Snape awoke the next day in the Hospital Wing alone and feeling like Hagrid
had bested him in a fist fight. He gingerly sat up and, finding a glass of
water on the nightstand, drank it in one gulp. He glanced around the room
and was grateful that no students were in residence that morning. But, he
was disheartened to confirm that Hermione was no where to be found. Looking
disdainfully at the Mark still burning black on his forearm, he allowed
himself a dark scowl.
'So much for wanting me in your life, Hermione,' he thought. 'The first sign of a problem and she runs away. Of course, this is one hell of a problem.'
Various possible reasons for his Mark burning swirled in his still-foggy mind alongside images of Hermione and their daughter alone and free of him and his evil life. He groaned and lay down on his stomach, burying his head in his arms. In a very un-Snapelike gesture, he pulled the pillow over his head and buried his face into the mattress.
That was how Hermione found him an hour later.
"Come, now, Severus," she cheerfully trilled. "Being in the Hospital Wing isn't all *that* bad."
She sat on the bed, snatched the pillow away and began pouring a light green potion into his now-empty water glass. He turned his head slightly and peeked up at her with one eye warily.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed.
She looked at him strangely for a moment, before gesturing for him to sit up. He complied, looking rather like a sullen child, she mused, grinning. 'I must be getting punchy from lack of sleep,' she decided. 'The situation is serious, but he looks damned adorable.' She shook off her mental wanderings and chalked them up to her hormones. Handing him the glass full of potion, she put on a straight face and said seriously:
"This should counteract the drive to apparate, if your Mark is activated again," she said, as he sniffed the unfamiliar potion. "It's a combination of a potion that counteracts the one used to assist witches having difficulty learning to apparate and a targeted sleeping draught to numb your arm. Harry and I spent most of last night testing variations of it."
Snape stopped mid-sip to look at Hermione questioningly. His quirked eyebrow plainly asked the question: 'Harry?'
"Just drink the damned potion, Severus," she snapped, tiredly. "I've been up for more than 24 hours, I'm nauseous, hungry as hell, exhausted and I would like to eat and go to bed at some point today -- so Harry, Ron and I can start looking for a charm or potion to remove the Mark as soon as possible."
Snape gulped the glass of potion, noticing she had added mint to the combination.
"It doesn't taste bad for an experimental potion," he said, smirking. "Thanks."
He set the glass down on the nightstand and carefully, cautiously, took her hands in his. He looked up at her, afraid of her reaction to the Death Eater's touch. He saw nothing out of the ordinary in her eyes - aside from worry and exhaustion. He reached up to smooth a few wild curls back from her face as she dipped to kiss him gently. Relief flooded him as she nestled against his chest.
"The mint wasn't for you," she admitted, ruefully. "The ingredients we were working with weren't toxic, but the fumes and smells were killing me. I spent more time last night in the loo with my porcelain friend that I did in the lab. I figured out early on how to blend spearmint leaves in with the wormwood in the variants of the sleeping draught portion, in order to survive the night."
She sighed and snuggled closer, swinging her feet onto his narrow bed and lying down fully. She raised her head to briefly brush his Adam's Apple with her lips then returned it to the comfort of his chest. Snape, for his part, was speechless at the lengths his pregnant wife had gone to in order to help him.
"Some Christmas, eh?" he said, rather stupidly.
"Well, Christmas Eve was good," she said. "Did I tell you how much I loved the box full of baby things, Severus? I can't even put into words how incredibly special --"
He stopped her with a brusque: "I'm glad."
She nodded, understanding the wound that had produced the contents of that box was still raw - may always be raw for him. She toyed nervously with the bedding before she spoke again.
"There has to be a way to remove the Dark Mark, Severus. He cannot have you. I won't let him," she said, stifling a yawn. "If it takes years, I will find a way to remove it. And we'll just have to treat the effects until we have a cure."
Snape sighed.
"I've tried it all, Hermione. Nothing short of cutting off my arm will free me from it. And I think I rather need both of my hands as a potions master and teacher," he said.
She sighed, in turn, but smiled slightly at his words, her fingers caressing his collarbone.
"Not to mention that I am rather fond of those hands, myself," she sleepily teased.
Snape smiled and silence fell as he began to soothingly stroke her hair.
"Severus?" came the mumbled question.
"Yes, love."
"You said you had tried everything - but you hadn't created a potion like the one we did last night, had you?" she murmured.
"No, I hadn't thought of treating the individual symptoms of the Mark, Hermione."
"Well, then, maybe since I have a different perspective -- perhaps I still have a chance at developing a cure."
"Perhaps you do, Angel."
