In Need

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Later that morning, Severus spoke with Dumbledore about the possibility of re-working a channel of the numerous hidden passageways throughout Hogwarts to make a magical path between his quarters and Megan’s. Dumbledore consented, and gave Severus permission to construct the passageway at his earliest convenience.


“Thank you, Headmaster. We can hardly afford to be seen sneaking in and out of each other’s quarters like a couple of schoolchildren trying to avoid detection, and I do *not* enjoy being the topic of gossip. Most of these children have a difficult enough time keeping information in their heads without my private life providing a source of distraction and mischief for their already challenged intellects.”


“I agree, Severus,” said Dumbledore. “I know that you only have the school’s best interest in mind,” he said with twinkling blue eyes.


“Albus, you are a dirty old man,” said Severus, sweeping out of the room as he took his leave.


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Severus only wished that he had seen Megan at lunch to tell her about the new passageway, and wondered where she was.


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Megan was, in fact, enjoying a steaming cup of hot chocolate and pretending to eat a cookie. She sat at the table in Hagrid’s hut and chatted cozily with him as Fang snoozed, comfortably curled up around her feet, which were starting to fall asleep under his massive bulk. She couldn’t actually bite into the cement-like cookie that he had served her on a daintily flowered plate, so when his back was turned to put the kettle on again, she snuck it under the table to Fang, who crunched it down greedily.


“Oh, yeh finished yer cookie,” noticed Hagrid as he sat back at the table. “Lemme get you another ‘un.”


“Oh, no thanks, sweetie - dinner’s in awhile and I don’t want to fill up. Thank you though.”


They sipped from their mugs and listened to the wind howling outside. Winter was definitely setting in quickly. Hagrid cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. “Er… Meg…,”


“What is it? ” she asked, caught off guard by his sudden serious shift in an otherwise lightly chatty conversation.


“Well, it ain’t none o’ my business now… but, eh… I jest worry about yeh is all, an’…”


He looked at her tentatively and fidgeted with the eyelet lace edge of his humongous gingham napkin.


“Hagrid - you know you can talk to me about anything, right?”


He nodded and looked embarassed. “Well, I was talkin’ to the kids, an’ they said… they said that you an’ Professor Snape… that you two’re… a couple now.”


“Oh! News sure does get around, doesn’t it?” said Megan, now having the answer to her own question of when someone was going to bring it up. “Yes we are together. I know it\'ll be kind of surprising to those of you who have known him longer... I guess that he seems to have made quite a different impression on all of you over the years than he has on me these last few months. You should have heard what Bill Weasley said this morning - he meant well, but it seems like everyone thinks I’ve gotten myself into something that will hurt me.”


Hagrid looked relieved to be able to talk about it - he felt protective toward Megan, but hadn\'t wanted to intrude in her affairs, so to speak. “See, that’s jest it, Meg. Are you sure of what yer doin’? I’ve knowed Snape a long time now, an’... well... he’s a solitary sort o’ person an’ never was too friendly with no one. We heard rumors thet he was forcin’ yeh to…” Hagrid cut himself off and got a very dark look on his face. “All I’m sayin’ is, if I ever find out he’s laid one finger on you t’ hurt yeh, well, he’ll answer teh me, among others,” he finished, balling his hand into an enormous fist.


Megan smiled quietly at him, picking up that he must have heard about the night with the death eaters in Knockturn Alley, and said gently, “Hagrid… things are not always as they seem. I know that practical wisdom says that if everyone who cares about me is telling me that something is wrong, I should listen to them… on the other hand, Severus has proven himself to me time after time. You will hear rumors - in fact we are encouraging them among our enemies. But the truth is that I am happy and that he treats me with nothing but respect and affection. You know me too well to think that I would be with him otherwise.”


“Well… as long as ye know what ye’r doin’… an’ as long as he’s treatin’ ye as he should…,” Hagrid relented.


