Chapter 16: First a person was hot, then with fever, then dead, then completely dead, then dead forever.

Arthur Weasley awoke that morning to find his wife already up and calling for him, something about Floo's and some such, he wasn't sure. Throwing on his robes (front at the front for a change) he glanced at his watch--

--and collapsed back into bed. It was only 4am! Molly must have heard him, for she came barreling up the stairs. "Arthur, come on, get up now! The Headmaster wants you to talk to that friend of yours in the Floo Regulation department and he wants it done now, before everybody--"

"What friend?" he moaned.

Molly entered the room, hands on hips. "Now, really! It's not enough that I have had to get 6 boys out of bed for how many years, now you won't! Well, blame Fred and George for making me learn this one!"

Arthur scrambled out of bed before his wife got her wand out of her apron. Whatever that spell was, he had seen too many mornings with his boys grumbling about her abilities to want to be on the receiving end. "What does he need me to do?" he asked again as he straightened out his robes.

"He needs you to talk to that friend of yours over in the Floo department, Nodwell. Something about needing a connection from the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts and Snape Manor, and he wants it done before all the heavy traffic."

"They must have found Severus Snape, then," Arthur muttered, doing up buttons.

"But why not use the automatic connection to St. Mungo's if he's been injured?"

Arthur hurried down the rickety stairs, his wife following. "Either Dumbledore doesn't want the Ministry to know--" he stopped and looked back up at Molly. "Or You Know Who to find out."

The fire flared once, and Mad-Eye Moody stepped through, grunted and stepped back from the hearth. Kingsley followed after him and they both headed toward the Headmaster.

"Any surprises, gentlemen?"

"Beside the attic?" Kingsley asked with a small smile. "None. The place was deserted save for the Potions Master. No concrete proof that You Know You was there, unless Severus can give us a eyewitness account."

Moody was muttering about dark wizards in general. A moment later the fire roared again, releasing Lupin, who was hold up one end of a stretcher. Rowena Snape followed with the other end a second later.

Pomfrey hurried forward and gasped.

"He's not a pretty sight," Moody observed dryly. "I'm not even convinced he's even alive."

Pomfrey drew up along the prone figure and checked for a pulse. "No pulse," she reported, "yet no decomposing of the extremities, or drainage of blood to the lower body…" She looked up at Rowena. "Not the Draught? In this condition?"

"Desperate times, desperate measures, Poppy," Rowena replied as she and Lupin moved over to the ready bed.

"How much do you think he took?" Poppy asked, settling Severus onto the bed.

Rowena shrugged. "It looks like anything from 2 mg to 10. It all depends on how much he managed to swallow and was able to keep down. The stuff has a nasty bite-back." She thought for a moment, her fingers playing with the vial. "Best guess? About 8 mg, concentrated twice through. Been out probably 30 hours or so."

"Lucky it didn't kill him," Lupin murmured.

"I'm sure that it came close, too close for me to risk healing his injuries before he starts showing sides of consciousness." Poppy straightened up. "All I can do, Headmaster, is to clean him up and wait. I can't even heal the broken ribs in case I send him into shock. The way he is right now, I wouldn't even know if I did."

"And that would definitely tip him over," Rowena murmured, settling herself on the next bed. "I'll stay with him till he wakes up."

Moody and Kingsley, after expressing their best wishes, departed, for both needed to be places before their superiors started to ask questions. Lupin was the only one left behind. He looked her once over, noting the pale skin, bloodshot eyes and slight tremor. "Why don't you get some sleep?" he asked kindly. "I can watch over him and wake you when he starts to come out of it."

Rowena started to protest. "I have classes to take in a few hours. I can hardly--" She was overridden by the Headmaster.

"A most excellent suggestion, one that the professor will take you up on. Her classes will, of course, be taken by the other staff members."

Hardly a suggestion, more an order, she thought to herself. "Yes, Grandfather," she teased. "But I'm still doing that lecture tonight though. 8 o'clock."

Albus smiled and nodded.

Author's note: Yes, I know it's short, but it didn't fit into the rest of the last chapter very well, and it won't fit on top of 17.

Merci to Silverthreads, villette ,noctu, assyria and duj for reviewing it. And thanks to anywho whose read it but, due to a forgetfulness potion, has yet to review.

Cheers!