Chapter Three: St. Giles Clinic for Magical Maladies

Chapter Three: St. Giles Clinic for Magical Maladies

Friday, 28 August 1998

Severus pulled on his short black boots, then stood and picked up his jacket and put his arms through the sleeves. He was wearing his black Muggle suit that day, knowing he'd be walking through Muggle Leeds later in the afternoon and hoping to avoid too many stares and curious looks. If the weather were cooler, he would have worn his black trench coat, but it was a warm day in late August, and the trench coat would have been too much.

As he tugged on the front of his waistcoat and tried to square his shoulders, Severus pushed aside the worry he felt as he remembered Melina's slight frown as she cast some of the diagnostic spells. She had drawn some of his blood again, something that persisted in making him nervous, despite the fact that he trusted Melina as much as he could trust anyone and she had reassured him that she would perform the tests herself and it would not leave her possession. The last few times he had seen her, she had simply cast diagnostic spells on his blood without drawing any; that she had drawn some indicated to him that the tests she wished to perform were ones that could not be done in vivo.

He didn't know why Melina had felt the need to test his blood so thoroughly again, and that, combined with her expression, caused him a sense of unease. He felt well enough, he'd put on a little weight, and he'd regained full strength and mobility in his right arm, though his shoulder did tend to stiffen up on occasion. He didn't want to imagine what had caused the look of concern to cross Melina's face, or why she was going to test his blood in vitro again when she had stopped doing so weeks before. If he began to imagine it, he would no doubt imagine things far worse than reality.

At least her poking and prodding had been reduced to a minimum, focussing primarily on his right arm and shoulder, and she'd only asked indirect questions about his bits and whether he was experiencing any untoward effects from his injuries the previous April, seeming to be more concerned with any lingering effects from the bite Nagini had given him in May. Fortunately, her questions about his private areas had been worded in such a way that he didn't have to go into any detail. Was he experiencing any difficulty urinating? Was he urinating more frequently or urgently? Did he have any difficulties with his erection or any problems related to sexual performance? It was easy to respond in the negative to each question without having to explain that as he had no sex life, he could not be experiencing any problems with it. Nor did he feel obligated to mention that he was beginning to feel the return of his libido, both emotionally and in a purely physical sense. The stress of the Dark Lord's return had slowly bled him of any sexual desire, and by that final year, he had ceased even missing his libido.

Melina had instructed him to meet her in her office when he was dressed, and, familiar with the clinic from his previous visits, he made his way through the hallways to her private office. He knocked on the door, and it was opened by a cheerful house-elf dressed in a knee-length green dress and a green- and white-striped pinny, one of the free elves who worked in the clinic.

"Good afternoon, Professor Snape! I am Spinnet. Healer O'Donald asks you be seated for a few minutes. She'll be quick quick, just a little wait! Can I get you tea or coffee? Spinnet is happy to serve you!"

"No, thank you," Severus replied automatically, immediately regretting it, as he felt he could use a cup of coffee, and he hadn't had any with his lunch.

"It is no problem for Spinnet, sir. I am happy to fetch a cup of coffee for you."

"Er, all right, then. Coffee. Black...no, with cream. No sugar."

"Yes, sir!" Spinnet smiled happily and popped away with a sharp crack.

Severus sat in one of the guest chairs and successfully restrained his desire to look through the files on Melina's desk. She probably had them charmed in some way to protect them against prying eyes; his was likely still with her, in any event. Just as well his curiosity hadn't overcome him, since Spinnet was soon back with his coffee, a small plate of digestive biscuits floating beside it. The house-elf set the coffee and biscuits down on a quickly conjured table.

"I thought Professor Snape might like some bikkies," Spinnet said brightly. She looked around with an exaggerated display of secrecy, then whispered, "These be my favourite bikkies! Not too sweet, just a little sweet with coffee."

