Aurora's eyes darted from the mark on her hip to the dark onyx eyes staring down at her.
Severus still had his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, and for that, she was grateful. As it was her legs could barely support her weight, and as she took a shaky breath, Aurora focused on remaining calm.
"Come on. I'm taking you to the Headmasters Office" Severus said in a low voice, slowly starting to walk.
He was supporting the bulk of her weight, but Aurora managed to remain rooted to her spot as she shook her head.
"No" she brought out.
He looked down at her incredulously, his eyes boring into her own with a ferocity she couldn't quite place.
"What do you mean 'no'?" he managed, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he tried to pull her along.
"If anywhere, I'm going to the infirmary. We can always inform Albus later" Aurora said quietly, silently resisting Snape's attempt to get her to move along.
"And what, not get him involved?! You got poisoned inside this school! He has to know!" Severus exclaimed as he attempted yet again to lead the stubborn witch down the hallway.
Aurora groaned "He'll get my parents involved..."
"Because this is dangerous-! " Severus bellowed before she cut him off.
"-and that's why it's a good thing you're here!" she managed.
"...what?" Severus asked, temporarily stopping his attempts to get her to start walking again. He'd known what the injection mark meant the moment he set eyes on it. Poisoned. The witch had managed to get herself poisoned. Immediately his mind went into overdrive as if trying to figure out a possible reason why anyone would want to poison a sixth-year student. He came up empty. Something wasn't sitting right with him, but he wouldn't let himself wonder on those thoughts. Right now Aurora needed to get medical attention. And fast.
"You...-" Aurora paused. How much could she tell him?
"-If I got poisoned then we need to find out which poison was used in order to find an antidote. That makes you the best option to try and figure that out"
Severus looked at her as if he knew she had been about to say something else, but then thought better of it and shook his head. Truth was, Aurora hadn't been out looking for Severus, but when she had run into the man, she'd felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was unexpected, and confusing, but a part of her knew that she trusted him. Albus might have sent the taciturn man to look after her against the Potions Masters will, but Severus was an honorable man, and once he'd set his mind on something, he wasn't one to back down. Even in his capacity as a teacher he wouldn't endanger a student, and she felt she could rely on him with something as serious as the matter at hand. Hell, given her circumstances, if she really had been poisoned, Severus Snape might very well be the one person she could trust to help her find a solution to her current situation. It wasn't because he was a Potions Master, although that was definitely an advantage, it was the fact that she knew that I could rely on him with something as serious as this. And that thought was scarier than anything.
Suddenly Severus took out his wand, and before her eyes, a patronus appeared. Silver light burst from his wand in smoky tendrils, the patronus charm landing on the ground before them. It looked like a deer, and as Severus waved his wand the incandesche blueish-white glow it spread seemed to brighten. It was a doe, Aurora realized as she watched the elegant and gentle creature spread an warm light.
"Go to Dumbledore. Tell him to meet me in my quarters. We have an emergency situation" he barked, wavding his wand dismissively.
With a burst of white and blue light the doe disappeard, leaving Aurora blinking against the sudden brightness.
"Why did you do that!?" she exclaimed angrily, her voice a bit hoarse and not quite as accusing as she would have liked "I told you I didn't want to involve Albus in this just yet!"
"And that's not an option" Severus gritted.
"Well... I'm not coming with you" Aurora brought out with difficulty, trying to look stern and failing miserably.
With one fluid motion Severus gathered the witch into his arms, carrying her like she weighted nothing as Aurora struggled weakly in his grasp. She wanted to fight him, she really did, but her body was too weak to give much of a real fight. Not to mention that the teeny tiniest part of her mind had already decided that she was actually quite comfortable in his arms and refused to move. It felt safe. Secure. When had that happened? Her hands were wrapped around his neck and as we walked she wondered about how easily Severus could carry me. She wasn't small, not by a long shot, but he seemed to have no problem whatsoever carrying her.
"Again, not an option" Severus breathed.
Aurora wanted to snap at him for being such a pushover, but instead she let her head fall back against his shoulder, snuggling closer to him as her head rested in the crook of his neck. She was feeling quite light-headed, her mind not quite catching up with the events transpiring around her. Her head was feeling heavy, as if it had been stuffed with cotton balls, each thought slower and more confused than the last.
"Not fair" she murmured, bretahing in the sharp smell of spices and wood. The crisp smell of perchament and old paper was mixed with something more masculine, the musky fragrance combined with something minty, a biting scent that was earthy, rich and decadent. Given how often they argued she had figured she'd strongly dislike everything about the man, but now even his smell seemed appealing to her. The thought was ridiculous.
"You're ill, Aurora. Poisoned. I have to tell Albus" Severus replied, and Aurora felt a shiver go through him as her breath fanned his throat. For someone who shunned away from any sort of physical contact this must be tortuous, Aurora thought distroughtly. She wanted to feel bad about it, but the truth was her mind was foggy and clouded, unabe to fully comprehend what was happening around her.
