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Trapped by Persephone Lupin [Reviews - 3]

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Chapter 10: More Blood


"Gods, am I tired," Madam Pomfrey said, collapsing into a chair. A cold December sun was already rising, and she had worked on Severus all night, assisted by Dumbledore and McGonagall. Still, the young wizard was far from healed yet. She had managed to fix his shattered ribs and sternum, and the worst damage to his inner organs so far, and it had exhausted her to no measure. Minerva was helping with keeping the fever down, both with spells and calf packings, and Albus had helped magically treat and bandage the minor wounds and ease the tremors and the pain. Without their assistance, she would surely have fainted from sheer exhaustion by now.

What really made her worry, though, was the blood loss. There was no way she could treat this with spells only. And if she couldn't stabilize Severus's circulatory system before the effect of the unicorn blood ran out, he would surely die despite all efforts. There still was the Muggle way, of course, but they would have to find willing and suitable donors first. The problem was that the Snapes were one of the oldest and purest wizarding families in all Britain. You had to find donors whose blood was at least as pure as the recipient's; otherwise the magicytes would clot and cause a lethal reaction. Of the staff members none would qualify, not even Dumbledore. She didn't know about the students, though.

"Minerva, are there any students now at Hogwarts who are of as ancient and pure-blooded descent as Severus? I have to do a blood transfusion, and soon, he won't stand a chance otherwise."

"I'll check the records, but it will take a while, I fear," McGonagall answered, stifling a yawn. "I'd have to cancel my Transfiguration classes for today, too." She turned to the headmaster.

"Please, do so, Minerva. And if there are any suitable donors among the students, bring them right here. We better not lose any time," Dumbledore urged. "And you, Poppy, go and take a quick nap. You won't be much of a help for Severus in your current state. I don't think the poor boy can take much more, anyway. Magic is always a strain on the organism, even healing magic. And he's been subjected to far too much magic those past weeks." He sighed.

"But there is still so much work to do ..." objected the mediwitch.

"The other injuries just have to wait some more. They are not deadly, are they?"

"No, but ..."

"No 'no's', Poppy. And get yourself some breakfast. I'll watch over Severus in the meantime. Off you go. And you too, Minerva."


*********************************

In her office, McGonagall took out Severus's old student file. The staff files were kept in Dumbledore's office, but this one would do for the purpose as well. It was almost as extensive as the Weasley twins' thanks to the many entrances due to the constant fights between the Slytherin and the Marauders. And those were only the incidents that had been reported by a Prefect or a teacher. How many more had transpired, she could only guess. It had always been four against one. And the Slytherin always got most of the blame. And detentions and point deductions. Just because he hadn't seen any other way to defend himself than by using the spells and hexes he had learned at home - rather Dark magic, unfortunately. She still had difficulties understanding how she could have been so blind to what had been going on under her very nose. And under Dumbledore's. No wonder Severus had finally sought refuge in the gang of Slytherins around Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange, though, not being rich as all the others, they had never treated him as an equal despite all his knowledge about the Dark Arts and Potions. From there, it had been a small step to Voldemort. And the Shrieking Shack incident had only confirmed that, for a Slytherin, there was no help to be expected from any Gryffindor, be it headmaster or deputy headmistress.

Well, it didn't help much to dwell on what couldn't be changed anymore. She had failed the boy so much in the past; she better find a way to help him now. With the tip of her wand, she tapped at Severus's name on the file and mumbled "Generis revolo," then tapped at a blank sheet of parchment. The Snape family tree instantly appeared on the sheet. Now she had to do the same with some hundred other students' files and compare the data. It would only take a few days ... No, Minerva, use logic, that's what Severus would do in your place, she told herself. First rule out the Muggle born students and half-bloods. That decimated the possible candidates of all Houses but Slytherin to about a half. And siblings needed to be checked only once. Or probably not, better be safe than sorry. Slytherin would certainly have the highest probability for success, but there always had been descendants of ancient pureblood wizarding families in the other Houses, too. Some Sirius Black, for example. But now that he actually could have helped Severus instead of making his life a hell, the Gryffindor had managed to get himself killed. Although, there were still the Longbottoms and the Weasleys. She would try those first, and Draco Malfoy. The Slytherin would be only too willing to help his Head of House. Something that probably could not be said about the other candidates. But she would make them help, if by her wandpoint ...

"Accio Neville Longbottom, Accio Ronald Weasley, Accio Ginevra Weasley, Accio Draco Malfoy!" the witch exclaimed, pointing her wand at the drawers that held the records. Four folders appeared and settled on her desk.

"Let's see, then." She performed the same procedure with the names on the folders as she had with Severus's, thus ending up with another four family trees. Ron's and Ginevra's were indeed identical. Not that she had suspected otherwise knowing Molly and Arthur Weasley, but better safe ... Now, McGonagall made copies of the Snape family tree with a simple duplication spell, put one copy on top of each of the other family trees, face down, and murmured "Comparatio."

The writings on the parchments began to glow and seep into one another for a few moments and then the results appeared on the back page.