"Thank you, Spinnet." Pudding at Hogwarts that noon had consisted of lemon meringue pie and treacle tarts. He liked lemon cream pies, but meringue was disgusting, and treacle tarts were far too sweet. A digestive biscuit might actually be rather nice . . .

By the time Melina had arrived ten minutes later, Severus had forgotten his worry about Melina's frowns and had finished his coffee and biscuits as Spinnet had dusted the bookshelves and entertained him with peculiar half-told tales of the clinic house-elves. Spinnet spun a good yarn, but she always seemed to become side-tracked part-way through one story and would launch into another one, so that by the time Melina arrived, the chattering elf had begun four stories and finished none.

Melina smiled at him as she sat down behind her desk and Spinnet Disapparated. "I'm sorry for the wait. I hope that Spinnet has been good company for you in the meantime."

Severus remembered his concern and immediately put Spinnet and her stories out of his mind. "It was fine."

"You probably noticed that I ran more tests this time," Melina said, briskly getting back to business. "The reason I was late was that I wanted to do your blood work immediately." She withdrew a green-tinged Charmed vial from her robe pocket and twitched a slight smile. "I thought you might like it back now that I'm done with it."

Severus drew his wand to Vanish the vial and its contents, but seeing what he was about to do, Melina jerked the vial away and shook her head. "Allow me, Professor." She raised her own wand and destroyed the blood before Severus could blink.

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"I will get to the point. I am not pleased with your magical levels. Your reserves fluctuate wildly when I have you perform the simplest spell, and not only have your reserves not increased since I saw you three weeks ago, but they have decreased slightly. Not massively," Melina qualified, "but somewhat, and that was . . . unexpected. You say that you haven't performed any difficult spells recently or expended your magical energy more than usual?"

Severus shook his head. "I have done a little brewing, performed the usual, everyday sorts of spells, the occasional Accio, opening the door, that kind of thing. I did Apparate here today, but I've Apparated much greater distances than from Hogwarts to Edinburgh with no ill effects."

"Recently?"

"No, not recently." Severus admitted. "I've Apparated perhaps a half dozen times since I last saw you, but no long distances, and that's the most strenuous magical activity I've engaged in. As I said, I've done some brewing, but none that took more than a small amount of magic." He hesitated. "I did notice . . . . You understand potions brewing. I noticed that the flow of magical energy into the brewing hasn't seemed as steady, as controlled, as I'm used to. But it was nothing that affected the finished potion, so I didn't think very much of it. I thought I was just tired and wasn't concentrating very well."

Melina nodded. "I'm not surprised. You aren't going to like what I have to tell you, but you have to do absolutely no magic, no spells, no charms, no Apparition, no brewing, nothing...and particularly no wandless magic...until I see you next. And I want to see you one week from today."

"But...last time, you said monthly," Severus protested mildly. "And if it's just that my magic is expending itself too easily, I can reduce the amount I use, rest it, but I can't possibly teach at Hogwarts and not use any magic."

"Just for the week, Severus," Melina said firmly but understandingly. "I need to see what happens when you're not using any magic at all. Before you leave my office, I'm going to take one more reading. There should also be a potion waiting for you at the reception desk by the time you leave. You need to take it morning and evening. And definitely contact me if you notice any worrying symptoms. See Poppy immediately, then contact me."

"I don't understand. You said last time that I was recovering well. I feel well, except for a bit of . . . of lethargy. But that's something altogether different."

"Related or not, I am glad you mentioned it," Melina said, making a note on the paper in front of her.

"What is the potion?"

"Ferron's Elixir, which is another reason why you cannot exercise your magic for the next week," Melina said, naming a specialised potion used for treating paralytic magical morbilliac fever, a dreadful disease that was now extremely rare, though there had been epidemics of it in past centuries and there were still occasional isolated outbreaks of it. It was the only potion that was at all effective against the magical wasting associated with the disease, but it was dangerous to use any magic while taking the potion. "I am also going to write you a prescription for a variant of the Nagini antivenin potion. You'll need to bring it to my father's apothecary, as he's the only one qualified to brew it...unless you want to take a Portkey to Amsterdam and have Robert brew it for you. As soon as it's ready, I want you to take it according to the directions I will write down for you. One large dose, followed by smaller doses at six-hour intervals until you have finished the bottle. Only three days, Severus, and you can take it orally," Melina reassured him, reading the mounting dismay on his face.

