Second Chances





Chapter 05: I'm Alive?



Drifting in and out of consciousness with nearly no difference between dream and reality, time lost its meaning to him. The only steady component in his world of darkness and pain was Lily. She was always there, cooling his hot face when he seemed to burn inside out, warming him when the darkness froze him, chasing away the bad dreams with words of comfort, holding him, caring for him. He tried to tell her he was sorry, sorry for not having been able to protect her, sorry for failing her, but he didn't know whether he actually said it, or just dreamed about it.

Slowly, everything faded to darkness until he opened his eyes and the world returned to him. Unsure if he was still dreaming, he shut his eyes once more and opened them again, only to find himself to the same scene. The pain in his hand and his body was almost gone. He was comfortably warm and lying on something soft in what seemed to be a cave. A small fire was lit in the middle of it and the smell of some kind of food drifted over to him. It made his stomach growl with hunger. Funny. That hadn't happened in his dreams before. Then he either had to be alive, which was very unlikely, or...

He caught sight of a figure, sitting not far away from him next to the fire with her back leaned against the cave wall, seemingly asleep. As it was still a bit difficult to focus, it took him a moment to register what he saw. He gasped audibly. So she had been no dream.

"I must be dead. But this doesn't look like hell. Perhaps it's heaven?" he mused aloud without thinking.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you're quite alive, as am I, at least last time I checked." she said opening her eyes with a slightly amused smile playing around her lips.

He stared at her in disbelieve. "But that's impossible!"

"Well, if you so strongly insist on being dead I'm sure we could find a way to change your current condition." She frowned. "Though when I think about it, I would be very displeased if all my efforts to keep you alive turned out to be a waste. Nope, I fear you will have to cope with living."

He could only continue gawking at her open-mouthed.

She chuckled, a warm rich sound. "I wouldn't keep my mouth open for that long if I were you, this is an enchanted forest after all and you never know what flies by."

That brought him out of his daze and he snapped his mouth shut, just to open it again shortly after to call uncertainly: "Lily?"

The woman nodded, eying him questioningly. "That's my name, and I'm really curious how you knew it." She leaned forward, which brought her face into the light of the fire and let him get a better look at her. Brilliant emerald eyes dominated a finely crafted face framed by long , dark red hair that was pulled back into a single braid. Some locks had escaped from it and fell loosely around her beautiful features. She looked exactly like an older version of the woman he had last seen alive 16 years ago. Heartbreakingly so, in fact. Then it hit him.

"You don't remember me?"

"Remember you?" She frowned again. "I'm pretty sure I've never met you before. But perhaps telling me your name would help?"

Wondering what he'd once again gotten himself into and still struggling with his emotions, he responded: "Severus. My name is Severus Snape."

She tilted her head to one side, as Lily always had when she had been doing some serious thinking. "Sorry, that rings no bell. Maybe I resemble someone you know?" Before he could answer she added: "Ah, but I neglect my duties. How are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"

Taken aback by the sudden change of subjects, he replied: "No, it is almost gone. I feel much better, thanks to you."

"That's good to hear." She rose gracefully and came over to him, kneeing beside him, and started examining his injured hand. Looking down on it, he noticed the flesh was no longer raw but nearly healed. "Could you please try to move the fingers -carefully?" she asked. He nodded and slowly flexed his fingers, and was relieved to feel nothing more than a slight strain where the new skin had yet to stretch. Lifting his eyes he saw her smiling, obviously satisfied with her handiwork. "Everything heals quite nicely, though we better give it another bit of assistance. I'll help you sit and then get you something to drink. You're more than a bit dehydrated."

Ignoring his feeble attempts at doing so alone, she helped him into a sitting position. He found himself weak as a newborn kitten and he hated it. The wave of dizziness that washed over him due to the long lying definitely didn't make it better. With anyone else than Lily it would've felt nearly unbearable. This way, it was only humiliating. He sighed angrily and watched Lily walk to the fire, where she poured something from a small cauldron into a cup. After she had filled a second cup from a pot that stood on one of the stones which formed the boundary of the fireplace, she returned to him.

Handing the first one to him, she said: "It may taste a little peculiar since I had to improvise to make it stronger, but it should be worth the unpleasantness. There's tea in the other cup to wash it down."

Holding back the question as to what 'it' was, he took the cup and inhaled the scent of the mixture, before he sipped at it. Trying to identify the ingredients, he kept it in his mouth for a moment before he swallowed. It didn't even taste bad, just peculiar, as she had told him. The effect was almost instantly. The last remainders of the pain in his body vanished and left new energy behind. He looked at her.

"That's a healing draught, but none of those I know of."

"As I just said, it's improvised and I also made a few alterations I found practical. Does it help?"

"It does. I feel better with every passing moment."

She cut in before he could ask her anything farther about the potion. "That's good, for unfortunately I don't know how much longer we're safe here. The sooner we get ready to leave, the better our chances may be to survive."



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A/N: No cliffie this time. Ah well, there's always a next chapter... *grin*
Who is the strange woman that saved Severus' life? Why did she help him? Where is he anyway? More soon...



Greetings,
Scheckie