Chapter 9 – More Poison
"Good evening, Headmaster," said Asphora LaChance. "Are these two young gentlemen with you?"
"They are, and good evening to you. You seem a bit jittery."
"We had a slight breakdown in our security to this ward earlier today. I thought another healer was covering it, and he thought I was covering it. One of Sev's classmates did manage to come in and see him. He's been very distant since. He was an older boy with long platinum hair. Handsome. Might you know him?"
"Lucius Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "Another member of Sev's House."
He did not share his misgivings with her (nor could Asphora read his mind; he was quite good at blocking out intruding thoughts), nor did he say anything negative about Malfoy in front of the boys.
"Well, why not come in? Sev's in the common room tonight."
All four – the healer, the headmaster, Remus Lupin, and James Potter -- headed into the large room. There were games and wizard's chessboards around. About twenty-five listless people sat around in various stages of dress, ranging from wizarding street clothes to pajamas. The boys noticed that they weren't really interacting with one another.
"They're nutters – why should they talk to one another?" James thought but did not say.
And there was Severus Snape, hidden away in a corner, sitting in a stuffed chair, hands stuffed under him. He had spent the late afternoon and early evening first enjoying a nap, then reliving some of the horrific memories he had buried concerning his father, which he definitely did not enjoy. To say that the boy was emotionally fragile would have been an understatement. On the outside, however, he presented a neutral face to the world. It was one of his best defense mechanisms.
"I will leave you gentlemen here," Asphora said. "I have an emergency admission, and must make sure Sib covers check-in for me." And with a nod of her head, she was off.
"Hello, Severus," said Albus Dumbledore, walking into the common room with the two students in tow.
"Headmaster!" Sev cried, standing up so quickly that he became dizzy and swayed alarmingly.
"Easy there!" the Headmaster cried, grabbing the boy's arms gently and steadying him.
"I'm so happy to see you!" Sev said, throwing his arms around the old wizard. "I waited all day!"
He helped Severus back over to his chair and sat him down. "And here I am," the kindly man said, returning Sev's hug. "And I've brought along two people who would like to apologize to you and try to make things right, if that can be done." James and Remus approached, almost shyly. Neither of them had ever been in a place remotely like this one, and both felt a bit intimidated by it all.
"Hello, Sev," said Remus.
"How are you doing, Sev?" said James.
Both boys approached. Dumbledore watched Severus closely and was alarmed to see the boy's face go white. The Headmaster put his hand on Snape's shoulder to read his physical state. His heart rate had jumped alarmingly and the adrenaline was pumping through the boy's system at top speed. This was not good.
"Why don't you two go outside and – "Dumbledore began.
Sev was on his feet. "You stinking bastards!" he shrieked. "I can't believe you have the sack to come here! You put me here, damn you both to hell!"
Both boys stepped back and eyed the Headmaster, who gestured to the doors with his head.
"No! You came all this way to see me! Well then, don't rush off! "Sev turned to the other people in the room, most of whom were looking his way to see where the noise was coming from. "Marauders will always be Marauders! Let the Headmaster and everybody else hear what you rotters have done to me!"
"Oh gods, James," Remus breathed. "He is out of his mind!"
Dumbledore paused, wanting to avoid disruption yet wanting Severus to have his say. He thought of a line in one of Robert Graves' books: "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out."
"These two," Sev said in a voice that rose with intensity with every word, "these two and their friends have spent their entire time at Hogwarts tormenting me! Stealing from me, kicking me, humiliating me, beating me up, stripping me bare, trying to drown me – "
"Take it easy, Sev," said James, putting up his palms towards Severus in a gesture of conciliation. "We came to say we're really sorry for all of it."
Snape's eyes took on a hard glitter that Dumbledore had never seen before. That must be the boy's dark side coming out, he thought.
"I'm the only one who's sorry – sorry for ever seeing your faces!" the boy shrieked, taking a few steps toward them. "Blast the both of you to Hell!"
The Slytherin raised his arm. After all, his father had taught him to work magic without a wand.
Feeling the surge of Dark energy from the boy, a group of patients who sat nearby began to wail. It was the most unearthly sound the two schoolboys had ever heard. Some beat their hands on the arms of their chairs, and others clapped their hands over their faces.
Dumbledore promptly seized Sev's wrist. The patients' wails became screams. Four or five healers and assistants raced into the room. Asphora caught Dumbledore's eye immediately. "Stop this," she thought, and Dumbledore heard her.
"No, Severus," the wizard said, pumping him full of White energy. "It's all right. No one will hurt you. Calm down, child."
James and Remus raced out of the room and ran down the nearest corridor. They might get good and lost, but at least they would be away from those crazy people and that crazy boy.
Sev wrenched his arm away from Dumbledore and dove into the stuffed chair, digging between the cushions for something.
