Chapter One
Who found him on the outskirts of Hogwarts was unknown to him. It must have been a student, though for as soon as he was placed in a seat in the Great Hall, the person was asked to go back to their Dormitory. Albus had been waiting up for him obviously. The old wizard always did.
He was quite aware of a sticky substance down the front of his mouth. Lifting a hand and wiping his mouth with it, he was surprised to see blood there. When he went to lick his lips to confirm the fact that it was blood, he suddenly realised what had happened.
He clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening with the sudden realisation. He then promptly threw up what little food he had eaten and the blood he must have swallowed.
"Severus, are you ok?" Albus asked, seeing the younger wizard empty his stomach onto the Great Hall's floor.
Severus thought that was the most stupid question anybody could have asked. Shaking his head no, he hoped to God that Albus would wait till morning before wanting to speak to him. He desperately needed to think. Alone. He needed to be alone for a while.
Before the thought of parchment to write down what he was thinking came to his mind, Albus was leading him to the Hospital Wing. Still in too much shock to protest, he followed obediently behind the Headmaster.
When they reached their destination, he immediately went and sat on the bed closest to him and stared at Albus as he bought the Mediwitch to him. Poppy tutted at him for always putting himself in danger before whipping out her wand and scanned his body for injuries and curses.
When her test results came back that there was nothing wrong with him except for the obvious shock, she was quite surprised. It was obvious he had been bleeding as the viscous red substance was all over the front of his face. She realised she had left his head out of her scan.
As she did another scan, this time just on his head, she was even more surprised to see the same results. Nothing was apparently physically wrong with him. Severus groaned and bowed his head. Voldemort must have sealed the wound himself. There was no possible way, not with magic or Muggle means to all he knew that could get him back what he had lost.
"Severus?" Albus called. It was simple for the man in question to know what the old wizard wanted him to say. Severus didn't want to open his mouth though. If he did, they would all know what was wrong with him. Before anyone found out, he needed to think and get things back into focus. Even if it was just for five minutes, he needed to be alone.
Shaking his head slowly, he laid down on the bed he was sitting on and buried his head in the pillow. He hoped that this would be enough for them to go away, but it was apparently having the opposite affect. If anything, it made things worse.
"Severus, please tell us what is wrong. We cannot help you if you won't speak to us."
Severus lifted his mouth away from the pillow and mumbled something about his tongue hurting. He was immediately shocked when instead of the crisp, angry words he was trying to say, all he heard was a jumbled mess that didn't sound anything like words.
He clamped his hand over his mouth again and realised he was shaking. He couldn't talk! He could barely make a comprehensible syllable come out of his mouth. The only thing he could clearly think of at that moment was that he couldn't tell Dumbledore about what he had heard at the Death Eater meeting.
He sat with his head buried in the pillow, whimpering to himself for a whole five minutes before Pomfrey realised he wasn't going to open his mouth again. She slipped away and came back with a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of black ink. He pounced on them fast. He might not be able to speak about what he had heard, but he surely could write it down.
Unfortunately, his brain wasn't working and what he scribbled down instead was 'I can't talk!!' he underlined it three times, before throwing the parchment back to Poppy. He snarled at the woman before throwing himself back on to the bed, burying his head again, refusing to look at anyone.
He had the most powerful urge to do what he had always done in situations like this. He wanted to yell and scream at Albus and Poppy, for no other reason than for them being in the same room with him. He felt like this so strongly, he had to bite into the pillow not to scream out his rage. He knew if he did, he would be in big trouble.
His whole body tensed as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew it would be Dumbledore without even looking. He was the only one that would be stupid enough to touch him when he was feeling like this.
"What do you mean by you can't talk?" he asked lightly. Severus growled, whirled around so he was facing everyone and snatched at the parchment. Picking up the discarded quill, he angrily scratched out exactly the reason why. 'The bastard took my tongue!!' He threw it back at them again, feeling like he was about to explode in anger.
He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, before they had read about the "news" he had just given them. He ran all the way back to his rooms in the Dungeons. He slammed his door closed, lying against it for support, before he suddenly snapped.
He went absolutely berserk. By the time he collapsed on his bed and fell into an exhausted sleep, the only thing in his rooms that wasn't completely ruined was his bed.
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Being the Gryffindor prefect, Hermione had special privileges others didn't have. One of them was that she occasionally ran errands for Professor McGonagall. This particular request meant a rather long walk into Hogsmeade to get some supplies the Professor needed. She loved the quiet of the night, though and found the gentle breeze refreshing.
