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The Road Home	By : alexial Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 2650 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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The Road Home

Chapter Four
Upon entering the Great Hall, the four made their way to the Head Table. Hermione immediately began searching for her son and Severus. When she didn�t find them, she assumed they were still in the dungeons, a thought that was confirmed when Sirius called to her.

�They were still there last time I checked. Severus and Cam had just started working on the Dreamless Sleep potions,� he said. At her answering smile, he went back to shoveling food into his mouth, reminding her greatly of Ron.

Turning back to her own plate, she began filling it with food as she continued her conversation with Lisa. After several minutes, several of the other professors began arriving and the table started to fill up. She was introduced to those professors who had taken positions in the years she had been absent, a total of four others, not counting Lisa. She and the Herbology Professor were the only new teachers this year. Albus mentioned that the staff would meet the young man the next day, for he hadn�t arrived yet.

She was fairly shocked to see Padma Patil at the table. After reintroducing herself, Hermione found that Padma had shared the love of Divinations with her twin, Parvati, and had taken over Sybil Trelawney�s position two years earlier. Upon hearing this, Hermione smiled widely and gave an internal sigh of relief. She had not been looking forward to working with that dragonfly. She and Padma talked of Parvati, who to Hermione�s surprise had dropped the subject of Divination and was currently a very successful and well-known lawyer in the Magical community. She sent her regards to Parvati before turning and introducing herself to the man on her right.

Matthias Renaldo was the Ancient Runes Professor, and had been for the past five years. Hermione remembered, with a pang of sorrow, that her professor had been killed in the last rebellious attacks of the remaining Death Eaters after Voldemort was defeated. Matthias was several years older than her and appeared to be very nice, and quite interesting.

The two were quite engaged in a discussion of certain runes when Hermione felt a chill run down her spine. Slightly uncomfortable, yet waving it off as just the chills, she continued her conversation with Matthias. When, a few seconds later, another chill ran down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled, she sat up straight and looked around.

�Are you alright?� Matthias asked, concerned and not just a little confused.

�I�I don�t know,� Hermione replied, trying to figure out what it was that felt�wrong. She did not know what it was, just that something definitely was not right.

Her stomach tightened as another chill ran through her body. Quickly excusing herself, she approached Albus and Minerva, who was feeding Maggie. Bending down, she made sure everything was alright with her daughter.

�Hermione, are you alright, dear?� Albus asked, seeing her now panicked expression and the compulsive way she was inspecting her daughter.

�I�m not sure. Something�s wrong�something-� her head snapped up suddenly. �Cam!� she whispered, an underlying tone of fear and panic in her voice, before practically thrusting Maggie back into Minerva�s arms. She then spun on her heels and ran as fast as she could out of the Hall. Not even two seconds later, Albus and Sirius were following her.

Hermione tore through the halls, frantic with worry. She didn�t know why or how she knew that Cam was in trouble, she just all of a sudden knew that he was. All she could do was run as fast as she could towards the dungeons, while images of him dead or irreparably hurt due to a potion or explosion ran through her head.

Finally, they were stepping off of the last step of the stairs that connected to the entrance of the Potions corridor. The three were immediately accosted by the smell of burning word, as well as the acrid smell of something else burning. The hallway was filled with smoke that was pouring out of the Potions doorway. With a wave of his hand, Albus cleared the hallways of the smoke and the smell. This didn�t do as much good as he hoped, since both the smell and the smoke were still overflowing from the room itself.

As they quickly made their way to the door, Hermione willed herself to relax and let her Medi-witch instincts take over.

�You said they were working on Dreamless Sleep?� she asked Sirius as they reached the door.

At his nod, she nodded in return before entering the room, followed by the two men. At Albus�s questioning glance, which she could barely see because of the smoke, she nodded again. He obviously saw it, for a second later most of the smoke in the room was gone. What was left of the wooden table Severus had been working on was still smoking, still giving off the smell from the hallway.

Quickly searching the room for the two occupants, she found them lying in a heap by the far wall. Judging by the color and position of the two different robes, Cam was underneath Severus. Quickly yet carefully making her way over to them, trying not to touch the potion that was covering everything, she finally realized what the acrid smell was.

Hurriedly, she cast the spells to check his vitals and stability. Satisfied that he was stable, yet seeing that the potion was eating through Severus� robes even faster than before, she cried, �Quick, Albus, lift Severus over to there. We need to get him out of his robes NOW!� Albus immediately levitated the unconscious man onto the table that Sirius quickly cleaned off, and Hermione charmed his outer robes off his back. Swiftly checking for any more signs of the potion eating through the clothing, she removed his long-sleeved black shirt as well before being satisfied that the rest of his clothes were potion free. Now that he was only in his pants and short-sleeves, she saw that his hands and one side of his face had come in contact with the potion.

