"Finite Incantatum," Severus whispered, breathing hard, the roaring thunder of Hagrid's yell almost sending him into unconsciousness. He staggared toward the sound.

Albus and Minerva were stooped over a robed figure, which Severus could tell had fallen bonelessly into a heap just after opening the gate. Perhaps not a Muggle, Severus deduced from the pale midnight-blue wizard's traveling cloak.

"Wizard, Albus? Can you tell?"

"She seems to be exhausted, Severus," Minerva piped in, glaring at the potions master.

"She's not a diversion? This could be meant to lure us away from the castle, Albus," Severus snapped. His headache had just reached blinding porportions. He sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. If Voldemort were to attack now, Severus shivered at his use of the Dark Lord's name. I'm losing it.

"To be safe, Severus, for your satisfaction," Albus looked up at Severus, who was leaning himself against the gate for support. He pointed his wand at the still-unconscious form "protratum hostis," and a clear aura of color formed over the girl. "See Severus, not an enemy."

"Suit yourself Albus, the Dark Lord has many ways of controlling those whom he wishes to use."

"Well, she must be seen to at once," Minerva quipped. "We cannot assess her injuries here and Snape is in no condition to do a scan. Headmaster, I suggest the Hospital Wing immediately. And you too Severus, I can see the headache you're nursing."

He glared at Albus and Minerva and Hagrid. He pushed off from the gate, and the world suddenly started spinning. He groaned, slumping to the ground before the pain of the headache overwhelmed him.

"Defigocorpus," Dumbledoore stood, not wanting to cause any aggrevation to the girl's still-unknown injuries. "Hagrid, could you please bring Severus to the Hospital Wing?"

"Poppy!" Minerva called, "We have two patients for you!"

Poppy hurried over to the bed Dumbledoore laid the girl on and cast a quick look at Severus still in Hagrid's arms. "Put him next to the girl, Hagrid. Tell me what happened, Albus," Poppy said, waving her wand over the girl, muttering, "vulneris appareo."

"Severus fire-called me, saying a Muggle had breached the wards. We all went down to investigate, and found this girl just inside the gates. We coudln't detect any dark magic on her, though, so it's doubtbul she's a lackey of Voldemort. I immobilized her before I brought her here. I was afraid she'd have hidden injuries."

"Well, she's exhausted. And her feet are bruised from walking. If she's a wizard then she must not know much about wizarding life or she might have flooed into Hogsmeade. Some of her joints are sore and inflamed. She looks like she's walked hundreds of miles. And she's a bit malnourished. Nothing we can't fix, though she's got a bit of a chest cold and a mild fever that will keep her with me for a few days. We'll let her sleep for now. I don't want to give her anything without knowing a medical history.

"Now Severus," the matron turned toward her other patient."I suspect he cast passum pastesco to try to reveal any enemies or muggles hiding out in the forest. A bit of an overwhelming spell - even I have trouble comprehending all the sensations coming through my mind."

"He will need some anti-headache drought and a dreamless sleep potion. Probably some Pepper-Up too," Poppy sighed tiredly, not even waving her wand over the man who would probably resent her for it if he woke up to find her standing over him. She'd been doing inventory on the Hospital Wing, a tiresome chore. I'm not exactly firing on all cylinders here, she groaned inwardly.

"You know he will fight you if you try to keep him here Poppy," Minerva frowned. "Well he's not waking up, Minerva, and that's concerning. He may have been fatigued before he cast the spell."

"Or suffering from the heat," Minerva cut in. "You must scan him Poppy. Look at all the clothing he's wearing. It's 88 degrees outside and Severus dresses like it's the North Pole! He's probably suffering from heat exhaustion!"

"You're right," Poppy's scan was producing a list of vitals and problems in the air above Severus' chest. "His blood pressure is fluctuating and he's still sweating profusely. His heart rhythm is a bit off. He's bordering on heatstroke. We've got to cool him."

"Will he be all right, Poppy?" Albus butted in.

"We'll have to work quickly. I need your help, Albus. Minerva, Hagrid, you'll have to wait outside."

"Help me strip him, Ablus, we've got to get these clothes off of him. You know him best. He'll be more comfortable with you helping than Minerva."

Poppy's wand spelled off the buttons to Severus' collared shirt, the round enamel stones flying. Underneath, Snape was wearing another layer of clothing - his long underwear. "Surely it's not this cold in the dungeons," Albus muttered as he and Poppy managed to remove all but Snape's knickers.

"I think I know what's going on here," Poppy said as she spelled ice packs to Snape's grion, neck and underarms. "He's been working on some cold and allergy potions for the students. Some of the ingredients must be kept at the freezing level before they are brewed, lest they lose their potency. Snape probably spelled his lab to the freezing level in order to make large quantities of potion all at once, instead of piecemeal. It's hard to keep Artic poppy potent when it isn't at its normal temperature, even with cooling spells. Factored with the fumes, the cold and then rushing outside in the middle of this heat wave have probably made him ill."

"Poppy, you never cease to amaze me at how well you know what Severus does."

"When I send him a potions list four feet long, I know what he'll be doing for weeks. He'll need fluids," Poppy noted, casting a cooling charm on the pale, prone man. "Hold his head, I"m going to try to get this cooling draft and anti-headache potion into him."

"Doesn't he need to be conscious for that?"

Poppy forced a smile at him. "The longer Severus stays unconscious, the more chance I have to treat him." She tipped the vials to the potion master's lips and dribbled in a bit of each.

Albus massaged the man's throat as Severus swallowed. "He's not putting up a fight, Poppy. That's not like Severus."

"Just wait. He will. That spell must have flooded his senses. His mind is probably in shock from the combination of the heat collaspe and the spell. It may be a while before he's able to sort things through again. But his vitals are stabilzing. He should wake soon. You'll have to help me get some more potions into him."

Poppy turned away for a moment to check her other patient, who was sleeping soundly. "And I bet this is a shock to him, seeing someone who looks like him," the matron continued.

"Excuse me, Poppy?" the twinkle reappered in the headmaster's eyes.

"You didn't notice headmaster? Look, the black refined hair, the high cheekbones, the pale complexion, the thin limbs, the prominent nose. This girl is a Snape if I ever saw one."

"We'll wait to hear her story. I am more concerned with Severus' state of mind right now and his safety. If this is a deatheater plan to infiltrate Severus' defenses then we must act prudently," Dumbledore cast a binding spell over the girl's bed. "I don't even think Severus noticed her, he was too ill already."

Poppy nodded before heading back to her chores. Dumbledoore conjured a chintz chair between the beds, settling in for a day's waiting for the sick and injured to return to the land of the wizarding.