Severus Snape
Something was wrong. I had not been able to sleep although I was utterly exhausted after walking steadily for another night. I had tossed and turned over the dirt floor in the vacant barn we had chosen as our stopping point near dawn many hours ago. Now I felt as though I was becoming ill as I stood and moved outside in search of fresher air. My skin was damp with sweat and my stomach churned as though I may vomit if only I had something in my stomach to vomit. Additionally, my body ached, and not just my legs from the great amount of walking, but everything hurt. Even my hair sat uncomfortably against my scalp. Yes, something was terribly wrong.
"You look like shit," Lavender said flatly with no emotion in her eyes as she glanced up at me from where she lie in the tall grass.
"You don't look much better yourself," I mumbled as I watched the woman as she stood suddenly.
"Wait here," she stated and quickly took off through the grass.
I did not bother to question her as I took assessment of myself. My muscles ached in a way that seemed out of proportion for the activity of the prior days. It was as though I had been poisoned or possessed by some illness with affinity for joints and muscles. A dampness clung to my skin which did not match the coolness of the dawn air as another wave of intense, painful nausea overtook me into a fit of dry-heaves which only furthered the discomfort. When that subsided, I then suffered the onslaught of a mucus waterfall from my sinuses that no amount of sniffling or wiping seemed to resolve followed by shaking chills.
As I huddled against the wall of the abandoned structure, I saw Lavender returning. She carried with her a pail in one hand and a fistful of plants in the other.
As she approached she said, "Do you think you have enough energy to make another flame?"
"Perhaps. For what purpose may I ask?" I resisted another fit of retching.
"Tea," she replied holding up her arms."I found some horsemint and dandelion root and there is an old well pump a bit further ahead."
"So you did learn something in my class," I commented.
"Sorry Professor, but that was from Professor Sprout." She smiled momentarily.
"Of course. Can you find some kindling and small sticks. I can make something of this, I believe." I stood slowly, before grabbing for the items in her arms.
"I will be right back." She moved off again in a different direction towards the small wooded area nearby.
Taking the collection of plants, I first rinsed the roots free from dirt by pouring some water from the bucket into my hands and scrubbing them before I started pulling the leaves free from the stems. Crushing them between my figures, I dropped them into the water of the bucket. By the time I had completed that task, Ms Brown returned, dropping the pile of sticks, bark and leaves at my side.
"Now if only I could locate something to eat," she mumbled as her stomach rumbled loudly.
"The tea should settle your hunger as well. Sit."
She squinted her eyes for a moment before silently doing as instructed as I began to arrange the pile into something usable. As I worked, she reached for two of the larger limbs, breaking them in half and then linking them together she hung the small bucket from the structure and set it aside.
"Give me your hands." I look at her from across the pile.
She shifted uncomfortably, dragging her fingers through her hair several times.
"Ms Brown. Please allow me to show you this," I reached my hands out towards her, palms up.
With a deep inhale in and then an exhale out she reached her hands out above mine.
I could not help but note her quiet gasp as I took her hands in mine, holding her palms over the wood pile. "Now Ms Brown, close your eyes and listen to my voice."
She nodded slowly as her eyelids closed. Her breathing became shallow as she chewed her lower lip, and I wondered if she would be able to calm herself to a point where this experiment would be successful.
"Feel the magic in your being. Right now it is in chaos. Focus on it as it courses through you." I watched as the tension in her shoulders seemed to slowly fall away and her breathing deepened.
"Good. Now bring the focus to your hands. Feel all that energy flow into your palms." I gave her hands a gentle squeeze and watched as her face too relaxed, her teeth releasing their grip on her lower lip and the lines between her brow smoothed.
"Take that energy and feel it build beneath your palms, warmer and brighter." At this point I also closed my eyes. I could feel the warmth growing in her hands as I pulled my own energies forward to join hers. She was performing better than I had anticipated. "Warmer and brighter. Warmer and brighter."
"Now, concentrate on the thought of fire." I paused waiting for the sense of her energies changing beneath my hands. "The smell of its smoke." I paused again as I inhaled deeply, noting Lavender doing the same. "The taste of soot on the tongue, the crackling sounds of combustion; and the flickering glow of the flames."
"Good. Now say your incantation and as you do so feel the heat against cold skin."
"Incendio," she whispered as my thoughts echoed. Her energy swelled beneath mine and then dissipated. Initially, I thought she had lost it, but as I opened my eyes, I saw the tiny trail of smoke emanating from a small glow within the kindling.
"Open your eyes," I said as I pulled my hands free from hers and bent nearer to fan the sparks.
"Oh…." she mumbled. "Oh! Look. I did it. That was incredible. I've never...Oh Merlin, I can't believe it." She rubbed her hands together and then placed them in her lap, her eyes wide with excitement and awe. "What a rush! Thank you."
"Magic is all about focus, Ms Brown. Wands, incantations, amulets are only devices to enhance focus. Alone they are worthless." I continued to feed the flame until it began to overtake the pile. Reaching for the structure holding the bucket, I placed the tea over the flame. "But potions, that is a true art."
To my surprise, the girl laughed, causing me to look over at her in time to catch a smile which quickly faded. Before I could do anything, however, another intense wave of nausea overtook my being doubling me into myself.
"Professor?" Lavender whispered as she moved closer. "Withdrawal…"
I closed my eyes while I considered her analysis. Her diagnosis did fit the symptoms. We'd been away from St. Dymphna's for almost forty hours at this point and I had not taken any of their poison for over two days so withdrawal was highly likely given their mind altering effects. On some level I had expected it to occur, but I had not expected it to be so sudden nor so violent.
