Wow, so many people have added this to their alerts today that I felt like I should do a little side scene. I was going to do something like this anyway, and it just sort of worked out. I literally sat here and wrote this out in one go, and my beta has not looked it over yet (I'm so impatient -.-)

Thanks so much for reading! - Red


In the dark, warm room she stood over him like a shadow, not making a sound as he slept before her. Looking down at the sleeping man, she bent forward, her black hair brushing against his naked chest causing Severus to shift in his sleep and draw his blankets up to his chin with a murmur. With a wicked smile on her pale face, she drew her wand quietly out of her robes, the soft ruffle of material a faint whisper in the room. Careful not to wake him, she took a small step forward closer to his face, her hair trailing up his torso; she positioned the wand at his temple. Closing her eyes and suppressing a cackle as she drove silently into his mind, into his subconscious and into his dreams.

Severus ran his fingers through her red hair, looking down at the woman underneath him. Her sparkling green eyes looked deep into his and she giggled as he lowered his lips to meet hers. In a tangle of limps they shifted, he could feel the weight of his love on him, the only thing holding him grounded, saving him from floating away to insanity."I love you, Lily." He murmured in her ear. Grabbing her smooth hair, he pulled gently exposing her neck to him, kissing his way up and down her nape, relishing the tremble he felt through her body. He rested his head in the crook in her shoulder and held her close to him, loving the feeling of her heart against his chest, as if it were his own. He ran his hands up her back feeling a slight shift in her posture. Lifting his head he looked back up into her dark eyes, tangling his hands in her black wavy hair, then drifted them down her body, over her shoulders and chest to her waist where he lifted her up and positioned her over him, as he moaned into her ear "I need you, Bellatrix" –

Severus shot out of bed, landing in a tangle of blankets on the floor, his sheets clinging to him from sweat, inching backwards and wincing at the pain in his back. Lying there with his body against his dresser he ran a hand down his face, his eyes wide and searching around the room for an intruder that he couldn't find. His heart was beating out of his chest as he untangled himself from his sheets and stood up, letting them fall to the floor. Standing in his briefs, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight, Severus shivered from the cold her could feel inside of him and closed the curtains. He had been dreaming of her, of Lily, even thinking the name brought fresh pain to his chest. He had been holding her, loving her as he should have, finally feeling the warmth of her body and then it had all shifted to cold. Severus took a step towards his bed and sat on it, remembering with a sick feeling in his throat. It was almost as if he could taste her filth on his lips, as if he could feel her hands on his back. With a shudder, he reached over to his bedside table, opening the bottle of scotch Grimly had found for him. He took a couple swigs, feeling the liquid burn a trail down his throat, stopping the vomit that was trying to come up. Bellatrix of all people to replace her in his dreams, he thought to himself with a scoff. The opposites of the two women, like night and day, light and dark, love and hate. Though he was reluctant to admit it, he believed he might be going mad from being locked up in this prison. Some days, he could hardly remember what Lily had looked like, what colour her skin was, what her voice sounded like. Other days that was all he could think about. What he wouldn't give to rid himself of his aching heart, to rip it from his chest and be done with it. Placing the bottle back down, Severus shifted back into bed, pulling the covers on top of him once more and sighed. Thanking the scotch gods up above, he closed his eyes and found sleep come to him eventually, slipping him into a dreamless coma of slumber. If, however, Severus had been more perceptive, as per usual, he would have noticed the faint bite mark on his neck, the smell of her on his skin, and the single hair left behind next to him on the pillow.

Grimly watched from the crack in the cupboard under the counter, as the mistress walked passed into Severus' room, with his hand still over Mildred's mouth. This wasn't the first time she had paid them a visit in the middle of the night, though this time she hadn't informed Grimly of her arrival, as per normal. He didn't want to think about what she was doing to Severus in his room, the thought made him uneasy. When they heard the door close with a faint thud, he let go of her, letting out the breath he had been holding in. Being this close to Mildred was a strange kind of torture, though he relished the faint feeling of her breath against his nape, he wished her could feel her warm solid form against his side, instead of the cold whisper he had helped her become. Regardless, when he felt her shaking beside him he placed his hand atop of hers to comfort her. She looked over at him; her upper body bent forward to fit inside the tight space, and moved her hair to the side to look at him, smiling in thanks. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, her mistress terrified her to her ghostly bones.

"Sometimes, Grimly, I wonder what kind of house elf you are." She whispered beside him, "You seem much too bold to be a slave."

Grimly thanked the gods that it was relatively dark in the cupboard, as his cheeks flared red. "You ain't ever met a good house elf then." He said jokingly, trying to ease the fear he read on her face.

"I do believe you might be right, my friend." She said with a yawn.

"If you want, you can sleep for a little. I'll wake you up when she comes out."

With a grateful smile, Mildred stretched her legs as far as they could go to the side, and laid her head on Grimly's lap, closing her eyes.

"Sometimes, Millie, I wonder what kind of slave you are, you seem much too bold." Grimly mimicked her harshly, trying to hide the tremble in his voice. He heard her chime of a giggle as she shifted her head slightly so she was lying on the wooden ground instead of his leg, and it took all the strength he had in his little body to not pull her back to him. With a sigh, Grimly put his head against the back of the cupboard, the crack of light on his face and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long night.


That last scene with Grimly and Mildred was similar to a picture in my head, I wish I could draw. When I started with these two characters that was my first thoughts of them though at the time I had originally thought them both to be ghosts (I like Grimly more as a slightly grumpy house elf with terrible grammar)

I hope you enjoyed, and to those who favourited/alert-ed, leave me a shout, let me know what you like/don't like :) As I've said before, this is as much your story as it is mine.