The Moon Has Spoken

Fiddler opened her eyes and blinked in the dark. She rolled to her side to reach for Severus, but found that his usual spot on the bed was empty. Fiddler turned on the lamp and sat up.

“How weird…”, she murmured. She looked at the time, and saw it was way past midnight. She had gotten home a few hours ago, taken a quick shower and gone to bed.
And she had overslept.
The thought occurred to her that maybe Severus had come around, seen her sleeping and, not wanting to wake her, had gone to his own bedroom instead. But it was a feeble thought. She got off bed and went to the bathroom, feeling rather queasy. She looked at herself in the mirror and tutted at the dark smudges under her eyes.

“You need to sleep and eat properly, lass”, she told herself.

She washed her face and gathered her hair in a braid. She then coiled it on the nape of her neck and used a hairclip to keep it there. Once that was taken care of, and just to make sure, she headed for Severus’ room.
It was empty.

Fiddler felt her heart race, but her rational mind told her to remain calmed.
He’s an insomniac, Fiddler, you know it, he might be wandering around the house and he has no need for you to follow him like a puppy.
But something was telling her that was not it. A deep, unsettling sense of foreboding. Besides, ever since they had become lovers he had been sleeping all right.
She finally decided to go to the kitchen, get a soothing cup of tea and wait for him while she read some articles she had been putting aside for some reason. She smiled inwardly. Well, now her nights were occupied with more… interesting activities.

She made some tea and sat on the counter, browsing to her pile of medical articles without really paying attention to what she was reading.

“Oh, Trisks…”, she sighed. “Where’s your daddy?”

She laughed out loud imagining his face had he heard that. Triskelion looked at her and raised his ears, but made no move to leave his spot and comfort his human. Fiddler finished her second cup of tea and closed the plastic folder. It was useless. She was beginning to worry now. She leaned her elbows on the counter, put her head between her hands and closed her eyes.

It was a big mistake.


She was suddenly confronted with the face of Lucius Malfoy laughing delightedly. He was wearing a long black cloak and he had a silvery mask above his head, as if he’d just uncovered his face to show it to someone.
Oh, please, God, no.

Fiddler followed Malfoy’s gaze down to the ground, where a dark form lay. It was curled around itself and Fiddler’s clinical mind told her it wasn’t breathing.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no…

She didn’t seem capable of forming another thought.

“Well”, Lucius Malfoy said. “He did not last long. I always thought he’d be more… resistent. Oh, well. Mulciber, get rid of him”.

Another cloaked figure stepped forward and kicked the form on the ground so hard that it caused it to turn over.
Oh, thank God, thank God…!

It was a brown haired man in his mid thirties. His face was cyanotic and Fiddler knew at once his cause of death.

“Severus, my friend”, she heard Malfoy say. “You’re next”.

Two men hurled forward, dragging by his elbows a third one, long dark hair falling over his face, breathing raggedly and with blood trickling from his gritted mouth.

“Severus, Severus”, Malfoy said smugly. “I never thought you’d sink so low”. He raised his hand and Fiddler shrunk in anticipation, but he merely smacked Severus’ cheek as if he was a misbehaving child.
“So, tell me”, Malfoy continued, eyes wide in a mocking expression of utmost interest. “Is she good? That bitch you’re doing? She must be, to have you so off-guard lately… But then again, you’ve always been senseless after the most pityful shag, haven’t you, my friend? Remember, Severus, you must rule over the pleasures of the flesh, not them over you”.

“You should know”, Severus replied hoarsely.

This time, Malfoy did hit him. Blood flew from Severus’ nose, and the two men holding him upright released him sofellfell to his knees helplessly.

“Now, that position suits you, Severus”, Malfoy laughed, walking around him in slow, elegant circles. He kicked Severus forcefully on the back, and threw him to the ground, face down. It was then when Fiddler noticed he had his hands tied to his back. “Before I am done with you”, Malfoy warned, “I assure you you will tell me how to get past those wards, Severus. I think I might have a go on that Muggle of yours”.

“I think you will have a little surprise if you try that”, Severus replied, and Fiddler was both astounded and moved at the pride in his voice.

