CHAPTER 8
DISCLAIMER- So, here is the promised re-write of "the potion master's assistant." Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, Halo Spencer, however, is mine. Hope everyone enjoys the new version, and I swear I'll finish this one. Also, Pendergast belongs to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. You can click on my name to find my other fics, all of which have Pendergast in them. But if you like Halo's character, he and Pendergast are in a fic called "One Day."
Author's Note- sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter, I had sooo much homework. Anyway, sorry for the short chapter and I don't know when I'll have another one finish, hopefully in the next week or so. I'm just sort of writing this as I go along. Y'know? I might write faster if I had some reviews, even just telling me you've read it. Please it would make me really, really happy. –Gadget
Snape's POV
It was December and Hogwarts was covered by a foot and a half of snow. My relationship with Halo was progressing steadily, though a little slower than I would have liked. After the day I had blown him in the shower, he'd gone to Pendergast very much against my protest. He'd said he just wanted to tell the agent the 'good news.' Halo had come back early that Monday morning with his lower lip cut and several bite marks on his neck atop the ones I had left. When we'd had sex that night, I'd been shocked to see the bites all over his chest and even on his shoulders and the back of his neck.
"He just wanted to mark me up one last time Sev." He'd told me. "Because I'm not his any more, he just wanted to leave me with a good memory. I'm okay... I'm yours now."
Since then the only time I let him out of my sight was when he was in another class or with Lupin. Like he was now, they had become best friends it seemed in the time Halo had been at Hogwarts. I could see them through Halo's bedroom window which so happened to have a wonderful view of the lake and grounds. Lupin sat in the snow, his side to the castle giving a good look at his profile, his graying brown hair just long enough to touch the collar of his shabby robes. I had a feeling he must be cold, but then again, the full moon was a few weeks away. The cold was the least of his worries.
I could see Halo near the water's edge making several little piles out of the snow. I had no idea what he was up to exactly, it sort of looked like he was making snowmen but then after each pile was made, he'd jump on it and flatten the piles out. What are you doing Halo? I wondered.
I leaned against the windowsill with my hands on my hips and I felt a slow smile appear on my face. Halo had made another, larger pile of snow and was now dancing around it with his hands in the air. I could see Lupin laughing at whatever my lover had said.
My lover... It was a different sort of internal sensation to think those words; an uplifting sort of feeling in my chest. After all I had done as a Death Eater and as a spy I'd never had the time or inclination to find a lover for more than one night. Even when I had been a student I had never had more than a handful of different lovers. It had always been just sex and just people to have sex with. I didn't see Halo like I had seen them, he was one of the few I considered lovers.
I blinked and then Lupin had been pounced upon by Halo the two were rolling about in the snow; it sort of looked like they were tickling each other. I felt a swell of jealousy but it quelled after a moment; I had nothing to worry about from Lupin. The wolf was completely heterosexual and... I had blatantly refused Halo when he'd begged me to play in the snow with him earlier.
Now he and Lupin had stood and separated, Halo was backing away, waving his hands in front of his chest. Lupin was holding a snowball at a ready-to-fire position and Halo was still backing away, a smile on his face. Lupin threw the snowball and Halo did a backward handspring out of the way, landing on the ice. He looked up at Lupin with a terrified expression and the inevitable happened; the ice collapsed and Halo went under the water.
For a moment I thought I'd just imagined it, that Halo had jumped to safety at the last second but I had never been that fortunate. I ran from the room to the entrance hall and out of the castle at top speed. "Merlin, don't let the Giant Squid or the merepeople get him." It was my mantra until I reached Lupin, who was wrapping my lover in his cloak.
"Remus-"
"You're going to be fine, come on, I'm taking you to Madame Pomfrey." Lupin said, he was holding Halo in such a way that it would look like he was walking under his own power.
"Lupin," I wanted to take Halo from him, carry him into the castle but I refrained. "I saw what happened-" I peered at my lover, he was still dripping water. "Why is he still wet?"
"None of the drying or heating charms I tried have worked." He pushed Halo's head beneath the hood of the cloak. "I'm sure it's something to do with the water or some thing in the water that prevents-"
"Take it up with the Headmaster Lupin," I hissed and began pulling them both toward the castle. I flung open the door and a wave warm air greeted us. Halo shivered despite this, grabbing onto the both of us.
"Sev?" He asked and I fought down the routine urge to scold him for the use of my name in public. We'd come to an agreement that we'd only use our first names when we were alone together; it was an attempt to keep our relationship a secret.