Bingo! That was better than she had expected. Both the Malfoys and the Weasleys were as old and pureblooded as the Snapes, and the Longbottoms could be traced back for even two more generations. The use of logic did pay sometimes, she had to admit. But only to herself. She would collect the students right away and bring them to the hospital wing. Ronald would surely know what had happened as she had totally forgotten to tell Miss Granger not to talk about the events of the night. And if Poppy needed more donors, she could come back and check some more files later. Or the other Weasleys could be summoned. Severus wouldn't like being in their debt, and owing his life to Neville Longbottom of all people would certainly hit him hard, but there wasn't anything that could be done about that. And perhaps, an infusion of Gryffindor blood would do Severus a world of good, who knew? At this thought, the stern witch couldn't suppress a smile.


****************************************

"Please, wait here for a moment. I'll be back and explain everything shortly," said McGonagall, ushering the three Gryffindors and one Slytherin into the little waiting room. They had no clue yet what was going to happen, but since the three sixth years had been called away from a death-tiring History of Magic lesson, they didn't mind that much. Only Ginny was a bit disappointed to miss her favorite subject, Herbology.

When she had found her brother outside the greenhouse, the old fear had struck that something might have happened with her Mum or Dad or her older brothers who were all working for Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. Ever since Mr. Weasley had been bitten by Voldemort's gigantic snake while on Order duty, she had had nightmares that involved the violent death of a family member. If she were to encounter a boggart right now, it would certainly be almost identical to her mother's back in Grimmauld Place. But if something had happened to her family, why would Neville and Draco Malfoy be there, too? And why did McGonagall lead them to the Hospital wing without saying a single word?

There wasn't anything wrong with Harry for once. She had seen him in the Great Hall not long ago having a hearty breakfast. Only Hermione hadn't been her usual self. The Gryffindor Prefect had looked as if she hadn't slept all night, and she had been late for breakfast, something that almost never happened. She had left the Hall without saying a single word to anybody, not even 'hello', and hadn't touched her food, either. But why would Malfoy be here if something had happened to Hermione? She certainly wasn't dating the arrogant Slytherin? Although, Draco hadn't been his arrogant and sneering self for quite a while now. Ever since Professor Snape had disappeared. Another yet unsolved mystery. Right now, Malfoy was standing apart from the other boys in a corner of the little room, arms crossed over his chest and scowling, but somehow Ginny had the impression that under the facade he was rather insecure and nervous. Was this possible? Neville, of course, always seemed insecure and nervous when outside a greenhouse, though he had improved a lot since he had become a member of the DA. He had grown quite a bit, too. He wasn't the chubby-faced and stocky kid she had met during her first ride on the Hogwarts Express anymore. Actually, he was quite handsome ...

Softly creaking, the door opened again, and McGonagall entered the room. She looked as grave as ever when she started to explain.

"As Mr. Weasley might have heard already," - a blank look from Ron - "or perhaps not, Professor Snape was found last night. To be precise, Miss Granger's cat found him, badly injured. What I ask of the four of you now is to donate some blood to save the professor's life. Some of you might not like him much, and much of this is surely his own fault, but Professor Snape has been a loyal member of the Order of the Phoenix for many years, and he helped save Harry Potter's life more than once. He does deserve to be saved and honored despite all his shortcomings. So, if you would follow me ..."

To Ginny's surprise, Draco Malfoy hadn't even blinked when McGonagall called Snape a loyal Order member. As the son of a fugitive Death Eater, shouldn't he be appalled by the news? But he looked genuinely concerned instead. Something was definitely wrong with the Slytherin. This wasn't the Malfoy she had known for over four years now. Had he miraculously changed?

Ron definitely hadn't. He looked as if McGonagall had asked him to swallow slugs. He and Harry had thoroughly enjoyed the absence of their most hated teacher. If Ron hadn't been so keen on becoming an Auror just like Harry, he certainly would have dropped Potions without a second thought. Unfortunately, future Aurors had to take the subject and needed good grades, too. So both boys had been stuck with Snape - and Snape with them - until that day in November. Ron had been joking about Snape being dead then, and Harry had never missed a chance to drop a remark about Snape having swapped sides again. Obviously, he had been wrong about the man once more. And Snape must be gravely sick indeed if he needed a blood transfusion. Usually, the Healers just administered a blood-replenishing potion. At least that was what the Healers at St Mungo's had done with her father when he had almost bled to death after the snake attack. If Snape had been in the clutches of the Death Eaters for all those weeks, he probably was much worse off than that. But why hadn't Voldemort killed the traitor?

Neville looked quite pale and terribly nervous, though not disgusted like Ron. He was genuinely afraid of the Potions master and always walked down the dungeon stairs as if to his own funeral, but he had a wide heart. He would help even his worst enemy, Ginny was sure of that. Only that he didn't care much for the sight of blood ...

As McGonagall held open the door for her students, Draco was the first to join the witch.

"How is the professor?" he asked quietly.

"Not well. We hope we will be able to save his life, though, with your help." As she stressed the last words, the stern witch shot a disapproving glare at Ron, who still hadn't moved. Although not as deadly as Snape's, it was impossible to ignore McGonagall's gaze, and the redhead finally followed his Head of house towards the ward where Madam Pomfrey was waiting.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


A/N: The magicytes are not my idea, I read it in some other fanfic, but I can't remember which one. They worked differently, though.


Trapped by Persephone Lupin [Reviews - 3]

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