A Room With a View

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September 1, 2005 - Severus' Apartments

Severus watched as Potter and Hermione winked into existence in his sitting room at Spinner's End, each gripping one of his arms for support. They wordlessly maneuvered him toward the sofa and gently lowered him into its worn, soft comfort.

"Welcome home, Severus." Hermione smiled at him as she spread the throw from the back of the couch over his legs.

He was breathing heavily, the effort of the side-along apparition clear on his face. "Damn. I should've sent you along first so you could control that." He winced as he leaned back against the leather cushions of his seat.

Severus had been watching himself for days now, but he was still appalled at the slowness of his recovery. His past-self was still weak as a kitten a month after waking from the coma, and he knew that he'd felt mounting frustration at his lack of progress. Hell, I feel frustrated just watching myself struggle. He couldn't help but notice that Hermione had patted his shoulder before moving off to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove.

"Harry," she called, "you should probably pop out and get a few things for Severus. He has nothing in the house."

"Please don't trouble yourself Mr. Potter. I'm sure I can fend for myself once I recover my breath." His voice sounded absolutely ragged.

"Pride goeth, Severus. Let us take care of you a bit, hmm? Otherwise Molly will just show up and mother you to death. And I'm not your student. It's just Harry, yeah?"

Past-Severus grimaced a bit and gave Potter -Harry- a terse nod.

"What d-you think, 'Mione? Loo rolls, sandwich things, tinned soup?" The boy ticked the items off on his hand.

She handed him a piece of parchment. "You've forgotten milk, sugar, and a few other things. I've made a list. We'll keep it simple for now - just necessities. I don't think you'll be doing a lot of cooking right away, and I know you don't want to eat mine." She said that with a little smirk for Severus.

Harry grinned at Severus' past-self conspiratorially. "I ate her cooking for over six months. Trust me when I say you really don't want to risk it." Severus was surprised to see himself shake with silent laughter at the boy's jest.

"Go shopping, you prat!" Hermione huffed with mock-indignation as Harry disappeared with a muted pop, list in hand. "My cooking was only dreadful because I had so little to work with when we were on the run. Under normal circumstances it's merely awful." She smiled a little at Severus as she twitched the throw to better cover his ankles. "Do you want a book while we wait for the water to heat?"

"I don't know if I can bring myself to read at the moment." He watched as his counterpart leaned his head back and shut his eyes. He was clearly exhausted and in pain.

"Another headache?" She immediately dropped her voice to a low whisper and began rummaging in her little beaded bag. "Here, the healer gave me these. Probably not as good as what you'd make yourself, but it should take the edge off." She opened a small paper sack and removed a bottle of Headache Relief Potion, placing it in his hand.

He opened an eye and downed it in a single swallow with a murmured "thank you."

She moved off to the kitchen just as the kettle began to whistle, removing it from the heat before it could shrill too loudly. Severus saw her puttering in the kitchen behind his past self, pouring the water into a tea pot and adding healthy dose of the Assam Darjeeling mix he kept in the tin by the stove. "No milk or sugar until Harry comes back from the market. I'm afraid we'll be roughing it. Can you manage?"