He Said to Meet Him Here (Open To Anyone)

Evelyn was waiting, for whom? Her beloved...they apparently had a lot to top about. She knew that they definitely needed to discuss his present day parentage. She had visited him at St. Mungo's and he was finally let out and she was prepared to spend some time with him. She loved him so much, but when he told her to meet him somewhere and then he showed up about fifteen minutes late it got on her nerves! She was a patient girl, but not when it came to arriving somewhere on time!

So she was sitting at the Slytherin table, waiting for him. The Great Hall was practically empty, a mere few students sat around with their heads either in books or focusing on various games. She however sat tapping her fingers, impatiently on the desk while she waited. In a way she had to have known he would be late. After a Death Eater attack he was no doubt sore and having trouble walking the steps, still...it annoyed Evelyn that she had to wait so long for him. Turning around she faced the other students and smiled. She was more comfortable today. There were times when Evelyn just hated being around other people, but today she wanted to be social, and if Miles didn't hurry up she was going to find conversation with someone else.

Evie

Gareth was looking for his fiancee. He'd been searching all over the school, and had finally come back to the Great Hall to wait and see if she would come to meet him instead. He entered the Hall and made his way to his usual spot at the Slytherin table, but saw Evie Marks not far away.

She appeared to be waiting for someone as well, and he thought that until their respective meetings made an appearance, he could keep her company. He walked over and sat down across the table from her.

"Hey, Evie. How are you today? Don't mind me, I'm waiting for Samara, and it looks like you're waiting for someone as well. I would assume that it would be Miles?"

God, he sounded like an idiot! Why in the name of all that was magical had they gone out? Even though it had only been for a week, it had made him think of her as a friend. So why was he talking to her as if they had just met the day before?

"I apologize for sounding like a git. I'm not trying to be, really. Oh, have you heard that I'm living with Sam, now?"

What the hell? Why had he blurted that out? If he wasn't careful, he'd tell her that he was also engaged, and then his family would be desending on him and he'd have to explain that he was in love, and not going to be a father, or whatever they would possibly think. He didn't want to have to drag Sam through that. It was his decision to marry her, not his family's and he loved her. Beyond all else in his life. He just hoped that Miles and Evie would be as happy as he was with Sam.

"So, how is Miles doing?" he asked, now genuinely curious.

Evie sighed, she always felt so awkward sitting here with him. It was still something she could not wrap her head around. Gareth wanted to be friends, but Evie would always see him as the boy that she had...dated...shaking her head she sighed and tried to rid herself of such feelings. She wanted Gareth to be comfortable around her, they were in the same house after all...but sometimes it just got to be too strange.

"He's okay," she sighed. "I haven't seen him all day, he told me to meet him here."

Crossing her one leg over the other one she placed her palm under her chin and sighed. She hated waiting for Miles, it just made her feel so pointless.

"Have you seen him?"

Had he seen Miles? No. He'd not seen the Gryffindor around the school for a while now. He'd actually started to wonder what had happened to him. He shook his head in answer to Evie's question.

"No, sorry. I was sort of wondering where he's been. I haven't seen him at all for a while. Did something happen between the two of you?" Gareth was genuinely concerned. He wanted to be Evie's friend, and he felt that he made her feel awkward when he was around. He knew that their breakup had been his fault, but he had made peace with himself about it. Now he just had to relax around his ex-girlfriend. They had both gone on to other relationships and were happy. Well, Gareth was. And he knew that Sam was as well. But possibly Evie needed someone to talk to?

"Evelyn, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. If I am, I can go wait for Sam somewhere else. Just say the word, and I'm gone."

Damn Gryffindor Tower. Why does it have to be so damn high?

Miles was still in pain, and against the words of advice from both his mother and his father, he was back at school. He didn't want to seem weak. And he also didn't want to miss any more time with Evelyn. That was proving to be difficult anyway, as it took him forever to get anywhere in the freaking school. He needed a muggle wheelchair, or something. But then once again, he would appear weak.