I felt her presence behind me as her hand touched my back so softly that at first I thought I might have imagined it. She gently squeezed my shoulder as she next to me. With effort, I withheld the urge to push her away, instead trying to focus the sensation rather than those from my draining sinuses and churning stomach.
Lavender Brown
Seeing the man I had once considered to be the most powerful wizard in existence swaying back and forth with his arms tucked into his stomach and eyes cast to the ground almost made me ill as my own stomach turned. I glanced over at the fire hoping that the tea was boiling by now, but the water within the metal bucket remained still. I sighed.
I could relate to his misery in a small way having just recently been through my own detoxification while at St Dympna's. Dr Cornwell had told me then I had been fortunate since alcohol withdrawal can be deadly and had she known of my substance abuse, she would have forced me into medical detox at a local hospital prior to admission to her facility. I found myself wondering as I glanced over at the professor if antipsychotic withdrawals carried the same risk.
Anxiety sat thickly in my throat. Despite our success, I could not rid myself of the uneasiness haunting the back of my thoughts as I watched my accomplice suffer beside me.
I looked up at the moon. She would leave me soon, and I would be empty again. I could already feel the hole forming within me. It would consume me from the inside out as the days moved on, and I knew I would become even more useless than the professor seemed at this moment. I only hoped we somehow made it to our goal before I lost all motivation and direction for this cycle. Harry and Ginny's lives may depend on it. Hell, our lives may depend on it.
The sound of the tea bubbling beside me started me back to reality. "Finally." I watched the bubbles rise to the surface and explode one by one until they started surfacing in groups and so quickly I could no longer keep track of them. The scent of mint washed over me as did a sense of impending failure. As I looked back at the horizon from where we came and then towards the direction which we were headed, I could not help be feel the distance was impossible for us to accomplish alone, on foot, with no supplies, and no wands in the short time available.
Dr Cornwell
We were approaching the second afternoon since Mr Snape and Ms Brown's disappearance and the only information about them had come from the mysterious appearance of Mr Malfoy despite the local authorities and press picking up on the story. I could not see how those two had escaped so easily from facility. Already knowing of Mr Snape's lock picking ability, it hardly surprised us that security had found his window locks open. But how had Lavender decimated the hinges and locks on her windows without causing any alarm? Together they managed to get through both locking mechanisms of the only exit point from the facility without being seen by anyone at the exact time that the camera system had shorted out so no visual was ever obtained of their perfect escape.
I flipped through the piles of papers containing the records of these two patients on my desk another time looking for some clue I had missed the previous fifty times I had done the same. I kept returning to the copies of Mr Snape's journals.
As previous, I placed the words into the search engine of my internet browser. And as previous, I kept finding similar results; translations -"to burn or to set fire," "to attack," "to protect," and final "To repel."
With a sigh, I typed "Lucius Malfoy" into the search bar. Not surprisingly, I did not find much of value.
In a final act of desperation I finally typed "What is Muggle?" "This is ridiculous…" I whispered as I clicked "Search."
Several sites resulted. Taking the first, I read the definition; Muggle: a term used by British wizards and witches to refer to those without magical powers or heritage.
Not helpful, however a link near the bottom of the results did catch my eye. "The Daily Prophet; Muggle Edition"
My eyes briefly scanned the site which appeared to be some sort of newspaper.
Harry and Ginny Potter to Attend Grand Re-Opening of Ollivander's. As I was about to dismiss the article, my eye caught mention of the words "Wand Shop" and "London." Mr Malfoy believed my escaped charges to be heading to London. Scanning the article further I noted the date of this event to be just under two weeks away, the night of the new moon, my calender told me. As I scanned the article heralding the arrival of "The Chosen One" and the "Quidditch All Star Turned Sports Writer" I comprehended very little.
"Hmmm," I mumbled clicking my fingers against the desk as I read. Suddenly, a pop-up flashed onto the screen. "Breaking New!"
Curious, I clicked. Severus Snape Lives?
With a gasp, I frantically read, Manchester, England: According to local Muggle reports, a man bearing a strange resemblance to Severus Snape has been reported escaped from a Residential Mental Health Facility, St Dymphna's the night before last. While the reports has not released the name of the escapee and his female accomplice, the Daily Prophet sources have strong reasons to believe that this could very well be the long thought deceased formed Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor of Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Death Eater. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
Related articles - Harry Potter Claims Snape Innocent; Snape: Scoundrel or Saint? by Rita Skeeter
Click after click, I had unwittingly spent nearly two hours navigating through and absorbing the Daily Prophet. Although much of the content seemed to be blocked from me, I could not help but be drawn into the similarities contained within the articles and those told by Lavender Brown; Wizarding Wars, Magical Schools, Dark Lords, and Wand Shops.
Despite searching for some sort of disclaimer of the fantasy aspect of the site, I found nothing of the sort, only some reference to the Statute of Secrecy. So instead of returning to the work on which I should have been focusing my energies, I typed "Lavender Brown" into the search box of the site.
Two articles returned. The oldest boasting some outstanding scores she obtained on something called O.W.L. exam in three subjects, Transfiguration, Divination, and Charms. The second pertained to a list of casualties in the Second Wizarding War.
Closing the browser, I looked away from the screen to the window of my office. This couldn't mean that it was all real, could it?
