Fire & Ice: War Games

‘Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be beneficial.’

Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), Amorum (III, 11, 7)

Sunlight streakcroscross the slumbering Slytherin’s face, beads of cooling sweat clung to his skin. Severus’ arms and legs twitched as the fever warping his mind peaked, breaking its grip on him. He moaned softly as a contented sigh escaped his parched lips. Severus’ eyes fluttered open before he slipped into a peaceful sleep, unaware of his strange surroundings or of being watched from the shadows.
She sighed, releasing the breath that she was unaware of holding. Moving forward quietly so as to not disturb the boy, she wiped the sweat from his face with a damp cloth. After adjusting the moist blankets, she slipped from the small guest room in the cottage and closed the door softly. Her slippered feet whispered thunderously across the hardwood floor in the hall outside the bedrooms.

Pouring a fresh cup of tea, she settled down with a quill and parchment. Dipping the quill into the ink, her thoughts returned to the events of the last three days. After bringing the Slytherin back to her cottage, she had intended to write Hogwarts’ Headmaster immediately and once again, the Fates had changed her plans. With the increase of the boy’s fever, she had been forced to stay at his side.

Sleeping in the hard chair had almost broken her resolve and she had finally surrendered, transfiguring the chair into a narrow cot at night. Her heart cracked with each sob slipping from the boy’s lips and each tear trickling down his face as he tossed and turned beneath the sweat soaked blankets. Tears swelled in her eyes with every whimper slipping into the still room. A strong maternal feeling swept over her each time she listened to his terrified pleas.

Signing the lengthy letter, she tied the rolled parchment to the owl’s leg and watched the bird fly towards the distant morning horizon. She lazily walked across the room, wandering aimlessly through the cottage. Her fingers brushed against the guest bedroom’s door handle, as a war raged inside her heart. She felt torn between the desire to slip inside and gather the tormented soul lying only a few feet away and the need to stay out, to keep the proverbial distance at any price.

Light brushes of deep pink glowed against the lavender heavens, shadows encroached on the world as the raven haired boy slept peacefully. She watched the boy from the doorway, a hand written reply to her letter held loosely in a hand at her side. Questions buzzed in her mind as curiosity, the need for answers, burned inside of her. A knock on the cottage’s door pried her way from the vigilant watch.

\"Thank you for coming, Albus.\"

\"The meeting with the Minister took longer then I had anticipated. How have you been?\" Dumbledore’s eyes were absent of its comforting twinkle as he spoke.

\"Tired, but the worst is over.\" She smiled weakly at the older wizard.

\"I fear that it is only the beginning, dear friend.\" The headmaster squeezed her hand gently, \"where is he?\"

\"I’ll show you, Albus.\" Turning, she led him down the hall. \"It was an accident really, discovering the mark You-Who-Know-Who burned into him. What if it’s......\"She shook her head and left the rest of the sentence unsaid.

\"He’s young yet, perhaps he has not closed the door.\" The albino haired wizard said as they paused at the guest room door, \"I want to go in alone.\" She nodded her head and stepped aside as he quietly slipped into the darkened room.

Albus Dumbledore sat down on the chair next to the bed and looked at the sleeping Slytherin sadly. Brushing a lock of stray hair from the boy’s face, his heart broke at the sight of peace on the normally pensive face and suspicious eyes were absent as the boy was relaxed in the vulnerable state of sleeping. \"I’m here child and I won’t forsake you.\" The wizard sighed, watching Severus sleep. \"I should’ve have done more, tried to at least protect you when the rumors first surfaced about Julius, the events of that Christmas Eve should have been enough to confirm the horrific truth amongst the lies and half truths you fed to me, the rumors whispered about behind closed doors. Everything your father did to you is and was my fault.\"

He held the boy’s hand in his own as a tear slipped down his face and into his snowy beard. \"I can only hope that you’ll be able to forgive me one day and teach me to understand Slytherins better. If you need anything, anytime, I’ll be there.\th oth one last look at the sleeping boy, Dumbledore rose and slipped from the room.

\"When will the aurors arrive, Albus?\"




Severus woke with the morning sun to the sound of voices floating through the walls. He slowly glanced around the small bedroom wondering where he was and how he had gotten there. The boy’s stomach growled, interrupting his intense interrogation of the room. His body ached with each involuntary twitch of his arms and legs. Severus’ face twisted as his stomach was shocked with spasms as it turned itself inside and out, knotting.

His head jerked forward suddenly, pale yellow foam spluttered from his mouth and raced down his chin, coating his neck and pooling on the blanket. Chunks of digested food clung to Severus’ chin as his eyes rolled back into his head. The boy’s chest jerked, spasms rocked his body as he curled himself into a ball, searing cramps rippled through his body and bolts of electrifying pain ricocheted in his brain, behind his eyes. Yellow foamy slime trailed from his mouth, soaking his clothes.

A nauseous dizziness swarmed in his head as he whimpered softly into the pillow. Lucius Malfoy had been right, the Dark Lord had been anything but pleased with him. Severus had lost track of the time he had been under the Cruciatus Curse and had instead focused on holding back the screams balling in his throat. The golden tongued Slytherin had been right, the dark wizard had made an example of him as Severus screamed his throat raw and collapsed from the bone curdling pain.

Through the swamping haze of pain, Severus’ mind clung to the bizarre conversation on the hillside. Scarps of words filtered through like a collage of colors. The uncharacteristic display by the dark wizard had left him unbalanced and weary of the world around him as he stumbled from the bed. Severus’ shaking legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to the floor tre trembling pile.

Severus groaned as he crawled across the floor, drool trailed down his chin and neck as his body was racked with spasms, convulsing violently with each passing second. A trembling hand reached for the door knob above his head, only to slip weakly down the side of the door. Resting his sweat soaked head against the wooden door, Severus belittled himself for his weakness, the lack of ability to control the movements of his own body.

Beads of sweat glued locks of wayward raven hair to his clammy skin as a tidal wave of dizziness over took him, overpowering his stalwart resolvearsears of frustration ran down his blue tinted face as he lay on the cold floor next to the door. A thunderous chorus of sobs were absorbed by the thick silence as Severus’ body jerked, white foam covered his lips and spilled, collecting in a hissing puddle on the floor. His raven hair spilled across his face, curtaining his onyx eyes as they fluttered shut.




The door opened, bumping the unconscious Slytherin’s head. She slipped inside the room and gasped as she sank to her knees. \"Albus! Quickly call for Poppy.\"


A/N

This chapter Beta-ed by Kate