RETURN TO SENDER
DISCLAIMER: As per the norm, don't own it, ain't making money off it, am just playing in the playground.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As usual, deepest thanks and gratitudes to everyone who has posted a review, added this to favourites and alerts. Thank you ... and on with the show.
Chapter Nine. Moving On
In a hospital bed surrounded by dividers, a greasy-haired young man blinked - his large, prominent nose twitching as it sniffed, much like a rat checking its surroundings, even as the rest of his body tensed, one hand unconsciously groping around for his wand.
The young man experienced a brief moment of panic as his hand grasped nothing but cloth; turning his head slowly, he released a sigh of relief at spotting his wand on the small chest of drawers to his right.
He relaxed slightly when the wand was in hand and he took in a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart even as his senses ranged around - eyes taking in the white sheets he was laying on as well as the white blanket covering him from the chest down; his nose taking in the astringent, antiseptic smell that was so distinct from his own preferred smells; his mouth was cottony and dry and he had to swallow a few times to relieve it.
Finally, his ears twitched as he heard murmuring somewhere nearby - too indistinct to be identifiable, except that they sounded … familiar.
His brain processed the information even as it analysed the state of his body - sore all over, the back of his head aching, a small area of his right arm burning just below the elbow …
Cursing silently, he lifted the arm and stared at the skull with a snake coming out of its mouth - the Dark Mark of Voldemort, faded to near-indistinctness and he bit his lip as memories of pain flooded his mind …
Halloween.
He'd been sitting at the staff table, silent, brooding, watching the little twerps and dunderheads celebrating - granted, he admitted to himself, they needed every little morsel of joy that Hogwarts could provide in these dark and dreary times - while his heart broke at memories of past celebrations that would never again be …
It was sudden and so completely unexpected, that pain - a searing, agonizing pain that felt as if his arm was being torn apart … he'd staggered to his feet, clutching that arm tightly even as he fought to keep the scream from exploding out his throat - and then, nothing.
What happened? His dark, beady eyes narrowed as his brain processed the information … took one glance at his now-faded Mark and widened …
It was the wave of vertigo which made him realize that he was standing by his bed, clutching at the bed post as he fought the nausea down. It took him several deep breaths but he successfully fought the dizziness off - he'd suffered much more than this at the hands of the Dark Lord, after all … and he had to find out what happened!
Shakily, he opened the divider surrounding his bed and looked around. As he'd suspected, he was in the Hogwarts hospital wing … a glance at the window showed starlight and darkness, which meant that he'd been out for several hours at least. Turning back to the wing, he realized that the voices he'd heard earlier were coming from Pomfrey's office and he took a shaky step forward, determined to find out what had happened - and what the future held in store for him.
He'd barely taken a step when he stopped, puzzled.
What was a baby doing here?
He shook his head and took another shaky step - he'd never had much to do with babies, after all. If truth were told, they actually frightened him: so small, so helpless, able to communicate only with gurgles, arms and legs waving … and that heart rending wail when denied something they felt they deserved but couldn't get …
And stopped. There was something about this baby that was calling to him. Unthinking, he strengthened his Occlumency shields before mentally slapping himself - why should he guard his thoughts from a baby, of all things? The thought made him pause and focus, however … for there was an … an aura of something about the child that drew him …
Unwilling, he stood by the bedside, frowning at the sleeping yet restless child. His gaze picked up nothing remarkable about it - except for the thin, lightning bolt-shaped scar on its forehead which seemed to be tugging at his Mark. Frowning, he reached out to touch the scar - and jumped back in surprise when the child's eyes opened and caught him in their clear, green gaze.
He had to grab for the bed's side lest he fall; unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but stare at the eyes - `Lily's eyes', he realized. For an instance he felt blind rage cloud his vision - this, this brat was the spawn of his most hated enemy, the one who'd made his life a living hell from that first day on the Hogwarts Express, the one who'd stolen the love and light of his life from him …
Severus Snape bit his lip hard as he closed his eyes. No matter what he thought, there was no denying Lily's eyes staring at him. There was nothing of James Potter in the child as he now was, save for the tuft of black hair which - he shook his head in amusement - could just as easily come from him, or Black or any of a dozen other men.
The eyes, however, they could only be Lily's eyes.