"Well at least my parents are unavailable" she muttered under her breath, her fingers involuntarily tugging softly at a few strands of wayward hair at the nape of his neck.
"Aurora, stop" Severus commanded in a harsh tone, looking down at her, eyes burning with a fiery intensity. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. The girl was obviously very ill, distressed, and not completely coherent. Not wanting to let Albus know about being posioned seemed absolutely ridiculous, and now she seemed pleased that her parents might not find out about it. Not to mention having her so close was proving to be quite distracting, the insufferable witch curled up against him causing his step to falter as she looked up at him in confusion.
"Stop what?" she asked innocently, the silky strands of hair holding a weird fascination over her.
"Just... stay still" Severus growled.
Aurora complied, her distrought state of mind picking up on Severus's unease.
"And what do you mean by that? Why would your parents be unavailable?" Severus inquired after a short silence.
"They sent me a letter. They.... left for a while. Buisness trip or something. Said they'd be unreachable for the next month or so" Aurora said slowly, wondering how much further they had to go. The infirmary couldn't be that far.....wait. No. He'd said something in his message to his patronus. Something about his chambers. Why was Severus taking her to his chambers? Why couldn't he take her to the infirmary?
Again a silence settled over the two of them, but suddenly Severus stopped.
Aurora turned her head a fraction, only to see they were in the dungeons, somewhere along a hallway lit by a few lonely torches. They were standing in front of a stone wall made out of dark grey stone. There seemed nothing special about this particular piece of wall, but suddenly a door appeared and it opened on its own accord, revelaing a very concerned looking Albus.
The Headmaster took one look at his Goddaughter in the Potions' Masters arms, and stepped aside, allowing Snape to carry Aurora inside the room. She wasn't really paying attention to the interior, except to maybe notice it was a single room, with a small kitchen area on one side and a bed on the other. Her mind couldn't properly focus, it seemed, despite how she'd been initially quite curious about the chambers of the taciturn professor. Severus walked over to the bed and gently laid her down on it.
"What happened Severus?" Albus inquired, the edge to his voice clear as daylight.
"She has been poisoned, Albus" Severus said cuttingly.
Silence.
"Severus, we need to fing out exactly what poison was used, and we need to do it now" said Albus with a certainty and calm to his voice that suprised Aurora. But then again, this was her Godfather saying those words, after all. Did it really surprise her to see him so calm in the face of what could very possibly prove a dangerous situation?
Severus nodded, before leaning over her and looking at her with a serious expression.
"How long?" Severus asked in a demanding fashion.
"How long what?" Aurrora asked quietly, trying desperately not to throw up onto the shiny black shoes of the Potions Master as a dreadful feeling of nausea overwhelmed her.
"How long have you been symptomatic?" inquired Severus as he cupped her jaw and forced her head upwards, their eyes meeting. He was attempting to gauge her alertness, noticing the size of her pupils and trying to get a read on her breathing rate and pulse.
Aurora thought about it for a few minutes, before realizing she did indeed know the answer. It all seemed so muddled, so confusing. Her memory wasn't cooperating, days blurring together and the events of past weeks and months merging together into some incomprehensible tangle that she couldn't unravel for the life of her.
"About ten days. Maybe more" she managed tiredly, closing her eyes briefly.
"That's quite some time" Severus countered "A week and a half showing symptoms and it didn't occur to you that you might be posioned?"
"Not everyone is as paranoid as you or Mad Eye Moody" Aurora replied sarcastically. Although the sarcasm might have been lost on the two of them as she went into another violent coughing fit.
"Aurora, please" Albus interjected from the other side of the room. He walked over and looked at her over the edge of his rimmed half-moon glasses "This is quite serious. We're trying to help you...."
"If the poison was designed to be lethal then this is an aweful long prodormal period" Severus muttered under his breath "Most poisons are much more quick-acting. Why make it's effects last so long? Why wait?"
"Maybe it was designed to just make her really sick" offered Albus "Which would be good news. It would mean that the posion wasn't designed to be deadly"
Aurora wanted to believe that, she really did, but something inside her told her that they were going about this the wrong way. There was....something. A thaught that she couldn't quite grasp. It was at the tip of her tongue, but somehow she couldn't hold onto it, and it bothered her immensely. Her brow furrowing in confusion, she tried to think what it was that had bothered her. She had gone digging for answers, and she had enemies, so lookig for information that she shouldn't have could have definitely landed her in such a precarious situation. So what was it? What was bothering her so? Or, more importantly, who had done this to her?
"I-I don't think so" she brought out "This....this was meant to kill me"
Severus quirked an eyebrow at the blonde-haired witch, wondering why on earth someone would try and kill her. Except perhaps out of sheer irritation, he couldn't possibly conceive of someone going through the trouble of poisoning a 16-year-old student.
