Severus lay on his bed, face pale and face twisted in pain. It was clear he was having trouble breathing. Heather rushed to his side, a diagnostic charm flying from her wand.
A concussion, four broken ribs, a punctured lung, multiple lacerations across his back, a large burn on his thigh and, of course, diffuse nerve damage.
"You," Heather said, turning to the elf, "can you get potions from his storeroom? Two Blood Replenishers, a Nerve Tonic, one Lung Regrowth, one Essence of Dittany and two Level 5 Pain Potions. You know what they are?"
The elf nodded rapidly. "Yes, Wimbly knows!" With a snap of his fingers, the requested potions appeared on the night stand.
"Thanks," she said curtly, "Can you help get him undressed?" Heather quickly spelled one of the pain potions into his stomach, together with a spell that would speed up enteric absorption.
"Heather?" Severus groaned softly, eyes fluttering open.
"Shh, it's okay, Severus," she soothed as her wand twirled. His ribs began knitting together without fuss, owing to the thankfully clean breaks. "You're okay. You're at Hogwarts now, your quarters. You're safe."
"What-"
"Save your energy, we can talk later," she cut him off. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she continued administering the potions he needed. She cursed herself for using so much magic earlier today. Her arms were beginning to protest at the strain.
When she noticed the growing red patch underneath Severus, she swore. "Wimbly, we need to turn him over, he's soaking through the bedding." He'd lost a lot of blood while she was attending his other injuries, and who knew how much he'd lost before even reaching the castle?
It was a simple matter for Wimbly to levitate and turn Severus over, exposing his wounds while keeping him steady. Heather hurriedly smeared as much Essence of Dittany as she could into the open gashes, biting her lip as they healed far too slowly.
"We need more Blood Replenisher," she stated. Immediately, three phials appeared. She administered two in quick succession.
"Wimbly, you can help to spread the Dittany over his other wounds." Before she'd even finished her sentence, the elf had the phial in his hands.
With a tired sigh, she turned attention back to the concussion. It wasn't too serious, but head injuries were notoriously finicky. There wasn't a spell to heal a concussion, but there was one to speed the natural healing along. It was just a very delicate spell, requiring fine control that she was worried she didn't have at the moment. She wanted to scream in frustration, knowing that if she were in normal condition, she wouldn't be having this problem. With great reluctance, she refrained from casting it. She couldn't risk worsening Severus' current injuries. Instead, she deftly wrapped up his injuries with clean bandages.
Wimbly set Severus back down on the bed, having replaced the bedsheets with fresh ones. Heather sent him a grateful look. "Thank you Wimbly, you've been a great help."
Surprisingly, the elf only smiled bashfully in reply. "No needs to be thanking Wimbly. Only right that Wimbly takes care of his Master. Will Miss Heather be needing more?"
Heather shook her head, gaze drifting back to Severus.
"Of course, please take care, Miss Heather!" Then the elf disappeared with a pop, leaving behind a tea set and various snacks.
A smile twitched at her lips, seeing the evidence of the elf's motherhenning. Nevertheless, after Heather brought a chair over to sit next to the bed, she nursed a cup of tea, watching Severus' chest rise and fall in time with his breathing. Her arms were cramping, her magic was drained and her mind was woolly with exhaustion.
She set her teacup down and propped her elbows on the bed. She really should return to her own rooms, but she just couldn't make herself leave. There was the irrational fear that if she let Severus out of her sight, something would happen to him. Selfishly, she also knew that if she went to bed on her own right now, she wouldn't be getting any sleep. Even closing her eyes now brought back the images of Severus broken and bloodied, only, her mind would fill in the blanks with the most horrific details it could. Some deep, dark, torture chamber, Riddle holding him captive, bound and at the madman's non-existent mercy. The possibilities were endless!
Maybe, maybe she could just stay. Yeah. Just rest her upper body on the bed for a while she kept vigil. Her hand moved to wrap around one of his wrists, fingers locating his pulse unerringly. It was a little weak, but steady. The thump, thump, thump, of it gave her peace of mind.
She was so tired though. She could just rest her eyes for a moment. Yeah, just until...
