"C-can you… Can you restore his mental health back to how it was?"

"Restore?"

The doctor looked at her with eyes full of undeniable deep knowledge and understanding. Suddenly, Lily felt like she was back at Hogwarts, in Dumbledore's class.

"You can never restore anybody's mental health to how it was before the trauma, Mrs Potter."

"W-what can we do, then?"

"We can add, not erase."

"Can you… You know… Elaborate on that, please?"

He nodded with a tiny smile. "The course of our action is this: add time to rest, add coping techniques, add regular checkups and therapy sessions, add positive emotional experiences, and so on and so forth. Not erase anything - the experience stays in his head and it would stay there even if we used the strongest Obliviate charm. Despite that, I am fairly sure that Mr Snape will be able to function in society again. Believe me, Mrs Potter, I've seen worse. He seems to have decent mental strength and discipline. This will help him greatly."

The doctor suddenly looked further into the corridor, watching a nurse approach the two of them.

"What is it, Margo?"

"He's stopped repeating the sentence, finally."

The doctor's eyes swept over to Lily again. "See? Some progress already. Your friend is strong."

He stood up and gestured at Lily to stand up, as well. The nurse continued:

"He fell completely silent now. He isn't reacting to anything verbal. The damage to his vocal chords plays a role, too, of course."

"Thank you, Margo. Can Mrs Potter see him now?"

The nurse hesitated. "Well… No wands and no sharp objects. But otherwise… Sure. But do be careful, Mrs Potter. These patients can be unpredictable sometimes. Try not to upset him. He looks calm now, but such things can change in the blink of an eye - that has been our experience here, unfortunately."

After a few steps down the hall, the nurse opened a door for Lily.

"Make him communicate, if you can."

Lily gave her a hesitant nod and stepped in.

Severus was lying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. His black eyes seemed distant, as if he were immersed somewhere in his own world. Lily cleared her throat and sat down on the bed.

No reaction.

"Hi, Sev," she whispered with a sad smile.

None of his facial muscles suggested whether he could hear her at all.

Lily decided to ignore her fear of being thrown against the wall again - and put her palm on his shoulder, lightly enough not to cause him any pain (she could imagine how his whole body was aching now) but firmly enough for him to feel warmth and comfort.

She could feel his muscles tense up and then relax into the touch. His eyes, however, stayed blankly focused on the ceiling. He looked almost dead.

Lily sighed and caressed his gaunt, pale cheek.

"Sev, if you can hear me… If you understand what I'm saying… I love you."

And then, slowly and with great care, she put her head on his chest and pulled him into a one-arm hug. She tried hard not to think about how much Severus reminded her of an empty corpse, and focused on his heartbeat instead. It calmed her down so much she could feel herself drifting off to sleep. Only now did she realize how tired she really was from all this…

She woke up to being almost smothered in a hug. Sev's arms were wrapping around her torso, clutching her tightly. Lily could feel his nose huffing into her hair, tickling her. His heartbeat had quickened, his breath had become ragged. It took Lily a full minute to realize that it was because the nurse had arrived and now she was trying to make Severus let go of her.

Lily looked up at the nurse and gave her a questioning look.

"Visiting hours are over," the nurse explained. "Mr Snape needs rest. You can come back tomorrow, of course."

Lily's eyes went further up to shoot a look at Severus. He was staring at her down his nose. The black eyes weren't empty anymore - they had a pleading look to them, as if he were saying "don't leave me".

"I'll come back in no time, Sev," Lily whispered. And then, quickly hiding the smugness that was creeping up her face, she decided to leave Severus a hidden message in her next sentence.

"It's going to be such an invisible period of time that you won't even notice when I'm back."

She was hoping that Severus had got the message. Apparently, he had, because he raised his eyebrow and then slowly let go of her.

James must have left some kind of Mischief Virus in that cloak and now, apparently, I got infected, she thought.

Lily stood up but before she turned to leave, she crouched over Severus and smooched his forehead. Before she had the chance to turn away, Severus grabbed her by her sleeve. Then, with softness and care, he took her palm in both his hands, as if he wanted to say "Thank you".