Chapter 4
Cale could barely stay awake at the lunch table. Yesterday he had finished the very long written test and then had practical application tests. When they were finally done he was magically and mentally exhausted, so when he had gotten to the Slytherin dorms he had fallen asleep immediately.
Unfortunately, his night had been far from peaceful. His initially pleasant dreams had quickly turned to nightmares. Then Slughorn had awakened him early in the morning so Cale and McGonagall could go to Diagon Alley to get his supplies.
Cale picked at his lunch a bit more before sighing in frustration, standing from the table and going outside.
He meandered down to the lake and splashed water on his face, the cold successfully shocking him awake. As he was drying his face he heard angry voices nearby. He looked up, trying to determine where the noises were coming from. Not seeing anything, he slowly crept toward the sounds, eventually coming upon James and Sirius with their wands pointed at a figure on the ground.
Cale's eyes narrowed and he drew his wand, making a split second decision to aid the figure against his father and godfather.
"Expelliarmus," he whispered, putting enough power behind it to knock the two Marauders backwards and onto the ground. They quickly got back to their feet and looked around for their attacker. Cale grinned, remained crouched on the ground, and cast a few Expulso's at the surrounding area to confuse them. Unnerved at their unseen attacker, the two took off back towards the castle. Cale then stood and hurried over to the heaped figure still on the groun.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked. All he got was a groan in response. Cale turned the figure, then hissed in surprise when he saw it was none other than Severus Snape. He shook his head and cast Mobilicorpus on him.
"Hang on, I'll take you to the Infirmary," he said in a soothing tone. He found it surprisingly easy to be kind to this Snape, but then again this was not the Snape he knew - plus the boy was injured...
Cale jogged up to the Infirmary where he was met by Madame Pomfrey.
"What happened?" she asked as she began to check Snape over.
"He was attacked. I don't know who they were, then ran off when I arrived," Cale told her. Madame Pomfrey looked over at Cale briefly, realizing that the boy was unfamiliar to her, but she quickly turned back to Snape. She cast several healing spells and set a potion on the bedside table to give the unconscious boy when she could wake him.
"Did you hurt them?" she asked. Cale shook his head and she nodded. "Well thank you, young man. I'm Madame Pomfrey. What is your name?"
"Cale Draconian. May I leave now?" he was anxious to get out of there, he didn't like hospitals after waking up in them so frequently. At Pomfrey's nod he bid her farewell and left the hospital wing.
On his was back outside he mused over how odd the situation was. He had defended Snape against two of the Marauders. Cale shook his head with a dry chuckle as he exited the castle and headed for the Quidditch pitch. He borrowed a broom and Snitch from the broom shed and walked to the center of the pitch. He released the Snitch and counted to ten before taking to the air and chasing after it.
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The sun was setting when Cale headed back in. He stopped at the kitchens for a quick meal, then went down to the dungeons. No one was in the common room but for one lone figure by the fire. As Cale passed the figure stood and addressed him.
"Cale Draconian, right?" Cale turned to find Snape approaching him. He nodded and waited to see what the other boy wanted.
"I wanted to thank you," he said almost shyly. "Not many people would have helped me."
Cale was a bit shocked at the way this younger Snape acted in comparison to the one he knew. He was very different, but Cale could sense some of the proud yet bitter 'Snape-to-be' under it all.
"You're welcome…" he trailed off, as though he was expecting a name.
Snape held out his hand to Cale. "Snape. Severus Snape. If you ever need anything, it would be my pleasure to help you," he said in a proud tone. Cale shook his hand and Snape nodded, then left up the stairs to his room.
Once he was alone, Cale grinned at the tone Snape had used in his farewell. Now that was the Snape he knew. He ascended the stairs, got changed and climbed into bed, hoping that that night his nightmares would leave him alone and let him sleep.
Unfortunately for Cale, it was not to be. Later that night found Cale thrashing in his bed, softly crying out, "No, no." A set of eyes watched him as the nightmare - and Cale's thrashing - grew worse. Cale's cries escalated and just as he started screaming, the owner of those eyes wrapped arms around him from behind, lifting him slightly as the person lay on the bed next to him.
"It's alright, you're ok," the stranger murmured into his ear. That comforting voice brought Cale back to reality - saving him from reliving deaths and voices blaming him for his failures. Slowly he began to quiet down.
Cale felt so safe with this person. The firm chest behind and strong arms around him seemed like they could protect him from everything.
Eventually the arms slowly left him and Cale began to shift restlessly in protest of their loss. Then, gently his sheets were lifted over him and he settled back into the bed, letting out a small sigh of contentment. He could not bring himself to awaken fully, his exhaustion was dragging him down into the peaceful slumber than finally beckoned, and so he was not able to recognize his savior. All that he knew was that the voice had sounded like that of an angel.
