Chapter 8 Magic

Alex sat up sleepily and climbed out of bed. It had been two and a half months since Cole had been sent away. Much to her chagrin, she wasn't able to sleep by herself after that, and after those first few nights of sleeping in her kidnapper's embrace, she found herself unable to sleep away from the warmth of his body. It had been years since the last time she had fallen asleep and woken up next to the same person. It was addictive.

For the past week she had been attempting to sleep in the bed by herself, resulting in shadows under her eyes and an obvious inability to think straight. There had been a few times when she had put her cloths on backwards or inside out.

She stood up from the bed and managed to put her clothes on right this time. She would have given almost anything for a little alcohol right then. Severus had taken the beer, telling her that she drank too much. After that she wasn't even able to drink herself to sleep.

She leaves the room and makes her way downstairs, sitting down at the breakfast table next to Severus. He glanced at her with a worried expression on his face. A moment later one of the deatheaters sat a bowl of food on the edge of the table rather than directly in front of her. She pulls it in front of her and picks up a spoon.

"Alex, stop!" Severus orders suddenly, just as she stuck the spoon into the bowl. "That's for angel. Yours is on its way."

Severus pushes the bowl back towards the deatheater who had momentarily sat the bowl on the table so that he could bend over and tie his shoe.

"Get that out of here and get her another spoon,"

A moment later a plate is sat in front of her with the correct food and a clean fork.

Severus wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin before standing up and scooting his chair under the table.

"Come find me when you finish. I wish to speak with you." He requests.

Alex nods and watches him leave the room.

Half an hour later she was finishing up her breakfast, taking her time so that she would have an excuse to continue sitting there and talking to one of the more pleasant deatheaters. His name was Aretimis. He had long, curly blonde hair that he kept tied back with a strip of leather, lightly tanned skin, and stormy grey eyes. He had gotten into the habit of stopping to talk to her whenever Severus wasn't around, and the conversations they had were usually rather pleasant.

"You'd better go. Severus wants to speak with you." He advises as she finishes off the pumpkin juice he'd given her.

She nods in agreement and stands up just as a loud noise in the entrance hall caught their attention. Aretimis tensed as they heard Severus yell something. Severus rarely ever raised his voice over anything. When he did, there was a problem.

Aretimis took out his wand and hurried into the great hall. Alex followed him close behind. Severus and a small group of deatheaters stood at one end of the room and five 'friends' of mine stood near the door.

"Come on, A.J. We're getting you out of here." Antoine, my drug dealer, says urgently.

I stare at them in surprise, unsure of what to do.

"A.J. come on!" His brother shouts when I don't move.

"They seem to be under the impression that you want to leave." Severus points out casually, studying her and wondering whether she would try to.

Thoughts race through her mind. If she went with them, how far would they make it? What would happen to Caleb and Nat? Did she even want to go with them? Antoine rented her out for money…Severus was furious when she had been raped.

"Do you want to return to the life you had before?" Severus questions guardedly, refusing to let any of them see how much her answer would mean to him.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her. She studies Severus, but doesn't answer.

"Alex, go to my room. Now," He demands.

She starts towards him but hesitates, unable to make a decision.

Severus takes a step towards her. Out of the corner of her eyes she catches sight of Carla, Antoine's girlfriend, take out a gun and prepare to fire it at Severus.

"No!" Alex yells fearfully as Carla pulls the trigger. Carla and her friends are knocked back off of their feet by an unseen force, massing up the angle of the bullet and causing it to hit Severus in the shoulder rather than the chest.

He grunts in pain and grabs his shoulder, the blood quickly soaking through his robe.

"Who attacked them?" Severus asks curiously.

Aretimis strode over towards them, checking for pulses.

"None of us attacked them. It was the girl," One of the deatheaters says, "I saw her. She did magic."

"Don't be foolish," Severus snaps, "She's a muggle."

"What else could it have been? We didn't do it, and the magic couldn't have come out of no where." Another one points out.

Sever turns towards Alex.

"You've been shot," She murmurs, taking a few steps towards him.

"I'm fine," He replies, studying her. "Has anything unusual ever happened to you before? Things you couldn't explain?"

"Every so often. Don't things like that happen to everyone?" She answers nervously.

"Not like this," he replies simply. He turns towards Aretimis. "I want you to go to the Dark Lord and request that he send someone into the ministry to see if they have any information on Alex or her family. Squibs, perhaps? I want to know if her family has ever had any involvement in the wizarding world. I want you back here this evening with several wands from Ollivander's. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord." Aretimis agrees, stepping over Antoine and his gang and heading out the door.

"What of the intruders?" One of the other deatheaters asks Severus.

"Kill them," Severus orders.

"No, please!" Alex pleads quickly, "They're my friends!"

Severus hesitates. "They cannot stay here."

"Then send them somewhere else. Somewhere your Dark Lord hasn't taken over. Please, Severus…"

He thinks for a moment. "New Zealand?"

Alex nods in agreement.

"Erase their memories and apparate them over to New Zealand," Severus demands, jerking his head in their direction. "And be quick about it."

When his men got to work Severus turned back to Alex. "I still need to speak with you. Come with me."

"I'll speak with you after you get that wound tended to," She replies stubbornly, attempting to bargain with him.

"You'll speak to me while I get it tended to," He compromises. "Follow me."

She nods and follows him through a side door and down a hallway she'd never seen before. He led them to a room that looked like a small parlor.

"Sit down," He requests. He waves his wand and two mugs appear on a side table.

"Try this," He says, offering her one of the mugs before sitting down. One of the deatheaters comes through the door behind her and starts tending to Severus' shoulder.

"What is it?" She asks, studying it suspiciously.

"A treat. It's an alcoholic drink from the wizarding world. Try it." He urges her, "I haven't poisoned it."

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" She asks, raising her eyebrows.

"No, I just thought I'd give you a taste of my world. It's much more flavorful and stronger than what you're used to." He replies calmly.

She hesitantly took a sip. He was right. It was much better than what she was used to. Severus waited until the other man left before he continued.

"It seems," He starts, "That you have been sleeping rather poorly as of late."

"I've been sleeping fine," She lies.

"You tried to eat dog food this morning. Don't. Lie. To me." He points out before continuing. "Considering the fact that this began when you started sleeping alone, I would suggest that, four your health, you resume sleeping next to me."

"The couch is too small," She objects quickly, searching for excuses not to.

"Then allow me to sleep on the bed," He requests.

She bites her lower lip nervously, unsure of how to reply.

"Alex, I won't hurt you." He says insists gently, noticing the look on her face.

"Can you promise me that?" She demands.

"I believe you've just saved my life…I'm not going to repay you by violating you." He answers firmly.

"Do I have a choice?" She sighs.

"No,"

She finishes off the drink and sits it back on the side table before crossing her arms over her chest. "You think I'm a witch?"

"We're not sure yet," He admits, "But we are looking into it. In the mean time there are things you could learn without a wand I can teach you later this afternoon, if you wish?"

"I'd like that," She agrees with a hesitant smile.

"Right now I have work to do," He nods, "I assume you can entertain yourself until I'm finished. I will have someone show you the library. You might find a few things there that interest you."

"Why are you doing this for me?" She asks, not sure whether or not to trust him.

Severus hesitates before answering, "Because you deserve better."