Books » Harry Potter » Enough

Author: galimeril

Rated: T - English - Angst/Hurt/Comfort - Reviews: 15 - Published: 02-24-12 - Updated: 06-13-13

id:7868927

A/N: Happy Weekend everybody! It's spring break right now and with my upcoming travel schedule, this is likely the last update until the middle summer moths. It is possible that I will develop a reckless irresponsible streak and ditch homework for a weekend to write, but this seems unlikely.

If you are squeamish about medical stuff, there's a bit near the end you'll want to skip, I rated this puppy T for a reason. I've a passing acquaintance with anatomy so most of the terminology should be correct but please don't get too upset if it isn't. I don't think I mentioned before, but this is AU and as such dances with cannon but may not necessarily let it lead.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a fantastic world which would have made me oodles of money if I had created it. Alas, such was not my lot in life. If JK or her representatives wish to sue, they are going to get all of the dust bunnies in my wallet and a few rabid plot bunnies which have snuck in there to create a rabid crossbreed. Please don't sue me, I like my bunny mutts!

Lily Evans was currently sitting outside, beneath the weeping willow that shaded her favorite reading spot on the riverbank. She was alone. Her sister refused to be near a freak like her. She smiled bitterly. Never had Petunia been so hostile. She had threatened to burn her magical pictures of her school friends. Lily sighed as she looked over the sluggish waters of the shallow river.

She couldn't wait for the next term to start. The constant reports of deaths and disappearances in the Daily Prophet were scaring her and she missed the magic of Hogwarts. Even, dare she think it, the infamous marauders? At least they made life interesting…

So lost in her thoughts was she that a loud noise startled by a loud rustling in the undergrowth. Whatever was moving in there sounded big, but it was making sudden stops and starts as it moved through the brush. The sounds cut off quite suddenly with an audible thump. Curiosity got the better of Lily and she drew her wand, underage restrictions be damned, and advanced into the brush.

She was greeted by the sight of a large black dog lying among the bracken. She approached cautiously. Appearances could lie so she was wary even though the dog looked to be in bad shape. Its ribs were protruding through tightly stretched skin and blood-matted fur. One of the front paws was badly mangled, the white bones jutting out at odd angles.

Lily started as the dog whimpered faintly and its breathing became ragged and it began to shudder. She let out a small scream as the fur vanished and limbs lengthened. Where a canine form once was now lay a young man in tattered black robes. A very familiar young man…

"Sirius?" Lily breathed. "Sirius Black? What happened to you?" He opened his mouth and it seemed as though he would reply, but only a harsh cough escaped and flecked his blips with bloody foam. His eyes rolled up in his head and his body went limp. Lily reached out trembling fingers and touched Sirius' neck. She was relived to feel a weak pulse fluttering beneath her fingertips.

She felt faint. What could have happened to Sirius? He had proven himself capable in a fight more than once at Hogwarts, dodging Slytherin curses with James Potter day in and day out. She had seen him give as good as he got, too.

She had to help him but she hadn't the faintest idea how… the Snapes! They were a wizarding family, surely they would help! Severus' mother was a mediwitch at St. Mungo's, maybe she could save Sirius. God, she hoped so. She took one last frightened look at Sirius' still form and set off at a run toward the Snape home.

Lily pounded on the door. Please, please be home! She was rewarded with Severus' face peeking back at her from the crack in the door. "Please Severus, let me in! It's an emergency!" She begged. His eyebrow twitched as though he wanted to raise it in disbelief, but he stepped back and allowed her entrance through the wards guarding the door. "Is your mother home?" Snape's eyes narrowed as he nodded and asked, "What's the emergency?"

Lily knew Severus didn't like James or his friends and in particular, seemed to despise Sirius. She decided not exactly to lie… but not tell the whole truth either. "There's someone hurt in the woods near the river, I think he might be dying," she explained hurriedly. "He's dressed in robes, but he looks to be in pretty bad shape. Please, can you get your mother to help him?"

