Chapter 2 - Awakening

"Look …at… me…"he whispered.*

The last thing Severus Snape saw were the emerald green eyes of Lily Evans peering at him through the face of her son, Harry Potter. His last thoughts were of her and how, even though he had failed her deeply in his life, he hope that he had somehow redeemed himself with his death.

Then the darkness came and he drifted away in its silent embrace.

Time ceased to exist. Like in sleep, it meant nothing. Minutes passed. Or were they hours? Maybe even days.

Voices seemed to drift into the darkness, but only on the outskirts of his mind. No clear words could be distinguished. And then the darkness would come and embrace him again, carrying him away.

Finally, more voices, with clear words here and there. But, they too, seemed to fade in and out. His mind could not seem to clearly grasp it all and they would fade away again and the darkness would return.

His mind would surface from the darkness to hear voices from time to time. He thought he recognized some of them, but, before his mind could completely form around the name it seemed to fade away again.

Poppy. Poppy Pomfrey. He finally could recognize a voice. He must be in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Why could he not wake up? But, before he could analyze that thought further he once again would sink into the oblivion of darkness.

Over time he started to recognize more and more voices as his mind seemed to become more focused. Hagrid, Filch, Minerva McGonagall. Had it been hours or days since the attack? Perhaps even longer. He had no way of knowing. If only he could find the strength to wake up. It seemed just beyond his reach.

Severus could now tell the difference between daytime and night. Not only could he hear more movement about the room, but, he could detect light. If only he could open his eyes.

At one point he thought he heard the voice of Harry Potter. If that was true, the war with the Dark Lord must not be over. How much longer would it last?

The voices always spoke softly around him and he generally could not make out much of the conversations, but, he would hear enough to know that they were inquiring about him. Perhaps they were waiting for him to awaken so that he could be carted off and locked away like the Death Eater all of them must believe he was. These thoughts seemed to tire him even more and he would then hope he would never awaken. He then longed for death to just come and claim him.

There was one voice he did not recognize. He heard it more than the others. It belonged to a female. She always spoke directly to him like she knew he could hear her. She called him Professor and would tell him that he was going to be well again soon. She must be a healer assisting Madame Pomfrey. She would speak softly to him while she wiped his brow or while she attended the bandages about his neck. Her voice was soft and soothing. She would talk about the weather or about the way the sun streamed through the window or other nonsense. There were not many times that he would surface from the darkness that he didn't hear her.

She also seemed to read to him. Although the stories all seemed to contain magic, they were not tales that he had ever heard of or read. Stories of fairies, beasts in castles or a wizard and a powerful ring of some sort. She also would hold his left hand in hers while she read to him. He knew he missed great portions of the stories, but, at least her voice and her touch made him feel somehow more connected to the world. Something to listen for and cling to in those moments when he was more aware of things.

There were some times when Severus would come out of the darkness that he did not hear any voices, but, he always knew she was nearby. He had began to associate the faint scent of wildflowers with her presence. If he did not hear her voice or feel her hand, he would at least catch that soft aroma and know she was nearby. He would fade back into the darkness knowing that someone at least was with him and that was a little comforting in all the darkness.

It happened one morning without any clear thought. Severus opened his eyes as soon as a hand touched his throat. He opened them to see the face of a woman about his age with pale skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Her hand ceased their movements as soon as she saw his eyes open. "I will not hurt you." he heard her say. He immediately recognized her voice as the one he had heard most often. This was the woman that had been attending to him and reading to him as well.

He watched her face and eyes trying to read them to see if he could believe her. She had not harmed him prior to now and her eyes seemed gentle though a bit shadowed. Her face was thin and she looked like she might be recovering from some sort of illness, but, a soft smile touched her lips as she watched him for a reaction. She finally continued her administrations to the bandage on his throat as she spoke. "You gave us a right scare, Professor. Everyone will be glad to hear you have awakened."

*from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" pg 658 American version