Chapter 9 - Above All Earthly Dignities
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"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Raven was still meditating after a couple hours out on the Hogwarts lawn not 20 yards from the Forbidden Forest. She knew that she needed to speak to the Headmaster about arranging private sleeping quarters for her, otherwise she'd never get an ounce of peace. The dark empath knew that she couldn't go on much longer like this, and without sleep she'd be just as dangerous as she would be without meditation. The body can only operate for so long without recuperation, and then there's the breakdown. Raven didn't even want to imagine what a breakdown for her might look like...If there was an Earth left, it wouldn't be large - or inhabitable. She suppressed a shudder. Yes, she'll definitely need to speak with the Headmaster...and soon.
Time passed very quickly whenever she meditated, and every so often she would check her mental clock and ensure that it was still night. It was a quarter 'till four in the morning, and she reasoned that she'd wait until four thirty before she headed to her dormitory...she needed enough time to find her way back. The girl hoped that her memory was strong enough to remember all the turns and stairs she had taken in order to get out here. She envisioned herself wandering the castle halls until daybreak and suffering the indignity of being rescued by some snot-nosed first year.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath -" Raven was cut off in the middle of her mantra by the sound of a loud 'POP' originating from her right...somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. The sorceress opened her eyes and turned her head toward the source of the sound. "Who's there!" she asked sharply, dropping back down to the ground. She strained her ears, listening for any sound that might give away the position of the unknown entity hidden in the forest. Nothing but silence greeted her, but this only caused her suspicion to grow. She could feel a presence out there no more than 30 yards away from her. Squinting her eyes, Raven remained still and peered into the darkness of the trees, suddenly wishing she had night-vision.
Then there was the sound of leaves crunching and sticks snapping. Whoever...or whatever was there wasn't taking any measures to remain unheard as it crashed through bushes, heading straight in Raven's direction. She quickly bent her knees and elbows, getting into the ready position, and not taking any chances by calling up her powers to form a black sphere around each fist. Right when she was beginning to wonder just how far back into the woods this thing was, a dark figure appeared from between the trees...and staggered back to support itself against the same tree it had just passed. Raven's powers fizzled out when she felt safe this person would not suddenly attack. Whoever it was, they were breathing heavily.
Carefully pushing off the tree, the figure limped a total of two and a half steps before collapsing on the grass. Dangerous or not, this person was clearly injured and needed assistance now. Raven deliberately shoved the remaining misgivings out of her mind and ran as quickly as she could to the fallen person. Kneeling over the prone form, she gingerly rolled the body onto its back, and her eyes widened significantly when she took in the familiar white mask. "Professor!" She tore the mask away from his face and realized he was hurt more seriously than what she had expected. "Professor Snape! Can you hear me? What happened to you?" The dark red stains soaking the black robes answered her question far better than any explanation ever could. Snape's eyes fluttered and then closed. Fingering the bottom front of the hood, she located the main clasp and attempted to unfasten it as fast as her shaking hands could manage. Raven growled in frustration as the button refused to cooperate, "This is taking much too long!" Dispensing with the formalities, she seized both sides of the robe and, using her telekinesis ability, tore it open. The commotion roused Severus Snape back into consciousness, and he fixed his unsteady gaze on Raven.
"What...you...who..." He closed his eyes again, but they opened a second later.
"What are the nature of your injuries?" she asked as she surveyed the blood seeping through his normal clothing.
"No...time...Leave!" his last statement was cut short due to a particularly painful surge through his body which made his face contort with pain. It was then that Raven noticed that his entire body was shaking. It was vital that she get him into some light...and warmth. She needed to get him to a hospital, is what she needed. But Raven didn't know who knew and who didn't know about Snape's spy position, so taking him to Hogwart's infirmary was out of the question. There was always Dumbledore, but there was no time. She had to do something, and do it now.
