Warning: This chapter contains some graphic descriptions of bodily functions that traditionally accompany illness and food poisoning.
***
"Are you sure you want to do this," asked Hermione as Severus lifted the vial to his lips. "It's not too late to back out."
Severus lowered the vial. "You would let me back out now? If what you've told me is true, then hellfire and damnation will befall our world if I don't go with you."
"That's one way of putting it, yes," nodded Hermione.
"And from your perspective, I've already done this," he prodded.
"Not from mine, but from the Headmaster's and your mum's, yes."
"So why would you offer me the chance to reconsider?" Severus honestly seemed confused.
Hermione thought a moment. "Well, I like to think you still have the ability to make your own destiny. Har- a friend of mine often feels that his choices have all been made for him, and it tears him apart. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone else."
"I see. Well, lucky for you, I have no desire to 'back out' now." He lifted the vial, tilted his head back, and chugged. The foul taste made him grimace, but he eventually managed to swallow. "That was … unpleasant. How long do I have?"
"The fever and vomiting should start within the next couple hours. The hives, this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest."
Severus grimaced again. "Well then, I'd best be off to class. It won't do for me to become sick in private."
"No, a public display would be better," agreed Hermione. A thought occurred to her, and she laughed. "You could try to be sick on Sirius Black, you know."
"Now that's a pleasant thought!" Severus didn't look at all menacing when he laughed. "I'll try to pull that off. You know what to get from my room?"
Hermione nodded, "I'll get the most important things and keep them with me. I don't want to bring everything though or the House Elves might notice things are missing when they pack up for you."
"Good thinking. Oh, you'd better take these now," Severus rifled through his bag and pulled out a small scroll. "I'd appreciate it if you don't read that, but I don't think I should have it on me when I … become ill."
"I won't. I promise." She tucked the scroll into her own bag. He turned to leave. "Wait!"
Hermione took his hand and met his confused gaze. "Thank you. For doing this, I mean."
Severus' cheeks became a little pink as he turned away uncomfortably, "Don't mention it. I, uh, I'll see you at home, then." He walked quickly to the door and departed.
Hermione sat down, shaking her head. What had she done that for? She knew Severus Snape didn't like to be touched. But this boy really didn't seem much like the Snape she knew, did he? Again she thought how like Neville this Severus was, in desperate need of self-confidence. He was a little like Ron, too, in the way that he agreed to help despite the dangers he faced, even though he had no personal stake in the situation at all. Lord Voldemort probably doesn't even seem real to him, yet he willingly agreed to make himself violently ill in order to travel to the future to help fight him. That in itself takes a certain amount of bravery. Hermione sighed again. She'd always told Harry and Ron that Snape was brave to play the role he had; they just never chose to believe her.
***
Hermione donned the invisibility cloak and made her way toward Professor McGonagall's classroom. If Madame Pomfrey's assurances were accurate, Severus would become ill in the middle of his Transfiguration class with the Gryffindors.
Severus and his partner, a dour pimply girl, were attempting to transfigure a dormouse into an ornate candelabra, without much success. "How are we supposed to make it want to change?" complained the girl. "I'd rather be a dormouse than a candelabra!"
Hermione watched as Severus rolled his eyes and tried again. The mouse became a little brassy in color, then reverted to his natural form. She held in a giggle as Severus made several more barely effectual attempts.
"Let me try," insisted his partner, shoving him out of the way. Severus, weakened by the oncoming virus, lost his balance and toppled over, knocking the two children next to him and their dormouse on the floor as well.
"What on Earth is going on here," snapped Professor McGonagall, who marched over to the source of the ruckus. All but Severus were scrambling to their feet; he remained on the floor, clutching his stomach.
"Don't be such a baby, Snivellus," whined the pimpled girl, "There's nothing wrong with him, Professor, he just tripped over his own big feet."
"Did he," drawled their teacher, giving her a sharp glare before looking back down on Severus. "Please do me the honor of getting up off my floor, Mr. Snape."
Severus rolled onto his knees and pushed himself up on all fours. Sweat was pooling on his forehead and his breathing had become labored as he struggled to stand. "I'm sorry, Professor," he panted. "I'm feeling a bit dizzy."
"That, Mr. Snape, would appear to be an understatement," replied Professor McGonagall, not unkindly as she helped Severus to his feet. "Will you be able to direct yourself to the infirmary, or will you need someone to assist you?"
