In Need

~~**~~


The morning post arrived, and a flurry of owls soared into the great hall, swooping low over the breakfast tables and dropping letters and packages to their recipients. Megan was just pouring herself a cup of tea and chatting to Dumbledore about the merits of chocolate marshmallow vs. chocolate nougat when a small brown barn owl flew between her and her tea and dropped a small bundle of letters on her lap. She took a sip of ted pid picked them up to examine them when, *plunk!* - a large screech owl dipped by with a second bundle and dropped it onto her plate. He perched on the edge of the table and solemnly helped himself to the crusts of toast she had pushed to the side.


Megan riffled through the letters and saw that they were all from her muggle friends. A pang of homesickness washed over her as she pulled some out and began to read, thrilled to finally have contact with them. Most of them said more or less the same thing - ‘Where have you been-we were worried sick-are you alright-when can we see you-so good to hear from you-please write again soon-don’t ever do that to us again-so when do we get to meet this guy?’ One of them also held clippings that fluttered out to the table when she opened the envelope. Reading them served to dampen her excitement.


~~**~~
KELLY A.W.O.L.


Socialite Kelly Waters, heiress to the Waters
fortune and daughter to Senator John Waters and
Alison Caldwell Waters of Connecticut has been
notably absent from this year’s scene. While her
family insists that everything is fine, rumors of
illness and elopement are beginning to circulate.
What else could explain the sudden disappearance
of this front-and-center favorite? Reported sightings
appear to be unfounded except for two autumn visits
to London, closely followed by a cold trail.

~~**~~


“Jeez,” she muttered in disgust, tossing the clipping aside and picking up another one to read, which had a short note scratched across the top, ‘I don’t know who did this, but it wasn’t me. Now you *have* to come back though. Kisses.’


~**~~


WATERS ENGAGED!


Rumored romance for Kelly Waters has now been
confirmed by those closest to her. While a formal
announcement has yet to be made, Waters has
informed friends of her engagement to a man she
promises they will meet soon. After Kelly’s very
public romances in the past with notables from both
coasts, everyone is wondering who has enticed her
to finally tie the knot. We are eagerly waiting to hear
who this mystery man is and will keep our readers
posted with the latest and most up-to-date reports.

~~**~~

Megan was seething. She hastily stuffed the packets of letters into her pocket and showed the clipping to Dumbledore, who frowned and took it from her. “He’s not going to be happy about this, child.”


“No, he’s not.”


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


Hagrid waited impatiently in his hut for Charlie to get there, and was just about ready to go looking for him. Worried that he was going to get seriously hurt by the dragons, Charlie had asked Hagrid to postpone his morning visits to them until they had been given the dragonsdraught that would quench their fire breath. He looked out the window for the thirty-seventh time, still didn’t see Charlie, and supposed that he was probably eating breakfast first. With a sigh, Hagrid trudged up toward the castle to hurry Charlie up, looking longingly at the dragon pen as he walked past it.


~~**~~


Megan was supposed to meet Charlie in the dragon pen that morning to discuss particulars about transporting them by apparation and making use of them two in battle, especially when they were likely to be angry and disoriented after being popped into a forest clearing. Charlie had assured all of them that using the dragons in the fight was a definite possibility, but Megan wanted to know for herself exactly what was going to keep that deadly stream of fire pointed in the right direction.


Megan tried the doors to the pen and they were still locked. She unwarded them, went in, and the dragons looked at her in surprise and immediately swiveled their long necks down to her level to get a better look. They were positively breathtaking. The sheer size of them alone was impressive enough - an hanthant next to one of them would look as small as a pony - but they were also enchantingly beautiful creatures.

Their tough skin was covered in glistening scales in metallic shades of blue and green, the shapes of their faces were like something straight out of a fairy tale, with big golden eyes, long snouts, and jaws full of saber-like teeth. The soft skin of their wings - which draped neatly together when folded - stretched to be almost transparent when opened to fly.


Megan gave a grim smile at the thought, ‘If only those stupid gossip columnists could see me now - wouldn’t that just give their nosy old knickers a twist? At least it might get them to leave me alone for a change.’ As she slowly walked toward the dragons with her hand outstretched, a low rumbling began in their bellies.