When she had seen three people wearing the masks and robes of Death Eaters pop up not far away, she quickly hid behind a tree. She watched as two took off the mask of the other one and Disapparated. Frightened, she slowly walked up to the figure on the ground. Before she had reached the prone form, she realised who it was.
She gasped, ran over to Professor Snape and checked him for injuries when she saw blood. Not seeing anything, she picked him up as best she could and began to drag him up to the castle. She knew he was a spy and was glad that she knew for the first time since that night Harry had told them about what he had seen in the Headmasters pensieve.
If she hadn't known, she would have left him on the ground and called him a Death Eater. Even though it would have been rather irrational, she was Muggleborn and would be one of the first the Death Eaters would come after.
By the time she got him up to the castle, she was sore, tired and the shops would have closed. Reaching the Great Hall, she put the still man in a chair, watching as he watched her, but his eyes didn't recognise her. Shivering in sudden fright, she moved away to get Dumbledore, who was at his own chair.
The old wizard stood and stared at the two of them. "Thank you Hermione for bringing Professor Snape back."
She nodded, trying to get her breath back. "Two Death Eaters dropped him, just left him there. I didn't know what else to do." She announced when she could speak again.
"Thank you. Now would you mind not mentioning this to anybody and go back to your Dormitory." Hermione nodded. She knew that wasn't a question.
Making her way up to the Gryffindor tower, she had plenty of time to think about what could be wrong with the Potions master. After muttering the password to the Fat Lady, she managed to stumble her way into her room and her warm bed. She thought she would have no trouble sleeping, but her Professor's face kept on looking at her without recognition.
She hardly slept at all, even though she was exhausted.
A/N - so what di dyou think of that? I di din two different POV's. Hehe, it was fun to write too. Really like to torture poor old Severus don't I? Oh well.
Piri, you were right in thinking his dear lover will be Remus, so this story will be slash, though maybe not as graphic as in your stories. Hermione does play a more critical role in his life though, before he shows up in the picture.
Thanks for the names Joey. I chose this one as it made the most sense with the rest of the story. I would like to hear more about that Japanese tale. It sounds interesting.
Thanks to all my other reviewers. Claudia (me and morbid, lol), Hjordis (hi! Waiting impatiently for part 9) and Quaxo sorry but he doesn't get his tongue back. Though that would be a good title if he did and I would have used it otherwise.
Who found him on the outskirts of Hogwarts was unknown to him. It must have been a student, though for as soon as he was placed in a seat in the Great Hall, the person was asked to go back to their Dormitory. Albus had been waiting up for him obviously. The old wizard always did.
He was quite aware of a sticky substance down the front of his mouth. Lifting a hand and wiping his mouth with it, he was surprised to see blood there. When he went to lick his lips to confirm the fact that it was blood, he suddenly realised what had happened.
He clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening with the sudden realisation. He then promptly threw up what little food he had eaten and the blood he must have swallowed.
"Severus, are you ok?" Albus asked, seeing the younger wizard empty his stomach onto the Great Hall's floor.
Severus thought that was the most stupid question anybody could have asked. Shaking his head no, he hoped to God that Albus would wait till morning before wanting to speak to him. He desperately needed to think. Alone. He needed to be alone for a while.
Before the thought of parchment to write down what he was thinking came to his mind, Albus was leading him to the Hospital Wing. Still in too much shock to protest, he followed obediently behind the Headmaster.
When they reached their destination, he immediately went and sat on the bed closest to him and stared at Albus as he bought the Mediwitch to him. Poppy tutted at him for always putting himself in danger before whipping out her wand and scanned his body for injuries and curses.
When her test results came back that there was nothing wrong with him except for the obvious shock, she was quite surprised. It was obvious he had been bleeding as the viscous red substance was all over the front of his face. She realised she had left his head out of her scan.
As she did another scan, this time just on his head, she was even more surprised to see the same results. Nothing was apparently physically wrong with him. Severus groaned and bowed his head. Voldemort must have sealed the wound himself. There was no possible way, not with magic or Muggle means to all he knew that could get him back what he had lost.
"Severus?" Albus called. It was simple for the man in question to know what the old wizard wanted him to say. Severus didn't want to open his mouth though. If he did, they would all know what was wrong with him. Before anyone found out, he needed to think and get things back into focus. Even if it was just for five minutes, he needed to be alone.
Shaking his head slowly, he laid down on the bed he was sitting on and buried his head in the pillow. He hoped that this would be enough for them to go away, but it was apparently having the opposite affect. If anything, it made things worse.
"Severus, please tell us what is wrong. We cannot help you if you won't speak to us."
