Hi All! I'm growing very sad as we get to the last two books in the series; I'm going to miss this story. I'm thinking that when I'm done this series, I'll do a sequel called "Through Their Eyes" and telling the same exact story but with everything that happened in each sequence from Snape and McGonagall's perspectives? Would this be too redundant? If anyone would be interested/wanting to read that, let me know! Enjoy!
Neville jumped as he heard the door to the hospital wing slam open. "Minerva!" Having almost dropped the herbs he was putting together, Neville looked to Madam Pomfrey, both having recognized the voice as Professor Snape.
"Stay here and keep an eye on Professor McGonagall, Longbottom," she warned. "I'll handle him."
With that, Madam Pomfrey ducked out from the curtain that he and the matron were behind. Professor McGonagall lay in the bed in front of him, unconscious and still bleeding from the four stunners that had hit her earlier that night. Neville's hands began to shake, hoping that Snape wasn't coming into the wing to try and hurt his Head of House. He never had trusted the greasy man. Snape didn't seem to be on Umbridge's side, but one could never know. Neville cursed himself for still being so afraid of his professor. The man was still a teacher and Neville knew his fears were ridiculous. Besides, he'd finally found his place at Hogwarts- with the greenhouse. Once he'd discovered his passion, he'd finally began to feel more like a person and less like just a target for bullies, especially Snape. Cutting the herbs to help treat Professor McGonagall had been a job Neville had eagerly jumped on. He'd been raised with Professor McGonagall around his entire life. His grandmother was one of her friends. Well, for a long time Neville had thought they were friends, but over the years he'd found Professor McGonagall disagreed with a lot of her ways. They were around the same age, McGonagall a little younger, but his grandmother had always been more old fashioned than the Deputy Headmistress. When his grandmother put him down, McGonagall had raised him up. She was one of the few people that truly thought he was worth anything. Seeing her lying, near death, in a hospital bed felt like he was watching another one of his family members slip away.
"Where is she, Poppy?" Snape asked, his voice weaker than Neville had ever heard it.
"Keep your voice down, Severus," came a third voice: Professor Flitwick.
Although he wasn't actively trying to listen, Neville couldn't help but overhear their entire conversation. Besides himself and Professor McGonagall, they were the only two in the hospital wing. "She is here for now and going to be transported to St. Mungo's in the next few hours." Madame Pomfrey was crying.
"Where is she?" he asked again, this time louder and more hysterical. Neville's ears perked up as Snape's voice lost its normal monotone composure. Professor Flitwick was holding Snape's wand in his small hands.
Neville peaked around the corner of the curtain, seeing Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey facing off. Madame Pomfrey had her wand out, something he'd never seen her do unless she was healing someone. "You need to compose yourself, Severus. I will not have you coming in here and exposing yourself."
"I don't give a damn about exposing myself!" he shouted. "I…we hid all this to protect her…so this didn't happen." Neville had never seen him talk so animatedly with his hands. Anytime Snape spoke, he was stern and composed. "I told her…we told her to stop!"
"Lower your voice," Madame Pomfrey said, practically yelling herself. Tears continued to come down her cheeks.
"Severus-," Professor Flitwick said gently. He was crying too.
"Please…" Snape's voice trailed off, a sob escaping his mouth.
"You should go, Severus. You don't want to see her like this"
"How…after all these years…could you keep me from her?"
"After all these years?" Madame Pomfrey asked, her voice strong, but Neville saw more tears coming down her face. "You think I'm doing this to hurt you? After all these years of watching you both? I am doing this for your own protection." Neville couldn't understand what they were talking about.
Snape covered his mouth and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "Is she going to?"
"I don't know." A sob escaped Snape, and Neville couldn't take his eyes off the situation. He'd known that Snape and McGonagall's Quidditch rivalries were most likely just for fun, but he'd never thought they'd been friends.
"Is she stable?"
"For now. She'll be transferred to St. Mungo's in the next hour." Silence fell between them, and Neville felt the tension in the air. Finally, Madame Pomfrey broke it. "A few moments, Severus. I'll keep watch," she said darkly.
As Snape pushed through the curtain where McGonagall lay, Neville slipped around the curtain to the outside so he couldn't be seen. Professor Flitwick and Madame Pomfrey hugged, Madame Pomfrey almost kneeling on the floor to do so. "I'll take care of him from here," Madame Pomfrey said, standing back up to her full height.
Professor Flitwick nodded. "I'll go to his rooms and wait."
"Maybe take Pomona with you?"
"No," Professor Flitwick replied. "I think he'd rather it be just us." Silence fell between the two. "Is she really going to make it, Poppy?"
"I don't know…I can't…none of us can lose her."
"She was trying to help Hagrid," Flitwick explained.
"I heard. Where was Severus?"
"He was grading papers; he heard students talking about it in the hallway."
"Merlin," Madame Pomfrey said, running a hand through her hair. "He heard from student gossip?" She looked sadly towards the curtain. "Can you keep watch? For Umbridge? The last thing we need is her to see him like this."
