The Uninvited
Chapter 5: The Fallout
The Healers, the Head Administrator, and the mediwitches ranged about the room, observing. Healer Smethwyck watched with some disapproval; this high-profile patient was still on his ward, where he had certainly belonged when he first arrived, nigh dead from a poisonous bite. Now, however, his physical healing was complete - why, the man had been sitting up and feeding himself when he was awake, even if he didn't know who he was. Smethwyck had hoped to foist the patient onto the long-term care ward, but the Administrator had been harried into this bit of nonsense - in Smethwyck's professional opinion, the whole lot of them had lost their wits.
Healer Strout watched with fascination. If this course of action was successful, it would open whole new vistas of possible treatment for the residents of her ward. It was important for the sake of this patient, of course, but Healer Strout was far more interested in the broader good that would come of a successful completion of this experiment.
Healer-in-Chief Webber and the Head Administrator hovered, more concerned with the outcome for the hospital than the prognosis of the patient, generally getting in the way.
Healer Clearwater sat at her usual place at the table, the patient's chart before her, her quill ready to make notations regarding this historic procedure. For personal reasons, she devoutly hoped it would be successful. Not only was this her patient, but it was also her friend, and she felt more than a little responsible for the welfare of each of them.
Two mediwitch trainees hovered over the patients, one in charge of each. Daphne Greengrass looked after Professor Snape, whilst Katie Bell cared for Hermione Granger. Every few minutes, the trainees assessed the patients' vital signs, reporting their findings to Healer Clearwater, who diligently notated the parchment before her.
Nearly two hours into the process, as Granger's vital signs continued to deteriorate, there was a sudden change in Professor Snape. He began to move agitatedly beneath the bedclothes, then his head began to toss from side to side. The Healers all advanced on his bed, conferring in low voices as to what this change portended and agreeing as one that they dared not attempt to wake him or sedate him with the Granger girl still engaged with his mind.
As they stood over him, he began to sweat profusely, as if from a high fever. Incoherent murmurs issued from his suddenly parched lips, followed by a shout so loud the group of Healers actually jumped back from the bed, whilst the Head Administrator, Prodmore Hoofington, fell on his bottom with a dull thud. With the echoes of the mighty shout still fading away, there was a distinct clattering sound so familiar that each person in the room reached for and ascertained that they still held their wands.
'It's Hermione!' Katie Bell cried, and the others turned to her, just in time to see the Granger girl, whose slack hand had dropped her wand, follow the wand onto the cold, hard floor. The spectators surged to surround the motionless Granger, calling for a stretcher to move her to the trauma area. It was not until orderlies had rushed from the room with Hermione Granger that Daphne Greengrass was able to gain the attention of the Healers to make her report: Professor Snape had slipped again into a coma, unresponsive to light or pain.
The Healers and their Head Administrator were still huddled in whispered conference when Harry Potter appeared in the doorway.
'Hullo,' he said, obviously surprised to see such a crowd in the professor's room. 'Is Hermione here?'
Harry Potter stood by Hermione's side, holding her limp hand. He had paced back and forth as the Healers had worked on her, casting diagnostic spells and strengthening charms. After what seemed like an eternity, they had come to him, assuring him she was all right. She was physically and magically exhausted, and she needed to sleep. They would keep her overnight, but she was not in danger; she would recover fully.
While the orderlies prepared to move her to a room, Harry turned on his heel and marched straight to the Head Administrator's office.
'It was entirely consensual, Mr Potter!' Hoofington cried earnestly, a tell-tale bead of sweat upon his brow betraying his nervousness.
'How could you permit her to do something so dangerous?' Harry demanded. 'Didn't you have a professional who could do the job?'
Hoofington swallowed visibly. 'It was an experimental procedure,' he admitted. 'It had never been done before.'
Harry stared at the other wizard. 'You endangered my best friend in an experimental procedure?'
Hoofington's voice modulated to a wheedling tone. 'You told us to spare no expense, Mr Potter - to do whatever it took to make Headmaster Snape well again.'
Harry stepped up to the large desk separating him from the despicable little man and brought the flat of his hand down on the desktop with such force that a bottle of ink fell to the floor and shattered. 'Not at the expense of Hermione!' he shouted. 'You've endangered her without helping him one whit!'
