The Shattering of Souls

well, well. what have we here? you, me, a freshly scribed chapter to possibly ensnare you. talk about a fun time. just so\'s you know... hardly any of this is actually mine. anything that you recognize from outside of this little literary venture will no doubt belong to j.k. rowling. she is the mad genius who brought harry potter and his world to vivid life for the rest of us. i am merely picking some of it here and there to use as i will, with every intent to return it all to it\'s rightful place when i\'m finished. and all without one penny coming to me for all the time and effort i put into this.... oh wait, i was told i\'m plotless. that means there is no effort. silly me. now i know why i\'m not getting paid!

i am working up to smut, i swear i am. the last chapter was likely not what people were expecting when i said smut. there will be severus smut in later chapters. i just can\'t tell you when. but i swear it\'ll be there. please don\'t leave yet....

there may be more darkness, too. i\'m just not sure yet. i\'ll keep you posted.

and, i know you\'ve heard it all before, but if you would like to leave me a review, i would really appreciate it. just a comment on what a sicko i am, or suggestions as to why i\'m not sick enough. you know, the standard. i will take them happily. no flames, though! or i\'ll use them to roast your ass. and you know, the dragon now has a mate.... ~rolls eyes~ i do not want to talk about it.

Chapter Eleven: Of Plots and Pleasures Perverse
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Bri lifted her eyelids, the thin shafts of blinding sunlight that slipped through the window treatment casting a hazy glow that drove sleep from her brain. She yawned, then noticed the feel of an arm over her. A body was pressed full length against her back, and it took her several moments to realize that she had slept in Severus\' bed last night. The body that was presently crushed the length of hers belonged to him. At least she hoped it did. The thought of another man laying next to her in such a manner was enough to send panic spiralling through her system.

She shifted, noting that the arm that was thrown over her held her snugly to him. And the hand on the end of that arm was curled over the mound of her breast in what she could only describe as a possessive manner. She tried pulling free of his grip, but the arm tightened down on her. She stopped moving when the figure inched closer. She went wide eyed when she found that the man behind her was pressing a certain, stiff part of his anatomy against her bum. She was mortified. She wanted nothing more than to pull from his grasp and throw herself from the bed.

She tried pulling away, to no avail. His arm was still holding her to him firmly, not allowing for any escape. A sob threatened to spill from her mouth as unwanted memories came flooding back. In her mind, the blonde was behind her, forcibly shoving himself into the tight hole of her anus. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the memory and the pain it brought. Tears still managed to leak from her eyes. The muscled ring clenched tightly at the feel of a ghost cock being pushed past it. The pain from that was real enough to give her strength.

\'No!\' Bri wailed as she pulled herself from his grasp, throwing herself across the room. Her wild eyes settled on the dark figure that was now sitting up in the bed, a wand in his hand. He looked wide awake and ready to kill. The sheet was pooled in his lap, yet it did nothing to disguise the fact that he was fully erect. He watched as she put her back to the wall, her blue gaze locked on him.

Severus sighed, lowering his wand. The woman looked like a rabbit in a corner, staring at the fox that was intent on devouring it. It had been something of a shock to have her cry wake him, then to realize that he had been pleasantly spooned against her back and dreaming very wicked things he had no business dreaming about her. That would explain the morning erection that reminded him so much of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. He swore his hand could still recall the exact contours of her breast as he had held it. No wonder she was suddenly the exact image of a cowering child who was afraid of punishment.

\'Come now, pet. Surely you cannot believe that I would do you any harm?\' he asked her, pitching his voice so that it was low and friendly. He managed a faint smile, one that was neither too insincere nor too over the top. He watched as she focused on him, and he swore he could see her actually coming back to herself. It was that visual that made him certain she\'d been lost in a memory. He held one hand out to her.

Bri looked at him a moment, then lifted the corners of her lips in a twitch meant to be a smile. She stepped slowly away from the wall, moving over to the bed apprehensively. He watched her, keeping anything he might be feeling from his eyes. He intended to put his plan into motion today, and there was no better time than the present. What better way to start gaining her trust than to soothe her after what had to be, for her, a hellish recollection? She put her hand in his, allowing him to pull her down onto the mattress so that she sat next to him.