~~~
Heather woke with a familiar, comforting scent in her nose. She nuzzled into the warmth, sighing a little. Taking stock of her surroundings, she noted that she had fallen asleep while sitting. Had she been up late marking essays again? She groaned, not relishing the backache she'd have all day.
Peeling her eyes open, she frowned at the strange sight. She was clutching someone's hand to her face. In fact, that had been what she'd been nuzzling against. She squinted at it in confusion, mind still fuzzy.
Her eyes followed the hand up, along the arm, past the shoulder and up the neck to the face. Oh. It was Severus. Immediately she settled, tempted to nuzzled against the man again. She wasn't going to pass up a chance to cuddle with him.
Then, her mind starting to clear up as she remembered the events of the night before.
Being called by Wimbly, healing Severus, falling asleep at his bedside.
She immediately shot up, wincing a little as her back protested at the past few hours of poor posture. She ignored that, however, in favour of checking over the man laid up in bed.
His injuries were mostly healing well, even that damned concussion. He'd probably still be feeling awful for a day or two, so Heather would need to run some interference.
She gasped a little when she looked up and saw that his eyes were open and staring right at her. Leaning forward, she placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "Severus, glad to see you're awake." She smiled shakily. "How are you feeling? Do you need a pain potion?"
He nodded, a small movement.
"Do you think you can manage swallowing it, or should I spell it into you?"
One sharp movement at the latter suggestion told her the answer. She slid an arm under his back and helped him to sit up, struggling a little at the weight. When she finally got him upright, she went to the storeroom to get his potions.
His hands trembled as they grasped the neck of the phial, but she refrained from offering her assistance. It took some time, but he was able to drink the potions on his own.
"Water?" he asked, voice sounding like he'd swallowed shattered glass.
Heather did one better and asked the house elves for breakfast to be sent up.
"Don't give me that look. You'll need some food before taking the next dose of Nerve Tonic. I bet you haven't eaten at all since breakfast yesterday." Certainly, Riddle didn't seem like the type to care whether his followers ate whenever they were attending to him.
Severus frowned and begrudgingly ate a spoonful or two of porridge. "I don't have much appetite after these meetings," he muttered once he had forced down the meagre serving of food.
Her frown softened. "I'm sure." She could only imagine the horrors of what he saw and experienced there. "But you really do need to eat. Just some more. Fruit, maybe?" She held out a slice of apple, hoping to tempt him.
Severus stared at it, almost petulantly. He looked back at her, eyebrow raised challengingly. You'll have to make me, it said.
Well, then.
The apple slice was brought closer to his lips, in perfect position for him to open his mouth and bite into it. She smiled serenely at his incredulous look. If having to handfeed him was what it took to make the stubborn man eat, then by Merlin she was going to do it. It wasn't like it was a hardship.
With an embarrassed growl, Severus accepted the food, chewing it almost violently. Heather wanted to laugh at how...cute he looked.
It occurred to her, then, how intimate this situation was. They were both in his bed – well, she was half in it – she was only in her nightclothes while he was practically naked – aside from his bandages – and she was feeding him breakfast by hand. She snatched her hand back, flustered. What was she doing?
"W-well, will you eat your breakfast now?" She busied herself with pouring out the tea, making it how they liked.
Severus, the opportunist, smelled her weakness and pounced on it.
"No, I don't believe I will," he said, a hint of smugness in his tone.
This time, it was her turned to be shocked. Her head jerked up at the pronouncement, taking in the expectant gaze Severus had. He gave her a pointed glance, then turned to look at something on the tray. She followed his gaze, coming to rest on the fruit platter.
He couldn't possibly mean-
Note to self, Severus liked to be spoiled a bit after fatal injuries.
The heat that had been slowly receding from her cheeks flared red-hot again.
"A-ah. I, um, okay."
She picked a piece of orange. Severus seemed much more willing to be fed this time, holding her gaze as he opened his mouth. Dazedly, she slid the orange past his lips. Her gaze flickered to his still-slightly-pale lips, watching as his tongue swiped the fruit from her hand, brushing teasingly against her fingertips.