Hoofington could not prevent himself from shrinking away from the angry young man leaning toward him with such pugnacity. 'The young lady volunteered to do it,' he pled, trying not to think of the funds the hospital might lose if the Boy-Who-Lived-Again became unhappy with them. 'Healer Clearwater came to us with the consent form signed - Miss Granger was anxious to proceed as soon as possible.'
'Of course she was anxious,' Harry said with scathing contempt. 'She had to do it before I came back to town, or I would have made sure it didn't happen!' He turned his back on the Head Administrator and walked out of the git's office.
He knew where to find Penelope Clearwater.
Penny raised her head as soon as the door into the professor's room was opened; when she saw who it was, she rose to her feet. 'Miss Greengrass,' she said to the mediwitch, 'please send for me straightaway if there is any change at all in the professor's condition. I need to speak with Mr Potter.'
The mediwitch trainee murmured her agreement as Penny passed before the grim-faced Harry Potter. 'We can speak privately in my office,' she said and led him to the cupboard-like room. 'Please sit down, Harry,' she said, closing the door behind them.
'I think I'll stand, thanks,' he said shortly, his tone not encouraging Penny to hope for a friendly chat.
She sagged into the chair behind her desk, Summoning a teapot from the shelf behind her; it floated onto the desk top, accompanied by two mismatched cups. 'Oh, sit down, Harry,' she said impatiently. 'I knew you when I was half a foot taller than you - all your blustering doesn't impress me.' She dropped teabags into the pot and conjured boiling water. 'I have a letter for you from Hermione; if you want me to give it to you, sit down.'
Harry fell into the seat with ill grace. 'Give it to me,' he said tersely, holding out his hand.
Ignoring him, Penny noted the time on her watch. The silence between them grew more fraught as she waited for the tea to brew, then filled the two cups. 'Sugar or milk?' she inquired politely.
'Both,' he said curtly, but he found he was so thankful for the cup of tea, he forgot to be nasty and picked it up for a fortifying sip. 'Please give me Hermione's note, Penny,' he said at last.
Penny smiled at him and pulled the parchment from her pocket, passing it to him without comment. Harry gave her a rueful half-smile and broke the seal on the scroll.
Dear Harry,
Don't blame Penny or anyone at the hospital. No one else was willing to do this, and you know it had to be done. Professor Snape did so much for all of us - after all he's endured, this is the least I can do for him.
Please, Harry, if something happens and I don't wake up, make sure my parents know where I am - or what happened to me, all right?
Love from Hermione
P.S. I borrowed the phial of Professor Snape's memories from your bedside table and viewed them in the Pensieve. I wouldn't have done it, except I wanted to be prepared for what I might find in his mind.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. She had known it was dangerous, and she had done it anyway. After all the friends he had lost to the war, the notion that Hermione might have been lost, too, made him so sad he couldn't bear to think about it.
'She knew you'd react like this,' Penny said, sipping her tea.
Harry stuffed the note into the pocket of his jeans and tried another smile with slightly more success. 'She knows me pretty well,' he admitted.
'She said you were out of town for a few days,' Penny commented.
'The Ministry of Magic was holding a conference to determine who will receive awards for their service in the war,' he explained. 'I'm on the committee, and we were in meetings all day, but I was spending the nights at the Burrow.' He took a drink of his tea. 'The Weasleys are taking Fred's death pretty hard,' he added.
Penny nodded sympathetically. 'Percy and I still see one another,' she said. 'He said they've all been staying home with Mrs Weasley, because she becomes upset when one of them is gone.'
'Yeah,' Harry agreed. 'She's all right during the day, when everyone's at work, but at night, she has to see them all.' He shook his head. 'Madam Pomfrey says Mrs Weasley will get over it in time - but she also says Ron and Ginny should do what their mum wants until she does feel better. Even Bill and Fleur check in most nights, and they have their own house, now.'
Penny poured each of them more tea. 'Hermione came in two days ago - she said she had promised you she would keep an eye on Professor Snape.' She waited for Harry to nod in agreement, then said, 'I told her the ghost specialist we called in said we couldn't be sure there wasn't a malignant force present in the professor - something he would have picked up during that period of time when he was hovering between life and death. The specialist told us we would have to send someone into his mind to make an assessment. Hermione was really interested in the idea, and she came back the next day, ready to try it.'
