Disclaimer: Still not J.K. Rowling, still don't have ownership of the Harry Potter franchise.
Saturday morning, Lily quickly returned to the Hospital Wing to spend time with Severus. The well of conversation just seemed endless between them; there was so much that they had been keeping from each other due to their strained relationship that the pair were making up for lost time. Yet despite everything that had happened, whatever she wanted to talk about, Severus obliged without the slightest hesitation. There was small talk of their home lives and plans for the Summer, which would begin shortly after O.W.L.s were over the following weekend.
Lily knew enough about Severus' life in Spinner's End to know that it was not a subject he wished to discuss. He had never explicitly told her the nature of his relationship with his parents, but seeing what had been his Boggart during third year told Lily a truth that she really didn't want to know. It was clear from that incident that Tobias Snape had been an abusive, horrible man to both Severus and his mother, Eileen. It explained so much to her, his loathing for the ordinary, his rejection of his last name in favor of his secret pseudonym, The Half-Blood Prince, and his need to be part of something due to all of the hatred he'd received from both his father and the Marauders.
Lily understood, begrudgingly, what had originally attracted Severus to the Death Eaters-to-be who made up half of Slytherin house. Alas, understanding did not mean accepting, so she promised herself prior to going to bed the night before that she would be more attentive of Sev's plights, be there for him as she hadn't been before so as to keep him on the brighter path he seemed to be committed to. It almost surprised Lily how little of it actually seemed to matter to him, as if he'd been set on changing for far longer than the day she knew it had been between the Defense O.W.L. and their heartfelt reconciliation. But she was determined to take her friend at his word; so much distrust and unspoken concerns had been the cause of their rift, and she'd not let it happen again.
There was only one thing that seemed to truly be weighing down on the mind of Severus Snape: his mysterious ailment. Lily knew Sev's love for the magical world, remembered how excited he was when he introduced her to all of those concepts when they were children, and she knew how helpless he'd felt during Summer when magic was forbidden. The fact that it was vastly approaching probably did no favors for him considering his loss of magical control.
Severus had confided in her that those two castings of Langlock and the Bluebell Flames had been entirely accidental, that he was unsure of how it had happened. The only comfort it brought him was that he hadn't suddenly been rendered a Squib by his rebirth, and his inability to intentionally cast didn't leave him much better off than one. It was a mystery that Lily was determined to help her friend solve, and so she made a suggestion that she could tell he wasn't enthused by.
"Come on, Sev, if anyone will be able to know how to fix it, it's the Headmaster!"
Sighing audibly, Severus sat unsure of how to explain his reluctance to Lily about going to Dumbledore. "Lily, Dumbledore is obviously a busy man. Why would he pay my situation any mind when that's more the duty of Slughorn?"
"Because it's highly unusual, Sev, why else? Madam Pomfrey hasn't detected or diagnosed the issue, so we know it runs deeper than just something physical. Maybe all the stress from the Boggart, Potter's bullying, and the concussion is causing some kind of a block on your magical core? Or perhaps there's something much darker at work here and it could be a curse." she shuddered, adding that notion in only as a last resort.
"Anyway, if I can set you up in a meeting with the Headmaster, will you PLEASE give me permission to describe your problems to him? I don't want this as some dark cloud hanging over your summer vacation, Sev…Please?"
Severus snorted in his trademark fashion that had become known as a begrudging agreement to Lily. He didn't like the idea of giving a legendary manipulator like Dumbledore any information to press an advantage if it could be avoided. Nonetheless, he couldn't very well ignore the pair of pleading, emerald eyes that were shining just feet away from him. Nor that satisfied smile that she gave when she knew she had him.
"Bloody teenage hormones," Severus thought with mild disgust as he continued with his half-smile. "Pity about this injury, though. Today's the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year, I was rather curious to see if you'd be free to join me assuming I made some miraculous recovery and was released within the hour."
