Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything in the HP Universe. I simply wish to play in J.K. Rowling's playground for my own amusement (and hopefully yours too).
Warnings: Aftermath of a suicide attempt.
AN: Oh wow, your response to the last chapters was really astonishing. You are all so supportive and awesome. Therefore, I didn't want to let you wait too long for this one. Hugs to all of you, to everyone who reviewed, favoured, and followed.
This chapter is beta'ed by the wonderful a-bit-of-madness! Many many thanks and hugs and kisses to her.
Have fun reading.
On with the story.
Chapter 19: Family
Severus wasn't entirely sure why he volunteered. The moment Healer Samson talked about how the boy still lost blood, while his magic depleted itself by fighting the healing magic, his mind went back to the article he had read only two days ago, about the improvement of the Potion to treat self-inflicted wounds.
He wished now he had found the time somewhere in between all the happenings of the last days to conduct the tests he had wanted to do. Perhaps it would have helped to at least close the wound for a short time - time they could have used to replace the lost blood, and perhaps his magic would settle.
But they didn't have the time now. Destiny, or magic, or whatever god or goddess was responsible had played them, because Severus knew without a doubt that his magical signature would be compatible.
The similarities were too obvious.
They both grew up in the Muggle world, they had both horrid families. They had grown up being bullied, ridiculed and - in parts - unwanted. They had both learned early on how cruel the world could be. They had only a small number of real friends throughout their childhood, if any. Hogwarts had been their home, was their home still, but even there they had experienced hardship, bullying and traumatic events. Severus had been there for most of the boy's. They had both been touched and marked by the magic of the same dark wizard. They both knew what losing someone dear meant.
It pained Severus to admit that Potter – Harry - could have become like him, and Severus thanked Merlin that he hadn't.
Even still their magical signature should be - would be - similar enough that Severus could be a donor.
He still wasn't sure what he should think about the boy - the loathing of everything Potter was still there - but the thought of the last remains of his best friend disappearing was unbearable, and he couldn't get the pale thin face out of his mind, so unlike his father's.
The realisation that the boy was just that – a child - hit him again. A child who never knew his parents, who had experienced things a child should never need to go through.
The dark emotions of blame and bitterness grew. Perhaps it was selfish and the wrong reason to volunteer, but at least he was doing something helpful, something to perhaps lessen the deep pool of guilt in him. Severus had never claimed to be an altruistic person.
He followed Healer Samson out of the waiting area into a corridor with several doors leading into examination and operation rooms. In one of them there was another healer and a trainee waiting for them. The healer was a short, wiry, older woman, with short, dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.
"Professor Snape, this is Healer Quentin. She will be testing your magical signature and will be the one handling the transfusion. I will leave you in her capable hands." Samson nodded to Severus, then addressed his colleague. "Melanie, Professor Snape volunteered for the Magic Transfusion. How long do you think you will need?"
The woman looked shortly at Severus then at Samson. "I will perform the test myself, if he is compatible, we can conduct the transfusion the moment Mr Potter is stable. Did you find a donor?"
Samson nodded. "Yes, we have a very compatible donor for the Blood transfusion. Trainee Haversford is preparing everything as we speak."
"Good. The test for magical compatibility will take at least half an hour to an hour. Depending on the findings, I may need another hour to interpret the signature and compare it with Mr Potter's." Healer Quentin gestured to the trainee, who was busy with something on a table at the other end of the room.
"Good, let me know the moment you have the results." He left the room with another nod to Severus, who found himself on the end of the rather scrutinizing stare of Healer Quentin. For such a short woman, she was rather intimidating.
"So, you're Professor Snape? I thought you would be more… terrifying, based on the stories I've heard from my trainees." It didn't sound like she was insulting Severus, more like she was stating a fact. "So, you think that your magic is compatible with Mr Potter's."
Severus nodded curtly, earning another one of those scrutinizing looks.
