Senses

Chapter 4

Severus ran a tired hand down his face before gently pulling the needle he'd placed into Granger's arm free. The drip he'd placed had restored some of what her body had lost but there was so little to her frame that he feared giving her too many fluids. She needed proper food, proper rest.

The salves he'd placed between her legs had sparked another unwanted reaction from her. The healing balm he'd used to sooth away the irritation had prompted her to reach down again. She'd rocked against his hand before he'd had a mind to understand what she'd been doing. It had settled something deep into his stomach that made his stomach curl.

He had tried to stop her but the action had caused her to become excessively agitated. He couldn't understand why she was doing this to herself nor why she seemed to think it was what he wanted her to do. Or rather, he didn't want to know the circumstances leading to her behavior.

It had only been when he'd bound her hands to the bed that she had gone still. A weak, wounded animal-like noise having passed her repaired throat. It wasn't anything he could call speech, rather the air in her chest expelling at just the right angle. He had taken that time to calm himself, trying to get his sleep-deprived brain in order. This was never going to work. They needed a way to communicate.

So there Severus sat, at his kitchen table looking at the smooth stones he'd collected from his mother's old jewelry box. The girl liked to feel the world with her mouth, perhaps he could train her similarly without having pieces of his person slobbered on.

He turned a blue Firestone in his fingers before tapping the stone, making it larger, it wouldn't do well for her to swallow it. He carved a hole through the center and pushed the golden chain through. Yes, this might work. He charmed the stone to be perfectly round and to taste like tea, should she put it in her mouth. This would be a signal to him that she was thirsty.

He picked up a tigers eye next shifting it into that of a cube, the same size as the other but he placed a charm over it to make it taste like mashed potatoes. He placed it on the chain making a knot so that they would stand apart.

What else did he need to know? What else did she have a mind left to tell him?

Pain. He needed to know if she was in pain. Severus turned his eyes down to the stones, pulling an oblong shaped onyx stone up next. He enlarged it and carved it like the others before thinking about what it should taste like. What did pain taste like? Bitter? Sour? No, he needed something that soothe her until he was able to come to her side. What was calming?

He wracked his brain for a while before deciding on chocolate. It may turn her off to the treat in the future but it was a risk he was willing to take. He set the charmed necklace down looking over his choices before creating one for himself, a pocket chain he could hide but would alert him to her status when she would put them in her mouth. Now, all he had to do was teach her how to use it.

A new purpose to fill the hours of the day before he set out to search for answers to her other ailments, he pushed himself up and towards the stairs. When he came into his room he let out a slow breath.

Granger had rolled onto her side, facing the sun that filtered in through the curtains. She'd pulled the blanket up under her chin but he could tell she was awake by the gentle sway of the curtains that she must have busied herself with. He had hoped she would have gone back to sleep but as always; the fates were unkind.

His tongue stalled in his mouth as he made to call out to her. It was a natural reaction, one that held no merit in the current circumstances. He looked down into his palm at the necklace before conjuring a glass of water into his hand. He set it down on the table he'd placed beside the bed before reaching out to take her shoulder.