In Need

A/N - Here\'s a longer one for you...


~~**~~

Severus awoke to find Megan writing at her desk, adding to a growing stack of letters to her muggle friends. She licked the final envelope, then wrapped the whole bundle in brown paper and tied it with string. He languidly folded a long arm behind his head and through half-opened eyes gazed lazily at her for a few minutes as she worked, savoring the calm and sweetness of domesticity that was always like a haven from the rest of the day. As he walked over to the desk to give Megan a kiss, he suddenly gave her a funny look and asked, “What’s wrong with your hair?”


“What do you mean?” she asked.


“It looks... mottled or something...” he said, gathering up a handful and inspecting it with a concerned expression.


She went to a mirror and saw what he meant. “Oh. Spring is coming,” she said. “When nature starts to wake up, my hair changes again.”


“To what color?” he asked warily.


“Green.”


“Lovely. I always wondered what it would be like to shag a wood nymph.”


Megan grinned at him, ruffled his hair affectionately, and went to look out of the bedroom window. “I *thought* it felt like it would be coming soon,” she said. “I love this time of year when things come back to life.”


Severus came up behind her and peered out at the cold and muddy February morning. “I don’t see anything at all like springtime out there.”


“Well, we won’t actually *see* anything for awhile yet. Sap starts running long before the buds come out, but things are definitely changing. I can feel it.”


He put his arms around her waist and nuzzled her hair, sending yummy shivers up her back, and asked, “You know what else is changing, love?”


“Hm?” she murmured.


“You’ve lost your accent.”


“Really?” she asked with surprise. “I hadn’t even noticed! I suppose it was bound to happen though - after all, I did learn to talk here and I’ve been here for awhile now.”


He pressed his hard bare stomach up against her back and brushed his hands down over her sides, his fingertips making delicate paths over her skin. She murmured in a mixture of pleasure and protest. “Nooo... we don’t have time...”


“I know,” was his velvety reply against her ear. He knew perfectly well that she had errands and meetings before her classes started for the day. “I just want you to think about *this* today,” he said, doing something deliciously naughty with his fingers, holding her still with one strong arm as she squirmed against him, “and *this*,” he said, his lips brushing her ear and his hands slipping lower.


Megan was getting quite turned on, but was also in danger of being late if she didn’t leave right then. “You are a mean and wicked man,” she said, her eyes traveling wistfully over his long lean body, clad only in the blanket he’d brought with him from the bed and wrapped around his waist.


“Thank you. I do try,” he said with a slight smile.


“What am I supposed to do now? You’ve got me all worked up.”


“I suppose you’ll just have to do what *I* did the other day when you delivered that highly unconventional note to me in the middle of class.”


“What,” she said in mock innocence, grinning as she remembered the look on his face when she had given it to him, “you mean I should go wank myself off in your office?”


“Very funny, you positively intolerable woman,” he said, rolling his eyes. He straightened himself up into the best daunting potions master pose he could muster, given that he was half-naked and wrapped in a blanket. “I actually meant that all that day I thought about nothing but getting home and *showing* you what happens to a saucy little wench who *dares* to interrupt my class with a note like that one. Illustrated, no less, as if I wouldn’t have understood it otherwise.”


~~**~~


Megan smiled dreamily, remembering very well the ‘repayment’ for her naughtiness that Severus had given her that night. The motivation for the mischievous note in question had been a gradually growing feeling of heaviness that she had no longer been able to ignore. Because of the constant preparation to face Voldemort, no one involved was spared from the now chronic tension, and living under that kind of pressure had made it difficult to take pleasure in some of the very things that they were fighting for. Severus and Megan’s lovemaking had lately been more for their bodies than for their hearts - intense couplings to feel something besides stress and fatigue, before finally collapsing, exhausted, into worried and dreamless sleep.


For as much as Severus had feigned annoyance about her interrupting his second year potions class with a rather graphic (and conveniently alphabetized) description of all the things she wished to do with him, it had actually been a welcome relief to both of them. The passionate exchange it inspired had served to remind them both of the many good things their lives held despite unavoidable fears and uncertainties.


