The Snake and the Eagle

Chapter 18 - It Was My Fault

The day after the sad event of the four boys' death, their families sent word to the headmaster. The bodies were to be put inside coffins and be brought at midday to Hogwarts gates, where their parents would have come to fetch them. At noon sharp four white coffins, wrapped in Slytherin banners, floated out of the castle oak doors and across the ground, escorted by Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, Falconbridge and Snape. Yes, they were white! Because, even if they were Death Eaters, they were still innocent victims of Voldemort's thirst for Power. Snape's eyes were still badly bloodshot for his crying, but they were also full of loathing against the boys' families, the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord and himself. He deeply regretted he had not done anything to stop them joining the dark side in the first place. Fortunately, the enemy had the good sense to give them a truce, to dispose of their young companions with honor.

Alas, the truce was not destined to last long. As soon as the day faded, the enemy front was ready to launch their second attack. As the Order had guessed, they faced the remaining young recruits and the lower ranks. This time the fight was more bloody than the previous one and Harry Potter had been obliged to stay in the castle. It had been a very wise choice, as the Order suffered many bad injuries and some deaths too. The forces of Good prevailed again, but it was not yet over and the enemy had still a small surprise for them. The students and Order members were gathered in the Great Hall and Dumbledore was escorting the wounded ones to the Hospital Wing, when suddenly hundreds of human shapes projected themselves behind the window panes. Moody's magical eye immediately darted in their direction.

"What the hell ..." he was saying, but his words were cut off by the sight of hundreds of pairs of bat-like wings sprouting out of the figures' backs.

"Vampires!" Professor McGonagall shouted, and the creatures broke the window panes and stormed in. Professor Snape ran in the middle of the room shouting, "Cover your eyes!" Though a little doubtful, everybody followed his command. "LUMOS SOLEM," he shouted at the top of his lungs , shielding his own eyes with his arm. A blinding ray of light burst out of Snape's wand tip illuminating the whole room. The vampires were caught in the light and began to shriek in pain, they caught fire and turned to ashes.

"Hurry up! Back in the dungeons!" Moody and McGonagall shouted shepherding the students out in the Entrance Hall. Snape and the other wizards hastily sealed the doors leading in and out of the Great Hall, isolating the room, and joined the others downstairs. When Snape reached the common room he asked if anybody was injured. There was only one, Neville Longbottom. He had not been fast enough to close his eyes when the powerful magical light irradiated in the room. He was crying because his eyes burned like hell, and when he tried to open them he could only see white.

"I'm blind! I'm blind!" he was crying in anguish. Snape marched angrily towards him.

"Shut up idiot, you're not blind! Didn't you hear me ordered to cover your eyes?" he spat, his face inches away from the boy's one. Neville fell silent at once, too scared to emit a single sound more, as he felt Snape's furious breath against his skin. "Give the boy a sleeping potion, I'll be back in a second," he said to Madam Pomfrey and stormed out of the room.

When he came back, he was carrying a bottle with a yellowish fluid in it. Neville had been led in one of the boys' rooms, surrounded by his worried Gryffindor mates. He was now peacefully asleep in his bed, though his eyes were puffy and inflamed. Snape's tall figure appeared in the doorway of the boys' room. He was slightly panting, because he had just run to his office to fetch the potion.

"Everybody get out of the way!" he rudely ordered to the Gryffindors with his usual authoritarian voice, which allowed no further discussions. The school matron had diligently left him an empty basin and some clean cloth on the night-table. Snape poured the yellowish potion in the basin. He unbutton his coat and, rolled up his sleeves, set himself to work.

"Poppy, how long will he be asleep?" he coldly asked her.

"About eight hours ... Severus, do you think the poor boy actually risks to go blind?" she asked him anxiously.

"Yes. I'm afraid he can, if this potion isn't efficacious," he gravely stated. He carried a chair close to the bed and sat down.

"You can go, Poppy. Your services are required elsewhere. I'll call for you if I need you," he curtly dismissed her. Madam Pomfrey did not felt offended by the man's rude manners, she was too well used to them. Merlin knows how many times she had to deal with him when he was a boy. Once it was a fight with James Potter and his Gryffindor gang, once it was some secret Slytherin test of valour, and once ... once it was some mysterious injury he came back with from his holidays at home.

