Chapter 4

Thanks a lot to my beta-readers, saiyanwizardgurl and rdholmantx, for correcting my mistakes!

Chapter 4

Six hours later Severus was still sitting beside Poppy’s bed. His headache had reached a new level of pain, and he was practically immobile. He had taken the spare pain potion from his cloak pocket two hours ago, and it hadn’t worked at all. Now it was five in the morning, and all he could wish for – much to his disbelief – was the return of the stern Transfiguration professor to show up. He wanted to crawl back to his dungeons, far away from anyone and any noise that threatened to make his head explode.

Poppy was still asleep, but she would awaken soon. When she did, there was no doubt in his mind that she would realize that he was not all right. But while he’d originally entered the infirmary intent on asking for help, he was now to the point where he only wanted to hide from the world. He did not want anyone, not even Poppy, to touch him. The pain was unbearable; he did not even realize that he was leaning over until his head met the soft fabric of the bed clothes. He was sure his head would burst if he moved even the slightest bed, and he was too tired to lift it anyway. He stayed very still, listening to the blood pound in his ears.

Dizzy and feeling very sick, he closed his eyes. He tried to think of something else besides the headache to no avail. It felt as if the pain was eternal: that he had always felt this way and always would. His sleep deprived body overrode everything else, and he finally drifted into some much needed sleep.

He attempted to bolt upright when gentle but firm hands were placed on his shoulders, but a wave of nausea passed over him and he couldn’t move. The hands were trying to massage the knots out of his muscles.

“Hold still or you will make your condition worse,” a strict voice reprimanded. “What good did you think would come of you NOT telling Albus or Minerva that you were in pain when you found me here?”

He wanted to retort that it wasn’t that bad. That he could brew the pain potions for himself. He was a Potions master, after all. But he only managed to groan unintelligibly while she worked wonders on his neck muscles. It did not take long for Poppy to work out some of the tension in his neck. The vertebrae in his spine cracked, and the unpleasant sound made him wince. While his shoulders and neck felt much better, his headache become much worse as the blood flow was increased to his head. He shifted in his chair.

“Don’t move! I know the pain is getting worse, but it will soon become better,” Poppy said and added a little more pressure to fix him in the chair. “You must try to relax, Severus.”

His muscles were loose and all his vertebrae were in place again. Her fingers now massaged his skull. “If you had at least told Minerva, she could have given you something out of my Muggle medicine stock to help you,” she scolded him. “But now I can’t give you anything because there are already too many pain potions in your system. We have to wait until they leave your body. Exactly how many potions did you take, Severus?”

Her hands were so relaxing and he had to force his mind to grasp Poppy’s question. He was uncertain whether he should tell the truth or lie. He obviously waited too long to answer because he felt Poppy’s fingers increasing their pressure on his skull. “I want an answer, young man.” She pressed hard enough to get his attention but not enough to cause the pain to increase. “And don’t you dare to lie to me!”

“Five,” he mumbled.

“When will you ever learn that it isn’t a weakness to ask other people for help, Severus?” she asked. She sighed in exasperation, and he could feel her shaking her head. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet because the darkness was soothing. He felt guilty for making Poppy worry.

A water tap was turned on. Poppy’s hands still on his shoulders, so that meant that there was another person in the room.

Fantastic. Just what I needed. Another person to see me in this state, he thought wearily. When he heard said person heading in his direction, he wanted to protest and open his eyes to see who it was, but Poppy chose that exact moment to let healing magic flow through her fingers into his head. The energy caused the most amazing sensation to flow through his body, and he groaned in pleasure.

The person had reached him now, but the healing magic was too distracting for him to be bothered. When he felt a cool cloth pressed to his neck, he flinched and tried to open his eyes. Another hand was placed on his chest to stop him from moving. “Calm down, Severus,” he heard Minerva say. “It’s only me. Let us take care of you.”

He was so tired. The flow of healing magic throughout his body was incredible so that even the hand on his chest felt good. Part of his mind screamed at him to run as far away from these two witches as he possibly could, but his body betrayed him. A sound almost like a sob escaped him, and he groaned inwardly. No, don’t make a complete idiot of yourself in front of them, Severus, he thought. Breaking down because of a simple headache is so childish.

He struggled ineffectively against the two witches, but Poppy’s massaging fingers had reached his forehead. The healing magic increased and his attempts to resist her ceased. Slowly, he began drifting into the first stages of sleep, and he hardly realized that he was being moved into a soft bed. The hand on his chest was removed, and he whimpered at the feeling of loss. A soft blanket was placed over him, and then Minerva’s hands were stroking his arm in a calming motion.

“Sleep well, Severus,” she whispered.

He barely registered that she was speaking. There was a fog around his mind, and his only focus in life was sleep. The last thing he remembered was Poppy’s soft hands on his head and her kind voice saying, “Everything will be okay soon, Severus.”

And with that, he fell into a deep sleep.