Severus had the feeling he didn't measure up in the eyes of Healer Quentin, a feeling he didn't like.
"Then let's see if that's the case. You just sit there on the examination table, if you have anything magical on your person, please remove it and place it on the table there." She pointed towards a small table beside the door. "Like your wand, or a magical wristwatch."
Severus nodded in understanding, removing his wand from the inner pocket of his robes, and the potion vials he had packed just in case. The healer looked shortly at them but didn't say anything.
Then she gestured for Severus to sit on the examination table in the middle of the room and went to the trainee, who stepped aside. Now Severus could see that two large glass cylinders filled with differently sized glass balls took up most of the table at the back of the room. The balls in one of them were glowing in too many colours and intensities to differentiate from where Severus was sitting. The glass spheres in the other cylinder looked empty.
After a short, quiet conversation, the trainee stepped to the side of the table where the cylinder with the empty balls was and Healer Quentin stood before Severus.
"Have you ever had your magical signature tested?"
"No."
"This," She gestured to the cylinders. "Will record the findings. The one with the glowing spheres already holds the results from Mr Potter. What I will do now is scan your magic. It is a rather long spell in which I have to insist that you don't move at all. The spell I will perform will feel rather intrusive, as it searches how the magic is distributed in your body and then scans, your magical core."
"What will it record?" Severus knew the theory about magical signatures but had never thought about his own beyond that he had a mostly dark core, with enough grey and light magic to not hinder his ability to brew healing potions or attempt light spells.
"The exact composition of dark, grey and light magic your magical core is made of, which branches of magic it is inclined to, and in what intensity, how the different properties of your magic are connected and so on. After everything is scanned, I will perform a second spell, which will transfer the findings to the glass cylinder and translate it into different colours and light intensities." Healer Quentin took her wand out of one of the many pockets of her healing robes. "Now, I need absolute silence and no movement please, this will take at least half an hour. You are comfortable like this?"
If he could endure hours of meetings with an insane Dark Lord, he could sit still for half an hour on an examination table, even if he sat rather stiffly. He nodded.
"Wonderful." Quentin nodded and started chanting.
Thankfully, it really took only half an hour. Severus felt like he had been turned inside out, like someone had shoved their hands into his very being and brought everything out to inspect under the harsh light of the hospital. His magic felt bruised, like every little piece of it had been yanked out and prodded, inside and out, catalogued and measured, and jammed back into place.
"Rather intrusive," Severus scoffed, after he was allowed to move again.
Quentin only sent him an amused look, then shifted her attention to the second cylinder, where the glass balls were now also glowing with different colours. As far as Severus could see there were no obvious similarities between the distribution of the colours in regard to the size of the spheres or intensity in his cylinder to Potter's.
What did that mean? Would that mean he wasn't a fit?
Severus was not sure what he should think about it.
As neither healer nor trainee said anything to him about leaving, he stood up from the table, stretched, pocketed his wand and the potion vials again and shifted to the side to observe what they were doing.
Quentin was moving her wand over the both cylinders, muttering a quiet incantation above them, which made the spheres move. Severus got the impression she was sorting them, but by what he couldn't tell.
The trainee had prepared a parchment and a quill beside her.
After a while it seemed the witch was satisfied with the arrangement, as she stepped back and scrutinized the cylinders in front of her one last time. Then she nodded and started scribbling on the parchment. From time to time she lifted her wand and brought other spheres to the front with a flick, then she went back to scribbling on the parchment and muttering quietly to herself.
Severus got a glimpse of calculations far beyond what they taught in N.E.W.T arithmancy classes and more similar to what Severus himself had needed to learn during his Potion Mastery, and still needed when he had the time to research and develop potions.
He stepped silently closer to actually be able to read what she was scribbling. It certainly was numerology equations, comparing several different properties with each other, but without background information it was impossible to follow her calculations, so Severus leaned back against the wall and settled in to wait. He had every intention of avoiding the waiting room and its occupants as much as possible. The Headmaster hadn't said much since they arrived, but Severus knew him well enough to know that he certainly had something to say.
