Masquerade (Discontinued)

Chapter XXVI

St. Mungo's, London, England, Great Britain

Tuesday the 14th of September 1999

2:09 PM

Severus Snape was agitated.

"W-what's happening?" he wheezed. Severus was hoarse and his eyes burned, and he felt his muscles ache. He tried to lift his arm, but found himself unable to, too weak to do anything. He looked down at his body. Tucked tightly into a hospital bed, the sheets showed that he was far thinner than he had been only hours ago, and though he could feel the magic of a stasis charm slipping off of him, he still felt atrophied.

It had been longer than the six months a stasis charm allowed, he realized. And this was not the Hospital Wing of the Hogwarts School.

"Hello, Professor Snape," a young man with golden eyes and tanned skin said. He smiled gently down at Severus. It was a familiar smile. Severus' lips curled back into a sneer. "You're in St. Mungo's Hospital. How do you feel?"

"Who are you?" Severus barked before wheezing again.

"Professor, it's me. Blaise Zabini. Welcome back, Professor," the young man said and Severus stared, wide-eyed. He went to say something and wheezed.

"Oh, sorry, Professor. Here's some water," the beautiful young woman said. She was familiar, in a vague way. She summoned a cup and muttered. "Aguamenti."

She offered it to him and Severus despised being fed like a child, but he accepted it, gratefully. The water both burned and relieved, wetting his dry throat.

"Thank you, Healer," he rasped.

"Cho Chang, Professor," the young woman reintroduced.

Severus looked between the two of them and finally to the head Healer. His eyes narrowed.

"What is happening? Why are my students my present Healers?" he barked at the severe looking woman. The woman's lips tilted into a small smile and there was no small amount of in awe in her eyes when she glanced at Blaise.

"Professor Snape, I am Healer Radbury. These two brilliant Healers are my students. Blaise is the one that recovered you from your long comatose state. Professor, it's 1999, two years after Hermione Granger put you in a coma with Black magic," Healer Radbury said. She did not put on any airs and Severus appreciated that, though he was shocked by her words. "Do you remember what happened two years ago on June 18th 1997?"

"Yes," Severus barked.

Merlin, he remembered. The chaos. Voldemort's cold snake-like sneer. The sound of flying magic buzzing in his ear as he cast down Death Eater after Death Eater, revealing himself as the double agent that he was.

Hermione Granger's black eyes and the burning curse that had coursed through his veins, setting his world on fire with agony.

"Good," Healer Radbury said. She leaned over him, her eyes shrewd as she scanned his body.

"Professor, when you were first brought into St. Mungo's, you were suffering from Blood Magic used upon your body. But, you woke up at some point responded well to treatment. However, you fell into a coma. Or rather, Hermione Granger has confessed to putting you in a coma. Professor, do you remember how you were sent into a coma?"