Megan hugged him. “Thanks, Hagrid. I know it’s strange and I do appreciate your giving it a chance along with me. Mind you, I’m not expecting any miracles as far as his winning any personality awards with the rest of you,” she finished, her blue eye twinkling at him.


“That’s alright - he would be blimey scarier than he is now if he suddenly started walkin’ around with a cheerful grin all th’ time…,” teased Hagrid, cracking into a wide grin as Megan rolled her eyes at the thought.


The conversation continued comfortably, and both felt much better for having talked about it. Megan was glad to have gotten the tension out of her system that had been gnawing at her since Bill\'s visit that morning. She and Hagrid walked up to the great hall a little while later for supper. A light snow was falling in the swirling wind, and Hagrid\'s massive hand rested protectively on Megan’s shoulder as they walked side by side. He felt much more at ease about Megan\'s situation than he had since he heard the first rumors at the Leaky Cauldron. It was one piece of gossip he had most definitely not been happy to learn.

Severus Snape was an odd choice to be sure, he thought - but given the many men Megan had lining up for her attention, if she had ended up picking Snape, there must be good reason for it. And, Hagrid concluded, considering that Severus Snape generally wanted no one around him at all, she must have made quite an impression on him too.


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When Megan and Hagrid walked into the main entrance, they heard kids shouting, and there was a small group of students starting to collect around a tussle. They hurried up to see what was happening just in time to see a thrashing Harry break free from Ron’s grasp and punch Draco Malfoy hard in the face. His nose leaking blood and his eyes shooting sparks, Draco quickly drew his wand and was about to throw a curse at Harry, when Megan, with a swish of her own wand, brought Draco’s wand flying over to her hand. Hagrid broke up the crowd of eager spectators and sent them along to supper while Megan went to talk to the two young men.


“Harry, what on earth… You know I have to give you detention for that! What’s going on here, anyway?”


Draco smiled nastily at Harry, then leered at Megan, and said, “He just doesn’t understand the way things are now. But they’ve changed, haven’t they, beautiful?”


Megan was taken aback by Draco’s fresh remark. “Well of all the…”


She was interrupted by a silky drawl behind her, “Detention Malfoy. You know better than to speak to a professor like that. However, considering the extra help you gave me this week, I will consider it time served. You may go.”


Draco smirked at Harry, leered again at Megan, and sauntered off to the great hall for dinner. Harry’s face turned red and his hands shook with anger as he turned to glare at Snape.


Megan turned and looked at Severus with an incredulous expression on her face. “Oh no you *didn’t…*” she said in a dangerous tone of voice.


“Come with me,” he said tersely to Megan and Harry and ducked them swiftly inside an empty classroom.


Harry was bright red shaking with rage and looking hatefully at both of them. “Why do I have to come too? I already got detention!”


“Shut up Potter,” said Professor Snape.


Closing the door behind them and warding it for silence, Severus turned to Megan and his face softened. It surprised Harry, who had never seen him look like that before.


“Sorry about that, love,” Snape said to Megan, and Harry’s jaw dropped. “You know what trouble it could cause if it was to be known among those people that I am not controlling you. You can imagine what some of them have probably heard from their parents… which is, of course, the impression we were hoping to make. And as for making Draco serve detention, I have too bloody much else to do tonight,” he finished with a smoky gaze at Megan that Harry, fortunately, could not see.


Severus turned to Harry. “I include you in this conversation for the sake of the Order - you need to know the truth about what is happening. As for your detention, I am only glad that it is not my duty to oversee it. You will learn to control your adolescent outbursts if you are going to be of any use as an adult.”


Harry looked pissed off again. “Yeah, well, I only hit him in the first place because I can’t stand the things they are saying about her,” he said, nodding to Megan. “You should hear the things they say, and *I’m* the one getting in trouble,” he huffed.


“Oh Harry,” Megan said, “Your heart’s in the right place - but I really can\'t bother to care what Draco Malfoy or his nasty little friends think about me. Come on,” she said soothingly, “Just because *they* say something hardly makes it true - about you, me, or anything. Sure, it’s annoying, but… they *win* if it bothers us, because that’s what they hope will happen. We can’t let them get to us, because we have things that are much more important to think about. You know what I mean?”


