Hello all! I'm back to regale you with more of this exciting story. At least I hope it is exciting.
Once again, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed. It honestly gives me the needed pick me up after every long week.
A few of you sent me humorous messages full of support and much fist shaking "Don't let him die!" exclamations. Never fear, my faithful viewers, I would never kill someone in such an early stage of the story.
...Did that sound ominous? I get the feeling that sounded ominous and that wasn't my intention.
Anyway, onward!
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter Eight: Hospitable Encounters
When Severus awoke, he couldn't feel anything below his head. It was a truly odd and unsettling sensation. Albeit for the slightest prickling around his neck—that came and went at random—he felt essentially like a floating head. He couldn't feel his toes, he couldn't find his fingers. He was lying down, so he must be on some form of bedding, but for the life of him, he couldn't feel what was below him so he just sort of…floated there. A head without a body.
Another prickling hot sting emanated from his neck and he groaned.
"Sev?" a feminine voice called softly. It sounded familiar. Familiar, but worried.
"Sev?" the voice called again, "Sev, can you hear me?"
Severus wanted to nod, but he couldn't find the muscles required to do so. He wanted to speak but his throat felt like sandpaper and his tongue dry as parchment. He settled for another groan, stronger this time.
He desperately wanted to open his eyes, but his lids refused to cooperate with him. He managed to clench his eyes tightly, and then relax them, then clench them again, but when he tried to open his eyes, he only managed to do so the tiniest amount, just a sliver of daylight slipping passed his stubborn lids to pierce the darkness he was in.
"He's awake! Mum, he-he's awake!" the familiar voice cried frantically, "Oh Sev!"
There was a rustling of sheets near him, the sound of fabric being mussed. Whatever he was on shook just a bit.
"Careful dear," another voice warned. It was gentle, maternal, "You don't want to jostle him."
"Right, mum. Sorry" the first voice said, chagrined.
Snape wanted to assure that voice that he didn't mind at all, but the ability to talk still evaded him. For some reason, he wanted that voice happy again; he didn't like hearing the hurt lingering there.
"I'll go get a healer," the second voice said. Footsteps echoed across the room and then faded out of earshot.
"Sev," the first voiced spoke again. It was getting a little easier to place that voice. In fact, he was even beginning to form a face to fit it. Something with red…? "Severus, it's me. It's Lily. Can you open your eyes for me?"
As though controlled by some force or emotion hidden deep inside himself, Severus fought with all his being to obey that request. Grunting at the sharp light that greeted him, Severus pried his eyes open, setting his gaze blearily on a red blur sitting next to him.
A few second passed and slowly, Lily came into focus.
Her hair was mussed and stringy, her eyes red and puffy from crying. Circles under her eyes told a tale of days lost without sleep, tear tracks streaked across her cheeks.
"Hi," Lily said softly. Her voice was weak and when she spoke again, it cracked slightly, "How are you feeling?"
"I—" Severus broke off into a fit of coughs before he could utter another word.
"Oh! Here, let me help," Lily held a glass out to him, one hand reaching behind Severus to lift him towards the cup, "Little sips."
Normally Severus would be mortified being treated like a weak invalid, but considering he pretty much was one now, he swallowed his pride and brought his lips to the cup. Trying not to focus much on Lily's presence so close to him—her skin radiated heat from beneath her shirt as she leaned over him—he took slow, languid sips, the taste of water a godsend on his tongue.
When he was set back down against what he now realized were pillows, Severus tried again, "I don't feel much of anything right now," he admitted honestly.
Lily laughed; a choked, relieved little giggle that brought a smile to Severus' face.
"I don't suppose you would," Lily said, "Not with the potions they have you on."
"Where…?" Severus' gaze wandered around the room. White walls looked back at him, the ceiling a mottled creamy plaster overhead. Several portraits of pastel colored flower fields covered the walls, each enchanted to sway invitingly with imaginary wind. The wall nearest to him had a poster on it that read "Has your child been checked for Dragon Pox? Spot the signs early" with a healer wagging her finger in admonishment.
"We're at St. Mungos," Lily offered knowingly, "You've been here for four days."
She gestured to the far side of the room where two chairs sat with jackets draped over them and several take-out containers littered a small table in a disorganized mess. There were several pages of newspaper sticking off the edge of the table and a pair of reading glasses hung precariously from the ledge.
"My family has been here ever since the ministry alerted them," Lily told Severus.
"Your family," Severus began confusedly, "Alerted them…I don't understand. Alerted them to what? What happened?"