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


Severus Snape was in his laboratory in the dungeons. He didn’t have an early class that day, so he was free until lunchtime to work on the formula and planned to do so until then. His face expressionless as he read, his dark eyes scanned the pages of the book he was using. Methodically and coolly, he gathered the selected ingredients around him, his long fingers moving with practiced smoothness as he ground the dried wood beetles into a fine powder. He carefully measured out a vial of black tar-like liquid from a cauldron that had been slowly simmering for three weeks, and poured it into a new cauldron under which he sparked a cold blue flame.


He moved with precision, his thoughts translating directly into his actions as he worked, his hard features set in patient concentration. This was how Severus had always been, and the few changes that had actually happened to him were so gradual and subtle that they had passed the notice of most people who saw him with any regularity. Even in the dim flickering light of the dungeons, though, it was plain that his lean face had lost its ugly sallow tinge and his raven black hair was impeccably clean. More remarkable, though, were the changes that happened on the inside. The effect that loving someone had on him was an agreeable one - but even better was the effect of being loved *by* someone. As with the outer changes, these also had been subtle and gradual, but definitely there. His sharpest edges had markedly softened - his presence was as commanding as ever, but the bile and vitriol were largely removed from his disposition.


~~**~~

Not much slipped past Hermione Granger’s attention, and the changes in Snape, subtle though they were, were plain as day to her. When she arrived to help him that morning during her free period, the laboratory door was ajar. She tapped quietly as she swung it open to let him know she was there. Without looking up from his work and without any greeting, he said, “You may begin the next brewing of draught, Miss Granger. You will be working by yourself today, and you will find that everything you need is already laid out.”


“Yes sir.”


Hermione knew that he was working on the co-apparation formula that would carry them all to Voldemort via Snape’s own dark mark, and she looked curiously at his work table as she passed it to go to her own. He was scraping the contents of a mortar into his cauldron and began to measure out a tincture of angelflower. Silvery swirls wound and twirled through the black bubbling potion he was working on, and he looked at it intently, apparently waiting for something to happen. While Hermiundeunderstood the security measure that made it so, she regretted that he wasn’t writing any of it down, and hoped that after the battle he would. She put her things down on her work table and got started on the next batch of dragonsdraught. Charlie had plenty for now, but they all agreed that it was better to have surplus than shortage.


~~**~~


Severus examined the swirling contents of his cauldron and was pleased when the liquid had settled into a consistent glossy silver color. It was what he had expected, and it was a relief to finally be entering this stage of it. After months of careful preparation and calculation, and after weeks of preparing delicate and volatile bases which had now been successfully combined, the moment had come to see if he was right. Without a word, he steeled himself and began to roll up his sleeve, exposing the dark mark on his arm.


The potion smelled vile - metallic and bitter, and he saw Hermione wrinkle her nose and look up at him. Hermione watched as Professor Snape clenched his teeth and plunged his arm into the simmering silver pool in the cauldron. She gave a small gasp and ran over to him, in case he needed help with something. His breathing was fast and his nostrils flared as he withstood the heat of the potion and waited for it to respond to his dark mark.


Finally, slowly but surely, a luminescent pink began to spread from his arm out into the potion, and the swirls of color began once more. At first the pink came out in barely visible little threads of liquid, but then coalesced into shimmering ropes of fluid moving around his arm in the cauldron. The silver was gradually taken over by pink until the whole potion had changed color thoroughly. Snape withdrew his arm, now bright red, and rinsed it with cold water.


He took a jar of minty-smelling cream and rubbed it on his arm while putting away the things he had finished with, and transfigured the wooden surface of the worktable into marble. He poured a few drops of the potion directly onto the cold marble and watched as it congealed a thin shell around itself, while keeping a liquid center. After picking it up and examining it, he made more like it until he had several dozen. Reserving one, he put the rest into a box which he warded heavily and took to a secret location lower in the dungeons.


Back in the laboratory, the hourglass on his desk flipped itself over and Severus noticed that it was later than he realized. “You may go now Miss Granger… thank you for your help.”


He had said it in his usual cold monotone, but the fact that he was thanking her at all was something new. “Yes sir. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.”


Hermione didn’t know who to thank for Snape’s adjusted attitude around her. Did her dating Viktor, who had been like an honorary Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts and who looked up to Snape for guidance now make a difference? Or was it beauty that had tamed the beast? Whatever the reason, Hermione was just glad to be left to her work without the customary barbs. They had more or less reached an unspoken truce in potions class as well - she stopped raising her hand at every question in class and he stopped the biting remarks and left her alone.