�Shit!� she cried softly as she tried to discern how much he had touched. �Damnit! Too much!� she murmured angrily, before casting a spell that would stop the ugly boils from spreading or popping, before casting another that would sooth the pain for the moment.

�What's too much?� Sirius asked, surprising her out of her concentration.

�He�s come in contact with too much of the potion. We need to get him to the Infirmary,� she said before turning back to Severus. When she was sure that he was stable enough to be moved without magic, she quickly made her way over to the other unconscious form on the floor.

While her work with Severus had taken less than three minutes, they had been almost agony for her. While knowing that because Severus had been covering Cam, he had received the brunt of the explosion and therefore had needed her immediate attention, it did not mean that she still was not frantic with worry about her son.

As soon as she was finished with Severus, she quickly checked Cam�s vitals so she could have Albus levitate him as well.

�Albus, I need you to lift Cam as well, in case his robes were touched by the potion,� she said. As Albus levitated Cam, and Sirius cleaned off another area, Hermione removed Cam�s outer robes before he was moved onto the table.

He had been lucky, she saw. Only parts of his outer robes had been touched by the potion, so little that there were only tiny holes in the robes. Mentally thanking Severus with all her being, she checked for any other damage. She frowned as she saw the deep gash on the side of his head, presumably from when he had hit the wall. Quickly stopping the blood, she cast a temporary spell that would enable her to move him without the gash beginning to bleed again.

�We have to move them to the Infirmary. It�s too risky healing them here, where they could be contaminated by the remnants of the potion,� she said by way of explanation before sweeping her son into her arms. At Sirius� questioning glance, she just replied �No magic, I don�t know how it would react to the botched potion, but I don�t really want to find out.�

Seeing that Albus had picked up Severus, showing a hidden, yet not very surprising strength, she led the way out of the room. They traveled as fast as they could back towards the Infirmary, through the many twists and turns of the corridors and up many flights of stairs. Never before had Hermione realized what a trek it was from the dungeons, even with the shortcuts, and quickly began to tire. The weight of her son was getting harder and harder to bear at the pace they were going, and she started slowing down. Without warning, Sirius suddenly appeared by her side and took Cam from her without a word. With a thankful glance in his direction, they resumed their original speedy pace through the halls.

Finally climbing the last staircase, they entered the main level. Following the twisting corridors, they found themselves walking past the Great Hall. At the unexpected disappearance of the three adults, the rest of the staff members had made their way out into the hallway. When Minerva saw the three adults approaching with Severus and Cam in tow, she quickly shooed the rest of the staff off to the side of the hallway so they could pass. Hermione shot Minerva a grateful look as she flew past, followed closely by the men behind her. As the small group passed the congregated staff members, whispering and questions broke out as everyone tried to figure out what had happened.

Finally reaching the hallway containing the Infirmary, dread filled Hermione as she heard an evil cackle, just as Peeves materialized into the air in front of them. Hanging upside down and holding a fairly large ink-bomb, he blew a raspberry at them before singing, �Won�t let you pass! Won�t let you pass! Not if you don�t have the password! Won't let you pass!�

As they unsuccessfully tried to get past him, Hermione pleaded anxiously, �Peeves! Please move!�

As she continued to plead with him, and as he refused to move, Albus finally stepped forward and drew himself up to his full height. His eyes were flashing dangerously and he was practically oozing power as he bellowed, �PEEVES!�

The three others in the hallway all flinched at the dangerous expression and tone of voice. Never before had any of them seen the Headmaster anything more than slightly angry. Never had they seen him this furious, never angry enough to radiate such power.

Hermione and Sirius would have laughed at Peeves� meek answer, �Yes, Headmaster, sir. So sorry, Headmaster, sir,� as he cowered and zoomed away if the situation hadn�t have been so serious. As it was, the three continued on their, bursting into the Infirmary seconds later.

�Lay them down in there,� Hermione directed, waving her hand in the direction of one of the private rooms in the back of the Infirmary. She quickly returned with necessary supplies and wand in hand. She shooed Albus and Sirius out of the room and went to work.

~*~*~*~*~

Three hours later, an exhausted Medi-witch walked into the outer room. Sirius, Albus and Minerva, holding Maggie of course, all rose to greet her as she emerged.

Albus quickly directed her into a chair, where she promptly conjured some chocolate to eat. After taking the first bite and feeling the initial warmth spreading through her body, she turned to the others.

�How are they? Are they alright?� Albus asked in concern.

She nodded wearily and let herself sink into the back of the chair as she finished off her chocolate.

�How�s Cam?� Minerva asked, knowing her younger friend had been frantic with worry for her son.

