The Professor

Chapter 17

It was midmorning when Chloe awoke to Poppy standing over the bed. She placed her finger to her lips and pointed to Severus sleeping. The she pointed to a bottle of sleeping draught.

Chloe had slept through him waking up and Poppy in turn giving him his medicine.

She slowly and carefully crawled out from under Severus’ embrace and sat on the edge of the bed. Poppy silently pushed a pot of tea and a saucer towards her. Chloe nodded her thanks and poured a cup.

She needed another shower. Should she use his? No…best not to worry about that now. She didn’t want to get stopped in the halls by a student or worse…Albus.

She was still so angry at Albus she felt ill.

Of course her mind told her that Albus didn’t make Severus go. She knew he did this of his own accord. But she also knew that he carried an immense amount of guilt for his past life and he would do anything, even die, to redeem himself.

She looked back at his sleeping form.

He looked peaceful. He was sleeping well and had not muttered a cry of pain for many hours. She was still disturbed by what had happened earlier.

Oh holy hell…she wanted him badly. She needed him. But she couldn’t take advantage of the situation. It was amazing that she realized, obviously too late, how stupid it was of her not to tell him of her feelings before. Either way, he would have said a simple yes or no.

No, that’s not right. Nothing is a simple yes or no with Severus. It is a ‘Yes’, with a condition. And a ‘No’ with an ‘exception’. She snorted a laugh into her hands. God she as tired.

She stood and motioned for Poppy to come to her.

“I’m going to freshen up. I’ll be back soon. Alright?”

“Yes dear…you take your time. He’s doing much better now. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about him. He’s in good hands.” Chloe nodded her thanks and left Severus’ rooms.

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It was dull now…the pain. He could hear sounds beyond the walls of his internal world. A door closing. A fire in a fireplace. Someone humming a tune.

Humming a tune….

Could it be her?

He struggled to open his eyes and after a few moments, saw blurred images around him. It was his own rooms.

The confusion he had was immediately washed away with the memories of his failed task. He had been following Bellatrix Lestrange. Someone knew he was there and they caught him. He fought hard, but there were three against one.

They had disarmed him, tied him up and began to torture him. He didn’t know for how long. He had lost consciousness not long after the severing of his finger.

He looked over and saw his right hand bandaged. So now he was disfigured on top of everything. He looked up at the ceiling and blinked back tears.

“Oh dear! You’re awake!” Poppy. It was Poppy who was standing over him with a look of deep concern on her face. He opened his mouth to speak.

“W...water” It came out as a croak, but he mimed drinking with his left hand and Poppy promptly obliged him.

The water went down cool and tasted like the most wonderful thing he had ever drank before. He nodded his thanks to her as she took the cup and began assessing his condition. He looked away out of the window. He wondered if Chloe even knew he was here. Dumbledore told him he would tell her that he left. But they never discussed this. She probably didn’t know.

“We couldn’t take you to St. Mungo’s, you understand. I didn’t want to leave you in the hospital wing with all the lookey-loos around. Albus didn’t want anyone to know about you…erm…well…where it was you went. So we thought you would be more comfortable here. Albus brought you back and you were a frightful mess. Hagrid carried you all the way here you know. And Prof-” There was a voice from the doorway.

“Severus..you’re awake. I am very happy indeed.” Poppy was interrupted by Albus standing in the doorway. He looked tired and worn.

Severus tried to talk, but Poppy hushed him.

“Now don’t go getting yourself all excited. Don’t you say a word. Now Albus…I demand you leave. You have seen him and there is to be no discussing of anything just yet. He is my patient and I demand to be able to asses him before you go getting him all riled up.” Poppy stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Dumbledore.

“Yes, I understand. Severus…you and I can talk at a later time. I fear for my own health if I don’t leave soon. But I will alert everyone that you are awake. There are many people who are most anxious to see your recovery.” Dumbldore’s eyes twinkled and Severus frowned.

Who the hell was anxious for him to recover?

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What she wouldn’t do for a strong drink. A beer…no…a whiskey… no…martini. Yes…That’s what she could use. About three ought to do her nicely.

Chloe returned to her rooms and looked around. Where was Frenny?

“Frenny! Are you here?”

‘POP’

‘Ms. Chloe! Yous back! Frenny has been wishing you would leave those stinky dungeons and return where yous be belonging.” Frenny was happily padding her little feet all around the room, fluffing pillows and placing a cup of tea on the table for Chloe.

“Oh Frenny…I am going back to those…stinky dungeons. I am just here on a break. Change clothes and get a bite to eat. I need to assign my classes some reading too. Maybe I need to work on that first.” Chloe decided to get work done first. She prepared a few more days worth of reading for her classes and gave the notices to Frenny to post in all of the common rooms.

She then took a shower and realized most of her things were still in Severus’ rooms. So she made do with what she could and dressed to return to him.