Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Chapter 18 Renervations

Soundy hurried out of the dungeon, because he, too, was affected by the fate of the young witch, who was younger than his own daughter. The situation in the great hall of the cave was as chaotic as before, but a few stretches had been brought out on the ledge outside the entrance, and people from St Mungo’s were meeting up to take them away. Soundy squinted in the bright light, but it was a relief to get the stealth of the cave out of the lungs and breathe fresh air, although the serenity of the forest struck Soundy almost like an insult because of its indifference to what had taken place in that cave.

The anti-Apparition shield put up during the operation had waned and not been replaced, so Soundy Apparated the short distance to the farm. A bunch of his colleagues were moving about calmly, searching the grounds inch by inch. It was the tedious cleaning-up after a battle. There were no traces of any inhabitants, nor of Mrs Steadfast or Snape.

“They’ve gone back to the Office. They’re trying to identify the Secret Keeper among the prisoners,” Simmings, who was gathering some sort of evidence in a coffin, answered Soundy’s hurried request, scrutinising his older colleague’s haunted appearance.

Soundy did a new Disapparition in the middle of a step, Apparating not in the entrance hall of the Ministry, but at a secret spot inside the Ministry, only available to Aurors. Without delay, he strode down the corridor towards the Headquarters, entered and proceeded without hesitation into Mrs Steadfast’s office, knocking on the door while opening it wide. His eyes caught Snape’s instantly. The dark clad wizard was leaning against Mrs Steadfast’s desk, both palms flat on the surface and features set in an annoyed expression.

“As long as we don’t have Mr Hatch, we…” Snape interrupted himself at the sight of Soundy.

“You’re needed, Professor,” said Soundy. “Without delay. I’m afraid it might already be too late.”

Snape stretched his back and nodded without asking any questions. The Auror was panting slightly and the urgency of the situation could be plainly read in Soundy’s usually controlled features.

“What do you want him for? Where? Why?” asked Mrs Steadfast.

“This is not the time to argue, Mrs Steady!” snapped Soundy, but added in a more controlled voice: “His medical expertise. A severe case of damage by Dark Arts. A young witch in the cave. Harry asked me to get him. He wants you there – now!” Soundy’s gaze bore through Snape. “The boy’s at his wit’s end and she’s dying from him.” They charged through the door and back down the corridor, with Mrs Steadfast on their heels.

“Did you find the cave? Why didn’t you report to me? How on earth did you discover it despite the Fidelius, and how did you enter it?” spluttered Mrs Steadfast. “Mr Hatch is the Secret keeper – we’ve got confirmation of our suspicions, at least. But he got away in the last minute, as did his daughter, the slim Miss Henna. Ripped a hole in the shield, they did, after hiding out in the house’s cellar during our operation. Severus almost got them when they emerged.”

“Not now, Mrs Steady…” Soundy answered his boss’ tirade in a strained voice. “I’ll report to you as soon as I can. Dispatching the sick and wounded to St Mungo’s is our priority.”

“Of course, Soundy. That’s why I trust you, because you’ve always got your priorities sorted. I’m coming with you, though. Want to see this for myself,” said Mrs Steadfast with determination.

*

While Soundy was gone – and it was longer than he intended, and felt longer still for Harry – the young witch started to have small localised seizures, in an arm, in a leg, jerking her head for a few seconds. Harry concentrated on seizure management, but it was confusing, since the parts of the body convulsing varied. At the same time, she seemed to start experiencing more pain mixed with anxiety and psychotic visions. Harry worked hard with her, demanded advice from his older colleague again, but she had nothing more to propose, and in the end, because the young delirious witch was only getting worse, Harry resolved on doing a Relieving.

The transfer was added to the strange mix of abominations that his body had already received, and Harry was not sure that he actually managed to process it. A tornado of strange feelings were coursing his body, but he did not have time to think about it.

