"I'm going to be sick."
"You'll be fine."
"No, I'm serious. I'm going to be sick." Indeed, Kerri looked a little wobbly. Ginny grabbed her arm as she sat down hard in Snape's chair. It was just after breakfast, and half an hour before the first class of the day. "I was barely able to talk to a first-year a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm expected to handle the whole class! Why in Merlin's name did Professor Snape have to-" She bit her tongue just in time, keeping herself from blurting out the secret Dumbledore had charged her with. "-to dump this on me? Merlin help me, I'm not a teacher!"
"Don't worry!" Fred clapped her on the back. "George and I will keep the peace in the class!"
"Gods . . ."
"Stop it, you two . ." Ginny said warningly.
The innocent look that the twins pasted on their faces did nothing to calm Kerri's nerves. "Really, Kerri, We'd have it under control. We'd just sneak in, plant a few well placed hexes, and Malfoy will stop being your problem sooner than you can say, 'Snape is a greasy git!'" The girls glared. "It sounds like a good idea to me!" added George defensively.
Hermione sighed. "I take it that the two of you forgot that McGonagall's going to be sitting in on the class?"
"Oh."
"Well, never mind."
"Looks like you're on your own."
"Good luck and all that!"
"Smashing." The twins wandered off, whistling. Ginny watched them suspiciously for a moment then turned to the other girls.
"I've told Harry and Ron to keep an eye on them so they don't decide to give you a hand after all. McGonagall or no, Umbridge will be there, and I don't think I could withstand the temptation to blow her up either." She laid a hand on Kerri's shoulder. "I'm sorry that I can't help you with anything other than the fourth-years. Hermione and the others will be there for the fifth-years, but . . ."
"We can't do everything." Hermione finished. "At least you only have our two classes to do today."
"I know." Kerri managed a sickly-looking smile. "Thanks." Taking a deep breath, she stood. "I'm going to go take a short walk to clear my head. I've got a couple of hours before my first class. I'll see you there?"
The girls gave her a thumbs-up and watched her go. Once she was out of sight, Hermione asked quietly, "Snape's in the hospital wing?"
"Yes," answered Ginny, just as quietly. "Ron was there last night for a sprained wrist after Quiddich. He watched Dumbledore and Pomfery bring the two of them in. According to him, Kerri only looked as though she'd lost some blood, but Snape was an absolute mess. Bloody, broken, convulsing, the whole nine yards. He was surprised that he was still alive. From what he heard of the following conversations, Kerri had apparently used the Exsanguinus charm on Snape to try and save his life after he got back from a Death Eater meeting, but . . ." She paused and shook her head, "If he looked like that after she tried to patch him up, I'm not placing any bets on him being back to class anytime soon."
Kerri peeked around the corner and looked in on the Hospital wing. It was, of course, too much to hope that Snape might be feeling well enough to teach the class himself, but it couldn't hurt to check . . . She tiptoed over to the bed and pulled the curtains surrounding it aside.
Snape was looking much better than he had been last night, but he was still pretty far gone. His eyes were both blackened, his face twisted in a grimace of pain even though he was asleep. Her makeshift bandages had been removed to be mostly replaced by unbroken skin, still pink and new. She winced as she looked him over. The poor man . . She thought reluctantly, her hand involuntarily reaching out towards him.
"A concussion, five broken ribs, crushed wrist, left leg broken in two places, missing two teeth," said Madame Pomfery from behind her, making her jump and yank her hand back. "And that's not even counting the numerous cuts and the damage caused by the Cruciatus. However, the bones are mended, the teeth regrowing, and the cuts mostly closed up. He's very lucky to still be alive, and he has you to thank for it." She looked down at the man and smiled crookedly. "Not that he will, of course."
"Of course," echoed Kerri faintly. "When do you think-"
"He'll be better?" The older witch finished. "Hard to say, really. Could be a few days, could be longer. If you'll remember, you didn't even wake up for a week, and that was just a stomach wound."
"I think he's probably made of tougher stuff than I am."
"Hopefully. He has been through much worse." She paused. "I think. By the way, if we have to admit something happened to him, he was attacked by centaurs in the Forest. Minerva's idea." She gave the girl a sharp look out of the corner of her eye. Kerri looked stricken, and although most of that was due to the fact she had to deal with Snape's classes for him, Madame Pomfery would drink a bottle of Skele-grow if that was all. Saving someone's life tended to do that to people. She patted the younger witch on the shoulder and summoned over a chair for her. "Why don't you have a seat and keep an eye on him for a while, dear? I need to check up on some of my other patients."
Obediently, Kerri sat as Madame Pomfrey ducked back though the curtains. A few moments later, Lilith uncurled from the foot of the bed and padded up to the girl's shoulder.
-He hasn't woken up yet, in case you were wondering.-
"I know. Bloody git." She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. Those curtains must have been full of dust, she thought absently. "Even when he's unconscious, he makes my life miserable."