"Come on Spencer," I urged him. "Hospital Wing, keep up now."
He stopped, pulling on my arm to make me stop too. "Sev... I need you to get Pend for me." He started to slide to the ground and Lupin and I both moved to catch him. "Please Sev? Promise me."
I pressed my lips together. "I promise Spencer."
"Good." He smiled. "Make sure he keeps the smile for me Remus..." Halo passed out between us and Lupin hoisted him back to standing. This impression of 'Halo-is-walking-under-his-own-power' was a lot less convincing than the one before it.
"Tell me what happened Remus." The Headmaster said. Pomfrey had made us leave the Hospital Wing while she attempted to get Halo's temperature under control. She'd kept saying we were underfoot and that we were giving her trouble and ordered us to leave and report to the Headmaster.
"Halo came to my rooms a few hours ago asking me to play in the snow with him, you know how he is Headmaster, he just gets so excited and playful it's like taking care of a puppy. Anyway he said-" He looked at me and I nodded. "He said that Snape had refused him earlier and that he really didn't want to play on the grounds by himself..."
Dumbledore held up a hand to Lupin for his momentary silence before he turned his attention to me, eyes twinkling as he said; "You have begun dating Halo, correct?"
Merlin, how did he know this stuff?!
"Yes Headmaster," I said through clenched teeth, he'd have told McGonagall by morning and then the entire school would know within hours. Nothing would be said to me of course, but Halo would find that a few of his female admires had lost interest rather quickly. "He asked me to contact his American friend, Agent Pendergast-"
Dumbledore held up his hand again. "I know Severus but it's been taken care of. I had Minerva fetch him; he'll be with Halo soon."
"You're bringing him into the castle?" I asked.
"Yes, Lupin, you may continue."
Lupin nodded. "I agreed to go onto the grounds with him, he'd picked a spot near the lake, of course, and he loves the water..."
I looked up, I didn't know Halo loved being near the lake. I knew he loved long showers and falling asleep wherever he happened to drop. I knew his favorite color, food, smell and his favorite spot on the pillow but not his favorite place on the grounds. There was so much I still didn't know about my lover, things that Lupin did know and again I felt that swell of jealousy.
"...Threw a snowball and he jumped out of the way. He landed on the ice- it was closer than we had thought- and he just went through it. I pulled him out as fast as I could; he was uninjured but still cold and shaken up. We encountered Snape on our way back to the castle..."
Dumbledore nodded, looking again to me after Lupin's voice trailed into silence. "Anything to add Severus?"
"No sir," I said truthfully. "Could we-?"
"Yes, Halo should be awake by now. Take a lemon drop before you go..."
Lupin and I walked back toward the Hospital Wing in silence and any student in our way promptly scurried off to somewhere safer. We were at the doors before he spoke.
"How long have you been seeing Halo...romantically?" He asked, refusing to open the door until I answered him.
"Some time in late September."
"That long? Wow, well that's splendid for the both of you. He's like a little brother to me so don't, y'know, hurt him or anything-"
I laughed, thinking about the dangerous man on the other side of this door and what Halo had let him do. Seemed I did know something about him that the man at my side didn't.
"What's so funny Snape?"
"Nothing just thinking that you're not going to like Pendergast." I told him.
I pushed the door open, Madame Pomfrey and McGonagall were near the door but they didn't notice us come in, too caught up in their own conversation.
"-Thought he was a Malfoy when I saw him." McGonagall was saying. "But as it happens he's not from wizarding stock at all."
"He's not?!"
"No, he's just a friend of Mr. Spencer's."
"What a shame, such a handsome man too..."
Lupin sent a smile my way and I returned it on a smaller scale. Halo's bed was behind a curtain and as we neared it I saw Lupin tense up out the corner of my eye. I turned to him surprised, his eyes were narrowed, his hands clenched in tight fists and his hackles were raised.
"Lupin?" I asked, feeling his energy on the air which I shouldn't have been able to do unless he was about to transform. "What is it"?
"I smell another werewolf," He said out the corner of his mouth. "Is this Pendergast-?"
"I don't know." I answered. "Halo said he definitely wasn't a wizard but wasn't sure if he was a Muggle or not."
I pulled back the curtain and there stood Pendergast in his tailored black suit combing back Halo's hair from his face and adjusting the many heavy blankets.