He came into the Great Hall and would have smiled upon seeing his girlfriend, if not for the unexpected company that she was keeping. There he was again, her ex. Gareth Winter was untouchable. He was head boy, and Miles was prefect. If he even thought about starting a fight, expulsion would be the least of his worries. His father would be upset about it, no doubt. And his mother...well in that situation, she would be much scarier than Severus Snape, that was for sure. But that did not mean he was going to sit around and watch the older guy hit on Evie.

He limped over to the two of them just in time to hear Gareth's final few words. He glared at him and cleared his throat menacingly.

"If she won't say it, I will. You're making her uncomfortable, Winter. Leave my girlfriend alone and go find your own."

He coughed into his hand and hoped that the cuts on his face and arms weren't showing too much. Not only had the attack weakened him, but he had contracted an infection from it. So he had bruises and cuts everywhere, a limp in his step due to the lack of muscle use, and a lingering cough from his infection. And all of this really pissed him off. So if Gareth Winter had to be the metaphorical punching bag, so be it.

Gareth looked up as he heard Miles' voice. He saw the sixth year Gryffindor standing nearby them and noticed that he was covered in cuts and bruises. What the hell had happened to him?! But even seeing that, Gareth had to be a little defensive. He'd not been hitting one Evie. Not in the least. He was engaged for Merlin's sake! Not that anyone other than he and Sam knew this, though. But still, Miles didn't have to worry about him trying to take Evelyn away.

"Hey," he said, holding up his hands in defense. "I was just talking to her, Miles. I don't have any designs on her. As a matter of fact, I have a girlfriend, and I thought that I would wait for her here, in the Great Hall. I didn't even know that Evie was here until I came in."

He stood and faced the other boy.
"I'm sorry that I got in your way. Now I'll go to the other end of the table, if that meets with your approval?"

Evelyn took one look at Miles and closed her eyes. She knew that he was sick, and that he was still in pain. She had caught sight of him at St. Mungo's but her father had insisted that she not be in his room too much. His infection had weakened his immune system, but she knew for a fact her father had given him a prescription to boost it again, it was only a matter of whether or not he was willing to take it. Looking to Gareth she smiled gently, she knew that he was NOT hitting on her, Miles was just in a bad mood and wanted to take it out on someone.

"Miles, stop it," she said softly. "Gareth was just checking to make sure I was alright. He's my friend...ex's can be friends, so calm down."

She looked to Gareth and gestured with her head for him to move to the other end of the table. Not because she was uncomfortable with him so much, but because she wanted to talk to Miles once more. As soon as she was sure he was gone she turned back to her beloved.

"You should not be here," she said gently, her voice catching with tears. "God Miles, look at you! You have had thought cough for days, are you even taking those potions my father gave you? Why couldn't you have stayed at St. Mungo's to heal?!"

She knew that they would probably end up in some form of argument over this, but Miles was never good when it came to taking care of himself. And she could not help but wonder who he got that from. Whether it be from his mother, or Severus Snape. Neither of them seemed to EVER get ill, so that meant it was probably a mixture of both.

"You need to either go back to the hospital or stay in the Hospital Wing..." she whimpered. "You look...you look like you are dying."

Gently she touched his cheek, and cringed when her soft fingers made contact with a dried cut that had been made when he had been attacked. She wanted to fall into his arms so bad, but he wasn't strong enough to hold her...not physically anyway...and Evelyn did not want to break him.

"I'm going to talk to your father," she said. "I'm a Healer's daughter, he'd probably bring dad in to at least look at you some more."

Miles ground his teeth together and glared after the Slytherin git that had finally left them alone. He knew that he didn't really have room to talk, with all of the girls he had snogged in his past. But he hated the fact that Evelyn had an actual ex-boyfriend. It just made his stomach churn thinking about her kissing anyone else. He moved over next to her and sat down, taking her hand.

"I am not dying," he said with a cough, completely derailing any bravado his previous statement had tried to show.

"I'll be just fine. But thanks for the complete vote of confidence," he said wryly.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the table. He felt like shit. And now that he knew Evie thought he looked like it too, there was no use pretending.

"I am taking the potions, actually. I was worse a few hours ago, if you can believe it. And if you go talk to my father, I will be hurt even more. This is my thing to get through. I want you beside me...I just...I need to overcome it on my own."

His body was racked with another shaking cough and he had to rest his forehead against his legs to keep himself from throwing up.