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


Charlie Weasley was running toward the dragon pen as fast as he could. The idiotic woman hadn’t heard him call out to her to wait, and had just strolled into the pen by her bloody self - right into the nest of two hungry and un-draughted dragons. His boots pounded swiftly along as images flashed through his mind of reporting to Dumbledore that yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would need to be replaced. He berated himself for staying in the castle longer than he had intended to, but he had been enjoying talking with Ron and Ginny and had lost track of the time. Finally, Hagrid had pestered him enough to come back out and give the dragons their draught so they could be tended - just in time to see Megan lurking about and then letting herself into the pen.


Charlie burst through the door, fully expecting to find a rather grisly scene awaiting him, but what shocked him even more than the fact that she was still intact was that she appeared to be trying to make *friends* with the beasts. Charlie said, “What the - ! Get back from there *now*!”


Megan stayed put and seemed to be trying to explain something to him, but he tuned her out because the dragons had already started to move. Charlie felt sick as he took out his wand, his hand shaking with anger. How dare she! Because of her ignorance, the dragons were going to do what was natural to them - eat her - and he would have to destroy them before they did it to save her from an entirely avoidable situation. As much as he cared about the animals in his keep, it was the only choice - he knew that it would be suicide for even a handler to run up there and snatch a meal out of their jaws.


Charlie’s hand froze, though, as Megan remained unperturbed as the enormous snout brushed up against her and sniffed along her length. “It’s okay,” she tried to explain, but then was cut off as she had to quickly sidestep the huge head that was laid down on the floor next to her. “I think they’re doing it because…” she continued, nervously meeting Charlie’s incredulous glare. She never got a chance to finish though, as the dragons each folded their rear sets of legs beneath themselves and eased their tonnage onto the floor. Like small hills shifting positions, they rolled over into supine positions, craning their long necks and rumbling in a sort of reptilian buzz as they thrust up theirns, ns, which were bearded in short wattles of featherlike scales.


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


That night at Black Manor, the Weasleys and Harry gathered to have dinner with Remus Lupin. Charlie was huffily telling them about the incident in the dragon pen that morning. “Sweet as barmy little puppies, they were. Took me a year of training before I was even allowed to tend one alone, and she just waltzes in there and has them eating out of her hand.”


George brightly piped up, “I guess that explains why Bill - ”


Bill, who was helping himself to seconds, said, “I don’t think you really want to finish that sentence, do you now, small fry?”


George shut up.


Bill said to Charlie, “You know, you really don’t need to be so upset about it. They only did that because she’s an earth mage - it’d be just as silly getting upset over Tonks being able to shift her looks while the rest of us have to use glamours, barbers, or diets. Plants and animals just act like that around Megan, the same way I imagine they would around any other earth mage.”


“That may be, big brother, but I bet that the other mages would know better than to go tripping along around my dragons without bloody asking first. I don’t know why you’re always standing up for her anyway - isn’t her fan club large enough already?”


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


Harry and Ginny were only vaguely paying attention to the conversation as it continued. Their becoming known as an Officialple ple had made it much more difficult to get any time by themselves, and they felt long overdue for a bit of snogging. Molly Weasley watched them with motherly protective eyes when they were at the Manor, keeping them busy and making sure that they didn’t sneak off to any rooms alone. Additionally, with the whole family except Percy together again, Ginny was sensitive to the obligation of having family time while everyone was there under the same roof.


Hogwarts also offered little opportunity for time alone. Professor Waters often used the Room of Requirement these days for training of one sort or another, even at odd hours of the night, and both Harry and Ginny lived in dormitories that they shared with other students. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were out of the question as well. Harry was too well-known to quietly book a tavern room anywhere, as tempting as it would have been to try. The astronomy tower was cold, hard, and often crowded with other couples hoping for time alone.


Frustrated, Harry and Ginny looked at each other, wishing that they could have just a few minutes of privacy. The playtime that they had managed to have over time had included increasingly heated exchanges. They were each independent people by nature and cared little for following rules that they didn’t agree with, and together they had found a sort of expression that was safe and comfortable while somehow still being exciting and ever more tempting.


By the time they got back to Hogwarts for the evening, Harry’s libido had inspired a fresh plan. Giggling, he and Ginny met up in the Gryffindor common room and, when no one was looking, disappeared under his invisibility cloak together. They went through the hallways, being careful to avoid bumping into the people who came towards them.