“Oh, you give her too much credit, do you not? Well, I will soon find out what is it so great about her. Yes, she might be a nice change to my somewhat… boring routine”.

Severus flexed his legs as if trying to stand up, but Malfoy put his boot on his back.

“Stay, Severus”, he said. “You know, as much as I would like you to watch when I get my hands on your little bitch, I am afraid I won’t be able to give you that last gift. You see, our Lord’s orders are to dispose of you swiftly, hence, I think it’s time for you to get stabbed by your own sword… Mulciber, get the flask; Crabbe, Goyle, restrain him”.

The two men bent over and picked Severus up by his elbows.

“You’d be flustered if you knew how short it took us to develop the potion, Severus”, Malfoy said, “you have taught Draco well. Yes, although your memory is somewhat impaired lately, I daresay you will remember the original ingredients of this particular draught… brewed by one of our most brilliant minds to ensure our Lord’s immortality… Wynn Ludlow Snape. May she rest in darkness”.

Snape writhed fiercely, but Crabbe and Goyle tightened their grip on him.

“Oh, I see you remember. Do you recall the final ingredient… my friend?”, Malfoy was gloating in Severus’ pain, and Fiddler was burning with rage. Had she been actually near him and she would have killed Malfoy with her own hands. Twice.

“Yes, you do. How could you forget? That was, I daresay, your final gift to our Lord before you became a despicable traitor…”, Malfoy hit Severus in the face again. “Anyway, my own son and heir, very much alive by the way, has managed to add another ingredient to this potion, a certain herb that works wonders in our Lord’s unique celularity. We had to test it in order to find out the exact amount of the herb needed, hence resulting in the death of many Muggles and wizards. No big loss. But their blood and the herb mixed together in the potion brewed by my son have managed to ensure our Lord the immortality your son failed to give him!”, he emphasized his last words, rejoicing in Severus’ expression, and thumped him hard on the stomach. Severus bent without a sound. Malfoy approached him, grabbed him by his hair and tugged his head up.

“Let us close the circle, Severus”, Lucius whispered viciously. “Lucas’ blood… and your blood. The Dark Lord will be most pleased”. He pressed the flask to Severus’ lips and ordered: “Drink, Severus. It will be painful, but quick. What am I saying… You already know that!”

He grabbed Severus’ jaw to force his mouth open, and Fiddler heard her own ear-splitting scream: DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!

And then the image broke into a thousand pieces, and Fiddler found herself on the Kitchen’s floor, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, tears running down her cheeks. Triskelion was sniffing at her wet face curiously.

Without a second thought, she got to her feet and grabbed the van keys from the wooden dog-shaped key hook that hung on the wall, racing towards the garage through the back door, wondering the reach of Dumbledore’s wards as she jumped in the van and started the engine.
She drove wildly to the gate, opened it with the remote control and went through it, stopping shortly afterwards. She stepped out the Denali without turning it off, so she could use the lights, and peered around, cursing under her breath, and trying, very unsuccessfully, to fight down the tears. If she’d only knew how to Apparate she’d do it to look for him, screw Dumbledore’s magic restriction. But she didn’t know how, and all she could do was walk within the circle of light like a dunce and pray to the gods above that he was all right.
What if he isn’t?
Fiddler, he’s been Marked as well. IF Malfoy forced the potion on him, he won’t be killed by it. You know it.
What if he bronchoaspirates?
Always the tragic, aren’t you? Use your brain, Fiddler, and stop whining. Simply… use your br—That’s it!

Fiddler focused as Dumbledore had taught her and reached for Severus’ own mind. She immediately got blurred images of bushy trees, the sound of the ocean, blowing wind, a stony road…
Bugger me. He’s on the edge of the cliff.

She jumped back in the van and sped up an almost hidden road, rattling higher and higher, circling the cliff until she could go no further, and the van’s lights illuminated him, stumbling perilously close to the edge, hunched over himself and holding a hand to his side.

“Severus!”, she cried, stepping out of the van.

He raised his head and she saw his sallow face blotched with blood coming out from both his nose and lips. She got to his side in time to hold him in her arms and prevent him from falling.