Severus brought her hand up, turning it over to place a gentle kiss in the center of her palm. She pulled her hand away and he let it go. But there was the faint beginnings of a smile on her lips when he looked up at her. He held back the evil grin that threatened to overthrow his face. It was a start. He would gain her trust rapidly, if he kept this up. Then she\'d be caught as easily as a fly in a spider\'s web. It was enough to make him want to laugh.

~*~*~*~*~

Izzy groaned as she lifted an eyelid, feeling the bright shaft of light pierce all the way into the most cobwebbed recesses of her brain. The Dragon Berry Wyne of the night before seemed to have made as much an impression today as it had the previous one. She felt her stomach roil and wondered if she could possibly lower herself to seek out a hang over potion from Snape. The thought of his name brought back the reasons why she\'d been drinking with a flood. That was enough to decide her against asking his help. She\'d bloody well rather suffer through the worst hangover she\'d ever felt than go to that prat and ask his help.

She pulled herself from the bed, deciding that a trip to the loo was in order, and was startled to feel an arm slide from about her waist as she did so. She glanced down to see a toned chest and a tangle of black hair that lay wildly on the pillows. The face was turned from her, but she knew who was sharing her bed with her. She looked up. Correction, she knew who\'s bed she was sharing. That was it. She was never touching one of those bottles of wine again. That decision made, she trudged into the bathroom and relieved herself.

She stepped before the mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was a mess, tousled and knotted with what had turned out to be several bouts of animalistic sex from the previous night. She was half surprised to find that her neck was a patchwork of teeth marks and bruises. Harry had been almost violent while fucking her the night before. She ran her hands over the curve of her bottom, still feeling the heat that came off it in waves. She found a full length mirror on the back of the lavatory door, turned her back to it, then looked over her shoulder. Yes, he\'d spanked her hard enough to leave brusies there, as well. He\'d marked her, made her his.

Some part of her wanted to rebel at the implications of it all. She had let him physically use and abuse her last night. She\'d had too much to drink, as had he, and neither one of them had been in possession of their full faculties. She should be angry. At him and herself. Somehow, though, she wasn\'t. The rather vicious way he\'d taken her made her feel.... needed.

That was the heart of the matter, wasn\'t it? She felt unnecessary in Otherworld. Her talents as a bodyguard weren\'t required here, so she had nothing to do. Until last night, she had felt an overwhelming sense of despair. Then Harry had showed her that he needed her. That he wanted her. Perhaps his methods were not of a normal manner, but all the same. She felt as if someone needed her again. Harry had given her a sense of purpose.

Izzy smiled, doing a small bit of clean up before leaving the bathroom. When she stepped out, she found those emerald green orbs fixed to her location. He was giving her a look that could have been either smile or scowl. She wasn\'t sure which, as her attention was drawn immediately to the stiff erection that jutted up from his groin. The sight of it was enough to tighten her nipples and send a rush of desire pulsing to her core.

\'Come here, woman,\' he ordered softly. She nodded and did just that, once more joining him on the bed. It was some time before she left it again.

~*~*~*~*~

The days continued to pass in a lackadaisical manner, with the dawning moving to the gloaming. Dark to light. The inhabitants of the house in Otherworld paid the passing of time little notice. They were too wrapped up in other worries to be bothered with the passage of the days. Bill spent much of his time locked away in a library of sorts, pouring over some of the books that the house contained. Many of them were written in the several different languages used in Faerie. He found the work to be fascinating and not at all tedious. He could not, however, keep his mind completely on the work at hand.

It often times strayed from his appointed duties to what he could see happening in the house. Odd things were afoot. Severus was behaving strangely, and that was something that required further study. The snarky Slytherin was plotting something, and Bill couldn\'t fathom what it might be. No matter how hard he tried. And he wasn\'t the only one who had noticed something was afoot with the Potions Master. Remus had made comment about it to him as well. As if it wasn\'t enough that Severus was acting completely out of character, then there was the added strangeness that both Izzy and Harry brought to the mix.

