A Beloved thank-you to all those who cared enough to take the time to
review. As my personal life falls apart, and the economy takes it's toll
on my business, this is one of the small pleasures in my life, and I am
always so happy to see that other people enjoy it too. I know I've left a
lot of you in a bind with my cliff-hanging, but this is worth the wait, I
believe. I'll try tot update soon... Run Draco, Run!!!!!!
The Possibility of Potions
25
The pain was dramatic. The first thing he was conscious of in those brief moments of lucidity, and totally overwhelming. Darkness enveloped him again; he cared not where he was, and thought something in the back of his mind swore never to touch Ogden's ever again..
The next thing he became aware of was the smell. It was horrible, stinging his nose and throat. Not quite able to put his mind onto what that smell was, exactly, trying to discern the various components which it was made of. Human bile was the first thing he completely recognized. Something else, possibly witch hazel.. Some kind of burning compound.. And then there were the smells that were WITHIN him, those worried him more.. There was no way of knowing what they were, but he could taste and feel eight, possibly NINE (was it possible?) unknowns in his system. How could that be, that a Potions Master couldn't discern the chemicals.. What the hell had happened? Where was he, and why through all this was he so tired that he couldn't bear to open his eyes, the effort seeming too much.. He just wanted to drift off again.. The pain just below his skull increased.
"Has there been any change, Nurse?"
"None worth mentioning, really. Occasional eyelid flutters, a facial twitch, but past that nothing.. I wonder if this one will make it. He should have come out of the anesthetic by now, but all that happened was the violent vomiting right after he came out of surgery, then nothing since."
"It's common with a head injury for the body to react like that. I'm not sure if this guy's going to make it through. The EMT's said they couldn't even figure out how he could be alive after what they had seen and the scene. It was pretty gruesome, the driver figured that the victim was dead, had bled to death. I wouldn't get too attached to this one if I were you.. He'll probably be brain-dead even if he does survive the first week. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Please have me paged if there is a change."
"Yes Doctor. Thank-you. Do you know how the girl is, perchance?"
"No, but I believe that she's in the pediatrics wing right now. It's a far cry from the ICU, where she would have been if this poor bloke hadn't saved her. I'll mark on his chart that if she wants to come and see him, it's allowed. She should be allowed to come and say good-bye to him, at least." With that, the dour white-coated man walked out of the room. Had Severus been conscious, this would have been one of the few Muggle sin the world he could have related to. He had missed the chance to find his Muggle kindred spirit.
The nurse went back over to the bed and adjusted the flow of medications into the IV, changed two of the bags and checked the line running into his left arm. Shuddering, she drew the sheet over the eerie tattoo on his arm. Strange, how he only had one tattoo... most of these weird guys were covered in them, yet he only had one that terrified her. IT seemed powerful, somehow, made her skin tingle with nerves. Shaking her head and sighing, she left the room.
"Well, that was a turn of good luck, wasn't it?" The chipper heavy-set nurse came waltzing into the room. Cassandra responded with a well-aimed scowl, and said nothing, drawing the covers up closer to her face, fiddling with her wand under the covers. Her whole body was screaming a warning at her, and she was so tense that her breath caught in her throat, and she felt close to suffocating.
The little nurse frowned, and then continued on "Your uncle is still alive, and it was nothing short of a miracle that your blood types matched. Virtually unheard of, it's even rare in direct family relations, let alone a situation such as this. I would have thought you would be pleased. Inside, Cassandra was greatly please to know that her protector and favorite professor was still alive, and so glad that she could have helped him. Yet she was feeling poorly enough that she chose not to respond to the nurse's chatter.
"The blood work showed that you had medication in your system when you came in, a compound we use for epilepsy. Is that correct? If so, we need to start you back on it right away.. You've been off it for three days now, that's really dangerous for you. Why didn't you tell us?" The brown haired lady stared at her hard. "It's nothing to be embarrassed of, you know that don't you?"
"Hmmfff" was the only reply Cassandra could muster. The light-headedness was driving her crazy, and she desperately wanted to get to see Snape. Everyone had told her that he was lucky, and nothing had changed. she wanted to see him, and know the truth about his condition, whether good or bad, and to go and warn him, or find a way to transport him to Hogwarts, which seemed his only real hope.. It was all her bloody fault they were in this mess after all, her and her bloody Muggle illness making them go to London. Her not bloody paying attention crossing the street, nearly getting him killed. But wait! It' might yet have gotten him killed, who was to say if he would survive this or not? The guilt in her gut was nearly killing her; it matched well with the pain in her head. She just wanted this annoying woman to leave her alone, and then she could sneak out and go find her "uncle".
"I'll be back in a moment, dear. I just need to go and get the new medication for you."
Ten minutes later the little nurse returned, but rather than bustling about, adjusting things and chatting while working, she stalked directly over to the bed, pulled out a syringe and injected its contents into the IV line. Cassandra drew in her breath as she felt the chemical enter her bloodstream. A momentary sting, then coldness. The nurse whipped another syringe out of her pocket and promptly injected that as well. She smirked down at Cassandra, who was having trouble concentrating, then turned on her heel and walked out of the small white room. She squinted her eyes hard as the room started shuddering, and a roaring filled her ears. Darkness began to swirl around her, and her last thought was of some potion that Potter and Granger had chatted about at one of their library meetings, a potion that allowed a wizard to take on another's form. Snape's warnings about blood and hair and such bodily possessions being precious also came back to her. Realizations poured down on her like a waterfall, in those last few moments of consciousness, and she spoke out with a quiet resignation before she succumbed to the darkness which was swallowing her whole.
