snape and skull

27

Awakening
I

rma Pince slowly returned to consciousness, aware that something terrible had happened, but not remembering what it was. It nagged at her, the missing memories, and she carefully used an old memory trick to retrace her steps in her mind, starting with the last thing she could recall, which was going to investigate a noise coming from the library. And what happened after that? she wondered. Something had happened, something that her mind refused to think upon, but Irma was not the sort to shy away from bad things happening. She sensed it, just below the surface, and she probed gently. She couldn't afford to hide whatever it was from herself. She coaxed herself to remember, using the ancient techniques espoused by the Society. Because knowledge was their primary goal, those of the Society were trained in how to remember things verbatim and also photographically.
I

rma called upon those abilities now and suddenly she recalled what she wished forever erased from her mind—Pippin lying upon the table, mutilated and destroyed. A deliberate act of murder, directed at her. Then, before she could call for Lena, someone had hit her on the back of the head. She opened her eyes. "Dearest Cerridwen have mercy!" she cried.
"Aunt Irma, you're awake!" Lena exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "Do you . . . know who I am? Who you are?" Her eyes flooded with tears as she saw the light of recognition in her aunt's face.
"Oh, Lena, my poor owl!" Irma wept, and Lena reached out to draw her into a loving embrace.
"I know. I'm so sorry!" Lena said, rubbing the older witch's back, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I heard you screaming in my head, but when I got there, you were lying on the floor and you've been in a coma ever since."
The two Ravenclaws clung to each other, crying softly for what had been lost and also what had been regained. Above them, a silent monitoring charm sounded, letting the Healer on call know that their patient was, at long last, awake.
After a short while, Irma pulled back and asked softly, "Did you find who did that to my poor Pippin?"
Lena shook her head regretfully. "No, I wish I had. But whoever was sick enough to commit such an atrocity was gone before I found you. I was hoping that you . . . had seen who had done it."
"No. When I entered the library, he was lying there . . . like that. I believe who ever did it came up behind me and hit me."
"But why? What purpose did it serve, to hurt Pippin and then you?"
"I think it may have been a warning of some sort." Irma frowned, then stopped talking as a young Healer entered, a smile upon his face.
"Hello. My name is Healer Gordon, Irma." He introduced himself. "Welcome back." He ran his wand over her, casting a standard diagnostic. "Your vital signs are good, but I'll need to ask you a few questions to test your memory."
"My memory is as good as ever, young man, I assure you," Irma told him firmly. "Nevertheless, I shall let you do your job. Ask away."
The Healer began asking a standard battery of questions, starting with the usual name, age, occupation, and address.
Irma answered them all precisely, he recorded the answers on his clipboard, then asked more difficult ones. To his delight, the librarian responded promptly and coherently.
"Well, it would seem you've suffered little to no memory loss, Madam Pince. I am going to recommend you be discharged in a few hours, as soon as Healer Mordecai arrives, since he's the senior Healer assigned to your case," said Healer Gordon, and then he left them alone.
Lena was so happy she was almost jumping up and down. "Oh, thank Merlin! I was so afraid that you wouldn't . . . come back to me. I've been praying and hoping . . . Mum sent a basket of your favorite spreads and jams and crumpets and muffins, and Dad sent some crazy singing flowers . . ."
"Singing flowers?" exclaimed Irma.
"They're plastic, not real, and they run on batteries," Lena giggled. "They're silly but cute." She picked up a plastic pot with some pink and red carnations and pushed a small button on the side. The flowers began to bob up and down and a voice sang "Get Well Soon, We Miss You."
They brought a smile to Irma's face. "Your dad's a sweetheart, Lena. I shall have to write and thank him and Morgana too. How are things with the library?"
"As well as can be expected. We—Severus and I—cleaned up the mess and later on Severus and Skullduggery buried Pippin. Skull even called a Raven Guide to lead Pippin down the Gray Road."
Irma wiped her eyes again. The loss of her familiar cut her deeply and it would be a long time before she recovered from the shock of losing her faithful companion. "How kind of them. How long was I asleep?"
"Over a week," Lena said. She gestured to a table filled with cards and small gifts. "Several of the students sent these for you." She picked up a shiny leather book. "This one is from Harry Potter."
Irma took the book, it was a copy of the classic Rudyard Kipling book, Just So Stories. There was a short note which read:
Dear Madam Pince,
Please get well soon, I miss seeing you in the library. When you wake up, I hope you'll read this book, it's an old Muggle classic that Professor Snape suggested. I especially like the story of How the Alphabet Was Made.
Your friend,
Harry Potter.
"What a thoughtful and sweet child!" Irma said. She loved books of any kind, and this one was new to her, as she didn't get many Muggle books.
Severus entered the hospital room at that precise moment, and upon seeing the book in Irma's hands, felt his heart start to crumble to pieces with anguish. "I . . . hope I'm not interrupting," he began, trying to regain his composure. It was not easy.
"Severus!" Lena cried, running over to hug him. "Look! Aunt Irma's finally awake!" she sounded like an excited schoolgirl. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Severus made himself smile quietly. He was glad that Irma was awake, for the librarian was his good friend, and this would have been cause for a celebration, if only Harry were not missing. But the boy's absence dimmed any joy Severus felt. "It's good you're back, Irma."
Lena stiffened, her uncanny intuition telling her something was wrong. She gently drew away from Severus and looked at him sharply. "Something's happened. Severus, what's going on?"
He arched an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"I just know. You're upset, I can tell. Without reading your mind. Where's Skull? And Harry? Last time we spoke, you promised to bring him."
Severus silently cursed the Ravenclaw's uncanny perception. But he couldn't deny it, she was right. And he needed their help. "Skullduggery is away, paying off the debt he owes Thunderbird. And Harry . . . Harry has gone missing in the Forbidden Forest."