It wasn't until the following evening that either Harry or Severus began to come around. Blaise had been shooed to class first thing in the morning, and Draco soon followed him after a short check-up by Poppy and a warning to come back if his headache returned. She had been checking on her two main patients throughout the day, sectioning them off in the back of the infirmary with a partition to keep curious visitors, well-wishers, and other patients from disturbing them.
Severus awoke first, beginning to come around shortly before dinnertime. Poppy stuck her head out of her office as she heard a muffled groan and shifting sheets. She grinned, letting out a breath of relief as she watched him bury his face in his pillow and wiggle a bit, stretching his undoubtedly sore muscles. She shook her head and collected her wand, moving from her office to the side of the bed.
She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder to announce her presence before speaking, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Severus. And I mean that quite literally." Severus stilled before lifting his head and blinking blearily at the woman, his hair mussed and the lines of his face relaxed in a way that made him look years younger than he normally did.
"What time is it? And what happened?" He finally spoke up, rubbing his face against the pillow once more for a brief moment before shifting and wiggling to sit up, moving the pillow behind him to prop himself up. He was incredibly sore, but knew it could be (and had been) much worse before.
"It is about a half hour before dinner, first day of classes. Albus covered for you today and will likely be doing so for a few days," she began her reply, holding up her hand to stop his protests before he got started. "You, sir, will be staying here for several days yet. As will your son." At the mention of Harry, Severus' jaw snapped shut, his head jerking up to look at her in alarm. Poppy moved a bit to the side, allowing him to see the boy in the bed to his side, using one hand to forcefully keep him from climbing out of bed.
"He'll be fine, Severus, he simply exhausted himself," she continued. At his enquiring look, she used her foot to pull the nearest chair to herself and sat, patting his hand. Normally the surly man would have shaken her off, however he was so preoccupied with his son and the annoying itch on his inner left arm that he didn't notice. Poppy cleared her throat and waited till she had his attention. "What do you recall from last night, Severus?"
He furrowed his brow for a moment, finally wiggling his hand out of her hold to scratch his arm, "The Dark Lord was attacking me through my mark, you had brought me here as it progressed to the nastier curses…I don't remember much beyond that." He seemed troubled by this confession and glanced down at his tingly, itchy arm. He sucked in a sharp breath, getting his first look at his son's handiwork and slowly raised his arm, his other hand lightly probing where the mark had been, unable to believe it as his eyes shimmered and glittered oddly. "What…"
Poppy watched him closely, gauging his reaction and letting him absorb the reality of the situation before she responded. "After I put you under last night, Albus, young Malfoy and Harry came to check on you. At that point the curses had gotten so bad, your vital signs were going in and out, and if it had continued how it was, you would have died. I told them as much, and the boys refused to leave. I placed a monitoring charm on you and took Albus to my office to discuss some things. At some point after we left, according to those who were witness to it, Harry began speaking Parseltongue to your mark, causing the fog to fill the room as when Albus tried to remove it.
"Apparently it progressed further, locking both doors after the arrival of Mr. Zabini, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger until the monitor on your vitals went off. You died, Severus, and as you did, and incredible magical force erupted from your son in a series of waves that shattered the doors and windows, knocked young Malfoy out, and brought you back. Harry was unconscious by the time we could leave my office, and your mark was gone."
Poppy trailed off, continuing to watch the normally stoic man's face roll through a series of emotions as he continued to probe his arm. "We're not entirely sure what he did, or how he did it, and we're hoping he'll be able to tell us when he wakes up. The itching is likely due to the residual magic…that's the other thing, whatever he did purged your entire being of residual and dark magic, which I believe contributed to the few moments you were dead. He completely cleansed you." A glance from Severus showed him that she was as awed and impressed as her tone expressed and he felt.
He couldn't believe it; Harry had managed to do what was supposed to be impossible. Not only would the Dark Lord be unable to track and influence him any longer, but he severed any and all connection to the psycho. The sense of elation and gratitude was stifling for the man who rarely experienced either, and he didn't notice as the Mediwitch performed her final check on him and retreated to her office.
He felt as though he were floating through a dream and fully expected himself to wake up at any moment and was surprised each moment that he hadn't. He finally shook himself out of his stupor, glancing up at the office door before carefully slipping from his bed. He tugged the chair previously occupied by Poppy along with him as he scooted to the side of Harry's bed and made himself comfortable there, watching as the boy slept peacefully for once.
Poppy had attempted to shoo Severus back into bed when she brought his dinner for him, but received a look that would have made hell freeze over and melt again for her troubles. In the end she lost, and permitted the man to stay by Harry's bedside as he ate, but told him that he would have to return to his own bed when she left for her own bed that night. After a curt nod of confirmation, but receiving no other indication that he had been listening to her, she retreated once more.
It was nearly 10pm when Harry finally stirred, the movement rousing Severus out of his light dozing in the chair. He sat up immediately, leaning forward and brushed the fringe of long hair from his son's forehead, taking note that the scar had faded considerably from how it had looked in the great hall the previous night. Vivid green eyes peeked open after a few minutes of wiggling and stretched that echoed Severus' movements from earlier, though neither were aware of it. Harry sat up immediately upon seeing Severus and patted his shoulders and arms for a moment, as though checking to see if he were really there. He blinked owlishly a few times before realizing what he was doing and recoiled as though expecting to be struck. Unable to formulate his relief into words, Severus leaned forward and pulled the boy tightly to him, hugging him thoroughly and showing no signs of letting go, even as Poppy stuck her head out of her office at the sounds. She smiled and pulled her head back in, deciding to give them a few minutes while she fire-called the Headmaster.
"You foolish, foolish boy…I can't believe you did it, you are lucky that I'm so proud of you, otherwise I'd ground you for your incredible naïve stupidity…" Severus muttered softly as he clung to Harry as much as the boy clung to him back, shuddering as he attempted to control his breathing as he realized he had not lost his father. Curious as to what he meant, Harry reluctantly lifted his head and pulled back a bit to peer curiously at Severus.
Severus raised an eyebrow, realizing for the first time that the boy actually might not know what he had done. He pulled back just a bit, holding out his arm for Harry's inspection, "You removed it, Harry…whatever you did, you completely severed my connection to the Dark Lord." Harry's eyes bugged comically as his jaw dropped, his hands darting forward to explore the man's arm.
His mouth moved up and down in a fish-like manner as he attempted to come up with a suitable response, his mind buzzing as he recalled what he had done the night before. "So it was real…I just remember being so upset and wanting him to stop," Harry mumbled, glancing up as the Headmaster and Poppy entered the room. He released his father's arm, still looking rather shell-shocked as he leaned into the man and submitted to the Mediwitch's examination.
"He's fine, just as I said before, though his magical reserves are still a little low. A few good meals and a bit more sleep and he should be completely recovered," she announced, much to the relief of the older men present. Harry continued to lean against Severus, a few of his fingers lightly ghosting along the man's inner left arm as he marveled at the life still in the man while listening to his heartbeat.
"Well, we'll let you both get to the rest of your recovery in a short while, but first I believe we're all curious as to what you experience last night, Harry. We have the stories of those who witnessed it, but we've been most anxious to hear your side of it," Albus finally spoke, watching the boy with a soft smile. Harry nodded, reluctantly sitting up and took a breath before he began to recall the previous night's events as he remembered them.