It had all started on the same day. Within only five minutes of each other, the four of them had entered the kitchen and made quite the impression. Severus and Bri had come in first, one of the tall man\'s hands on her back as if to guide her into the room. She had been looking up at him, talking to him with a gentle smile on her face. He had, for all intents and purposes, been smiling at her in what could only have been called a loving manner. Had the look been on anyone else\'s face. On the normally blank face of Severus Snape, it was a reason to think that there was a plot of some sort afoot.

It had been all so innocent. He had helped her to a chair, then promptly gone and retrieved her a glass of juice and a plate of food to break her fast with. She had smiled and watched him as he\'d waited on her, the look on her face one of real happiness. It was the first one any of the group had seen. And it was completely puzzling that the one who should have put it there was a man who was so sour and unpleasant, lemons seemed sweet in comparison.

Bill didn\'t know him the way Remus did, but he knew the man well enough to know that he was acting like this so suddenly for a reason. Anyone who had spent all of ten minutes with the Potions Master knew that he was acting like this so suddenly for a reason. A completely unethical reason. Bill had been witness to Snape\'s smiling and casting tender glances Bri\'s way. It was enough to unsettle his stomach.

Before he\'d had opportunity to do much more than blink at the wrongness of what he was seeing, Harry\'d come into the kitchen, followed by Izzy. The young man had looked supremely smug with himself, while the woman had been sporting several bruises along her throat that she hadn\'t covered up. It didn\'t take a genius of any sort to put two and two together there. He knew precisely what that meant. He also hadn\'t missed the way the two of them had looked at Bri and her seemingly attentive suitor. Neither of them had appeared to be happy with how Snape had been acting as if he were captivated by his charge.

It hadn\'t stopped there. Things had, over the course of the passing days, only gotten more bizarre. With the amount of attention Snape was paying to Bri, Bill couldn\'t help but notice how Izzy grew far more sullen and distant. She spent much of her time hovering in Harry\'s shadow, looking upon the young Wizard as if he were her sun, moon, and stars. Bill was certain that her withdrawal from the rest of the group was due to the fact that she saw how Bri and Snape interacted with one another. How wrong it was. Even if it was only a ploy, it turned out that Severus Snape was a far better actor than anyone had thought him to be. Bill was almost convinced that he had some feelings for the girl.

He had to wonder, more than once, just what Snape was out to prove. In all the years he\'d known the man, Bill had never once seen him show any amount of concern for anyone other than himself. And even then, it wasn\'t anything too terribly noticable. The last high profile thing Snape had done in regard to his own well being was to turn his back on the Dark Lord all those years ago. Snape was a man who was as complex as he was nasty. Any thoughts he had, he kept to himself. So this sudden turn about in character, the almost sickeningly sweet manner he used to handle Bri, was enough to make anyone think he was up to something.

As troubling as seeing Snape almost spouting poetry and acting the noble suitor was, Bill found that the situation between Harry and Izzy was even more troubling for him. He was concerned about Harry\'s behavior. It was wrong, and it was obvious that the boy needed help. He knew that as well as he knew his name was Bill Weasley. He also knew that some part of him was mildly pleased with the relationship that Harry had developed with Izzy. Unfortunately, it wasn\'t for any of the good reasons.

He could still recall one particular day, when the type of relationship the two of them were having had become apparent. Harry had just come in from the outdoors, his hair as wild and untamed as always. Izzy followed in his footsteps, glaring at his back with no small amount of discontent. She was unhappy about something. When he moved for the main room with the portal paintings, she stopped and glanced up the stairs. She\'d made comment about the two of them going to his room. He\'d replied with a shrug and a grunt, as if it were no matter. The woman had not liked his response, so she\'d moved to stand before him.

Harry had ordered her out of his way. She\'d shaken her head and called him a few choice names. It was obvious by the frown on the young man\'s face that he wasn\'t pleased with her decision to not accept his answer. He\'d hauled off and slapped her, open palmed, across the face. Instead of righteous indignation, she\'d gotten a sultry look to her eyes. It was plain to see that the gesture, meant to be punishing, had turned her on. She\'d whispered something to him, pressing her body to his. Herry had smirked, one hand coming up to grip her arm tightly. She shivered with the contact, and by the time the two of them started up the stairs, Bill was more than certain that not only was Harry aroused by the mild abuse, but Izzy was, too.

