The Edge of Nowhere

Chapter 1: Fight to Survive

(May 1998)

  The battle had finally come to Hogwarts and Severus Snape was one of it's first casualties. Or so it was believed. Harry Potter and company had witnessed his murder by Voldemort using his pet snake Nagini as a weapon. Harry swore he watched his professor die.

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Severus was suddenly cold and wet. His eyes would not focus. The rumblings of angry water surrounded him. A fierce gale force wind nearly blew him off...what?...rocks! Waves crashed over him filling his mouth with salty ocean. Severus weakly pushed himself up against the forces of Nature to cough out blood, sand and sea. 

His makeshift portkey, a St George medallion Lily Evans had given him years ago when they were children, dug into his palm. Another crash of waves. He must have landed, unceremoniously, in the midst of high tide. All he had to do was stay conscious long enough to keep from drowning.

Use of a wand took more concentration and more magic than he thought he had under present circumstances. Wandless magic had become second-nature but with his current affliction messing with his mind it was now a struggle. Not sure if he was strong enough for either.

He had to try something or he would bleed to death here or be washed out to sea. Severus feebly pulled his wand from his soaked sleeve. Pointing it at the gaping wound at his throat he spoke the chant in his mind,

'Vulnera Sanentur'

Waves pummeled him again slamming him against the jagged cliff. He had to heal himself enough to get off the rocks before it was too late, 

'Vulnera Sanentur'

Severus could feel the injuries to his throat, flesh - sinew - veins, knitting themselves together haphazardly.  He could also fill the blood stop its spilling from his body. He spit out the remaining taste of the thick red liquid, salty from the added sea water. Severus had never gotten used to the taste of his own blood.

Standing seemed an insurmountable task but he had to try. Unsteady and stumbling to his feet he fell against the cliff wall, waves hitting the back of his lower limbs and rising water covering his boots. 

He pressed his chest against the solid vertical surface. The clay and rock were cool on his feverish cheek and the moss that grew among the crevices of the rocky crag had an earthy scent. Inhaling the hints of terra-firma, his mind tried to concentrate,

'Moss! Healing components. Use in absence of Dittany.'

He grabbed at the soft green without looking, his eyes half closed and unfocused. Tucking the wet plant in his collar with one hand while his other hand clung tightly to the cliff face least he fall backwards into the encroaching sea.  Severus flipped through pages in his mind,

'Moss: anti-bacterial properties'

Then he remembered,

'Cottage. Cliff top. Overlooking ocean.'

Merlin's balls! His venom-fueled delirium and the blood loss must have thrown him off course. His original portkey destination was about 1300 feet...straight up. 

Wait a minute. He can fly. All he had to do was fly...straight up...400 meters...straight up.

'Fuck! I can hardly stand up!'