Meleonora calmed down and for a short while she actually blossomed out: she got a little colour in her face and her gaze cleared. Harry, too, got a short respite and merely sat exhausted by her side, letting her talk to him, holding her hand in his. But then, all of a sudden an expression of complete terror filled Meleonora’s eyes and her body rose in an arch, despite her heavy belly, and she was seized by violent convulsions.

Harry actually screamed – it happened so suddenly. It was an epileptic seizure of grand impact. He called for help, but the convulsions only went on for minutes, until suddenly they abated and left a lifeless body.

They started on resuscitation - of course they did. They were two healers and two care-wizards. Harry channelled his most powerful and most precise Renervation spells at the young witch, those which always worked in the Emergency hall at St Mungo’s, but which suddenly seemed to have no effect here in the dungeon. Again and again – heart beating spells and Renervates in turn. Harry worked fiercely, more and more desperately.

People were speaking to him, tugging at his arm. What did they want? Harry got the impression that they were trying to interfere. Could they not see that he was in the middle of a resuscitation? He was not giving up! But there, at last, was Snape. Someone reliable, someone competent at last!

*

When Snape entered the dungeon, he stepped into an atmosphere of chaos which he immediately recognised as that when a patient is on the way of being lost. Half the people present had already given up, while others were still fighting on their toes. It was inevitable: some people will sense at an early stage - sometimes too early - that there is no hope left and they will lie down arms, while others will refuse to give up and continue - sometimes way beyond what was reasonable.

A healer Snape recognised from St Mungo’s was trying to convince Harry to halt his attempts, but Harry and a young care-wizard who was assisting him worked fervently and could not be reached. Snape had been made ill at ease already when he crossed the major hall of the cave where a handful of prisoners were still waiting to be transported away to St Mungo’s. He had gotten a glimpse of the instruments of torture and had shuddered. It was a long time since he had seen anything of the kind.

When he glanced at the witch who was subject to the resuscitation, he pressed his lips together. He took a step forward as Harry spoke to him.

“Professor, you came! Please, please help us out. She’s not responding!” It was the first time in many months that Harry addressed Snape so directly and simply, and looked him straight in the eyes.

“I’m afraid she’s beyond our help, Harry,” answered Snape gently. The care-wizard who was performing heart beating spells looked up at him with tears in his eyes, but acceptance seemed to dawn on him and he backed off from the body. Soundy sighed and made a grimace. Everybody in the dungeon had stilled, except Harry who was still agitated and performed a new Renervate with desperation written on every feature.

“We must help her, don’t you see? I know you can do it. I can’t today, it doesn’t work for me, I don’t know why… but I know that you can. Please!” pleaded Harry.

“I cannot bring people back from the dead, Harry.”

“No, no, she’s not… It’s not too late… Please have a try! Is it because of what I said to you before? You’re angry with me, aren’t you? I’m so sorry!” Snape frowned and shook his head slightly.

“It’s not that. I would help her if I could, but look at her. She’s gone!”

“No, no, she’s not. She was alive only a while ago, then she had this big seizure and… and… I couldn’t do a diagnostic on her, because there was Dark Arts interfering, but if you only remove the curse, it’ll work. Please! Please just have a try!” Harry stretched out his own wand towards Snape in a desperate attempt to convince him.

“We should treat her dead body with respect, and not throw any more useless spells at her.” Snape had sharpened his tone of voice.

“No…” wailed Harry, but his protests were getting weaker. Snape crouched beside the witch, holding his left hand over her chest, and Harry fell to his knees on the other side of her body and did the same.

“Her core is gone, her heart has stopped. She’s dead, Harry,” said Snape gently. Harry drew several shuddering breaths. He did not cry, but he clenched and unclenched his fists in helplessness. Exhaustion seemed to have overpowered his frustration for the moment being.

People were starting to move out of the dungeon. Someone conjured a stretcher to remove the body, when Soundy exclaimed:

“The baby’s alive!”