They made their way to the library and headed to the reading room farthest back. It was late and the library was all but deserted - they would have had little chance of being caught even without the cloak, but were glad of its extra protection. Harry lay Ginny back on the sofa they chose and pressed against her, kissing her hungrily. His erection sprang to life instantly as he felt the soft mounds of her breasts pressing against him through her top. She parted her legs, feeling the roughness of his pants pressing into her, and moving her hips up from the couch to rub herself against him.


Ginny loved kissing Harry - he was sweet and soft, but at the same time, the quiet desperation and determination of his personality came through in his physical expression. She had kissed plenty of boys before who didn’t really know what they were doing - all sloppy tongues sloshing around for tongues sake, and just doing whatever they could to coax her to get them off. Harry on the other hand, kissed like he meant it, and kissed like he needed it as much as air. Feeling his lips on her neck and ear made her grind harder against him, which made him groan and close his eyes as he pushed back against her.


Harry slid his hands up under Ginny’s shirt and cupped her breasts with his hands, loving the soft smooth heaviness of them and nearly losing control of himself as he felt her soft nipples crinkle up to hardness under his fingertips. She was urging him on, loving the way he touched her, and he pushed the front of her shirt up so her breasts were exposed. He bent his head down to suck on her nipples, and Ginny was now making little sounds in her throat. The skirt that she was wearing was now hiked up around her waist from the movement, and Harry moved his hand between her legs.


Harry’s erection was straining against his trousers now, and throbbed uncomfortably as he felt the wetness that had already seeped into the crotch of her cotton underwear. In the heat of the moment, he was bold enough to hook his fingers into the side of them and slide them down over her hips, exposing the line of curly red hairs on her mound. Ginny looked at him with a bit of surprise, but raised her hips without comment, and Harry slid her underpants down over her bottom, down her thighs, and off her legs. Taking a nipple into his mouth again, Harry pushed Ginny’s legs farther apart and fingered her, his fingers making a wet sound as they moved in and out of her.


“Does that feel okay, Gin?” Harry whispered, licking the hard point of her nipple, his fingers sliding into her again.


She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded, biting her lip and riding his fingers. She adored the feel of his weight against her and wished that she could feel more of him on her. She reached for his belt and undid it, and pulled his trousers open. She reached around to the back of them and started to pull them off him when he looked at her in shock. “What are you doing?” he asked.


“Please, Harry… I want to feel you against me,” she said, sliding her hands into his open pants and feeling the soft warmth of his hips.


“Ginny…” Harry protested lamely. “We can’t… we aren’t ready to…”


“I know,” she said, kissing him. “I just want to feel you there. We don’t need to put it in, I just want to see what it feels like, okay?”


Every drop of blood had left Harry’s brain at that point, but he still struggled to make sure they weren’t going to do anything that either of them would be sorry for later. He wanted to please her, but he wasn’t sure how much control of himself he was going to have if he was going to be closer than ever to what he wanted so much.


He slid his trousers down and rested himself between her legs. She gasped and pushed her slippery wetness up against his length, moving her hips so that he moved lengthwise between her legs, with the head of his erection rubbing on her clit. His ears started to ring as she increased the pace, but she started to make frustrasounsounds and reached for his hardness. For as good as it felt, it was now blocking his being able to finger her, and she wanted the sensation inside of her so badly that she was throbbing almost painfully for it.


She held him against her opening, but he put his hand over hers and said, “Ginny, are you sure? We can’t take it back once it happens, you know…”


“Yes, Harry, please - put it in me. I want you so much…”


Harry’s heart felt like it would stop from beating so ha Thi This was really it… He rubbed the head up and down her wet folds, circled it against her clit, and as her fingernails dug into his hips and pulled him insistently toward her, he let himself sink into the blissful soft warmth of her. It hurt her for a moment when he carefully pushed through her barrier, but he held still for a minute, and the painful throb soon turned back into the warm throbbing of need that it had been.


“Gin,” he gasped, “Gin - you feel so good, love - I don’t know how long I can…” he started pushing furiously into her, feeling himself tightening up with the need to come. Luckily, Ginny had been right on the edge anyway, and as Harry pushed into her, his pubic bone was grinding into all the right places, rubbing her clit while he moved in and out of her. As Ginny cried out softly underneath him, he pressed his mouth against hers and felt himself go over the edge in blissful release. As Ginny’s orgasm broke and throbbed around him, he spasmed into her, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth open, breathlessly and soundlessly losing himself in her.