"Sir. Professor. Professor Snape!" She had no response. "Severus?" His eyes opened and though they were clouded over, they looked in her direction. "I'm going to take you to your quarters. Can you tell me where they are?"
Snape made a choking sound and barely managed to whisper a slurred "Dungeons".
"Where in the dungeons, Severus? I need to know an exact location." But the Potions Master had slipped out of consciousness again. Great, Raven thought, perfect timing. Usually, the sorceress was always against entering other people's minds...she viewed it as mind rape, and it stripped a person of their utmost privacy. But under the circumstances, she saw no other option, and his health was her utmost priority.
Repositioning herself, she closed her eyes and focused on her center. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos". The shadow of a raven rose up from her body and did a nose-dive straight into Snape's head. Immediately, her soul self was flooded with foreign feelings, memories, and thoughts. She waded through them, ignoring everything about her and instead searching for the location of his private rooms. Images flickered past her, and if she had wanted to, she could have learned everything there was to know about what made Severus Snape tick...but she stuck to her convictions and finally found what she was looking for. The shadow of Raven's soul soared back out of the man's head and made a fluttering landing back inside the girl. Now that she had a mental picture of where to go to, she crouched over the unconscious body of the professor. Grabbing the side of her cloak, she yanked it over both herself and Snape, and the two disappeared into the ground. The silhouette of an abnormally large raven could be seen flying at break-neck speed toward the castle, and anyone who might have been watching would have been astonished to see that bird fly directly into-and through-the stone wall. The shadow raven dipped into the ground and disappeared after entering Hogwarts.
At another part of the castle, the dungeons to be exact, the same black bird rose up from the ground in the middle of a large bedroom. Glowing white eyes then appeared on the raven, and slowly it morphed into a human form, while slowly lowering another human form onto the mattress. Raven didn't spare the room a glance as she focused on the man in front of her. After lowering her hood, which kept casting unwanted shadows in her way, she lit the gas lamps and wax candles, all the while cursing wizards for refusing to use electric lights. Once Raven felt there was sufficient light, she began examining her patient. One thing was clear: She could not heal him if she didn't know what his wounds were. And to find out would mean removing his clothes. She hesitated, biting her lower lip. Well, get to it, my girl! she chided herself. He's not going to heal on his own, now is he? This is a medical procedure - stop acting so squeamish! You've seen the male anatomy before! Stiffening her resolve, Raven began unbuttoning his black top coat, mindful of the red spots. She then removed the coat entirely and started unbuttoning his white undershirt, which by now was almost entirely red. So many frigging buttons! Does the man do anything but button and unbutton his clothes? The sorceress slowly peeled back the shirt soaked with sweat and blood, careful in case some of the material had stuck to an open wound. She absently brushed a lock or two of his matted black hair from his face and took the white shirt out from under him, tossing it onto the floor behind her. Raven's face hardened as she absorbed the extent of Snape's injuries. These weren't just regular cuts and bruises - although there were plenty of those to be found. She ran her hand lightly down his pale chest and noticed several wounds that looked to be hex marks, burns, and God knows what else.
A tremor ran through his body, and he went into a small convulsion. He wasn't trembling from cold...that much was certain. Raven spotted more gashes disappearing beneath his pants, and resigned herself to the inevitable conclusion that she had to strip him completely. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures...and this undoubtedly qualifies as one. She started off using her powers, but it was too rough on his frail body, and the material of his pants would scrape against lacerations - reopening them and causing more blood to seep out. So she forwent the respectful distance and manually took them off...and, to her shock and embarrassment, his boxers along with them. Raven averted her eyes instinctively...she could at least preserve the last shred of this man's dignity if nothing else. She quickly took a corner of the bed sheet and draped it over his private area, leaving his torso and legs bare for her ministrations. Running quickly through the nearest door which she hoped, and was right, led to a bathroom, she grabbed a towel and soaked it with cool water before returning to Snape's bedside. Starfire would have had a cow if she saw me like this, she thought sardonically. But now was not the time to reminisce on would be's.