At the touch of his lips and tongue, she let out a high squeak. There was humour in Severus' dark gaze, but also hunger. And not the kind for food.
Was he...flirting with her?
Heather bit the inside of her cheek, doing her best not to squirm as she continued feeding the man. She endured his teasing, feeling warmer and warmer with each pass of his lips over her skin.
When the entire platter of fruit was cleared, she was both relieved and disappointed. Probably mostly disappointed, if she was being honest.
"There!" she said, a tad too loudly, "You're done! See, was that so hard- um, difficult?" She quickly uncorked the phial of Nerve Tonic, eager to distract Severus from her unwitting innuendo.
Thankfully, the man spared her any further embarrassment and wordlessly downed his potion.
"Thank you, Heather."
She handed him his tea to wash down the horrible taste. "You're welcome. You worried me a great deal, you know."
His expression grew solemn. "I apologise. That was not my intention."
"Don't," she sighed, "It's not your fault. That snake needs to just up and die already."
"The sentiment is very much shared."
Heather's eyes wandered to the bandages wrapped around his chest. Those long slash wounds on his back might have stopped bleeding, but they hadn't completely healed yet. Wounds inflicted by dark magic were rarely so accommodating.
"I'm just glad you're back," she concluded. The words felt inadequate. She just, she just loved him, so much. This infuriating, self-sacrificing, sweetheart of a man.
Neither of them had spoken of feelings. And perhaps that wasn't really proper, or healthy or normal of a relationship, but she didn't really care. Not when he looked at her like she was the only one he saw, when he confided in her and her alone, when he'd just spent the past bloody hour licking her fingers as she fed him in bed.
There were days when she doubted his feelings. Severus was older, wiser, more world-weary. And he'd been possibly, maybe, probably in love in with her mother.
Then there were days like today, when she was surer than the sun rising in the east, than the use of mandrakes in Restorative Potion, that he felt the same.
It felt as natural as breathing to lean in and brush her lips against his. The lips she'd felt tickling her fingers not too long ago. He tasted like fruit and tea and it hit her that she wanted to do this every day. Wake up together, maybe flirt over breakfast, not leaving each other without a kiss.
She broke the kiss with an inaudible sigh. She had responsibilities. She should be patrolling the halls or catching up with the students.
"Stay," Severus said, fingers twining around hers.
Well, she was sure the other teachers were making their own rounds. Her Map hadn't signalled any trouble yet. She could leave the students to Ginny and Cedric, for once.
He'd asked her to stay, and so she did.
~~~
It was another two weeks before Heather found the time to sneak off to the Nest. She felt guilty that she hadn't been able to do it earlier, because every second that horcrux was attached to her brother was one too many. She could only pray that the venom would work.
"Heather! You're here!"
She beamed, rushing forward to give her brother a hug when he held a hand out to stop her.
"Wait, what's Marge's favourite breed of cat?"
Giving Hadrian an approving look for his wariness, she said, "She prefers dogs, actually, bulldogs. And what's the first piece of magic I taught you?"
Wordlessly, Hadrian let flames burst from the tips of his fingers.
Chuckling, she threw herself into his arms. "I missed you! Hope you haven't been getting into too much trouble."
"Of course not!" he blustered, then smirked, "Just a little bit."
Shaking her head, she waved to Hermione and Ron in greeting. "You guys have been keeping an eye on him, right?"
"At all times," Hermione said, lips fighting a smile.
"And he still manages to get into messes," Ron added.
"Oh har har." Rian rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Heather, it's great to see you and all, but what brings you here? Has something happened?" he asked worriedly.
Heather's smile slipped off her face. "See, about that..." She rushed on at the alarmed looks she was getting, "No, it's not what you're thinking. Just about the horcruxes."
"Oh, did you find one in Hogwarts then?" Ron asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, I destroyed it. It was Ravenclaw's Diadem. But that's not really what I came here to talk about."
"Did Gringotts contact you?" Hermione asked.
"No, no. It's a bit of a delicate matter concerning Hadrian." She looked at her brother. "Would you prefer if I talked to you alone for this?"