Bill knew he should find the behavior reprehensible. But he didn\'t. Secretly, deep down where even he had a hard time seeing it, Bill was glad that Harry was abusing Izzy. He still saw the woman as responsible for his brother\'s death. He felt that Percy would still be alive, had she been doing her job properly. He was still angry that his brother, confused and misguided as he had been, was now dead. Izzy should have been watching Ron and Percy, so that she could have stopped the wand blast that killed his fourth sibling. Or taken it in his stead.

On some rational level, he knew that Percy\'s death really hadn\'t been Izzy\'s fault. He knew, had he been in Percy\'s shoes, he would have done the same thing. But there was a part of him that wanted his brother back, and it had no problems laying the blame solely on her shoulders. He saw the fact that his brother was dead and buried as a complete failure on the woman\'s behalf. He supposed that it actually was, since it had been up to her to protect him. Still, the less rational part of him conveniently pushed aside the fact that the battle field had to have been total chaos. It only saw that she hadn\'t done her job.

The same less rational part was the part of him that silently urged Harry to continue with the beatings. He felt that Izzy should experience some of the pain that his family had gone through. She hadn\'t had to watch his mum try to deal with the guilt on a daily basis. She hadn\'t had to witness his father\'s lack of interest in all things Muggle. Even the loss had effected the normally boisterous behavior of the twins. He\'d seen Ron withdraw into himself. And Ginny had been hit doubly hard with the loss of both her brother and her intended. Draco Malfoy had never been one of Bill\'s favorite people, but the boy had made Ginny incredibly happy. He had to have been good for something. Even Charlie had pulled his work around him to drown some of the pain that had come with Percy\'s death.

Bill was firmly of the opinion that Izzy had much to answer for.

~*~*~*~*~

Remus sighed and stared up at the trees surrounding him. He thought they could be Ash or Beech trees, but he wasn\'t certain. Botany was not a field he\'d had opportunity to study, so he wasn\'t about to wager on his guesses. He came out to stroll in the woods that surrounded the safe house more and more as the days passed from one to the next. He found that the atmosphere inside the house was getting to be intolerable. He liked the peace and quiet that the forest offered him. He needed the tranquility desperately.

Too much that was going on in the house was troubling. The first thing on the list was the sudden desire Severus had to make everyone think he was the Wizarding equivalent of the Muggle character Don Juan with his rather good attempts at wooing Bri. They were so convincing that, had Remus not known Severus for so long, he\'d be of a mind to think that the man\'s actions were completely sincere.

The two of them were constantly seen together, whether it be short walks around the exterior of the house or sitting in the living area and conversing. Snape always had one of his hand\'s on Bri\'s person somewhere. He would hold her hand or elbow, or he would put his hand on her back to guide her while they walked. Remus knew for a fact that she had long since quit sleeping in her own bed. He wasn\'t about to speculate on what was happening in Snape\'s bed, either. That was something he didn\'t think he could handle knowing. It was sickening enough to watch the two of them together.

There was one incident that almost completely nauseated Remus. He had been unlucky enough to witness what he decided was meant to be private. There had been one afternoon when he\'d stumbled across the apparent lovers while they sat in the rose garden. Both of them had been seated on one of the stone benches, their backs to him. The scent of the roses, of the Victorian variety, had enveloped the couple with their heady fragrance. Bri\'s head had been rested against Snape\'s shoulder, while his arm had been slung low about her waist.

That of itself had not been too harrowing for Remus to witness. But it had nearly gagged him on the spot when Severus had turned to look down at the girl, a soft expression in his eyes. He had been smiling gently at her, then he\'d dipped his head to kiss her upon the lips. Bri had not pulled away or even resisted. She\'d allowed him to kiss her, albeit in a chaste manner. He\'d pulled back before the kiss deepened, leaving a pleasing flush to the girl\'s cheeks. She had truly seemed to enjoy the man\'s touches. Remus had found himself on the verge of retching in the bushes. He\'d retreated, vowing to keep a closer ear out when on the property. He never wanted to witness that kind of corrupt deportment again. Severus Snape was a truly vile man.

