Chapter 4: That's got to be a world record for hitchhiking.
Two conjured horses, (black, of coarse, she was a Snape), filled saddlebags of supplies, and Rowena was galloping across the fields outside of Hogwarts. The compass that floated alongside her told her that she was heading north by northwest into the Uncharted Forest, a not-exactly friendly place in the evening hours.
The equines, being magically created, didn't need rest. Their gate was as smooth as a carpet ride. She set their coarse and settled in to sleep the best she could, being rocked gently back and forth.
It was their stop that awoke her. Bleary-eyed, she looked around her in the early light. The birds that had caught her eye were all around her, sitting docilely in the trees. "All right, Sevi," she muttered, dismounting. "Where exactly are you?"
After an hour, in which neither scrying, calling or summoning produced even a wisp, she sat with her back against a tree, trying to talk through the problem she had.
"Alright. Sevi isn't out in the open, which means he hasn't traveled very far today. There were no tracks except mine, which means he apparated in. He only apparates on solid ground, so he's not in a tree or in the river. He's not answering my calls, so he's probably unconscious, asleep or otherwise. Scrying's not helping, so he's using some charm to keep hidden. So, the best way to get around that is—
"Finite Incantanteum!"
A section of the forest shimmered and changed from the bushes it had been to only one bush, with a black-clad figure underneath." Severus?" she called out, moving forward, wand up.
It stirred weakly, trying to raise its head off the ground. Rowena tucked the dropped wand into a pocket. Gently, she rolled the other onto his back, revealing blood soaked robes that were shredded around the bottom and sleeves. She pushed back the hood to reveal her brother's face, chalk white. His eyes were open, but Rowie could see that lights weren't even there, let alone lit.
"We'd better get you back to Hogwarts, shouldn't we? Now, where did, oh my." She grimaced at the dropped saddlebags, then re-conjured the horses, and started to prep for travel.
"Come on, now, none of that. That's right, upright! Now, forward we go, turning left, no, not down!"
Dumbledore stopped, listening to the odd one-sided conversation. He had been prowling the castle, almost as if he were taking over Severus's habit of looking for students to pounce on and terrify. However, by midnight the only students that would be out would be a few Gryffindors and perhaps an odd Slytherin.
The voice was fading as he came out of his thoughts. He went after if, having a good idea who it might be.
The sight that met him might have been comical if I had not been for the blood that stained both of them. Rowena Snape, at five foot four, was not in the same class as her nearly six-foot brother. But somehow she had the injured man on his feet, one arm draped around her shoulders. She looked up as she heard the Headmaster's steps.
"Oh," she said, eyes wide. "Err. Evening, Headmaster."
"Good evening. And where might you two be headed?"
"Uh...." Rowena stalled as Severus began to go limp. With a wave, a stretcher was obtained, and a second wave put Severus on it. The moment his head touched the fabric his was awake again and struggling to get up.
"Oh, stay put, Sevi!" Rowena snapped, holding him down.
"Must report-"
Dumbledore overruled him. "In time, Professor. Now we must keep you alive long enough to be able to report coherently."
"Might I suggest his own chambers?" Rowena said. "You and I both know how he enjoys the hospital wing."
Dumbledore stood looking out the window in the Potions Lab, watching the snowfall. To anyone whom had just walked in, it would seem that the snow mesmerized the elder man. He was, in fact, merely putting his thoughts together. Rowena and Poppy were busy settling Severus into his own bed tonight, seeing what all could be healed by the nurse, and what would have to heal on its own. Minerva McGonagall, after making sure all the Slytherins were in the dormitory, had come down to assist.
"Headmaster?" a voice called out from behind him. He turned to see Draco Malfoy standing just inside the door, dressed in his nightclothes, school cloak thrown over top.
"Mr. Malfoy, what might I do for you at this decidedly late hour?" For indeed, it was well past midnight.
Draco closed the door before replying. "I was going to ask how Professor Snape was doing, Headmaster."
Dumbledore said, quite calmly, "What gave the impression that Rowena Snape is unwell?"
"I meant her brother, sir. He didn't look quite, well, intact, sir, when you brought him inside the castle."
"Mr. Malfoy," came Minerva's voice from the door that led to the Snape's private rooms. "I believe that curfew for the 6th years is 10 o'clock, and it is well past that!"
"Now, now, Minvera," Albus soothed. "A Slytherin's honor is a unfathomable thing for a Gryffindor to understand. I am sure that he is merely here to confirm that Severus Snape is alive and under our care so he may assure the other's of his House."
McGonagall harrumphed, but said, "He's responding well to Madame Pomfrey's spells, so off to bed now!" And with that, she took hold of the boy's shoulder and marched him from the room.
Dumbledore shook his head, chuckling. Entering the injured man's room, his mirth faded. The young man was clean and in fresh clothing, but the bruises cuts and slashes stood out plainly.
"How is he, Poppy?"
"Well, it's not as bad as it looks, but he's going to be stiff for a while. I've been mending the broken ribs, and bandaged the major wounds. But this one," she said, turning back to the man and motioning to the left arm. "The bleeding won't stop fully and the muscles in the entire arm are all contracted."
"It's meant to hobble him," Rowena spoke up from her place on the other side of the room where she was measuring out potions. "He's left-hand balanced when he duels, so it would mess up his arm if nothing else."
"And make him pass out from the lose of blood eventually."
Leaning forward, the Headmaster looked closer at the wound. The long deep slash ran form wrist to elbow, through the Dark Mark, which at the moment was a dull gray.
"I doubt there is even anything Fawkes could do. This is very powerful dark magic."
Poppy nodded and left a few instructions with Rowena. As they conversed, Albus looked over the small room, noting the shelves of books, large fireplace all lit by the two-dozen candles and roaring fire. The black coverlets that Rowie and Poppy were pulling over Severus would also add to the warmth of the room.
With a final sniff, Pomfrey departed, closing the door with a soft click. One small stone gargoyle, what Albus had taken for a bookend, glowed black for a moment before it faded.
"Brother doesn't like visitors coming unannounced," Rowie said by way of an explanation. She motioned to a chair and the two sat down in front of the hearth. She gazed back at her brother's sleeping form and murmured, "Sevi, you're suppose to be looking after me, not vise-versa."
When Albus raised an eyebrow, she continued. Albus let her talk herself out, knowing that she probably just needed a sounding board.
"Severus is the youngest male of the family, but he is still 8 years older than me. He always said that he'd look after me, as I was the baby of the family." She sighed. "But, over the years, Severus was the one in need of 'looking after'. We all took risks during the dark times, but he – he looked for them. This isn't the first time that I've had to nurse him back to health.
Rowena continued to talk, knowing that the Headmaster already knew most of what she was saying, but talking soothed jumpy nerves.
"We both went to Hogwarts, as you know, though never together. I've always walked in his shadow, even my love of potions. That stopped during the war, when he became – when he chose a different path that I did."
Dumbledore could see that her eyes were shinning with unshed tears. "When he entered Voldemort's service as a Death Eater."
"Is it public record now, Albus? Never mind," she added as something chimed.
"I have to change the dressing again." She quickly got up, with Albus following close behind. "I do hope that the bleeding has stopped."