Neither the healer, nor her trainee spared him a glance, or seemed to even notice his continuing presence in the room. Only the scratching of quill on parchment and Healer Quentin's muttering was heard.
Severus estimated that it took Healer Quentin around forty minutes to finish her calculations. He knew that it could take a while, they had said so, but while he waited, the picture of the boy, lifeless and pale on that stretcher before they wheeled him away, haunted him.
Had they already finished the blood transfusion? If he wasn't compatible, would they have enough time to search for another donor?
He had to prevent himself from drumming his fingers on his arms.
When she finally put the quill down, spread the parchments she had filled with equations all over the table and examined them again, he suppressed a relieved sigh.
Where was his usual patience?
After a few minutes more, she nodded, looked up and jumped in surprise when she saw him leaning against the wall, the trainee whirled around at her sudden movement and stared at him too.
"Professor Snape, I didn't realize you were still here. You could have gone back to the waiting room." She pushed her parchment into a neat stack.
"I was interested in the process of how to compare two magical signatures." He stated simply and got one of those piercing stares back.
"Ah, well, I hope it was educating." She gestured to the cylinders while addressing the trainee. "Please call someone for the eradication and cleaning of the magical residue and then go to Mr Potter's examination room. Healer Samson should be there, tell him we have a donor for the magic transfusion, and they can prepare Mr Potter for it."
The trainee nodded and left the room.
Severus looked at the glowing balls and then at the healer. "So, our magical signatures are compatible?"
She nodded. "Yes. It is not a hundred percent fit, mostly due to different composition of your core magic. Where yours is mostly dark, Mr Potter's is an equal amount of light, grey and dark - very unusual, normally a core favours one or two. Nevertheless, your magical signature is similar in over sixty percent of the key markers and therefore you are a compatible magical donor for Mr Potter." She gestured to the door. "If you follow me, we will prepare everything for the transfusion."
Severus followed her down the corridor into another examination room, where hospital bed and examination table filled the middle of the room, several people stood around them writing on clipboards and speaking quietly with one another. There was a steady beeping sound, and at the foot of the bed numbers, diagrams and the small image of a human body were floating. All Severus could see of the occupant of the bed was an unruly mop of black hair.
When he stepped further into the room, he realized that Lord Slytherin was sitting on the examination table, his hand resting between shoulder and throat of the boy laying in the bed – the skin to skin contact needed for the blood transfusion.
Lord Slytherin's face was unreadable as he nodded sharply to Severus.
Severus knew the theory behind the procedure and had seen the successful implementation twice before. Compared to the Muggle way, there were no needles or tubes involved, just spellwork. First, a blood vessel from the donor needed to be connected to the vascular system of the patient. Normally this was done by a small incision in the wrist of both and then a spell to connect the vessels to each other, which wasn't possible in this case because of the wounds on the boy's wrists. Next, a filter charm was cast to remove the unneeded parts of the blood, and then a spell to get the blood flowing from the donor to the patient.
Samson was bringing Quentin up to date. "We've had Mr Potter on blood transfusion for half an hour now, which already helped to stabilize him and keep him from the worst. He is reacting very well to the blood transfusion. We slowed down the blood flow to him after the initial transfusion. I decided to keep him connected with constant small blood flow, as his wounds are still not closed, and it will help stabilize him further. Lord Slytherin has already had two Blood-Replenishing potions." Samson looked shortly at Severus, then turned to his colleague again. "Trainee Greenfield told us that we should prepare Mr Potter for the Magic transfusion?"
The woman beside Severus nodded. "Yes, Professor Snape is a compatible donor and we can start the procedure immediately."
"Good and you are willing to donate?" he addressed Severus directly.
Severus looked at the healer in disbelief. "Rather late to actually ask the question. I wouldn't have volunteered for the testing if I wasn't. But yes, I'm willing to donate."