"A nicked Carotid artery," answered a woman with salt and pepper hair, walking into the room with a clipboard in hand. On her robes was a nametag reading "Healer Parish".
Behind her, an auburn haired woman with kind hazel eyes peeked into the room, her eyes lightly up when they landed on Severus, "So good to see you awake, Severus dear." The smile she gave him was dazzling, chasing away the worn and weary lines of her face that must have formed in the last few days of worry and doubt.
"Hello, Mrs. Evans," Severus greeted awkwardly. Lily's parent's had always been an enigma to him; rarely did anyone, apart from Lily, act so genuinely happy to see him. Most of the muggles in Lily's neighborhood looked down on the dirty boy from Spinner's End who came round in worn sneakers and mismatched clothing, but Lily's parents always welcomed him in with a friendly smile and an offering of a home cooked meal. Of course, with Lily's sister constantly around, the number of times he had visited the Evans' home could be counted on one hand, but each time they treated him kindly, chattering about how Lily's letter's home told them all about him.
At Severus' greeting, Mrs. Evans smile was near blinding, "Oh, sweetie, call me Willow," she insisted.
"Yes, Ma'am," Severus replied.
Willow chuckled, bemused.
The stout, broad shouldered form of Mr. Evans chose that moment to poke into the room.
"Is he up?" Mr. Evans asked. Eyes falling on Severus, he grinned in relief, white teeth peeking out beneath a bushy, graying mustache, "He is! How are you, my boy?"
Severus managed a curt nod, trying to sit up straight in bed, "Fine, Sir," he answered respectfully.
Mr. Evans laughed as he marched into the room, "None of that now, call me Hank."
Petunia trailed awkwardly behind her father, glancing around the room suspiciously as though anything might leap out and bite her at any minute.
"Glad to have you back, Severus," Mr. Evans said, patting the injured boy lightly on the shoulder.
"…Thank you, sir" Severus said warily. Something was definitely odd here. Yes the Evans had always been kind to him, but it seemed to be born more out of pity for his sorry life; as evident by the number of times they 'just happened' to have a spare set of brand new pants or shoes that conveniently didn't fit them but fit him perfectly. They felt bad for his circumstances and so they always treated him gently. But today they were looking at him as if the sun shone out of his arse.
Healer Parish cleared her throat, "If we're all settled, I believe someone would like some answers," she said primly. Turning to Severus, she gave him a polite nod.
"Now, Mr. Snape, as I was saying, you suffered damage to your Carotid artery," Parish turned her clipboard towards Severus, tapping a diagram of the human head and neck. A touch of her finger and the illustration sprang to life, black ink smearing across the neck in a gruesome gash, "Nasty business that is. Now the damage was mostly to the external tissue—it barely penetrated past the muscle—but even the tiniest prick of the artery and all that blood pressure underneath makes it just spurt like a geysers," Parish waved her hand in pantomime of an explosion, oblivious to the horrified and green looking expressions on Petunia and Willow's faces respectively.
"If you were a muggle, you would have died, Sev," Lily said quietly. She shakenly gripped Severus' hand tightly between both of her own and though he couldn't feel it, Severus basked in her attention.
Parish nodded, "That's right. For all the gadgets and medicine Muggles have, they can't stem blood flow from such a severe injury unless they can get the patient to a facility quickly. Without blood to replace what's being lost, the sudden drop in blood pressure is too much for the body; a muggle would bleed out in under a minute from such a wound. You need blood replenishers—and lots of them. And if you don't close the wound, it's all over."
"But we were on the train," Severus trailed off, everything coming back to him, "How could you close the wound it was…" he sat up with a gasp, body moving on muscle memory alone, "It was Avery! He used—" 'He used my own spell against me.' Severus thought in dawning horror.
"Sev, careful!" Lily cried, pushing him back down.
Parish tutted, "Easy now, Mr. Snape. You wouldn't want to open that cut back up, would you?" She transfigured his empty water glass into a mirror and held it out for him to see, "We're still waiting for the skin to fully fuse itself back together."
Severus peered into the mirror with trepidation, unsure what he would see. A strip of bandaging wrapped around his neck, several strips of gauze peeking out from beneath the cheesecloth. There were smears of jade green salve around the gauze, a garish sight against the paleness of his complexion.
"It would seem one of your classmates tried to kill you," Parish said bluntly, "Or at the very least, maim you severely. I'll admit the spell used was foreign territory to me and my team. If it wasn't for your friends, you probably wouldn't be here right now."
