Molly helped her husband put the final touches on supper and then cast warming spells to keep everything ready for when the meeting was over. Sirius was upstairs, making sure the children went to their rooms and stayed there; he was also supposed to be confiscating any inventions that Fred and George might have made to overhear what happened in the kitchen. Much as she loved her twin sons, when Molly had discovered they had been using something that Tonks called "Extendable Ears" and seemed to know far too much about for a Ministry of Magic employee who had better things to do, she had nearly murdered them both. Sirius returned as the people who were gathered around the room in groups of twos and threes began to sit down around the table; Albus arrived, and Arthur pulled out chairs for the three of them, Albus at the head and Molly and Arthur next to him. At each meeting Molly ended up sitting next to someone different; the lack of a pecking order bothered her sometimes. She wished Albus would at least designate a second in command.
Once they were all seated, silence fell and Albus said "well, we are waiting for one more, but I can always fill Severus in later. We can go through the other items on the agenda, and when Severus arrives he can report. There was a meeting tonight, for those of you who do not know, and it must have run late." As he finished this sentence a patronus materialized in front of him. Molly wasn't able to identify exactly what type of animal it was; it was large, and had four legs, but it only spoke one word before it disappeared so she only caught a glimpse. That word was "outside" – spoken in a raw croak. Albus started, his blue eyes wide. "Severus," he said, and was out of his chair and up the stairs before the rest of the room could react. Then chaos broke loose as everyone started to get up, to murmur among themselves, to wonder what had happened. Molly grabbed Arthur's shoulder; whatever was happening, Albus would need help. "Stay here," she said, rising. "Keep things under control." As she sprinted up the stairs, she heard another set of footsteps fall in behind her.
She gained the entryway. The front door was open and Albus was on the steps, frozen in a moment of horror. Severus Snape was sitting – or maybe had fallen – onto the second step from the top. Blood was everywhere but Molly could not see the source. She heard a sharp intake of breath beside her and realized it was Remus who had come upstairs behind her. She hurried forward to stand next to Albus. "We need to get him inside," she said, surprised at the calmness in her voice. Albus snapped out of his momentary shock. "Absolutely," he said, and his voice was also calm. They stepped forward and each grabbed Severus under an arm. "Remus," Molly said, "can you go back down and clear the table? Maybe get a few things set up?" "Of course," said Remus, turning around. Albus called after him. "Remus, send them home. Except for Minerva, Mad-Eye and Kingsley, clear the room." "Yes Headmaster," Remus said, and disappeared.
"On three?" Albus asked Molly. "One, two, three." They brought Severus up into the entryway in one smooth movement and set him down on the bottom stair of the flight that led to the second floor. Albus cast a spell to clean up the blood on the steps outside, and then he and Molly closed ranks in front of Severus as the Order exited. "Thank you everyone," Albus called. "Severus has been injured and requires a quiet environment and medical attention. As soon as we know what happened, I shall call a meeting for tomorrow night to update you all." There was some muttering as they left, but most people seemed good natured about it. Tonks took a step toward Molly and said "I hope he's okay," in a worried tone. "Stay, Nymphadora," said Albus. "You may be necessary." Tonks turned around and went back downstairs.
The door closed behind Hestia and they were alone. "Shall we levitate him?" Molly asked the Headmaster. "No, not until we know the nature of his injuries and how magic may affect them." Molly knew she should have thought of that. They picked Severus up again as before and moved him carefully down the steps to the kitchen. Remus came up and helped, lifting Severus's legs so they didn't have to half drag him.
The kitchen table had been padded with blankets and sheets, with pillows at one end. Kingsley, Sirius and Mad-Eye were waiting with Arthur; Molly didn't see Minerva or Remus. They laid Severus down carefully and Albus cut his robes away. Underneath Severus wore plain black slacks and a dark navy button down shirt. Once the robes were gone it was clear what the problem was: each of Severus's arms was rent nearly in half, from elbow to wrist. The cuts gaped and bone was visible. Mad-Eye turned away, cursing; Sirius looked as though he might be sick. Molly had seen worse, and was a little upset that she wasn't more perturbed at the sight. Shouldn't blood and bone be more upsetting? Had she become too callous? She shoved those thoughts out of her head and concentrated on how to help Severus. Albus was telling Kingsley and Mad-Eye to leave; "if I cannot heal these, it is unlikely that anyone can. I don't think there's anything else to be done except offer Severus the best care possible. Thank you both." Then he sent Tonks and Sirius to go and get a spare room ready for Severus.
Once it was just Molly, Arthur and Albus, he cast a few spells on Severus's arms. Molly wasn't sure what kind of spells they were, as he used them nonverbally, but nothing obvious happened. She caught his eye and knew he saw the question there. "I cast a simple charm to stop the bleeding, to determine if these wounds are healable with magic. That charm was unsuccessful, but did not cause further harm either, so I tried a spell that would begin the healing process. I don't believe that has worked either." Molly began to actually worry for Severus's life; she had assumed Albus could heal anything. Severus was not conscious, likely from loss of blood. "What can we do?" Albus looked grave. "Minerva will be back soon, she has likely gone to gather potions from Severus's supply. We shall see what she brings."