"ALBUS," shouted Asphora, reading the boy's thoughts. "STOP HIM!"
Before Dumbledore could react, Severus took a metal fork out of its hiding place and jammed its head into his left wrist.
The Headmaster grabbed the boy with his right hand and wrestled for the fork with his left. Snape was trying to shield it with his body. "Petrificus Totalis!" the old wizard said, and Severus froze in place.
By this time, most of the patients were shrieking with agitation, and some were running aimlessly around the room. Some went to the windows – charmed so that they could neither open nor be broken – and beat their hands against the glass. The healers did what they could to pacify the more frightened ones.
Dumbledore gently pulled the fork out of Severus' wrist. Luckily, it wasn't sharp enough to do any real damage, but what hurt the man's soul more than anything was that his young charge was still suicidal.
"All right now, Severus," the Headmaster whispered. "Calm down now. I will unfreeze you, and I will catch you." With a whispered countercharm, Sev slumped down. Albus caught him and wrapped both arms around him, leading him to a table and chairs.
"Here, let me," Asphora said, wrapping her hands around the boy's wrist, stopping the bleeding. "Oh, Sev. Oh, sweetheart. We have a lot more work to do, don't we?" The kind young woman raised his chin and smoothed his hair away from his face. He jerked away from her, shaking his head hard so that the hair covered it once more, and curled up against the Headmaster.
By this time, the other healers had rounded up the patients in the common room and trundled them back to their rooms. They left a few seated there, so catatonic that they had never noticed anything was amiss.
Dumbledore then moved and knelt down in front of Severus. "Come, child. Let me carry you back to your bed." With a sigh, the boy wrapped his arms around Albus' neck and was carried out of the room. The healer followed them.
"I'll have to find out where that fork came from," she sighed. "Seems between the breach in security earlier today and his coming by the fork, I haven't done my job very well."
Albus could sense her disappointment in herself. "I don't think any real harm was done. It's lucky that we were nearby, and lucky that we realized how ill our Severus really is. My poor child," he sighed, looking down at the boy in his arms.
----------------------
Albus and Asphora got Severus settled into his bed. He was agitated and tense.
"What is it, Sev?" Asphora asked.
"My – f-fa-father – " he stammered, shivering with fear.
"Oh honey," she said. "We will talk about it later if it's too hard for you now."
Severus nodded, clinging to Dumbledore's hand.
"Take a rest, Sev," she soothed, charming him asleep. She turned to the Headmaster.
"I'll see if I can find your two other boys," she said. "Will you stay with him until I get back?"
"Certainly."
----------------------
James and Remus were located downstairs by the reception desk, and Asphora LaChance had gone back to the Children's Ward to send down Dumbledore. Both boys were shaken by what had happened.
"I'm through with him," James said. "There is no way I'm going to hang out with somebody that crazy. I took the Oath, so I won't prank him. But I'm not going to expect anything positive out of him either."
Remus Lupin shook his head. "It's very sad. Very sad. Did you see all those people in there?"
James nodded. "I want out of here. My skin is crawling. Ah, here's the Headmaster!"
Dumbledore approached. "I'm very sorry about what happened. I truly didn't know Severus would react that strongly to your visit. He seems to be sicker than we thought. But he will get better, and he will go back to school. Treating him with compassion rather than hostility will be a credit to you. I will award twenty points each to Gryffindor for making the effort here today. I will see you safely flooed back, but I want to stay here a while longer. All right?"
Both boys nodded.
And when they got back to the Castle, neither would get much sleep.
-------------------
It was now very late at night. Awake again, Severus lay in bed with Dumbledore's soothing hand on either side of his head. He was flooding the boy's body with healing energy. Sev could feel some of the worst anxiety leave him, although his memories remained. He tried to be as small and inconspicuous as possible. He did not want to be a bother, and was ashamed to be in such a state.
Albus smoothed the boy's long hair off his face and Severus grabbed his hands and hung on for dear life. "It will be all right, Severus," the old wizard said. "You will get well."
The Headmaster settled into his own thoughts. He thought it might be a good idea to obliviate certain of Severus' memories so that they lost their power to terrify and further traumatize the boy. There was no point in reliving nightmares if no good would come of it. It was rather like picking up a sharp knife by its blade in the hopes of making it blunt. He would ask Healer LaChance when she returned.
He also thought about the upcoming hearing that would decide whether Confutatis Maledictis Snape would be released from Azkaban. To the boy who clung to him, the man was more harmful than any toxin could be.
"Then let me be the antidote," he murmured. "Don't worry, my son. I will keep him from you."
Severus lay in his hospital bed reliving the horrors in his head, and Dumbledore stood guard. Their only comfort was that they were together, linked by their hands and their hearts.