-What this all about? Teaching? Just glare down your nose at them and stalk about intimidating-like. That's what he does.-
Kerri reached over and scratched the cat behind the ears. "Thanks for the advice, but I don't think that it will work for me."
Lilith gave her a look. -And whyever not?-
"Well, first of all, if you haven't noticed, I'd have to glare up my nose at most of them. And I'm not exactly intimidating." She sighed. "I'll be lucky if they even listen to me in the first place. Not to mention that Umbridge will probably be nosing in on one of the classes at least."
-The cat-woman is going to be there, though, isn't she?-
"'Cat-woman'? I hope that that's a compliment, Lilith." McGonagall herself lifted aside the bed-curtains and peered down at Snape. "Still looks like he's met the wrong end of a Skrewt, I see."
-That is, of course, implying that there is a right end to meet- Lilith added dryly. -Hello, Minerva, did you bring me something to eat?-
"It's good to see you too. I'm fine, thank you for asking." McGonagall fished in her robes and pulled out half a tuna sandwich. "Cats are so good at social niceties, aren't they?" She handed the sandwich to Lilith and called over a chair for herself. "Now then. I thought that I'd find you up here, Miss Harper- Good Heavens, are you all right?"
Kerri tried ineffectually to dab at her eyes. "Yes . . . No . . . That is . . It's just too much . . ." She dug around for a handkerchief. "I-I'm sorry, you must think me an awful crybaby . . ."
"Hardly." Kerri found a handkerchief dangling in front of her nose, which she took gratefully. "There isn't a witch or wizard in Britain who hasn't felt utterly overwhelmed at some time or another. Small wonder, the goings on. You-Know-Who hasn't even shown his scaly face and yet we're already choosing sides. Fudge and Dumbledore, Dumbledore and Fudge. . . We'll be at each others throats before the first Dark Revel takes place." The older witch sighed, lost in her thoughts. "I almost envy the muggles, they at least get to live in blissful ignorance of the whole thing. You young ones, it's so sad. We thought a least one generation might be able to grow up unscathed by this whole thing, but we don't even have that. A miniature nest of Death Eaters, the Slytherin house. It's all Severus can do to keep them under control and maybe bring a few of them to their senses. And that Umbridge woman! Under the name of the Ministry and protection, she'll make the students so weak that they'll just get plowed right under. I-" She paused and shook her head. "Now look at me. As if you didn't have worries enough. Some counselor I am. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, what's wrong?"
"It's all my fault."
"Excuse me?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
"Professor Snape being attacked. It's my fault. If I hadn't asked to come here, or if I'd been stronger, this never would have happened. For some reason the Death Eaters want me, I don't know why, but it's causing all this trouble!" She sniffed again. "Even staying with the Aurors is better if people stop being hurt."
"Like hell it is," a slightly unsteady voice interrupted. "This has become a matter of personal pride." The two witches glanced down at the figure on the bed. Snape's eyes were still closed, but the familiar sneer was trying to come back, though it plainly hurt him to move even that much. "And stop whining, Miss Harper. Your voice is making my head hurt."
McGonagall shook her head. "If there's one thing I can say for Slytherins, it's their stubbornness. He may just be up and about by tomorrow. Now, don't start crying again! You have a class to teach!"
At that, Snape's eyes flew open and he garbled out something to the effect of, "Class -- teach -- her-- bloody -- over my dead body--!" He managed to get himself under control and added in a calmer voice, "You had better not be talking about mine."
"No, Professor, we're talking about the class belonging to the other teacher who's up to his eyebrows in bandages." Kerri said crossly through her tears. "I'm not any happier about this than you."
"With you teaching, we might as well cancel the class."
"Well, maybe I might be able to actually teach them something, instead of scaring them so badly, they can barely measure ingredients."
"You couldn't scare them if you had a boggart floating behind you."
"I don't want to scare them!"
"You don't want to teach them either."
"So -- I -- you -you git!" Kerri glared at Snape, who was smirking. She tried to come up with something suitably scathing to say to him, failed, and stalked toward the door with a growl. Halfway there, she heard Snape let out a hiss of pain as he tried to sit up and deliver one last retort.
She spun around, to see him clutching his chest where a red stain began to spread out over the bandages between his fingers. McGonagall called for Madame Pomfrey at once, who came scurrying over, scolding him loudly as she went. Kerri stared forward, them stopped. What could she do after all? She stood there helplessly as the two witches made him lie back down and submit to rebandaging.
When the sparkling, red haze of pain receded from his vision at last, Snape looked over at the pale girl. He was shocked to see that tears were running down her cheeks once more, and he could see the slightest trace of well-hidden worry in her eyes. When she noticed him watching her, she bit her lip, but didn't look away. The two stared at each other for a moment, as the older witches looked on silently. Finally, Kerri raised a slightly shaking finger and pointed at him.
"If you die while I'm teaching, I'll kill you." She stood there for an instant more, lips pressed together, before running off. There was a strange upward twitch at the corner of Snape's mouth as he watched her go.