People who are more easily triggered by this type of content should avoid reading this.
(TW): Explicit description of Self-mutilation, SH, Suicide attempts, Depressing content, Panic Attacks
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Tears ran down Severus's face as he ran to the dungeons and into his office. He sat down on his bed still trembling, he couldn't think straight and each breath came in with a sharp gasp. He ran over to his drawer and took out his blade, he rolled up his sleeve and started thrashing violently at every inch of skin he could see. There was small knock on his door and he panicked, he couldn't be seen like this. "Severus?" It was Minerva, he didn't reply, maybe if he pretended that he wasn't there she would leave. "Severus. I'm coming in." She tried to open the door but found it locked, there was silence for a moment then the lock clicked and she walked inside. "Severus-" and she gasped not expecting the sight that awaited her. Severus sat on his bed trembling and crying, with a blade clenched in his hands and arms dripping with blood. Minerva didn't say anything and pulled him into a tight hug. Her hug comforted Severus and he could breathe again. He tried to speak, "Minerva, I- Ouch." She realized that she was hurting him and loosened her grip. "Please forgive me, Severus." Her robe was covered in blood and she slightly grabbed his arm to examine it. She flicked out her wand and Severus flinched, on seeing his reaction she miserably looked at him as she conjured bandages and a wet handkerchief and started wiping his arm. She wiped away the blood as best as she could and wrapped the bandages on his arm, checking that it wasn't too tight. She was silent for a moment and tear fell freely from his eyes. Minerva felt pity for the miserable Severus, he had learned to cry silently as a child and one wouldn't even realize he was crying without looking at him. "Come on, Poppy has to disinfect the cuts." She said in a warm tone. Severus couldn't stop the tears from falling as he walked with Minerva to the medical wing, her reaction was nothing like his father's it felt more like a comfortable motherly feeling, one he had not experienced ever since his mother had passed. The moment they walked into the medical wing Madame Pomfrey saw the crying Severus and her face dropped, checking that Harry was still unconscious she took him to a bed. Severus lifted up his sleeve and turned his face from their view, "Crying is humiliating enough" he thought to himself and she walked over to the cabinet looking miserably sad and got some disinfecting wipes and bandages. She waved her wand and the bandages came off and she started wiping the cuts. The wipes stung his cuts and the pain made him smile, pain was something he experienced daily from his father as a child and he had gotten used to it and even started to enjoy the familiar feeling. Minerva and Poppy watched him enjoy the pain and exchanged sad looks. Severus knew the disinfecting wipes worked better than a charm and he was glad, the charm was too quick and it wasn't painful at all so he always preferred the wipes. As she finished putting on the bandages on his arm Ron walked in and looked over at them, Severus glared at him. "Enjoying the view, Mr. Weasley?" He snapped. "No, sir. I wanted to ask if you were ok." Minerva and Poppy trembled knowing that wasn't the right thing to say to him. Severus growled and snapped shut the curtains. Madame Pomfrey walked over and grabbed a calming drought and gave it to Severus, "Drink the whole thing, it helps when you have a panic attack." Severus nodded and gave a small pained smile and Minerva and Poppy realized that he did that quite often these days, they both felt so sad watching him act like this.