Severus shook his head, "I don't understand. How could you close the wound? That spell is…" he looked at Lily, "What happened."
Lily's eyes glistened. She brought Severus hand up to her face and nuzzled it, as if to assure herself he was really there.
"When Avery hexed you," she croaked, her voice tight with emotion, "I didn't know what to do…"
(page break)
Lily leaned over Severus' prone form, her fingers clenched in his shirt, "Wake up, Severus. Please wake up."
"Here," Mary thrust her arm forward, another bottle of blood replenisher in her hand, "He needs more."
"Tilt his head back, Lily," Remus instructed, "Pour it down his throat and massage his neck just under the adam's apple—but careful of the wound."
Lily did as she was told, her hands lightly tipping Snape's head back and pouring the potion into his mouth. She rubbed careful at his neck, willing him to swallow, quivering with fear and revulsion as her blood covered hands left smears across her friend's pale skin.
Remus nodded encouragingly, "Good. Now put your hands here," he lifted his hands from the wound and quickly stuffed his scarf into Lily's hands before guiding her to cover Snape's neck, "Keep applying pressure."
Lily followed mindlessly, her eyes transfixed on the blood still bubbling up between her fingers.
The train stuttered to a halt, jostling the group huddled on the floor.
"James must have gotten the Conductor to stop the train," Peter observed.
Remus drew his wand, "I'm going to try and close the wound. It won't last long, but it will buy us time."
Lily nodded, "Just do it."
Remus waved his wand, reciting a spell he recalled all too well from Pomfrey all those mornings he spent after a transformation. It should have mended most wounds and he had acquired quite a number of them over the years. Having seen Pomfrey do it so many times, he practically knew the wand work for it by heart.
However, this time it had no effect.
Remus frowned, waving his wand again. Still, blood seeped through the now soaked scarf and coated Lily's fingers.
"Something's wrong," he muttered, "I can't close it."
"What do you mean, you can't close it?" Mary cried, taking it upon herself to give Snape her remaining blood replenisher, "he's bleeding out and you can't close it?"
"It's different than other cuts," Remus protested, "I don't know what's wrong with this one but it won't close with spells."
"Well think of something quick, because I'm out of potion," Mary yelled.
"The conductor sent word to Hogwarts," James cried, running back down the corridor.
"He's calling the Aurors too," James went on when he got to them, falling forward to brace his hands on his knees, panting heavily, "And some healers."
"We need more blood replenishers," Remus told James, "We're all out."
"Does anyone else have one?" Peter asked nervously, eyes scanning the growing crowd.
"Dunno," James replied. He turned to the crowd, "Oi! Unless one of you has a blood replenisher on you, get back in your compartments or help us! You're blocking the hall and healers will be coming soon."
Several students fled back into their train compartments, frantically searching for any potions they may have smuggled in their suitcases.
"Sev would have some," Lily said quietly, her voice hoarse from screaming.
"What?" Remus asked.
"The potion," Lily elaborated, "He's got loads of them, always had. He'd know what to do…"
Remus frowned, "Lily, Snape's the one unconscious. We can't ask him for help."
"Sev would know what to do," Lilly repeatedly hollowly, "He knows this spell; he'd know what to do."
"Lily," Remus reached out and grabbed Lily's shoulders, trying to look her in the eyes, "Lily, did Snape ever tell you the counterspell? Lily?" he gave her a shake, fingers digging into the robe she wore; Sev's robe. "Lily!"
"It's in his trunk," Lily whimpered, "it would be with his books. He writes everything down."
James whipped his wand out, "Accio Snape's trunk!"
Nothing happened.
"Accio Snape's—"
"James there's no way Snape would allow his trunk to be so easily summoned," Remus yelled over James, "It's got to be warded."
"Accio—"
"Accio, Severus' trunk!" Lily cried.
She honestly hadn't expected it to work. In all the panic and desperation, she had simply acted in order to have something to do. She felt so helpless and was frankly about ready to try anything.
Shattering glass was heard from farther down the train, followed by a canopy of screams. The noise grew louder as more voices of confusion and bewilderment filled the train. Suddenly, a very worn and scraped trunk burst through the nearest window, showering the group in a rain of glass and sending the remaining onlookers scurrying frantically back into their compartments.
Remus stared, mystified, "That shouldn't have worked…"
Sirius burst into the train car, his eyes wild, "You guys won't believe it! Someone's trunk just shot out of a compartment and right out the window!" he took in the scene before him, his eyes on the growing pool of blood, "Bloody hell! Just how bad is it?! I didn't even know a person had that much blood in them."
