Chapter 2 Mollycoddling

Severus stirred into consciousness. The first thing he realized was he felt comfortably warm, not hot. Perhaps the reigning deity took pity upon me and I am not burning in hell or maybe I'm stuck in purgatory, he thought. His next conscious thought was of his sandpaper coated throat. He opened his mouth and rasped a cough. With his next intake of breath he recognized the taste of the air. He was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. And with this thought he opened his eyes. They burned and he instantly squeeze them shut. Then he felt a hand on his chest.

"Lie still Severus you have been through quite an ordeal. Let me put some drops in your eyes before you try to open them again." Madam Pomfrey said as she scuttled around the bed.

How the hell am I still alive thought Severus. Death had called and I willingly answered. I was sitting at a muggle bus stop awaiting the bus to my final destination. I saw the bright headlights and then BAM, I am waking up to Madam Pomfrey's incessant mollycoddling.

Suddenly Severus felt a slight movement along his right side. Then he became aware that his entire right side of his body was up against something warm. He stiffened by reflex and moaned lightly in pain. The involuntary flexing of his muscle had awoken every nerve ending in his body and apparently they screamed in protest.

"Tut tut my boy. Try not to move too quickly. I imagine you are sore, yes?" asked Madam Pomfrey as she set a vial of pepper up and pain potion on his bed side table and fussed with his pillow. Simultaneously the warmth on his right side disappeared and Severus heard what sounded like a nearby curtain being drawn.

Severus growled and opened his eyes. It took a few moments for his world to swim into focus. He moved tentatively toward the potion vials. His delicate nose recognized the contents immediately and he downed them both.

Returning his head to the pillow Severus turned to the motherly witch that was now fussing with fixing the bed linens. "What happened Poppy? Is it over?"

"Yes my dear boy, it is all done and you, you blessed man are a hero." Severus made a strangled sound. "Now don't pull that face with me Severus Tobias Snape. I have known you since you were a boy and toiled over you bed side through peace and war seeing firsthand the sacrifices you made and kept your secrets all these years. Your sneers and pretense are wasted. I am the closest to a confidante still standing Severus Snape so let's forgo the posturing insinuating otherwise shall we?" Poppy sat herself down by his side on the left side of his person and looked at him kindly.

"I am so proud of you Severus, there that will be the last of my incessant mollycoddling as you would so pointedly put it." Smiling she vanished the empty vials and looked back at the now grimacing Severus. The left corner of his mouth slightly turned up, giving away his true amusement at Poppy's statement. Then the slight smile disappeared and he looked into Poppy's strained eyes.

"Tell me, Poppy, what happened?" Severus felt both hopeful and trepidation at the dawning of this new day. No, he had not anticipated living thru the second war but since he had, there was a whole new set of concerns to ponder. What is his status with the Ministry? Would he face persecution and possibly Azkaban for his part in the war? He could never explain Albus. A tear threatened to break over the rim of his eye. He bowed his head to allow his curtain of black hair to hide his face.

"Well, I don't know everything Severus but I will endeavor to bring you up to speed. We have some time before McGonagall makes her rounds." With a smirk of her own, Poppy continued on. "I know how you love speaking with Minerva." They both snorted at her jibe. "Let's see, first things first. The Dark Lord was indeed slain by Harry Potter. Shacklebolt is acting Minister until a proper election can be arranged. Public opinion seems to have him pinned as just the ticket." Severus snorted but bobbed his head in approval. As she continued on, he wiggled his toes and tested his faculties. All seemed to be in order. The potions had taken effect and he was feeling marginally less sore. In curiosity he brought his hand to his neck. The surface seemed fairly smooth save a jagged scar at the base of his neck that trailed along his collarbone. Poppy's next remark caught his attention and brought him out of his self-inspection.

"We lost many in the final battle. Only a few of the elder Order Members remain. Myself, McGonagall, Shacklebolt, Molly, Arthur, Bill Weasley and his wife." Poppy wiped a silent tear from her eye. After taking a deep breath she continued. "McGonagall is acting Headmistress and the board of directors has asked her to stay on at least for the upcoming year. She is really having a tough run of things at the moment. It has been three weeks and she is still dealing with the press on a daily basis, providing supporting memory reviews and making sworn statements for the ministry to help aid in trials and doing all she can to put Hogwarts back together so a school term will be possible by September."

Severus took a shuddering breath. There were so few of his colleagues left. A thought came to him. "What of Remus and Tonks, Poppy? Surely not both?"

Poppy looked up at him with a crease in her brow and a fresh tear rolling down her cheek.

Severus recoiled slightly, and exhaled. Almost in a whisper he asked; "What of their fur ball?" Poppy smiled softly "Molly has Teddy for now. Remus and Tonks had the foresight to make provisions in the event…" Poppy trailed off not wishing to articulate the words that would surely have her blubbering again. She was quite tired of crying.

Severus moved on, not wanting to distress the women to the point of not being able to continue learning of what had transpired during his absence. Did she say three weeks?

"Poppy, how long have I been incapacitated?" Severus sat up a little straighter now. His aches were about gone and his mind seemed to be clearing now. How had he come to survive Nagini's attack?

Poppy smiled as she watched him come into his self. Severus was always quick to come around once he woke up. His mental self-control always impressed her. "You have been out of commission for 24 days my boy. You are likely starving for solid food."

As if on cue Severus's stomach groaned and the nagging gnawing feeling of hunger made themselves known. "Indeed, I seem to be famished to the point of distraction." Severus stated partly amused.

Poppy was already making her way back to him with a tray of food. She pulled out the side table and swung it in front of him. Severus tucked his bed covers out of the way and focused on the tray of bread and vegetable soup. Sneering he said "I thought you said solid food. What is this prison ration?" His words rang through his mind and his eyes grew wide with distress and looked around the hospital wing.

Poppy saw his reaction to his own comment and knew what startled Severus into a new level of awareness and spoke quickly to reassure him. "It's alright Severus. There are no Aurors or Ministry officials here. You are not in danger of being tossed into Azkaban. Your efforts and intentions are known and supported by enough people to keep the Ministry from taking unwarranted actions against you. The Aurors did attempt to remove you from my care at first but Minerva quickly set them straight and began the process of vindicating you from all charges thrown your way. Every Order Member provided memory testimony a few weeks ago. Albus's portrait finally woke last week, and provided his account of his death. The ministry will still want to review your memories and question you but I don't think you will be going to Azkaban Severus. Even public opinion of you is supportive. That has to do with Mr. Potter and his friends but that I will leave for another time." She smiled impishly and looked back at Severus. His posture had relaxed again and he was nibbling at his rye bread. His trademark sneer was making an appearance as Poppy knew it would. If there was one thing Severus disliked was attention. Oh, when he finds that his shared memories were now public knowledge he would surely be unmanageable. Poppy thought that little detail could be left for someone else to divulge. So it was Minerva McGonagall that would have the honor of revealing all the unsavory details to Severus.

As Severus ate, Poppy moved on to tend her other patient and mind her duties elsewhere. Deciding he would ask about Madam Pomfrey's comment regarding the public opinion of him later he decided to continue his self-evaluation until Minerva came calling or him.