Snape jerked his head up and Harry looked confused.

“But how can the baby survive if the mother’s dead?” he stammered.

Snape was examining the bulging belly, and Harry, too, thought that he saw a movement under the skin.

“It’s the baby!” exclaimed Snape. “The child’s cursed. It’s the baby who killed its mother!”

Several sharp intakes of breaths were heard among those who stood around the body. Harry gaped at Snape.

“Quick, it needs to be delivered,” barked Snape. “Get a child healer specialist out here from St Mungo’s right away. And conjure up a set of towels.” Then Snape raised his wand so that its tip pointed at the belly. Shocked little gasps and exclamations were heard as several people tumbled out of the dungeons, more eager to comply with Snape’s command to summon reinforcements from St Mungo’s than stay and watch the macabre delivery.

Harry had pulled himself together, however, when he realised that there was still a life to save, and he assisted Snape while the professor operated magically on the dead witch. The movements from within the belly seemed to become stronger and more visible. It was as if the baby fought to get out, and was only getting stronger with time.

Snape worked quickly, and his hands were as soon flooded with amniotic fluid gushing out of the wound in the belly that he had himself inflicted and which did not bleed very much because naturally the witch’s circulation had stilled. Snape brought the two edges apart and Harry got a glimpse of a small thigh. The baby was positioned upside down in the womb, which was natural for a child who started to reach term. Snape caught the child by the hips and manoeuvred the child’s lower body out of the open wound. The size of it confirmed that it must be nearly full term, and it wriggled with animal force – so strange, Harry had time to think. Snape let his hands glide down the child’s spine to its neck. One hand circled the body and Snape tugged gently with fingers on the upper part of the child’s chest and on its collar-bones, while the other hand supported the neck, and he was able to begin to retrieve the baby.

The body was slippery, and still wriggling, so Snape more or less tossed the baby onto a bed of towels that a care-wizard had spread out next to the mother’s body. Another assistant stood prepared with a towel in her hands to dry the baby up and prevent it from cooling in the chilly air, but instead she let out a stifled cry and dropped the towel onto the baby. Harry, too, had got a glimpse of the child’s face and thought that he understood what the care witch had reacted to.

“What in Merlin’s name…” Snape who had only seen the back of the child exclaimed.

Harry slowly gripped a corner of the towel between his thumb and first finger and pulled back the cloth.

“Shit!” he exclaimed in a low voice and dropped the piece of cloth he was holding. The child’s face remained uncovered, however, so that everyone could see for themselves the strange features of the child, which included a flattened, almost inexistent nose with slits for nostrils. It looked more like a monster than a baby, and there was clearly an echo of Voldemort’s face.

The child continued to wriggle. It had not cried properly yet, but gave away low shrieking and hissing sounds. Snape lost no time and started to wave his wand over the strange creature.

“Harry, envelop the child in a shielding and protective incantation – it will facilitate my examining the curse properly and prevent it from spreading or jumping on to someone else. Unfinished Dark Magic is unstable. We need to contain it before we decide what to do,” said Snape.

They started their work, but after only a short while a child healer from St Mungo’s stepped inside the dungeon and in a corner of his eyes - because he was occupied with reciting an incantation - Harry saw that Josepha was with him. She had started to work part time while Luna was at home taking care of Sophie.

The senior child healer nodded at Snape to go on and finish his diagnostic spells. The child was now enveloped in layers of protective and containing magic which would keep the curse in check. Snape finished his work, pearls of sweat appearing on his upper lip, and lifted his head towards his colleague.

“An extensive curse of Dark Arts,” explained Snape. “The entire child is affected. The curse has nurtured the child – it has drained and drawn the forces from the mother to the child and accelerated its growing and given it strength. The child looks fully developed, but I suspect that it is in reality pre-term.” The other healer made a quick diagnostic spell for himself to confirm what Snape said – it was quicker now that all the containing magic was in place.