Raven gently pressed the cloth over a few of his cuts on his chest. He was so dreadfully thin, she noted as she wiped away some blood. There were a few boot-shaped bruises on his ribs, and she silently prayed that none of the ribs were broken. She was startled out of her concentration when the patient beneath her gave a hacking cough. She looked up to his face and was relieved to see that his eyes were open...and registering the fact that he was buck naked. After scanning his own bare body, his black eyes narrowed into a death glare as he focused on Raven standing next to him. Snape was outraged that not only was he in the care of this girl, and in such a state of weakness and vulnerability, but ALSO STARK NAKED!
Raven held his gaze calmly and found her voice. "Professor Snape. We seem to be seeing a lot of each other these days..." -her lip curled upward playfully- "...no pun intended."
Severus growled furiously and was about to tell her exactly what he thought of her amusement, when he was caught up in another painful spasm. He gritted his teeth and attempted to roll away from her, but she was quicker on the draw and held him fast. She couldn't let him injure himself further by thrashing about. Shivering with pain, he buried his face in the pillow next to his head in an attempt to conceal just how bad this was, his hands clawed and twisted, and guttural sounds escaped his control. Then the revelation dawned on her when, in an extremity of pain, he tried to crawl away in case he inadvertently hurt her. That he was even capable of rational thought was amazing enough; that it should be her welfare that was foremost in his mind was unthinkable.
Abandoning professionalism by the second, Raven grimly held on to him through the worst of it. Finally, after several hellish moments, it began to subside. She could tell when the worst was over because gradually, the muscles of his chest began to relax under her hand. His skin was dripping with sweat and he was shaking almost as much as she was. The girl snorted. A fat lot of use she'd been. She'd never had to watch anyone suffer like this before, and along with her fear for him it made her fiercely angry that she didn't think to do anything to stop it.
"M-miss Roth," he panted shallowly. "D-did I...i-injure you?"
Raven glanced down at the scratches that had torn through her leotard and produced a fair amount of blood. "Of course not," she replied without hesitation. "What was that?"
"Ah. That. Just after effects." He turned his head to see her face arranged in surprised horror.
"Those were after effects! What in the name of Trigon was the original thing?"
Snape looked down. "Just the Cruciatus Curse...it'll wear off eventually."
Raven narrowed her eyes. "Hmm." She lifted a hand - not the one which was dripping with her own blood - and chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos". Snape looked around and started in surprise at the sight of her hand submerged in a transparent white flame. She lowered it onto the first of his cuts and continued chanting in a language Severus had never heard before.
"Remove your hand from my person immediately, Miss - oh." Snape's eyes closed momentarily as the pain from that particular cut vanished, and a sense of peace and relaxation flooded his entire body.
Raven continued to heal him, and was surprised when he made no comment when she moved further down his battered body. She had completed everything except for one area currently covered by a sheet. She was reluctant to simply go there, so she waved a hand over the area, finding out whether or not her healing was needed there, too. She was embarrassed and self-conscious when the results told her that there were a few injuries there that needed attention. After glancing back at Snape's face and ensuring that he was pretty much in a daze to register much, she pulled back the sheet and quickly attended to the bruises, cuts, and swellings and flipped the covers back in place. Raven went back up to the head of the bed and checked on the professor. He was sound asleep. Now would be the best time to fetch the Headmaster and tell him what happened.
The dark sorceress spared one last look at the sleeping spy to reassure herself that he wasn't going to die on her, and shot up through the ceiling in a vortex of swirling black energy.
A/N: I modeled a part in this chapter (post-Cruciatus effects) after a scene in the Hermione/Snape masterpiece "Falling Further In" by Kaz2...one of the best in the genre that I highly recommend you check out. I take inspiration from my favorite fanfictions and will always give credit where credit is due.
"I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience." - William Shakespeare