A little bit of tension left the man. "We still needed the affirmation."
He turned around and spoke to a mediwizard. "Please bring in another examination table, we will need it at the other side of Mr Potter."
The mediwizard left the room while Healer Quentin addressed the people still present.
"We will begin the Magic transfusion shortly, to minimize the magical interference only Quentin, Trainee Greenfield, Trainee Haversford, Mediwitch Farchild and myself will stay in the room, and naturally Lord Slytherin and Professor Snape. We will keep the blood transfusion on a slow flow." Everyone nodded and several people left the room, then the healer turned to Severus. "You will be sitting at the left side of the bed. To give your magic a direct line into his core, Mr Potter's wand hand will be placed on his chest and you will have to cover it with your own."
Severus nodded in understanding, as the door behind them opened and the mediwizard from before wheeled an examination table into the room, placing it on the unoccupied side of the bed. Lord Slytherin observed everything quietly, with an intense expression in his eyes. He didn't look uncomfortable at all, sitting there and having to touch the boy who had been his enemy only a few days before.
Samson continued, while Quentin stepped up to the bed and conversed with the trainee who had been present at the examination previously.
"It could very well be, that you will get dizzy and tired during the transfusion, please do not break the connection, just simply lay down. We will keep track of Mr Potter's and your magical level and the moment his is up to a certain level we will slow down the transfusion or sever it altogether if it seems to be too much for you. If your magical level is depleted to a dangerous level, we will sever the connection between you two immediately, that is not negotiable." Samson said before Severus could even open his mouth to say anything to it.
"Now, please sit as comfortably on the table as possible, or lay down right away."
Severus stepped up to the examination table and sat down stiffly, the moment he turned to the bed he got the first really good look at the boy.
Potter was still very pale, which made a stark contrast to his black hair. Had his face always been that thin? Someone had removed his glasses and the similarity in his features to his mother felt like a punch in the stomach. The mouth, the chin, the line of his nose – all Lily.
It was disconcerting seeing him so motionless. The boy was normally always moving, shifting in his seat in class, never sitting still.
His wrists, thickly bandaged, were resting on top of the blanket and Severus gaze was drawn to the thin hands and long fingers. He remembered rather similar fingers, holding a beautiful wand and performing the most stunning magic.
Where was the similarity to his father everyone had always been speaking about? The similarity Severus had seen all those years? Yes, he had the typical unruly mop of black hair, and he was certain if he had more meat on his bones the overall shape of his face would also be typical Potter, but the boy was definitely more Evans than Potter.
He actually looked a lot like Lily's father, the boy's grandfather, from whom Lily had gotten most of her own features. A kind man who, alongside his wife, had always made Severus feel welcome when he visited the Evans' as a child.
Severus observed the steady raising of the chest, accompanied by the beeping of the monitoring spell and maintained by a respiratory-controlling spell – which was obvious due to glimmering around the boy's chest, mouth and nose - and took a deep breath himself.
Samson stepped up beside him. "Mr Potter is so far stable due to the blood transfusion, but this also gave his magic a boost to fight the healing magic. Melanie – Healer Quentin, will cast the spell to deplete his magic as much as possible, while I will cast the spell to connect your magic to Mr Potter's, she will then take over again and control the amount of magic which will flow from you to him and direct it."
Healer Quentin took her place at the head of the bed, taking her wand out of the pocket of her healer's robes and addressed him.
"You, Professor Snape, will place your hand on the boy's. The moment Mr Potter is ready for the linking of your magic, Emmet," She gestured to Samson, "will perform the connecting spell. For the linking and transfusion to go smoothly, please open your magic. That is, for most people, the hardest part. You need to open up your magical core, let your magic run free in your body and push it towards Mr Potter, it will make it easier for us to connect you. And as magic is intent based, think about - or better, will it - to heal Mr Potter."