"Please, try to save the boy's sight," she gently whispered, resting a hand on the man's shoulder before leaving. The only way he had to make up for the damage left by his spell was to constantly wash the boy's eyes with the potion, until the swelling and redness disappeared completely. But as long as the cure was effective, he needed to repeat the process without ever stopping for a time longer than the few seconds needed to soak the cloth in the basin. After a couple of hours McGonagall came in to check the situation.

"May I do something for you, Severus?" she kindly asked.

"No. Thanks," was his curt reply.

The other boys sharing Neville's room had to spend that night in the common room in their sleeping bags, for Snape had clearly said he wanted to be left alone with Neville. After six hours of Snape's hard work, Dumbledore went to pay him a visit.

"Severus, I know you're taking good care of our Mr Longbottom, but wouldn't it be better if someone takes your place for a while. You need rest my boy, it has been a very hard night for you too," he softly told him.

"No. The boy was a fool to disobey, but his condition is all my fault anyway, and I cannot risk him to go blind because I didn't thought through what I was doing," Snape said with a bitter note of self-blame.

"You have saved many lives tonight, Severus. Don't forget it. Just promise me you'll have some sleep when you have finished with the boy," Dumbledore said, and his last words sounded more like an order than anything else. Around eight in the morning everybody was having a early cup of tea in the Slytherin common room, the students there were still soundly asleep.

"Alexandra, could you please be so kind to go check on Severus? Try to force him to sleep if you can," Dumbledore softly whispered to Professor Falconbridge. She really was their last resource if they wanted to make Snape see reason. She seemed to be one of the few to have any influence on him. When she entered the room, she found him there by the bed, just like Minerva and Albus had found him hours before.

"Good morning, Severus," she greeted him.

"Morning," he said trying hard to suppress a yawn.

"Don't tell me you've been there all night?" she said astonished by the evident tiredness showing on his face.

"Yes, but I've nearly finished. Just a couple of times more, and there will be nothing else to do until he wakes up. Then, we'll see if he's recovered," he said flatly, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Oh, come on. Let me finish with it. You're dead asleep," she impatiently said bossing him to stand up, and leave her do the job. He was too tired to protest, and mildly obeyed her order to lay down on one of the beds. No sooner he put his head on the pillow, he fell in a deep, exhausted sleep. Half an hour later, Neville woke up. He was not well aware of where he was, but he was immensely happy that his eyes could see again. The potion and Snape's prolonged cares had worked their healing. Neville blinked a few times, then saw the kind face of Professor Falconbridge smiling at him with evident relief.

"How are you, dear?" she kindly asked him.

"Very good, thanks. My eyes are well again," the boy happily answered, then his eyes fell on the sleeping form of Professor Snape on the bed in front of his own. Professor Falconbridge smiled indulgently at the funny expression of alarm on the round boy's face.

"You should thank Professor Snape. It was him who took care of you. He has spent the whole night here by your bed, nursing your eyes without leaving you alone for a second or letting anyone else take his place," Professor Falconbridge whispered. Neville looked at his sleeping Potion Master again, but there was gratefulness in his eyes now. A minute later, they heard a gentle knock on the door. Professor Falconbridge stood up, and opened the door to let madam Pomfrey and the other five Gryffindors in. She made them sign to be quite and pointed in Snape's direction.

"What? He's still here?" Madam Pomfrey said surprised.

"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey. What do you mean with still here?" Hermione Granger curiously inquired.

"Snape has spent the whole night looking after me," Neville suddenly said, his voice startling the newcomers who had not noticed he was awake.

"Hi, Neville. How are you?" Ginny greeted him.

"I'm all right, I can see again," he happily answered. While the others were all fussing over Neville, Professor Falconbridge silently moved toward her sleeping friend. Snape was soundly asleep, lying on his side, his sleeves still rolled up. A stray lock of his long, black hair had fallen on his face during his sleep. She could not resist the urge to move it back in place with her hand.

"Professor Falconbridge, do you know if has taken his sleeping potion?" Madam Pomfrey asked from across the room. Professor Falconbridge straighten up, blushing a little. She was sure the old witch had caught sight of her tender gesture towards the sleeping man.

"I don't think so. He was so exhausted that it was a miracle he made it for the bed without falling asleep along the way," she replied.

"In that case, I'm afraid he won't sleep long," the matron affirmed knowingly.

"Why ?" Alexandra asked confused.

