Author's Note: This is also an old chapter. Glad to see someone's still interested.
Chapter 2: Physical Wounds
He could feel the silence of the room as it inevitably meant that almost every eye in the small space was on him. The exceptions were Remus who was on his knees next to Hermione performing basic healing spells that Poppy was obviously too shocked to cast herself and Hudson who had somehow managed to elude the silence to give Severus a small nudge before rushing over to her in a flurry of robes. Everyone else was staring at him, some, like Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley, out of curiosity, wondering why exactly the girl would call out his name when she was in sure dire need, and others, like Potter and the younger Weasleys, in absolute shock, disbelief, doubt, and even some disgust.
He shared those feelings for a split second, wondering if he should follow Lupin's and Hudson's lead and go to her or if he should flee the room. He wasn't ready to see her again, but he knew that he probably never would be. He also knew that he couldn't leave the room in peace. The Order members' stares kept him glued to the spot he was standing (he couldn't remember how or when he had stood up from his spot next to McGonagall). The only direction that he could travel was towards her.
And then, there she was, writhing on the floor in pain even as Lupin was hurriedly casting healing spells. He knew that her pain was beyond physical wounds and battle scars she would live with forever. Being thrown back dozens of years in the past, being forced to stay there, and then being the target of a raid would addle anyone's brain. And he knew that she had been the target of the raid. Voldemort wanted her, and what Voldemort wanted, Voldemort got. She probably had up to three or four wizards on her at once. How she survived was a mystery to him. The fact that she was able to speak was true testament to her strength, to her character.
The split second's hesitation passed, and any doubts he had were gone. His body took over, and he moved to her in such lightning speed that the high, throne-like chair that had been leaning against his knees was thrown back against the wall. The chair's impact shook the entire room, and a portrait fell to the floor. The wizard inside it let out a few, choice curse words, rubbing his bum, but Severus didn't care. He was already at Hermione's side, feeling absolutely helpless at the sight that awaited him.
Her bushy, brown hair was sticking to her forehead, matted with blood and dirt. She had a long cut running down from her lower right cheek to the top of her throat. There, she had a cut that across her throat as if she had been slit by a muggle knife. He saw the tell-tale signs of magical manipulation as the cuts were slowly starting to heal themselves, and he cringed internally, wondering how bad they looked before Lupin had done anything, wondering how many other cuts and bruises she had that were now completely healed.
Her muggle t-shirt was sticking to her body because of sweat, but he also noticed that there were spots on her stomach where she was bleeding. Severus quickly removed his robes, and tossed them to a miscellaneous place. He didn't care if they landed in the fire place as long as they were out of his way. His long, skilled fingers, usually reserved for potions' ingredients were now at the top of her muggle jeans and moving her shirt up carefully. He saw lacerations everywhere, and he got out his wand to heal them. Lupin was busy with the cuts on her face and throat, and Hudson was doing complex magic to heal her head.
His callous fingers ran over her smooth abdomen. He massaged her stomach and chest with his left hand while healing with his right. Her torso and back were littered with cuts from what he could tell. He worked quickly, praising the Gods that seemed to be watching over him once again as he felt Minerva and Poppy get on their knees next to her. Poppy quickly unbuttoned her jeans, and Minerva vanished them. They hurriedly began to work on her lower body while he continued to work his way upwards.
Severus kept her shirt just below her breasts, but his hands felt upwards, knowing that some of her worst injuries would be just above them. He cast a warming charm on her as she began to shiver. She was completely drenched in sweat, and it was a lot cooler in this old house with its breezes than it was outside. He looked back at her face, and he noticed that Lupin and Hudson seemed to be done. He didn't spare a glance at Minerva and Poppy.
He looked behind his shoulder quickly, ignoring the commotion of the room and grabbing the robe and cloak he had discarded just minutes ago. He let the thick, black robe fall over her body as he vanished her clothes completely. He saw her eyes open; they were filled with a fight, with passion, with trust. She trusted him. That's all he needed to know as he put one of his arms under her shoulders and the other under her knees. He made sure that the material of his robe was covering her body completely before he scooped her up bridal style.
Potter and Ronald Weasley were by his side, looking concerned as words of relief flooded out of their mouths. They tried to get directly to her, and Weasley even had the nerve to start questioning him, but Lupin and Hudson warded them off, silencing them.
"Thank you," she said, ignoring the other occupants of the room and staring straight into his eyes.
In a moment of weakness, the breath he had been holding in was let out in the form of a relieved sigh. He only acknowledged her words with a small nod, but he did not stop her when she clutched his right arm with both of her hands and nuzzled his chin with the top of her head. He didn't care about the blood that was still not cleaned up or that she was dirtying his expensive, black dress shirt. He felt her warmth radiate through the fabrics between them and was content with the way he could feel her breasts rising and falling against his chest as her breathing started to slow.
He noticed a silent question hanging in the air as all talking stopped once again. Curiosity was present in almost everyone's eyes, but her best friends seemed to feel rage at her intimate display of affection and trust. He ignored everything and turned to the nurse.