"Will Weasley have to give more blood?" he asked. "And what is the prognosis?" The situation was sounding increasingly serious. Was he going to end up no better than a Squib? How could he teach if he couldn't perform any magic? "I begin teaching on Tuesday. The students are arriving on the thirty-first this year, because the first falls on a Tuesday," he added irrelevantly.

"I am sorry. I am certain it will be inconvenient for you, but better a short-term inconvenience than a long-term disability," Melina said. "And no, Arthur won't have to donate more blood. The variant potion will treat only the magical portions of Nagini's venom. We extrapolated information from his blood previously, as well as having analysed a sample of your own blood from immediately after you were bitten...and since the snake's venom had changed in the intervening years, it is a good thing that we did. However, we also possess actual samples of Nagini's venom that Dumbledore retrieved before he incinerated her and burned down the Shack. That will all be sufficient for my father to brew an effective potion."

"He retrieved her venom?" Severus asked, having so many questions, he didn't know where to begin.

"Her venom sacs and her two upper fangs," Melina said. "He thought they might be useful in your treatment. It was foresighted and cool-headed of him, particularly given the pressure of the circumstances."

"And Ferron's Elixir? That treats a disease. This is not a disease condition," Severus said. He hadn't brewed Ferron's Elixir since he was an apprentice, and he couldn't remember very much about it.

"You can discuss it at greater length with Dumbledore, as I'm sure that he can explain it better than I, since he helped to develop it with Michel Ferron, but the Elixir doesn't act on the disease aspect of morbilliac fever. Rather, it treats the primary effect of the disease; the potion acts on the witch or wizard's magical core and . . . helps to rebuild it, to . . . to plug the leaks and bring the magical reserves back to the patient's natural level. Poppy will need to monitor you to make sure that it's acting as it should. As you no doubt are aware, Ferron's Elixir can be dangerous if taken by a wizard in perfect magical health." She hesitated slightly. "There can also be temporary side-effects regardless of health, but they are temporary, and with Poppy monitoring your condition, she can make sure that they don't become too severe, and can have you stop the potion if anything untoward occurs."

Severus digested that for a moment, then asked, "And what did your tests of my blood show you?"

Melina stood and came around the desk, carrying a thick folder and then setting it down on the desk near him with a heavy thump. It had his name on it.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Those are my records? I have seen you only since May...April, if you included the previous event."

Melina quirked a smile. "These include all of your health records since you began teaching at Hogwarts in nineteen eighty-one. Some of the parchments are actually shrunk."

"But I've seen my records there..." Severus began.

"The official records, yes, but when you were ill in April, Poppy made her unofficial records available to me, and I made a copy of them when I began to see you here at St. Giles. Don't worry, they are still very secure. But I needed to have a complete picture of your health and any previous injuries and what treatments you had received...and I misspoke earlier. They also include your records from your days as a student."

Severus stared at the bulky file and watched as Melina pointed out several places in the records where Poppy had made note of his magical reserves and magical frequency, as well as any variations she had detected following different injuries and treatments over the years.

"Poppy was quite thorough and did a very professional job in documenting everything, even when you were receiving unofficial care. It was quite helpful to me when I began treating you for Nagini's bite. But it is clear from examining all of your records that your magical reserves should be much higher than they are now. No previous fluctuations have ever been as wide or created as great a . . . a diminishment and drain as the one you're experiencing now. I am unsurprised that you are finding your fine magic control less than what you are used to. It's fortunate that you haven't been performing any complex or strenuous magic, or you may have injured yourself. You certainly would have been alerted that there was a problem, though."

