The Taming of the Snape

Dumbledore nodded and listened carefully. “Good” was the only word he uttered. Then with a twinkle of blue eyes he smiled and turned to leave. He stopped at the door momentarily chatting to Poppy and then in a whisper of robes he was gone.

“I don’t entirely trusssst him Ssssseverussss” Caesar hissed. Severus just nodded in mute agreement. **Sigh**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Poppy peeked cautiously around the screens that had been erected to allow Snape some privacy, in an otherwise very open ward. “I can see you Poppy, just come in I won’t bite.” “I could bite her for you if you like Ssssseverussss” Snape smirked.

“I just need to check on a few things, I won’t take long.” She smiled casting spells and checking the healing progress. “Oh very good, yes, good indeed” she muttered mostly to herself; casting motherly smiles at him. “Now if I could, your left arm please.”

He hadn’t given a thought to the ‘Darkmark’, but those few words brought his world crashing down around his ears.

“Breathe Severus” Poppy scolded. “It will be fine I promise you” He glared at her the old ‘patented number 17’. What could she possibly know about the bane of his existence?

With barely veiled disgust he held his bandaged arm out and tried to think of something anything else. He felt the cool air kiss his skin as the bandage was removed.

“Nassssty” suggested Caesar “That’ssss going to sssscar unlessss sssshe issss a better nursssse than sssshe issss a converssssationalisssst”

He could barely bring him self to look at the damned thing when he was well, there was no way he was going to look at it right now. No it was far too personal to share with anyone.

“Issss it a burn? It lookssss like a burn. How did you burn yoursssself there? Sssseverussss? Issss it painful? It lookssss really painful. Nassssty” hissed Caesar.

“It’s always painful” snapped Snape “It’s a Darkmark” Snape looked at his arm furious with the ring for its inquisitiveness. “It’s …!” and stopped… “Gone!!!...” Snape gaped. “It’ssss not nice to sssshout Sssseverussss.”

In that moment he noticed two distinct things. Firstly his forearm did look like a burn there was no ‘Darkmark’ not even a faded squiggle just fresh pink flesh, and 2. Poppy could do a really good fish imitation.

He gently reached out to touch his arm in case his eyes were lying. His touch confirmed it. He caressed his clean arm, only vaguely aware that Poppy was speaking.

“… so basically when you were totally devoid of magic, case in example your glamour’s and that mark … could not be supported. They were both products of and hence dependent upon magic for their maintenance.” Poppy continued “Although I understand the mark was more like a tattoo it was, after all, magically induced and the link to him could not be maintained.”

Poppy was nearly crying. She sat on the side of Snapes bed. “When Dumbledore brought you to me, you had less magic in your entire body than a squib has in its little pinkie.”

“Harry noticed when we were preparing for the transfusion that the mark had already faded. We were worried that if we infused before you lost all of your power that it might be fed …so we took the risk and it quite literally burnt away”

“Severus?” Snape looked at Poppy, and at the tears that she was having trouble restraining. He reached out and held her hand “Thank you” Poppy smiled.

“Severus sorry to disturb your musings, but, when did you discover you could talk parseltongue?” Inquired Poppy. **I can what!!!** Severus smiled a warm and genuine smile in reply. “Just now Poppy, when you told me”