Unthinking, he reached out to touch a chubby cheek - and almost jumped out of his skin when he felt tiny fingers grab his finger and hold on with surprising strength. He stared at those green eyes that were looking at him curiously … and frowned when he felt a strange tingling in his Dark Mark.
He tried to pull away but the baby was too strong; he watched, fascinated, as it slowly sat up, still holding on to him. Unconsciously, he smiled as he shook his head, marvelling once again at the trusting nature of babies and little children. They were the only ones - aside from Lily - who never ran away from him in fear. His smile broadened at the memory of the few he'd known - those few that Lily Evans had baby-sat for when she was younger, and whom she'd introduced to him whenever he was around …
Impulsively, he lifted the baby from its bed and cradled it in his arms - Lily's lessons on holding them properly coming to the fore. He frowned deeply once again when he felt that peculiar tingling in his Mark; instinctively, he adjusted the now wide-awake babe so that it was cradled in his other, unmarked, arm while he held the other by his side.
It was awkward but this would only be for a few moments, anyway and he started swaying slowly, rocking the infant in his arm soothingly … totally unaware that Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick were gaping at him from the door of the Healer's office. All three had known the acerbic, harsh and sarcastic potions genius - Flitwick and McGonagall had both taken turns either lambasting him, taking points or watching him in detentions when he was a student (all too often sharing detentions in order to keep Snape and his friends at opposite ends of the castle and grounds from James Potter and his friends) while Poppy Pomfrey had had him as a patient innumerable times - as well as having Potter and his friends also in the infirmary - for non-Quidditch related injuries.
Watching the bitter, caustic young man actually cradling an infant in his arms and being so gentle about it had all three smiling softly, none of them willing to break the tableau. All three also had a single thought in mind - what they would give to have a camera on hand right now … the blackmail potential of having a photo of this tender moment to hold over their youngest and harshest colleague was something to savour …
"LET GO OF MY GODSON, DEATH EATER!"
Sirius Black had arrived.
Before the teachers or Pomfrey could even blink, a red-hued spell was on its way - straight for Snape and the babe he held. Instinctively, Snape turned away - protecting the precious bundle in his arms, his brain moving at light speed to position his body in such a way that the baby wouldn't be hurt if he fell to the cold, stone floor.
Turned away as he was, Snape couldn't see what happened next - an almighty BONG resounded in the Hospital Wing just as the spell was about to hit and the older adults gaped as the air around Snape fluoresced in golden sparkles -
In a millisecond, the spell or curse was speeding back towards Sirius, darker than it had been when first cast - it was only Sirius' adrenaline-fuelled muscles and combat-trained senses which made him jump and roll out of the way of the returning spell which ploughed into the wall behind him and exploded, leaving a deep hole with scorch marks around it.
Sirius, however, ignored the near-miss; still running on his adrenaline high, he'd quickly recovered his stance and was about to send another curse at Severus when a hand unexpectedly materialized from behind him and grabbed him, spinning him around …
Right into a fist.
The teachers and Pomfrey gasped when an enraged Remus Lupin emerged from the shadows and grabbed Sirius Black by the back of his robes and threw him into a medicinal cabinet even as a feral roar escaped the dishevelled, normally mild-mannered young man: "YOU TRAITOR!"
Remus leaped for a still-shocked Sirius who was lodged within the cabinet, his intent clear in his yellowed eyes and bared teeth which showed the barest hint of fangs - as one, McGonagall, Flitwick and Pomfrey had wands out and red jets of magic were speeding for the werewolf.
Remus had jumped aside the moment the stunners were in the air, but he hadn't counted on the skill and experience of the three. Only Pomfrey's stunner passed through where he'd been a moment before - Flitwick's and McGonagall's stunners, however, bracketed the Healer's curse with Flitwick's hitting the enraged man in the back.
It wasn't enough to stun him completely, however - it was just enough to make him pause and turn, in time for another three stunners to find their marks.
The three released sighs of relief as Remus slumped to the floor; Pomfrey was moving towards Sirius Black, whom she'd inadvertently stunned when her curse missed Remus - only to stop as a feminine roar echoed within the Hospital Wing: "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
In another dimension, a tall, dark-haired, powerfully-built woman was also on her feet, staring at the `frame' within a huge tunnel where events had just played out in all their glory. She slowly turned around to face her partner and companion.
"I'd like to ask the same thing, Gab," the tall woman said quietly.
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