"What is the problem, precisely?" Severus asked as calmly as he was able, which caused the question to come out of his mouth more like an insult than an inquiry.

Melina ignored the sarcastic tone. "I cannot be very precise. I wish I could. However, the levels of Nagini's magical toxins, which had seemed to dwindle and then vanish...though more slowly than the mundane toxins...have reappeared in your blood in very minute, almost immeasurable amounts, and they are distributed widely, though sparsely, throughout your magical system. I am fairly certain that it is these toxins causing the erosion of your magical reserves. I fear that untreated, they could begin to damage your magical core, possibly irreparably. I am sorry, Severus," she said as she sat back down behind her desk. "I was certain by mid-July that you were completely cleared of the toxic effects, and I hadn't detected any magical toxins in your blood since mid-June...the mundane toxins had been cleared long before that, of course. Your magical reserves and spell-casting seemed to be improving over those weeks. I simply hadn't anticipated this possibility, that the magical toxins were somehow still present at undetectable levels and that they could increase on their own and cause further damage."

Severus gritted his teeth slightly, tightening his jaw, but then he tried to relax. The witch had saved his life, after all, if indirectly. "You had not encountered this particular injury before," he said. "It is unsurprising that there might be unanticipated complications."

Despite the monotone with which the statement was delivered, Melina took the statement at face value as Severus had intended it, and nodded. "I don't believe that we have any cause for alarm just yet, Severus. I believe I caught it in time. We simply need to be more aggressive. There are some Healing spells I can cast, as well, but I want to wait until you have been on the Ferron's Elixir for a week before we use them. You will need some time to recuperate from the spell treatments, too, so I will do it in the Hogwarts infirmary on Friday next, then you'll have the weekend to rest."

Severus blinked. What a start to the new school year, one that was supposed to herald a new life for him, to begin it as an invalid. "I clearly should not have returned to teaching," he said with undisguised bitterness.

"No self-pity, Severus," Melina said briskly. "You are in a good place there. We will treat you and you will recover. Granted, you still have a difficult road ahead of you, and I had congratulated myself at having treated you without having had to resort any of the more enervating spells, but we both relaxed too soon. You have made it through far greater difficulties, dangers, and pain than this, and you will not be alone. You are 'Without Peer' for a reason, Severus; you can do this. We can have faith in each other, I think: you, faith that I will not allow this remnant of Darkness to damage or kill you, and I, faith that you will put forth the effort required for you to recover, including taking the potions I prescribe and resting when you are told."

Severus nodded shortly. "Of course." He would look up Ferron's Elixir when he got back to the castle. He sighed. He couldn't return immediately, and when he did, he'd have to Floo through to the Three Broomsticks and walk back up to Hogwarts. No Apparition. McGonagall was waiting for him, though, waiting to bring him by Side-Along to Leeds. Perhaps he wouldn't mind Apparating him back to Hogsmeade, or even to the Hogwarts gates, after their outing. He lived in Hogsmeade, after all, and he had to get home himself. He hated having to ask the other wizard for any favours.

"I will explain it to Minerva, if you prefer," Melina offered, seeing his miserable expression.

It would be . . . awkward to have to try to explain to Minerva that he couldn't do any magic for at least a week, and why. He loathed having to request any accommodations. She would be understanding, he knew, but he still disliked the thought of informing her and the implied request it would carry.

Severus shrugged, as though it were no concern of his. "If you wish. I have business to attend to after I leave here." Gods, he did not want to see Malfoy. "It would be convenient if you could inform the Headmistress." He would have to think about how he would deal with his classes. He couldn't do any demonstrations, not even of the simplest potions. He could work around that for four days, but longer . . . . He wouldn't think about it yet. Perhaps after Melina's spell treatment on Friday, he could begin using magic again, on a limited basis, at least.

Melina smiled and nodded. "I will be glad to. Is it all right with you if I answer any questions she may have about your condition?"