"I can make it, ooh…" he gasped as he stumbled through the gathering crowd toward the door. He made it a few steps, and then stopped, clutching his stomach. He turned to the left, and promptly lost his lunch all over a horrified James Potter, who knocked Sirius Black on his bum in his haste to avoid the stream of projectile vomit. The classroom was filled with a cacophony of "Eww!"'s from the girls and laughter from the boys. The humor of the situation crossed House boundaries, Hermione noted with surprise. Even Remus Lupin couldn't repress his giggles at the sight of his friend covered in Snape's … outburst.
After relieving his immediate problem, Severus stumbled out the door. Hermione made a mental note to share her observations with him later. He'd be overjoyed to know that even Potter's friends were laughing at him.
***
"I'm afraid this is no schoolroom prank, Professor, this boy is very ill," Madame Chenowith clucked as she patted down Severus' forehead with a damp cloth. "He's been vomiting all morning and his fever is dangerously high. I don't understand it, none of the customary treatments are relieving his symptoms."
Hermione sat in the far corner of the room under her invisibility cloak. Severus had the bed nearest the door, and as he was the only patient in the hospital ward, no one had cause to venture in her direction. A professor whom Hermione realized was Severus' Head of House had come to look in his unfortunate pupil.
"You're certain this is a naturally occurring illness, Helen," asked Professor Duncan. "I'm afraid your patient isn't the most popular boy in school. He's often been the target of hexes and pranks in the past. No sense of self-preservation, that one."
Madame Chenowith shook her head, "I already checked that, there is no aural signature of any kind of curse or hex. His reactions are consistent with a very virulent virus."
"Do you know of any viruses that match his symptoms? How much danger is he in?"
"I'm not quite sure yet, it could be one of several. Here, keep wiping him down, I want to verify something." The nurse handed the wet cloth to the older man before scurrying out of the room. The Slytherin looked uncomfortable as he awkwardly attempted to follow Madame Chenowith's instructions. The nurse returned several minutes later carrying a book.
"His symptoms correspond with two known illnesses, Professor. The Belgravian bird flu and the Xolian plague. The poor boy most likely has one of those," she held the book out to Professor Duncan, who read quickly and then grimaced.
The Slytherin sighed, shaking his head sadly. "For his sake, I hope he has the bird flu. Is there any way to tell for sure?"
"Only time, Professor. If it's the bird flu, by tomorrow he'll be covered with hives but will most likely recover given sufficient bed rest. But if he's got the plague," her voice tapered off. "He might not make it at all."
"How do you recommend we proceed, Helen?"
"For Severus, we can do little here," she replied. "Neither of these diseases has an effective treatment. But we must also consider the other students. Both of these viruses are extremely contagious, especially in the later stages. He needs to be kept isolated."
Professor Duncan considered for a moment. "What is the soonest he would recover, best case scenario?"
"Several weeks, at least. If he's got the Belgravian bird flu, that is."
"In that case, perhaps we should just send the boy home. If we can do nothing here, I'm sure he'll recover better at home anyway. And if, Merlin forbid, he has the plague, his family will want to be with him at the end." Professor Duncan looked down at the delirious Severus. "Sodding bad luck."
"I think you're right, Professor," sighed the nurse. "Do you want to tell the Headmaster or shall I?"
Professor Duncan grimaced. "I'll do it, the boy is my responsibility. I'll talk to him right after I owl his parents. Best to get young Snape out of here before he infects someone else."
Hermione glared on as Professor Duncan gave the cloth back to Madame Chenowith and strode out the door. The Slytherin seemed more concerned about getting Severus away from Hogwarts than he did about his student's recovery. Maybe she was being unfair, but he could have shown a little more compassion. She was glad Severus was too delirious to hear his Head of House's cold appraisal of his situation.
Hermione waited until Madame Chenowith left the room and then silently snuck out herself. She'd done all she could here at Hogwarts, now she must go back to the Snape house to prepare for the sick boy's arrival.
***
As anticipated, Severus' father was away 'on business' when Hermione arrived just ahead of Professor Duncan's owl. Mrs. Snape showed her upstairs into the house and made her some tea before Floo'ing to Hogwarts to retrieve her son. Hermione made herself comfortable in the sitting room as she waited and pondered the mission so far. Madame Pomfrey had been very clever in her choice of disease. Although Madame Chenowith was correct in her assessment of the Belgravian bird flu, she had no way of knowing that not three years into her own future the development of a potion by a team of medicinal potions researchers at the University of Foggybottom would downgrade the virus into the "minor annoyance" category. A side effect of the research was the development of a weaker strain of the virus. Poor Severus would only suffer for a couple nights, rather than the months of painful convalescence he would have been doomed to had he contracted the disease under normal circumstances.
