The Potion Mistress & the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 49: Remedial Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OC (Katherine) is entirely my own.

Katherine listened to the footfalls of the trio fade away. She was saddened by how Severus had been treated and anger spread throughout her body at the thought of him having to play puppet for two men for so long. Tears still slid down her cheeks as she clutched Severus' lifeless body to hers.

No. Not lifeless. Just unconscious.

She knew what she had to do, and it had to be done fast. Harry and his friends thought that Severus had died, but Katherine knew better. She had seen it before, with other victims of Nagini's.

Katherine gripped Severus' left wrist in her hand, and felt the faint pulse within him. Blood wept from his wound, still pulsing from the initial point where the snake had impaled him. He was alive, but only just.

Quickly, she lowered his body back to the dusty floor and ripped off her cloak. Katherine began rummaging through her inside pockets, producing several small vials. Three blood red, two iridescent blue, one black and one clear.

Katherine began with the black vial first. Swiftly, she waved her wand over the wound, cleaning the blood from Severus' neck and robes. Lifting his head slightly, she parted his lips and pulled the cork out of the bottle's neck. Katherine gently began pouring the dark liquid into his mouth, stopping ever so often to message his throat, to help the potion enter his body.

Once the liquid was gone, Katherine raised her wand again and began a series of chants. She slowly moved her wand over the wound, in a complicated pattern.

"Venenum expellere, vulnus purgandum," she chanted, repeating it three times. Slowly, the blood that had seeped out when she had messaged his throat, retreated back into his neck. The blood was replaced by a milky white fluid, that poured rapidly from the puncture points.

Katherine then took up the clear vial. But instead of pouring it into his mouth, she unstopped it and counted off six drops on each of the penetration points. The skin and holes began to sizzle and hiss as the milky white fluid began to disappear and the skin began knitting itself back together.

Within a minute or so, Severus' neck was left void of any mark. The poison had left his body, and the wound had been cleansed and mended.

Katherine raised her wand again, pointing it towards his chest, when a cold voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery," Voldemort's voice rang out. Katherine shuttered, nearly losing her grip on the wand.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest.

"If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour..." Katherine didn't realize it, but after the Dark Lord's voice faded, she was breathing hard. The air around them felt heavy and cold, but she mentally shook herself and refocused back on Severus.

"Rennervate," Katherine muttered, as she pressed the tip of her wand to his chest. Slowly, his chest began to rise and fall steadily, and as Katherine felt his wrist for a pulse, she found it to be normal once again. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief; for she knew the worst was behind them. All she had to do now was survive when she returned to the Dark Lord's side.