Severus woke up feeling incredibly groggy. Everything hurt and ached. It felt like... being hit with three Cruciatus Curses at once. Severus had been hit with multiple Cruciatus Curses before - he'd had a particularly rough encounter with Voldemort after the events of the Ministry of Magic where he'd been cursed for hours and, to impress Voldemort and not end up a dead, useless Potions Master and spy, he'd stayed quiet while suffering unimaginable pain. Severus had no idea how he'd manage to Apparate back to Hogwarts but he remembered Albus, Minerva and Poppy all waiting for him and then caring for him with unbelievable tenderness and patience.
As such, this wasn't an uncommon situation for Severus to be in, except of course that he was an adult in a teenage body, and he'd only previously been cursed with the Cruciatus Curse twice in his fifth year by Avery and Mulciber, which had hurt like absolute hell. He wasn't sure thirteen year-olds were meant to have their pain receptors utterly wrecked like that and, as an adult, he'd eventually resorted to taking extremely strong pain-relievers for nerve damage after too many sessions of torture. In the end, if Voldemort hadn't killed him, the Cruciatus Curse would've. It might've driven the Longbottoms to insanity with prolonged exposure over a small amount of time but the damage to his nerves over a long period of time would've almost certainly killed him.
"Severus?"
Dumbledore sat at his side.
"How are you feeling?"
He simply groaned in response. Dumbledore smiled slightly.
"As expected, then."
He adopted a rueful look.
"But you've experienced this before."
Severus nodded, groaning again as his head exploded in pain.
"I should let you rest," Dumbledore said hurriedly. "Nobody expects you to be alright again for weeks."
"I guess that's a relief," Severus murmured, amused.
"Get some sleep, Severus. I'll still be here."
Smiling softly, Severus closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
*
The next time Severus awoke, his head was a tiny bit less painful and Madam Pomfrey massaged his aching muscles.
"The pain should lessen now," she promised, giving him a maternal smile.
"Thank you, Poppy," he whispered.
She looked at him and then sat down in the vacant chair by his bed, reaching for his hand.
"Albus showed me your memories, Severus," she spoke softly. "I know about everything."
"Everything?" He asked hoarsely.
She nodded, although a tear threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Minerva and I both know the whole truth."
Severus turned away, disgusted by the knowledge that those whose opinions he cared about the most now knew his most nauseating secrets.
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Severus... Reformed #2 / SNILY
Fanfiction(Best rankings: #5 in SNILY and #12 in LILY) Severus Snape is a skilled wizard, a decent human being and a good friend. True, he may have his issues and he may struggle with the whole emotions business at times, but Severus had a crowd of people he...