Harry shook his head yes, and Megan gave him a hug which Severus rolled his eyes at but tolerated quietly. Megan said, “I’ll see you at eight sharp in my office for detention, Harry. Don’t be late.”


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After a quickie with Severus (which actually ended up being a few quickies strung together by the time he finally let her go), Megan hurried to her office, and had only been at her desk a few minutes when Harry arrived. She made a mental note to thank Severus again for the marvelous new passage he had made between their quarters that afternoon, which made such last-minute dashes between the dungeons and her tower even possible.

Megan, dressed in warm layers of running clothes, stood up and greeted Harry cheerily. “Come on,” she said, “we need to swing past Gryffindor Tower on the way down. You need to get your cloak and broom.”


Harry gave her a funny look, but cooperated. Harry had been dreading this detention - he generally liked Megan, but as the evening passed, the realization sunk in more heavily that his detention tonight might very well be influenced by Snape. So far, though, it sounded better than any detention he’d had to do in the past, so he wasn’t about to question it and have her change her mind. He got his things, joined her in the hallway, and they went outside.


“Okay,” she said, “for your detention, you are going to be my pacer. I’m going to run, and you are going to fly slow enough for me to keep up with you, but fast enough that I can’t catch you. Got it?”


Harry grinned, relieved to have something fun to do for detention. He had been annoyed since dinner about the unfairness of Draco getting off the hook so easily yet again. Tonight\'s easy detention was obviously her way of letting him off the hook too, and it restored Megan to a place of coolness that he had questioned earlier. Harry got on his broom and flew forward at a moderate pace, looking over his shoulder at Megan to gauge how fast he should be going.


“Go!” she said, and Harry took off.


He flew over the paths of the Hogwarts grounds, zooming along at about shoulder height, and she sprinted swiftly after him, her breath showing in the cold air. After awhile, Megan directed him to the steeper hill covered with forest, telling him to fly above it so he wouldn’t have to navigate through trees and underbrush. It was hard to keep track of her, but Harry soon started to get the hang of it as he peered down through the trees, listened for twigs cracking under her footfalls, and caught occasional glimpses of her. The bank was now so steep that she was pulling herself up using trees for leverage.


When she looked up briefly to see if Harry was still over her, she misplaced her footing and fell backwards down a long section of the slope, skidded down the steep embankment, and landed hard on her wrist. Harry heard her shout a few choice expletives that he made a mental note to remember for his own use. He dove down into the trees and landed neatly next to her.


“Professor! Are you alright? Do you want to ride with me back to the castle?” He looked at the wrist which she was examining - it was hanging at a very, very wrong angle.


“Oh shit, that looks really bad,” he said worriedly.


Without a word, she bit her lip hard, pulled her sleeve up gingerly, and dipped her hand into the ground, like someone putting their hand into water. She stuck it in up to the forearm and breathed a sigh of relief.


“That’s okay, Harry,” she was finally able to answer, “I just have to put it in the earth for a little while and it should be fine.”


Harry looked at her arm, sticking nonchalantly in the solid ground that seemed like liquid under her touch and caught on, saying, “What, you mean it’s fixing the injury? That’s bloody brilliant! Is that an earth mage thing?”


“Uh-huh. I just stick whatever hurts into the ground and it gets better. Pretty handy, really. By the way, you did an excellent job tonight. I appreciate having a good workout buddy.”


“That’s alright. I should actually be thanking you - that was definitely the easiest detention I’ve ever had to do! How’s your wrist?”


Megan tentatively pulled it out of the ground and examined it. Her hand and arm were covered in dirt, but the wrist otherwise looked like it was supposed to. “Ah, that’s better,” said Megan approvingly. “Let’s call it a night, shall we Harry?”


