A/N: Hi there friends! Here's another little update for you. Also, in case any of you are looking for a beta, I have now completed a beta profile and am looking for stories to edit. Contact me if you're interested. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter :) -TR
The next morning saw the golden trio in the Great Hall for breakfast as usual. There was no sleeping in on the weekends for them. Harry often had early Quidditch practices, and when he didn't he would join Ron in Hermione's enforced weekend study sessions. These sessions were of course for the all-important OWLs approaching at the end of the school year and not for fun, or so Hermione insisted to the other two.
Harry had been relieved to wake up and find his headache nearly gone. The second half of the potion had destroyed whatever bit of pain remained and he was already feeling perfect by the time he sat down to eat his oatmeal. The absence of pain was working wonders on Harry's morale as well. Surely everything would be fine. He would spend time with Jake and play Quidditch and study (which he actually sort of enjoyed when Hermione organised it, though he'd never admit it) and life could start to make sense again. Hermione and Ron smiled at him as he said goodbye and headed to the Quidditch pitch.
It had snowed overnight, and the crisp December morning air was enough to slap any remaining lethargy from Harry's body. He was grateful for his charmed Quidditch robes which were set to repel extremes in temperature and excessive moisture from rain or snow. Oliver Wood was the only one there when Harry arrived, but the rest of the team filed in quickly thereafter. They all greeted their seeker with nudges and smiles, anticipating an easy victory over Hufflepuff on the coming Monday due to an injury to their primary seeker. Harry's mind relaxed further in the presence of the camaraderie of his teammates. Today was going to be a good day.
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Snape was actually having a good day. Of course, he always loved weekends. He could spend his days brewing and reading, failing students on their essays and eating in peace in his rooms instead of the noise of the Great Hall. But this weekend was especially nice. There were no staff meetings, no mandatory school functions and Snape's new issue of Potion Mastery Quarterly had arrived in time for him to begin reading it with breakfast. To top it all off, his test potion for a new Cure for Hair Loss had reached the perfect transparency overnight and Snape believed it was on track to be useable with only a few further adjustments.
After adding a manticore horn, neatly diced, to the potion, Snape was just settling into his favourite armchair to continue his reading of Potion Mastery Quarterly when a loud banging began at his door. The door to his quarters. That no one ever bothered him at unless they had previously arranged a meeting (which no one had) or it was an emergency. Figures, thought Snape, how dare Severus Snape have more than a moment to enjoy himself. That simply will not do. He huffed in annoyance and went to answer the door, where he was surprised to see one of his first year Slytherin students.
"Daveys," Snape acknowledged neutrally, "how did you find the entrance to my private quarters? And why is it that you feel the need to interrupt me in said quarters?" The first year looked fearfully up at his head-of-house and whispered quickly,
"I'm very sorry to disturb you Professor Snape sir. I got sent by Madame Pomfrey to come find you, sir."
"I have been very clear with Poppy on multiple occasions that I am not to be involved in the direct care of students, Daveys, so if you don't mind –"
"Professor Dumbledore also said I was to fetch you, sir," interrupted Daveys. "Said something about…a potion high in the air? Or a student in the air with a potion? Something about pain…" Daveys muttered confusedly. Snape cursed inwardly. If this was another idiot who took a pain potion within 6 hours of flying they would have hell to pay. Pushing Daveys out of the doorway, Severus shut the door firmly behind him and took off briskly towards the hospital wing. As he walked he began rehearsing the order of potions and spells required to counteract the pain potion's reaction to high altitude. It causes blood vessel rupturing and oxygen desaturation. First a pressure bind, then a vessel-repairing base, followed by blood replenishing potion and then two quick incantations to seal off the vessels as they form and strengthen them against further rupturing, and finally a neutralizing agent to remove remnants of the pain potion still reacting negatively. By the time he had his thoughts in order Snape was at the infirmary.
"Poppy? Which imbecile decided to fly against orders this time? I swore the last time that the next student to do so would have detention for a month once they healed from their stupidity," Snape spoke loudly into the silent room. Pomfrey immediately rushed over to shush him.
"This isn't one of mine that ignored orders Severus. I never gave him anything for pain. I don't know where he got the potion from, but it seems to be reacting much worse to altitude than normal. I didn't know what to do! The normal vessel-repairing technique is just ripping apart as soon as I apply it!" she whispered worriedly. Snape's stomach whirled anxiously. It couldn't be. He would never have let the boy go without the rundown of side-effects. It must be a coincidence. But as Poppy pulled the curtain back from the bed in the corner of the room, Snape knew that he had indeed forgotten. In the bed, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, was none other than Harry Potter.