"Not helping, Sirius," Remus reprimanded. He held out his hand for the potion Sirius had returned with, pouring it into Snape's mouth.
Lily was stunned, her eyes resting on the trunk that landed a mere few inches away from her. As if drawn to it, Lily reached for the trunk.
Click!
The second Lily's fingers had even grazed the lid; the lock popped open and fell to the floor with a dull thud.
"How did you do that?" Mary asked in amazement.
Lily stared on in astonishment, "I-I don't know…I…"
"No time for that," Remus cut in, "Lily, what are we looking for?"
"Oh," Lily gasped, her hands going back to join Mary's on Snape's neck, "Right. Um…his potions book! That should have it. It's where all his other spells are."
Remus dove into the trunk, shoving old clothes and ratty sneakers out of the way, sorting through stacks of notes and hand-me-down books that had seen better days. After some searching, he pulled out a weathered, green book, the spine of it worn away so there was no title on the side, "Here it is! What is the spell called?"
"It was Sepra-something," Mary tried to recall, "Sepra...Secta..."
"Sectumsempra," Lily said, her eyes on Severus. Severus' breath was growing shallower by the second and it terrified her.
"Found it," Remus exclaimed, he examined the familiar cramped handwriting, noticing with a frown the added 'For enemies' in the margin. 'He probably wasn't expecting friendly fire on such a level,' Remus thought. He flipped a few more pages before pausing. Maybe Snape did plan for that.
"I've got something," Remus called out, "It looks like some sort of counter-curse."
"That must be it," Lily replied, craning her neck to look at the page.
Remus put the book on the ground between them, picking up his wand, "We need to make sure we get this right," he began. Pointing his wand at Snape's neck, he started reciting the counter-curse. It was melodic in a way, almost a song. When he finished the spell, he lowered his wand, gesturing for Lily and Mary to moved their hands away from the wound.
Lily pulled back the ruined scarf. The wound had shrunk the tiniest amount, but had not closed, "It didn't work!"
Remus shook his head, baffled, "I don't understand, 'Vulnera Sanentur' means 'healed wounds', it should be the right spell. Did I say it wrong?" He repeated the spell again.
"Look," Mary pointed at Snape's neck.
The wound had closed a fraction of an inch that time.
"It must be a chant," Lily cried, grabbing her wand, "Let's do it again."
Together the pair repeated the chant over and over again, their voices intermingling in a somber song of Ancient Latin.
Slowly but surely, the gash on Snape's neck shrunk smaller and smaller until it was a mere seam of fused skin across his throat.
"We did it," Lily wept openly, hands falling to Severus' face, uncaring of the dried blood on her hands, "Sev, hang in there, please. You're going to be okay," she whispered, her forehead pressed to his.
Loud cracks were heard just outside the train.
"They're here," Remus breathed, slumping against the wall in relief.
The train car's door opened and several wizards poured onto the scene, wands drawn and shouting orders...
Lily ended her tale with a watery smile, "And that's what happened. Our chanting was a little weak, I guess, so the skin didn't heal all the way, but we did what we could. If the others hadn't helped me, you could have..." she broke off, unable to finished that sentence.
"You're very fortunate to be alive, Mr. Snape," Parish added, looking over her notes.
Severus nodded absently, dumbfounded.
Lily squeezed Severus' hand, "Sev?...why did your trunk open for me?"
Snape blink, "I didn't ward it against you," he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I trust you."
Lily grinned, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Carefully she leaned forward and enveloped Severus in her arms, "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered.
Snape froze, stunned. Lily had always been an affectionate friend, he had never truly been comfortable with hugs, unused to them. Over time, her touch came less and less, just as Snape began to mature and crave it.
Severus wished he could move his arms to hold her back, but his body was numb dead weight. Instead he settled for tucking his head into the crook of her neck, relishing in the scent of her hair. Even unwashed it smelled like fresh air and apples.
"What happened to Avery and Mulciber?" Severus asked after a minute.
Lily pulled back—Severus was saddened by the loss of contact—and her smile grew broader.
"The Aurors caught them trying to apparate from the train," she explained, "Mulciber couldn't even get himself to move an inch and Avery splinched himself, making it only three feet."
"So they've been arrested?" Snape asked.
Lily nodded, "No clue when they will stand trial, but they're locked away for now."
"As they should be!" Hank Evans exclaimed angrily, "After the things those boys did, I say they lock them up and throw away the key!"