Harry frowned. 'But that would have been yesterday,' he pointed out.
'It took a full day for the Head Administrator and the Senior Healers to decide to go ahead with it.' She put down her cup and leant toward him. 'They really did consider it all very carefully, Harry.'
He sighed. 'I suppose they did,' he muttered.
'Anyway, it was felt that it would be best to do it early in the morning, when everyone was fresh and strong.' Penny patted Harry's arm. 'You really haven't had a moment's peace, even with You Know Who gone, have you?'
Harry gave her half a smile. 'If we can get Hermione well and Professor Snape on his feet, I'll be happy,' he said.
There was a knock on the door, and a white-robed aide looked in. 'Mr Potter?' she said. 'Miss Bell asked me to fetch you - Miss Granger is waking up.'
She floated just below the surface. She wanted to know something - there was a question she needed to ask - but she was so tired, and it was so easy to float.
'Hermione?'
That was Harry. Harry needed her. He was calling for her.
'Hermione? Can you hear me?'
Well, she did need to ask a question - perhaps if she answered Harry, he would answer her. Sluggishly, she forced her eyes to open; Harry's dear face was directly above hers, the almond-shaped green eyes warm with concern behind his round black spectacles.
'There you are,' he said gently, smiling. 'You had us worried, there.'
'How is he?' Hermione croaked, determined to receive an answer to her question.
'Ron's not here,' Harry told her. 'He's at the Burrow.'
'Not Ron,' Hermione objected crossly. 'Snape.'
Penny stepped up to the other side of the bed with a goblet of water. 'The professor is in a coma,' she reported, magicking the bed up and holding the cup so Hermione could drink. When Hermione lay back on the pillow again, Penny added, 'He had an episode of thrashing and shouting before he slipped into the coma again - did something happen?'
Hermione's eyes fluttered closed. She was so tired ... much too tired to recount her adventures in Professor Snape's mind. 'Tell you ... later,' she whispered.
Harry looked up. 'She's too tired now, Penny - I'll come find you when she's ready to talk, all right?'
Penny replaced the goblet on the bedside table and reached out to squeeze Hermione's hand. 'Take your time.'
Hermione woke up with the burnished rays of the setting sun shining on the plain white wall of the room. Turning her head seemed to require great effort, but she managed it, glad to see Harry sitting in a chair at her side, riffling through a magazine.
'Hi,' she said.
The happiness in his face when he looked up at her made her glad.
'Hi,' he replied, standing. 'You really scared me, Hermione.'
'I'm sorry you were scared,' she said tiredly. 'But the Healers had a big meeting about it and no one else was willing to go into Professor Snape's mind - someone had to do it.'
'I would've done it!' he protested.
Hermione pursed her lips. 'You're pants at Legilimency, Harry - you know that,' she said gently.
He scowled, but his obvious relief at her recovery robbed his words of any sting. 'Well, that's no excuse for you trying to kill yourself as soon as my back is turned!'
She gave him a tiny grin. 'It wasn't my intention.'
'It was damn near the result,' he grumbled, running out of steam.
'Are you just going to stand there and tell me off?' she inquired, eying the tray on the table behind him. 'I'm very hungry and still tired - I've had a busy day.'
'Right!' he said. 'I forgot your supper.' He turned and fetched the tray, getting it situated so she could begin to eat. He resumed his seat as she took a bite of stew.
'Did you have any luck at the Ministry?' she inquired, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
A dark look passed over his face as if he was reliving a particularly ugly skirmish. 'Yeah,' he said. 'Snape will be awarded the Order of Merlin - most of them would be happier if it was posthumous, but he'll receive it, either way.'
Hermione gave him a genuine smile. 'Oh, thank you, Harry! I told him he'd get it - that's what made him decide to come back with me!'
Harry blinked once before saying cautiously, 'What do you mean, Hermione? Snape's in a coma - he didn't come back with you.'
Hermione picked up the napkin from the tray and politely wiped her lips. 'He's just resting,' she said serenely. 'He'll wake up any time now.' She lay back against her pillows again and murmured, 'And if he doesn't, I'm going back in after him.'
Harry tried, but not all of his protestations made any impression upon her. She bade him good night, turned on her side, away from him, and apparently went to sleep whilst he still tried to reason with her.