The Traitor – Chapter Four
Valentina opened a bruised eye and winced at the pain her body was causing. She noticed her right leg hanging in the air and when she tried to pull it down, she couldn't. So she assumed it was magically lifted. Then she tried to sit up, but failed again.
"What's going on?" she tried to get up again and failed. "Is there anyone here? Help!" she called.
Snape opened the door and entered. He leaned at the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.
She looked at him with a confused expression. "I can't move. And my leg is hovering in the air!"
Snape didn't answer. He kept staring at her.
"Why are you staring at me?" She asked, starting to feel irritated. "I need some help here! Ow!" she winced again because of the pain in her side.
"Serves you right." Snape said with his cold tone.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she sighed, then looked at him. "Besides, am I supposed to know you?"
Snape looked surprised. "Please stop playing that pathetic game, Miss Forester."
"What game? And what did you call me?"
"You don't remember anything?" Snape walked to the side of the bed.
"What are you talking about, Mister?" she inquired. "I have no idea who you are, why is my body aching and I..." she paused for a moment and had a look of terror on her face. "Oh my goodness. I don't know who I am." Tears were starting to fill her eyes.
"Look at me, Miss Forester." Snape said, when she kept staring at the sky, he repeated in an ordering tone. "Look at me!"
She looked at him in the eye and instantly felt that her privacy was being invaded. Snape was trying to read her mind, but he couldn't find anything to start with. Her mind was an empty black space.
"You've lost your memory." He said calmly.
"I... what?" she blinked.
"Do you know what your name is?" he asked and she shook her head.
He pulled a chair and sat next to the bed. He took out a napkin from his pocket and wiped her tears.
"Do you know who I am?" She asked him.
"Your name is Valentina Forester." Snape replied. He was about to continue telling her about being a skilled Death Eater but he decided against it.
"How old am I?" she asked, holding back a sob.
"To be honest, I don't know." He replied. "I think you're in your early thirties. I'll have to ask the Headmaster."
"Headmaster?"
"Professor Dumbledore," Snape said. "The Headmaster of Hogwarts."
"Oh.." she said, not sure what Hogwarts was.
Snape looked at her and wondered what would have she been like if she hadn't been a Death Eater. He felt guilty for keeping her tied to the bed, knowing that she doesn't remember anything about her task, but he couldn't free her now. He couldn't trust her yet.
"I should take you to Madam Pomfrey." He said finally.
"Who's Madam Pomfrey?" Valentina asked.
"She the medi-witch at Hogwarts." He said and got up. He went to the living room and took out some floo powder from the floo jar and threw it into the fire and put his head in.
"The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts." He said and his head popped out at Madam Pomfrey's office.
"Poppy, are you there?" he called.
Madam Pomfrey came into the view as soon as she heard her name being called.
"Severus?" she kneeled in front of the fireplace. "How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine, thank you." He replied. "I need to ask you if I can bring Miss Forester to the Hospital Wing."
"Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"She's got amnesia." He replied. "Doesn't remember anything."
Madam Pomfrey got up and paced back and forth. "I don't know Severus. The new term is going to start within a week, and I don't like the idea of having a Death Eater inside the school."
"So you don't like me being there, too?" he teased.
"Of course not, you silly boy!" she smiled. "You're not evil. But she is, and any moment she could get her memory back."
"We'll talk about that when we get there. Until then can I bring her there? I don't want to leave her all alone in my house."
"All right. But I'm going to have to tie her to the bed." She said.
"That's fine with me." He said and pulled his head out of the fire.
He got up and went to his room and found Valentina sleeping. He opened his wardrobe and took out a new set of clothes for himself and went to the bathroom to get dressed. When he was done, he returned to the room and prepared his suitcase, making sure he didn't wake her up in the process. After putting the last pair of socks in the suitcase, he shrinked it and put it in his pocket. Then it was time to wake Valentina. He was going to have to carry her through the fireplace, which made him feel uneasy. He hated carrying people, especially such a beautiful young woman. He sighed and bent over her and shook her gently.
