Success! It took all night, but Harry was finally able to open his eyes a bit. He blinked carefully as his vision came into focus, leaving him to stare at the wooden beams and stone bricks that made up the infirmary's ceiling. He took a moment to really appreciate the sight. True, he had seen those same structures many times before during his tenure at Hogwarts, but he had stared at them knowing he would see them again. Now, he had never laid eyes on anything more beautiful. He was ialive/.
Allowing himself another slow and somewhat painful blink, Harry let his eyes wander to his immediate surroundings, only to find none other than Severus Snape himself. Harry's eyes flicked down to the older man's neck as he searched for signs of the snake bite that should have been there. That wasn't a dream, right? Nagini really had bitten him! So, how was he alive..? To his surprise, all he found were two small discolorations where the fangs had gone into the skin. Had they already healed?
Harry managed to turn his head just enough to take in the rest of the room. Nothing seemed to have changed since he had been out. Had the infirmary not gotten caught up in the battle? Probably not. Most of it had taken place in the main entrance and outside, after all. The infirmary had probably been fine. Harry hoped they hadn't needed it for many people besides himself.
His eyes moved back to the professor only to find the man staring right back at him.
"So, you've finally managed to open your eyes." He spoke softly, which really threw Harry off. He had expected something more biting from this man. "I had thought your laziness would have kept them closed for at least another few days." There it is.
Despite the acidic comment, Harry heard no venom in the man's words, and managed to smile in response. "It's...good to see you, too...Professor." He managed to rasp out.
He was pleased to see the corner of the man's mouth turn up just a bit. That must be how he smiles. How odd. But Harry had to admit, it was a nice smile, however small.
"Do not force yourself to speak, Mister Potter. Conserve your energy for later. Many people will be wanting to hear from you when you are ready to take guests."
He understood the logic in what the other man said, but Harry had a lot of questions, and he would at least like a few of them answered now. "What day is it?"
"October 5th." So I've only been out for five months… "2001."
WHAT?!
Snape saw the look of panic on the young man's face, and gently placed his hand down on Harry's leg. "You have been in a coma for three years, Mister Potter."
THREE YEARS?! There's no way! There's just...there's no way!
"Do calm yourself, Potter. I will not be subject to cleaning up any panic induced messes you make in your bed."
Well, that embarrassment brought him back, but now he had a million other questions he had to ask.
As if to read his mind, Snape spoke up. "I will answer three questions. You have now asked one. Choose wisely."
Irritation filtered through Harry's emotions for only a split second before logic took over. He couldn't very well spend the day asking Snape questions, after all. He would have to take it slow. Immediately, he settled on the two most important ones.
"How did you survive?"
Snape's eyes grew slightly in surprise. The boy would ask about his health before that of his friends? He would have to file that away to examine later. For now..."I am a Master of Potions, Mister Potter. Further more, I worked in full knowledge with a crazed mad man who handled a snake. Do you not think I would carry around an antidote to a poison from such a snake?"
Well. That made sense.
"Is Voldemort dead?"
Ah, the question Snape had been waiting for. "He is, and this time, he will not be coming back. You have succeeded in killing one of the most dangerous wizards of all time. Congratulations are in order."
"It's finally over..."
"It is." Harry's heart leapt into his throat as he felt the older man's fingers brush through his hair. "You've done well, Harry. Now rest."
Before Harry could ask why Snape was so nice to him, he felt his eyes grow heavy and begin to close. His last thought before falling into a deep sleep, was the realization that Snape had once again called him Harry.
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Snape watched the boy – or man, he supposed he was now – sleep for a few more moments before heading back into his own quarters in the dungeons below. It would be some time before the young man would wake again. Until then, he had some of his own questions to find the answers to.
Why would Harry ask about his own health before that of his friends? Further more, why does he keep finding himself calling the boy by his name? That last one was easy, he supposed. He was beginning to see that the boy had grown into a fine young man, though he had already slept through a good deal of his young adulthood.
Without really meaning to, Snape had found himself visiting Potter every day since his own release from the infirmary. He recalled waking up in his own bed, alone. He had not received any visitors, apart from Poppy and Minerva of course. Upon gathering his bearings, he had noticed that Mister Potter had not been receiving visitors either. He had commented rather acerbically on it, but Poppy simply stated that the Golden Boy's friends had moved on with their lives after that first year, and what remained of his family wanted nothing more to do with him. The boy was alone...just like him.
Once Snape had been well enough to stand, he had hobbled over to the other man's bed and silently kept him company. Sometimes Snape would read aloud from textbooks, hoping that some of the information would get through to him. Harry had plenty of time on his hands, after all. Perhaps his brain could put forth some effort to actually learn something for once. Besides, when he woke up, he would need to catch up on his schooling if he ever wanted to be something other than a living war relic.
Upon receiving a clean bill of health, Snape was released and once again allowed to return to his teaching, this time, back in Potions where he belonged. Professor Slughorn stated he'd had enough excitement for the rest of his life as he turned in his resignation for the second time, so of course, Snape was the only other option.
In the mornings before school resumed, Snape would continue his own rehabilitation, then in the afternoons he and the other teachers, as well as some Hogwarts alumni, would devote their time to rebuilding the school. In the evenings, however, Snape would return to the infirmary, and read to his most hopeless student. Well, second most hopeless; Mister Longbottom was a force to be reckoned with.
In all that time, not one other person had been to see Mister Potter. It was as if he had simply ceased to exist. When he had heard that Ms. Granger would be returning to take over for Minerva's classes, he knew he needed to have a discussion with her.
He could recall the conversation well.
They had just concluded a meeting about how classes were to resume and how the previous years were to be handled – there hadn't been much teaching in those last couple of years before the final battle – when Snape finally seized his chance with the young lady.
"Ms. Granger. A word."
He was rather pleased to see that he still had the ability to strike fear into his students, even when they no longer were under his tutelage.
"Is there something I can help you with, Professor Snape?"
Snape spun on his heel to face the young witch, his face already wearing his customary sneer. "Do the bonds of friendship mean little to you, Ms. Granger?" He hadn't meant to get straight to the point like that, but for some reason, his anger had gotten the best of him.
"Excuse me?"
"You and your little Weasley friend had not gone to visit Mister Potter even once in this past year and a half. Did he really mean so little to you? Was his sacrifice so small that you can simply turn your back on him?"
Impressively, Ms. Granger was able to keep her anger in check. "You don't understand, Professor. Ron and I truly have a lot going on. We can't just simply stop living our lives just to come visit someone who might never..."
"Who might never what, Ms. Granger?" She seemed reluctant to answer as she squirmed under his hard gaze. "Who might never wake up? Do you really have such little faith in your friends? You disappoint me."
He had made to storm off around the corner, but upon turning, he stopped, and waited to see what the girl would do next. Hermione stood dejectedly in that hallway for quite some time before Snape saw her leave, heading straight for the infirmary.
Since that encounter, she had come either by herself or with someone else, every two days to visit her old friend. Snape was quite pleased, though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.
Perhaps it was because he knew what it was like, waking up alone. Yes, perhaps that was it. That was why Snape never missed a night, no matter how inconvenient the visits had become for him. No matter what, someone would be there when Harry woke up.
Thankfully, it had been him.
