Fire and Water

Chapter Thirty Eight



“Sev!”

Krystal stood staring at the dark haired man for a moment before recovering herself and releasing him from the Body Bind. In her panic, she had forgotten that he knew this house - that Albus, with her permission, had made him Secret Keeper when he swapped sides so someone else knew where she was if something ever happened to him. Albus trusted Severus - having seen his unswerving loyalty to her and Lily.



His body unclenched and he staggered to his feet, running his hands over his hair and down the front of his robes. He glared at her, snatched his wand out of her hand and stalked past her.

She went to follow him, but halted as he abruptly turned back to her.

“Put some clothes on,” he said roughly, his eyes flicking down then quickly back to her face.



It was her turn to glare at him, before she went to her closet and pulled out a pair of shorts, hastily pulling them on as she left the bedroom and found him standing in the kitchen, staring out the open window.

“I thought you‘d come here now Campbell Cottage was unusable.” He answered her unasked question.

“You know me well,” she said. “I didn’t even know I’d come here.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes dark. “You are alright?” he asked, a little stiffly.

She nodded. “You?” He ignored her question.



“The Ministry has fallen. It is now under the Dark Lord’s control. They are able to break most enchantments now: the Order will have to use Secret Keepers to keep their locations secret. You should add protection to this property - although there is no reason they would think to look here.‘

He paused then looked at her. ‘They were looking for Potter at The Burrow,” he said.



“Was anyone hurt? Are they all ok?” Her questions were asked urgently.

He nodded. “The one’s that fought back will have injuries, but they are alive. He wants them alive for now; he wants them to lead us to Potter. Do you know where he is? What he is doing?”

She leant back against the bench. She desperately wanted to ask if Remus was hurt, but bit her tongue for the moment. Severus was no fan of the werewolf.

‘I know of the task he was set, but you know I can’t tell you. But I don’t know where he is; no one does. I think that’s best, just in case. Sev……’

He had been watching her closely, and interrupted her, saying quietly, “Lupin stupidly fought back, but he is fine.”

She felt a surge of both pride in Remus’ bravery, and relief that he was unhurt.



Severus moved out of the kitchen to the couch in the attached living area. He sat down carefully, his face a controlled mask, but Krystal saw a small flash of pain in his eyes. She recognised the signs and sat beside him.

“You’re hurt! Show me,” she demanded.

“It’s fine,” he said impatiently, a small hiss escaping inadvertently from his lips as he sat back. She frowned at him, her frustration showing itself.

“For Merlin’s sake Sev, you’re obviously not fine.” He didn’t move, looking at the ceiling as he lay back against the sofa.



“You can do this the easy way or the hard way, it’s up to you,” she said, her voice firm. Severus shook his head.

“I’m warning you woman, if you touch me….”

She silently cast a petrification spell at him, which cut off his last words. “You’ll what?” she dared him, releasing the spell quickly.

“You know I’ll win, Sev,” she said in a weary tone. “I’m too tired to argue with you. Either you can show me, or I’ll bind you and strip you to find the injury myself.”



His eyes glinted dangerously and anyone else would have been scared, but she knew him too well to be frightened of him anymore. His jaw clenched and he reached for the buttons on his tunic, quickly unbuttoning them to his waist. He parted the sides and revealed his bruised body. A curse slipped from Krystal’s lips as she took in the damage.



She touched him gently and felt a rumble in his chest as he held back a groan. “Did I do this?” she said in horror.

He shook his head. “I told you some of the Order fought back. Although, your little tantrum didn’t help matters.”

He winced as her hands found a broken rib. “I think your boyfriend did that.“

She looked over at him darkly, saying, ‘You probably deserved it,’ before biting her tongue.

She knew resorting to taunting was his defence mechanism. He had to be hurting badly.



“Are you going to heal it or torture me further?” his voice rose, pain now evident in his tone.

“I have to find out what‘s broken,” she said impatiently, moving her hand down his ribcage. Her face creased in concern.