"Please...don't blow this out of proportion. I'll be okay by tomorrow."

Evelyn shook her head, when would Miles get it through his head that he did not have to get through everything alone! It was the one thing that drove her nuts when it came to him! He would not let anyone help him or show sympathy, and when they did he would get pissed and snap. Well Evie didn't care, she was going to talk to Professor Snape about it whether he liked it or not.

"I'm telling him Miles," she said, her voice choking with sobs. "Look at you! You look like you are about to fall over...or be sick...either way, you are going to go back to the hospital."

She knelt down in front of him and gently placed her hands onto his face. She didn't know what else to do. Evelyn could not stand to watch her loved ones suffer, and with this being Miles...she was prepared to go as far as calling Alec to the school and making him check on her boyfriend. And Evelyn knew that her beloved would hate that far more than having to speak with his father.

"I love you so much," she said softly. "I cannot sit and watch you suffer, just like you could not do that when I was going through my anorexia."

Blinking she sent a torrent of tears down her cheeks, and brought her lips to his own. Softly she kissed him, she could feel how sick he was...just from his lips. She knew that he was ill.

"Honey," she cried. "Please...please let Headmaster Snape help you!"

Miles closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers more firmly, knowing that she was right. He also knew that his father would probably make him stay in the hospital wing, if not go back to St. Mungo's. He pulled away and wiped her tears. He hated those tears. If anything were to chip away at his heart, it would be the tears of his Evelyn.

"Please don't cry," he whispered, his forehead resting against hers now.

"It's fine, I'll talk to him. If only just because I don't want to fight right now."

He pulled her up to sit by him on the bench, then he wrapped his arms around her and just held her against him while he tried to keep his breathing steady. He knew the professors wouldn't care, as long as there was no kissing. And with how he felt right now, he didn't even have the energy to make out, which was definitely saying something for Miles.

As he sat there, he couldn't help but think that maybe he should have stayed in the hospital. He had missed Evelyn terribly, but was it really worth every one of his loved ones lecturing him when he was sick?

"I just want to lie down. You can get him if you like, but I'm going to sleep right here."

He laid down on the bench and shivered slightly as he closed his eyes and ignored any stares from random people.

Evelyn was terrified for Miles and her body began to shake with sobs as she watched him lay down and shiver. She knew that he needed Severus, but she was so scared to just get up and leave him. How could her beloved get this sick, and why was everyone just sitting around not doing anything?! Couldn't someone take the initiative to go and get the Headmaster?! She knew that Miles wasn't dying right then and there but it was clear that he needed his father, and for someone to just stand there and watch as she cried and Miles shivered well that just made them douche bags in her book!

Sitting down on the bench, she moved Miles's head so that it was laying in her lap. She looked pleadingly at a student, who had clearly gotten the hint, and rushed off in search of the Headmaster.

"It's going to be okay baby," she cooed. "Your dad is going to come and take care of you."

Severus had been in the Potion's Lab preparing for his afternoon classes. There hadn't been any people applying for the position of Potions Professor, so that meant that he had to take care of the class until he found someone suitable for the position. Of course that was easier said then done, however he actually enjoyed his teaching position. This way he could keep a better eye on his daughter and the Potter brat. They had most of their classes together and it made Severus rather paranoid.

He was just finishing up setting out ingredients for his next demonstration, but was forced to stop when a random fifth year burst into his office. At first he glared at them and was prepared to scold the living daylights out of the brat...however all of that was forgotten when he heard that his son was in the Great Hall, potentially losing consciousness. Pushing past the child he rushed up the stairs to the great hall. He pulled the doors open and low and behold there was his son laying on the bench with his head in his girlfriend's lap.

"Damn it boy," he hissed getting on his knees by his pained form. "What did I say Miles? I said that if you felt sick you were to come to my quarters! And you go and work yourself into exhaustion and..."

He paused and placed a cool palm on his son's forehead.

"And fever...bloody wonderful."

Miles closed his eyes and turned his face toward the cool wood of the bench. He was not really in the mood to care about anything anymore. He was in a lot of pain, actually, and he was freezing to death. Every second just seemed to torture him and he wanted nothing more than to fall into a sweet oblivion.

