Another Weakness

To his surprise, Severus felt slightly better after an afternoon with the contraption running. It wasn't a huge difference, but he definitely felt less stiff than when he woke up.

Hermione brought in two trays this time, pulling up a chair to join him. They ate quietly for a minute before Hermione brought up what was on her mind.

"I have two guesses on what's wrong. Something is attacking all your scar tissue, and it's probably either snake venom or an environmental toxin. The venom shouldn't still be in your system, but since we don't really know much about Nagini it could be."

"So what's the next step in your research?"

"A blood test would be the most productive." She noticed that he paled slightly. "Are… are you scared of needles?"

He ignored the question. "Do you really think that's necessary?"

"Yes. Absolutely. There is something in your bloodstream that shouldn't be. We need to know what it is so that we can get rid of it." He opened his mouth as if to protest, but she shot him a look. "Unless of course you'd rather stay like this." He shut his mouth again, looking almost sulky. "That's what I thought. We'll do it when your potion wears off in a couple of hours. I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself – I learned a lot of basic medical things helping after the battle – but we can get a Healer if you'd rather."

"No… You'll do fine I'm sure." He hated the idea, but she'd already seen him weak, so that was better than a stranger, wasn't it? And damn it, he was scared of needles. They reminded him a little too much of snake fangs these days. He wished he could take a Calming Draught beforehand, but no, potions in his system could mess up the results of the blood test. Blast it all to hell!

Hermione was speaking again and he forced himself to listen. Gryffindor though she was, the girl had a knack for coming up with good ideas. Not that he'd admit it, of course.

"Your lab is rather well-stocked, so I shouldn't need to go and get anything before doing the blood test. But while we're waiting for that pain potion to wear off, I'd like to run a few more diagnostics on you, if that's alright. It can't hurt to have a little more information."

He nodded a little stiffly. "Very well."

With a wave of her wand, a quill and parchment appeared in the air by his bed, scribbling down figures. Hermione frowned at it.

"That's not good," she said, more to herself than to him. "I suppose it's to be expected of course…" She trailed off, then paused a moment and addressed him. "I don't like the looks of your blood pressure. I think I saw some Blood Replenishing Potion downstairs. Let's get some of that into you and see if we can't improve it."

True to her word, Hermione was back within minutes with a vial for him. "Here, take this. It's the last vial, but I'm going to make up a fresh batch while we wait for the pain potion to wear off. Until then, I'll be in the lab if you need me."

Author's Note: While this story is not done yet, please take the time to click here to tell me which story you'd like to see me post next. Thanks!