Chapter 30
Sirius looked up at the hospital door when he heard a knock. Remus, still resting from his transformation, lay in bed and looked up at the door.
Shooting a glance toward his friend, Sirius slowly stood and made his way to the door. It was eleven o'clock at night, not a time they were accustomed to unannounced visitors.
The door creaked open in front of Ron and Hermione who were huddled under Harry's invisibility cloak. They could see half of Sirius' face through the slit.
"Sirius," Hermione whispered. "It's us."
Sirius' face disappeared momentarily and then it came back. "Hermione?"
"And Ron," the redhead piped up.
The door quickly slid away, clearing their path and the two Gryffindors entered the small room that housed their ex-professor and Harry's godfather.
Hermione quickly slipped out for under the cloak's cover, leaving Ron to fold it and put it away for the time being. The young witch's eyes came to rest on Remus who was looking quite confused as to the reason for their presence.
"Remus, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked as she took a seat close to the werewolf's bedside.
"I'm fine, Hermione," Remus answered with the puzzled look on his face. "But-"
"What are you two doing out of your dormitories at this hour?" Sirius uncharacteristically demanded, interrupting Remus. Since Harry's disappearance, his godfather's behavior had changed quite a bit. He had lost his carefree manner and was actually beginning to remind Ron and Hermione of an overly worrisome Remus.
"We wanted to talk to you about Draco," Ron said, moving away from Sirius and taking a seat near Hermione. Sirius was glaring at both of them but neither he nor Hermione were going to budge. He had been on the receiving end of the look on Sirius' face many times from his mother and knew from experience that it was best to explain himself quickly.
Sirius' expression transitioned from a motherly glare to a look of bewilderment. "Draco?"
Harry looked down at his sleeping professor, surveying his visible wounds and wondering how long it would take for him to recover. He hoped that Snape would recuperate before Phaedrus' next transformation. It didn't seem like that would be enough time but they didn't have much choice in the matter. In fact, they would only have about three weeks. They would definitely need to put some distance between themselves and Phaedrus before the next full moon.
"How is he?"
Harry started when he heard Phaedrus. The room has been so quiet and he had been lost in his own thoughts. "No changes," he said after a second.
Phaedrus nodded absently has he pulled up a nearby chair on the other side of Severus. After settling into the seat he felt Severus' forehead and cheeks with the back of his hand. "It seems his fever has gone down a bit."
Harry brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, holding them in place. Guiltily biting his bottom lip, he looked away from his professor, turning his gaze to the fire.
Phaedrus glanced at the boy and sighed. "I know you want to do something to help him, Harry, but the best thing for you to do is to take care of yourself."
Harry turned his head to look at Phaedrus. "He's here because of me. This is my fault and I can't do anything to help him."
Phaedrus gave Harry a short laugh. "I think we both share the blame for that."
"At least you can't help it," Harry said half jokingly but after seeing Phaedrus' eyes darken at the comment, Harry immediately regretted uttering it. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I shouldn't have-"
"It's all right," Phaedrus said, cutting off Harry's attempted explanation. "I've spent enough time feeling sorry for myself. I won't do it anymore and I expect you to do the same."
Harry was momentarily cut off guard by the statement and said nothing.
Taking advantage of Harry's lack of quip, Phaedrus continued. "I know you think that this is your fault, but it isn't."
Harry looked away from Phaedrus, focusing is gaze on his knees. He knew that the werewolf was right but he had never managed to completely shake the blame for his parents' death either, so why would this be any different?
"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Harry heard Phaedrus say.
Without looking at him, Harry nodded, got up from his chair and headed for the place where he had been sleeping before. He lay down without covering himself with the blanket that Phaedrus had wrapped him in earlier and rolled over so that he wouldn't have to look at either man by the fire. For a while he only stared at the wall, hoping that Snape would be okay. Eventually, his exhausted body and mind forced him to sleep.
Author's Note: Okay, so yes, it's been months since I've last updated, and no, nothing much happened in this chapter. My reason for posting is to see if anyone wants me to continue this story since the 6th book has come out. If there is any interest, then I will continue the story as I had planned it before the 6th book, otherwise I won't. Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. If you want me to continue, just say so in a review. Thanks again, and sorry for the delay.