Severus lifted his mouth away from the pillow and mumbled something about his tongue hurting. He was immediately shocked when instead of the crisp, angry words he was trying to say, all he heard was a jumbled mess that didn't sound anything like words.
He clamped his hand over his mouth again and realised he was shaking. He couldn't talk! He could barely make a comprehensible syllable come out of his mouth. The only thing he could clearly think of at that moment was that he couldn't tell Dumbledore about what he had heard at the Death Eater meeting.
He sat with his head buried in the pillow, whimpering to himself for a whole five minutes before Pomfrey realised he wasn't going to open his mouth again. She slipped away and came back with a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of black ink. He pounced on them fast. He might not be able to speak about what he had heard, but he surely could write it down.
Unfortunately, his brain wasn't working and what he scribbled down instead was 'I can't talk!!' he underlined it three times, before throwing the parchment back to Poppy. He snarled at the woman before throwing himself back on to the bed, burying his head again, refusing to look at anyone.
He had the most powerful urge to do what he had always done in situations like this. He wanted to yell and scream at Albus and Poppy, for no other reason than for them being in the same room with him. He felt like this so strongly, he had to bite into the pillow not to scream out his rage. He knew if he did, he would be in big trouble.
His whole body tensed as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew it would be Dumbledore without even looking. He was the only one that would be stupid enough to touch him when he was feeling like this.
"What do you mean by you can't talk?" he asked lightly. Severus growled, whirled around so he was facing everyone and snatched at the parchment. Picking up the discarded quill, he angrily scratched out exactly the reason why. 'The bastard took my tongue!!' He threw it back at them again, feeling like he was about to explode in anger.
He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, before they had read about the "news" he had just given them. He ran all the way back to his rooms in the Dungeons. He slammed his door closed, lying against it for support, before he suddenly snapped.
He went absolutely berserk. By the time he collapsed on his bed and fell into an exhausted sleep, the only thing in his rooms that wasn't completely ruined was his bed.
-------------------------------------
Being the Gryffindor prefect, Hermione had special privileges others didn't have. One of them was that she occasionally ran errands for Professor McGonagall. This particular request meant a rather long walk into Hogsmeade to get some supplies the Professor needed. She loved the quiet of the night, though and found the gentle breeze refreshing.
When she had seen three people wearing the masks and robes of Death Eaters pop up not far away, she quickly hid behind a tree. She watched as two took off the mask of the other one and Disapparated. Frightened, she slowly walked up to the figure on the ground. Before she had reached the prone form, she realised who it was.
She gasped, ran over to Professor Snape and checked him for injuries when she saw blood. Not seeing anything, she picked him up as best she could and began to drag him up to the castle. She knew he was a spy and was glad that she knew for the first time since that night Harry had told them about what he had seen in the Headmasters pensieve.
If she hadn't known, she would have left him on the ground and called him a Death Eater. Even though it would have been rather irrational, she was Muggleborn and would be one of the first the Death Eaters would come after.
By the time she got him up to the castle, she was sore, tired and the shops would have closed. Reaching the Great Hall, she put the still man in a chair, watching as he watched her, but his eyes didn't recognise her. Shivering in sudden fright, she moved away to get Dumbledore, who was at his own chair.
The old wizard stood and stared at the two of them. "Thank you Hermione for bringing Professor Snape back."
She nodded, trying to get her breath back. "Two Death Eaters dropped him, just left him there. I didn't know what else to do." She announced when she could speak again.
"Thank you. Now would you mind not mentioning this to anybody and go back to your Dormitory." Hermione nodded. She knew that wasn't a question.
Making her way up to the Gryffindor tower, she had plenty of time to think about what could be wrong with the Potions master. After muttering the password to the Fat Lady, she managed to stumble her way into her room and her warm bed. She thought she would have no trouble sleeping, but her Professor's face kept on looking at her without recognition.
She hardly slept at all, even though she was exhausted.
A/N - so what di dyou think of that? I di din two different POV's. Hehe, it was fun to write too. Really like to torture poor old Severus don't I? Oh well.
Piri, you were right in thinking his dear lover will be Remus, so this story will be slash, though maybe not as graphic as in your stories. Hermione does play a more critical role in his life though, before he shows up in the picture.
Thanks for the names Joey. I chose this one as it made the most sense with the rest of the story. I would like to hear more about that Japanese tale. It sounds interesting.
Thanks to all my other reviewers. Claudia (me and morbid, lol), Hjordis (hi! Waiting impatiently for part 9) and Quaxo sorry but he doesn't get his tongue back. Though that would be a good title if he did and I would have used it otherwise.