Five minutes later Minerva returned. Albus filled her in on what had happened; she looked unusually pale. "Try this," she said, and pulled out several vials. "Blood replenisher, and a pick me up that should help him regain consciousness. Then he can tell me which of these to use." Albus tipped the two potions down Severus's throat; within minutes his color returned, and not long after that he opened his eyes. He took them all in carefully, then asked Albus "where am I?" "Grimmauld Place, Severus. Look at these potions and tell Minerva what to use. Your wounds are cursed, I cannot heal even the worst damage." Molly heard a noise behind her and turned to see Remus entering the room, with Poppy Pomfrey on his heels. Molly wasn't sure how much Poppy knew about the Order, but she had certainly never been to Headquarters before; even so, she barely batted an eyelid. "Are these cursed, Albus?" "Yes, I've just asked Severus what we should be using." But Severus was looking directly at Minerva, and had time for no one else. Blood was still flowing freely from the wounds; up close, Molly could see their edges were tinted greenish black.
"Did you go to the secret store?" He asked Minerva quietly. She nodded and moved closer, pulling a bag from the pocket of her robes and enlarging it. She removed numerous flasks and bottles from the bag; Severus selected five potions from the multitude. "That one first," he said, and his voice was shaking slightly now. Molly realized he was in far more pain than he was letting on. Sirius and Tonks were back now, but staying out of the way. "Arthur," said Albus, as Minerva held the first potion for Severus to drink and Molly helped him sit up so as not to choke, "guard duty." Arthur started and nodded, leaving the room. Molly had forgotten entirely about the Ministry. This could well be a hoax designed to gain access to the Department of Mysteries, for all they knew.
Five potions later and there was no obvious change to the wounds on Severus's arms. "Try healing them now, Albus," he croaked, laying back against the pillows. This time the severed nerves snapped back into place; Severus's head involuntarily snapped backwards against his pillows and Molly could only imagine what it must have felt like. The bleeding slowed; though blood still flowed, Molly figured it could be stanched semi-effectively with bandaging. Sure enough Poppy stepped forward and begain to clean and bandage each wound as carefully as possible. As she did, Severus gave a halting account of what had happened.
When he finished, Albus looked grave. "I am sorry, Severus," he said, his cloud-grey eyes full of worry. "From now on I shall have to be both thorough and careful about what information you give Voldemort. We will give him enough to satisfy that you are his servant, and that you are my confidant as well. For now, though, you must heal. You will stay here for several weeks. None of the rest of the Order will be informed of the situation, or of exactly what transpired tonight," he made eye contact with the rest of the room as he said this. We can say that Severus was injured in his line of work, and that will be sufficient. The children need not know he is here. Sirius, what room did you make up? Now that I think, it may be best to have Severus share with one of you. Not only will the children not bother him but he will be easily accessible when he needs assistance."
Sirius's face was already dark red at the thought of sharing a room with his enemy; Molly was about to offer their room when Remus spoke up. "I will, Headmaster. There is plenty enough room for an extra bed, and the children never come in my bedroom. I also have an attached bathroom, so Severus can stay entirely hidden." Albus beamed. "Perfect! All settled. Severus, you must stay absolutely quiet. Your wounds will likely stay open and actively bleeding for several days; even if you take blood replenishing potions, if you expend much energy you will be likely to collapse. Obviously, using your hands will be out of the question. I am sure you will have ample opportunity to practice nonverbal and wandless spells in this time."
If Severus was conscious enough to fully comprehend the meaning of everything that had spilled from Albus's mouth in the last five minutes, Molly would be very surprised. But he nodded and said "yes Headmaster," and Albus looked please. He swept out of the room, beckoning Molly to come with him, and they moved the spare bed Sirius and Tonks had made up into Remus's room before Albus departed. At the door he stopped to clean the blood from the steps with his wand. Then he turned to Molly and said "if his bleeding picks up pace or he shows no improvement within three days, notify me. Tell Remus that too. Poppy can always be called if you are both busy and have no one to attend to him. I am sure Sirius will not be of much help to you with this, and for that I am sorry. I can ask him to grow up, but cannot force him to do so. Good luck."
With that he took his leave, and Molly proceeded to the basement to find Remus levitating Severus upstairs and Sirius and Tonks cleaning up the table. By the time they got him up to the room he was asleep; Molly checked just to be sure he was not unconscious. Neither she nor Remus was brave enough to try to change Severus into more comfortable clothes, so they just laid him on the bed and covered him with a blanket.
Before Molly went to bed she stood in the doorway with Remus, watching the formidable wizard sleeping. "I know Severus hates me," he said softly to her, "but his bravery and fortitude are far beyond anything I have ever, or could ever display. You know he had to have walked out of that meeting with his head held high." Molly grinned. "If only we could have seen him, Remus. It must have been quite a sight." "Undoubtedly," he said, his eyes luminous in the half light. "Good night, Molly. Thank you for all of your assistance tonight; you never blinked once."
Indeed, she thought, as she climbed the stairs, she hadn't; but then, some people were blinkers, and others just weren't. That seemed to be the way the world worked.