With one eyebrow perking up questioningly, Lily shook her head in disbelief. "Merlin, Sev, when did you get so forward?" She avoided responding positively or negatively to her friend's flirtatious remark, instead laughing jokingly. "Hogsmeade's going to be overrun by us Prefects, so I'll be busy anyway. Lots of students are going to be hiding in the more private areas in The Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head to get, well...some personal time. This is the last weekend to go before term ends, so they'll be getting in all of their last-minute snogging."
Severus snorted again, remembering the times he'd essentially been the Sex Police during his time teaching. He knew the Prefect girl would have her hands full. "Well don't stay out too long. If all the students realize that so many of you are out patrolling Hogsmeade they might put two brain cells together and realize that Hogwarts is the safer option." He dimly thought to himself that it was a good thing so few students knew about the Room of Requirement, lest their escapades be more successful.
Lily nodded with a knowing smile. "I should be going. Thanks for the company as always, Sev. I'll be sure to ask McGonagall if she can set aside some time with the Headmaster this weekend. In the meantime, don't overstrain yourself." She knew that Madam Pomfrey would run her friend through the usual tests to see whether or not he'd be released today or tomorrow. She wanted to be there to support Severus, but the last week of term was always the busiest for Prefects. She instead promised to see him tomorrow.
After the clock tower let out a single gong signifying one o'clock, Madam Pomfrey exited her office to speak with Severus. "Alright, Mr. Snape. So far, it seems like you've been making great strides toward recovery, but we can't be too careful with concussions. Honestly, we take them as seriously as Muggles do because it's so difficult to treat them any better than they can. All I'm going to do here is give you a series of cognitive tests to make sure everything is in order."
It was such a bore to Severus, who had obviously avoided more of the serious side-effects that followed a concussion. She led him through a sequence of reflex exercises, memory tests, reaction to light and movement stimuli, before finally finishing with keeping his balance while walking. Indeed, there was nothing magical about concussions, their treatment, or testing for lingering side-effects.
"Very good. You're quite lucky the injury wasn't worse. From what Miss Evans described of the incident, you very easily could have broken your neck. But enough of how it could be worse; she also brought you a change of robes, courtesy of Professor Slughorn. You're welcome to wash up in the Hospital's bathroom before we release you."
Severus turned the handle of the private shower, letting the cool water flow through his hair and down his body. Closing his eyes, he began to lose himself in his thoughts, still wondering if he'd continue to exist when opened them back up. It had been a jarring couple of days for him, even if it had been spent in the confines of the Hospital Wing. Rebirth was a concept only discussed in the most asinine of Muggle fairy tales; the wizarding world had long held to the beliefs that whatever was dead stayed dead, short of reanimation as an Inferius.
Running his hands through his hair to let the water soak through his grimy locks that hadn't been cleaned in days, he continued to ponder. "The last this Dumbledore heard of Severus Snape was to give a vow of secrecy never to spill Lupin's ailment to anyone. I venture a guess that not even the word of one of his precious Gryffindors will make him see me as anything but trouble. Even if it IS Lily Evans…"
Lily
Snapping his eyes open to keep his mind on the matter at hand proved fruitless. Those endless, black eyes settled on a bottle of enchanted shampoo, charmed to adjust to the scent most pleasing to the wearer. He shook his head with a snort of derision, unable to believe the stray, adolescent thoughts that would sometimes poke into his focus. Reaching for the bottle, he took a moment to decide how far he truly wished to change from the awkward, greasy teenager he knew he had been. Even though he had long since changed in his previous life, Severus stuck to old habits, thought it more effective to be feared by all of his students than to be swooned over by the females just like Gilderoy Lockhart had been. There had been no reason to worry about his appearance in that life anyway, not after she died.
Now that Lily was here again, and he had a chance, however farfetched, to steer his life away from the disaster that had been his previous one, there was little choice as he opened the bottle, if for no other reason than to see what her reaction would be.
"Bloody, goddamn, teenage hormones!"
The creamy concoction had no smell, until it was lathered on his hair andit finally burst forth: the lovely smell of fresh, Spring rain. It boggled his imagination how rain could have an aroma; though Severus knew it was without a doubt his favorite.