She turned completely to him. "I will be blunt, it is not a nice feeling, especially the moment we cast the spell to get your magic to flow and fill Mr Potter's core. Some describe it as feeling like someone is pulling your insides to the outside, but whatever you do, from the moment we link your magic to the boy's, don't close your core or try to direct your magic in anyway. Oh, and place your wand and those potion vials aside please."
Severus inclined his head in understanding, put his wand and the potion vials down on the examination table and leaned slightly forward, resting his hands on his tights, all without glancing away from the boy on the bed before him.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Samson standing between the examination table Severus was sitting on and the bed the boy was lying in, drawing his wand, a concentrated look on his face.
Behind him and Quentin stood the trainees, one of them with a clipboard and the other casting a recording spell, which would record an audio copy of the happenings in the room.
The mediwitch stood at the foot of the bed, using her wand to enlarge some numbers on the monitoring images, then cast the same monitoring spell on Severus and put the new image and numbers beside the boy's.
"Now, everyone ready?" Quentin looked at everyone in the room and waited for confirmation, before she lifted her wand over the boy.
"Good, then let's begin."
Hermione hated waiting, hated feeling useless, hated not knowing what was going on. Every problem, every riddle, every dangerous situation they had encountered so far, she had researched as much as possible beforehand. She needed the reassuring feeling of being prepared for the worst.
But this was a situation where she couldn't do anything. She had to sit and wait for news, not knowing if her best friend was still alive or not - and she hated it.
It felt like hours since they had tested them all for blood and magic compatibility. Hermione was fascinated by the integration of Muggle medicine. The kind trainee testing her parents and her had explained how a blood transfusion was done the magical way. Her mind instantly jumped to other ways to use magical and muggle medical methods together. She knew she was only doing it to distract herself from the solemn atmosphere and worried expressions on everyone's faces.
Then the mood had shifted, first into shock when the man she had a hard time linking to the monster of You-Know-Who she had in her head volunteered and was a compatible blood donor, and then again into disbelief when Professor Snape came forward to volunteer for the magic transfusion.
The turn of events was rather unbelievable, first Lord Slytherin and then their Potions Professor. But the longer Hermione thought about it the more her shock disappeared. If Harry really had done what he claimed – giving Lord Slytherin his Horcruxes and therefore his sanity back – she believed that the Lord felt, he owed Harry a debt. She had heard whispers of the trading system of the Slytherins, collect favours and debts and never try to be the one who owed someone something. It sounded exhausting, but it stood to reason that most children coming from that house would keep the habit later on.
Professor Snape was on their side, or so Professor Dumbledore had told them multiple times, and he was a teacher, someone who was responsible for the children under his care. She didn't believe that the man, as horrible as he was to most students, would stand by and let a child get hurt, if he could do something to prevent it.
She knew Harry and Ron would never agree with her on this. They were rather stuck in their opinion of their teacher.
But why would he think that his magical signature would be similar to Harry's? She thought about what she knew of the man, and what Harry had told them in their last school year, about the bullying. But there had to be more.
And how did they even test for similarities and compatibility in the magical signature? She had never read about magical signatures before.
Despite her brain trying to distract her, the time continued to pass in slow motion. She sat there beside her parents, with Ron on her other side, and waited. Ron was pale, his freckles standing out in stark contrast to his white complexion. His hand held hers in a death grip, which didn't bother her. He hadn't said much in the last hour and Hermione wasn't sure what she should or could say to him to make it better.
Nothing, except the news that Harry was alive and out of danger, would make it better.
She followed Ron's stare to the door. Somewhere behind that simple white door, their best friend was fighting for his life, hopefully winning.
Even if it seemed he didn't want to, even if it seemed he didn't want this life at all, they would show him that he would be sorely missed. They would show him he was loved, that there were people who cared for him. They would show him his life was worth living and that he was more than a weapon, more than a pawn on the board. They would show him that he mattered, not the boy who lived, not Harry Potter, but Harry, their best friend.
