Chapter 6 – The Examination, Part Two

Thanks a lot to my beta-readers, Orodruin and AmyLouise, for correcting my mistakes.

I'm not a native speaker of English!

Chapter 6 – The Examination Part Two

Poppy was working on the collar button of Severus' outer robes when he batted her hand away. "I can do that alone," he growled while glaring daggers at Poppy.

"Good, then I can help you out of your heavy boots. They could do much more harm than Harry's, couldn't they?"

"Maybe, but I'm mature enough not to use them against you," he spat at her.

"I wouldn't bet on that, Severus, and therefore they will come off," she said sternly, but she couldn't suppress a grin. She had his shoes off the moment he had removed his outer robes.

He sat on the bed in socks, black jeans and a black shirt. This is ridiculous, he thought while looking at himself. I hope you know that you will pay for this, James.

When he looked at the madly grinning James, his glance also fell on Harry, who was grinning from one ear to another. "What's so funny, Mr. Potter?" he said, growling playfully.

Harry really tried to stop smiling, but seeing his Potions master in those clothes and being undressed by Madam Pomfrey was too funny. "Nothing, Professor," he replied, trying to stop smiling. The only option he had was to turn his glance away from Snape. That brought him face to face again with James, who had already chosen two of the instruments from the little table.

"Okay, Harry, this one is a tiny lamp, which will help me to look into your eyes and mouth, and this one is a tongue depressor. It will help me hold down your tongue while I look into your mouth," James explained calmly.

"So, let the show begin, Poppy!" James cheerfully said while ignoring the manic look Severus gave him.

Poppy grabbed Severus' chin and turned his head to face her. "Here is where the action is."

Harry observed closely when Poppy moved the light of the little lamp several times into Snape's eyes. Then she ordered him to follow her fingers with his eyes without moving his head.

"Okay, Severus, now open up," she commanded while already holding the tongue depressor in front of Snape's mouth.

"Is that really necessary? I mean what's so scary about having your throat examined, Harry?" Severus looked pleadingly at Harry.

Before Harry could reply, James said, "Oh, so it's Harry again? A few minutes before it was Mr. Potter, Severus. He will not rescue you from it, so just do as Poppy said."

Severus groaned and faced Poppy again.

"As you said, what is so scary about a throat examination, Severus?" Poppy asked mockingly.

"Very funny!" Severus snarled, but resignedly opened his mouth.

When Poppy finished her observation of Severus' mouth, she looked at him sternly. She put the instruments away and tested his lymph nodes while saying strictly, "We will speak about this later, Severus."

Severus rolled his eyes and groaned. How come I always get into trouble while trying to help the brat?

Harry was so engrossed in Poppy scowling at Severus that James had to tap at his leg to get his attention again.

"Okay, now you, Harry," James said.

Once he had seen all this done to Professor Snape, it didn't scare him any longer. He was so deep in thought about why Madam Pomfrey was scolding Professor Snape that he automatically reacted to each order James gave him. When James said, "Well done," he was surprised that the first part was already over.

While James grabbed the next instrument, Harry finally asked the question he wanted to ask the whole time: "Why do you have to do all this? Can't you just check it all with a diagnostic spell?"

"Diagnostic spells are not as reliable as a direct examination. Sometimes spells don't let us see the early signs of an illness or a symptom, which we would find in a personal examination. And some people..." His eyes wandered to Severus. "... are capable of hiding symptoms from a diagnostic spell, but an adept Healer can not only see the examined body parts while conducting a personal examination, but also the reaction of his patient. Make sense to you, Harry?"

"Yes, I think it does now. Madam Pomfrey removed my Glamour Charm, but what if Professor Snape had one on his throat? She couldn't see whether he had a problem there, right?"

"As I said, a Healer doesn't only rely on what he sees. First, Madam Pomfrey would have seen Professor Snape's reluctant reaction to being examined, and that would already make her suspicious and very cautious. Then she would have noticed the way he swallows painfully, or the way he is grimacing after the examination, because an infected throat gets dry very fast during an examination. Those are only a few signs a Healer reads while conducting an examination. And all of this isn't possible when you just place a diagnostic spell on a person."

"I understand," Harry said, eyeing the next instrument in James' hand.

"This one is an ear speculum and helps me to see inside your ears," James explained and looked at Poppy again.

When she examined Severus' right ear, he had to look in James' direction. If looks could kill, James would be dead.

"You are a much better patient than your professor, Harry." James smiled and patted Harry's leg.

"Maybe, but I'm much better than you in dueling, James," Severus barked dangerously.

