Snape In Love

Chapter 10

My hands covered my mouth, stifling my cry, and I sent my chair clattering to the floor as I ran between the long refectory tables towards the three men. I took Snape in my arms and cradled his head, crying "Oh, Severus, my love, what's happened to you?"

He sank to his knees as Remus and Sirius gently released him to me, and I knelt with him, supporting him, tears of relief streaming down my cheeks. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore came up behind me.

"We must take him to the hospital wing at once!" ordered Madam Pomfrey, and Dumbledore drew me gently away.

"Come on my dear, we must let Poppy do her work. I fear he has been the victim of some powerful dark magic," he said gravely, pointing at the Dark Mark, which was clearly visible through Snape's torn robes. The mark was inky black, with a livid purple bruise spreading out from its centre, covering a large area of his left arm.

"What is that?" I asked, horrified.

"I don't know," admitted Dumbledore, "but it is sure to be Voldemort's work."

We followed Remus and Sirius as they carried Severus to the hospital wing, his head lolling on his chest, arms draped slackly over their shoulders. Behind us the Great Hall erupted. The students were in a hubbub of chatter at the dramatic return of their potions master, and my unexpected reaction to his entrance.

"What does she see in him?" I overheard from a bemused Gryffindor as I followed anxiously behind.

In the infirmary, they laid him on the nearest bed, and I leant over him anxiously, stroking his cheek, noticing how thin he had become.

"Severus, can you hear me?"

"Ella..." he moaned softly, and opened his eyes. He looked at me, his eyes coal black with pain, and said, "I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay, I understand. You're here now, you're safe, and that's all that matters."

"No, not safe...dying..." he whispered, and drifted into unconsciousness again. I looked up at Madam Pomfrey in horror, and she blanched, ripping off his tattered robes to reveal that the lividity around the Dark Mark was spreading further, until it would soon cover his arm completely.

Dumbledore turned to Remus Lupin and said urgently,

"Go to my office. Inform the Ministry. Tell them to get the best people from St Mungo's here now. Sirius, go to the Potions classroom, see what Severus has locked away. Poppy, check your pharmacy, please. Time, I fear, will be of the essence."

After everyone had sped off, I turned to the Headmaster, terrified.

"What can I do?" He put a hand on my shoulder and said gently,

"Give him the will to live, Ella," and with that he turned and hastened out of the infirmary.

I turned back to Severus, who looked as cold and lifeless as an effigy carved on some ancient sarcophagus, and was wracked by sobs. I leaned over him once more and kissed his colourless lips.

"Severus, I'm here. I'm still here," I repeated, murmuring quietly to him, telling him how much I loved him, and forgave him. He made no response to any of my declarations of love, but I carried on just the same, certain that somehow he could hear me.

I climbed on to the bed next to him, moving his right arm so that I rested in the crook of it, my head upturned, gazing at his profile and kissing and stroking his cheek, neck and hair. Eventually I slung my leg across his and held him closely, breathing him in, listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart, watching the discolouration on his left arm spread slowly down to his fingertips, and up past his shoulder.

Hours passed, and I stayed with him, refusing to leave his bedside even when two eminent doctors from St Mungo's arrived. They examined him and shook their heads, talking to Madam Pomfrey in an undertone. Lupin and Black tried several potions and counter-spells over the next day, but nothing worked. The inexorable progress of the curse was slowed, but seemed unstoppable. Through it all, I was with him. I held his hand, stroked his chest, spoke to him of all the things we would do when he recovered (When, not if, I told myself). Comatose, he never responded, but I could not give up hope that he might know I was there.

Eventually, Dumbledore sat down opposite me with a heavy sigh. I had never seen him look so defeated, and so old.

"Ella, my dear, we have tried everything. We are at a loss. I believe that the only way to reverse the curse would be to use a very powerful counter spell-"

"Then use it!" I burst out, desperately.

"-But we would need to use the wand that cursed him. And we do not know where Voldemort is, since we can safely assume it was he who cast the spell. Severus may know, but he is in no position to tell us. Even if we found the wand and could disarm Voldemort of it, there is still no guarantee that we could make it work."

My heart sank and I realised what Dumbledore was trying to say to me. There was no hope, and my beloved Severus would die before my eyes.

I wept at last, silently, pressing his hand against my cheek as I rocked back and forth in my chair. The Headmaster drew the curtains around the bed, and left us alone. I climbed up on to the bed once more and held him close, crying bitter tears into his hair.