Hadrian bit his lip, looking around the room. "No, it's fine. Whatever you have to say, Ron and Hermione can know."
"Alright. Alright." Heather took a deep breath. "Just, I want to say sorry for not saying this earlier. I just didn't want to worry you, you know? I wanted to make sure I found a solution before I told you any of this."
"Just spit it out, Heather."
"Fine!" She looked into his eyes, grabbing one of his hands in a comforting gesture. "There's no easy way to say this, but there's one more horcrux. In your scar."
Someone in the room gasped.
Her brother blinked rapidly, mouth agape. For a moment, it seemed like he hadn't heard her words, because he just stared at her blankly. Then his face drained of colour so quickly that she stepped forward, afraid he was about to pass out.
Hadrian stepped back, wrenching his hand out of her grasp. "What?!"
"Hadrian," she said quietly, holding her hands palm up, as if trying to approach a skittish animal. "Hadrian. It's going to be alright. I found a solution."
"How could you not have told me?" he demanded, back against the wall. "How could you keep something this big a secret? I thought we were in this together!"
"I didn't want to make you worry," she said, "Please, Hadrian, just hear me out."
"Oh, so now you want to talk? I thought we already agreed that you wouldn't coddle me anymore! I'm not some kid that needs to be wrapped in layers of cotton and protected from the world!"
"You want to know why I kept it from you?" she snapped. "Because I know you. You'd rather get yourself killed than risk leaving one of Riddle's soul pieces still intact! Noble, self-sacrificing Gryffindor that you are! And Dumbledore, that blasted son-of-a-troll, knew it! He'd made plans, plans to have you walk to your death at Riddle's hands! I couldn't let that happen. There had to be some way to get rid of the blasted horcrux without hurting you, and I was right!"
"Wait, Headmaster Dumbledore knew?"
Heather sneered, not looking at Hermione as she answered, "Of course he did. He told Severus that Hadrian would need to be killed by Riddle when the time was right. Really, the Killing Curse was much too merciful for him, he should have suffered more! His machinations amounted to nothing but pain for us! Had he shared his information sooner, we could have settled all this nonsense long ago!"
Heather rubbed her eyes roughly, getting rid of the furious tears she'd shed. She hated that Dumbledore had died a hero's death. He deserved nothing but to be forgotten, barely a footnote in the history books. If she were more impulsive, she'd destroy the portrait that hanged in the Headmaster's office. How dare he claim to care for the welfare of all his students, then turn around and demand one of them march to their death? That wasn't even to mention the times he had tried to force them back into an abusive household. If he'd done that to them, who else had he done it to?
"That's messed up, mate," Ron blurted out.
Hysterical laughter bubbled up her throat, spilling over. That was Ron, alright, master of the understatement.
"It absolutely is!" Hadrian pushed off from the wall, striding towards her again. Crossing his arms, he shot her a mild glare. "I'm not happy that you didn't tell until now. Just imagine if I'd done that to you!"
She nodded tightly, understanding where her brother was coming from. It wasn't like she hadn't known he'd be angry. She'd expected it, even.
"But there's no use arguing about it now," he said maturely. "What was it you said about having a solution? I've not even known about it an hour and already I feel like clawing my scar off just to get it out."
"Basilisk venom. It's what we've been using for the others, but Severus and I figured that since a basilisk is your animagus form, you should be immune to it."
"What if it doesn't work?" Hermione asked, "We don't know how susceptible Hadrian is to the venom. He's not an actual basilisk."
"By all accounts it should. Apparently snake animagi are immune to their own venom. But just in case, I have several doses of antivenin with me."
"I don't think normal snake antivenin's going to cut it for this," Ron said dubiously. "Isn't basilisk venom some of the strongest stuff out there?"
"The strongest," Heather corrected, "and you're right. But this," she held one of the phials up, "is made out of basilisk venom, so it is definitely potent enough."
Hadrian clapped his hands once. "Great, then let's get started! The sooner it's gone, the better." He gave her a sideways look. "I suppose I could be grateful you spared me this knowledge until you had a plan to get rid of it. But probably later, when I'm not as mad. Thank you though."