"Sev," he began weakly. "Can we skip the lecture? I just need to sleep."

Before he had been released from the hospital, both Alec and Healer Marks had cleared him of all the effects of the curse. They had said that all he would now have to overcome was the infection and scarring from the cuts. But that hadn't made him feel much better. And now he felt himself falling deeper and deeper into unconsciousness and he stopped caring about anything from that point.

**

He was half asleep in his bed at the Hovel, and Sev was somewhere nearby. He was probably playing with Rennie or making food of some kind. That was good, because Miles loved to eat. And he couldn't wait to go show Sev'rus his new toy. Mummy had bought him a small toy broom that actually flew! It didn't go too high, but Miles thought he was getting pretty good at it. He opened his eyes, excited to go find it, but was shocked to find that he was no longer in his bed. He was in a big room, with a ceiling that looked like the sky. There were big kids everywhere that he didn't recognize. The only face that looked familiar was that of his daddy. Wait...his daddy? Sev wasn't his daddy...although Miles really wanted him to be.

He sat up and grasped Sev's forearm, while at the same time trying not to look around. He was scared, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Sev'rus," he whispered. "Where are we? Are we at your work? I don't remember coming here. Is nap time over? Mummy said she would come get me after nap time."

Severus didn't know what was going on with Miles at first, until he passed out and it took several seconds to revive him. He was so worried and he just didn't know what to do at first. And then it happened, Miles woke back up...only this wasn't the present day Miles. His son was hullicinating, and it was understandable. His fever was dangerously high and she knew that he needed to be cooled down immediately. He needed to get Miles to his office where he could care for him and get him back to normal. There was no need for his son to go back to the Hospital. When Severus had been a Death Eater he often found himself caring for other Death Eaters and what not. So this was really no different from those other times, excluding the fact that Miles had regressed a couple of years apparently.

"Yes scamp," he said playing along. "You are at work with me, mummy dropped you off. Why don't you come with me to my office, you have a fever little one."

He knew that this was going to look horrible to the other students so he pulled Miles up and helped him stand. He did not want his son being embarrassed about this later, when it was not his fault in the slightest. So holding him, firmly, by the arm he began leading him out of the Great Hall, instructing Gareth Winter to take Evie Marks to the Slytherin Common Room. The poor girl looked like she might faint and Severus really did not need another sick kid on his hands.

"C'mon lad," he said gently. "I need to take care of you."

Miles walked with Sev'rus to his quarters, but he didn't know why the man was pulling him so hard. It was kind of hurting his arm. When they arrived, Miles went to sit down on the couch directly. He looked up at Sev and stuck out his bottom lip.

"You didn't hafta pull me so hard, you know. I woulda come."

He felt tears come to his eyes, partially because he was pouting from being practically dragged here, and the other reason was because he felt so sick. he didn't know why, but his chest felt like it was on fire and his one leg wasn't working properly. He was also freezing cold. He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and pulled it over himself.

"Sevvy, I want Mummy. Can you have her come take care of me?"

He coughed a racking cough and had to grasp the couch tightly. When he was done, he looked at the cushion and saw small flecks of blood there. Had he just coughed that up? His eyes widened in fear and he looked up at his father figure.

"Sev'rus...am I dying?"

Severus watched as Miles coughed and coughed and cringed in fear when he saw the blood that appeared. He knew that it was from the infection, but God help this boy if it had gotten so bad that he was coughing up blood. Closing his eyes briefly he went to his potions cabinet and brought back a vial of a light blue liquid. It was to help with the coughing and hopefully take care of the blood straight away. Miles would have to drink it and keep it down, if not he would inject it into his blood stream.

However her hoped he would not have to resort to doing something so horrible to his son, not when his mind was clearly not at the current age it should be. Sitting down next to him he turned his son to face him and held the vial up to his face. For a moment his mind fleeted back to when Miles really was six, and how adorable he had been. He still had his baby face...to him he thought he always would.

"Please drink this for me scamp," he cooed. "It will help your cough, and no...I would never let you die sweet boy."