Thinking about her life above and beyond the war is what had also been the deciding factor for Megan finally getting in touch with her muggle friends. The worry that had kept her from contacting them so far was their utter vulnerability should any of her communication with them be intercepted andced.ced. She missed them terribly, though, and felt awful about cutting her communication with them. She had consulted with Albus to see if there might be a way to contact them safely, and at his suggestion, she was sending the letters in a bundle fortified with heavy protection charms to her parents with a request that they send them individually for her. She had not, of course, been able to tell her friends *everything*, but she was glad just to have been able to tell them that she loved and missed them, had met someone and gotten engaged, and would arrange a visit with them as soon as she could.


It was a huge load off her mind as she went up to the owlry, gave the owl a treat, and sent him on his way with the bundle of letters in tow.


---------------------------------------------------------------------


Hagrid’s eyes shone as brightly as a child’s on Christmas morning as he cooed and prattled to the two enormous beasts, fussing over them like a mother hen. He was once more in the dragon pen whose construction he had watched with great interest, and whose eventual occupation was so wondrous an event that he had not had the temerity to question the divine benevolence that had finally convinced Professor Dumbledore to let him have some dragons.


It was a good thing that Severus and Hermione had completed a batch of the dragonsdraught which temporarily quenched the dragons’ fire breath, otherwise Hagrid would have been burned to a cinder a dozen times over already. Even with that, he was still sporting the evidence of several nips and cuts. He bore them with good humor, though, and nothing would convince him that the dragons Charlie had brought were not cuddly and playful animals.


~~**~~


Charlie Weasley grinned as he walked across the soggy grounds toward the dragon pen and saw Fang curled up outside the door. Charlie scratched him on the head, and Fang’s tail thumped on the ground appreciatively. He swung the door to the pen open, greeted Hagrid warmly, and observed, “You’re in here awfully early today, aren’t you?”


“Oh, I jes’ want teh help them adjust. I don’ want them gettin’ homesick or nothin’,” Hagrid replied, patiently extracting his arm from the Norwegian Horntail who happened to be hungry, but not at all homesick.


“Er… right. Thanks, Hagrid.” Charlie did a spell which made a glowing patch of color on each dragon’s belly, noted the shade with some concern, and asked Hagrid to stand back. “It looks like they’re overdue for their next dose of their draught. Let me give that to them before they burn the place down, then you can help me feed them, alright?”


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Megan arrived at Dumbledore’s office a few minutes late despite hurrying as quickly as she could. Hagrid and Charlie Weasley were there already. She apologized and hastily took a seat. Dumbledore and Hagrid greeted her warmly, but Charlie, who looked irritated to see her, said nothing.


Dumbledore said to Hagrid, “As you are well aware, we have some dragons staying with us at Hogwarts with their handler. However, there is more to tell, my old friend, but it can only be told at a cost to you, I am afraid.”


Hagrid looked worried and said, “I don’t know what yeh mean, but of course I want teh know the whole story.”


Megan said, “Hagrid, hearing this would mean that you will need to remain on the Hogwarts grounds indefinitely. Would you be willing to accept that?”


The portrait of Phineas Nigellus behind Dumbledore’s desk rolled his eyes, snickered unkindly, and said, “That’ll be the *only* way to keep this one quiet, I dare say.”


Dumbledore and Megan both turned at the same time to shush him as Charlie looked sharply at Megan’s forwardness that went unchecked by eitherbledbledore or Nigellus. Hagrid just looked between Megan and Dumbledore in amazement. “What’s all this, then?” he asked.


Fawkes, insulted at not having been greeted, had hopped off his perch and made his way across the floor, stopping at Megan. He stared up at her with his beautiful large eyes and, when she didn’t notice him, he nipped gently at her hand. She glanced down at him and petted his head distractedly as she listened to Dumbledore, and with a brief flutterwingwings, he perched himself on her leg, looking importantly around.


“The time for Harry to face Voldemort is coming soon,” said Dumbledore to Hagrid. “The reason we know this is because we are wor on on a way to go to him collectively instead of waiting for him to come to us, and it appears that the means to do so will soon be ready. We are taking the dragons with us into the fight when the time comes.”