“Severus…”, she repeated, roaming her hands on his back and sides, trying to feel for broken ribs, sensing his breathing movements. He held her fiercely to him and whispered:

“Run. They’re coming”.

~*~*~*~*~

Fiddler wasted no time. She dragged Severus to the van, helped him in, and she was soon speeding down the stony road as if demons were chasing them.
In a way.
She reached the gate and drove through it, pushing the button to close it hastily.

“Will they be able to get through?”

“Theorically, no”, Severus replied with his eyes closed. “Once we got through the gate, the wards were activated and the house is supposed to banish from sight”.

“Excellent”, she said as she parked the van in the garage. She stepped to help him out, and let him use her as a crutch all the way to the kitchen’s back door. Once inside, he fell on the nearest chair and moaned quietly. The kitchen’s lights only but brought up the dramatic appearance of his blood stained face, but other than that he seemed… Still alive? Her ironic mind supplied.

“Wait here”, she told him. “I need to get some stuff”.

He only nodded and she ran upstairs to get her stethoscope and her first aid box, which had plenty of the most various supplies. She browsed through it hoping she wouldn’t need some of them and went back down. Severus had his forehead in his hand and his eyes still closed.

“I am back”, she said softly. “Now let me check on you”.

He opened his eyes and pointed at the funny thing she had around her neck.

“What is that?”, he asked.

“A stethoscope. I will hear your lungs with it”, and she did, pressing the disc to his back, and asking him to inhale deeply. He obliged and Fiddler listened carefully to his breathing and heartbeat, finding them satisfactory. She then pressed her fingers to his ribcage, watching his expression, and pressing the disc to each rib in turn. She finally put the stethoscope aside and told him: “I don’t hear crepitation, so clinically, I daresay you’ve got no broken ribs. I would need some X rays to be certain but I guess that is out of the question”.

Severus nodded silently.

“Well then, let me clean your face”.

She opened a bottle of sterile water and used some gauzes to carefully wipe his face. Once free of blood smears, Fiddler observed he didn’t seem to have serious injuries, just a splitted lip a s a superficial cut over his left eyebrow. She touched his nose gently, moving it from side to side, watching him intently. He winced.

“It’s broken, Severus”, she said. “I think I can fix it, but I don’t know for sure. Do you want to take the risk or do you want me to take you to the hospital?”

“No. You fix it”.

“It won’t look good”, she said warningly. “Because I have no X rays to base on. You could need a surgery, you know?”

“You fix it”, he repeated. “It never looked good anyway”.

Torn between tears and cackles, Fiddler settled for smiling at his comment and bent forward to kiss the injured nose.

“Oh…”, he drawled. “I am feeling better already”.

“I am glad…”, she murmured. “Because what I am about to do will hurt”.

She turned to her first aid box and took out some adhesive strapping, some more gauzes and a plaster bandage, as well as a syringe and an amber ampule. She broke the ampule with expert movements, and filled the syringe with the liquid in it, placing the cap on the needle and setting it aside. She then walked back to Severus and placed both her palms to each side of his nose.

“Severus”, she warned. “This will hurt, and you might feel the need to kick me. Just try not to knock me out, will you?”

Severus laughed and pulled her to him. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and murmured:

“Thank you”.

“Yeah… Let’s see if you still feel this thankful after a minute”.

She resumed her previous position and clamped her hands together with Severus’ nose between them. She then tugged itone one side, then to the other, and felt him tense, but not a sound came from his mouth. She did that a couple of times until they both heard a crack, and then some more blood came out from his left nostril.

“There”, she said. “Now I have to immobilize it”.

She cleaned the blood and measured the wideness of his nose with a gauze and placed it over the plaster bandage to fold it in about ten symmetric layers. She then made them wet in the sterile water and placed them over the bridge of his nose, holding it there until it fraguated. Finally she placed another gauze on top and fixed the whole thing with adhesive strapping.

“There you go”, she said, eyeing her work. “Three weeks and you’ll be good as new. Now, I am going to give you a shot for the pain”.

“What?”, his eyes widened.

“Oh, don’t be such a crybaby. It won’t hurt. Tell you what, if you behave, I’ll give you a lollypop”.