Remus still puzzled over what he had witnessed. He had gotten enough information on Bri Wallace from Albus and Snape himself to know that the woman wasn\'t overly fond of the Potions Master. He also knew that the feeling was completely mutual. So why the man was now acitvely trying to win the girl over was beyond him. Remus was sure there was some reason to it. He was also sure that, knowing Severus, that reason was twisted and completely wrong. He just couldn\'t, for the life of him, fathom what could be going through Snape\'s head. He wasn\'t entirely sure he wanted to know, either.

The next thing that he found troublesome was this new behavior Harry had started exhibiting. So much had happened to the young man in just the last eight years. It had been hard enough on him to find out that he had been born a wizard, with powers that most couldn\'t comprehend. But to see the entire Wizarding world turn to him for help, and turn on him when things had been hard, was more than the boy had been ready to handle. When Voldemort had returned, when young Cedric had died, Harry had suddenly found himself thrust into the worst scenario he could have imagined. Sirius\' death had been the capper, though.

When Sirius had died in the Ministry, Harry had lost a part of himself. Some part of him that he\'d never gotten back. Remus would have been a fool not to have seen the spiral that Harry was making into madness. He was slowly losing the part of him that had gotten him through all the hell that the last few years had brought. The spirit that had seen him worthy of the House of Gryffindor, that had guided him and helped him through the many battles he had fought, was deserting him. Harry was turning into an angry old man, bitter and hateful. He was becoming that which he had worked so hard to destroy.

Now, it was as if Harry felt the need to vent his frustrations on someone who was unable or unwilling to stop him. He had seen the bruises on Izzy. His acute sense of smell had told him each and every time the woman slipped into Harry\'s room. No matter how silent the two of them tried to be, his hearing still picked up each and every small sound the two of them made. Remus had been tempted to mention a silencing spell to the boy, but he wisely kept the suggestion to himself. And so he was forced to listen to the sounds of depravity when they came.

It was disheartening to watch. Remus thought on the boy as family, and to see him brought to the brink of madness was enough to break the man\'s heart. As the only child of one of his best friends, Remus felt obligated to help the young man. But he didn\'t know how. It frustrated him, because he wanted to bring Harry back to himself. For James and Lily. Their memory. They deserved that. For Harry, himself. Harry deserved that. But Remus wasn\'t certain what he could do to stop the encroaching madness that threatened to consume Harry Potter.

The final thing that pressed upon his mind heavily was the Guardian. Tyler. There was some odd thing about the woman that Remus couldn\'t put his finger on. He\'d wracked his brain for an answer, tried to figure out what there was about the woman that made him.... uneasy. But the answer always eluded him. He had spent many hours merely sitting and thinking upon the woman. He knew that something about her was unusual. He simply could not name it. That was worrisome.

Just as unnerving for him was the fact that he suddenly found himself dangerously attracted to her. He hadn\'t had much of an opportunity to build any sort of physical relationship with any women of his acquaintance, because he felt his lycanthropy was a serious obstacle. Not that he had never been with a woman. He just hadn\'t allowed himself to get too attached. The whores that haunted Knock Turn Alley were as close to a sexual relationship as he\'d allow himself to get. The wolf in him was strong. He didn\'t trust himself.

Remus would admit to having the same needs as any other man he knew. There was one major difference, though. Most other men couldn\'t rip the woman they loved apart with out the aide of a good chainsaw or four horses or something to that effect. He could. It was that very thing that kept him ever on his guard against establishing any sort of intimacy with anyone. He could handle being an acquaintance with a person. But he didn\'t feel he could allow himself with anything deeper.

Remus wasn\'t certain what had brought on this almost burning desire he had to get to know Tyler on more than one level. He\'d engaged in conversations with her, finding her to be highly intelligent and knowledgable. When she wasn\'t speaking, she was very quiet and attentive. It was her ability to listen intently that drew him more than any other thing. Oh, she was very easy to look at, a rather attractive package. But it was the way she handled herself, her jovial nature and her quick smile, that made him hunger for forbidden things. For a physical liason with her.