“The reason for bringing dragons, though,” Megan added tentatively, “is because of the giants. We believe that they are en route to Voldemort even now, and we need to be prepared to face them in the event that they reach Voldemort before we do. I don’t know what your feelings about that would be…”


Hagrid drew himself up in his chair. “Headmaster Sir, you know thet I’ve been waitin’ fer this as long as you have. You know I’ll be ready teh fight, an’ yeh know you can coun men me fer whatever yeh need me teh do. An’ Meg, yeh don’t need to worry none about my feelins toward the giants,” he added gruffly. “They showed me only too well when I tried teh connect with ‘em what they thought o’ me an’ Grawp.”


Dumbledore squeezed his arm affectionately and said, “Your service over the years has done nothing except time and again prove your loyalty and readiness to help, and I am more grateful for it than I will ever be able to express to you. All that is needed at the present, however, is for you to include these fine animals in your care of magical creatures curriculum for your seventh year students. That will give us a good reason to have them here.”


Any injury Hagrid might have felt at not having been in on the plans before then was instantly appeased, especially when Charlie added, “And of course I’m relying on you to help me look after them. They can be quite a handful sometimes.”


Megan stood up and carried Fawkes back over to his perch, agreeing to get together with Hagrid later on to fill in more details. She said her farewells and left to go and teach her early class. Charlie stared at her with narrowed eyes as she left, entertaining a growing suspicion that Hagrid was not the only one who didn’t know the whole story.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


Everyone seemed to be falling into place within the Order’s strategy for facing Voldemort. Ginny, however, still had no idea what her place was going to be. Before lunch, she went to Professor Waters’ office to discuss it. Megan invited her in, showed her to a chair, and offered her a lemon drop from the candy dish on her desk.


Taking one, Ginny thanked her and said, “Megan... I mean Professor... I wanted to ask you if there’s anything special I should be working on for... you-know-what.”


Megan looked at her thoughtfully and then said, “I’m glad you came. I’ve been meaning to speak with you about this and I had hoped to do it privately. I don’t know if I’ll be the best person to answer your question - you will be assisting Madam Pomfrey at the medi-center, so she’ll be the one to ask about what she will need from you. When we are done talking here, we can go down to the hospital wing and speak with her together.”


Ginny was nonplussed. “Assisting Madomfromfrey? But Professor... I thought I was doing well in DA practice! I was planning to fight! I know that I could,” she said vehemently.


“You *will* be helping us at the medi-center, Ginny - that’ll be no small task, I assure you. Your placement is certainly not because of a lack of skill on your part. Quite the contrary, in fact. If I didn’t think you were up to what we will face, you wouldn’t be included in the plans at all.”


“Then why can’t I be there with everyone else?” she demanded. “All of my brothers are going, aren’t they?”


“That’s partly it, though. Your father and brothers *are* going to be there... We both know how strong they all are, but this is going to be a bad fight, love. Anyone who goes into it is taking the chance that they might not come out of it. For your mother’s sake and your father’s peace of mind, I will not send you in too and risk leaving her completely alone. Both you and she will give necessary support, even if it is off the actual battlefield.”


“But I want to be with Harry!” Ginny pleaded. “My family all know what the dangers are, and we’re all proud of being a part of this, whatever the cost is going to be. My place is with Harry now.”


Megan’s heart ached for the young woman across from her, whose sweet face was drawn up in concern and frustration, and whose love, though still youthful and inexperienced, was nonetheless strong enough to lead her willingly into the gravest danger any of them would ever face. Megan said gently, “Ginny, Harry is the other reason that we need you to stay at a distance.”


“What?” choked out Ginny in astonishment, now fighting back tears.


“Everything rests on his failure or success, and the chance of his success increases greatly if distractions are eliminated. If he is worried about you, that will be attention that should be directed at Voldemort,” Megan said, looking at Ginny intently, trying to make her understand.


“But... he *knows* the stakes of this! He’s not going to do anything differently with me around!”


“Ginny, I’ve seen Harry around you. He didn’t even think when you got hurt and he heard you scream at that quidditch match against Ravenclaw - he just went straight to you as fast as he could. I shudder to think of what could happen if he saw you in trouble in battle. When it comes down to the moment of truth, the heart can sometimes have a way of overriding the mind’s intentions. I could not say with absolute certainty that he would be able to refuse helping you, and that could cost us everything. And at the same time, think of what he would have to live with if he *did* refuse it.”