"Because it was the scent she used."
Even after Lily's death, the rain relaxed Severus. Oftentimes he would walk during the rainy days while staying at Spinner's End; the pattering of the droplets against his robes did little to shake the blissful release it offered. It was as if nature was manifesting the storms within his own mind and projecting them outward, allowing a time where he hadn't needed Occlumency to maintain his controlled exterior. Cool showers were an alright substitute, but nothing was quite like the feeling of being enveloped by a gentle rain.
It finally occurred to Severus how foolishly sentimental he was being, after having spent nearly a half hour soaking in the shower, that fragrance of Spring rain continuing to absorb into his hair and his skin. It was easy for him to lose track of time when his thoughts drifted to Lily, remembering the feel of her soft hands, the tenderness of her lips when she kissed his cheek the previous day...
"Enough!"
He quickly turned the faucet handle the opposite direction, unwilling to waste anymore time musing about the past because as far as this life was concerned, it didn't exist anymore, and was merely a tool to learn from foolish mistakes.
Severus rubbed the warm, linen towel across his hair, turning to see that 16-year old in the mirror for the first time since his journey back started. He rubbed his hands across his face curiously; none of the stress of his previous life was visible on his skin. Though if there were anything that gave away who Severus Snape was in mind, not body, it was his eyes. Gone was the wide-eyed awkwardness, the foolish ambitions that blinded both his dreams and his actions. All that seemed to remain was a piercing glare, one that was instinctively softened around his love, but there was also an ever-pervasive sense of apathy and exhaustion. Try as he might with his talent as a spy, he could not shift his eyes in a way that had anything reminiscent of the old Severus.
And if he were honest with himself, he couldn't care less about playing the part of some idiotic boy who'd given up everything for blind ambitions of fame and glory. If Lily or any of his other classmates noticed the change in the way he carried himself, so be it.
As the steamy fog began clearing from the bathroom mirror, Severus' eyes scanned across his body, taking the reality of his situation in as he saw everything before him at last. It was all there. The hooked nose, the pale skin that hadn't turned sallow quite yet, the scar on his shoulder where his father had ripped flesh open with the belt…
"Wait, what the hell is that?!"
His eyes bulged when he looked upon a very wrong sight in his reflection. Something affixed, tattooed, to his otherwise ordinary, scrawny chest, just over his heart. He dashed towards the mirror, studying the shape, having never seen anything like it before, certainly not on his body during his previous life. The mysterious scar was the shape of a lemniscate, albeit distorted, with both curves bent upwards to take the shape of a heart of its own.
Upon closer examination, the curved figure-eight did not seem to be cut into his skin, not like he remembered Harry Potter's lightning-bolt scar to be. This symbol seemed to be more in line with a birthmark, or in this case, a rebirth mark, one that was no bigger than his eye. There was no sense as he studied the mark that it was the product of dark magic; it had been unlike anything he'd ever seen, and he had been well-educated in the Dark Arts.
Severus slowly dressed himself, eyes locked on his chest the entire time before it was finally obscured by his school shirt. Only after pulling on his robe was it clear to him; that mark was a Rune, one which he was certain was connected to what Dumbledore had mentioned prior to his rebirth.
Severus' brow furrowed as he stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed, towards Madam Pomfrey's office. He knew that mark HAD to be a Rune, though its meaning or origin was completely unknown to him. "Seems I have some business to discuss with Professor Babbling during next week's make-up O.W.L."
Author's Note: A bit of a shorter chapter detail-wise, but I need to get Severus out of that damned hospital wing, so we're finally starting to move forward a little bit. Next chapter will probably condense Saturday evening through Wednesday night's Astronomy O.W.L., so I expect it to be quite a bit longer than previous chapters. Expect a confrontation with the Marauders to take place. Will Lily notice more changes in Severus' demeanor? And what is the meaning behind that strange symbol etched above our favorite Slytherin's heart?
As always, I appreciate reviews on the chapters. I love reading others' thoughts on the character development, or fan speculation on the twists the Fic will take.