"Thank me when this is done," she said, waving him off. "You should probably get comfortable. I don't think you want to be standing for this."
His friend got off the couch, letting him lie on it lengthwise after a quick expansion charm.
"So what's gonna happen?" Ron asked, looking nervous.
Heather considered the options. "I'm not sure if Hadrian should ingest the venom or just apply it over the scar."
"I hate to say it, but I think he should ingest it. That way it could purge his entire body." Hermione hurried to add, "Just a little at first! So we can check for any negative reactions."
"Wait!" Hadrian shouted. "Guys, don't you remember? I was bitten by that basilisk back in second year before." His eyebrows knit together tightly. "If the horcrux wasn't destroyed then, I don't think it'd have an effect now."
Heather could have slapped herself for overlooking that detail. Hadrian was right. If the venom didn't work then, it probably would work now. Her nails dug into the meat of her palms. This was the only breakthrough she'd had on the subject. She had no other inkling on where to proceed from here.
"Hold on, don't panic yet, yeah?" Ron said loudly, holding his palms out. "Hadrian got bitten, so the venom went into his blood and body. But the scar didn't get any venom directly. So maybe that's the key. He shouldn't swallow the venom, just smear it over his skin."
She and Hermione shared an uneasy look. It was a long shot, but they had to try. With that, everyone agreed hesitantly to the new course of action.
"Right. Okay." Heather brought a dropper full of venom to her brother's forehead. "Close your eyes, Rian." She forced her hands to be steady. She couldn't falter. Not in this. Her brother's green eyes stared up at her before falling shut trustingly. As she dripped poison on his face.
She shook the thought away. No, she was helping him get rid of an evil parasite.
A single drop of murky brown liquid fell upon Hadrian's skin.
Heather gripped a phial of antivenin, ready to charm it straight into his bloodstream at the first sign of symptoms.
Hadrian frowned, face scrunching up at whatever he was feeling. "It kinda tingles-" A split second later, his back arched painfully off the couch, mouth opened wide in a silent scream.
She raised her wand immediately, heart in her throat. An arm blocked her way.
"Wait, stop! That's not the normal reaction to basilisk venom!"
Heather spared a look at Hermione.
"It's not a negative reaction. It's the horcrux."
She shook her head. Her brother, he was in pain! He was suffering!
"Heather!" Arms shook her shoulders roughly. "Calm down! We need to give more. It's fighting him!"
More? How could they even think of giving him more? He was going to die!
"Ugh, there's not time. Ron, hold her back."
Heather felt her arms clamped tightly as she was pulled away from her brother's side. She struggled weakly, subconsciously knowing that it was for the best. She couldn't watch as Hermione gave her brother more of the venom, turning her face away and shutting her eyes tight.
"Ssstep away girl!"
Both Hermione and Ron gave startled exclamations. Heather's eyes shot wide open at the familiar voice.
"What a friend you are, giving the boy poissson and calling it good for him. Do you really know bessst? Stuck-up know-it-all. You could be killing him with your ssso-called help!"
Hermione hesitated, hands almost letting go of the phial of venom in her hands.
"Hermione, ignore it, just continue!" Ron shouted.
"Yes, that'sss what you want, isn't it? You've alwaysss been jealousss of the Boy-Who-Lived! Alwaysss in his ssshadow, never amounting to more than a lackey! Thisss is your ultimate chance!"
Ron flinched violently at the words, aghast at the implication.
In some strange way, it was that imprint of Riddle, spewing its vitriol, that snapped her out of her spiral. It had appeared because they were close to destroying it. A last-ditch survival mechanism. It was trying to mess with their minds, bending it to its will so it could persuade them from their course of action.
She shook out of Ron's slack hold. "Hermione. Hermione!" she called sharply. The girl snapped to attention, turning to her with a fearful expression. "Don't listen to that thing. It's only trying to scare you. The same thing happened with the diadem. The venom is working, but you need to hurry it up." She glanced towards her brother, all but seizing on the couch. "Hadrian's body can't take this much longer."
The mention of Hadrian was what cinched it. Hermione's eyes firmed with resolve.