Ginny put her face in her hands and sat so quietly that it took Megan a moment to realize that she was crying. In a muffled voice, she said through her hands, “I won’t do that to Harry. I won’t make him worry likat.”at.” They sat in silence for a few minutes while Ginny collected herself, then she wiped her face with the back of her hand and said, “Let’s go see Madam Pomfrey then, shall we?”


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Later that afternoon in greenhouse number three, Neville Longbottom smiled at Professor Waters as they worked next to each other sorting out a tray of tiny dormant mandrake roots, laying the healthiest ones aside. Neville’s long-time affinity for herbology often drew him to the greenhouses, and the night that he had seen her outside the greenhouses, he had gone there with the intention of hiding away and spending some time doing something he was actually good at. While he had heard rumors about Professor Waters’ birth magic that gave her natural abilities with plants, he’d had no idea of the actual extent of her powers.


What he had been even more amazed to discover as they talked more, though, was that she had been orphaned by Voldemort too. Hearing her talk about it introduced possibilities that he had never even considered. He had been raised in the shadow of his parents’ existence that wasn’t technically death but was nonetheless dire enough to have nothing left of their former selves, and it had instilled in him a combination of guilt and fear that haunted him and, when it came to the thought of Voldemort rising to power again, paralyzed him. Professor Waters, however, began to speak to him about it in the sense of duty - not only to the memory and sacrifice of the parents who had given everything to fight for a peaceful existence for their children, but also for making such a peaceful existence possible in the event of his demise.


Embedded in her talk about duty was something that struck Neville more powerfully than her words alone could have - it was the underlying assumption she seemed to have that he was capable of actually having something worthwhile to offer in the whole thing. No one had ever really believed that Neville Longbottom would succeed or amount to anything in the wizarding world, and there were even those who thought he might be a squib. He had always felt, however, comfortable in Professor Waters’ defense against the dark arts class. This was owed in large part to his success in the DA group which had given him the practice and self-mastery to finally be taken seriously, by others and by himself.


While his grandmother basically meant well and had raised him making sure that all of his material needs were met, she never really believed that Neville would ever be able to hold a candle to his beloved parents. Thus began his early journey into self-fulfilling mediocrity. It was hard enough to be an orphan, and he bore the added burden of having been a disappointing one at that. He was living proof that if you tell someone enough times that he is weak or a failure, he will eventually fall quite naturally into the role.


But he was a Longbottom, and a Gryffindor to boot. Somewhere between his chattering teeth and his shaking knees beat the heart of a strong and capable wizard, and Megan knew it. She had watched him closely and decided that it was time to bring him in. After a long discussion, he agreed to come to the next forest clearing practice.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It was late and Hermione was grateful to be finished with her rounds and back in her room. She changed into a blue nightshirt printed all over with monkey faces, tied her bushy hair up into a ponytail on top of her head, and crawled into her bed with a book. She had gone back to the dungeons tonight to help Professor Snape brew another large batch of the dragonsdraught potion that Charlie needed. While Snape had sur surprisingly civil as they worked together, making the potion was nonetheless complicated and time-consuming work, and she was having a hard time remembering the last time she was so glad to go to bed.


Hearing a tapping sound, Hermione looked up from her book and saw Viktor outside her window. Embarrassed that he was seeing her in what was quite likely the least ladylike thing she owned, she hastily threw on a fuzzy pink bathrobe and went to open the window. Viktor smiled at her, stepped onto the windowsill and hopped lightly to the floor.


~~**~~


The reply from Hermione that he had waited for so long had finally come a few weeks ago after he had decided to write to her one last time. His heart had soared when he read the words saying that she would very much like to see what a relationship with him would be like. And she had translated it back into Bulgarian, no less! Since then, his main frustration had been that despite their intentions, they hardly had any time together. Their days were filled with obligations, and even mealtimes kept them apart since Viktor needed to eat with the other faculty at the head table. That very day he had seen her a dozen times, but it was always when they were among others, so they hadn’t even been able to talk privately. He had gone to his quarters that night feeling disappointed at not having had any real time with her, and still wanting very much to do so. Then it occurred to him to just go where he knew they would be guaranteed to have some time alone.


