Lillith's Father [2]

Lillith's Father: Chapter Eight:

Chapter Eight:

Professor Severus Snape carried the limp form of his passed out daughter, his heart raced and worried thoughts slammed into the walls of his mind, but outwardly he remained calm. He was a professor, he was not to 'freak out' or get upset.  He needed to remain stoic in the public eye.

He moved his legs faster, sighing silently as he entered the Hospital Wing, calling for Poppy Pomfrey while simultaneously placing Lily upon the first bed he came to.  

"Severus!  What's happened?" She rushed around, taking Severus's daughter's vitals, propping her up on pillows and checking her pulse.  

"She is overworked and there may be trauma to her brain."  

They went on talking for several minutes about what had happened, Poppy occasionally pointing out that Lillith was just a child, her body not made to handle such stress, that she'd need rest after all of this.  That if they planned on turning this child into an animagus, she'd need at least three days of complete rest before that, then awhile longer afterwards.  It took a lot out of you.  

Severus didn't need to hear it, he knew everything Pomfrey was telling him.  The problem was, they had no time for rest and relaxation.  If Lillith was going to survive, she needed to work, and work hard.  

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I coughed, moaning at the pain that radiated from my entire body.  Head, lungs, back, legs, even my lips hurt, they felt hot on my face as if I'd burned them.  I licked my lips, hoping to cool them down as my father laid me across one of the beds in the nurse's wing, immediately calling for Madam Pomfrey. 

I could see his lips moving as he tried to explain what had happened but all that filled my ears was a quiet -swish- sound, like putting a seashell to my ear.  I watched as my father left the room and Madam Pomfrey immediately walked closer to me, talking on as she inspected me over, though still I heard not a word. 

I yawned softly, feeling exhaustion hit me like a wall of bricks, and closed my eyes, licking my hot lips once again, feeling slightly guilty for just falling asleep on Madam Pomfrey.  It didn't last long, soon I was nothing but a prisoner trapped in the black darkness of my own mind.

"..too much stress on the mind, you can't put a young child through that much stress and work Severus.  Her body isn't built to handle so much.  She'll need rest, and lots of it if you're going to teach her occlumency and legimency.  If I had to guess, she probably hasn't gotten more than five hours of sleep in the last two weeks or so." 

I could barely make out my father's voice as he muttered something in return, but I could hear enough to realize that he wasn't happy.  My fingers tingled, like pins and needles pricking into them.. it hurt.  I hated that feeling so much, it made me feel as if I couldn't move, and I knew that if I did so happen to even move a single muscle, the pain would only get worse.  

"So when will she be able to leave the hospital wing?" I recognized the headmaster's voice, and relaxed slightly.  I wasn't ever sure why it happened, but right then, for some unknown reason, Dumbledore's voice calmed me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and squinted them as they burned slightly.  My head pounded uncomfortably at the bright light of the infirmary and I swore I could hear my blood flowing through my veins, I could hear my own heartbeat even.  

The continued to talk back and forth but I couldn't seem to concentrate on their words, just the occasional one jumped out at me, like 'animagus', 'rest', 'a week'.  

It took a long while before anyone realized I was awake, though not completely.  My eyes worked, but they hurt, and my ears only worked half the time, so really it was more like sleeping with my eyes open.

"Lillith, how do you feel?" Father questioned, his dark eyes staring down at mine as he rested his large, calloused hand atop my head, smoothing my hair back and I realized with a start that he was trying to comfort me.  He was being comforting.  

"My eyes burn," I rasped, grimacing at the sound of my own voice before my eyes wandered to where I'd seen movement.  

"Dehydration, dear.  You haven't been eating nor drinking nearly enough," she stated as she handed me a glass of room temperature water, urging me to drink it slowly but steadily.  "Once you've finished with that, and eaten a small meal, and if you feel steady enough to walk, you may leave."

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

I groaned, walking down the halls of Hogwarts and working to not make eye contact with anyone, dodging bodies and edging around groups.  My eyes darted around, looking for a familiar friendly face before it finally settled on one.  Just one.  

"Draco," I smiled slightly before it dropped away all together at the sight of his face.  He'd been in a corner, reading what looked like a letter.  From his facial expression, it didn't look like good news he got.  "Are you all right?"  

"Actually.. I need to talk to you," he muttered, looking at me as if I'd grown a second head.  "Come on, I know where we can go."

Draco's hand latched around my boney wrist, tugging me along quickly yet gently and I moaned in slight pain as my achey bones moved with him, following behind dutifully.  We walked up to the seventh floor, and I recognized the area where the Room of Requirement was where last year, Harry had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts.  He paced back and forth in front of the bare wall three times before the door finally appeared.

Once we'd sat down in the tidy, well lit room, I looked to Draco Malfoy and waiting impatiently for him to begin talking to me.  What did he want? Was it about whatever was in that letter?  What was so important?  I wanted to shout at him.  Get on with it Draco!  But I didn't, I sat and waited.. and waited.  He looked like he was trying to get his calm, trying to figured out the words he needed to use..

"You're in danger."

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[[A/N: This chapter is about the same length as the last one.. i'm sorry its taken so long to update, and that this was basically a fluff chapter, but its something right?  Something is always better than nothing ._. Anyhoo, I love you guys!  For those of you who dont know, I have a book about Voldemort in his younger school years called The Way Tom Is,... just a bit of self-advertising there.

Peace and love, ijay]]