"If Professor Snape doesn't like to be examined, he doesn't have to do all this. You can examine me anyway." Harry tried to say all this with conviction, but his anxious look at the instruments gave his real thoughts away.

"Professor Snape will remember that he hadn't shown up at the annual staff examination last week, and only because I gave him a few days to come here of his own free will has he been spared from being on my examination table before now," Madam Pomfrey said strictly. "So you don't have to worry for him, Harry. Am I right, Professor?"

"Hmpf!" was the only reply she got from the stubborn Potions master.

"Don't move!" James said to Harry while he held his head to the side to look into one of his ears and then turned the head to check the other one.

James placed the speculum on the table and took the stethoscope. "This is a stethoscope. I can hear your heartbeat with it and can hear if your lungs are working right. But for that I have to put it on bare skin, and that means we have to remove your shirt."

Harry looked shocked. He knew that this would come at some point, but that didn't change the fact that he was still scared to let them see all his wounds. James saw his reaction and also noticed the small movement away from him. He immediately moved closer to Harry and laid his hands on Harry legs to prevent him from moving away. "So, Poppy?" he said, and hoped that Harry would be distracted.

Severus was still observing Harry and his reaction when he felt Poppy pulling his shirt out of his trousers. He desperately clutched the hem of it and held it down. "You can't be serious. He's my student. I will not let him see me naked." Severus was barking at Poppy.

She was also not comfortable with the idea and therefore was reluctant. She couldn't believe that James really wanted Severus to be exposed like this. Out of the corner of her eye she could see James already pulling Harry's shirt over his head. So it just was a distracting tactic, she thought, relieved, and patted Severus' legs apologetically. "Sorry, Severus," she whispered while motioning with her head in Harry's direction.

Severus was so furious that he wasn't sure any longer if he would hold his promise to be mature enough not to kick at Poppy. Just the fact that she seemed unsure about removing his shirt held him back. If she really wanted it gone, she would have it off me already, he thought, confused. When he heard her whispered apology and followed her head motion, he understood.

Harry was so engrossed at the struggle between Poppy and his professor that he didn't even realize that James was removing his shirt from his jeans. She can't force him to remove it. He's my teacher, he thought, shocked. Harry didn't notice his arms automatically moving up to let James slip his shirt over his head and arms. Only when the shirt was pulled up over his face, and his gaze at Professor Snape was broken, did he realize that his shirt was gone. He looked in shock at James, who now held Harry's shirt in his hands.

"Maybe we will spare Professor Snape from having to remove his shirt, shall we?" Satisfied that his plan had worked, he smiled at Harry. He knew that Poppy would be unsure about exposing Severus like that, and Severus would not allow it to happen without putting up a fight. A good bottle of wine for Poppy and a very good whisky for Severus would hopefully ease their minds and keep them from being too angry with him for this.

Harry's face had turned red, and he was looking down at his bare chest and stomach.

"Professor Snape can keep his shirt on, but he won't get around the examination," Poppy said and took her own stethoscope.

That caught Harry's attention again and he looked with interest to see what would happen next to his professor.

Madam Pomfrey placed the furcated end of the instrument in her ears and then moved the other end under Professor Snape's shirt.

Severus was so glad that he could keep his shirt on that he didn't object to Poppy's hand under his shirt. As she checked his heart she ordered, "Breathe in deeply, Severus!" She moved the instrument to several places and ordered the Professor again and again to breathe deeply and sometimes to cough. Her face became sterner with each move.

"Will you finish, woman," Severus growled, annoyed.

"It will be finished when I say it is, Severus, so do as I say," she said strictly, glaring at him. "Be happy that Harry is here; it is all that is keeping me from telling you what I think about what I hear in your lungs."

"It's just a little cold. Don't make a fuss about it," Severus spat and then looked uncertainly at James, who also had a stern look on his face now.

"We will speak about your little cold later." Seeing Severus' anxious look at James, she added, "And I'm sure James would like to check it out as well."

Severus' face fell. Fantastic! I have already missed two classes and now they will prevent me from working the whole day. That's what you get for helping Potter. If only he didn't have those green eyes. Exactly like Lily. I promised her to look after him and now this. She will turn in her grave when she sees what those bastard relatives have done to him.

Poppy observed the emotions play on Severus' face. His expression changed from furious to sad. What is he thinking about? she wondered.

While Severus was still deep in thought, James started to examine Harry with his stethoscope.

James was very cautious where he placed the stethoscope in order not to hurt Harry. His whole back was covered with welts, and he had a lot of black marks on his back, chest and stomach. James noticed that Harry had problems breathing. A broken rib had damaged his left lung.

