E Pluribus Unum

A/N - For all those (Brian, Ghaeth) who have been begging femonemons, here ya go. Thanks to Kate again for the crazed last minute revision hell and the grace with which she came through for me ag I h I have reloaded the entirety of both Sub Rosa and EPU with revisions, corrections and better grammer.

Ghaeth - Thank you
Brian - I told you to be patient, see wha rewards you reap when only you are willing to wait a bit.
Deblovesdragon - I could see you clapping :)
Droxy - Thank you for continuing to review, my sweet, it means the world to me.
Jeanette - See my comment to Brian about Patience. LOL
Len - Thank you for the reminder about th echapter title of chapter one, went and fixed that this morning. Harry has enoug his his plate right now without adding statuatory rape charges, but more importantly the thought of what Snape would do to him had to be a show stopper. I hope your sweetie enjoyed the dance with you and yes, you made perfect sense.

Lady Aidil - Your reviews make my day, I get all warm and fuzzy, thank you.


Chapter 15 – The Only thing We Have to Fear

Kathryn left the library with a thoughtful look. She was going to have to talk to Severus about starting up that special potions project for Minuet again; looks like she was going to need some supervised time with a certain Gryffindor. Not that Kathryn didn’t trust Harry, but he was seventeen and she doubted he had a lot of experience with girls -- no need to tempt the boy past his limits.

She stopped by the hospital wing to visit Fauna. The official story, that they had wandered into the Forbidden Forest on a dare and been attacked, was thin and didn’t account for Fauna’s fevered eyes and Draco’s all-consuming horror.

Fauna was burning up from the inside out and Kathryn didn’t know what to do for her. Albus sat with her, trying counter-curses and spells of protection, but nothing seemed able to stop what was happening to the girl.
Fauna was scared and cried easily; she lay in her bed and withered. The teachers understood what was happening to her but they knew of no way to stop it. What was most frightening for Kathryn was that she saw a dark figure waiting near Fauna’s bed.

She knew him; of course, no grandchild of Marie Laveau could be ignorant of His identity. She saw him becoming more clear and defined as every day passed. Draco grew stronger and was released form the Hospital Wing a few days after the ‘attack’, but Fauna remained and as Kathryn watched the Baron standing watch over her. Kathryn came to understand that Fauna would never leave that bed alive.

In the evenings after class she would go down to the dungeons, curl against Severus and cling to his warmth. She wasn’t sure why David had attacked them -- if Voldemort sent him or if the three had. She didn’t know their agenda or if her defense of Draco and Fauna would be seen as loyalty to Voldemort or rebellion. Severus had been called twice since then and Voldemort appeared to have no thought that he was a traitor. Voldemort had gently scolded the trio for endangering Malfoy, but that was all that was ever said about the incident.

When the doubts came crowding in she would cuddle Ryan, kiss him, and whisper prayers of protection over him in the dark. She watched the students with greater intensity. She taught them the things to look for, the things to avoid; she taught them to defend themselves and she hoped they learned. But she could not escape the feeling of personal failure. Fauna’s eyes, so frightened and intense, stared up at her out of dreams; they were so like Elise’s were near the end.

A pall had fallen over the school and as September turned to October it was quiet in the halls and corridors. From her perch at the Head Table, she watched the students, frightened and unsure and she suddenly understood. They were all afraid, that glimmer of understanding was what had precipitated her visit to the Hospital Wing.

She leaned over Fauna’s bed and touched her lightly waking her from her fevered dreaming. The girl looked up at her from sunken eyes and hollow cheeks “It “It’s your fear that is killing you, Fauna.” She spoke to the girl, hoping against hope. “Don’t be afraid, Fauna.” She sat beside the girl and pulled her into her lap.

“I c-can’t help it.” Her voice was wispy and fading, there wasn’t much time.

Kathryn closed her eyes, rocked the child, and tried to remember. It came back to her in a glorious flash: the cavern and the Elves beside her as they readied for battle. She reached into that place where her blood belonged more to the eternal summer than to the human world and she began to sing. She sang the song the Elves had sung as they went into battle -- she sang with every bit of her magic and her power. Her voice filled the room, fluttered the drapes around the bed like war banners and drove fear before it with martial drumming.

Fauna seemed to lift in her arms, as though the song buoyed her up physically. It was impossible to be afraid as that song moved through your heart. It made a mockery of fear and darkness; it laughed at loss and shrugged off pain. Fauna’s cracked and reedy voice lifted with Kathryn’s. She sang with none of Kathryn’s power but with renewed hope.

In the corner, a tall, slender black man in a top hat raised his silver skull-headed cand sad saluted Kathryn with a smile. He then faded to shadow and was gone.

The song ended and Fauna fell asleep, a fierce smile on her lips and Kathryn tucked her in.

Alone in the darkened hospital, Kathryn rested her head on her arms and wept like a child.

Severus found her there, hours later, and carried her to his rooms unnoticed. She rested her cheek against his frock coat and clutched the material in her fist. The soft wool filled with his particular scent was balm to her soul. He laid her down gently on his bed and she tugged him urgently down on top or.
r.

“She’ll live.” Kathryn told him and the lightening of his eyes, the brilliance of his smile, the expression that was only for her, aroused her more than all the romance in the world. She cherished most the power to make him smile.

She pulled at his buttons, desperate to get to his skin, needing his strength and his sweetness. He stilled her hands in his and kissed her. His mouth grazed her lips with heartbreaking tenderness; he caught her lower lip and stroked it with his tongue, she shivered and tried to move closer, but he held her down and lifted his face away until she was still again.