~~**~~


“Viktor, I’m glad to see you, but you really shouldn’t be here,” Hermione said hesitantly as she closed the window behind him and pulled her robe more tightly around herself.


“Vy not? I vas thinking of you so much that I vanted to see you,” he said, amused by her virginal modesty. He looked around her room with interest, taking in her tidy, comfortable, girly surroundings. He felt like a fool for it, but was nearly beside himself with the flood of warmth that filled him just looking at the photos on her desk, the flowers in a glass on her nightstand, and her fuzzy pink slippers.


“Well, your being here is breaking at least five school rules that I can think of off the top of my head,” she said to him as he looked adoringly at her monkey shirt and ran a finger along her cheek.


“Like vat rules?”


“For one, you are a teacher and I am a student. That’s not allowed, and we don’t have the mixed company to blend in with.”


“I met you ven ve both vas students - no von cares if ve date now. And you don’t play qvidditch, so I’m not *your* teacher.”


“Well then in that case, you are a boy who is in a girl’s dormitory and it is after hours.”


“Hmm,” he said, raising one thick eyebrow and holding his chin in pretend contemplation. “I hope that no von tells on us to the head girl then…”


Hermione gave a little laugh, and then looked dawkwawkwardly. “You’re right, Viktor. It’s just that… I don’t really know what to do when a guy that I like shows up in my room this late at night and...”


He put a finger on her mouth and said, “Be qviet now. I have a surprise for you.”


Viktor reached into a pocket in his robe, pulled out a book with a pink ribbon tied around it, and showed it to Hermione.


“The Wind in the Willows!” Hermione squealed. “That was always my favorite story!”


“I know. Your mother told me ven I visited you that summer.”


Hermione was touched. She pulled off the ribbon and flipped through the pages. “Thank you so much! I can’t wait to read it.”


He smiled shyly and said, “I vill read it to you, yes? Then ve can have time together and it vill help my English.”


She watched somewhat warily as he sat on the edge of her bed, took off his boots, and arranged them neatly, as if he did it every day. He scooted over to the middle of the bed, leaned back against the headboard, put a pillow on his lap and patted it, gesturing for Hermione to join him. And she did. She crawled over and cuddled up against him, admitting to herself that it really felt pretty nice to have him there.


“Chapter One,” he began, and as he read, she let herself get lost in the story. Without her really noticing it happening, her eyes started to get heavy and she drifted off to sleep. Viktor noticed when her breathing changed to the mellow steady breaths of sleep and stopped reading. Pulling a petal from one of the flowers on her nightstand and transfiguring it into a bookmark, he marked the page and laid the book aside.


He looked at Hermione curled up asleep against him. The coziness of the scene made it nearly overwhelmingly tempting to just stay witr, br, but he didn’t want to push things too far. He gently levitated her up enough that he could slide out from underneath her. He got up, turned the covers back, and lowered her down onto the bed. As he tucked her in, he made a quick gesture with his wand to remove her bathrobe and then draped it neatly over her desk chair.


“Goodnight,” he whispered, and kissed her on the forehead. Without waking up all the way, Hermione drew her arms out from under the covers and wrapped them around Viktor. She sighed contentedly as he pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss was warm and sweet, and it made it even harder for him to step back out of her window and return to his own quarters. He was so happy to have had the time with her that he only realized when he was slogging up the muddy courtyard to the main castle entrance that he had forgotten his boots in her room.


------------------------------------------------------------


Megan was soaking in a hot bath when Severus came home that evening. The steam rose up from the surface of the water toward the hanging tendrils of vines and the open petals of the orchids in the planters under the skylights. She smiled up at him as he came in and said, “I’ve been waiting for you.”


He stripped and joined her in the bath, his erection growing from her words and from the sensual scene in front of him. She looked at him serenely as he positioned himself across from her and picked up one of her feet. With sure and strong fingers, he began to massage it, and smiled in satisfaction when she closed her eyes and sank lower into the tub, sighing happily. After a few minutes, he switched to the other foot, pressing hard into pressure points. He moved up to her ankle and then her calf, kneading the taut muscles.