With everything that had been happening in the last few years, Hermione had the suspicion that he hadn't heard this often enough.
Her gaze fell on Professor Dumbledore, she hadn't missed the look on his face when Lord Slytherin and Professor Snape volunteered. Hope, fear, uncertainty, but also calculation. She was actually surprised that the Headmaster didn't say anything, simply sat there and observed. When Lord Slytherin had been found compatible, she was certain she saw a brief twinkle in his eyes, as if a theory of his had been proven right.
She wasn't sure what she should think of the Headmaster in the moment.
Hermione was brought out of her thoughts by the return of Professor Snape, Lord Slytherin and Healer Samson. She didn't know Lord Slytherin well enough to interpret his expression and body language, but Professor Snape wasn't a stranger, even if he was hard to read.
But the way he walked stiffly to a chair and sat himself rigidly down on it, the way his mouth was a thin line in his otherwise expressionless face… Hermione was certain everything pointed to exhaustion.
Had he been a compatible donor and they had already performed the magical transfusion?
The voice of Healer Samson brought everyone to attention.
"Both the Blood and Magic transfusion went without problems, for Mr Potter and the donors." He nodded to the two man. "Mr Potter reacted very well to both and there are no rejection reactions so far."
"Could that still happen?" Hermione looked shortly to her Mum who had spoken from beside her before she focused on the Healer again. Both her parents knew what a rejection reaction did in Muggle transfusions, so the question didn't surprise her.
"No, if Mr Potter was going to reject either we would already know. His condition has already stabilized, and the donated magic is settling in, trying to heal his body and soothe Mr Potter's own magic to stop fighting. We will now wait till his core has accepted the foreign magic and there is nothing preventing healing magic to work anymore, and then administer the wound-closing Potion."
"Why not immediately?" One of the twins interrupted, she thought it was George.
"Because another kind of magic in his system could lead to rejection." Healer Samson explained. "His magic already has to get used to Professor Snape's magic, the magic from the spell moving his lungs and the magical residue in the donated blood from Lord Slytherin. Too much foreign magic and his system could destabilize, and that is the last we want to happen right now."
The door opened and another wizard stepped in, said something to Healer Samson in a quiet voice and left again.
"It seems Mr Potter is reacting better to the transfusions than we estimated. His magic has stopped fighting against us all together and Healer Quentin wants to try to close his wounds now."
Hermione sighed in relief and felt some tension leave her body.
The healer addressed Lord Slytherin and Professor Snape with a stern expression. "Gentleman, I know you said you feel fine, but if there are any issues call for a Healer. Exhaustion because of Blood or Magic transfusion are nothing to ignore. Rest, drink and eat, and no strenuous activities in the next two to three days."
Both men nodded stiffly in understanding, pretending not to see the looks they got from everyone in the room, especially Professor Dumbledore.
The Healer left the room with the promise to keep them informed and they were left waiting again. But at least the mood had lifted, the atmosphere was lighter, and Professor Lupin and Ron's brother Charlie went to find something to eat for everyone.
Emmet Samson, healer at St Mungo's for eight years now, looked at his colleague Melanie Quentin in disbelief. "Are you certain?"
"Are you questioning my ability to read the findings?" Melanie snapped, and Trainees Greenfield and Haversford both took a step back.
Most of the people who had to work with the woman were equally in awe and in fear of her, but Emmet had liked her from the start. She was honest, blunt, fierce, brilliant and very proficient - and not above sending stinging hexes at people who annoyed her. You always knew where you stood with her, and as the piercing blue eyes settled with a glare on him, he only chuckled.
"Not at all. I have problems believing the results, not your skills."
She narrowed her eyes, but let it go and turned back to the parchment with the latest results of the diagnostic spell she had done on Mr Potter.
"I've redone the examination three times, but the results are the same."
"Do you have an idea how it could have happened?" Magical theory never had been his strongest field.