With agonizing slowness he dropped his mouth back down to hers. He lipped her, licked, and then gently nibbled his way from her jaw to her collarbone, eliciting sighs and moans from her. She was hungry for him but he chose to tease and taunt, delaying her feast. He slipped the top button of her gown from the loop that held it captive and placed a chaste kiss between her breasts. Kathryn was feeling anything but chaste however; her growls of frustration were met by a rather sinister laugh that curled her toes in anticipation.

He chuckled at her pleading and continued to tug free each button with the air of a man who has all the time in the world.

“What if Ryan wakes up?” She played her trump .
.

“Minerva is baby-sitting for the evening.” He used the Voice when he said it, the low sexy tones that turned her bones to melted butter. She sighed happily and his answering chuckle, combined with the exhalation of his breath against her heated skin, made her groan in desperate need.

“Please, Severus.” She begged and with all the appearance of great reluctance but with an expression of smug amusement, he pulled her skirts up. He trailed his fingertips along her legs, and she wriggled under him, trying to press herself against his hardness. He nipped at her throat distracting her and continued his torment of her thighs. She gave in finally and let him have his slow torturous way with her. She wrapped a leg around him, pressed kisses into his flesh and settled in for the long haul.

He smiled his triumph and rewarded her with a kiss; she opened her mouth beneath him and he used his tongue to tease her with promises of things to come. She lifted her body to meet his. He stroked her from breto hto hip, hands running over her as if he were memorizing her curves or reading them like Braille. She stretched languorously and he cupped her breast in his hand and nuzzled her cleavage, his thumb moving slowly across the hardening nub. He shifted to give himself better access to the lower buttons, undid them with single-minded concentration, and then pushed the fabric away from her body.

Feeling like a package on Christmas morning, she watched him undress her piece by piece. He sat up between her legs and with slow deliberate movements he tugged her robes out from under her. Her dress, already unbuttoned, had come partway with the robes and he made its complete removal a deliberate process, tugging it in one fisted hand, his eyes burning her flesh and making her breath come faster, his other hand leaving fiery trails across her belly.

She was panting and gasping but he kept to his pacing, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Her stockings were next; he bent her legs, slipped the garters down her thighs, one at a time and then began to roll the stockings down, teasing her with fingers and mouth. She was growing desperate, so hot and wet that she was certain she would die if he didn’t take her soon.

He pulled her into a sitting position and kissed her deeply, while his deft fingers undid her bra and tossed it aside with a flick.

“I hope you are enjoying yourself.” She gasped as he bit down hard on her neck.

“Very much -- aren’t you?” He chuckled and kissed the reddened flesh.

“Bastard.” She moaned as he dropped his mouth to her breast for the quickest of kisses before pushing her back down on the bed. Then he leaned over her and began to suckle lightly on her breasts, just enough to arouse but not enough to satisfy. She was frustrated by his slow pace but also by the fact that he was still fully dressed. Except for the few buttons she had gotten undone he was still fully encased in black wool.
She reached out a hand to undo more buttons, only to have it pushed away.

“Oh no you don’t”

“Severus!” She complained but he ran a finger across her panties, grazing the wetness and she was lost, willing to do anything if he would just touch her there again.

He hooked his fingers into her panties and drew them down in a single swift movement, the first fast thing he had done. His fingers began to explore her soft wet folds while his mouth worked its magic on her nipples. She was crying out in pleasure and need, writhing against him, frantic for his touch. He slipped his fingers inside of her and she almost screamed at the sudden burst of sensation. She was so keyed up by his maddeningly slow seduction that she doubted it would take much to bring her to climax.

He began to pump his fingers inside of her, stopping to finger her clitoris and then returning to his rhythmic thrusting. She was melting, she was tensing -- a primal need to just come hard was taking her and she clutched his jacket in her fist. The soft scratch of his clothes against her sensitized flesh was driving her into frenzy and she came screaming, her walls convulsing around his fingers as he milked her pleasure.

With a lazy smile, he unbuttoned his trousers and before she quite realized his intentions he pushed her legs wide and thrust up inside of her. There was something incredibly erotic about him still fully clothed moving on top of her naked body. He abandoned the leisurely pace he had set until now and began to pound into her with passionate abandon. She was screaming his name as she came again, and then a third time a moment later and finally he found his own release and shouting, emptied his seed into her, his face that of a dissipated angel in the flickering candlelight.


Later -- much later -- Kathryn took herself to Minerva’s rooms and knocked lightly. Minerva opened the door and grinned broadly, ushering her inside. Minerva, in a plaid tartan robe and her hair braided down her back looked as unlike her teaching self as it was possible to be. All the severity was gone and she sweetly smiled at Kathryn.

“Merlin, you look wiped out.” Minerva chuckled.

“One day that man is going to kill me.” She groaned and flung herself onto Minerva’s Victorian love seat. Her exaggerated stiffness and weary voice made Minerva laugh.

“You poor dear, shall I tell him to leave you alone?” Minerva enquired in mock solicitude.

“No, no, he would only take it out on the students! I shall continue to nobly sacrifice myself for their sakes!” Minerva was bent double with laughter and she went to fetch the sleeping Ryan still chuckling.

Kathryn took the baby with a soft tender smile; she loved this child so very much.

“I hear from Poppy that Miss Broomworthy is out of danger.” Minerva was watching her over the rims of her square spectacles.

“That’s wonderful!” Kathryn smiled innocently and Minerva shook her head at her.

“Kathryn, dear, you are the best DADA teacher we have ever had, but you do innocent about as well as Severus does.” Kathryn laughed as quietly as possible as she left to take Ryan back to his own little bed.