Never Surrender [ Snape x Lupin ]

Chapter Thirty

Lupin got closer, holding his hands. Snape was groggy but scared to death. He had tears in his eyes, despair imprinted on him like Remus had never seen before. He was also in pain, a hand reaching to the scar on his neck for a paralyzing moment.

"I don't want to die, please don't let me die. I don't want to die" he cried feeling more spells being cast on his neck, his hand being put aside by Himiko

Severus was a wreck and Lupin had never seen him in such shock and fear in all his tay at the hospital. Remus held his hands and tried to soothe him down, still clueless about what was going on.

It helped but Severus' eyes ran like rivers, he was sobbing and wasn't breathing well. Whenever he saw Himiko's wand a wave of panic would take over him.

"Remus... I just don't want to die. Tell them, please" he said growing paler

"I will Severus, I'll tell them. When you wake up I'll be here" Remus promised

"No, no, no, I don't want to sleep..." he said feeling that last straw of consciousness slip out of his control, making his hand let go of the grip

"You must but I'm right here" Remus whispered, knowing he didn't listen

Jonathan took him out of the room and closed the door, soon the wizard doctor rushed through the door and closed it again, leaving Remus alone outside without any answers.

And without any news, he remained until Himiko came to him almost an hour later. She was visibly tired and before addressing him, she sat down on the empty hospital bed.

"My apologies Lupin, I was standing all this long" she said politely

Her face had marks of the mask she was wearing all along and she loosened her long dark hair, making it rest on her back.

"What happened? He seemed fine just minutes before I left the room" Remus asked straight away, his voice surprised him because it sounded very tearful

"There was a tiny fragment of the snake's fang on his neck. Not deep, his body was trying to expel it for all this time. But it had a microdose of venom inside that poisoned him when it hit the scar tissue from inside. I removed it, Jonathan filtered his blood again and will do it for a week. Safety measure. He will be fine, no need to put him into a coma again" she said still resting on the bed

Remus didn't know what to say to her. He was processing all that. He thanked her for the information and asked if there was any chance there could be more. She said they checked before cutting his neck open again so they could remove everything at once but that they would redo all the exams.

To Remus, seeing Snape be put to sleep by force was never an easy task. Sometimes he wondered if Severus still knew how to fall asleep naturally. He was debilitated but he was always vigilant of everything happening close to him, which was understandable when one had been attacked.

This setback felt most unfair to everyone involved in Severus' recovery. He had been doing better, maybe not each day, but each week. They had removed the tubes from his neck a while ago and it greatly contributed to him eating better and getting some strength back. Enough for him to walk around his room and the hospital corridors on a daily basis. He still felt a considerable amount of pain, but he was taking potions every day to treat that last part of the poisoning. Didn't please him that sometimes the potions made him sick, but it was necessary.

An hour after the small procedure, Remus came back into the room. His eyes were still swollen from crying but he was happy he'd be able to keep his promise. Himiko's bracelet had a very different color now, before the surgery it was crimson but now it was a light blue tone. She started the process to wake him and unexpectedly soon, Severus reopened his eyes.