Hermione had just finished her tea when Mrs. Snape returned, leading a swollen and unhappy Severus through the fireplace. She jumped up and helped bring him to the couch to rest for a little while before they made the remainder of their journey.
After settling him down, Hermione extracted a small bottle from her pack. "This should help relieve some of the pain." She carefully poured two small orange pills into the palm of her hand and took the glass of water that Mrs. Snape had poured for her son. He looked suspiciously at the pills, but did not speak.
"Swallow these with water. They're called Advil and they'll cut right through the fever and the cramping." Her tone brooked no nonsense. Severus' hand shook as he reached for the pills. It shook too much. "No, let me."
He opened his mouth and allowed her to place the pills on his tongue, then dutifully swallowed as she carefully brought the glass to his lips. A little water dripped onto his robes, but not as much as if he'd tried to hold the glass himself in his current state. And besides, Severus didn't seem to notice. He leaned back and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. Hermione and Mrs. Snape watched silently as he rested.
"When do you need to leave?" Mrs. Snape broke the silence. Severus had stopped shaking and appeared to have fallen asleep.
Hermione surveyed the sleeping boy. "It's all the same really, we'll arrive at the same time regardless. If he's lucid when he wakes up, we'll leave then. As long as we're gone before your husband returns, we'll be fine."
"Then you have some time. He won't be back before tomorrow evening, I wager. He never is, thank Merlin." Hermione tried not to wear the pity she felt for Mrs. Snape's position on her face as she pretended to be watching Severus. How dreadful it must be being married to a monster.
***
The women were having supper when Severus shuffled into the kitchenette, eyes droopy, but steady. Mrs. Snape went to help him into a chair, but he gently shook her off. "I can do it."
At least he was a little more gracious about accepting tea than his mother's help, thought Hermione. Boys are so stubborn. "How are you feeling?"
"My stomach no longer feels like it is filled with hot coals, but I wouldn't try to ride a broom for awhile," he quipped. "What's in those 'Avdil' things, anyway?"
He must be feeling better, she grinned. "Lots of chemicals that I can't pronounce. I'll show you the bottle later. Can you eat?"
"I'd better not," he shuddered. "I'd rather not begin my trip to help save the world by puking on the floor, it lacks style."
"All right then," she laughed. "I see your sense of humor is undamaged at least. Let me help your mum clear up a bit and then we'll be off, if you're up for it."
Severus nodded, "No reason to dawdle here, I suppose. No offense, Mum."
Mrs. Snape was looking strangely at Severus, making Hermione feel suddenly like a fifth wheel. "I'll just use the loo, then I'll help straighten up."
She returned to hear low whispers between mother and son, which silenced when she entered the room. Hermione blushed, "I can wait in the sitting room, if you want to talk for a spell."
"No, we're done," Severus stood, a little wobbly but confidently. "Let's get our things and go." He suffered an awkward hug from his mother and then followed Hermione into the sitting room where their things were piled. They each took a bag, and walked to the Floo.
"When will you be back," asked Mrs. Snape.
"We'll send him back the last day of the current school term," replied Hermione. "Right when he would have come home anyway. You're sure that no one will mention Severus' absence from school to Mr. Snape?"
"I'm sure," she nodded. "And if they do, I know how to handle it." She waved her arm as if waving her wand.
"Excellent. Thank you again for all your help, Mrs. Snape." She pinched a bit of Floo powder from a pouch by the fireplace and tossed it in. "The Room of Requirement, Hogwarts!"
***
"It seems we could have saved some trouble by making the jump from my house," suggested Severus. "No offense, but I'm probably going to need some more of your little pills soon."
"That's why we had to sneak back here, actually. We'll go forward from outside the dungeon and then go straight to the infirmary." She pulled out the invisibility cloak and draped it over them. "Try to stay close to me this time."
"Try not to stomp on my feet then," retorted Severus, but he moved closer to her anyway and they made their way out the door and down to the dungeons. The students were at dinner, so they passed no one in the halls.
"By the way," whispered Hermione as she extracted the Time-Turner. "I was kidding about being sick on Sirius Black."
"I wasn't," answered Severus. And then time turned.
***
A/N: Sorry for the long delay! Thank you VERY much to all who reviewed! I'm glad my characterization of Teen!Severus is going over well, I'm almost obsessive about trying to keep characters in character so I was a little worried. I really hope the next chapter won't be as delayed as this one was!