Everything Will Be Okay Soon

All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

This story was written for HealerPomfrey. I have never written fan fiction before, so please be patient with me. I'm not a native speaker of English!

Thanks a lot to my beta-reader saiyanwizardgurl for correcting my mistakes!!!

Chapter 1

This goddamned headache was killing him. Severus tried to ease the pain by pinching his temples. Groaning, he shoved away the red marked papers on his desk and laid his head on the smooth, cool surface of his mahogany desk. The silence in his office was the only good thing at the moment. He could hear his own blood flowing through his head and just wished the pain would go away.

The whole day had been horrible. It all started with the Potter brat provoking him again by supporting the Know-it-all Granger when he scolded her for helping Longbottom with his almost ruined potion. He felt his neck muscles tighten. The pain crept up his neck and into his head. Even taking twenty points from each of them did not make him feel any better or ease the pain.

When the class finally was over, he gulped down one of his usual painkiller potions even though he knew that it would not help much. He had taken it much too often, and now it only dulled the pain a bit.

He hardly had enough time to hide the empty vial under the workbench beside him when Minerva stormed into the room. To say that she was furious was an understatement. Severus forced himself not to back away from her when she moved fast in his direction. He could barely understand what she was saying - or rather, what she was screaming. But what he could understand from her rant was that the Slytherin Quidditch team had hexed the Gryffindor team's broomsticks. Normally they were good colleagues, even friends. But she was very protective of her Gryffindors, and so she wanted to make sure that Severus would punish the Slytherins for it harshly. Oh yes, they will be punished, he thought. Not for hexing the brooms, but for letting themselves get caught. Anything that caused Minerva to come into his office screaming like a banshee and make the potion he just gulped down worthless was definitely worth a HARSH punishment, Slytherin or not!

When Minerva left, he was wishing that someone would stop the ringing in his ears and the stabbing pain in his head by knocking him out. But it was useless, and there were still the 4th years' Potion essays on his desk that needed grading. Groaning, he sat down again. With his left hand he supported his head and reached for the red ink and the quill with his right. After five essays and the desperate wish for another job in a quiet Potion lab far away from dunderheads who were not even able to write simple essays about sleeping draughts, he found himself again cooling his head on the surface of his mahogany desk.

A piercing pain in his neck woke him. Now he not only had a splitting headache, but also a muscle cramp in his neck. Slowly, he dragged himself over to his private medical potion shelf. He chose the strongest painkiller he had in stock and a muscle relaxant and gulped them down fast. He leaned against the cool stone wall of his office and felt the pain slowly ease a little bit. Too bad he knew it would not last long. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed to see Poppy. Oh, he hated to be so vulnerable, but Poppy was a good friend. Very stern and strict, but also understanding and warmhearted. And right now, he really needed her help.

On his way to the Hospital Wing, he realized that he could tolerate sound at a normal volume without fearing his head will explode. It's almost as if I don't have to see Poppy any more, he thought. But he also knew from experience that in a few hours the pain would be back and then he would need one - or maybe even two - of Poppy's wonder pills.

When he reached the Hospital Wing, it was empty and silent. That was strange; normally, Poppy came running in the direction of the big wooden door before it was even opened fully. "Poppy?" he called for her, heading into the direction of her office. When he did not get an answer to his call and knock at the door, he carefully opened the door to Poppy's office and peeked around.

His gaze fell on the figure that was bent over the office desk. Her hair was covering her face, but he immediately recognized Poppy. He could see her chest moving and realized that she was breathing hard.
He almost forgot about his headache and was at her side in one fluid motion. Gently, he laid his hand on her shoulder and softly spoke to her. "Poppy, please wake up!"

She slowly raised her head and looked at him through glassy eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and she needed some time to focus on the tall dark figure in front of her.

"Severus?" she asked hoarsely.