When it was over, he lay still against her, shuddering a little bit from time to time. Her hair was splayed out all over and her eyes were closed in contentment. She’d heard from other girls that the first time wasn’t good for anyone, but that was okay because it got better - she smirked knowingly, feeling very happy to have done what they had done. They both felt fantastic and made an unspoken agreement to try the invisibility cloak again as soon as possible.


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


Megan stumbled up the stairs to Dumbledore’s office, feeling agitated, frightened, and terribly uncomfortable. Albus had been informed by Severus to expect her, but was surprised and worried by how much effort it was taking for her to resist the pull of the mark. He grimly looked at what was happening and spoke a containment incantation to help steady her. She moaned and pressed her head into her hands, feeling little relief from the swirling dizziness and burning tug.


~~**~~


That day, Severus had informed the council of having finished the potion, and they agreed that it would be wise to test it with one person before taking the chance with everyone. He gave Megan the one capsule of it that he had reserved, and she crushed it against her arm, letting the pink liquid soak into her skin. The plan was to see if the co-apparation marker would respond when Severus was called to a death eater meeting. She was to remain at Hogwarts when it happened and report the results of it to him later.


That evening, they were kissing in front of the fire, when a wave of painful nausea swept over her. She drew back from Severus and noticed that at the same moment he had clutched his arm. They both looked at each other in silent recognition of what was happening - he was being called already, and it was clear that the marker potion on Megan was responding too. She felt an almost unbearable urge to let go and allow it to carry her wherever it wanted to. For as much as she was resisting it, the sensation was almost overpowering and was making her lightheaded and feel as though she was in a fog.


Severus was concerned by her reaction and told her to go straight to Dumbledore, but she seemed to barely hear what he was saying. It had been so long that he received his mark and he had grown so used to it that he had forgotten its initial intensity. He finally got Megan to respond to him, but in the meantime, precious moments were ticking away and he did not want to raise any notice in the death eater’s circle by arriving late. He was already worried that the call so soon after completing the formula might not be enti coi coincidental. Whatever the consequences, Megan could not follow him, so he sent her on her way up the stairs before he left to make sure that she didn’t give in to the pull and leave the grounds.


Megan drifted groggily through the hallways, habit carrying her more than intent. At various points, students had stopped to ask her questions, but she brushed them off, and when she saw Harry and Ginny, she was too agitated to keep better track of them as the faculty were supposed to do.


~~**~~


If her mind had been clearer, Megan would have marveled at Severus’ strength for being able to control his response to the demanding pull of the dark mark as much as he did. She trembled and sat down weakly as a fresh wave of the aching pull washed over her, like a cord tied to the back of her guts trying to pull her impossibly inward.


Only a few things had ever challenged her magic like this, and a sense of dread washed over her at the reality of finally having to lead others to face off with the terrible wizard who had bound them all in this struggle for sog. g. The panic started like a tiny spark which expanded and rushed through her veins faster than she could believe. Her eyes were wide and nervous and she shivered uncontrollably as Dumbledore worked to ease her discomfort and bring her back to herself.


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A/N - Thanks to everyone who\'s reading this - let me know what you think. Special thanks to those who\'ve left reviews - you so make my day & have definitely been the incentive to keep posting regularly! :-D Please review and let me know what you think so far!

I\'ll be traveling for the holiday, so it\'ll prob. be two weeks before the next post, just to let you know. Happy holidays (whichever ones you like best) loves, and be safe and happy. Can\'t wait for you to see what\'s coming up...

~~**~~

lilyadar - Thanks! I\'m so glad you like the pairing. I am looking forward to reading your stories when I get a chance - I\'ve seen the great reviews you\'ve gotten and have added your stories to my list, and good luck with them.

Barrie - LOL - You are the best ego trip ever! Glad you like the story, and I hope that you like where it goes. Am hugely glad to have a vacation coming up - can read more sub rosa! (have put it into my Palm - handy/portable/yay)

Droxy - You are so sweet - thanks for your comments!! Glad you like Hermione & Viktor - they will make their next appearance very soon. So glad you\'ve liked the story & hope you continue to like where it goes.

Mary Beth - Thanks! Glad you like Hermione & Viktor. There will definitely be more of them soon, and don\'t worry - have some ideas for poor old Ron too. Yes - the battle is on the horizon, from the looks of things...


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