Miles looked up at Sev as if he had lost his mind. Did he really think that Miles would take a potion so willingly? That had never happened in his whole life! The only person that could make him take a potion was his mummy and that was because she would put him in timeout if he didn't. Well...Sev'rus would do it too, if he had to. Miles had learned that the hard way. But he wouldn't do anything while he was feeling so sick, would he?

Miles turned his face further against the couch and shook his head violently. If Sev wanted to give him that potion, he would have to fight to do it. Miles wasn't stupid. He knew he was too old to throw a tantrum...that was for babies like Rennie. But he hated taking medicine! He wouldn't do it!

"No! It's yucky, and you can't make me!"

He coughed again and felt like his lung was about to give out on him. But no amount of pain or coughing would convince him to take the potion. No way.

Severus sighed and going to his desk pulled out a syringe. He had never dared to do this to Miles when he was little, but he was not a little boy anymore. At least no in physical form, his mental capacity screamed six year old. The Headmaster could only hope that he would snap out of it before too long. Sighing he pushed the tip of the needle into the potion and filled the syringe. He knew that putting it into Miles's backside would be the best point of entry, but he wasn't going to listen to his son complain about a sore bottom.

So he took his arm and without warning forced it into his shoulder and pushed down on the pump. Once he was sure all of the potion was gone he retracted the needle and placed it down on the coffee table. He hoped that Miles would snap out of it soon, but he knew that it would probably take a long nights of sleep and a day of fighting this fever.

"Now lay down, Miles," he said gently. "I will get your mother in a minute, but you need to lay down now."

Severus would admit that he was out of touch when it came to talking to young children. He had not had to talk in such a gentle way since Serenity was little, but he supposed that he would have to watch it with Miles...unless he wanted to make his son nervous or upset.

Miles felt tears falling down his cheeks and he wanted to curl up in his blanket and just cry. How could Sev do that to him? He was already in so much pain, and now his arm hurt too. He covered his face in his hands and tried not to look at Sev'rus.

"You're so mean! That hurt! I want my mummy!"

He cried against the couch and pressed a hand to his chest. He cried from pain, he cried from fear; he cried because he was cold, and he cried because he didn't want to be sick anymore. He felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He was at the Santuary, he was at the Hovel. He was with Evelyn, he was alone in his dorm.

Nothing made sense anymore. It was all just a scary jumble of life, with no order or meaning. His body began to shake more violently and he felt his fingers ball up and become rigid. He was having a seizure and his mind knew it. But his brain could do nothing to stop the movement. The seizure was taking over. 

Severus's eyes widened in shock as Miles's body shook violently and without any further prompting or words he grabbed his son, held him in his arms, and apparated back to St. Mungo's. He didn't know what was wrong anymore, and nothing scared Severus more than not knowing what to do for his children. He would owl Aurora later, but at the present moment all he was worried about was his son. He got to St. Mungo's and without any further council he yelled and started barking orders.

"Help me!" he roared. "Someone help my son! He is having seizure!"

He felt tears prick his eyes but he refused to let them fall at the present moment and right then and there all he was concerned with was keeping his boy from bashing his head against the floor. So he held him close and tried to level his head so he would not get hurt.

"I NEED A DAMN HEALER HERE NOW!" he screamed. "RIGHT NOW!"

Turning to Miles he held him close and begged some deity that he would be okay. His son just had to be okay, he could not live without his children...he would lose himself if his son died. He could not lose his son!

Aiden heard the shouting from his office, and he didn't know why one of the trainees or junior healers wasn't helping. So he sighed and took out his wand, moving into the corridor where he saw Severus Snape holding the Maddox boy. Miles was a friend of April's and Aiden knew that only the direst of circumstances could bring the Hogwarts headmaster to look so worried. Aiden immediately moved to the two and guided them into an empty room. The first thing he did was to perform a sticking charm on his tongue so that he did not try to bite it off during the seizure.

"We need to get him stable before we can figure out why this is happening."

He summoned a muscle relaxing potion and injected it into Miles' arm. He watched as the boy stopped shaking and he immediately moved into diagnosing the problem. After several minutes of performing the more complicated diagnostics spells, he went over Miles' chart once more, and then turned to Severus.