"There is a direct floo connection to my house in Spinner's end from here. Go there now. Adjacent to my living room is a potions' lab. Go straight to the other side of that room, and there is a storage room. Retrieve blood replenishing potions, mental health potions, potions for concussions, extreme trauma, pepper-ups, anything and everything that may or may not be useful."
She stood, staring for a second before nodding and striding quickly to the fire place. She grabbed a hand full of powder and threw it in the fireplace, disappearing in the customary flames that were associated with floo-ing. Severus looked around the room for a second before his eyes met Molly Weasley's.
"Molly, I have cast a sleeping spell on her, but she will undoubtedly be hungry when she wakes up. Can I entrust you with making a suitable meal that will replenish her energy?"
"Of course, Severus," she nodded fondly at the man, a weak smile gracing her face as she started towards the door.
"Harry, dear, would you come help?" Molly asked, not really needing the help but knowing that Potter would drive himself insane if he didn't do something. The boy liked to do manual labor to get his mind off things.
Potter said nothing, his eyes meeting Snape's in a silent exchange of words, telling him to take good care of her, before disappearing through the door with Molly.
Next, Severus looked towards Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt, nodding towards them. They knew he wanted them to go to the Ministry without saying anything. They walked into the hallway silently, and he heard the front door close behind them as they disapparated on the front step. He thanked Merlin that he had the wits to undo all the protections on Grimmauld Place and put them back up from scratch with the help of the Order. It was now secure as Potter was the new secret keeper.
It was now Minerva's turn to make her presence known as she was now the new head of the Order of the Phoenix. "All of you, make yourselves useful! I don't care what you do, but stay out of Severus' way!" She bellowed, and everyone scattered except for Hudson and Lupin.
Severus nodded towards them as he left the meeting room and took her upstairs to her room. He kicked the door open, and its hinges almost fell off. He set her on the bed carefully, turning around and warding the door.
Turning towards the now fast asleep muggleborn, he lifted her up gingerly and removed the robes from her naked body. His eyes raked over her, looking for any injuries that had not been taken care of yet. When he saw none, he turned the clock on the bedside table into a bowl of self-cleaning, soapy water, and turned the lamp into a sponge. Snape unbuttoned the sleeves to his shirt then rolled them up to his elbows. He took the sponge and dipped it into the bowl, squeezing excess water out of it. He then began the task of manually cleaning her body. He didn't dare use magic while medi-spells were still running their course. The only part of her body he could clean safely through magic was her hair.
He applied slight pressure on her forehead as he ran the sponge over her face, first following her hair line then cleaning her cheeks, nose, and chin. He traced her lips with the sponge, noticing they were regaining their flushed, red color. Severus dipped the sponge back in the water before continuing to clean downwards, carefully removing the blood from her neck and breasts, not daring to look too closely at them lest his body react. He instead continued to clean slowly and meticulously down towards her stomach, hips, and thighs until he reached her toes. Turning Hermione onto her side, he repeated the process on her back.
As he finished up, there was a knock on the door. Severus told the person outside to wait while he moved to the dresser and grabbed a pair of loose shorts and a worn shirt that had some sort of muggle band name on the front of it. He lifted her arms up and slipped the t-shirt over them, lifting her upper body before securing the shirt in place. He slid the shorts over her tanned, bare legs and put blankets over her sleeping form.
He strode to the door and opened it, allowing the four people outside to enter. Minerva and Poppy immediately moved towards the bed with a handful of potions. That left Severus standing in the doorway awkwardly with Lupin and Hudson. He felt tired and weary and was glad when Hudson put an arm on his shoulder and led him outside the room.
"You check her for dark magic, Lupin." Bade demanded with a cold, Slytherin sneer on his face. Lupin barely had the chance to nod before Bade quietly shut the door in his face.
He turned toward Severus and dropped the sneer, his face showing nothing but compassion and worry. The clinking of pots and pans the sizzle of food could be heard from the kitchen downstairs, and voices carried from the living room where there was most likely a discussion going on about what had transpired just minutes ago.
Snape reached into his pant pockets and took out a hair tie. His left hand ran through his straight black hair and gathered it up at the nape of his neck. He tied it in place then looked back at Hudson. They gazed at each other for a few, short seconds. Then, Bade crossed the gap between them and put his arms under Severus' and around his back, holding him firmly. The motion was foreign to Severus as the only people he had ever hugged were females- Hermione, Lily, and the muggle neighbor. It looked as though Hudson was not prepared to let go so Severus put his arms around the redhead's shoulders and back.
He immediately understood why people did this so often. He felt a warm comfort run through his entire being. He felt cared about and knew he could count on this man, his best mate, to stand by his side and fight with him. Severus still didn't know what he would do when Hermione woke up, but he knew somehow that it would come to him.
No words were needed as the men let go of each other and the embrace and walked toward the library.
Author's Note: I had forgotten how much I loved Bade Hudson.