"Afternoon Professor Snape," He said to me. "And you would be Professor Lupin, I assume?" He held out his hand but the wolf made no move to shake it.
"You're a werewolf." Lupin stated matter-of-factly.
To my surprise the agent looked quickly to Halo as if to see if he was still asleep. "Halo...doesn't know." He said at last. "I would prefer to keep it that way."
"He can't be a werewolf," I said. "Or Halo would be too as many times as Pendergast has bitten him."
"He is a werewolf Snape!" Lupin insisted. "I can smell the virus in him but he smells..."
"Different?" Pendergast offered. "Because I am. I was bred a werewolf, the virus has been in my family for generations upon generations and it became a different strain of the lycanthropy virus. I am the product of the particular strain."
Lupin frowned, so did I. "I don't understand."
"Truthfully, I don't either. But I'm only contagious if I breed. Which," He looked over at me quickly. "I can't do with Halo."
"Why haven't you told him? Contagious or not he still deserves to know." Lupin said.
The agent shrugged. "Halo asks a lot of pointless questions, it can be quite irritating."
I knew that to be very true, having lived in the man's room for the past few months. He never stopped asking questions, and it was annoying and irritating to the point were I wanted to strangle the kid. But it was also one of his endearing traits and just ...cute. Yes, I said cute.
"I'm sorry I let him fall through the ice." Lupin finally said a little shyly.
"An accident Professor Lupin," The agent dismissed. "Halo attracts them like flies to a dump. I'm sure he'll laugh about it with you when he awakens. Your Madame Pomfrey said he'll be fine but she'd like to keep him for a few days-"
"Because the charms I cast didn't work?"
"Yes and because neither did any of the charms or...potions that she used." Pendergast told us, looking over his shoulder at Halo who still slept unaware that we were in the room.
"Oh damn!" Lupin exclaimed. "I forgot to tell the Headmaster my theory about spells not having an effect when paired with the water of the lake... It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Pendergast, see you later Snape."
The blonde American and I were left alone, or as alone as we could be with Pomfrey and McGonagall still conversing by the doors. He turned his back to me and sat in the chair beside Halo's bed. He took my lover's hand in his own and Halo turned onto his side sleepily; Pendergast gave him a slight smile.
"He speaks very highly of you Professor Snape." He said after a moment of watching Halo sleep.
"Does he?" I asked, sitting down on the cot and taking Halo's other hand, hoping that the agent would get the hint and remove his hand from my lover's. No such luck though as it seemed his hand actually tightened.
"Yes, non-stop, in all his letters your name appears almost every sentence. You've made him very happy; I wanted to thank you for that. He's been so... lost and lonely since Ryan died; I really thought they were soul-mates, the way Halo acted..."
I looked at the younger man lying in the bed that was between us, his hair still damp, eyes closed and uncovered by his sunglasses. He looked peaceful and content; he looked, for all intents and purposes, happy. Then I looked at the agent, his face was gaunt, his frame had once given me the impression of a caged animal but now it was almost emaciated and frail. He seemed even paler than he had been and his eyes were far more empty, more hollow. It was like whatever light had been in his eyes had simply gone out, as if someone had pulled the shutters on the window to the agent's soul. I wondered if the lack of Halo's happy-go-lucky presence was wearing him thin. If his absence was taking a toll on him that he didn't show anyone else.
It struck me suddenly how close the both of us had come to losing the young man on two different occasions. The look that Pendergast was giving Halo spoke more than any words even a poet could dream up, those looks were longing and not in the way one longs for completion through sex, but through simple companionship.
My arm stated to tingle then to burn; I clasped my hand over it.
"Make sure Madame Pomfrey knows to keep him warm," Pendergast murmured. "To even in induce a fever if his temperature drops too low. It will be okay Halo, I...I promise."
I wanted to scream at him for making another promise to my lover that we both knew he couldn't keep. I couldn't though, the pain of my Dark Mark searing through and blanketing over my thoughts. I stood, touching my lips quickly to Halo's forehead.
"Professor Snape?" Pendergast asked, looking up at me.
"Stand guard over him, Pendergast." I ordered, turning to leave.
I left the blonde American sitting beside my lover, his silver eyes reflecting unspoken words that I couldn't determine, even though I still knew them in my own mind. Those words were my words too, and Halo would only hear one of us speak them. I didn't know which of us it would be.
Author's note- Pendergast being a werewolf is my creation, part of the plot. In the Preston/Child books, he's human. Or so they say, I have my doubts.
