Later that night, Freddie lay in bed in her green satin pajamas, wand in hand, practicing the Patronus Char. She'd tried various memories, even going so far as to try memories of Daniel, but had no luck.
She kept thinking, trying to recall an uncomplicated happy memory. Going through her mind, her memories, and realizing just how few 'happy' memories she had was starting to get depressing. She started wishing Snape's doe Patronus was there, just to make her feel better.
Wishful thinking, she told herself.
She sighed and picked up Hemlock in her free hand. She hugged the kneazle close and kept thinking.
My birthday, she recalled. Severus took me out to dinner. That was nice. I was certainly happy but no way that's strong enough. What about afterwards – the fireworks? Laying on the blanket on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, watching the fireworks – or not watching them while he played with my hair.
She smiled at the memory.
That was definitely nice. And it seemed not-so-complicated at the time.
She focused on that, on the blissful feeling of Snape stroking her hair.
"Expecto Patronum," she said and a large amount of the silvery substance erupted from her wand tip. It didn't take the form of an animal, but it was the most progress she'd made so far.
Encouraged, she tried again, aiming her wand at the ceiling.
Suddenly, she heard a loud explosion that shook the entire house. She bolted upright and jumped out of bed.
"Severus!" she called as she rushed down the hall. "What was that?"
She reached his door and pounded on it.
"Severus! Are you okay? Severus!" she called, banging on the door. She heard no response. She tried the door but it was locked. Of course.
"Alohomora," she said, pointing her wand at the doorknob. It didn't work. She tried the spell he used to ward his office door. Nothing happened.
"Dammit, Severus! Answer me! Open the door!" she shouted.
She could smell something burning. She knew something must have happened with his secret potion, something bad. And he wasn't answering.
Heart pounding, Freddie took a step back.
"Confringo!" she shouted, blasting the door off its hinges.
She rushed into the room to find an exploded cauldron, several small fires burning, and Snape on the floor, his robes on fire. He wasn't moving.
"Severus!" she cried, racing over. She fell to her knees beside him and used her wand to extinguish the flames.
"Severus," she said, patting his face. He groaned softly, but didn't stir. He's alive at least, she thought, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. It didn't last long as she noticed a pool of blood forming beneath his head.
"Oh no – no, no, no," she said. She lifted his head and found a bleeding cut from where he had apparently hit the wall. She looked around wildly for something to stop the flow of blood. She spotted his cloak hanging up near the destroyed door. She needed to grab it but she couldn't leave him. Suddenly the cloak flew towards her. She grabbed it and pressed it to the wound, silently thanking her uncontrolled magic.
She sat there, pressing the cloak against the wound, feeling panicked and helpless.
I need help, he's hurt really bad, I don't know what to do, I need help. But I can't Apparate with him like this, I can barely Apparate by myself if I tried to do Side-Along I might splinch us both. And I can't leave him, she thought frantically. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Okay Freddie, calm down, you've got this. You know what to do. Stop the bleeding. You're doing that. Then Dittany.
She looked around, her eyes falling on a large desk he obviously used as a workstation. There were books and herbs and vials piled on it. She couldn't see from her spot on the floor if there was any Dittany.
Use your wand, stupid.
"Accio Dittany," she said, pointing her wand at the desk. One of the drawers opened and a small bottle came flying towards her. Essence of Dittany. She was glad it was the more potent brew and not just the herb itself.
She set her wand down and uncorked the bottle with her teeth. She pulled the cloak away from Snape's head to see the bleeding had slowed but not stopped.
She poured the Dittany over the wound generously and it smoked as it began to mend. She cradled his head in her lap while the elixir did its job. She looked around the room, noticing there were still a few small fires burning. She picked up her wand.
"Augamenti," she said and a jet of water erupted from her wand. She used it to put out the flames, then looked back down.
The wound had closed and was covered in new, pink skin.
"Severus?" she said, smoothing his mussed hair back from his pale face.
He groaned again and his eyes fluttered open, his gaze unfocused.
"Winifred?" he said, his voice thick and sluggish. "...Ow."
His eyes closed again. She tried to rouse him but couldn't.
Okay. Okay, well, he's alive. That's good. He's alive.
She continued to cradle his head in her lap, stroking his forehead, as she looked around his bedroom. There was a queen-size bed in one corner, covered in a black quilt. His terrycloth bathrobe lay across the the bed. There was a nightstand with a candle and a few other items on it she couldn't see. There was a large chestnut wardrobe with a mirror on the door, but it was cracked. There were more bookcases, a door she assumed led to the bathroom, and the desk. There was a chair, like the one in his office, but it was upside down across the room, probably thrown by the explosion. Then there was a small fire pit, stationed in the center of the room, where he'd clearly been working on whatever it was. The exploded cauldron still lay in pieces around the room.
"What were you working on up here?" she murmured softly to him. "hm?"
He still didn't stir. Freddie exhaled softly. Slowly she moved his head from her lap and gently placed it on the balled up cloak. She stood, her legs trembling slightly, and walked over to the desk, skirting around the puddles of ruined potion.
She looked at the books on the desk and gasped softly. The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy, The Resurrection Stone: Fact or Fable, Conjuration, Of Blood and Bone, Curious Corpses... They were all books on raising the dead.
All of the books looked worn, each of them earmarked in several places, with bits of parchment stuck in some pages. There was a journal among the potion ingredients, like the one they used to keep notes in for the Invisibility Antidote.
Exactly like that, she thought as she flipped through it. It was filled with notes in Snape's scrawled handwriting, detailing failures, ideas, more failures. There were at least a hundred pages, probably more, crammed with notes.
He has to have been working on this for years, she realized.
"What were you trying to do, Severus?" she murmured, but the answer was obvious. He was trying to bring someone back to life.