“We’ll need to remove the curse at all costs. We have no choice,” he said. “But I can’t say exactly how underdeveloped the child is in reality. We’ll have to treat and see.”

Snape nodded. Harry and Josepha looked at each other. The two senior healers did not sound very hopeful.

“Do you have an idea of how to break the curse?” the healer asked Snape. “You’re more qualified than me in that area. I’ll do the supporting spells for the child, if you do the rest.” Snape nodded.

“I have an idea how to do it,” he said resolutely. The senior child healer glanced at Josepha.

“Look and learn,” he said. “This is advanced counter-spelling.”

Harry and Josepha watched the two healers at work. Harry was so concentrated on taking in Snape’s curse-breaking spells that he almost forgot to breathe. His head did not feel very clear, and he perceived a strange flutter of his own heart, but he pushed those sensations away and took the magic in by listening with his whole body and letting Snape’s spell words ring in his head. For a few seconds he got an almost unreal and euphoric sensation from watching the healers: magic was so powerful! If this did not work…

But Josepha frowned and pointed at the baby, and Harry noticed, too, that it wriggled less and less, that it seemed to shrink in size and that it’s breathing seemed to get quicker and more laboured. Slowly, the strange features of the child altered and were replaced by normal but very delicate ones. Moreover Harry noticed how skinny the baby seemed to be.

“It’s a sign of prematurity,” Josepha whispered to Harry. “There’s not an ounce of fat under the skin of that child. He’s too young…” The child had stilled altogether. Snape seemed to have finished, but the other healer put a few more spells in place before he, too, lowered his wand. He made a grimace.

“Twenty-three weeks, at most,” he announced. “Just as I suspected. It is only breathing because of the supportive spells I’ve set in place.”

The small child gave a little jerk, and the healer and Josepha leaned over it with worried faces. The child’s own features were set in an expression of pain with small wrinkles on its tiny forehead. Snape and Harry had taken a step backwards to give place for the child-healers to do their job. They worked intensely for a while but the child continued to jerk and emit tiny sounds of pain from time to time.

“It’s suffering,” the child-healer said. “It’s extremely premature and damaged on top of it by that Dark curse. It’s beyond salvage. It will only suffer until a sure death. Josepha, you know what we need to do, don’t you?”

Josepha nodded. Snape paled, and Harry looked confused.

“Should we do a Relieving on the child?” he asked in an uncertain voice and took an unsteady step forwards. His head was foggy and he honestly did not know if he could manage another Relieving, but if that was what it took…

“By Merlin, no!” exclaimed Snape and held Harry back. “Leave this for the child healers to handle.”

The senior healer and Josepha looked at each other and lifted their wands over the child who was looking weaker and weaker and more and more plagued.

“Avada Kedavra!” The child stilled completely at once.

Harry stared in shock at his two colleagues, before he doubled over, turned and rushed out of the dungeon. Snape followed him.

*

Harry was gripping the rail on the bridge over the brook outside the cave so hard that his knuckles whitened. The remains of his vomits were being washed away beneath the bridge, by the water which danced happily over the stones. Snape was standing beside him and Mrs Steadfast was approaching. She had not been with them in the dungeon but had been taking stock of the general situation in the great hall of the cave.

“You two look terrible,” she said. “What happened? Harry, you look just like you did last year when you had killed that wizard in Paris. You haven’t killed anyone now, have you?”

When Harry heard this, he turned over the rail and threw up again.

“You have the timing of a troll and absolutely no sense of sensibility at all, Audrey,” said Snape reproachfully in a stifled tone. “We only just watched our colleagues from St Mungo’s do a mercy killing on new-born child by Avada Kedavra.” When he finished his sentence, Snape as well turned around and gagged. Mrs Steadfast lifted an eye-brow.

