsen... he could suffer brain damage so you'll need to keep a close eye on him."

Snape nodded. "I understand."

"I've washed and reapplied the salve to his injuries but you should do so again tonight. He should drink another pain reliever in an hour, a fever reducer every four hours until his fever breaks along with a nutrient potion, and a blood replenisher twice more today. Keep him warm and when he wakes up make sure he continues to take the nutrient potion with his food. Start him off with small meals such as broth with some chicken. He's been starved for a while now and his system won't be able to handle heavy or large amounts of food for a bit."

Snape nodded, knowing this already but did not interrupt knowing that Poppy was worried for the boy and didn't want to leave and that this was her way of feeling like she was doing something to help.

"I've left you the name of a friend who I trust implicitly. His name is Brennen Marque, 185 Tadalea Lane. I apprenticed with him after studying at St. Mungo's; he is an amazing Mediwizard. He has his own practice out in the country and has always told me that if I or any of my friends should need his help to just firecall. If he questions you tell him you were referred by Frea and he'll help."

"Thank you for your help Poppy. Hopefully the boy will heal quickly and will be off to bother the Weasley's soon."

Poppy smiled knowing that that was the Potion Master's way of hoping for a speedy recovery for the boy, not necessarily so Harry could leave but just because the boy would be well again. It had taken years of knowing the young man to learn when he was covering his true feelings and develop the ability to read between the lines of his sarcasm and seemingly harsh persona to see what he truly felt and thought.

She finished off her breakfast in comfortable silence as the Potion Master drank his coffee. Standing stiffly she gently stretched before giving a slight chuckle, "I should know better than to stay in a chair all night. Not as young as I used to be."

Snape scoffed. Smirking as he banished the tray with a wave of his hand, he had often felt the same after days of little to no sleep spent grading, brewing, and spying, knowing that at least until the Dark Lord had been vanquished he would continue to do as he was despite knowing better and wishing for uninterrupted peace in his comfortable feather-topped bed.

Severus followed Poppy down the stairs and to the floo where he handed her the canister of green powder. "I should be back in a month, I'll stop by to see how you two are getting on."

"Very well, hopefully you won't have to deal with too many idiots while there." Severus replied.

"I'm sure I'll have fun, after all it's not every day I get to go and teach. It's rather novel." She said accepting his wish of a good time for what it was. Taking some of the powder she turned toward his fireplace, tossed the handful into the flames and stepped into them once they burned green, "Ministry of Magic, International floostation." and was whisked away.

Sighing Snape replaced the jar, and headed back up stairs to watch over his dead rival's son, knowing there was nothing to be done but to watch and wait for the boy to come back to them.

To be continued...