Melanie stared at the parchment like she wanted to set it on fire or force it to reveal what exactly had happened. She sighed and looked up at him. "I think I know, but I would say we should go and tell these findings," she waved with the papers, "to the relevant parties. There are several intelligent people in that room, two of them rumoured geniuses, perhaps they can help to unravel this."
Emmet nodded in agreement and together they walked to the waiting room. All heads immediately snapped to them the moment they entered.
"We have… news." Emmet wasn't sure how exactly he should start. He was used to telling people bad news, negative outlooks or completely unusual diagnosis. He was trained to do it, St. Mungo's had a mandatory training course for such cases every year. But this was highly unusual.
He saw the worry in the eyes of everyone had his short hesitation and went on. "Nothing negative, I assure you."
He took a deep breath and decided to start with the current standing. "The wound-closing Potion we gave Mr Potter worked perfectly. Helped along by the donated magic, it closed the wound on his wrist, but he will have scars. Self-inflicted wounds always scar. With several general healing spells, we are reversing the damage done by the blood loss and some of the damage from years of abuse, but it will take time."
And that was something they had to look closer at, the boy would need a good support system and therapy to get through this. At least he already had the confirmation from the Aurors that they got the message and a case had been opened.
"Mr Potter is stable, but his body still needs healing." He continued. "He is malnourished and has several deficiencies. His immune system is compromised, his bones are brittle, his growth stunted. We will administer several potions to boost his immune system, strengthen his bones and get him to an acceptable weight for his age and height. He likely will never be as tall as he could have been, and his immune system will always be a little bit weaker, but all in all we can reverse most of it. But both the abuse and the massive blood loss took a toll on his body."
Now came the hardest part.
"But he doesn't show signs of waking up." Melanie stated. "We took him out of stasis when he was brought in and sedated him. After we cancelled the sedation charm, we did the same with the respiratory-control spell, to see if he would be breathing on his own, which he is."
A wave of relieved sighs went through the room.
"As Healer Quentin said, he isn't waking up." Emmet took a deep breath. "Theoretically, after casting the counter for the sedation spell, patients should wake up between ten minutes to one hour afterwards. We waited over an hour and he doesn't show any signs of waking up so far. His brain waves show no abnormalities, but they are typical for a person in a deep coma."
The worry on the faces around them increased.
"What… what does it mean?" Mr Weasley asked, what everyone in this room was certainly thinking.
"It means, that Mr Potter himself is not ready to wake up. It means that he escaped and hid so deep into his own mind that he needs time to find the way back." Emmet said gently.
"But he is coming back?" The question came from the young redheaded girl, obviously the daughter of Mrs Weasley.
"We don't know. Patients come out of a coma all the time, but sometimes they don't want to come back, sometimes they already went onwards and only their body is left behind. It can go either way; you have to be prepared for it." He didn't say that the ratio of the patients who didn't wake up again, even if their bodies had been healed, were from suicide attempts.
"What do we do now?" Mrs Weasley asked, her voice wavering.
"Visit him, talk to him." This was always his least favourite part of his job because they didn't know if Mr Potter would ever wake up, but he couldn't say that, he couldn't destroy their hope completely, but he also had to give them the facts.
"Give him a voice so that he can orientate himself. Several patients who woke up told us that they were lost in their own minds and couldn't find their way back, they needed a voice to find the way out, and apparently, they could hear everything around them. That's what you can do for the moment. We are not totally out of options yet, but we want to give his body a chance to rest and heal first."
Melanie took a step forward to draw their attention. "Because he wouldn't wake up, we ran another deep diagnosis spell on him, to see if we missed something. Nothing came up, but we found something that startled us."
She looked at Severus Snape and Marvolo Slytherin, someone without their control would have fidget under her stare.