“Ooohh, this is so amazing… I feel so guilty just sitting here while you do all the work, but it feels so gooood…”


“Hush, love. I like doing it.”


He continued the massage, moving his hands up past her knee, and kneading her thigh. As he squeezed the sensitive inside of her thighs, her murmurs of appreciation began to turn into murmurs of desire. She spread her legs apart as he continued to work on her thigh, his hands getting teasingly near the place she wished they would go, but never quite reaching there. “Please,” she said to him, “I want you so much…”


He was aching to bury himself in her by now, but was savoring touching her too much to rush things. He said silkily, “Not yet. I haven’t even started the other leg.”


She made a small noise of combined enjoyment and frustration as he put down the leg he had been massaging and picked up the other one. Teasingly slowly, he made his way up her ankle and calf, and by then she had spread her legs wide and was moving her hips in instinctive gestures, futilely seeking some kind of relief. He remained disciplined despite the erotic invitation literally laid out in front of him, and kept his hands on her leg. As his strong hands made their way up her thigh and caressed the inside of it, Megan put her hands on her breasts and squeezed and pulled at her nipples.


Severus let out his breath sharply as she let one of her hands move between her legs and spread her folds apart, one graceful finger curving to make gentle circles on her clit. Her other hand was still moving on her breasts, and he watched in fascination as she slowly closed her eyes, bit her bottom lip, and slid a finger into herself, aching for the blessed friction of contact there. She said pleadingly, “I want you so much… please fuck me, Severus - I’m going to go crazy if you don’t…”


He had seer ber body more times than he could remember by now, but she still had the power to make his heart race like it might fly right out of him. He could wait no longer. With a growl, he took her by the waist and positioned her so that she was kneeling facing him, her legs straddling his lap. Her eyes half closed and looking at him with unashamed desire, she put his erection at her entrance and sank down ohim.him. She held onto the edge of the tub, dug her toes into the edge of the seat he was on, and began to gringentgently on him, his hardness sliding quickly in and out of her.


Their breathing quickened and they both made throaty sounds as her tight walls caressed his length. Megan had been so worked up to begin with that she began to come almost immediately. As her ripples faded, he turned her neatly around so that she was facing forward on his lap. She hooked her aro around the back of his calves and rode him, as he licked and sucked her ears and the back of her neck, and reached around to cup her breasts and fondle her nipples. As she bounced on his lap in an increasing pace, she rubbed fast and hard between her legs, urging on the orgasm that was building up again. It broke over her in hard waves that made her feel like she was turning inside out on him.


Severus grabbed Megan around her waist as she shuddered and clutched at his legs, pulling her onto himself and bucking up into her in his own growing urgency. Her own spasms subsiding for the moment, she fondled his balls and felt them drawing up tightly. His breathing was now fast and shallow and he could hold back no longer. He spasmed into her as he came, one arm around her waist and one across her chest as he pulled her down hard onto his lap and he emptied himself into her.


“My Megan,” he said, pulling her around to face him and kis her her deeply.


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A/N - Thanks again tl ofl of you who have been following so far & especially to those of you who\'ve reviewed - I can\'t even tell you how much I appreciate it. I really like writing this story and all, but it especially helps me keep at it to hear that people are actually enjoying it. :-D

Drop a line & let me know what you think.

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Barrie - ::Blushing!:: Thank you so much - you totally made my day!!! Admittedly, the battle stuff has gotten more involved than I had originally intended, but once I started, it got a lot more interesting to me and I wanted to make it like something that could actually happen in their world. Again, thanks, and I am so pleased that you have enjoyed the story so far.

Estrilda - Hi there! Thanks for checking in!! :-)

Droxy - Thanks!! :-D I really appreciate your comment about the dialogue the characters have. You should hear it - I\'m like a total dork and sit here at the monitor reading them over in character before I post them, LOL. I also have dictation software that reads parts back to me, and I was totally cracking up - because of the accent phonetics that Viktor and Hagrid have, their parts come out with their respective accents...except sounding like Stephen Hawking.

TG - Cool! Welcome to the story - I\'m really glad that you liked it so far. Yes, I will email you after I post this. Hope you like where it goes...

And a special hello to Maggie - thank you so much for your support - you are the best. :-)

Best wishes to all of you,
R.