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Trapped by Persephone Lupin [Reviews - 4]

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Chapter 8: Cat-Cries


"Hermione, wake up!" Lavender, the girl's roommate, urged. "There's a cat sitting under our window, crying its heart out. You'd better check if it isn't Crookshanks. Sounds as if he was hurt or something."

Instantly, Hermione was wide-awake with worry. She rushed to the window, opened it, and peered down into the night. In the faint light cast by her wand, she saw the huge ginger tomcat looking straight up at her. He gave a short cry, then ran a few steps towards the path leading down to the main gate, turned around, gave another cry, and continued to walk in the same direction, looking back up at Hermione again and again, meowing impatiently.

"That's a weird cat, I tell you, Hermione," Lavender, who had peeked over the bushy-haired girl's shoulder, whispered. "Looks as if he wanted to show you something. But what could that possibly be in the middle of the night?"

"I have no idea," a confused Hermione answered. "But judging from the racket he's been making, it seems to be something serious. I better inform Professor McGonagall."


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Shortly after, two heavily cloaked figures left the main entrance of Hogwarts castle and followed the excitedly meowing cat down the winding path to the gates, their raised wands casting a faint and eerie light on the snow-covered grounds.

"This better has to be important, Miss Granger," muttered the older witch, but more to herself than to her young companion. "What a foolscap to run after some cat in the middle of the night. And it's starting to snow again. Brilliant. Probably some dead rat or something ..."

But it wasn't a dead rat. When they had reached the gate, Crookshanks squeezed through the wrought-iron stakes and ran towards a large bundle lying on the ground that looked suspiciously like a human corpse.

"Merlin, no, this can't be ..." McGonagall gasped. "Stay behind, Miss Granger," she then ordered, opened the gate and cautiously approached the prone figure. In the light of her wand, the stern teacher could make out a familiar-looking bunch of black, tangled and blood-matted hair that stuck out from under a dirty old blanket. Her heart clenched.

"Severus?" she whispered as she knelt down beside the still body that lay face down in the snow, tears starting to her eyes. Careful not to move him, she searched for a pulse on her young colleague's neck.

"Is ... is he dead?" a very shaky Hermione asked from behind.

"He's alive, but barely so," her teacher answered bleakly. "The bastards must have dropped him here not long ago. He's still warm." She rose, determination in her eyes. "Miss Granger, run to the hospital wing and alert Madam Pomfrey. Quick. We might still save him."

As Hermione darted towards the castle, closely followed by Crookshanks, McGonagall transfigured a large broken twig into a stretcher. She put a warming charm on the unconscious wizard, and carefully turned him around with a levitation spell. Snape gave a whimpering sound, and a rivulet of fresh blood came trickling from his half-opened mouth, leaving crimson stains in the snow.

"Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," the witch whispered apologetically. "I have to move you. Just hold on. Poppy will help you, you'll see. You'll be fine, just fine, just hold on a little. Don't you dare die on me ..." While continuing to murmur softly, mostly to calm herself, she gently levitated the unconscious man onto the stretcher and proceeded towards the castle.


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Madam Pomfrey met her at the entrance to the hospital wing, wide-awake and all business.

"Here, Minerva, the private room, onto the bed, but careful, his lungs must be damaged judging from his labored breathing and all the blood," the mediwitch cautioned. This time, Snape didn't stir or make a sound at all when he was levitated onto the sickbed. "I sent Miss Granger to get the headmaster. He'll be here any minute. And you better sit down now, Minerva, you look like fainting yourself."

The moment McGonagall collapsed into a chair the headmaster entered the room, followed by a very pale Hermione.

"How bad is it, Poppy?" Albus asked as he approached the bed, his voice thick with concern.

"I can't tell yet, but his pulse is very weak and thready, and he's hardly breathing," the mediwitch answered as she checked her patient for vital signs. Then she produced her wand and started scanning for injuries. But after a few readings she lowered it again, her hand shaking, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Albus," she whispered, "there is something terribly wrong with Severus. It's just impossible that he is still alive with all these injuries. It's not natural."

"Dark magic," the headmaster confirmed sadly. "I can feel it. He's been kept alive by Dark magic. I'll send Fawkes to get Remus Lupin; he'll know best what to do. And, Poppy, better not use magic on Severus yet, it might be dangerous." The mediwitch nodded, and Dumbledore hurried back to his office, leaving three pale and rather helpless witches behind.

"We better start cleaning him up without magic, then," Madam Pomfrey finally said. "Would you please get some warm water and towels, Miss Granger?" Carefully, she removed the blanket that was wrapped around the Potions master's still form. She had to close her eyes for a moment at the sight of all the injuries that had been inflicted upon the former spy. How could humans be so cruel? She would never understand what was going on in the minds of those who were willing to bestially torture a fellow being.

Tears were slowly running down McGonagall's cheeks as she helped Poppy remove the bloody shreds that once were the Potions master's usual black pants. Now, that he was out of the cold, she found that his skin felt much too warm to the touch.

"He's burning, Poppy," she said quietly, then gently brushed a raven lock from the sick man's brow. "Poor boy, what have those bastards done to you?"

Hermione re-entered the small sickroom, carrying a bowl with warm water and some towels. When her gaze fell upon what was left of her teacher's arm, she gasped and almost dropped the bowl.

"Miss Granger, you better give this to me," Madam Pomfrey said, reaching for the vessel in the girl's shaking hands. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't see this at all, my girl. Go back to bed and try to sleep."

Relieved of water and towels, Hermione fled from the hospital wing, the gruesome sight still etched into her brain. Careful not to wake anybody, she sneaked into her bed where Crookshanks was already waiting for her. She cast a quick silencing spell, and then, burying her face in her pet's soft fur, she burst into heartbreaking sobs until, drained and exhausted, she finally fell asleep.


TBC

Trapped by Persephone Lupin [Reviews - 4]

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