He grinned and nodded, and they walked back in to the castle together, trading funny lines they’d heard in movies.


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Severus disapprovingly watched the pair come up the stairs through the entryway. Harry was carrying his broomstick and had bright rosy cheeks. Megan’s cheeks were rosy too, but the smudges of dirt covering them disguised the fact, and the back of her clothes was covered in dirt and dried leaves. Megan and Harry were both laughing hysterically as they came crashing through the door regaling a scene from \'Young Frankenstein\', and both jumped as Severus cleared his throat and they noticed him standing there watching them.


“I was under the impression,” he said dryly, “that detention was supposed to be punishment for the student, not for the teacher.”


Harry looked defensive, but Megan cut off anything he was about to retort with by wishing him goodnight. “Thanks Harry - see you in class tomorrow.”


When Harry was out of sight, Megan looked sheepishly at Severus, rather embarrassed to have him see her looking like such a grub.


With nothihanghanging in his expression except a brief twitch at the corner of his mouth, Severus said, “You need to get out of those filthy clothes, Professor Waters. It is hardly within the bounds of appropriate decorum to be seen looking like that.”


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Awhile later, all of their clothes - filthy and otherwise - lay strewn across the pitted marble floor of Megan’s bathroom. A dozen thick beeswax candles flickered softly, and Severus leaned against a backres the the sunken bathtub with Megan straddling his lap, her chest cuddled against his, and her face on his shoulder. Their lovemaking had been slow and sweet, and now they both felt thoroughly relaxed and happy and rested in the warm steamy water. Severus traced his fingers along her spine and played with stray tendrils of her black hair, as she scrunched up against him, enjoying the way it felt. He looked up at the stars through the skylight over the deep tub.


He admired her design of the room - the deep sunken bath was surrounded by high variegated slate walls topped with long stone window boxes holding vines which draped over and crept down the walls. Also in the window boxes were orchids, which loved the steamy warmth of the shower, and which drank in the day’s sunlight through the skylights directly above them. The jets of the shower could simulate rain or waterfall. She had wide cedar benches around the edge of the tub, which were topped with long soft cushions - perfect for g ing in the sun even in the middle of winter. In the corners of the bath area were potted palm trees, which lent to the relaxing effect of the room.


Megan raised her head and looked at Severus with shining eyes. “I want to ask you something kind of big, okay?”


“Of course, love - what is it?”


“Well, you know - Christmas is coming in a couple of weeks. I had been planning on going home to my parents’ place, where I usually spend it. I’d like to do it this year too, especially because I’ve been so far away. And… there’s someone I want you to meet, who will be there too. Would you like to come with me?”


Severus looked at her for a moment - he wasn’t sure what it would be like to spend a holiday with her family, but they had seemed pleasant enough so far. He also knew that if he was going to be with Megan that visits to her family would likely be a part of the relationship. He did not particularly enjoy Christmas, but he imagined that it, like pretty much everything else so far, would be a much different experience if done with her.


Besides, what was his alternative? He imagined a brief scenario of staying behind: Staying alone in the dungeon, missing her, eating Christmas dinner with a crowd of hyperagitated children, being forced into participating in the ghastly merriment by Dumbledore… If there was one thing he could look forward to by going to Megan’s for Christmas, he thought wryly, it was that there would be no way for Dumbledore to force him to share a damned Christmas cracker. That vulture hat had really just been too much.


Severus accepted Megan’s invitation, and she was delighted. She had wanted to ask him, but really wasn’t sure if he would do it or not. She made a mental note to give him more credit the next time. As they snuggled down into the warm covers and she fell asleep next to him, Severus thought more about the trip and about Christmas. He didn’t have much experience in buying gifts, but he already knew exactly what he wanted to get for her. He wrapped his arm tighter around her, kissed her, and drifted to sleep.


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A/N - Thank you to those who have reviewed - I love hearing from you and am honored and humbled by your comments!!!

Thanks to all of you for reading, hope you like. Best, Rapunzel.

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