"Good evening, Headmaster," said Asphora LaChance. "Are these two young gentlemen with you?"
"They are, and good evening to you. You seem a bit jittery."
"We had a slight breakdown in our security to this ward earlier today. I thought another healer was covering it, and he thought I was covering it. One of Sev's classmates did manage to come in and see him. He's been very distant since. He was an older boy with long platinum hair. Handsome. Might you know him?"
"Lucius Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "Another member of Sev's House."
He did not share his misgivings with her (nor could Asphora read his mind; he was quite good at blocking out intruding thoughts), nor did he say anything negative about Malfoy in front of the boys.
"Well, why not come in? Sev's in the common room tonight."
All four – the healer, the headmaster, Remus Lupin, and James Potter -- headed into the large room. There were games and wizard's chessboards around. About twenty-five listless people sat around in various stages of dress, ranging from wizarding street clothes to pajamas. The boys noticed that they weren't really interacting with one another.
"They're nutters – why should they talk to one another?" James thought but did not say.
And there was Severus Snape, hidden away in a corner, sitting in a stuffed chair, hands stuffed under him. He had spent the late afternoon and early evening first enjoying a nap, then reliving some of the horrific memories he had buried concerning his father, which he definitely did not enjoy. To say that the boy was emotionally fragile would have been an understatement. On the outside, however, he presented a neutral face to the world. It was one of his best defense mechanisms.
"I will leave you gentlemen here," Asphora said. "I have an emergency admission, and must make sure Sib covers check-in for me." And with a nod of her head, she was off.
"Hello, Severus," said Albus Dumbledore, walking into the common room with the two students in tow.
"Headmaster!" Sev cried, standing up so quickly that he became dizzy and swayed alarmingly.
"Easy there!" the Headmaster cried, grabbing the boy's arms gently and steadying him.
"I'm so happy to see you!" Sev said, throwing his arms around the old wizard. "I waited all day!"
He helped Severus back over to his chair and sat him down. "And here I am," the kindly man said, returning Sev's hug. "And I've brought along two people who would like to apologize to you and try to make things right, if that can be done." James and Remus approached, almost shyly. Neither of them had ever been in a place remotely like this one, and both felt a bit intimidated by it all.
"Hello, Sev," said Remus.
"How are you doing, Sev?" said James.
Both boys approached. Dumbledore watched Severus closely and was alarmed to see the boy's face go white. The Headmaster put his hand on Snape's shoulder to read his physical state. His heart rate had jumped alarmingly and the adrenaline was pumping through the boy's system at top speed. This was not good.
"Why don't you two go outside and – "Dumbledore began.
Sev was on his feet. "You stinking bastards!" he shrieked. "I can't believe you have the sack to come here! You put me here, damn you both to hell!"
Both boys stepped back and eyed the Headmaster, who gestured to the doors with his head.
"No! You came all this way to see me! Well then, don't rush off! "Sev turned to the other people in the room, most of whom were looking his way to see where the noise was coming from. "Marauders will always be Marauders! Let the Headmaster and everybody else hear what you rotters have done to me!"
"Oh gods, James," Remus breathed. "He is out of his mind!"
Dumbledore paused, wanting to avoid disruption yet wanting Severus to have his say. He thought of a line in one of Robert Graves' books: "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out."
"These two," Sev said in a voice that rose with intensity with every word, "these two and their friends have spent their entire time at Hogwarts tormenting me! Stealing from me, kicking me, humiliating me, beating me up, stripping me bare, trying to drown me – "
"Take it easy, Sev," said James, putting up his palms towards Severus in a gesture of conciliation. "We came to say we're really sorry for all of it."
Snape's eyes took on a hard glitter that Dumbledore had never seen before. That must be the boy's dark side coming out, he thought.
"I'm the only one who's sorry – sorry for ever seeing your faces!" the boy shrieked, taking a few steps toward them. "Blast the both of you to Hell!"
The Slytherin raised his arm. After all, his father had taught him to work magic without a wand.
Feeling the surge of Dark energy from the boy, a group of patients who sat nearby began to wail. It was the most unearthly sound the two schoolboys had ever heard. Some beat their hands on the arms of their chairs, and others clapped their hands over their faces.
Dumbledore promptly seized Sev's wrist. The patients' wails became screams. Four or five healers and assistants raced into the room. Asphora caught Dumbledore's eye immediately. "Stop this," she thought, and Dumbledore heard her.
"No, Severus," the wizard said, pumping him full of White energy. "It's all right. No one will hurt you. Calm down, child."
James and Remus raced out of the room and ran down the nearest corridor. They might get good and lost, but at least they would be away from those crazy people and that crazy boy.
Sev wrenched his arm away from Dumbledore and dove into the stuffed chair, digging between the cushions for something.