He raised his eyebrow inquiringly and she smiled.

“That’s what I tell the children”.

“And it works?”, Severus seemed amazed.

“Sometimes. Usually not, but hey, I’m stronger than the brats”.

Severus caught her in his arms and moved her to sit in his lap.

“You are not stronger than me”, he murmured.

She nuzzled his neck softly and nodded.

“You’re right, but I am sure I have my ways to convince you”.

“Oh, I would not doubt it…”, he cupped her chin and searched her mouth, but the movement hurt his splitted lip. He sighed and stopped kissing her, burying his head on her shoulder. His hands came up to release her hair, and he inhaled deeply as the heavy tendrils tumbled over his own head.
She heard him mutter a curse.

“What’s wrong?”

“I cannot breath properly”, he groaned.

“That’s because your nose is swollen”.

“Yes, well. I cannot kiss you, I cannot smell you… This is becoming frustrating”.

She kissed him softly and settled more comfortably in his embrace, running her fingers through his hair. She was startled when his hand came up to stop her.

“It is filthy”, he said, embarrassed.

“I don’t mind”, she said, holding out her other hand. He stopped it as well.

“But I

“Let’s get you bathed then”. She stood up and dragged him up with her. “But first, your shot”, and without another warning she attacked his backside with a needle. He was beginning to think it really didn’t hurt that much when she pushed the plunger and the liquid entered his body.

“Ow!”, he exclaimed.

“Sorry, sorry, that was it”, she apologized, placing the cap on the needle and throwing it away.

Severus frowned.

“You are going to have to reward me for that”, he warned.

She looked at him and merely smiled. He watched her gather her healing things and clasped her hand tightly when she took his.

“Let’s go”, she said.

They went upstairs, and Fiddler went to prepare the bath, tossing handfuls of allspice, leopard’s bane and thyme herbs. Soon the bathroom smelled like a gigantic tea cup. Severus walked in, wearing her bathrobe to see what she was doing and nodded approvingly.

“I am glad you know about Herbs”.

“Mother’s remedy”, Fiddler replied. “It works wonders. Now get in”.

“Oh, so you want me to strip for you”.

She laughed.

“You know”, Severus continued pensively. “If I do it, you will have to do it as well”.

“Come on”, she said, “the water’s getting cold”.

“You know what you must do, then”, he grinned.

“Severus, really, we can’t have sex in the tub. You’ll get your cast wet and it will be useless”.

“I see”, his grin faded.

“Come on. Get inside”. She helped him out of her robe and held her breath as she watched the assorted collection of lumps and bruises on his body.

“That bastard”, she said fiercely. Severus looked at her with an odd expression, but said nothing. He stepped in the tub and slid slowly into the hot water, sighing as he leaned back and closed his eyes. He heard Fiddler drag a chair and felt her soft fingers in his head as he poured some water on it.

“Relax”, he heard her voice behind him. She reached for the shampoo and poured some in her hand, working the lather through his hair, massaging his scalp, his shoulders and his upper back muscles with deft, soft movements. He let out a small moan of pleasure. She kept on with her tender massage for a while, and then let him soak in the herbal water until it got warm. She rinsed his hair and helped him out of the tub, his eyes closed as she dried him off with a huge towel. He felt too sagged to move to help her. He allowed her to led him to bed, and he only opened his eyes when he heard her voice again.

“Pijama or bare?”, she asked practically.

“You know the deal”, he murmured lazily.

“Pijama then”, she decided, turning to her wardrobe to see if she could find a scrub that would fit him.

“Oh, Fiddler…”, he sighed, and pulled her to him, letting his towel drop in the process. He caressed her jawline and neck, sliding both his hands up the hem of her scrub’s top, running them across her sides, her stomach and her breasts, watching her giggle as he took the clothing away.
She shivered and Severus delighted in the sight of her nipples peaking through her sports top. He wrapped his arms around her, as he got rid of the top, and rubbed his chest against her bare breasts, pressing her to him with the hunger that was his brand.
They fell on the bed entangled, caressing each other impatiently, his hand going down to get rid of her scrub’s bottom and underwear with one deft movement. He stroked her intimately, but, as he positioned himself on top of her, he let out a faint grunt of pain.