Snape was looking at her a bit oddly but nodded and ran to fetch his mother. He summarized the situation for her tersely and led her along behind Lily as she bounded off.

It did not take long to reach the prone form hidden among the bushes and Mrs. Snape gasped upon seeing the condition of the teen lying on the forest floor. Blood was slowly pooling in the fallen leaves from a wound in Sirius' shoulder that Lily hadn't noticed before. Aside from what Lily thought was a bullet hole, there were several deep gashes on his face and neck. His leg hung at an odd angle where there were no joints and each wet exhalation of air brought more bloody foam to add to the red fluid dripping into the soil and trailing form the corner of his mouth."Please help him!" Lily pleaded.

Eileen turned to her son. "Run ahead and get bandages and the potions ready."

"Which ones?" Severus whispered, unable to tear his gaze from the tattered form of Sirius.

"All of them." She answered in the same tone. Lily had never seen Severus' mother lose her composure, but she was afraid she might now. But Mrs. Snape merely dropped to her knees and pulled out a wand. She waved it gently over Sirius' body and began to mutter. "Five broken ribs, obviously punctured lung, broken tibia and fibula, shattered scapula, bullet hole muggles, bruising, superficial lacerations, malnourished and…" She stopped abruptly. "That's impossible!" she hissed and cast a different spell. She shook her head in disbelief. "It's worse than I thought. Hold tight dear." With that she grabbed Lilly's hand and Sirius and apparated inside her home.

Lily felt the odd stretching sensation that accompanied apparition and found herself in a spartanly furnished room. Snape's mother wasted no time in gently lowering Sirius' still form onto the bedspread. Her long fingers quickly worked Sirius out of his robes and covered his lower half with a sheet she conjured out of the air.

Severus walked into the room, levitating a tray full of small flasks labeled with a neat hand. "Put them on the table Severus, thank you." She had already turned away and raised her wand once more. She murmured an incantation and Sirius began to breathe easier, though it still sounded harsh and labored in the quiet of the little room.

She made a complicated weaving motion around his chest and it seemed to expand slightly with sickeningly sharp cracks as the ribs were reattached. They pushed the skin tighter than it already was. Eileen then seized the bottle labeled 'blood replenisher' and pulled out the stopper, whispering a spell to close his shoulder wound and mend the bones. She gently opened Sirius' mouth and poured the contents of the flask in.

He swallowed reflexively and she laid him back down. She picked up the leg where the two ends of the bones showed a wet white through the bloody skin. She pursed her lips and pulled out the cork of a much smaller bottle whose label Lilly could not read through her hear clouded eyes and upended the entire thing over the mangled mess of a limb.

Still deep in unconsciousness, Sirius cried out and jerked away. Lilly nearly retched at the sight of the appendage hanging onto the rest of Sirius' body by just a flap of skin. Eileen calmly took the mangled limb onto her lap and began to wrap bandages around it. She tucked it under the covers after turning it into a cast and immobilizing the leg completely and tucked his arm against his chest after conjuring a sling. She reached for one more potion, but her hand hovered indecisively. "Shouldn't you give him something for the pain?" Lilly squeaked.

"I suppose you're right. He's coming 'round right now, but if I give him dreamless sleep his body will react to pain anyway and shut down."

Lilly gulped. She hadn't even begun to grasp how grave Sirius' situation was. Eileen made her decision and snatched the smaller bottle. She quickly pulled out the stopper and put it to Sirius' lips. She gently raised his head and poured the pain numbing potion into Sirius' mouth. Sirius groggily swallowed and opened his eyes as Eileen laid him back on the pillow. "Try to get some rest, dear. I'll bring you some food in little bit." With that, she left the room. Lilly leaned closer to the emaciated form of one Sirius Black. "What happened, Sirius? Who did this to you?"

A/N: And there is chapter the second. In the installments to follow we will deal with the emotional aftermath and...stuff. Yeah. Let me know what you liked/hated and as always, have a fantabulous weekend!

galimeril ;D