�He�s fine, he�s sleeping. He only suffered a concussion from the explosion. There was a nasty cut from the impact of hitting the wall. He wasn�t affected by the potion because Severus threw himself between Cam and the potion, completely blocking Cam,� she said, the relief and gratitude apparent in her voice.

�And Severus?� Albus asked, noting that something was definitely bothering his Medi-witch. His intuition proved correct as a troubled look came over her face.

�Thankfully we got there in time to prevent any irreparable damage,� she said. She paused, unsure of how to proceed. �If we had gotten here any later, or waited just a couple of minutes to get Severus� robes off, he would be even worse off than he is now.�

When she didn�t say anything further, Albus prodded gently, �But��

Hermione sighed, and the three tensed slightly and prepared themselves for bad news.

�Technically, everything is fine. His vitals are all normal, his condition is stable, no broken bones, etc. The damn potion is the problem. Because of it, he�s in a magically induced coma.�

�What did the potion do, exactly?� Sirius asked.

�Don�t you remember anything from Potion�s class, Sirius?� Hermione asked with an extremely faint smile. He shook his head no, and she smiled again. �They were working on the Dreamless Sleep potion and the only way this potion ever explodes, is by adding too much of the Lacewing Flies. They react negatively with the Bicorn Horn, resulting in the explosion. Any other mistake made while brewing, whether by brewing out of order or by adding too much or little of something else, only results in just a ruined potion. When too much Lacewing is added, though, the potion morphs into a different potion, and then explodes. So what Severus was hit with was a variation of the Dreamless Sleep potion itself.�

�So he is just sleeping?� Sirius asked hopefully.

Hermione shook her head. �Close, but not exactly. He is sleeping, since the mutated potion does cause a person to sleep, like the Dreamless Sleep. However, the new potion creates the opposite effect of the Dreamless Sleep.�

�Wouldn�t that just have him not sleep then? I don�t understand the problem,� Sirius said, confused.

Hermione would have laughed at his naivety, but the situation was too dire. Albus understood what she was saying however, if his eyes widening in concern was any indication.

�A Dreamless Sleep potion does put a person to sleep, but not in the way that you think. There are many different s in in the sleep cycle. In all of them, a person does dream, no matter what potion is taken or spell cast. The dreams that a person remembers, however, are in the first and last stages of sleep only. The Dreamless Sleep potion basically has the person�s body move from being awake into the deepest sleep possible, skipping all the other levels on the way. While the person is still dreaming here, he/she cannot and will not remember any of it.

�When the potion explodes, it first mutates into a similar potion. This potion, however, induces the opposite effect. It essentially sends and traps the person into the stage where one dreams vividly. No one knows why this happens, but the dreams are also enhanced, giving them a life-like quality. Unfortunately, this also creates the illusion that the person isn�t actually dreaming, but is awake. This eliminates the reflex we have of waking up to actually end the dream. That�s why it appears Severus is in a magically-induced coma,� she finished.

There was silence for several minutes before Albus quietly asked, �How long will he be like this?�

Hermione shook her head. �I don�t know. The other times I�ve seen this have never, ever been this bad. You can�t wake a person up from this, he has to mentally fight the effects of the potion and wake naturally. Usually, this takes four or five days, a week at most. But these people were not exposed to even half as much as what Severus was exposed to. I�m afraid that with the amount of contact he had with the potion, he could wake up in anywhere from a couple of weeks, to eight or nine months,� she finished sadly.

She smiled grimly as her companions gasped in shock and Albus closed his eyes as if in defeat. �I know.�

�And there�s nothing you can do further?� he asked, his characteristically sparkling eyes dull with concern and fear for his friend. Hermione ached for the elderly man in front of her, so used to being able to ease people�s suffering, suddenly powerless as his close friend lay immobile in the next room.

Hermione shook her head. �Not as of right now. But I intend to Owl my teachers and colleagues for ideas as to how to get him out of this state before then. There are some possibilities that might arise, but I have no idea how well any of the options will work, or even if we should try them. For right now, I�ve made Severus as comfortable as humanly possible. The only thing we can do now is wait.�

Albus nodded to her gratefully. �I�m sure you will be able to think of something,� he said. Hermione was slightly uncomfortable as he gazed at her intently. Seeing something that the others hadn�t, he cleared his throat. �Now, I think it would be best if Hermione got some rest. Minerva, Sirius if you would excuse the two of us, I need to have a word with Hermione before she rests.�

�Of course, Albus,� Sirius stated. He rose and waited for Minerva to hand Maggie to Hermione before the two walked out of the Infirmary with nods of farewell.

Once the two were back in the hallway and it was clear they were not returning, Albus turned to her and fixed her with another intense gaze. �You are not telling me something, child,� he commented softly.