"It is understood that you may," Severus replied. When he had filled out the forms on his first visit to St. Giles, the welcome wizard had insisted that he complete the section marked "next-of-kin," and at a loss, he had put Minerva's name down and then had ticked the little box that gave the clinic permission to share his health information with her and contact her in an emergency. After all, she had still been his boss, even if he hadn't been certain at the time whether he was going to renew his contract, she was a friend, and she had been privy to his various injuries and treatments for quite some time.

"All right, then. I'll probably pop over and have a chat with her, since I haven't seen her in a while, anyway, and we can speak in private that way," Melina replied. "Let me take one more reading and transfer the results to parchment, and then if you'll be patient just a few minutes longer, I'll write out the prescription for you to bring to the Egidius Apothecary. Be sure you give it directly to my father, though. His previous apprentice is on holiday and his new one just came on last week. I wouldn't want the girl to think she could try to brew this, if she could even manage to decipher the instructions."

"I can wait," Severus said as Melina waved her wand and multicoloured symbols began to float in front of him, "but I believe that McGonagall...er, Gareth, may have arrived. We have an errand and he said he'd meet me here."

"Go on out to the reception area, then, see if he's there, and I'll be out in about ten minutes. Don't forget to ask at the desk for the Ferron's Elixir." Melina put her glasses on and began to write out the prescription for Murdoch to fill.

Gareth had his nose buried in a book when Severus found him in the reception area. He looked up and smiled. "Ready to go?"

Severus shook his head. "There's a potion I need to pick up at the desk, and O'Donald has a prescription for me. I have to wait for that. She said it wouldn't be long. If you can't wait..."

"I'm here to bring you to Leeds, for us both to go to Leeds together. Of course I'll wait," Gareth replied.

Severus didn't respond, simply turning on his heel and heading toward the reception desk. It was practical to have McGonagall there to Apparate him to Leeds, but now he didn't want the energetic younger wizard's company. He didn't want to have to attempt to be civilised and polite, and he didn't want to have to accept McGonagall's help because he needed it. It had been different when it had been purely a matter of convenience because McGonagall was more familiar with Furculum Way and could Apparate them both there, and he had grudgingly appreciated that McGonagall understood that meeting with Malfoy would be difficult for him and that having a . . . a friend meet him afterward might make the meeting easier for him, but now that he was incapable of Apparating without endangering his magical health, like some doddering hundred and eighty year-old wizard whose faculties and magic were failing him, Severus found McGonagall's company an irritation.

The welcome wizard was a young, acne-spotted wizard who had left Hogwarts after his OWLs a few years before. Severus greatly preferred it when the receptionist was a grey-haired granny in a flowered bonnet or one of the welcome-elves, but Arnold Hill simply nodded at him, opened a drawer, and drew out a tall, narrow blue bottle with a glass stopper and a maroon wax seal. Hill set the bottle on the desk in front of him, ran his fingers over a sheaf of parchments, then plucked one out, folded it, and put it and the bottle in a small brown paper sack with twine handles.

"If you have any questions, sir, please don't hesitate to place a Floo-call. Our apothecary is on duty from eight-thirty to four-thirty daily during the week, and one of her assistants is always available when she is not." Hill gave a brief smile as he handed Severus his bag. "It's my job to tell you that, Professor. I'm sure you know about the potion you've been prescribed. But if you have any questions at all, do call through."

Severus nodded and went to sit beside Gareth, one chair separating them. Healing Potions was a specialised discipline; the master he had been apprenticed to had been less interested in the Healing arts and more interested in potions that would require the attention of a Healer after administration. As an apprentice, Severus had brewed all of the most standard Healing potions, and a few of the more esoteric ones as well, but the emphasis of his studies was not geared toward a career at St. Mungo's, or even as a general apothecary. Although he could open a Potions shop with a variety of useful nonmedicinal potions and some of the most commonly used Healing potions, he couldn't open an apothecary and expect to be able to compete with the well-established apothecaries whose focus was on pharmaceutical potions.

