Ok- here's another light and fluff filled chapter- NOT! Angst alert! Thankyou Amandah Leigh for your review; sorry about the mistake, I did not know the difference between step-daughter and adopted-daughter (I apolosise for my stupidity.) If anyone finds anything that my pea-sized brain failed to register please tell me. REVIEW!

Chapter 7: Suffering

"Action is transitory - a step, a blow. The motion of a muscle – this way or that. 'Tis, done, and in the after-vacancy we wonder to ourselves like man betrayed: suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, and shares the nature of infinity."

William Wordsworth

Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Gabriella Snape sat in the Library. They had done this often in the past few days, not reading just thinking; it was peaceful in the library.

It is strange how sorrow brings people together; an invisible bond was formed between the six of them on the day of their last Potions lesson and, without a word having been spoken between them, they all became the best of friends.

Ella stood up from the table and walked to the window. She didn't know what had compelled her to do so, she didn't know what had compelled her to do most of the things she had done in the past few days.

She felt as though she was living in a trance, that what was happening was happening to someone else and not her. She had sat through the assembly the head master had given in the wake of her father's disappearance; she had heard the remarks made by some of the Slytherins; she had seen a girl with black hair and sapphire eyes deliver a punch to one of the Slytherins and get dragged away by her friends but that girl had not been her. She had merely been a spectator.

Now, as she gazed out of the window at nothing in particular she wondered at how cruel fate could be. She had found the father who she had thought to be dead only to have him taken away from her barely two months afterwards.

Her gaze wondered to a dark object at the edge of the forest, she watched as the dark haired girl pondered as to how much the shape looked like a body and then she came to her senses. Snapping out of her detached state of mind she rushed from the library closely followed by her five companions.

As she approached the object and realised what it was she found herself stop and dispose of the bile that had built up in her throat. Her friends followed suit as soon as they saw him. There was blood everywhere.

As soon as Ella had composed herself she rushed to him and knelt by his side. "Get Madam Pomfrey!" she shouted to no one in particular. Neville ran back to the castle.

She felt her father's face which was cold and pale under the blood. His lips had a bluish tinge. She felt desperately for a pulse and was rewarded with a faint flutter against her fingers, but then the realisation hit her: he wasn't breathing.

Before panic could set in, her instincts took over. She rolled her father around so he lay fully on his back, checked his mouth for any obstruction and then administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions. She had learnt this at life saving when she was small and had remembered what to do. It came naturally to her even though she had only practised on dummies.

Soon afterwards, a now blood stained Ella felt warm air tickle her ear. He was alive, that was all that mattered. She had decided not to place him in the recovery position because she did not know how bad his injuries were and the very fact she had moved him from his original position could already have done him harm.

Luckily, right at that moment, Neville arrived back with Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey both of whom were visibly shocked and disgusted by the state that Snape was in.

Ella informed Madam Pomfrey of what she had done and the medi-witch nodded wordlessly as she conjured a stretcher. When he was placed on it, the potions master groaned and coughed blood. His daughter rushed to him and turned him on his side to prevent him from choking. Madam Pomfrey feared that her effort was in vain and tried to shake the tears from her eyes and be professional; it was so hard though, knowing that it was her friend lying there.

He was her friend, she had always talked to him and him to her; they had shared secrets and she knew about his past. To think that this man had finally found happiness, only for this to happen.

Ella's hope was, however, infectious and Poppy Pomfrey, along with the others and against her better judgement, started to believe that maybe he would be ok. He was alive after all.

Once they arrived in the hospital ward, Madam Pomfrey ushered the others from the room so she could examine her patient. What she saw was very grave indeed. It was a miracle he had survived this long; he had had numerous curses thrown at him of the very worst kind; he had been beaten and had extensive internal and external bleeding. She had failed to find a bone in his body that wasn't at least fractured and to top it off he had been raped.

This was too much for her. The medi-witch, for the first time since her training, found herself vomiting copiously. When only bile remained she managed to regain her composure just in time to witness his first convulsions.

"Severus, don't do this man! Hold on, you've come this far!" she felt his forehead which was blazing hot.

Ella rushed into the ward followed closely by Dumbledore. The elderly wizard rushed to hold Severus' right hand while Snape's daughter held his left. Together they created a spell strong enough to stabilise his condition at least for a while.

When they had done this Madam Pomfrey was stunned, she had never seen anything like it. "How..." she was then struck dumb.

"Love, my dear Poppy, love" was all Albus Dumbledore said to answer her question. "Now hurry up and heal all of the wounds that you can. I will help you. We haven't got much time."

She shook herself and the two of them worked together to save the man's life whilst his daughter spoke words of comfort to him.

He tried to move, he tried to open his eyes; he found that he could do neither. He panicked; he was trapped inside this darkness.

Every muscle in his body cried out in agony as he tried to break free of the invisible bonds that seemed to be preventing his movement.

He saw Voldemort, he remembered his words; he needed to wake up; he needed to warn his daughter. He needed to do something.

He found the only part of his body that seemed to be functioning properly and used it to its full effect.

Ella waked up with a start. She had fallen asleep in the chair next to her father's bed and now found that she had a terrible crick in her neck. She realised that she had no time to worry about that when she discovered the source of the noise that had woken her.

Her father was letting out a series of shrill screams. He was clearly trying to move and was distressed by the fact that he could not.

Madam Pomfrey had bound him to the bed so he could not inflict further damage upon himself. Now these restrictions seemed to be doing more harm than good.

"Finite" she pointed her wand at him and cast the spell to release him.

As soon as he was able to move again, her father began flailing about on his bed. Ella rushed to him to calm him down. His bones still needed time to heal as did his internal organs.

"Shh, don't move. It's ok, I'm here." Ella smoothed her father's hair back from his sweat drenched forehead. Her words and contact seemed to calm him and he stopped thrashing. He muttered something that the girl could not quite make out and she put her ear to his lips.

"...Harry... He doesn't know... Have to go... So much darkness..." His words were barely audible but Ella knew enough to warrant a visit to the head master. The very fact he spoke was news worthy enough.

Reluctantly, she left her father's side. She was petrified that something would happen whilst she was out of the room so she ran to Dumbledore's office as fast as she could.

Next chapter: Comtemplation- what is going to happen to Snape? Is his daughter going to complete the prophecy? Are house elves going to rule the world? (scratch that last one)