"ALBUS," shouted Asphora, reading the boy's thoughts. "STOP HIM!"
Before Dumbledore could react, Severus took a metal fork out of its hiding place and jammed its head into his left wrist.
The Headmaster grabbed the boy with his right hand and wrestled for the fork with his left. Snape was trying to shield it with his body. "Petrificus Totalis!" the old wizard said, and Severus froze in place.
By this time, most of the patients were shrieking with agitation, and some were running aimlessly around the room. Some went to the windows – charmed so that they could neither open nor be broken – and beat their hands against the glass. The healers did what they could to pacify the more frightened ones.
Dumbledore gently pulled the fork out of Severus' wrist. Luckily, it wasn't sharp enough to do any real damage, but what hurt the man's soul more than anything was that his young charge was still suicidal.
"All right now, Severus," the Headmaster whispered. "Calm down now. I will unfreeze you, and I will catch you." With a whispered countercharm, Sev slumped down. Albus caught him and wrapped both arms around him, leading him to a table and chairs.
"Here, let me," Asphora said, wrapping her hands around the boy's wrist, stopping the bleeding. "Oh, Sev. Oh, sweetheart. We have a lot more work to do, don't we?" The kind young woman raised his chin and smoothed his hair away from his face. He jerked away from her, shaking his head hard so that the hair covered it once more, and curled up against the Headmaster.
By this time, the other healers had rounded up the patients in the common room and trundled them back to their rooms. They left a few seated there, so catatonic that they had never noticed anything was amiss.
Dumbledore then moved and knelt down in front of Severus. "Come, child. Let me carry you back to your bed." With a sigh, the boy wrapped his arms around Albus' neck and was carried out of the room. The healer followed them.
"I'll have to find out where that fork came from," she sighed. "Seems between the breach in security earlier today and his coming by the fork, I haven't done my job very well."
Albus could sense her disappointment in herself. "I don't think any real harm was done. It's lucky that we were nearby, and lucky that we realized how ill our Severus really is. My poor child," he sighed, looking down at the boy in his arms.
----------------------
Albus and Asphora got Severus settled into his bed. He was agitated and tense.
"What is it, Sev?" Asphora asked.
"My – f-fa-father – " he stammered, shivering with fear.
"Oh honey," she said. "We will talk about it later if it's too hard for you now."
Severus nodded, clinging to Dumbledore's hand.
"Take a rest, Sev," she soothed, charming him asleep. She turned to the Headmaster.
"I'll see if I can find your two other boys," she said. "Will you stay with him until I get back?"
"Certainly."
----------------------
James and Remus were located downstairs by the reception desk, and Asphora LaChance had gone back to the Children's Ward to send down Dumbledore. Both boys were shaken by what had happened.
"I'm through with him," James said. "There is no way I'm going to hang out with somebody that crazy. I took the Oath, so I won't prank him. But I'm not going to expect anything positive out of him either."
Remus Lupin shook his head. "It's very sad. Very sad. Did you see all those people in there?"
James nodded. "I want out of here. My skin is crawling. Ah, here's the Headmaster!"
Dumbledore approached. "I'm very sorry about what happened. I truly didn't know Severus would react that strongly to your visit. He seems to be sicker than we thought. But he will get better, and he will go back to school. Treating him with compassion rather than hostility will be a credit to you. I will award twenty points each to Gryffindor for making the effort here today. I will see you safely flooed back, but I want to stay here a while longer. All right?"
Both boys nodded.
And when they got back to the Castle, neither would get much sleep.
-------------------
It was now very late at night. Awake again, Severus lay in bed with Dumbledore's soothing hand on either side of his head. He was flooding the boy's body with healing energy. Sev could feel some of the worst anxiety leave him, although his memories remained. He tried to be as small and inconspicuous as possible. He did not want to be a bother, and was ashamed to be in such a state.
Albus smoothed the boy's long hair off his face and Severus grabbed his hands and hung on for dear life. "It will be all right, Severus," the old wizard said. "You will get well."
The Headmaster settled into his own thoughts. He thought it might be a good idea to obliviate certain of Severus' memories so that they lost their power to terrify and further traumatize the boy. There was no point in reliving nightmares if no good would come of it. It was rather like picking up a sharp knife by its blade in the hopes of making it blunt. He would ask Healer LaChance when she returned.
He also thought about the upcoming hearing that would decide whether Confutatis Maledictis Snape would be released from Azkaban. To the boy who clung to him, the man was more harmful than any toxin could be.
"Then let me be the antidote," he murmured. "Don't worry, my son. I will keep him from you."
Severus lay in his hospital bed reliving the horrors in his head, and Dumbledore stood guard. Their only comfort was that they were together, linked by their hands and their hearts.