A High Price

By: Barbara Kennedy

Disclaimer: This story is a total creation of my mind but the
characters belong to J.K. Rowling. It is probably totally
Alternate Universe, so if anything I put in here doesn't match
up with any of the books, tough luck, just take my word for it
that it happened in this reality.

This is going to be almost totally from Snape's point of view.
I'm not sure where the story will end up yet either. It's a bit
dark and angsty but maybe something good will come of it.

*thoughts*
~stressed words~

**~~**~~**~~**
Chapter Four - A Small Setback
**~~**~~**~~**

//The dream//

*I feel panic rise, my pulse racing.*

Flames crackle; lick up the walls and across the ceiling.

*Lungs burning! Hold your breath, don't breathe the fire.*

*Is everyone out? Run! Get out!*

Turning, turning, searching.

*Oh God, can't see, too much smoke!*

Must risk left hand, feeling for some way out, skin blistering
in the heat.

*Merlin help me, where's the bloody door?*

*I can't find the door! I'm trapped! LET ME OUT!*

-KAHBLOOM!-

//End dream//

I wake screaming in a blind panic, scrambling to get away.

-THUNK-

I've rolled and fallen out of the bed backwards - headfirst. My
legs are tangled in the covers, suspending me upside-down from
the bed. I'm still panicked and disoriented, twisting and
struggling weakly to get loose from the tangle in spite of the
jolt of pain shooting through my left leg, hip and side. With
eyes clenched tight, I'm still screaming in fear of being
trapped in the fire.

"~SEVERUS!~ Poppy, come quickly, he's fallen out of bed." I hear
Professor McGonagall's voice above the pounding of my heart and
my own hoarse cries. It is enough to make me stop screaming. I
hear sobbing and realize it is my own.

*How did I get here? What happened?*

I open my eyes, but the world is slanted and spinning. My
shoulders are touching the floor, arms flung to the sides, my
head and lower body throbbing with pain.

McGonagall reaches me first and tries to calm me. "Severus, stop
struggling, you will only hurt yourself."

Madam Pomfrey's voice comes at the same time. "Immobilius,
Wingardium Leviosa!"

I am unable to move and find myself floating up from the floor
to settle back onto the bed.

My head is still throbbing and the movement makes me nauseous.

Poppy barely finishes her "Finite Incantatem" when I gasp "Sick"
and just manage to lurch over the right edge of the bed to vomit
on the floor.

A cool hand on my shoulder holds me steady as I retch weakly,
another hand pulling hair back from my face and supporting my
head until the retching stops and I lie there panting.

I don't have strength to turn myself over, so the cool hands
pull me over to lie on my pillows again. It is Minerva
McGonagall, looking slightly green herself, who has supported me
and kept me from falling out of the bed again. Her usually-stern
face looks shocked.

*Is this the first time she has seen me since the accident? At
least she has the good grace to look me in the eyes and not
stare at my arm.*

Poppy clears the mess away with a quick "Evanesco" and turns to
the tray on the table near my bed. "Here drink this, slowly now,
it will settle your stomach." A cup is offered and I drink. It
tastes of honey, mint and ginger. I recognize a simple yet
effective herbal tea stomach remedy. It also effectively gets
rid of the nasty taste left in my mouth.

My breathing is still rapid, with a hitch that sounds like a
sob, and I'm still quivering with reaction to the nightmare that
caused all this in the first place. There are tears on my face.

I am embarrassed to be seen in this weakened state, but, at the
moment, I don't have the energy for my usual temper. I just
close my eyes, wishing that both the pain and my witnesses would
go away.

Poppy washes my face with a cloth she has produced from
somewhere then takes my wrist to check my pulse, which is fast.
I open my eyes again and she looks closely at them, pulling back
each eyelid for a clear view. "Severus are you in pain anywhere,
did you hit your head when you fell?

I speak quietly, afraid that the noise will hurt my head. "Yes,
in back, if I move it makes me nauseous, but I don't think I'll
vomit again. If I keep my head still, the room almost stops
spinning. My left side hurts most; around hip and thigh more
than everywhere else."

"Before I move you any more, let me see what damage has been
done. Just lie still and try to calm down. I take it you had a
nightmare?"

My answer, "Yes, the fire." is barely a whisper. I close my eyes
again and try to control my breathing.

I hear Poppy chant her diagnostic charms and move slowly around
the bed. Minerva's footsteps move away, giving her room to work.

"You've got a bit of concussion, I'm afraid, Severus. I'm sorry;
I shouldn't have moved you so fast. It is what made you
nauseous. I'm glad to say you haven't suffered any other damage,
but you have slightly stressed your pelvic fracture, but not so
much that I will need to immobilize you again. The rest of your
pain can be blamed on a lot of old bruises and some damaged
muscles that are going to take a bit longer to heal."