He had at least five broken ribs and who knows what other injuries. “Give me your wand,” she demanded, taking it out of his hand.

“Do you have any healing potions with you?” He nodded to the table and she saw a small pouch, identical to the one he had given her many years ago.



She retrieved it and knelt in front of him, spreading his legs apart so that she could get closer to him.

“Krystal…” his voice deep and harsh as he warned her he was reaching the end of his tolerance.

“Shut up,” she said distractedly, not bothering to look up at him as she pointed his wand at the first broken rib. She wasn’t an expert at bone healing spells and took a breath to ease her nerves.

“Hang on to something,” she said grimly and a second later a white spark lit up the end of his wand.



His hands closed tightly around the fabric of the couch. His head fell back against the headrest and his face contorted in pain. Krystal closed her eyes briefly, then moved the wand to point at the next fractured bone. It was best to not draw this out. She quickly repaired each rib; wincing as Severus let out a strangled cry with the last.



She fumbled in the leather pouch, finding a potion to help the pain. She held it to his lips, not trusting his shaking hands, and poured it down his throat. Severus lay back against the couch for several minutes, his eyes closed and his breathing laboured. She stayed where she was, her hands gripping his legs as she watched him closely.



Finally, she saw his breathing begin to become deeper and more regular, and some colour returned to his deathly pale face. She searched through the pouch and found another potion to help heal any internal injuries as well as one for shock. She silently handed them to him; his hand was steadier as he raised them both to his lips and downed the contents in one swallow, not even checking to see what they were.



She stayed still, giving him time to compose himself. A few minutes later, he raised his head off the couch and looked at her, still crouched between his legs. A corner of his mouth twitched.

“Unless you’re preparing to administer a different kind of therapy, I suggest you move.”

She used his thighs to push herself to her feet. If he was back to teasing her, he must be feeling better. She slapped him across the leg with her hand.

“You’re such an asshole,” she said crankily.

“And you’re a pushy cow,” he returned, grimacing as he ran his hands over his chest before buttoning up his shirt. ‘Haven’t changed much, have you?‘



She threw herself into the chair across from him, and poked her tongue out at him. She sat watching him do up his tunic and pull himself up straighter on the couch. Severus looked at her and saw the concern still etched on her face. His own face softened a little as he caught her eye and said quietly, “Thank you.”



They sat in silence for several minutes, listening as rain began to fall softly on the roof. Severus was the first to speak.

“The Dark Lord doesn’t know you are still alive.” Krystal sat up a little straighter in the chair as he continued.

“The others didn’t see you properly at the cottage, and no one at The Burrow gave you away. He knows there was an Order member at the cottage that night, but thankfully, he doesn’t really care who it was; he was too angry we let you get away.”

Severus spoke without emotion, but she knew he must have been punished for helping her. Her jaw clenched as she felt her own rush of anger.



Severus saw the flash of silver in her blue eyes. After all these years, he was still surprised that she could get so angry on his behalf. “It’s fine,” he said as she opened her mouth to speak. He stood slowly, his ribs feeling tender, but no longer causing him pain. She stood as well, facing him.



“What will happen now?” she asked.

“He has his own plans; plans he hasn’t shared with us.” Severus frowned. The fact that the Dark Lord had not shared his plans with him concerned him.

“He doesn’t suspect you?” He stared at her for a moment.

“No,” he said finally. “He still trusts me. He would kill me if he thought that I wasn’t loyal to him.”



He saw her eyes flash again, and he felt a smile twitch at the corner of his mouth.

‘Her temper hasn‘t improved at all with age,’ he thought. He’d had brief contact with her since she joined the Order two years ago, but she’d been twenty one years old when he’d last been in the same room with her - while she was conscious anyway.



It had been here in this house, and her eyes were flashing with the same anger he saw there now. But that anger had been aimed at him back then, as he tried again to convince her that she couldn’t attempt to contact Lupin now that Voldemort was gone; that it was best if she just forgot about him, and let him forget about her.