"Your lung is damaged, Harry. I will heal it later but first I will take care of the welts on your back, so that you can lie down for the rest of the examination. Okay?" he asked Harry, and waited for his agreement.

Harry anxiously nodded his head. He could see Professor Snape stand up and dress himself out of the corner of his eye. He felt the now familiar tingle while James was moving his hands over his back. Again he felt drowsy and sleepy.

"That's enough for the moment. I don't want you to fall asleep right now, Harry." James chuckled slightly while Harry struggled to fully awaken again. James used Harry's drowsiness to open Harry's trousers and removed his jeans while softly maneuvering him into a lying position. The hospital wing was always warm, but James still covered Harry from his waist down with the sheet. He hoped Harry would feel more comfortable with this.

"I'm so tired. Please let me sleep a while," Harry pleaded.

"Not now, Harry, but I'm almost through," James said softly. "Please open your mouth so that I can take your temperature."

Harry looked with confusion at the long thin thing that was hovering in front of his lips.

"You just have to place the business end under your tongue, Harry." With that explanation, James placed the thermometer in Harry's mouth.

While the thermometer took a reading, James took Harry's right wrist to feel his pulse.

Harry had almost forgotten the floating sheet and quill, but the fast movement it made to change its position made Harry aware of it again. The thermometer beeped, and James took it out of Harry's mouth to read it.

"You have a slight fever, but that is no wonder with your infected wounds. I will give you a fever reducer when we are done with the examination." He handed the thermometer to Poppy and half sat himself on the bed. "I will feel your stomach organs now. Therefore I have to push on several parts of your stomach. If something hurts, you have to tell me, okay?"

"'Kay," Harry answered anxiously.

The examination went well, and Harry didn't felt any pain. James had skipped the parts where the black bruises were. Now James laid his right hand on the broken rib. "This will hurt now, Harry, but only for a short time. Madam Pomfrey will hold your hand and you must remember that the pain won't last long."

Harry's fear was back with full force. He even started to whimper until Madam Pomfrey took his hand and laid her calming hand on Harry's forehead. The moment Harry's gaze moved away from James' hands to Madam Pomfrey's face, he could feel the sharp pain in his chest. He cried out and wanted to curl himself into a ball, but Professor Snape had grabbed his feet and Madam Pomfrey was holding his head down and spoke calmingly to him. "It's almost over, Harry! The worst is already done," she told him.

Tears were running down his cheeks, and he was sobbing softly, but he could already feel the pain decrease.

"Try to breathe deeply, Harry," Madam Pomfrey ordered Harry kindly.

Harry realized that he really could breathe deeply now. The pain was almost completely gone, and the tingle started again. This time Harry couldn't stop himself from falling asleep.

"What now, James?" Poppy asked when she realized James had increased the healing magic so that Harry fell asleep.

"We will roll him over so that I can see his bottom. I thought it would be better this way and I don't need him awake for it anyway."

Poppy and James turned Harry, who groaned in his sleep, but didn't wake up. Severus arranged the bed covers again at Harry's feet, which had been caught in them.

When James lowered the waistband of Harry's briefs, Poppy couldn't suppress a yelp. "God, what have they done to him?"

"These wounds must have been caused by a belt. It has made deep welts on the soft tissue of his bottom," James said in a professional voice. He was already starting to heal them. After a few moments the deep purple wounds were only a slight pink. James put the briefs in place again, and they moved Harry onto his back. A final diagnostic spell, and then James asked Poppy to dress him in pajamas and tuck him in. When he turned in Severus' direction, he saw a shocked man.

"I will kill them. I swear I will kill them," Severus muttered, still looking at Harry in shock.

"No, you will not, Severus," James said sternly, which caused Severus to tear his gaze from Harry to face him.

"You know about Lily, James. You have forced so many of my damn memories out of me. She would be so disappointed in me if she knew that I didn't keep them from hurting him."

"What's done is done, Severus. You cannot turn back the clock, but I'm sure Lily would want you to prevent this from happening again by helping Harry, not by becoming a murderer. You should think about a way to make him feel safe again, and help him to overcome the bad memories."

Severus had calmed down and was now looking at Harry again with a sad face. Poppy had tucked Harry in and was already opening the curtain around the bed.

"I will inform Albus while you check on our second patient here, James," Poppy said and then passed the now shocked-looking Severus as she made to leave the hospital wing.

"So, what have you got yourself into this time, Severus?" James asked mockingly, while leading Severus to a free bed to examine him.

Merlin, Lily, your son really gets me into trouble whenever I try to do the right thing, he thought and groaned while following James to get the examination over as quickly as possible. I have to speak with Ivy and find a way to help the boy. Women are so much better with things like this. Especially my wife!