Chapter 14: Multo Subvenio, Lily’s Saving Grace
Within the next ten hours Dumbledore had come back to check on the situation five times. Every professor, except McGonagall, had stopped in at least once, as if to see the truth behind what they’d heard. Madam Pomfrey kept vigilant watch to make sure no unauthorized personnel entered the room.
One time when Dumbledore had visited, he’d brought news. He’d contacted specialists at St. Mungo’s and they were currently searching through ancient medicinal books to see if they could find a loophole in the Excrutio Venenum potion. That was four hours ago.
,
Charlie, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had refused to leave to eat or sleep. The only exception to their unspoken rule was if one of them had to go to the bathroom. Remus had looked through some of the books Madam Pomfrey had in her office and quarters, but he couldn’t concentrate on the words for more than five minutes. Peter squirmed and wiggled in his chair restlessly, and would sometimes gaze at the door longingly, most likely because he was hungry.
Charlie hadn’t moved from Sirius’s lap. Sure, some times in the ten hours his legs would go numb, but then he would just maneuver around Charlie to stand and pace for a while. When he’d gotten the circulation flowing in his limbs again, he would simply pick her up, seat himself, and place her on his lap once more. Neither he nor she seemed to have any problems with the seating arrangements. The two would talk in low voices, and whenever Charlie’s tears started to flow anew, Sirius would console her until she’d quieted.
James had held Lily in much the same fashion throughout the hours. Slowly, the pain seemed to increase. When it was particularly bad, Lily would scream and weep loudly, and one could just see how it tore at James. He desperately wanted to give her some sort of relief, anything that would help, but there was nothing to be done.
Eventually the others started to drift off. First was Charlie, as much as she fought it, then Peter, next Remus, and after sharing some meaningful looks with his best friend, Sirius followed. But James refused to leave Lily in any way, even if it was only his consciousness going away.
When Madam Pomfrey came out to let him know that she was going to bed, he asked for a word.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?” she asked quietly as she stepped over to the bedside.
“I wanted to ask if, well…if there was some sort of potion I could take to help keep me awake.”
For a moment James thought she would refuse outright. But, after taking a moment to consider, she sighed and nodded. He watched her walk over to one of her store cabinets, rifle around picking up different vials and reading their labels, and then, apparently having found the one she was looking for, she came back to his side.
“It doesn’t have that horrible a taste, but if you find it bothersome, I’ll get you a goblet of water to wash it down.”
James took the vial of snow-white liquid. Sniffing it cautiously, he glanced up at the nurse.
“Well go on, then!” she said impatiently.
He took a deep breath and, holding it, threw back the potion. It tingled down his throat like one’s limb would when circulation was restored. It didn’t taste so bad initially, but the after taste was enough to make him wrinkle his nose. Wordlessly, Madam Pomfrey took the vial from him and fetched him a glass of water before going to bed.
James felt the effects of the potion almost instantaneously. It didn’t so much make him hyper and restless, just alert and aware of what was going on around him.
He played with Lily’s hair and hummed tunelessly. He talked to her quietly, knowingly that she could hear him though she might not be able to concentrate on what exactly he was saying. He figured that the sound of his voice was enough to keep her from going hysterical.
After a surprisingly long time of six hours, Lily’s screams of agony awoke the occupants of the room.
One by one Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Charlie left to take a quick shower and grab a plate of food from the kitchens before hurrying back. It took much persuasion, but they finally convinced James to let Charlie sit with Lily while he, too, freshened up.
It was around noon that everyone started to get anxious. There were only three hours until Lily reached the peak. At that point in time it would be determined whether she would take up residence on the fourth floor of St. Mungo’s, or in her family’s graveyard.
Dumbledore and McGonagall had stopped in between classes, neither with news and both with more useless words of consolation.
Word of Lily’s condition had somehow leaked out to the student body, and had spread like wind-fed wildfire.
It was about one o’clock when Lily started to get a fever. Her skin turned rosy, and she shivered and shook uncontrollably against James. They piled heaps of blankets on her and James tried using his body heat to warm her.
When the fever climaxed, they took off some of the blankets, but not all of them, and Madam Pomfrey set a basin of cool water and a washcloth on the bedside table. James dipped the cloth into the water, wrung it out, and with it dabbed Lily’s forehead.
An hour later, everyone was startled when the doors to the infirmary burst open and in trooped Professor Slughorn and Severus Snape.
Immediately tension sizzled and snapped to attention between Snape and the Marauders. Charlie didn’t like him much, either, but had never been given a direct reason to hate him.
The thin, gangly seventeen-year-old was not a pretty sight for the eyes to behold. His black hair was long and greasy, his skin waxy. There was an ever-present scowl disfiguring his mouth, and his beady black eyes were narrowed. He carried a very tattered-looking book under his arm.
“Headmaster!” Slughorn bellowed. “I’ve found the antidote! Or rather”“ He pushed Snape ahead of him. “Young Mr. Snape here has.”
Dumbledore’s white eyebrows disappeared under the brim of his hat. “What are you talking about, Horace? There is no antidote; St. Mungo’s even confirmed so.”
“Aha!” Slughorn held up one beefy finger. “That’s where you’re wrong! Go on, m’boy, tell them.”
