And then the pain hit, and somewhere in his mind was a little voice telling him he was in shock and that's why he hadn't felt anything before, but in the next second, he locked eyes with Snape, shook his head uncomprehendingly, and dropped like a stone as the world turned black.
Severus managed to catch the boy before he hit his head on the stone floor, but only because he'd had years of honing his reflexes amongst negligent children and their exploding cauldrons. His next instinctive action was to stop the bleeding from the now-obvious chest wound.
He laid the Brat Who Lived to Give Him Heart Attacks out flat on the floor, cast a single Scourgify on the wound and once the wound was clean, closed it quickly with a swish of his wand. Next he checked to make sure the boy was still breathing and that he had a pulse.
The pulse was thready, but there, and the boy's breaths were rapid and shallow. He then pinched hard on one of Potter's earlobes, and the color did not return as quickly as it should. Damn. To keep the boy from dying of shock, Severus cast a single Warming Charm on the area to combat the dampness of the dungeon, then transfigured the chair and an empty jar into a heavy blanket and a thick pillow. The former of these he wrapped loosely around the boy, including underneath, adding another Warming Charm, and the latter he slid under Potter's feet.
Having staved off death for the next few seconds, Severus took a half moment to firecall Madam Pomfrey from the Floo to the right of his deck.
As he did so, he wondered why the hell had this boy been up wandering the halls at two o'clock in the morning. Especially since, according to the monitors on Severus' classroom and office, Potter had finished with his detention a good five hours before then.
Pushing those questions – which he would have answered, damnit! – from his mind as soon as she answered, he let Poppy know in a few terse words that her presence – along with at least one Blood Replenishing Potion – was required in his office. He hurried back to the boy as she gathered supplies and came through the Floo.
Potter's face was white as chalk, and wet with perspiration, but when Severus felt his forehead, he found it clammy. His pulse was still weak, but had not deteriorated, at least, and he was still breathing, though he had not regained consciousness.
A moment later, Poppy was beside him, and he told her about the chest wound and what he'd already done to prevent the shock from worsening. She nodded, and rather than pour the Blood Replenisher down the boy's throat, spelled it directly to his stomach, then followed it with another potion . . . he recognized it as one of his own. Blood Replenisher, but with a dose of dopamine, specifically for shock victims. Finally, she cast a spell to increase the concentration of oxygen in the air directly above the boy's nose and mouth.
"Now we just need to watch and wait," Poppy said with a sigh. She gave him a hard look. "Dare I ask what brought him to this?"
"I have no idea."
"Tell me what you do know."
The boy's breathing had evened out, and when Severus felt for the pulse again, he was glad to find it more steady than it had been ten minutes ago, though still weaker than it should be. His relief made him more forthcoming than usual as he related the events that led up their present situation. If pressed, he would say he rambled. "I had an alarm go off in my quarters, alerting me that one of my students had opened the portrait door to their common room from the outside. When I investigated, I found Potter, standing in the middle of the room looking . . . lost." He couldn't find the right words to describe the look in the boy's eyes when he'd spoken his name and he had turned to look at Severus. "Haunted" was almost right.
"I was about to ask him what the hell he was doing out of bed when I noticed his robes were covered in blood. He was standing, though, so I made him follow me here, to question him. I assumed . . ." He trailed off. He'd assumed since the boy was mobile, he was fine and had gotten someone else's blood on him, somehow. He hadn't thought the boy was bleeding out, for Merlin's sake. Did Potter have no sense of self-preservation?
"And then?" Poppy prompted.
"And then I told him to sit," he pointed, "right there, and to remove his robe and shirt so I could see if he was hurt. He did, and he was, and when I asked him what he had run afoul of, he claimed he didn't know and then fell to the floor."
"And you have no idea how he came to be injured?"
"None!"
"All right, Severus. Don't get your knickers in a twist." She frowned at the boy. "Do you know why he didn't check in with me today?"
Severus scowled. "He didn't?"
"No."
"The little—"
Poppy cleared her throat before he could finish the sentiment. "I wouldn't be too hard on him," she said. "I imagine he had quite enough of my company the last few days. Do you know if he has been drinking the nutritive potion?"
"Yes, I made sure of that."
"Good." She leant over and checked Potter's pulse again and nodded to herself. "He's stable enough to move. I want to get him to the Infirmary."
"Very well." Severus Levitated the boy's body and followed the Medi-witch out of his office and upstairs. They had hit the second floor when a huge crashing sound startled them both. Severus' wand was already out, but he was surprised to see Poppy now clutching hers, and blocking the boy's floating body as much as she could from where she stood.
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