Her mind had been damaged then: she had forgotten why it really was she was at the Australian house, forgotten it was her that caused the pain she saw on Lily’s face in her dreams. It wasn’t until a nearly a year later that she remembered everything.



He had gone to sit by her bedside once a week while she was comatose in hospital, the memories of that night having finally returned to break her mind. The responsibility he felt for her pain was heavy, weighing him down even now she appeared to have recovered.



“Is he going to go after Harry?” She asked the question quietly.

“We are to find Potter and contact the Dark Lord when we have him,” Severus said, his retrospective fading.

He looked at Krystal and said with a trace of coldness, “He is the image of his father, is he not? With the same arrogance; the same weakness.”

Krystal looked at him, her temper rising again from the insult to her former friend. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said softly, her voice slightly vindictive. “He has Lily’s eyes; Lily‘s heart.”



She saw his face change at her words and was sorry straight away; she had known her words would wound him. She walked the few steps until she was standing in front of him. “I’m sorry, Sev. You’re right; I am being a cow tonight.”

His pained expression faded a little as he nodded and looked at her.



“I should go. I just wanted to warn you not to reveal yourself. I’m glad you had the sense to get out before you were seen.”

She smiled ruefully, “Actually I didn’t,” she said. “Remus made me go.”



Severus looked at her carefully: he’d heard the change in the tone of her voice. “You and Lupin,” he said. “You’ve….. sorted out your differences?” Krystal couldn’t help smiling.

“Yes, we worked things out.” Severus shook his head as he watched her face colour.

“I really don’t want to know,” he said, hearing her chuckle as he turned to walk to the front door.



She followed him, reaching out when he got to the door. She caught his hand in hers and stopped him. He looked at their joined hands and then up at her face. “Your debt to me was paid a long time ago Sev. I’m not complaining but, why are you still helping me? You owe me nothing” she asked, her voice gentle.



Severus looked around past the veranda, out into the dark night. “Because you never told anyone; you kept all my secrets. You could have told them; they were your friends. But you didn’t.”



She held his hand until he turned to look at her. “If you would just have let others see your heart…….”

“I would have had an even more miserable childhood than I did,” he interrupted, his voice harsh. She touched his face with her hand.

“We’re two of a kind aren’t we? Our life choices really have sucked.“ This time, he did smile at her comment.



‘Krystal, I….’ he began, but forced himself to stop. She was his oldest friend, the only person alive he felt anything for anymore. He wanted to tell her he hadn’t wanted to kill Dumbledore; that he didn’t have a choice. But he’d made a promise, and he had to honour it.



She looked at him, and could see the torment in his eyes. She let her mind block drop and heard one word, but that was all she needed.

‘Albus was too strong a wizard to allow his death to be so random,’ she said, squeezing his hand. ‘I know you can’t tell me exactly what happened, but I’m sure he had complete control over the way he died.’



Severus felt a jolt of relief that she didn’t believe he’d betrayed Dumbledore, and was a little annoyed with himself that he was so concerned about what she thought of him. He’d never considered her anything more than a friend; having fallen in love with Lily when he was ten, and remaining in love with her for all these years. But he could see why Lupin and Black had fallen for Krystal. He looked upon her like a sister now, despite his every attempt not to care.



‘Thank you for looking out for me, Sev,” she whispered, raising up on her toes and quickly kissing him on his cheek before he could pull away. “Take care, ok?”

He nodded before spinning on his heel and walking quickly down the stairs. When he reached the edge of the protection, he disappeared.



Krystal was too disturbed to go back to bed. She curled up on a chair on the veranda, listening to a kookaburra laugh as the sun began to rise. She was worried about Severus; about Harry and the others. She missed Remus. How long would it be before she could see him again? She sighed and let a self pitying tear roll down her cheek. She’d been by herself for so many years, but it was only now that she felt truly lonely.