Cat Scratch
Severus sighed as once again Sarah was absent from breakfast. Obviously a calming draught wouldn’t fix someone who has suffered from sleep issues since childhood he chastised himself. Lost in thought, he realized he was now the last professor in the dining hall. He swept quickly to his class and got them started on their essay for the period. As his class settled into quiet writing, he noticed chatter in the hall. He angrily went to the door to deduct points from the disruptive students, when he was stopped abruptly by the surprise of finding an entire class of students standing outside his door. “What is the meaning of this?” He asked in his most terrifying tone. A prefect stepped forward. “Professor Smith has not arrived to teach our class yet and the door is locked.” Severus felt a sinking pit in his stomach. He walked to Sarah’s classroom to let the students in. He strictly told them to take the time to do quiet independent study and instructed the prefect to supervise the two rooms for the time being.
As soon as they were sorted, he turned and billowed towards Sarah’s chambers. He knocked but received no answer. The portrait guarding her door registered his urgency, recognizing him as a friend and allowed his entry. When he entered her chambers the room was dark. He lit the lights and looked around the room. It was a disaster. Papers were strewn about the room. Some were tacked onto the walls with no rhyme or reason to why they were there. There was tea spilled on the floor and pieces of a shattered mug scattered around that had clearly been thrown at a wall. Gingerly, Severus made his way through the living room. He called Sarah’s name but got no answer. He had never been this far into her chambers and it was laid out differently than his, so he began trying doors. The first was the bathroom. The bath was running and had begun to overflow onto the floor. There were clothes in a heap on the floor but no Sarah. Severus turned off the water and pulled the plug in the tub to allow the water to drain before leaving the room. The next door he tried was an office. He was astounded to see paintings and drawings on loose papers and canvases around the room. Like the others, the room was in disarray but Severus could see that some of the paintings were exquisite, while some of the more haphazardly placed ones were more chaotic looking.
He stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him before finally finding the bedroom. Immediately upon opening the door, he could sense something was terribly wrong. It was dark and there was magic emanating from the room that chilled him to the bone as he tried to push through. He cast a soft lumos and noted papers and pens and random articles of clothing floating around the space. Finally, he saw the bed. Curled up in a tight ball was Sarah. She was covered in sweat and shivering. Severus knelt down by her bedside. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder and tried to nudge her awake. He called her name several times before her eyes finally fluttered open.
“Sev?” She muttered groggily. “Why is it s-so c-cold?” She stuttered out. Severus rested his hand on her forehead only to snatch it back. It was hot. Very hot. “Sarah?” Can you understand me?” He said gently. “Hmm” she muttered while slowly nodding her head. “You are very sick. We need to get you to the hospital wing” he finished. “Oh.” Sarah quietly muttered. “Ok,” she continued and started to get up. Severus leapt to his feet and took her hand to help her stand. Sarah looked up at him through hooded glazed eyes. “Where are we going?” She asked. She was delirious, Severus realized. “We are going to use your floo” he said as he began to guide her out of the room. He took note then that she was only wearing a tank top and underwear. She was soaked through with sweat. Her long hair was as wet as if she had had a shower. In her light clothing, he took note of how thin she had become. Her hips were bony and her ribs were protruding. He summoned her robe and helped her put it on before continuing to guide her to the floo.
When they made it to the fireplace, Sarah looked up at Severus looking vaguely surprised. “Oh Severus, I d-didn’t realize you were c-coming for a v-visit. I would have t-tidied up m-more” she shivered out. “It’s alright love, I’m not staying” he said gently as he put his arm around her hip, pulling her close to his body as he grabbed a handful of floo powder from her mantle and guided them both into the green flames.
When they appeared in the hospital wing, Severus guided Sarah forward. Poppy came towards them looking alarmed. What in Merlin’s name-” She began but Severus cut her off. “She’s got an incredibly high fever” Severus interrupted as he continued to guide Sarah further into
The room. She stumbled before she could reach a bed and sank to the ground. Severus grabbed her as she fell and managed to protect her from hitting her head off the floor. He lifted her into his arms, her head lolling back and arms hanging limply. He cursed how light she was. It hadn’t been that long, maybe a week since this had all started? How had he not realized her odd behavior was a warning sign of something more concerning?
He rushed over to the nearest bed and laid her gently down. He looked to Poppy in a panic now wondering what more he could do. She gasped after taking her temperature. “We need to get her fever down NOW or she’s going to start seizing.” She said urgently, no longer acknowledging Severus, and only focusing on the task at hand. Frantically she began casting diagnostic spells while Severus gathered towels from the back room and cast dampening and cooling spells on them to drape over her.
“H-how did I get here? I’ve g-got classes… m-my students…” Sarah rambled while Poppy examined her. “Severus?” Poppy called out in alarm. Severus rushed to her side. “We need to get support. She’s got Cat Scratch Fever. I am not equipped to handle this!” She said frantically. Severus’ mind whirled. Where had he heard that name before? He searched through his mental list of maladies and then finally, he remembered. Cat Scratch fever was one of the many maladies that young wizards and witches were vaccinated against before coming to Hogwarts. There hadn’t been a case of it in the UK in almost a century. How had this happened? As Severus’ thoughts spun, Sarah continued to ramble. “Christopher? Where is Christopher?” she muttered. Severus looked at her confused. He had never heard her say that name before. “Who is Christopher?” he asked. Sarah scrunched her eyes shut and shook her head. “Why isn’t he here? He’s supposed to be here? Why is he never here?” she continued to ramble. Severus was wracking his brain to try and remember any Christophers… It was a decidedly muggle name. Perhaps he was someone from her past. A lover perhaps? Before he could sink too far into his own thoughts, Sarah gasped and her eyes rolled back into her head as she began to seize.
