In Need

Here\'s a short update...

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Megan was agitated when she got back to Hogwarts, and there was no one to talk to. The staff had all finished with their evening rounds, all of the kids were long since in bed, and even Hagrid’s hut was dark. Logically, Megan knew that Severus’ getting called to a death eater’s meeting tonight wasn’t any different than the many other times he’d had to do it - Severus Snape’s brains and strength would see him through this time just like they had every other time over the years. It just didn’t seem fair that it had taken over the lovely evening they’d been having, and it didn’t seem fair that he had such a big responsibility to handle all on his own.


She decided to go for a run to clear her mind - it always refreshed her to be outdoors, and she would be glad to have the distraction. She changed, went outside, and began to sprint toward the quidditch stadium. She planned to go inside and run laps to avoid the attention of whatever might be lurking about in the night… but a pair of intense blue eyes had already spotted her.


Over the pounding of her own feet, Megan suddenly heard rapid footfalls approaching behind her, and whatever it was sounded like something big and fast. She had to make a split decision - she was close to the stadium and might be able to make it there if she just looked straight ahead and sprinted as fast as she could. On the other hand, she might need to turn around and fight, and she didn’t want to be out of breath to do it.


She spun quickly around, reaching for her wand, but then relaxed when she saw who it was. Firenze, the centaur who taught divination was cantering toward her. She was a little jealous that his dappled flanks showed no signs of being out of breath, as she bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her own breath as he approached her.


“Professor Waters,” he said, “are you in danger? Why are you running?”


“No danger, Firenze - sorry to worry you. I just run to help me think sometimes. I hope I didn’t disturb your work,” she added, realizing that he had probably been charting celestial patterns.


“My work is finished for this night. You seem troubled.”


As they talked, she began to feel better. In the short time she had known him so far, Firenze had always had valuable insights and she was grateful that he had spotted her tonight.


The centaur felt an affinity to Megan that he did not have for many other humans. He was ostracized from his own kind, and before she came to Hogwarts he’d had no one else around who knew nature as well as he himself did. Megan appreciated Firenze’s understanding of the beauty and power in the natural world, and she was glad to meet someone who could have a discussion about it, because - as Firenze had already found out - there were not many people who understood seasons, life cycles, and natural properties.


They were discussing a particular combination of flower roots for a joint poultice when they heard the loud crack of someone apparating outside the Hogwarts gate. Firenze understood from Megan’s expression that it was what she had been waiting for, so he bade her goodnight and cantered off.


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Megan ran down toward the Hogwarts entrance and was extremely relieved to see Severus standing there. Until he took off his mask, clutched his side, and spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground.


“Oh, God,” thought Megan as she rapidly covered the rest of the distance between them. Severus straightened up, narrowed his eyes, and took his wand out as he heard someone approaching him. Megan, whose eyes were adjusted to the moonlight, saw him raise his wand, and she shouted, “Wait! It’s me!”


He opened the gate and entered the grounds as she ran up to him. “Megan, go back inside at once,” he said brusquely, walking stiffly. “I will be fine and would prefer that you don’t see me like this.”


“I don’t want to go back in - I want to stay with you. Are you going to the infirmary?”


“No, I have the remedies that I need in my own quarters. Don’t make me talk, please,” he said hoarsely, and Megan noticed a nasty rattling and wheezing sound as he breathed.


She walked wordlessly beside him as they went inside. He undid the wards to his door, and she lit a fire and started some tea while she watched him. He started by drinking a vial of a thick green liquid that made him shudder and grimace, which she later found out was for organ repair. He took off his cloak, letting it drop onto the floor, and sat gingerly down in a chair by the fire, closing his eyes. Megan sat quietly in the other chair, and after a few minutes, he asked her - in a clearer voice - to bring him another bottle labeled “Skele-Grow.” He drank a few swallows from it, and then pointed his wand at some of his ribs, one of his wrists, and his nose, uttering an incantation to heal broken bones.


“There,” he said quietly. “The worst of that is over now. It will have to mend the rest of the way as I sleep, but it was not so bad this time.”


Megan’s stomach shriveled up into a ball when she heard him say that. “You mean it’s usually worse?”


“Sometimes. Then Madam Pomfrey’s assistance is required. But I would not disturb her at this hour for injuries that I had the potions and spells to treat myself.”


Alarmed, Megan asked, “But how do you know you caught everything? Shouldn’t you get checked out every time?”


With a stare, Severus reminded her that he had been doing this awhile. “There is one thing, though…,” he added tentatively. “It’s rather difficult to manage on my own. As long as you’re here, would you be willing to help me with it?”


“Of course - anything.”


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When he had gotten back that evening and realized it was her outside, Severus had been mortified. For as close as they were becoming, he supposed that he would eventually have to let her see him when he came home injured, but it was hardly the he he wanted to top off their first night out together. She didn’t seem squeamish about it though, and, for as exhausted and aching as he was, he appreciated that he didn’t have to watch out for her sensitivities. Time after time, she managed to break down his barriers with seemingly no effort at all - or maybe she simply went around them and found her own way in.


When he told her to leave but she wouldn’t, he decided to take a chance and accept her help. It was part of the reason that he came back to his quarters in the first place instead of going to the infirmary. What he told her was the truth - he did have everything he needed there in his quarters to heal himself from tonight’s damage. He had taken the gamble that she would be willing to help him out with the last part that he couldn’t do by himself, figuring that if she was really determined to be a part of this, then she might as well see it all.


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He slowly stood up, wincing as his not-quite-healed cracked ribs protested his movement. Looking at Megan for a moment, he indicated for her to follow him into his bedroom, and he took off his robes and shirt. His well-muscled arms and chest flexed as he tossed his shirt aside, and Megan was horrified to see that the back of it was soaked in blood, with more blood dripping off his shredded back.


Severus lay carefully down on the bed and taught her the healing charm to say over the bloody red stripes that throbbed on his back. Under her capable ministrations, they quickly began to shrink and close. He shuddered and sighed as she lovingly kissed each place where there was a new flat white scar and traced over them delicately with her fingertips. When he rolled over onto his back to face her again, he saw that her eyes were angry.


“What did they do to you? Why would they beat one of their own members?” she asked.


“You’d be surprised what they are capable of,” he said flatly, “but they didn’t beat me, exactly. They were torturing a muggle that they had captured for the ‘entertainment.’ A long time ago when I started spying, I devised a spell that allows me to receive at a distance the brunt of whatever blows they give the victims. They eventually collapse from fear or exhaustion, but are otherwise unaffected and can recover.”

hea heart filled with grief at what he’d had to bear alone for so long. “It’s not fair,” she said quietly, softly stroking his hair. “I wish someone could go with you to help - I’d do it.”


Megan longed to be able to crawl into the bed next to him and get as close to him as possible, but tonight was not the night for that. She took off his shoes and trousers, and pulled the soft covers up around him, gently tucking him in. His black eyes were starting to close with fatigue, even though he was trying very hard to stay awake. She smiled tenderly at him and kissed him on the cheek, smoothing his hair away from his forehead. The bruises were mostly faded now and his breathing had eased, thanks to the potions. She had no idea, though, that as he drifted off to sleep, he considered her to be the best medicine he’d ever had.