AN: I've typed Rowling in my phone so many times that 'rolling' automatically corrects to 'Rowling' and I have to go back and fix it.
This chapter was a bitch to get out, as they all seem to be. I've started writing a new story, Mental Health, if you'd like to read it. Please do, and let me know what you guys think.
I appreciate every single person that takes the time to read my writing. A special thanks to the people who've followed and favorited!
In this chapter of The Informant, we find Professor Snape.
As always, this world belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm just playing in it.
-Daisy
My relationship with Draco was tested Tuesday night. We were struggling to both fit under the cloak. He was crouched severely to keep our feet covered. It really was meant for the use of one person.
"Of course the bloody fucking Golden Trio have an invisibility cloak. I couldn't bring an eagle but they got an invisibility cloak. Fucking wankers."
"Alright! That's enough!" I whisper yelled.
"No it bloody well isn't enough! Do you truly not realize how much you and your lot have gotten away with?"
"Yes, well, we are the good guys, so . . . Wait, hey, I didn't mean it like that." I whispered, interpreting the silence as proof of Draco's anger.
"Shhhh. Mrs. Norris." He hissed.
We crept the final few feet to the tapestry of Morgana the Mermaid and Draco whispered the password quietly.
"Lilium."
As we entered the potion master's quarters I swallowed the reticence in my gut. Being out after curfew was one thing, breaking into a teachers quarters after curfew was another.
After Professor Snape had missed Monday's and Tuesday's lessons, Draco had owled me. He'd been planning to go alone, but I'd refused to let him. We were partners now and it played to our benefit to begin acting like it. This was just a benign rehearsal to the real thing.
We crept inside of the rooms quietly, and I was surprised to see we entered through the same door I'd entered with Professor Snape. The doorway must've been enchanted to allow entry from various points.
Striding across the sitting room, I gasped. Professor Snape was lying facedown on the rug in the front of his fireplace, dried blood surrounding his broken body. Stifling my shock at finding him like this, I quickly moved forward, casting diagnostic spells with my wand, praying to see something other than nothing.
"He's alive, barely." I called back to Draco, who was still frozen in fright behind his godfathers favored wingback chair.
His face was a painting of terror. "Uncle Sev?" He squeaked.
"Draco!" I snapped. "Where does he keep his potions?"
"Huh?"
"Where does he keep his potions?!"
"Uhm, his bedroom." He glanced side to side, seeming to come to his senses a bit, moving quickly to the door I assumed had led to Snape's bedroom. "What do you need?"
"All the pain potions you can find, skelegrow, blood replenishers, burn paste, dittany, Cancillers Concoction, and if you can find acromantula silk and essence of murtlap in there anywhere, I could use them too."
My wand never stopped waving. He had several broken bones that were already in the process of healing improperly. After vanishing his outer robes, stopping the natural bone regrowth came first, and then I aimed less powerful healing spells at the small scrapes and cuts marring his arms and legs. I cast my strongest cleansing charm beforehand, wincing at the small grunt of pain from my professor.
When Draco arrived, his arms full of the things I'd asked for, I had him help to turn his godfather over. We both winced at the sight of his even larger, and even more crooked, broken nose.
His eyes opened slightly as he landed on his back and he moaned pitifully, barely able to rustle a twitch of his fingers.
I quickly uncapped a pain potion, dribbling it through his thin parted lips. To my relief, he managed to swallow, but his eyes still closed.
I managed to get him to drink another before he fell completely unconscious, and I knew I'd need to do it now.
"iterum praevaricator!" I intoned, slashing my wand in a Z motion.
Draco's swift intake of breath coincided with the sounds of multiple bones being rebroken. Tears fell down my face as Professor Snape's scream filled the room, his back arching. His now straight nose gushed blood, and a quick episkey quickly set and healed it.
His back bowing had caused the large gash in his side to open, and as I pushed two more pain potions into Draco's hand, I grabbed the dittany and the Cancillers Concoction.
The Concoction was added first, cleaning the wound. Dittany was applied moments after. It was designed to immediately heal any tissue it came into contact with, but not to disinfect or remove debris. Cancillers Concoction was a new potion designed to help with this. A scourgify would also work, but it'd also cause a lot more bleeding, ripping away the coagulated blood clotting the wound. I dribbled a little more of both onto his foot, stunned to see his shoe was missing, along with all of the skin on his foot. The sight of the stark white tensions and bones against the almost black bloody meat made me slightly nauseous.
