"The Phoenix and the Raven"
a post-final battle fanfic by Seventia Snape
Chapter Four, "Richard"
Severus was seated on one of the beds in the infirmary, covered in thin livid scratches all over his face and hands. They stung like mad, and made his mood even worse than it had been earlier. He submitted to Madam Pomfrey's ministrations, allowing her to dab a soothing balm on the scratches with an expert touch. When she'd finished, she handed Severus the small green jar, but when his fingers closed around it, he found that she was not ready to release it just yet. He looked up at her, annoyed and longing to return to his quarters to continue to make amends with Siobheann. But Pomfrey had something to say. She looked at Severus in a motherly manner, and spoke.
"Please don't be too hard on her, Severus. She has been unsafe so often in her short life I am afraid."
The large copper colored beast had launched itself at him, yowling and snarling fearsomely, and in the fleeting seconds before impact, time seemed to slow down and Severus noticed that the cat bore an unsettling resemblance to the damned lion that he'd spent his night trying to restore. He tried to block its claws, but it was too fast and too angry for that. Siobheann woke up to Severus' yell of pain and indignation, and the cat's yowls and hisses, and Severus was sad to see her eyes grow enormous in fear. Finally, she recognized him, and the look changed subtly to also reflect annoyance. She barked a command at the beast, who was still savaging Severus' face, and Severus watched with relief as it sat down at her feet and made itself content by glaring at him with it's malevolent red eyes.
Severus had begun to compose the proper apologies, but before he could speak, Siobheann had grabbed his shoulder and pushed him out of the room, and Severus, thinking that she would follow to berate him, allowed himself to be pushed. But she stepped back into the bedroom and slammed the door, locking it physically and magically, much to Severus' surprise, and he found himself unable to apologize at that moment, as the cuts had begun to sting, so he'd trudged to the hospital wing and reluctantly asked Pomfrey for help. She'd taken one look at him, scowled, and pushed him down on one of the beds and stalked off to get the proper salve for the scratches.
Severus listened patiently to the healer as she told him the story of Siobheann's life as well as she knew it.
"Nobody truly knows everything except for her, I'm afraid, and I don't know if she's confided the whole truth in anyone, but when she came here, about four years ago now, she was just a thin little 16 year old like the others, but there was a difference between her and the other children. First of all, there was the fact that she'd been at Durmstrang for the first 5 years of her education, and the students tended to look at her a trifle askance, due to Dolohov's reputation, you see. But when she arrived, she had dark circles under her eyes and bruises everywhere. Bruises on her wrists, her face, her arms. It would've broken your heart if you'd seen it."
Severus felt two things: compassion for the young Siobheann, who'd obviously had a childhood similar to his own, and regret that his double spying duties had kept him from the students so much.
"Her mother was just a thin, nearly transparent kind of muggle woman, and her father was a wizard, Caleb Dewar, who was revealed after the war to have been a death eater. Siobheann was heartbroken that night to finally discover her father, and to find what he was. The mother had divorced him years before (silly Muggle marriages, so fickle) and remarried a muggle man with a cruel mind, and I suspect he's the one who gave Siobheann the bruises. She was such a jumpy little thing too. The first year she was here, you'd so much as look at her and she'd flinch, and she never spoke unless spoken to. Finally, in her final year, she arrived with that cat looped around her shoulders and less bruises than before, and she seemed a little more secure. The faculty had taken the liberty of having their house watched during the summer and we'd seen for ourselves what kind of a man her stepfather was, and when Siobheann graduated early in November, and brilliantly I may add, we offered her a healer's and potion's apprenticeship here. She accepted and hasn't been back home since, except for her mother's funeral last year. Hogwarts is her home now. She seemed to bloom just before the war. She actually became rather fond of Dumbledore, always visiting his portrait in the headmistress' office. For Yule last year, he had Minerva present her with a smaller portrait for her to have in her quarters. I believe they have "tea" now and then, and he just adores her. But if you could've seen her in the battle! She became so fierce and dueled like a madwoman. She'd have finished Bellatrix off if Molly Weasley had faltered, that's just how skillful and fiery she was.
When we found you in the Shrieking Shack, she found that you were just barely alive, and insisted that we carry you back to her quarters, which we did, and the rest is history. But Severus, you truly have become to mean more to her than just a remarkable feat of her healing prowess, you must realize that. I believe she may see you as a sort of father. So please, be gentle on her poor heart."
Severus stood and drew himself up to his full height as he took the jar from Pomfrey.
"Be assured Madam, I intend to protect Miss Dewar, not harm her. I knew her father well."
And with that statement, he stalked away into the darkness of the corridors, leaving a surprised and mollified healer watching him go.
When Severus arrived back to the dungeons, he found Siobheann curled up in one of his comfortable chairs, that abominable cat sitting at her feet, and she was staring with red rimmed eyes at the tapestry, which remained in its terrible state. Severus sat himself down in the chair opposite hers and leaned forward, clasping his hands together as if in prayer.