"Nightmares, my dear. He cannot even have a long nap, without being awoken by one of them. Therefore, he takes a strong sleeping potion every night to rest long enough," Madam Pomfrey explained.

As soon as Pomfrey finished saying that, he began stirring in his sleep. By the way his face twisted, it was clear he was having a nightmare. Alexandra was wondering about what could disturb him so much, when her eyes fell on his bare left forearm, and on the Dark Mark shining on it like some weird red tattoo. She suddenly realized what it was, and tentatively touched his left hand. Still sleeping, he suddenly grabbed her hand, and slowly twined his fingers through hers, stopping stirring at once.

"That seemed to work good enough!" Pomfrey smirked with evident amusement. Professor Falconbridge blushed furiously, as she realized her students were grinning at her too. That was absolutely a reaction she could not have expected at all. "I wonder if you're really asleep. You'd better not be pretending, just to make fun of me!" she angrily thought staring at Snape.

"Mr Longbottom, get out of bed and come have some breakfast," Pomfrey instructed the boy, while steering the others to the door. When Neville exited the room too, Madam Pomfrey stopped in the doorway.

"Wait till he loosens his grip, then you can leave," Poppy whispered with a kind smile.

Lost for words, Alexandra smiled back and nodded. She then stared at the sleeping man, and was glad to see he had relaxed again. Her hand still firmly in his grip, she took her wand out and summoned a chair. She sat for a while by his bed, waiting for him to let go of her hand. But for some strange reason, she was not so sure she wanted him to do it soon. She was enjoying that chance to observe him so closely, to take in every line of his face. She has always liked men with strong features. She was strangely intrigued by that mark on his forearm, and wondered about the terrible facts of that man's life. She hopped, one day, he would trust her enough to tell her about his past. Then, his hand slowly set her free. She stood up and left the room, but not before giving a soft caress to Severus's cheek.

When Snape finally woke up, it was lunch time yet. He got up to find himself in an empty room. He unrolled his sleeves, and put on his coat, then left the room. He reached the common room but it was empty as well, he then checked the old clock on the wall.

"Bloody Hell!" he swore, "Why didn't somebody wake me up?" he protested, realizing how much he had slept. The windows of the Great Hall had been repaired and warded, so he headed there to find everybody safely enjoying their lunch.

"Good morning, Severus," Dumbledore cheerfully greeted him.

"Good afternoon, you mean," Snape snorted, "someone could have bothered to wake me up!" he snarled.

"Oh, you were so peacefully asleep, that it seemed a crime to disturb you," Madam Pomfrey said with a smug expression on her face. Her words caused giggles and sniggers from the students and everyone else, except Professor Falconbridge, who blushed and pretended to be very interested in her food. At that reaction, Snape's brows darted up in astonishment.

"Is there something I should know?" he whispered to Alexandra, while taking seat beside her.

"Well, you sort of ... grabbed my hand in your sleep, and the Gryffindors saw it," she said in a clearly irritated voice.

"I did what?" he exclaimed astonished. "Damned Gryffindors, they obviously couldn't keep it for themselves," he angrily thought glaring through narrowed eyes around the table at the many amused expressions on everyone's faces.

"Don't tell me you're now upset with me for something I'm not even responsible for? You know I was sleeping," he incredulously questioned her.

"Are you sure you weren't faking?" she hissed at him.

"What do you mean? I was exhausted!" he snapped back in disbelief.

"Ok, ok. Forget about it," she dismissively said. They finished their meal in complete silence. When they were about to leave the room, Neville timidly approached Snape.

"Sir... ehm ... excuse me," he stuttered reaching the man's side. Snape came to an alt and turned to face the boy, staring at him with his intense black eyes.

"I see your eyes have perfectly recovered, Mr Longbottom," he said in his usual cold voice.

"Yes, sir. I wanted to thank you, sir. Without your help, I would probably be blind now," Neville quickly said in one breath. A corner of Snape's mouth slightly curled in a small grin, he was amused to see how the boy was trying hard to speak to him without trembling like a leaf, as he always used to do in class.

"I'm glad to hear it. I hope this little ... incident may have thought you a good lesson on obedience, Mr Longbottom," he sarcastically sneered. The boy curtly nodded, and ran away to join his friends. If Neville had not been in such a hurry to run away from his teacher, he would have seen Snape's grin widened in a relieved smile.