Wounded

Prologue

Severus Snape tried to open his eyes. He wasn't sure if it worked or not, everything was still dark. He then tried to move and found he couldn't. Panic began to set in as he wondered if he was bound and blindfolded, a prisoner. He could feel his awareness of his surroundings increasing and decided to wait a moment before trying to move again.

While he was waiting, he tried to determine where he might be. It felt like he was on a bed. The question was, where was that bed? Searching his mind, he tried to remember the events leading to his current predicament. He knew the battle had begun, but found he had little recollection of what actually happened. Had Dumbledore or the Dark Lord won? Or perhaps the battle was still raging? He couldn't remember.

Testing control over his body, he found that he could wiggle his fingers and toes. At least he seemed to be whole. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see anything. He felt a little stronger and decided to see if he truly was restrained. Experimentally, he jerked his arm and found resistance. That meant he must be a prisoner, but for which side? He truly wished he could remember. He continued to test his bonds, hoping to break free.

"He's at it again. Get the syringe," called out a woman's voice.

Looking around, he tried to identify the source of the voice, but found he still couldn't see. Had he lost his sight? This thought terrified him. How could he continue as a Potions Master without his sight?

He could feel people holding him down and he struggled harder. Whatever they were going to inject him with, he didn't want to permit them. He tried to tell them to leave him alone, but all that came out of his mouth were indistinct grunts.

"Wait! I think he might be awake. Get Aurelia," the woman said again.

He continued to struggle and attempt to speak, to no avail. He heard a new voice in the distance and it was approaching quickly.

"Are you sure he's awake?"

"Yes. His eyes are open. He's never opened his eyes during one of his fits before," replied the first woman.

He felt hands on the side of his head. Instead of a crushing squeeze, it was a gentle touch that encouraged him to turn his head.

"Severus? Can you hear me? I need you to stop struggling. I need you to calm down," said a soothing woman's voice.

He didn't seem to be in any immediate physical danger so he acquiesced.

"Calm. Take deep breaths. Can you hear me?" asked the soothing voice.

He tried to speak, but all that emerged were grunts.

"Nod if you can hear me," she ordered.

He hoped that he was nodding. It felt like he was nodding. He tried to speak again. "Ngaaaa aaaaaaddddd?" he asked indistinctly.

"Why can't he speak?" asked the first woman.

The second woman, who he assumed was Aurelia, apparently ignored her coworker. He could feel the warm tingle of a diagnostic spell.

"Since you can hear me, I need you to answer some questions for me. Do you remember what happened?" Aurelia asked.

He thought her voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. At least it was friendly. He shook his head.

"You were poisoned and brought to St. Mungo's. You have been unconscious for nearly three weeks. You are still weak from that. Your speech should return soon. Do you understand?"

He nodded slowly. Speech? I don't care about speech, you infernal woman. I want to know about my sight. And what poison? How could someone have poisoned me? He tried to speak again, but it was still indistinct.

Aurelia considered her patient. There was something not quite right about him. She quietly moved around the bed to stand on his other side. His eyes remained focused where she had been standing. She frowned as she cast a more complex diagnostic spell. There were still remnants of the poison in his system. Hopefully, that was what was affecting his speech and vision.

"Severus?" she asked and watched his head snap around toward the sound of her voice, confirming his blindness. "I'm going to release your restraints, but I will need a promise from you. I need to you stay in bed. You are still weak from the poison. If you don't follow my orders, I will be forced to restrain you again. Do you understand?" she asked firmly.

He slowly nodded.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked the first woman.

"We only had him restrained because of the thrashing while he was unconscious. Now that he is awake, I won't keep him restrained. He's a patient, not a prisoner."

Severus could feel the restraints being removed and he raised his arms in relief. Unfortunately, he found that he was still very weak and quickly dropped his arms back to his side.

"Bring some food," Aurelia ordered. Once her assistant was gone, she began speaking. "I know that you can't see. I think it may be a side effect of the poison. I'm still working on analyzing the poison; it is very complex. I don't think your loss of speech has anything to do with the poison. I think that's a result of being unconscious for so long. I know you have many questions. Here, let me help you sit up." She helped him to a sitting position, propping him with pillows. "I want you to sip some water," she said.

He felt a cup against his lips and tried to raise his hands to hold it.

She reprimanded softly, "No. Let me do it. I don't need you spilling water down your front."

He wanted to gulp the water, to sooth his aching throat, but she only trickled small amounts of water into his mouth. While he was drinking, he could hear someone approaching. He assumed it was the other witch returning.

"Did you need anything else, Healer?"

"No, thank you. Return to your reports," Aurelia replied.

Severus thought his throat felt better and decided to try speech again. "W-w-who?"

Aurelia strained to understand what he was saying. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Aurelia MacLean, Healer-in-Charge of the Augustus Winters poisons ward. It's good to see that your speech is coming back. Start small. Here, have some more water."

The cool water helped his throat and he began to feel more normal. He continued to try to remember what had happened to him and how he had ended up here. When she pulled the cup away, he asked, "How?"

She sighed. "I was hoping you could tell me. You were brought to the ward already unconscious. Thankfully, Poppy Pomfrey had administered a general antidote, which slowed the progress of the poison. I've used several experimental potions to try to counteract the poison. Now that you are awake, I hope to be able to use your input to fully purge the poison from your system."

While he was listening to her, he tried to fill in some of the holes in his memory. Instead of recalling the recent past, he found himself trying to recall the distant past. Her name and voice were familiar to him, but the memory remained just out of reach. "Do I know you?" he asked weakly.

She could barely hear his question. She laughed softly. "I would hope so. We were at Hogwarts together." She could see the look of concentration on his face. Gripping his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, she said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure the memory loss is temporary. It's not uncommon in people that are unconscious for a long period of time. Do you think you're ready to try some food?"

While he was hungry, he hated the idea of someone feeding him. Common sense overruled pride and he replied, "Yes."

******************

After eating, Aurelia put him through a series of physical tests. By the time she was finished, he was panting and exhausted.

"Good. Much better than I had expected," she replied cheerfully.

"Better?" he asked weakly. How could it be better? I performed miserably, failing more tests than I passed.

"One does not instantly recover from a three week coma, Severus. I'll take what I've learned today and see if I can help with the blindness. Get some rest." She gave his hand a reassuring pat before leaving.

He was now left alone with his thoughts, his incomplete thoughts. Aurelia had said they were at Hogwarts together, but he couldn't remember her. Of course, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was having a hard time recalling the names of any of his classmates. While a student, he had been a loner, never really forming any strong friendships, but socializing just enough to hopefully advance his social status. Even remembering all that, he found names slipping through his fingers.

Lying back on the bed, he switched his thoughts to the battle that had lead to his poisoning, hoping to remember what had happened. As memories returned, he drifted off to sleep.