"Father, forgive me."
The Possibility of Potions
25
The pain was dramatic. The first thing he was conscious of in those brief moments of lucidity, and totally overwhelming. Darkness enveloped him again; he cared not where he was, and thought something in the back of his mind swore never to touch Ogden's ever again..
The next thing he became aware of was the smell. It was horrible, stinging his nose and throat. Not quite able to put his mind onto what that smell was, exactly, trying to discern the various components which it was made of. Human bile was the first thing he completely recognized. Something else, possibly witch hazel.. Some kind of burning compound.. And then there were the smells that were WITHIN him, those worried him more.. There was no way of knowing what they were, but he could taste and feel eight, possibly NINE (was it possible?) unknowns in his system. How could that be, that a Potions Master couldn't discern the chemicals.. What the hell had happened? Where was he, and why through all this was he so tired that he couldn't bear to open his eyes, the effort seeming too much.. He just wanted to drift off again.. The pain just below his skull increased.
"Has there been any change, Nurse?"
"None worth mentioning, really. Occasional eyelid flutters, a facial twitch, but past that nothing.. I wonder if this one will make it. He should have come out of the anesthetic by now, but all that happened was the violent vomiting right after he came out of surgery, then nothing since."
"It's common with a head injury for the body to react like that. I'm not sure if this guy's going to make it through. The EMT's said they couldn't even figure out how he could be alive after what they had seen and the scene. It was pretty gruesome, the driver figured that the victim was dead, had bled to death. I wouldn't get too attached to this one if I were you.. He'll probably be brain-dead even if he does survive the first week. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Please have me paged if there is a change."
"Yes Doctor. Thank-you. Do you know how the girl is, perchance?"
"No, but I believe that she's in the pediatrics wing right now. It's a far cry from the ICU, where she would have been if this poor bloke hadn't saved her. I'll mark on his chart that if she wants to come and see him, it's allowed. She should be allowed to come and say good-bye to him, at least." With that, the dour white-coated man walked out of the room. Had Severus been conscious, this would have been one of the few Muggle sin the world he could have related to. He had missed the chance to find his Muggle kindred spirit.
The nurse went back over to the bed and adjusted the flow of medications into the IV, changed two of the bags and checked the line running into his left arm. Shuddering, she drew the sheet over the eerie tattoo on his arm. Strange, how he only had one tattoo... most of these weird guys were covered in them, yet he only had one that terrified her. IT seemed powerful, somehow, made her skin tingle with nerves. Shaking her head and sighing, she left the room.
"Well, that was a turn of good luck, wasn't it?" The chipper heavy-set nurse came waltzing into the room. Cassandra responded with a well-aimed scowl, and said nothing, drawing the covers up closer to her face, fiddling with her wand under the covers. Her whole body was screaming a warning at her, and she was so tense that her breath caught in her throat, and she felt close to suffocating.
The little nurse frowned, and then continued on "Your uncle is still alive, and it was nothing short of a miracle that your blood types matched. Virtually unheard of, it's even rare in direct family relations, let alone a situation such as this. I would have thought you would be pleased. Inside, Cassandra was greatly please to know that her protector and favorite professor was still alive, and so glad that she could have helped him. Yet she was feeling poorly enough that she chose not to respond to the nurse's chatter.
"The blood work showed that you had medication in your system when you came in, a compound we use for epilepsy. Is that correct? If so, we need to start you back on it right away.. You've been off it for three days now, that's really dangerous for you. Why didn't you tell us?" The brown haired lady stared at her hard. "It's nothing to be embarrassed of, you know that don't you?"
"Hmmfff" was the only reply Cassandra could muster. The light-headedness was driving her crazy, and she desperately wanted to get to see Snape. Everyone had told her that he was lucky, and nothing had changed. she wanted to see him, and know the truth about his condition, whether good or bad, and to go and warn him, or find a way to transport him to Hogwarts, which seemed his only real hope.. It was all her bloody fault they were in this mess after all, her and her bloody Muggle illness making them go to London. Her not bloody paying attention crossing the street, nearly getting him killed. But wait! It' might yet have gotten him killed, who was to say if he would survive this or not? The guilt in her gut was nearly killing her; it matched well with the pain in her head. She just wanted this annoying woman to leave her alone, and then she could sneak out and go find her "uncle".
"I'll be back in a moment, dear. I just need to go and get the new medication for you."
Ten minutes later the little nurse returned, but rather than bustling about, adjusting things and chatting while working, she stalked directly over to the bed, pulled out a syringe and injected its contents into the IV line. Cassandra drew in her breath as she felt the chemical enter her bloodstream. A momentary sting, then coldness. The nurse whipped another syringe out of her pocket and promptly injected that as well. She smirked down at Cassandra, who was having trouble concentrating, then turned on her heel and walked out of the small white room. She squinted her eyes hard as the room started shuddering, and a roaring filled her ears. Darkness began to swirl around her, and her last thought was of some potion that Potter and Granger had chatted about at one of their library meetings, a potion that allowed a wizard to take on another's form. Snape's warnings about blood and hair and such bodily possessions being precious also came back to her. Realizations poured down on her like a waterfall, in those last few moments of consciousness, and she spoke out with a quiet resignation before she succumbed to the darkness which was swallowing her whole.
"Father, forgive me."