He mentally castigated himself everytime the thought crept into his head. There was no way he could afford to let his defenses down long enough to consider a relationship with Tyler. He would hurt her, and that was something he didn\'t want to do. He would never be able to live with himself if he did something like that. It was part of the reason why he\'d managed to talk Snape into brewing the Wolfsbane potion for him in the first place. He wanted some semblance of normality in his life. But that did not, could not, include any kind of relationship beyond friendship. With anyone.

Remus sighed as he thought on the secret that it was obvious the girl held. She was different from the others here. He could smell that she was. His nose had picked up a subtle, unique variation in her scent that was missing from the humans he knew. It was also unlike and shifter he\'d ever scented, so he couldn\'t name what it was that made her so unusual from the others. Not being able to puzzle this out was making him rather daft.

He muttered a curse as the problem swirled in circles in his brain. It was much like a dog chasing it\'s tail. He knew the girl to be many things. She displayed a vast amount of compassion. It was plain to see when her eyes would follow Bri with deep rooted empathy. Not sympathy. It was obvious that Tyler didn\'t feel sorry for the other girl. She felt the same confusion and sense of hopelessness that Harry\'s former bodyguard felt.

It was obvious in the way she regarded Izzy that she knew what the other bodyguard must be going through. A friend with no recollection, and a duty that seemed pointless. That made her feel pointless. Tyler seemed to share those feelings as well. Harry\'s madness and Bill\'s uncertainty. She shared them all. It was also just as obvious that Tyler was as wary of Remus as he was of her. And it wasn\'t the way the girl looked at him. He could sense it.

Whenever Remus would enter a room that the Guardian inhabited, he couldn\'t help but notice that she tensed. Her eyes became shuttered, wary of him. Her nostrils would flare as if she scented him. Her warm smile, a look she gifted upon everyone else, immediately melted away. It was replaced with a slight frown. And she never looked away from him. He could feel her gaze locked to him constantly. No matter if anyone else was in the room with them or not. It was as if she knew what he was, or simply didn\'t trust him.

The thought that perhaps Tyler disliked him because she knew of his lycanthropy was not one he cared to give much time to. He couldn\'t explain why her dislike or distrust of him hurt him, but it did. He was certain that she would like him, if given the opportunity. Hell, everybody like Remus Lupin the man. Well, except for Snape, of course. But the git didn\'t count. It was when they found out about Remus Lupin, the werewolf, that people tended to shy away from him. It was a hurtful thing, especially given that children could tolerate his presence. Other than Harry and his friends, very few people were willing to get to know him once they discovered he went furry once a month. James and Sirius hadn\'t minded, but they were gone. His list of friends was painfully short.

He didn\'t know what he should do. He truly wanted to get to know Tyler better. But, in respect to the lycanthropy, he was of the opinion that he was better off not doing that. It would be less painful, should things not pan out. If she kept looking at him with such suspicion in her eyes, he was certain the two of them would never manage to become friends. Remus heaved another sigh. All the thoughts swirling about his brain and the confusion they caused were working at giving him one monster headache.

Perhaps he should just hex himself with something incurable. Painful. It was likely to be more fun that what he was presently dealing with. He turned and looked to the house. There were a few lights on, even at this late hour. Bill\'s room. No doubt he was working on his assignment from Gringott\'s. Harry\'s room. No doubt the boy was busy shagging Izzy to within an inch of her life. No light from Snape\'s room. He wasn\'t even going to contemplate what that could mean.

Remus decided it would be best for his tender sensibilities to remain outside for a while longer. He was not up to listening to the sounds of impassioned coupling. The night sounds of chirping crickets and other assorted variety of wildlife was about his speed tonight. Merlin\'s beard, he felt like an old man tonight.

Bloody kids.....

end chapter eleven.
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thansk to madam shark for her constant support and good ideas. oh yeah, she betas for me, too. thanks bunches, doll!

to my usuals.... they know who they are and that i appreciate them.

feel free to let me know what you think of this. i am curious