"Valentina, wake up." He said in a whisper.
Valentina opened her eyes and was met with black eyes which were piercing through her mind in an instant. She gasped and closed her eyes again.
"Sorry," Snape said and straightened himself. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's all right." She replied.
"I'm going to untie you now, and I'll take you to the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts." He said.
She nodded silently and in her mind she wondered what a Hospital Wing would look like.
Snape waved his wand her and she could feel the invisible ropes around her body disappear. Then he waved at her hovering leg and it dropped on the bed, which made Valentina scream in pain.
"Bloody hell," Snape cursed. "Pardon me." He managed to hide a smirk.
"Are you crazy!" she yelled at him. "Get me to that Hospital place, quickly! It hurts like hell!"
Snape muttered a few more curses under his nose and picked her up from the bed. She buried her face at his chest and grabbed his robes tightly. He didn't bother to use a pain relieving charm on her leg. In Snape's opinion, having amnesia didn't rid Valentina from what she almost did to him the night before.
He walked to the fireplace and cursed again, as he didn't manage to get the floo powder out of the jar without dropping it. So, he put Valentina on the sofa, and then took some floo powder out of the already broken jar and threw it into the fireplace. Then he picked Valentina up again and stepped into the fireplace.
"The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts." He said and they were both transferred into Madam Pomfrey's office.
"Poppy?" Snape called as he walked out of the fireplace. When he didn't hear a reply from her, he proceeded to the infirmary and found her there preparing a bed for her new patient.
"Oh, you're here!" she said. "Put her on this bed over here." She pointed at the bed she had just finished preparing.
Snape put Valentina on the bed, as gently as he could do it and stood there looking at her. She wiped her tears and looked away from him.
He extended his hand to remove a lock of hair from her face, but she caught his hand before he could touch her.
"Don't." she said dryly, and turned to look at him. He could see hatred in her eyes. "You've helped enough."
He pulled his hand and walked out of the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow.
When Snape was out of the infirmary, Valentina curled to her left side and stretched her right leg and started crying.
"Why are you crying, my girl?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"My leg." She said between sobs. "When he was untying me, he let it drop and it didn't stop hurting since then."
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey said and took out her wand. "That boy needs to be taught some manners."
Madam Pomfrey helped Valentina turn to lie on her back and then she started muttering an incantation which eased the pain in the broken leg. Then she made it hang in the air just as it was at Snape's place.
"Did you drink your medicine this morning?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"No." Valentina replied. "I didn't know I had to."
Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Severus needs to... all right. I'll just talk to him later. Now, back to you." She said and summoned a bottle that had a skull for a cork and it had the word 'Skel-E-Grow' written across it. "You're going to drink this potion for a couple of days. It'll help to mend your leg."
"Will it hurt?" Valentina asked.
"No. But it doesn't taste good."
"I don't care. As long as it wouldn't hurt."
Madam Pomfrey smiled and poured some of the potion in a little glass and gave it to Valentina to drink. She helped Valentina to sit up and drink it.
"ugh!" Valentina almost spit the potion out. "That's gross!"
"No one said that medicine should taste like pumpkin juice." Madam Pomfrey shrugged. "Now, you should lie down as I'm going to tie you to the bed."
"Again?" Valentina protested. "I was tied at that house as well, and I don't even know why am I being tied up!"
"I don't think it's my place to tell you, child. So, I'll just do my job and let the Headmaster or Severus answer your questions." Madam Pomfrey said. "Sorry."
Valentina made a sound that seemed like a growl and lay back on the bed. Madam Pomfrey started casting the binding charms and Valentina could now feel the invisible ropes tightly wrapping themselves around her. She sighed and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do about it. She was hoping she could get her memory back soon enough so she could find out the reason why she's being tied to the bed.