“You too, Severus? You surprise me. Former Death Eater, used to killings and all…” she said. Snape was panting slightly, getting his breathing under control and drying the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

“It was a baby, Audrey. I know that they had to do it to spare it the suffering. But torturing the innocent, and killing children – I was never able to stand it,” Snape replied. “Why should I?” he added aggressively. “Are we done here? The prisoners seems to have been all taken care of?”

“The last one’s being sent off to St Mungo’s right now,” Mrs Steadfast confirmed. “It’s time for a gathering and a summing up in the Headquarters.

*

Harry was sitting beside Ron at a table in the lecture hall of the Auror Headquarters. The entire squad, students included, were gathered for the briefing. Ron explained to Harry in a whisper that he had not taken part in the battle itself, but that he had gone in when the place had been secured to gather technical evidence together with an experienced Auror named Savage.

“It was brilliant! Moreover I was there when Mr Hatch and Henna Hatch emerged from the cellar and made their break-out. You have to give them that they’re both clever and skilled,” said Ron.

Harry nodded distractedly, saying nothing, and they turned their attention to Mrs Steadfast who told her crew that they had apprehended eight people at the farm: a woman and seven men. One of the men was in his fifties and was the owner of the farm and married to the only woman, but according to Mrs Steadfast he was a wreck, looking at least a decade older than his age, and drunk in the middle of the day. Four of the men constituted the couple’s sons, aged between seventeen and thirty. Other than that, there were two hired farmhands. All of the young people gave a rather sluggish and slow impression - no Shifting material exactly, according to Mrs Steadfast - but wizards all of them, or possibly squids. The farm itself was rather ill kept.

Suddenly, Ron gave away an exclamation and started to shake Harry, who had slumped forward over the table, by his shoulders. Mrs Steadfast stopped talking and the others turned to look at Ron and Harry.

“He’s probably only fallen to sleep. He didn’t get much of that last night,” said Mrs Steadfast.

But when Harry slid down from his chair and landed on his back on the floor, even Mrs Steadfast drew her breath at the sight of his ashen-grey face.

“He’s dying! Do something!” Ron shouted in pure panic. Snape who had been leaning against a door post rushed up to Harry’s side and started to Renervate him.

“We need some Firewhiskey!” he shouted. “By all hot Goblin swords, how many Relievings did he do this afternoon?”

“I… I don’t know,” said Soundy who was staring appalled down at Harry’s lifeless body. “He requested help from St Mungo’s, but they didn’t send another Grief Swallower. I think that he Relieved them all – they needed it in order to be transportable.” Snape shook his head furiously.

“He knew…” he said. “Harry knew perfectly well what happens when you do too many Relievings. He witnessed my collapse last year. I warned him. How could he be so reckless, so disregarding of his own wellbeing? Renervate! Damn it! Respond! Pour the Firewhiskey in his mouth.” Snape shouted the last words at Simmings who had finally got hold of a bottle.

“Please, Harry!” stuttered Ron who stood frozen by his friend’s side.

Simmings parted Harry’s lips with his fingers and poured the Firewhiskey between the teeth – the strong spirits was the only antidote to a Grief Swallower having done too many Relievings. Snape had to Renervate Harry many times around before he finally gave faint signs of life. Snape dropped to his knees, took the bottle from Simmings, conjured up a cup and made Harry drink a large gulp until Harry started to choke and cough. He was still not completely conscious, turned his head from side to side and moaned.

“Help me get him into Mrs Steadfast’s office,” said Snape. “You don’t mind, do you, Audrey?”

Mrs Steadfast who had watched the whole resuscitation scene with horror written on her face shook her head and motioned for Ron and Soundy to lift Harry up and carry him into her office.

Chapter End Notes:
I realise it’s chocking with the Avada Kedavra, but remember that customs and medical practices are different in the magical world from in the Muggle world.
The next chapter is a very long one, but I’d like to keep it as one single chapter nonetheless because it all plays out in Mrs Steadfast’s office during the following hours, and it’s the longest piece of angst I have ever written… Harry’s in a very bad state right now…

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