"Siobheann, I must beg your forgiveness. I am so unused to women that I forgot the importance of your privacy, only thinking of my need to see that you were alright and to try to make things better. Please forgive me, and let me make it up to you somehow. I truly did not mean for that to happen with the tapestry, if you'll believe that, and I have been awake all night trying to repair it. I am so, so sorry."
He bowed his head, hoping that she would forgive him, but he was to be dissapointed. Siobheann jumped to her feet and drew her wand out of her sleeve. Severus sat up straight and steeled himself for whatever hex she was about to throw at him. But no hex arrived. Instead, she began to trace wards halfway through each room in their quarters, and then wove heavier wards and hexes around her bedchamber door, which she then opened and slammed behind her, continuing to weave her wards around and finally silencing her room.
The silence was deafening, and especially so with the enormous copper beast still glaring at him, not moving a single muscle. He decided to test out Siobheann's wards, and reached out his finger to touch one of them. He drew his hand back quickly, cursing at the burn cooled on his finger. Those were no innocent wards. If he was to invade "her side" of any room, he'd be burnt. He groaned, throwing his head back in despair and covering his eyes with one of his hands. He longed for someone to talk to about all of this. He didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, remembering something Pomfrey had said, he looked to the other side of the room, where Albus Dumbledore's portrait sat on the shelf, the older man's eyes twinkling at him maddeningly. He threw up a hand impatiently and thought, accio portrait, and regretted that action, as he was immediately pelted with the entire contents of the shelf. Grumbling, he used a reparo on all the cracked ones, and then fished out the one he was looking for. The twinkle in the blue eyes softened.
"Severus, my boy. It is good to see you. I am so glad that you haven't joined me with the other portraits of headmasters. You have so much left to do."
"Albus, I need help...I suspect you saw what happened yesterday?"
"Unfortunately, yes, Severus. I am so sorry. Such a tragedy for you both. However, there is not much I can do to help you here, Severus."
"Please Albus. I would never hurt her for the world, but I already have, twice. I am such an idiot. I can't bear the hurt that I see in her eyes, knowing that I'm the one who inflicted that pain on her."
"Severus, you are a good man however complicated your goodness may be at times. All you need to mend this situation is already within you. All you have to do is find it. I can help you, but you will need to do the work on your own. Also, it would help if you were to make friends with Richard. He is a delightful beast once you get to know him."
Severus stared at the cat Richard in shock. He sat there, no longer glaring at him, simply gazing at him patiently as if he was a rather slow witted child. Albus coughed softly into his hand, and Severus glared back at him helplessly.
"I must be going, Severus. I haven't rested in such a long time and I am feeling the need. Ta ta, my boy." And with that, he was gone, leaving Richard and Severus staring at eachother. Severus crossed his arms and sneered. No way would he converse with the brutal beast, not 'till his dying day would he.
Two hours of staring later, Severus sighed, disheartened, and began a very desperate speech.
"Richard, I need your help. I care very much for your mistress, and I can't let her think otherwise. I need to gain her forgiveness. I miss her friendship already, and I must disctract her from Longbottom until she is over him so that she isn't hurt by his indifference."
The cat eyed him warily, and then he swished his tail back and forth a few times, much to Severus' annoyance. He'd never liked cats.
You interrupted my rest earlier and I was most cross with you. I do not yet feel any inclination to help you, despite your obvious care for my ward, as you so wrongly have identified as my mistress.
"Forgive me, Richard, for distrurbing your rest and frightening your...ward. How is she your ward? Did she not choose you?"
Apology accepted, male human. I chose Siobheann. I saw that she had seen much hurt and would see much more without me to defend her. The first evening that she brought me home, that vile human tried to beat her again. Let's just say that he is now completely unable to see, and She and I escaped to here, where we have made our home. I am around to keep her safe when she is unable to do so.
"Richard, I also have chosen Siobheann...rather, I suppose she chose me first, and I owe her a life debt. I will never refuse her anything, unless she asks me to leave her unprotected, which I will never do. I will always be watching over her. Please let me help keep her safe."
The cat eyed him less warily this time, and finally seemed to nod his head solemnly. He then stood and disapparated, to Siobheann's chamber most likely, leaving Severus to ponder the strange conversation. It would seem that for now, he had an ally. Now if only Siobheann would see that he didn't mean her harm. He sat there, pondering sadly the look in her eyes when she woke, the fear and panic in her enormous reddish eyes. How vulnerable she'd looked sleeping brokenly, the tear stains still on her cheeks. How he'd wanted to gather her in his arms and cradle her until she could sleep peacefully. How angry and hurt she'd looked as she slammed her door shut. The images danced through his mind, over and over again, making him long for her forgiveness and punishing him more surely than the Dark Lord or the cruel world ever had.