"You! Meddling brat! How dare you!" The shadowy figure all but trembled in rage. It seemed that Heather had pissed it off. It shot towards her, tendrils seeking to wrap around her face and neck. She and Ron could do nothing but dodge it, not knowing what could stop an incorporeal vengeful spirit thing.
In a desperate attempt, she gathered up all the love she had and used it to fuel a patronus. Hadrian, Severus, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Bill, Molly, Arthur, Daphne, Astoria, Adrian, Melinda...
Her snidget emerged, shining brighter than she'd ever seen it before. It actually hurt her eyes to look at it. It certainly more than hurt Riddle, because it let out a pained cry when it came into contact with the shining aura of her patronus.
"Ron, your patronus, now!"
A Jack Russell terrier quickly joined her snidget in cornering the phantasm.
"Hermione, hurry it up, will you?" Ron exclaimed.
"Got it!"
Heather kept her eyes on Riddle, only able to see peripherally as Hermione dumped what seemed like most of the phial down on Hadrian's head. That seemed to be what tipped things over, because the spectre let out an ear-splitting shriek, making one last attempt to lunge at them, before bursting like a firework as it hit the barrier their patronuses made.
Immediately, the darkness hanging over the room eased. Her snidget flew a circuit around the place, as if making sure to chase off all the evil, before flying to hover worriedly over Hadrian.
"Is-is it gone?" Ron asked breathlessly.
"It'd better be," Heather replied darkly. She joined Hermione in checking over Hadrian.
He was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, but was otherwise unharmed. The scar that had been vivid inflamed for as long as they could remember had faded, almost blending in with the rest of his skin. Hermione kindly cleaned all the venom up with an enforced Tergeo, though some of it had dripped onto the couch and corroded the cloth.
Heather collapsed to her knees next to him, cradling his clammy face in her hands. By and large, it looked like the venom had done its job, even if it had half-scared them to death while doing so.
"He seems fine, just passed out," Hermione said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah," she sighed, "My scan shows that he's just exhausted. The process must've been very draining for him. He was fighting it."
"Maybe we should get him to bed," Ron suggested.
"Right, okay." Heather stood, scrounging up her energy after such a wearing event.
"Come on." Ron stopped her. "Let me do it. You look absolutely knackered."
Any other time, she would have argued, but now she only gave the other boy a grateful smile.
Heather dithered about at home for a while, going through her notes for the anti-werewolf potion (she really needed a name for that) while waiting for Hadrian to wake. She didn't get much work done.
They were on rotation to sit at Rian's bedside, and it was Hermione's turn when he finally stirred for the first time in three hours. They all crowded around him, relived beyond words to see him up and moving.
"Hey guys, you look like you've seen a ghost," he said.
Honestly, Heather didn't know whether to smack or hug her brother for the tasteless joke. So she settled for both.
"Hey!" he protested, rubbing his head, before sinking into her arms.
"You're alright," Heather murmured, more for herself than anyone. Reluctantly, she backed off to give his friends a turn with him as well.
Hermione nagged at him halfheartedly for driving them crazy with worry, though what really made Hadrian apologise was the shine evident in her eyes.
Ron, on the other hand, said nothing. Instead, he gave him a slap on his back and a meaningful look which probably meant something in some secret male language that she and Hermione were not privy to.
"Do you feel any different, Hadrian?" Hermione asked, eyes flicking to the scar.
Her brother reached up to finger it, looking pensive as he did so. "Almost...lighter, I think. Like I've been dragging something along with me all my life and only just released that burden."
"So it's really, really gone?" Ron asked.
"Definitely," Hadrian affirmed. He looked at her. "I saw mum, actually. The horcrux was trying to take over my mind, but she helped fight it off. Together, we made sure that every trace of it was destroyed."
"Oh," she breathed, needing to sit down, "It must have been that protection from her sacrifice."
Thank you, thank you for protecting him. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him too.
Those words were meagre compared to the depth of her feelings, but she couldn't seem to say any more. Hadrian understood her struggle, however. He just reached out for her hand and squeezed it tightly.