“I am sorry… I am not up to this”, he sighed, rolling to his side and cradling Fiddler so her head rested on his chest. He petted her hair pensively, kneading at it, wrapping it around his fingers and splaying it over his torso, reveling in the softness of it against his skin. He remained silent for a while, but finally he brought himself to say it.

“You know what I find most remarkable?”

“No… what?”, she mumbled.

“Two things, actually. The fact that you knew just where to find me, and the fact that not once have you asked me what happened”.

She pressed her lips to his chest and said softly:

“I saw it”.

“I thought as much”, he kissed her dark head despite the pain on his lip and she tucked it under his chin.

“I didn’t see the whole thing”, she said, sleepily, gliding her fingers across his chest. “The contact broke… just before Malfoy tried to… force down the poison on you”.

He cupped her chin and lifted her head to meet her eyes.

“It was you, then”, he said, his voice thick.

She caressed his cheek and murmured:

“What was me?”

Severus breathed in deeply and said:

“When Malfoy approached me with the flask, he suddenly jerked as if someone had howled at him. I did not hear anything, but then again I was not precisely in my best shape either… The point is, Malfoy sent Crabbe and Goyle to investigate and turned back to me. He tried to hit me again, but his fist bounced off… It was as if I was inside a protective aura, and Malfoy could not touch me, let alone poison me. He used his wand then, and again, the curse bounced off”.

“Did it hit him?”, she asked hopefully.

“No”.

“Pity”. Fiddler closed her eyes. She seemed on the verge of sleep already.

“Indeed…”

“And what happened… next?”, she murmured, snuggling closer to him.

“Well, of course, you will understand that, as Malfoy snapped my wand, I could not get anywhere without it… But this… aura… was magical enough to permit me to perform the spell and I was able to Disapparate. You saved me”. He was looking at her as if she’d just fallen from a far-off planet. His hand was still caressing her hair slowly.

“Yes, well”, he heard her drowsy voice. “That’s what love is all about… isn’t it?”

Severus’ hand stopped abruptly.

“What?”

“Yes… you know… Love…”, she was asleep already and his common sense told him he shouldn’t wake her. But he had to be sure he’d heard right. It was the first time THE WORD had came up in their relationship and his heart was beating frantically.
He shook her slightly.

“Fiddler. Fiddler, wake up”.

“Mmmm?”

“What did you just say?”

“I…”, she shifted a little in his embrace, her arm across his chest tightening somewhat. She struggled to open her eyes and blinked. “What?”

“What you just said”, Severus insisted. “When I told you you had saved me”.

Fiddler frowned.

“Mmm… I said…”, then it sunk in. “Oh. Damn. Nevermind. I shouldn’t have”.

“What?”

“I know you’re not… comfortable with the subject. I— Just forget it”.

“Fiddler. Speak clearly. Did you just say you love me?”

She remained silent for a long while and finally she nodded against his chest.

“Yes. I did. But you don’t have to—”

He put a finger to her mouth to shush her, then replaced it with his mouth. Maybe the shot she’d given him earlier was beginning to work, or maybe the herbal waters had relaxed his pained body. Or maybe it was just the fact of hearing her diffident confession what took the pain out of him as he made love to her slowly, completely, and unselfishly.

“Dilecta mea”, two words fell from his mouth in the heights of passion, oddly reminiscent of his days as a Deaaterater, when Latin was the common language, but then again, he had never called Wynn that. Not even in the beginning.

Dilecta mea, my beloved.

As they lay together, sated in the afterglow, he told her with words what he’d already told her with his body:

“Gráim thú, Fiddler Greene”.

And he found out that, again, she was right. It was easier to say it in a foreign language.





A/N.

Gráim thú: Gaelic for “I love you”.


TBC, please R & R!!!!!

Thanx a lot to my kind beta Ian for his BRILLIANT thoughts!!!


Disclaimer: All characters and HP universe belong to J.K. Rowling, except for the ones you don’t recognize. The plot as well is mine and solely mine!! No profit is being made!!!!