"Sorry for the blunt delivery, but, if the poison was meant to be lethal....why aren't you dead?"
"A poison reacts different to every person. Maybe... maybe my body took longer to assimmilate the posion or neutralized some of its effects..." Aurora shrugged, her mouth struggling to convey the thought whirling around inside her head.
"And why would it do that?" countered Severus, looking at her quizically "Poison is poison. The whole point of a lethal dosage is to kill someone quickly and efficiently, and although the time it takes to kick in might vary a bit depending on physiological factors such as age and general health, it would defenitely not take up to twelve days if it was designed to kill instantly... Human fisiology would allow for some discrepancies in the timeline, but never a gap of several days"
Aurora pondered his words, shaking her head in disagreement "I'm telling you, this is not just some concoction designed to make me sick"
"How would you know?" Severus said sharply "You're 16. Of course you're feeling terrible, but the truth of the matter is that your teenage theatrics aren't enough evidence to support the theory that someones trying to kill you"
"Teenage theatrics?" Aurora muttered in disbelief "What does one have to do to make you believe someone is trying to murder me? Litterally die?!"
"Why would someone want to kill you? There are easier ways to go about killing someone than poisoning them..... Besides, you're just a girl, Aurora. A student. Why would someone want you dead?" Severus argumented, looking at Albus as if hoping the Headmaster would side with him.
Aurora shook her head in annoyance, turning to look at her Godfather. She was upset, and angry, and confused, and she was having trouble forming the right words as she tried to express her thoughts.
"Albus..." she said quietly "You know I wouldn't make such grave accusations without reason. No, me being poisoned is meant as a message. And it's probably be designed to drag my death out as long as possible..... you know I am right in this!"
Albus nodded, his grave expression giving Severus cause to look questioningly from Aurora to Albus and back. What in Merlin's name was going on here?! What kind of message passed between those two? Why would Albus so readily agree to the young woman's words? What kind of secrets did Aurora have that would put her on someone's hitlist?
"Albus...what's going on? Why are you taking her word on this? What aren't you telling me?!" he inquired angrily as he gestured towards Aurora "Why would someone want to posion a student?! Why would someone want to hurt her?!"
"Aurora.... do you have any idea what kind of poison might be used?" Inquired Albus, completely ignoring Severus's questions and directing his full attention towards his Goddaughter.
"I-I don't know Albus" I said bluntly. She took a few minutes to gather her thoughts, her hazy mind still struggling to form a coherent sentence"The symptoms match a variety of posions. It could be Aqua Sanguinaria, if the symptoms continue to intensify like they have been for the last few days.... But the tremors and abdominal pain are more consistent with the utilization of Hemlock or Bloodroot"
Aurorabreathed in deeply, finding it hard to remain focused. Severus looked at her in suprise, eying the youn witch curiously. Why would someone so young know so much about posions?
"You know an aweful lot about poisons for a sixth year student" he remarked as he sat down on the bed beside her. He then pressed a hand to Aurora's forhead, and as it traveled to her neck to feel her pulse he shook his head "I don't think it's Bloodroot. Her pulse is too fast and she's too out of breath. It's more consistent with Baneberry or a poison derivtive of it"
"But baneberry has a more hallucinogenic side-effect" she countered "I haven't presented symptoms like that-"
"-yet" said Severus with a pointed look "If your initial assesment is correct and for some reason your body has delayed the effects of the posion, then that might just not have happened yet"
"Severus, if we don't know the exact poison that was used, is there a chance we could treat it?" inquired Dumbledore, but the look in his eyes told Aurora he already knew the answer.
As did she.
Severus remained silent.
"No" he finally admitted "An antidote is a very specific thing. I need to know exactly what potion was used in order to prepare an antidote. We could try the Common Antidote, the Uncommon Antidote and even a bezoar, but if it is truly a message from someone, then I doubt they would have chosen a poison that could be easily cured...."
His voice faded as the implications of his words sank in. His eyes darted to Aurora's, who just looked back at him as the meaning of his words sunk in ever so slowly in her clouded and befuddled mind.
No cure.
If they couldn't find out what poison was used then there was no way of treating it.
Incurable.
"How about a symptomatic treatment?" Albus offered softly, as if trying to give his Goddaughter some reassurance by giving her some suggestions or an alternative course of action. Some sort of plan.
Severus shook his head.
"Albus, treating each symptom as it appears only gives us some time" Severus said quietly "It's a start, but it isn't much of a guarantee. It will only delay the progression of the poison in her organism, and might even make things worse...."
Aurora's mind was going a hundred miles an hour, racing with questions. Realization dawned on her, the words finally sinking in, and for some strange reason she wasn't as scared as she though she'd be. In fact, she felt relaztively calm as she voiced the one thought that kept echoing around inside her head, overwhelming everything else, again and again. Like a broken record stuck on repeat.
"....which means I'm dying"