"I suppose you gave him a potion to suppress his lingering fever and infection? Unfortunately, it appears he has an allergy to that particular potion. Now that the seizure is complete, we will need to pump his stomach. As you are his father, we need your written consent. Here are the forms," he said. And with a flick of his wand, the paperwork flew out of a drawer and to the headmaster.

"So once you sign, I can begin the procedure. Depending on the result, I believe I would like to admit Miles, at least overnight. The boy has been through Hell and back. I assume you consent to that as well?"

Severus took the form and pointed his wand to the paper, if it had his magical signature it would just go to each form the Healer produced for him. After that was done he handed the forms back to the healer and sat down in a chair not far from Miles bed. He could just barely stand to watch, and that was something surprising. Severus had seen some gruesome things. He had been a Death Eater for so many years in the past and one could not go a day without seeing some type of grotesque anomaly. But it seemed then when it came to the health or wellbeing of his children he just couldn't stomach it.

There were times when Serenity had been sick and he had just dropped everything to take care of her. He had stayed away from his classes, told Dumbledore that he would not be at the school for a week, and took his baby girl home and nursed her back to health. Granted, sometimes it took longer than a week. His daughter did not get sick often, but when she did it was like a train hit her...and then it would later hit him when she was her happy old self again.

The same went for his Miles. When his son was sick, even before he had been made his son, he would watch over him. Aurora usually was his caregiver, but there had been times when the young woman had to remain in classes. Dumbledore only favored a certain amount of people, and although he liked Aurora, he did not favor her to be out of work.

Turning his head slightly while the Healer began to work he sighed, and decided that now would be the best time to owl Aurora.

Aiden continued working on Miles with focused eyes and an intensity that he felt often, but it had been quite a while. Normally he gave the difficult cases to his junior healers and trainees because he had plenty of experience with it. It felt good to get into it again today. Besides, he just kept envisioning April on the table, and that made him work faster.

The stomach pumping was ugly, but it went quickly. It was much worse when the patient was conscious. Once all of the potion was gone, Aiden could work on Miles' infection again. He started with a more mild anti-toxin and moved on from there. With any luck, the boy would be up and about within another few weeks. But he should not have been out of the hospital in the first place.

Within the next few moments, Aiden could already see a change in the boy's skin-tone and temperature. His fever was swiftly decreasing, and he was not looking so pale or sickly. He was still quite ill, but now he was on a better road to recovery. Aiden smiled softly in satisfaction, then turned to the headmaster.

"He is stable. Let me know if you need anything, I will just be right down the hall in my office."

He placed a firm hand on Professor Snape's shoulder and left father and son on their own.

(OOC: I figured you could bring in Rory. Unless you would still rather be Sev, then he can post again and I can bring in Rory. I don't mind, I just wanted to get Aiden out of there and give you the option.)

Aurora had gotten Severus's owl and had waisted absolutely no time getting to St. Mugno's. How did this keep happening?! Why couldn't her baby just heal like normal people, why was God torturing her so much by hurting him again and again? She loved her son so much, and just knowing that he was in any amount of pain made her hurt just as bad. Pushing past Healer after Healer she found her baby in a bed and nearly collapsed on the floor in a wave of tears.

"No!" she sobbed. "Oh my baby...my poor baby boy!"

Rushing to his side she took his frail hand into her own and kissed it repeatedly. She just loved him so much and words could never describe how much she could not live without him. If he died her life would fade away with him, she loved him so much...please Lord...do not take her baby from her...she would not survive it.

"Severus...how....how did this happen!? My baby! My baby is sick!"

Miles felt as if he had been hit by the Death Eater's curse again. He moaned in pain and opened his eyes slightly to try and figure out where he was. Oh shit. Hadn't he just gotten out of the hospital? And now he was here once again, with monitors beeping, and worried parents watching closely. He tried to speak to his mother, who continually kissed his hand, and he wanted to console her. But his throat was beyond dry.

“W-water...” he croaked.

Why was there a tube in his throat? Had he gotten his stomach pumped or something? Ugh, he felt horrible. And he couldn't even throw up because he could tell there was absolutely nothing in his stomach. He looked around and tried for the life of him to remember how he had gotten here.

“Mum...Dad? What...happened...?”