"But I want to have some points confirmed first, please. Lord Slytherin, your resurrection was done with the help of Mr Potter's blood, unwillingly given, and you have that link to him because of that…" She didn't say more but Emmet knew she was talking about the Horcrux, the soul piece still embedded in Mr Potter's scar. That was also a result of the deep scan, and something they would have to discuss with the man sitting before them.
Lord Slytherin nodded.
"And if I understood correctly from what Healer Samson told me, the boy is responsible for your current sane state?"
Another confirmation.
"So, we have a two-fold connection between yourself and Mr Potter."
Another nod.
"Your willing blood donation deepened that link. Mr Potter's blood was used to resurrect you, to build your body, and in return your blood was now used to keep Mr Potter alive, all while you had that other connection, which does link more than your mind together. This had unexpected results."
Everyone held their breath, but Melanie didn't elaborate - for now - instead, she addressed Hogwarts' Potions Master. His colleague certainly had a penchant for drama.
"Professor Snape, as I understood you swore an oath to protect the boy when he was still a baby?" Melanie enquired.
Now, most of them were looking confused. Professor Dumbledore had that strange twinkle in his eyes, but also looked worried, while both Slytherin and Snape looked pale, but their expression didn't betray what they were feeling. Emmet envied them for their control of their facial features.
But he wasn't sure if they were prepared for this.
The Potions Professor nodded.
"A magically binding oath?"
Another curt nod.
"It seems the donation of your magic lead to slightly different interpretation of that oath and formed a more direct bond between you and Mr Potter." Melanie looked at the parchment again, a small smirk lifting the corner of her mouth. Emmet could understand it, it would at least solve one problem and if the situation hadn't been so serious, it would have been funny in a way, especially because of the people involved.
"The deep scan we performed list the full name of the patient, his age, where he was born, all his injuries and diseases over his lifetime, and every bond - blood, soul or magical - that he has, like parents and godparents, brothers by either blood or magic etc. As Mr Potter's parents James and Lily Potter are listed, no surprise there but another set of names appeared." She looked at the parchment and read aloud.
"Harry James Potter. Father by blood and soul: Marvolo Slytherin. Father by magic: Severus Snape."
Silence.
"It seemed the bonds between you lead magic to decide that you are his family, not to each other, only to him."
Both men's eyes went wide as they looked at Melanie, then at each other. Melanie handed over the parchment for them to see it themselves.
"So, in conclusion, Magic, or Merlin, or whatever you want to believe, decided you are family based on several different bonds from you two gentleman to the boy. Mr Potter is your son and you are his fathers." Her bluntness in stating it silenced several outcries instantly.
"It doesn't change that the Potter's are his birth parents, but it means that you have immediate custody of Mr Harry James Potter and full parental rights and obligations. Not even the Minister or the Chief Warlock could go against it."
Emmet saw his colleague glance shortly at Professor Dumbledore, who sat there with his thrice-damned grandfatherly expression, while his eyes shifted between Slytherin, Snape and the parchment in their hands.
"From now on, you are responsible for the boy, don't let him down."
That she even said this much told Emmet how enraged his colleague was about the boy's case. Suicide attempts were always hard, especially with a patient that young, but on top of the abuse, the horrifying matter of a Horcrux and some of the past injuries which had to have happened in Hogwarts, the healer in him - and apparently in Melanie too - was livid.
And if he knew his colleague, it also meant she would keep an eye out for the boy. Even if he woke up today, he still would be in the hospital for some time and afterwards would need to come back for check-ups and Emmet would make sure that either Melanie or he himself were the doctors appointed to him every time.
But first, they needed to make sure that his body and mind healed, and that he woke up. They weren't completely out of options, but first they wanted to give the new fathers some time to process.
With another stern glare to the room at large, Melanie left, Emmet followed right behind her.
Stunned silence filled the room for several minutes, then:
"Congratulations, it's a boy!" Both twins said cheerfully in unison.
AN: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.
That last part was really stuck in my head for some time, especially the twins' reaction, I am so happy to have it out now and hope you like it.
First published: 10th of October 2019