After five more exhausting stimulus treatments, Severus found himself more able to sustain his movements, if only for a short period. The sessions were moved to every other afternoon as opposed to waiting until just before the evening meal, which allowed for longer practice hours after completion. Each session, it seemed to take fractionally less time to incite movement. This was relieving in more ways than one. He could feel his strength increasing. He could take care of himself for the better part of the day instead of only being allowed to move between dinner and lights out. He did not have to be bloody tickled so much. Apprehension was a near constant presence in his mind because of it, but there was little to be done about it if it was working, and of course it was. Severus silently prayed that none of the attendants or interns were former students of his. Thus far, he'd not recognized any of them, but people change greatly over time and one could never tell. The shame of it would be unbearable.
Rain pattered heavily against his window late in the afternoon and a slight chill emanated from the pane. If he was cold in Sir Padmoore's facility, he would simply have to deal with it. At Saint Mungo's he would have to wait for someone to check in on his ward. Right now in this moment, he was fully able to wheel himself to the small dresser opposite his bed and fetch out a thick black robe to slip his arms into on his own. Once he was comfortably warm, he wheeled back alongside the window to quietly enjoy the rain.
"You have a visitor, Mr. Snape." Amelia announced, tapping the door before entering with Headmistress McGonagall. "Would you like a tea tray?"
"Yes, if you would." Severus nodded.
The attendant left to set up the beverages as Minerva levitated a chair to sit nearby her former colleague. She settled herself upon it and smoothed out her robes, looking across at the man expectantly. When he said nothing, she sighed.
"I'll take the silence to mean that no further progress has been made?" she murmured softly. "I'm so sorry, Severus. Truly. Perhaps if they'd caught you earlier on things would be different. All the same, if you are still here, they must have some hope for you. Try not to be too discouraged."
Severus let her continue to ramble on with her assumptions for a moment, then lifted his hand and placed it over her mouth.
"You are terribly depressing when you are trying to encourage me." he smirked.
Minerva gasped and took hold of the offending hand, spluttering in disbelief. She wrung his hand in her own, breaking into a delighted smile and very nearly knocked him out of his wheelchair in a powerful embrace of congratulations. Tears began to bead in her eyes, though they were quickly swiped away just before she swatted him with her handbag.
"How long were you planning on stringing me along like that? Wicked thing!" the woman huffed, earning only a soft sniff of laughter in return. "Really! This is just… just wonderful, Severus! Now, how much are you able to do?"
Though his finger movements were still slightly shaky, he demonstrated that he could wheel himself to and fro, lean from side to side, and lift or bend his arms with relative ease. She watched, beaming like a proud mother hen. When the tea was brought in, she went to help him drink out of habit, but he insisted that he could do it on his own, if not with perfect grace just yet.
"I cannot possibly describe to you how lovely it is to hold a warm cup of tea for myself." Severus sighed, staring into his beverage and basking in the steam wafting over his face. "I can only sustain it for a number of hours every other day, but it increases by a short bit each time. Even if the movement is not continuous and is still quite shaky, it is a start. The amount of time spent rebuilding the muscles and working the swelling away from my joints over the last couple of weeks has helped a great deal, I think. I don't know how much was gained by my first working under Sir Padmoore, but perhaps quite a bit if I'm able to do this much. I'd rather not give him any credit, but I do have to wonder how slowly it would have come if my limbs had not been forced into movement so many times before, even though it was under severe distress. Both programs have tasked me, but I suppose it has been worth it."
"You suppose? Look at yourself!" Minerva exclaimed, then paused to narrow her eyes suspiciously. "By task, what do you mean? They aren't using Polyjuice Potion here as well, are they? I would hate to think-"
"No."
"Oh. Well. How are they getting the reactions? I took one of the pamphlets home, and it barely touched on the process. You aren't being abused in some other way, are you? Don't think I won't say something about it if you are." she frowned.
"Please let it go. I'd rather talk about what is going on outside of this room." Severus groaned. "I suppose you will not be able to visit as often when term begins? Let us make the most of it, if you don't mind."
Without another word, Minerva stood and swiftly walked out of the room. Severus felt the back of his neck prickling in anxiety when he heard a quiet exchanging of words between the Headmistress and a passing attendant, presumably one of his electric therapists; either Donovan or Mel. He'd come to find that the entire day staff consisted only of the three therapists and Madam McNair. Two House Elves assisted with cooking and cleaning. The night shift was covered by three intern medi-witches whom he'd not had an opportunity to speak with or even see as of yet. It was clear by Minerva's expression when she returned to the room that she'd been brought up to speed. She'd insisted on being named his medical proxy after her last visit, so if anything terrible should happen, she could use her best judgement to act on his behalf. Proxies were not covered by patient confidentiality, and could freely be given answers to anything they asked. Her lips were pursed as if holding back everything she wanted to say, though her eyes sparkled with mirth.
"Not a word, Minerva." Severus warned icily.
She raised a hand as if to indicate that she would opt not to speak on it further, turning instead to point out some halfway concealed drawings on the wall next to his window. They were mostly obscured by the curtains, but it was a curious thing to see in his room of all places.
"Where did these come from?" she asked, tapping the bottom-most paper.
"…My dexterity instructor." he coughed.
"Signed Lotus? Is it that wee girl I saw in the common area on my way in? She drew pictures for you?" Minerva pressed, quite shocked because children usually aimed to stay as far away from him as possible.
Severus nodded tersely, then gestured to another picture. Side by side on the paper there were two snakes drawn, one decidedly better than the other. The well-drawn serpent was signed Lotus, while the wobbly-looking one was signed seVerUS. The Headmistress snorted in laughter, covering her eyes with one hand.
"Your supercilious support is quite appreciated, thank you." Severus remarked irritably. "If you'll excuse me, I'm late to an appointment of throwing myself down the nearest staircase."
"I'm sorry. I'm sure it took a lot of work." the Headmistress amended, trying to get herself under control. "So she is teaching you to better use your fingers, then. In return, I suppose she's asked that you teach her how to brew some sort of unicorn lure?"
"Not exactly."
For the next two hours, the pair was able to pleasantly converse until it became necessary for the Headmistress to take her leave. She'd made it all the way to the front steps when she remembered that she ought to warn Severus that Harry Potter was meaning to come by some time in the near future to discuss something of familial importance. She quickly turned face and marched back to his room, only to be greeted with the sight of a small girl practicing braiding with Severus' hair. He had a long suffering expression which would not have boded well to walk in on, so Minerva decided that she would just owl him at a later point to alert him to the visitation request. She was gone within seconds, if only because it pained her mightily to bottle her amusement.