Snape cleared his throat. “Remember our discussion last week, Headmaster?”
“Yes, I do. Quite clearly, in fact.”
“Well.” The student glanced around a bit uncomfortably at all the others in the room. “I managed to come across this very old book of rare potions. The notes are handwritten, the only copy ever made. I shall discuss the details with you later.”
He opened the large, dusty text to a page that had been marked. Running a finger down the page, Snape pretended to reread the contents.
“Here. Multo Subvenio. ‘This potion, if properly brewed, shall counter the effects of the poisonous potion Excrutio Venenum. Multo is Latin for by far, by much, by a great deal, by a lot. Subvenio in Latin means to come to the aid, succor, relieve, help, or assist…’”
He continued to read through the background of the potion and the ingredients. Finally James burst impatiently, “We don’t need to know it contains twelve blades of grass, Snape!”
“Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore warned quietly. Turning back to the Slytherin, who was glaring at James, he said, “Let’s get on with it, Mr. Snape.”
Snape started reading from the book again. “’While countering Excrutio Venenum, Multo Subvenio will also cause side effects including: projectile vomiting, high fevers, memory lapses, and fainting spells. The drinker, if female, will most likely be incapable of becoming pregnant. If male, the drinker will forevermore be incapable of producing offspring.’”
Silence ensued.
“So,” Charlie began slowly, “this potion will save Lily’s life, but it will take her future baby’s instead.”
“Correct,” Snape replied shortly, though the comment was rhetorical.
A fresh scream from Lily slashed through the room like a knife.
“I don’t care if it had to take my life in place of hers, just help her!” James was losing his patience and was sending frightened ganders at the clock, which showed they only had half an hour to apply the antidote.
“James.” Remus came to kneel beside the bed and look his friend in the eye. “If she takes this, she might never have children.”
“If she doesn’t, she’ll never even have the chance to have children at all,” James countered.
To the room’s great surprise, Lily moaned, “Give me…the antidote. Please.”
Snape didn’t hesitate. “I finished brewing it just before I came.” He took a small vile filled with a liquid that was black as pitch out of his robes. Walking over to stand next to Remus, book still under his arm, he outstretched his hand.
James bent a glare at his enemy before snatching the vial out of his hand. He eyed it suspiciously, glanced at Snape, who said, “No, Potter, I didn’t do anything to it. Lily’s only ever been nice to me, though I never returned the favor.” Then he added, “She’ll probably wish for something to wash that down with.”
As though she’d been cued, Madam Pomfrey bustled off to fetch a glass of water. Meanwhile, James pulled the stopper out of the vial and addressed his love. “Lily, can you look at me?”
Eyes that were still fully dilated rolled up to meet his. He stooped his head, lightly touching his lips to hers, and didn’t notice when Snape turned his head away.
Madam Pomfrey returned with the water. Remus took the goblet from her.
“Here, Lily. Let’s hope this works.”
An indignant retort was on the tip of Snape’s tongue, but he held it back. For Lily’s sake.
Gently James pried open her mouth and let the potion trickle down her throat. She sputtered and coughed at the awful taste, but managed to get it down. As soon as he’d emptied the vial, James traded it for the goblet of water. He held it to Lily’s lips, and she greedily sipped it.
“I should tell you,” Snape drawled abruptly, “it’ll get worse before it’ll get better, just as everything does.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, Lily let out peals of fresh, high-pitch screams. She struggled, twisting her slight frame back and forth. “Snape!” James bellowed ominously as he tried to calm her.
But her pain only lasted as long as one could count to five. Then it was over, and Lily lay limp, crying with relief in James’s arms. Snape inclined his head and informed, “The pain is gone, but the vomiting and fevers will go on for the next twenty-four hours. The lapses in memory and the fainting should last a week.”
With that, he marched over to the headmaster. “We’ll discuss this in an hour. Please bring that with you,” said Dumbledore, indicating the book Snape was still carrying. Snape gave him a nod of acknowledgement, then left the infirmary.
Suddenly Lily was scrambling over James to get to the side of the bed. Once there, she proceeded to dry heave, since she hadn’t eaten anything for more than a day.
An hour later, Severus Snape sat in a cushiony chair in front of the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore was leafing through the rare potions book at his leisure, every once in a while stopping to read through a page.
“I daresay you acquired this where I believe you have, Severus,” he said at length.
“The Dark Lord’s library, yes, sir,” Snape confirmed.
“Ah,” was all the older man said.
Several minutes passed with only the sound of the pages being turned. Finally, Snape cleared his throat before saying, “Erm, sir, I should probably have that back as quickly as possible. If he discovers that I’ve taken it, it could result in my death.”
“Yes, yes, of course. However, I was wondering, Severus, if it would be possible for me to make a copy of this before you return it? It might prove useful in the future.”
Snape nodded. “Of course, Headmaster.”
“Thank you. You may return to Charms.”
Snape stood and walked to the door. He looked back when Dumbledore called his name.
“Yes, sir?”
“I greatly appreciate the risks you took to save Lily. I wouldn’t expect a thank you from Mr. Potter if I were you, but I believe Lily will pay her dues when she’s feeling better.” There was a knowing twinkle in his blue eyes as he said this.
Snape nodded again. “Yes, sir.” He opened the door and was gone.