Draco took the initiative to pour the blood replenishers into Snapes throat as I crawled forward to kneel above his head. I took the dittany and essence of murtlap, mixing a little of each together with my wand in the air. They formed a creamy paste which I smeared onto the acromantula silk. I ignored Draco's quiet, "what are you doing, Granger," putting the silk onto the three gashes marring Professor Snape's right cheek. I finally applied the burn paste to his hands, knowing they'd more than likely not heal with dittany—could even be made worse—due to the passive absorption of potions ingredients through the skin.
He was murmuring and moving his head as we gave him his final two potions—a pain potion and skelegrow. I used my wand to petrify him, wincing and apologizing profusely even though he remained asleep.
We levitated him to his bed, wary of the doorway and the footboard. I left Draco to vanish the rest of his blood stained clothes and cover him up.
When Draco came to sit beside me on the worn rug, my hand resting on the large stain left behind, he pressed a small tumbler of whiskey into my other hand, quietly sipping his own.
"How close to dying was he, Hermione?" He whispered.
"Very."
"Fuck." He drained his glass. "I don't know how to do this—my godfather was hurt, needing my help and I froze." His words were bitter as he hung his head.
I placed my hand on his knee, sipping from my own whiskey. "I've been fighting longer than you." I said simply. "There are just…things you learn in the field and things you learn after the fact that could've saved someone's life, someone's limb, or prevented them from having a permanent scar. You'll learn. I wish you didn't—that no one had to. But we all do. We all will."
He nodded, and when I offered him the rest of my whiskey, a third of its contents having calmed me, he threw it back. We sat in silence for a while, whiskey along with the fire warming us.
"When do you need to finite incantatem Uncle Sev?"
"Eight hours. It's usually six, but he broke quite a lot of bones. I'd like to leave him under for at least that long."
"I'll, uh, administer a couple drops of dreamless sleep—er, if that's alright? He never gets beyond five hours, and I don't want him to just…lie there, unable to move." He stood.
"Go ahead." I nodded hesitantly, and grabbed his hand when it was offered, wavering on tired legs.
"I'm setting an alarm to wake me at nine thirty, and I'll unpetrify Professor Snape then, okay?"
"I have Magical Creatures at nine, and so do you Granger." Draco drawled, rolling his eyes.
"I'll scribe a note before bed to Hagrid and charm it to send itself to the owlery at eight forty-five. It'll have plenty of time to get to Hagrid before class."
"Ugh so it's me against the world tomorrow right? I'll have to go?"
"Well, yeah?"
He groaned in annoyance. "I'll have to deal with the Dumbass Duo, you realize that?"
"Perfectly. Just…" I sighed in annoyance, my eyes dropping closed a moment.
"Just be normal. Don't let on that you've seen me, alright?"
"If you say so. You left your common room at midnight and aren't there the next morning—you don't think they'll notice that?"
"Probably but it's not my duty to tell them where I am and what I'm doing, is it? They're not my parents."
"Nah, they're just your boyfriends." He snarked.
"Shut up and go away, Malfoy. I'm exhausted. I need a bath, a cuppa, and a hug, not to mention a good night sleep. That's not going to come anytime soon, so please just...let me have a little nap before I have to tend to Professor Snape again."
I could see the gravity of the farce that was our lives bleed back into his face.
"Yeah, alright. Thanks, Grang—Hermione. I'll leave his potions cupboard open. It's in the wall by his bed, but if you shut it you won't be able to get back in."
"Alright." I grumbled as I settled onto the couch, pulling a thin ratty afghan to lay over me. I met Draco's eyes as he stood above me, shifting closer and closer to the door.
"My dorm is close enough to here. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I know I've already said it, but thank you, Granger. Uncle Sev may not be warm and cuddly, but he's family, and I do love him."
"You're welcome, Draco. Besides, that's kind of the whole point of all of this, isn't it? Protecting our spy?"
"Yeah…well, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
With that, he climbed through the portrait hole, heading towards the Slytherin dorms. We'd actually worked together quite well tonight. Who knew?
I groaned as I realized I'd already forgotten to write Hagrid a note and rushed to it, eager to get to sleep. I used the excuse of having heavier than usual cramps, knowing he wouldn't question it or bring it up to anyone else due to embarrassment. I could picture his large cheeks reddening now.
After I climbed back onto the couch, determined to get some rest, before I knew it, I was fast asleep.