Unsurprised by his ability to discern that she was keeping something from him, she figured it would be easier to just tell the truth. �You�re right, I�m not. I did not want to distress you or the others any further than I already have,� she answered equally softly and seriously.

Albus smiled slightly and patted her hand. �Child, thank you for trying to protect us. But now that it is just you and I, I want to know what it is that you are not telling me.�

Hermione sighed and nodded. �It has to do with a side effect of the potion,� she started. Several seconds passed as she tried figure out a way to dole out bad news as easy as she could. �Albus, the botched potion does more than just fixate the person in a reality-like dream world. The dreams they will be subjected to are, more often than not, ones that the person has had before. The more times someone has a recurring dream previous to being exposed to the potion, the more likely it will be that this dream will appear several times in this permanent dream state,� she finished, leaving Albus to come to put the rest together.

Albus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he did, indeed, put two and two together. He suddenly looked extremely weary, very much like the elderly man that he was. �It does not help that his most recurring dreams include nightmares from his life as a Death Eater, does it,� he asked softly.

�No, it does not,� she answered. �I wasn�t positive, but I was afraid that he suffered from nightmares in the past. This can make it extremely difficult, Albus. He�s going to be suffering a great deal, trapped in his nightmares. He�s going to think that they are real, that he�s actually living through them again. I don�t know how long it will take him to realize that he�s actually dreaming. Maybe, if we are lucky, he�ll realize what happened and recognize that he�s stuck in his dream state. But that very rarely is the case, even for Potion Masters.�

When she paused for several minutes and began to twist her shirt in her hands, Albus looked up at her. �There�s more, isn�t there?�

Hermione nodded sadly, dreading saying what she knew had to be said. �There�s a chance that�if Severus doesn�t realize that he�s dreaming�I don�t know how long he�ll be able to stay in there, being subjected to his nightmares over and over before�well�� she stuttered, not quite knowing how to say what she meant.

�You�re afraid he might think it was real and try to take his own life,� Albus stated so softly it was almost a whisper.

At her nod, he sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Never before had Hermione seen such a display of open sorrow and helplessness from the Headmaster. It unnerved her, which did nothing to help her already scattered nerves.

�I don�t know what kind of effect that would have on his body, physically or mentally. It might release him back into the world of the living, or it might have the same effect as a Dementor�s Kiss, leaving the body soulless.�

A shudder ran through Albus� body at the thought before he sighed again. When he finally looked up at her, his eyes betrayed his sorrow, fear and anger. Anger that something had happened to his friend and that he was unable to stop it or to help.

�You had mentioned earlier some possibilities that might help him,� he stated simply after several minutes.

Hermione exhaled before answering. �I do not want to get your hopes up. For one thing, I don�t even know if there are possibilities. And even if there were, we don�t know how anything would react to the potion�s current side-effects. I definitely do not want to try something new with Severus only to find out that it shouldn�t have been combined with the magic already in his body.�

Albus nodded in unanimous agreement at that statement.

�And, anything I might be able to try, would be towards the�darker�side of magic. Albus, we�re talking about getting inside a person�s head, into their dreams and memories. Even though it might be to help him escape from wherever it is he that he is trapped, it�s still mind rape. And any magic having to do with that is banned by the Ministry, for good reason. I don�t know if it would even work, or if we�d be able to use it in this scenario. But I will find out all I can about it, even if I know I shouldn�t. Poppy might know of some way to help, and I�m going to be Owling my colleagues back in America to see if they know of anything. I don�t want you to get your hopes up about a cure, but I don�t want you to lose hope completely. Severus is not a lost cause. I won�t let him die, understand?� she asked viciously, more towards herself than at Albus.

Albus seemed to understand this fact, for he smiled a little and patted her hand. �Thank you Hermione. I know that you wouldn�t just give up on him, and that you will work your hardest for a cure. But,� he said, rising to his feet and pulling her up as well, �you have been working far too hard today. I insist that you spend the rest of the afternoon sleeping, until someone comes to get you for dinner. Minerva, Sirius and I will take turns sitting by Cam and Severus,� he said as she started to protest and motion towards her patients. �We will wake you immediately if there is any change in either of them. And I promise I won't ban you from all-night vigils,� he joked, seemingly pulling himself back together.

Hermione laughed weakly as she let herself be pulled towards the entrance of her quarters. Saying goodbye to Albus, she was just about to walk through when she heard, �Thank you, Hermione.�

She turned and embraced the elder wizard before entering her quarters. Quickly making her way to her quarters, she gently placed Maggie in her crib. Looking down on herepineping daughter, a shudder ran down her body as she finally let herself think about what had happened, and what had almost happened. She managed to change quickly into her pajamas before collapsing on the sob sobs racking her body. Several minutes passed before she began to calm down and by the time her tears had dried, she was sound asleep.
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The Road Home