"Severus!"
The noise in the Great Hall increased; students craned their necks to see what was happening at the Head Table. Pomfrey and McGonagall came charging in and within seconds they were huddling around the unconscious Potions Master.
"He just fainted," Dumbledore said.
"Help me lift him from the table," Pomfrey said, a bit out of breath.
They gently grabbed him by the shoulders and propped him up against the chair. Pomfrey ran her wand over him while McGonagall unfastened his collar and Dumbledore cradled his jaw.
"He's very warm," the Headmaster said.
Pomfrey clucked her tongue. "Look at him. Why didn't he come to see me this morning?" She peered at the rash covering his cheek, took more readings, and frowned. "This is strange..."
"What is it, Poppy?" Dumbledore said.
"He's obviously got the flu, but there's something else... We need to bring him to the Hospital Wing right away."
Snape's eyelids suddenly fluttered, and he groaned loudly enough that all the chatter in the Great Hall ceased.
"Severus," Pomfrey said, "keep still."
He scowled and opened his mouth to reply, and instead began to cough and cough until he just shook almost soundlessly. Then he took a deep ragged breath and started coughing again. When at last the fit subsided, he sagged against the chair and shut his eyes.
"That's what you get for trying to argue with me," Pomfrey said. "I should have said, keep quiet!"
Dumbledore gestured to Hagrid. "I don't think Severus would much appreciate being subjected to a mobilicorpus charm," the Headmaster told McGonagall. "Not when Sirius was the last to-"
Snape slumped over the armrest and vomited in Lupin's lap.
"Not on my only set of robes..." Lupin said. He sighed and helped Dumbledore and the two witches to set the Potions Master back in his chair.
Snape mumbled something they could not understand.
"Don't fret, Severus," the Headmaster said. He gently held the black head up, wiped Snape's mouth and chin and said, "Poppy, the rash seems to be spreading."
"Merlin's beard," Pomfrey said through clenched teeth. Sweat had begun to roll down Snape's face. She gripped his wrist and touched his forehead. "He's burning up -I think he's having an allergic reaction." She muttered a charm and the Head Table was cleared. Another charm and Snape was divested of his robes and jacket.
"Poppy?" McGonagall said. "Shouldn't we be getting him to-"
"No time," Pomfrey said, and levitated the insensible Potions Master onto the table. "The fever is rising too quickly, I've got to get it down or..."
The students were staring at the unfolding crisis with a mixture of shock and fascination. Was their dreaded Potions Master only a human being after all?