He could brew any of the Healing potions, of course, but each time he brewed one he hadn't brewed before or hadn't brewed in a long time, he would have to read up on it. But other than the simplest ones, he also probably couldn't brew them as efficiently as an experienced apothecary, and so it would cost him more time to brew them, at least in the beginning. Besides, there were a handful of well-established apothecaries in Britain that had loyal clienteles stretching back generations. It was unlikely that someone would go to a new, untested apothecary on a whim to get their Healing potions...particularly one that was owned by a former Death Eater. Still, a generalised potions shop might be more satisfying than an apothecary, provide more variety to the brewing, though there was still the problem of being a former Death Eater. Of course, all that might be moot if his magic disintegrated.

Gareth glanced over at Severus, who was just staring into space, thinking about former Death Eaters brewing Healing potions and about what might happen to him if his magical core was slowly destroyed.

"Everything okay, mate?"

"Hmm?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Everything all right? Just wondering about the potions . . ."

"Fine, McGonagall." After a moment, he added, "Before we go to Leeds, we need to Floo to McTavish Street. I need to stop at the Egidius Apothecary."

Gareth nodded. Severus could feel the younger wizard's gaze on him.

"We could Apparate, Snape. It's just a short hop."

"I am under Healer's instructions not to Apparate," Severus said in a harsh whisper. "Read your book, McGonagall."

Gareth shrugged and turned back to his book.

Severus had been so focussed on the problem of his magical drain that he hadn't asked Melina whether the magical toxins would have any other effects on him. Worry about magical depletion was pointless if the toxins could kill him. She had said something about not letting them kill him. He glanced over at Gareth, and the alert wizard looked up and met his gaze.

"She found more toxins in my blood. Some side-effects. It's nothing, I'm sure, but she says it has to be treated." Severus shrugged one shoulder.

"Ah." Gareth was quiet for a moment. "This sort of thing is her specialty. I'm sure you're right. No cause for worry. But better safe than sorry. Handy I met you here to Apparate us, hmm?"

Severus grunted in response. Surely ten minutes had more than passed. Where was that blasted witch?

"Do you mind telling me what the potion in the bag is?" Gareth asked.

"Nosy, aren't you?"

"Can't be a Ravenclaw without suffering from terminal curiosity, Snape!"

The wizard probably had never heard of the potion before, anyway. "Ferron's Elixir," Severus said stiffly.

Gareth's eyebrows rose. "Really?" He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, glancing over at the middle-aged witch a few feet away. "I helped my brother brew that one winter."

So he did know what it was for. Foolish not to have remembered that McGonagall had spent his teens living with an apothecary and helping in his shop. At least the Ravenclaw was discreet and hadn't announced to the entire world that he was taking a potion used to treat a deadly contagious disease. Small consolation. Hermione's optimistic smile flitted through his mind. He was still in no danger of becoming a Pangloss, he thought, and that fact reassured him.

Next

Chapter Four: Through the Looking Glass

Friday, 28 August 1998

Severus meets with Lucius Malfoy in his new home.

Characters: Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape

Author's Note: If you've forgotten Gareth McGonagall's precise relationships to the other characters in the story, he is Minerva's nephew, the son of her late brother Malcolm and Gertrude Gamp. Gareth first appeared in Death's Dominion in Chapter Thirteen, "And the west moon." His introduction to Severus was somewhat rocky, as you may recall! Melina is one of Gareth's cousins, the daughter of Minerva's brother Murdoch.

If you haven't read Death's Dominion, it's here at TPP, and I really recommend reading that one before reading Long Vernal Season. It is not necessary to read An Act of Love, though.

Interested in the new staff members mentioned in Chapter One, or just want to try to remember who they are when they are mentioned? I posted a list of them, with a little bit of biographical info on each, on my MMADfan.com blog. Click on the tab that leads to the Compendium, "Who, When, Where."