"Damaged muscles too? Madam Pomfrey, am I even going to be able
to walk?"

"Yes, of course you will, Severus, as soon as your muscles and
your pelvis fully heal it won't be too long before you will be
able to stride down the halls as rapidly as you ever could, but
you need to remember that you had something like a good sized
tree fall on you. Mercifully, your leg bones are almost
completely healed. We will need to work with your muscles a bit
as they heal, but we can't start any of that until you regain
some strength. Take one step at a time Severus."

"I didn't realize all that, Poppy, no one has told me yet what
happened. I don't remember. . . The last thing I knew was. . . I
think. . . I think I remember the explosion, but nothing
after."

Poppy pours yet another potion into a glass and brings it to my
lips. "Don't worry about it right now Severus. Here, this is for
your pain. We need to get some food to stay in your stomach now
so I can give you another Healing Potion. I'm also going to give
you some Pepper-up Potion. You need to stay awake for a while so
I can at least get some sweetened tea into you."

"If you think all that will stay down, I'm willing to try,
Poppy. Truthfully, I'm really not in a hurry to go back to sleep
just yet."

She nods and turns to pour the next potion into the glass and
brings it to me as well.

Minerva steps forward again. "Is there anything else I can do to
help, Poppy?"

"Yes there is Minerva, would you mind having a tray brought up
for Severus, with tea and perhaps some soup and dry toast?"

"I'd be glad to Poppy." Minerva turns to me and speaks gently.
"Is there anything else you would like Severus?"

I'm not even sure I will be able to handle what has been
requested, though the potions I've just taken are not
threatening to make a re-appearance.

"No thank you, Minerva."

She leaves with an unexpected expression directed at me. I
realize it isn't pity that I see in her face, but friendly
encouragement. It somehow makes me feel calmer.

As soon as Minerva leaves, Poppy begins to untangle me from the
covers and settle them over me again. I then realize, as Poppy
slightly levitates me to pull the sheet from under my hips, that
the covers are the only thing preserving what small shred of
dignity I might have left. The only bit of clothing I'm wearing
is an open-backed hospital gown and it too is twisted and
bunched up until it covers very little. Discretely, Poppy
straightens it out as well.

"Perhaps I should have asked for my nightshirt?"

She continues tucking the covers around me as she answers. "No,
Severus, there are, shall we say, ~practical~ reasons you are
wearing this gown until you can walk to the toilet on your own.
I won't elaborate because I'm sure you can figure it out."

I realize the reasons and flush with a bit of embarrassment
again. "Hades hinges, I hate being so bloody ~helpless~."

"Don't worry Severus. You are safe here. The Headmaster was
adamant about bringing you directly here from St. Mungo's
immediately after they were finished with your emergency
treatment."

I'm not sure if I really want to talk about the incident but I
feel the need to ask. "Then, I wasn't brought directly here? You
weren't the one who. . . who had to take my arm, are you?"

"Thank goodness, no Severus. The report I read of your treatment
said there wasn't much they could do besides cleaning and
closing what was left."

A shudder takes me at her words and the image they evoke. *Have
I lost all control of myself?*

"That is enough about that now, Severus. You might like to know,
I thought the Headmaster was about to challenge the hospital
administrator to a duel before they would release you to
Dumbledore and myself. Dumbledore had apparated there as soon as
he got word of what had happened and that you were close to
dying but had been apparated to the Emergency Room. He floo-
called me then to prepare to bring you back here. He was afraid
that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be sending Death Eaters
after you if we left you there."

*Gods, the Dark Mark, why have I not seen that it is gone as
well as my arm? Did the explosion scramble my brain entirely?*

I pull my left arm from under the covers to stare at the
bandages on it as if seeing my loss for the first time all over
again. Poppy stops speaking, surprised by my sudden gesture.

"Madam Pomfrey, is there ~any~ part of the Dark Mark left on my
arm?"

I didn't think there could be, it had been nearer my wrist than
the part that remained.

"No Severus, that was part of the reason Dumbledore feared for
your life. He didn't know if You-Know-Who would be aware that
you were no longer branded with his Mark.

To Be Continued. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have already started chapter five so, hopefully, it won't take
too long to get it up. If there is a delay, it is because I have
another story that has been suffering while I work on this one
and folks are beginning to beg for it to be updated too.
Again, I have no time to answer individual reviews, but I hope
everyone understands and takes my word that I truly appreciate
every one of the reviews I receive. Thank you. (Oh, please
review.)