Poppy yelled “the towels won’t be enough. We need to get her temperature down faster! Fill the tub with cold water! We will put her in. We need more help!” Severus ran to the back of the hospital wing where he found the bath. While he waited for it to fill, he sent a patronus to Minerva, urgently requesting her presence in the hospital wing. He then ran back to Sarah, who had stopped seizing for the moment. Poppy had already removed Sarah’s bath robe and was levitating her limp form towards him. They made it to the large tub, where they gently lowered her in. As soon as she hit the cold water, Sarah’s eyes went wide. “No! It’s s-so c-cold! Why are you d-doing this?” she wailed, arms grasping the edges of the tub and attempting to haul herself up out of the water. She was too weak, however, and after a short attempt, she slumped back down into the water, whimpering. Severus knelt down beside the basin and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him with terror in her eyes. “I don’t understand…” she said softly. He moved his hand to her face, stroking his thumb along her cheekbone. “It’ll be alright Sarah. We will take care of you,” he said gently. She looked up at him once more, shivering “n-nobody’s e-ever taken c-care of me before” she said almost too quietly for him to make out the words.
Before he had a chance to think those words over, Minerva burst through the doors of the hospital wing. “What’s going on?” she spoke urgently as she rushed to the back of the wing where she had spotted them. She stopped in shock once she caught a glimpse of Sarah’s limp half-conscious form in the tub. Poppy spoke then, “Minerva, we don’t have enough hands. I need you to go to the floo and contact Saint Mungos right now. We have a case of Cat Scratch Fever and we do not have the resources to manage it. I’m afraid if they do not come quickly, we will lose her.” Minerva’s eyes widened in alarm. “Cat Scratch Fever? There hasn’t been a ca- nevermind!” She cut herself off and ran towards the fireplace where she fell to her knees to make her call.
“Christopher!” Sarah said while looking at Severus. “I thought you wouldn’t come” she smiled at him weakly. “I needed you and you came” she said softly as her eyes slid shut and her head fell back against the ledge of the tub, unconscious. “Shit” Poppy muttered. Severus looked at her surprised. He had never heard her lose her cool before. She had seen a lot in her time at this school. Taking her temperature again, Severus saw the numbers. 109 degrees fahrenheit… If she didn’t have her magical core, there was no way she would be alive. “Ice! We need ice!” Poppy yelled. “Tippy!” Severus shouted. A house elf popped into view, “Yes professor?” Tippy bowed slightly while warily eyeing the situation. “Professor Smith is very ill, I need you to bring me ice. Enough to fill this tub please,” Severus stated urgently. Tippy nodded quickly, his eyes taking on a sense of fear for his kind Professor Smith, who had always treated the elves so nicely. He popped away then re-appeared almost immediately, surrounded by bags of ice, which he then proceeded to start emptying into the tub. Sarah moaned but did not wake.
Across the hospital wing, the fire roared to life and two Saint Mungos healers stepped into view. They took sight of the scene occurring towards the back of the ward and rushed over. Severus and Poppy stepped aside to allow them to do their own assessments of the situation. Glancing at one another the healers shook their heads. “What is it?” Severus asked impatiently. The two healers looked once more at one another and then the older of the two began to speak. “This is the first case of cat scratch fever that we have seen in almost a century, which I am sure you know already. The issue is that we never found a way to treat it. Decades ago, they developed vaccines, which worked to prevent the illness, but a cure was never found. Nobody has ever survived this in written history” she concluded. Severus’ gut began to clench. He thought he might be sick. Were they saying Sarah couldn’t be saved? He refused to believe that. He refused to just sit there and watch her die. “That is not an acceptable answer” Severus replied sharply, kneeling back down and smoothing some of Sarah’s hair off her face gently. Poppy clocked the gesture but remained quiet. “Just because there was no treatment a century ago, does not mean our more advanced potions could not help today.” Severus concluded resolutely. The older healer looked at Severus then and nodded. “At this point, all I can suggest is to treat her symptoms and go from there. Right now, the most pressing issue is her fever.” Severus leapt to his feet and summoned his strongest fever-reducing potions from the medical stores. He had brewed the hospital wing’s potions himself, so he knew what potions were on the shelves without even a glance. The potion sailed into his awaiting hand. He uncorked it quickly and went to Sarah. He used his thumb and pointer finger to work her jaw open and poured the contents of the vial down her throat, massaging her throat to help trigger her swallow reflex.
They stood waiting for the potion to take effect. After a couple of minutes, Poppy checked her temperature. “It’s going down!” she exclaimed, relieved. Sarah started to stir. “Christopher,” she murmured again. She began to draw her knees to her chest and curl in on herself. “I didn’t mean to drive you away. I was only doing what I thought was best…” she tapered off into incoherent mumbling. They couldn’t keep her in frigid water forever. After a few more moments, Poppy confirmed that her temperature was continuing to lower, so they levitated her out of the water and casted drying charms to her before Poppy transfigured her tank top and underwear into a proper hospital gown. With this done, Severus helped settle her into one of the hospital beds, where they sat waiting to see how Sarah would respond. They knew it would not be as easy as a fever reducing potion to conquer this disease.