"I know." With that, Flitwick left the room.
His curiosity of this conversation and Snape's intensity piqued Neville's interest, and he peered around the curtain again. He saw Snape sink down into the chair beside McGonagall, breathing heavily. "Min…" Tears were streaming down his face now, and he let his head fall to her chest. He reached out and moved her hair from her face. "I said to stop," he sobbed. "I said to cut the Gryffindor pride and just be safe…I…" His voice broke off into sobs, and Neville couldn't believe what he was seeing. Snape wrapped his arms around her, staring at the wounds in her chest. "Fuck." He ran his hands around the gaping wound, careful, Neville could see, not to touch them.
Madame Pomfrey came into where McGonagall lay and put a hand on Snape's back. "You have to go, Severus. Before Umbridge comes. You're too upset."
"Poppy, no…" he said quietly, hugging McGonagall visibly tighter.
"Severus, come on," she said firmly, grabbing his arm. "Do you want to be next to her in that damn bed?"
"I don't care."
"Minerva will. I do. Come." Madame Pomfrey yanked him out of the chair. Neville's eyes practically popped out of his head as he saw Snape lean down and kiss McGonagall's forehead. Were they…involved? "She's strong, Severus," Madame Pomfrey said, softening her tone. "You think she's going to let Umbridge kill her?
Snape stood, looking at McGonagall, tears streaming down his face, but chuckled lightly through the tears. "Imagine the look on her face when she realizes what Umbridge did. She's going to kill her."
"She'll come back tenfold," Madame Pomfrey added. "You know she will, Severus."
"I…but, look at her…She's not supposed to be hurt."
"I know." They stood in silence for a few moments until Madame Pomfrey extended her arms and did something that was such an odd sight- she hugged him. Snape hugged her back, and Neville saw him rest his head awkwardly on her shoulder. Heavy sobs escaped him again, but Madame Pomfrey didn't look phased. When his crying subsided, Madame Pomfrey pulled away. "You need to leave. We've been working this whole year to keep you two hidden."
Snape grabbed McGonagall's hand one more time before retreating, Neville sliding back into the sick area before Snape could see him. As he turned back to look at McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey looked at him as if she'd forgotten he'd been there. "Longbottom…"
"Are they…?"
"Part of being in the healing industry is learning when to disclose certain information and when to not," she said matter of factly. "You should do well to remember that." Madam Pomfrey began to remove the bandages from McGonagall, replacing them with new ones.
"He cares for her," Neville said, not realizing he'd said it aloud.
Madame Pomfrey paused her motions for a moment and her expression softened. "He does."
"I've never seen Professor Snape like that…"
The Mediwitch smiled. "Not many people have. He prefers it that way. They prefer it that way. You best remember that, Longbottom."
"Do you think Umbridge would punish them if she knew?" Madame Pomfrey seemed to be answering all his questions, and Neville wanted to find out as much as he could. "Excuse me for all the questions…Professor McGonagall has always been like an aunt to me. She's been better to me than my own family. I guess I just want to know if she's happy. And if she's happy with Snape, well…I'm glad and I don't want Umbridge to ruin it more than she has. It's just…it's Snape."
"You know very well that Umbridge is after anyone she can be," she replied with a sigh. "And it's no secret that your Head of House has taken it upon herself to play Godric Gryffindor this year. As for their happiness…they're both very strong and very emotional people. They're a force to be reckoned with, but I'd say they're happy. I've known them both for a very long time and I've never seen them care for another person the way they do each other." Neville was surprised by how much Madame Pomfrey was willing to tell him.
Looking at the witch who lay bleeding in the hospital bed, Neville smiled sadly. He was glad McGonagall had found someone, even if Neville hated him more than anything. After Snape's outburst in the hospital wing and the way he stood at her bedside, it was clear he cared about McGonagall even if he didn't seem to like anyone else. As much as he thought his professor deserved better, Neville supposed that if Snape made her happy, he could accept that. "The things you don't realize about your teachers," Neville said, joking lightly for the first time the entire evening.
Madame Pomfrey smiled slightly, tears still spilling down her cheeks. "We're people too, you know."
"You don't think that way until you get older. When you're a little kid, a first and second, and even third year, you assume your professors do nothing but teach and eat in the Great Hall."
"We all thought the same as students." Silence fell between them again. Neville looked closely at Madame Pomfrey, lines of exhaustion beneath her eyes. She was trying to be strong for them all- taking care of her friend. "That will be all, Longbottom."
Neville put down his things. "Are you sure? I can help…"
She nodded, her voice tired. "We will be moving her to St. Mungo's soon. Thank you for your work. You are becoming a truly gifted student of Herbology. I will be sure that Professor McGonagall knows just how much you helped."
He smiled slightly. It was very rare he received compliments. "Thank you."
He turned to leave, still nervous about his head of house's condition. "Longbottom?"
"Yes?"
"Not a word."
He nodded. "Of course not." Neville hurried out of the hospital wing, determined to do his best to carry on McGonagall's strength while she healed.