"Yes Poppy, it's me," he told her softly as he gently put his hand on her forehead. While she leaned in his touch and enjoyed the feeling of his cool hand, he said, "You are burning up. What's wrong, Poppy?"

He already knew the answer. According to her hot forehead and her overall appearance, she had quite a fever. It was again this damn Wizard flu time. Some students were already infected a few days ago, and she must have caught it from them. He had filled up her stocks with flu potion two days ago, so why did she not take a dose for herself?

As if she could read his thoughts (and sometimes he really believed that she could), she said, "I fear I was too occupied by the amount of patients over the last few days that I forgot to take the potion when I realized the first symptoms. First, Mr. Drake's and Mr. Stumbs' fighting injuries, then Miss Grant's transfiguration accident, and then the flu patients which - "

But she could not finish her rant because she started to cough so hard that she doubled over and Severus feared that she would hurt herself.

He laid a calming hand on her back. "We need to get you into bed."

She started to protest, but she was quieted by a short move of his hand. "No arguing, Poppy! We will get you into bed, and then I will check your temperature."

She tried to glare at him as much as it was possible under her current condition. "Don't speak like that to me, young man. I'm the mediwitch here and I - "

And again she was stopped by a coughing fit. Severus quickly guided her to the bed in her office as it was best to use her weakness to his advantage. She was too distracted trying to breathe without coughing to protest against his Slytherin tactics.

When she realized that she was on a soft surface instead of the hard desk, she finally gave in. It felt so good to lie down and rest. She just wanted to sleep and was already starting to drift off when a soft voice penetrated her mind. "Open up, Poppy. I need to take your temperature." Too tired to fight, she opened her mouth and a thin, cold thing was placed under her tongue.

Severus was very concerned by Poppy's reaction. I'm no good at interacting with other people, let alone taking care of them. But Poppy helped him so many times; she was always there for him.

He remembered long nights in the hospital wing after Death Eater meetings in which the Dark Lord enjoyed himself by throwing one Cruciatus after another at his followers. He was badly hurt, in pain, and cursed with nightmares, but with the mediwitch in a chair beside his bed that would not leave him alone. She lulled him into sleep when he was restless, throwing himself from one side to another because the pain or the memories would not give him rest. She softly spoke to him and told him that everything would be okay soon.

With her, he does not have to hold up the strong man facade. She would not allow him to hide behind the walls he built to hold people away so that they could not hurt him. Her hand on his head, stroking loose wisps of his hair out of his face, always soothed him more than anything else. He loved to hear her wonderful voice when she softly sang to him or even just talked to him while he drifted into sleep. It was such a wonderful feeling to be cared for and watched over.

These moments were rare because he only allowed them when he was very ill. When he was healed enough, he always started to build up his walls of protection again and shooed her away. He told her that he did not need her coddling and that he wanted to be left alone, but they both knew that it was not true.
And now she was here in front of him, lying very ill in bed. He could not leave her by herself. Now he would be the one to watch. He would be the one to be strong and give care. A little payback for what she did for him all these years.

And so, he fought back the hammering pain in his head and focused on Poppy. He sat on the edge of the bed and bathed her hot face with a cold cloth. He spoke softly to her, telling her that she would feel better soon and that he would be right here, watching over her. He retrieved a flu potion and a fever reducer from Poppy's stocks and spelled them straight into her system every time she woke up speaking in feverish dreams. He talked her through the nightmares and soothed her by gently stroking her hair.

When the night was over, her fever was still very high. The potions he gave her were not strong enough because they were made for children, not adults. They helped when one realized the symptoms of illness very early, but in Poppy's state it was too late for these potions to have much effect. But right now it was the best he had, and so he spelled both again into her stomach. He needed to brew some stronger potions for her and definitely needed to take something for his headache again, even though it would only dull the pain a little bit so that he could brew the necessary potions for his friend.

He needed someone to watch over Poppy while he brewed, so he made his way over to the fireplace to call for help.