Then, she stopped reading.
"Professor Snape?"
He kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut.
"Sir?"
Get out of here already, Miss Granger. Can't you tell I'm sleeping?
"Well, I... I'll just wish you a good night, professor."
Bravo.
He strained to hear her walking out of the room -did she have to be so bloody quiet?
Then he felt her hand on his for a second... Less than a second. He just about jumped out of his skin in surprise.
Once he was sure she'd gone, he reached over to the bedside table and groped for that glass of ginger ale he knew was there, but only succeeded in knocking it over; it shattered on the floor.
Damnation.
Right on cue, the Gryffindor came running back in the room, joined almost immediately by Pomfrey. The mediwitch's nightcap was askew and her wand was at the ready.
"Severus! Are you all right? I thought you were watching him, Miss Granger-"
"He -he fell asleep, Madam Pomfrey, and I didn't... I thought it'd be better to... I was afraid I'd wake him..."
"Poppy, stop pestering the girl," Snape said, his voice barely audible. "I was just thirsty." He grimaced and clutched his neck.
"Do you want me to muzzle you?" Pomfrey said, clearing the mess with a wave of her wand. "Let me see how bad it is. Open your mouth. Open it!"
Snape seethed but did as she asked.
"Lumos," Pomfrey said. "The back of your throat is absolutely raw."
He shrugged impatiently.
"I'm going to give you a hot drink with honey, and then I want you to get some sleep, is that clear?" She felt his forehead and took his pulse. "All I can say is, keep this up and oh, you and I will get to know each other more than we ever thought possible."
Alarm flitted across his face.
"You get the picture, Severus."
He turned his back to her and slammed his head in the pillow, a gesture that was followed by a groan.
Pomfrey sighed. Impossible man.
Hermione peeked from behind the curtain where she'd taken refuge. "Uh, Madam Pomfrey..."
"Oh, Hermione. Goodness, I'd forgotten you were here," Pomfrey said. "You can go back to your room and get some rest, dear. I'm afraid Professor Snape is too much of a handful at the moment."
Snape threw the sheets over his head.
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said, and hurried out of the room.
Pomfrey returned to Snape's bedside with a cup of hot camomile tea. "Here, Severus. I think you'll like this."
The lump in the bed refused to budge.
"Oh, for pity's sake," Pomfrey said. She set the cup down, gripped him beneath the arms and maneuvered the weakened man into a sitting position. Satisfied that he was comfortable, she blew out her breath and grabbed the steaming cup of tea.
"Now, if you're quite through sulking, drink this. It'll soothe that throat of yours."
He raised his head from the pillows a fraction, then let it fall back in defeat.
"Let me help you," she said.
He gave her a baleful look.
"Fine, then. Fend for yourself, you intolerable grouch. I'm-"
She was about to get up and storm out of the room when she saw the indignant expression on his features melt into one of utter wretchedness.
"All right, Severus. I'm sorry. You really have a way of testing my bedside manners to the limit, do you know that? Let's try again."
She put another pillow behind his head, blew on the hot drink a few times, and brought the cup to his mouth. "Here. Little sips."
He obeyed at first, then she had to tip the cup to match his thirst.
"Good, wasn't it? I put some clover honey in there for you," Pomfrey said.
He blinked slowly and mouthed, thank you.
"You're welcome." She frowned and touched his cheeks. "Still feverish. Nothing like a virus to take the edge off a worn-out Potions Master, is there?"
A faint smirk curved his lips.
"That's more like it. Feeling sleepy now?"
He nodded.
"I'll be in the next room, but I'll check on you again soon. Try to get some rest."
She tucked him in, watched him drift to sleep, and went back to bed.
[_]
Dawn greeted a Potions Master and a mediwitch whose eyes were bloodshot and whose moods were definitely of a nasty persuasion. Snape had woken up in the middle of the night nearly coughing his lungs out, a condition soon combined with nasal congestion so severe that it had left him practically unable to breathe.
It wasn't long before Pomfrey was also muttering unflattering remarks about 'that Muggle crap' and sneering at the empty medicine packets, not to mention the mound of crumpled tissues, that littered the bedside table.
"Oh, my," Dumbledore said when he came in the Hospital Ward. However, his exclamation was drowned out by the great honking sound of Snape blowing his nose for what appeared to be the one hundreth time.
"Ugh," Snape said, and flopped back against his pillows. "Uuuuugh..."
"Rough night?" Dumbledore asked Pomfrey.
She scowled in a manner worthy of Snape himself. "How very perceptive of you, Headmaster."
"I gather the alternative treatment wasn't as effective as we'd hoped."
"Ged oud!" Snape said. His fingers closed around a handful of soiled tissues which he attempted to hurl at Dumbledore, to little effect. "Ged-" His voice cracked and he began coughing until his face turned red.
"Now, now, Severus, Pomfrey's doing her best-"
Snape's hand fumbled for a glass of water; he gulped part of the clear liquid down, coughing so much that he spilled half of it on his chest in the process.
"Oh, so this is my fault, is it?" Pomfrey said. She stomped towards Dumbledore and thrust her finger at him. "Who shipped Severus to You-Know-Who's torture jamborees time and time again? Who's responsible for the fact he's had more healing potions pumped into him than any professor in history?"
"Poppy, you're exhausted. Why don't you let me watch over Severus for a while."
She glared at him, but then her shoulders slumped. "Albus, this is impossible. I can't treat him properly without potions."
"He's a sturdy lad. He's just going through the worst of it right now."
Snape blew his nose yet again, the noise almost loud enough to rattle the window panes.
"Maybe... I should give one of those Muggle remedies another go," Pomfrey said.
"That's the spirit," Dumbledore said. "Then go lie down a bit."
Pomfrey rubbed her tired face and sorted through the haphazard collection of bottles on the bedside table. "Severus, here. A brand we haven't tried yet. Decongestant... Cough suppressant. It's got potential."
"Not bloody likely," Snape said. He shifted on the mattress and groaned. If he could just get some sleep... "Uuugh."
"Come on, professor, humor me. I'm at my wits end."
"Fide." He sniffed and opened his mouth, too weary to oppose her.