"Which is why we really can't thank you enough, Severus," Willow added, coming over to clasp Severus hand within her own, "Thank you so much for protecting Lily," she pulled Severus into her arms, hugging him tightly.
"You have no idea how grateful we are," she whispered.
Severus glanced at Lily over Willow's shoulder. Her eyes were wet and bright, but there was a haunted look lingering just below the surface.
It all made sense now why the Evans were acting even friendlier than usual. The gratitude they felt for having someone saving their daughter must be enormous. Still, Severus couldn't help wonder just how much of the attack Lily had divulged to them.
Seeing Severus' questioning gaze, Lily shook her head and smiled sadly. It would seem what happened with Avery wasn't a subject she was ready to approach yet; not even with her parents.
Parish clearing her throat called everyone back to the topic at hand.
"So, I've put you on a steady supply of pain potion for the time being, Mr. Snape," the healer said, "A strong one too. You won't feel a thing from the neck down for the next few days. Until then, we'll be keeping you on a strong regimen of fluids; no solid foods."
She transfigured the mirror back into a glass and with a flick of her wand, it filled with water.
"Well, I best be off for now. There's still some details we'll need to go over later, but for now, just try and get some rest. One more thing; your parents have been contacted. You're mother informed us she would try and come see you if possible, but apparently she is dealing with some health problems at home." With a courteous nod to the Evans family, Healer Parish left.
'That doesn't surprise me,' Severus thought acidly, 'I doubt the bastard would let her leave.'
"Is there anything we can get for you, Severus," Willow asked kindly, fluffing Snape's pillow.
Severus tried to shrug before remembering he couldn't, "Not really..."
"Surely there must be something," Willow insisted, adjusting his blankets before reaching forward to lovingly smooth Severus' hair away from his face, "You haven't eaten in days, you must be positively famished. How does some nice soup sound?"
"I suppose I could eat," Severus admitted begrudgingly, "A little."
Willow smiled, "There, you see? I'm sure this place has a cafeteria or something. We'll go fetch you some soup."
"I know what his favorite is," Lily exclaimed, jumping up from her chair, "I'll get it for you, Severus."
"I could use a bite myself," Hank added, "Perhaps they have some sandwiches."
"We'll be right back, Sev," Lily called, leading her parents out the door.
Once they were gone, Severus slumped back against his bed, sinking comfortably into the pillows with a sigh. Though it had apparently been days since the confrontation on the train, for Snape it felt like everything had just happened, so much time he had missed. It was a lot to take in all at once.
"She's not telling us everything," came a soft voice from the far side of the room.
Severus turned his head ever so slightly, as much as he could managed, to see his remaining guest.
Petunia stood in the corner leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed. She had been so quiet all this time that honestly Snape had forgotten she was there.
"Lily," Petunia elaborated, "She said they tried to hurt her, but that's not the full story. The authorities gave us some idea while she was being checked over. So how bad was it?"
"If Lily hasn't said anything to you then it isn't my place to speak for her," Snape replied tersely.
"You don't need to, that way you're acting says it all," Petunia stated.
Severus had no response for that.
Petunia looked away, an unreadable expression on her face, "He was trying to...he was going to...she could have been—" she swallowed, turning to look back at Snape, "Tell me I'm wrong."
Severus said nothing.
"You stopped him," Petunia went on. It wasn't a question.
"I thrashed him," Snape said, his eyes hard.
Petunia got up and headed for the door.
"She's still my sister," she whispered quietly, pausing in the doorway. She gave Snape one final look, "Thank you."
It sounded like it killed her to say it, but still the gratitude was there.
There you have it folks, the arrival of Petunia!
It has always been my impression that Petunia never hated her sister, so much as all she represented: a magical experience Petunia could never have, praise for being special that Petunia would never receive, a reminder that Petunia would always be the exact opposite of her sister from looks to abilities. By the time she reached an adult, it was too late for her to fix the years of resentment she had built up. But I always felt that there was hope for her when she was young. This incident has provided Petunia with the reminder that Lily is still her sister and that even in her fantastical world of magic there are still dangerous and that life isn't as perfect for Lily as she thought.
I don't think it unreasonable to assume that the healers of St. Mungos would know medical terms for the body even when using magic instead of surgery to heal it. They would need to know what those parts are called even if they can fix them with a wave of their wand. Otherwise it would be like "Hand me a potion, so I can fix that...that gushy, stringy thing next to the heart."
SO this is another chapter down and once again, I encourage you to read and review. I greatly appreciate the feedback.