It is our choices (A Harry/Severus friendship fic post DH) (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 29- Stay close to me (part 1)

Author's note: Again this is a very long chapter guys. You will be glad that i split Chapter 29 into two parts (otherwise it would have been about 70 A4 pages long :O). Oh and i forgot there's a little jumping around in this chapter (a couple of years to 5 years or so), but in the great scheme of things it's not much (compared to 160!).This chapter is dedicated to FreclyFace for being one of those who vote before they read and for commenting on chapter 1 two weeks ago and is still up to date- that's dedication! Thank you also for always commenting! I am very interested to hear what you guys think of this chapter. One thing i did want to mention (that some of you pointed out) is that Harry, Severus- well all of them really are OLD (more than 100 years). I just want to say that i don't see them that way- it's weird, but i still imagine them as adults around their forties (including Harry's children). I'm afraid that this may come out in my writing- ie. actions do not fit in with their age. But i hope you will forgive me! I await your comments!

Chapter 29- 'Stay close to me' (Part 1)

2 years later

For the third time that week, Severus woke up at 3am with a splitting headache. Rubbing his head gently with the palms of his hands, he tried to relax and fall back to sleep, but he couldn't. Slowly getting up, he walked over to one of his drawers and pulled out a vial of pain remedy, which he had made during the week for nights such as this. 

Taking a deep breath, he downed the bottle (it tasted disgusting) and walked slowly back to bed, and made yet another attempt to fall to sleep. 

Instead of improving however, the pain became worse- this surprised Severus seeing as every other night, the pain remedy seemed to soothe the pain relatively quickly, but tonight was very different. 

By 5am, Severus realised that something serious must be wrong- magical remedies have never failed him before and he was confident he concocted the remedy correctly. Lying in bed, trying to rub away the pain, he tried to think of what he should do. 

Thankfully, he was no longer Headmaster and was currently unemployed so no one would miss him if he lay in bed all day, but somehow he knew that no matter how much sleep he had, the pain would always return... 

Realising that he had to take action, Severus forced himself to get dressed into his robes and grabbing his wand, he walked outside into Spinner's End. Once there, he tried to relax- to numb the pain for a second- while he focused all of his energy on the main street in London. Spinning on the spot, Severus felt himself being squeezed through an invisible tube and knew, too late, that this was not good for him. Once he landed, he almost fell over as his brain was unable to keep him balanced to gather its bearings. Thankfully there were not many people around, so no one noticed his apparent disorientation. Spotting the landmark he was looking for, Severus forced his mind to move his legs towards the shopping mall where the entrance to St. Mungo's was located. 

Finally he reached the window with the dummies inside and, with his eyes half closed, for the sun was rising, increasing his pain ten-fold, Severus mumbled: 

"I need to see a Healer." 

The dummy nodded as if she knew this just by looking at him and Severus slowly, but surely made his way through the glass. 

Severus had to admit to himself, he had done pretty well so far; not only did he have the most severe migraine yet, but he had never been to St. Mungo's and the only reason he knew where it was is because Lily had explained it to him when she first started working there. 

"Are you okay, Sir?" the woman at the desk asked. Severus almost stumbled over to her but before he even reached her, he felt a wheelchair being pushed beneath him. "What is your name, Sir?" The woman asked, pushing Severus towards god only knew where.