The motion of her fingers on his neck and collarbone slowed and then stopped as she began to succumb to sleep. Softly, Snape whispered:
"Thank you for trying, Hermione. I love you."
And moments later, the sleeping draught portion of the potion kicked in and he slept.
'So much for wanting me in your life, Hermione,' he thought. 'The first sign of a problem and she runs away. Of course, this is one hell of a problem.'
Various possible reasons for his Mark burning swirled in his still-foggy mind alongside images of Hermione and their daughter alone and free of him and his evil life. He groaned and lay down on his stomach, burying his head in his arms. In a very un-Snapelike gesture, he pulled the pillow over his head and buried his face into the mattress.
That was how Hermione found him an hour later.
"Come, now, Severus," she cheerfully trilled. "Being in the Hospital Wing isn't all *that* bad."
She sat on the bed, snatched the pillow away and began pouring a light green potion into his now-empty water glass. He turned his head slightly and peeked up at her with one eye warily.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed.
She looked at him strangely for a moment, before gesturing for him to sit up. He complied, looking rather like a sullen child, she mused, grinning. 'I must be getting punchy from lack of sleep,' she decided. 'The situation is serious, but he looks damned adorable.' She shook off her mental wanderings and chalked them up to her hormones. Handing him the glass full of potion, she put on a straight face and said seriously:
"This should counteract the drive to apparate, if your Mark is activated again," she said, as he sniffed the unfamiliar potion. "It's a combination of a potion that counteracts the one used to assist witches having difficulty learning to apparate and a targeted sleeping draught to numb your arm. Harry and I spent most of last night testing variations of it."
Snape stopped mid-sip to look at Hermione questioningly. His quirked eyebrow plainly asked the question: 'Harry?'
"Just drink the damned potion, Severus," she snapped, tiredly. "I've been up for more than 24 hours, I'm nauseous, hungry as hell, exhausted and I would like to eat and go to bed at some point today -- so Harry, Ron and I can start looking for a charm or potion to remove the Mark as soon as possible."
Snape gulped the glass of potion, noticing she had added mint to the combination.
"It doesn't taste bad for an experimental potion," he said, smirking. "Thanks."
He set the glass down on the nightstand and carefully, cautiously, took her hands in his. He looked up at her, afraid of her reaction to the Death Eater's touch. He saw nothing out of the ordinary in her eyes - aside from worry and exhaustion. He reached up to smooth a few wild curls back from her face as she dipped to kiss him gently. Relief flooded him as she nestled against his chest.
"The mint wasn't for you," she admitted, ruefully. "The ingredients we were working with weren't toxic, but the fumes and smells were killing me. I spent more time last night in the loo with my porcelain friend that I did in the lab. I figured out early on how to blend spearmint leaves in with the wormwood in the variants of the sleeping draught portion, in order to survive the night."
She sighed and snuggled closer, swinging her feet onto his narrow bed and lying down fully. She raised her head to briefly brush his Adam's Apple with her lips then returned it to the comfort of his chest. Snape, for his part, was speechless at the lengths his pregnant wife had gone to in order to help him.
"Some Christmas, eh?" he said, rather stupidly.
"Well, Christmas Eve was good," she said. "Did I tell you how much I loved the box full of baby things, Severus? I can't even put into words how incredibly special --"
He stopped her with a brusque: "I'm glad."
She nodded, understanding the wound that had produced the contents of that box was still raw - may always be raw for him. She toyed nervously with the bedding before she spoke again.
"There has to be a way to remove the Dark Mark, Severus. He cannot have you. I won't let him," she said, stifling a yawn. "If it takes years, I will find a way to remove it. And we'll just have to treat the effects until we have a cure."
Snape sighed.
"I've tried it all, Hermione. Nothing short of cutting off my arm will free me from it. And I think I rather need both of my hands as a potions master and teacher," he said.
She sighed, in turn, but smiled slightly at his words, her fingers caressing his collarbone.
"Not to mention that I am rather fond of those hands, myself," she sleepily teased.
Snape smiled and silence fell as he began to soothingly stroke her hair.
"Severus?" came the mumbled question.
"Yes, love."
"You said you had tried everything - but you hadn't created a potion like the one we did last night, had you?" she murmured.
"No, I hadn't thought of treating the individual symptoms of the Mark, Hermione."
"Well, then, maybe since I have a different perspective -- perhaps I still have a chance at developing a cure."
"Perhaps you do, Angel."
The motion of her fingers on his neck and collarbone slowed and then stopped as she began to succumb to sleep. Softly, Snape whispered:
"Thank you for trying, Hermione. I love you."
And moments later, the sleeping draught portion of the potion kicked in and he slept.