Disclaimer All Harry Potter characters are the property of JKR. But all original characters (Wenny, Carl, Dray, Emma, Shane, Russo, etc.) are the property of FaithInSnape & her friend. lol

Confusion

Written by: 'WennyG' (AKA 'FaithInSnape') & 'Carl'

Chapter Ten: Just Breathe

When they were done eating, Mrs. Weasley led Wenny and Carl to their rooms up the creaky stairs. They were relieved to discover that their rooms were right across from each other, on the same corridor.

After Mrs. Weasley made sure they were in their separate rooms and had then gone back downstairs, Carl went into the hall and knocked softly on Wenny's door.

Wenny heard the soft knock at the door and smiled as she walked over and opened the door. "Yes? May I help you?," she teased.

Carl brought her mouth to his in one swift movement. He pulled away quickly though. "Yes, you may," he said, grinning. He stood in the doorway. "Actually, I just wanted to talk if you don't mind," he told her.

She grinned at the kiss, "No, of course I don't mind. Come on in." She stepped to the side so he could walk into the room, then shut the door quietly behind him. She was about to ask if he was ok, but caught herself...since he had told her to stop asking. The thought made her grin slightly.

He wasn't exactly sure he wanted to divulge everything. Because he wasn't sure if he was right, but he didn't want to be either. He just sat down on the bed and looked up at her.

Wenny watched him, wondering what was bothering him so much. She walked over and sat down beside him, then turned to him. "What did you want to talk about?"

Carl shrugged. He had so many things he could talk about, but he didn't know exactly what to talk about. He just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him. "I love you," he said quietly.

She looked at him and smiled, then put her cheek to his and whispered, "good, 'cause I happen to love you, too." She just stayed in his arms for a few minutes, then looked up at him. "I have a feeling that that isn't what you came over here to talk about, though. So please tell me what's bothering you?"

He sighed as he looked away. He didn't really know how to start or what to say first, so he winged it. "We might be getting to go back to school soon," he said, which actually did kind of cheer him up some.

"Yeah, it's going to be weird, though...being back there after...everything," she replied. She could tell that wasn't what was on his mind, though. She didn't know how to get him to tell her, so she just waited.

He nodded and was quiet for a little bit. "You know what?" he said, suddenly in a less silent mood. "This might be the last night we get to spend together before we have to go back to school. I don't want to talk about things," he told her.

Wenny looked at him for a moment, still wondering what it was that was bothering him. She figured he'd talk about whatever it was when he was ready to, so she nodded, "ok."

He smiled as he turned back towards her and gently kissed her and then just held her there for the next few moments. He tried to push everything he was thinking to the back of his mind.

She put her arms around him and her head on his shoulder. She hoped he knew how much she loved him and that she was going to be there for him through whatever it was that was bothering him. She lifted her head just enough to give him a soft kiss on his jaw.

Carl smiled as he looked down at her and met her lips. "I can leave if you want," he said quietly. He knew that she probably needed some sleep after the long day. But he wasn't sure she would be able to sleep, because he didn't think he would be able to.

Wenny slowly shook her head, "no, I don't want you to leave." She just wanted to stay in his arms. Especially after everything they had gone through. Sleeping was going to be difficult enough, and it would be even worse if they were separated.

He smiled and nodded. "Alright," he said as he pulled her closer to him and rested his head against hers. He was glad she said that she wanted him to stay. He really didn't want to leave her.

She loved feeling him so close to her. His arms around her made her feel safe and loved. She never wanted to let go of him. She knew things were going to change once they got back to school, though. Not only were guys not allowed in girls dorms and vice versa, but they were in totally different houses as well. "Things are going to be different once we get back to school."

"Lets not think about that right now," Carl replied, stroking her hair again and kissing her forehead.

"Ok," she agreed. After a few minutes, she looked up at him, "are you sleepy at all?"

He shook his head. "No, not really," he said. After all, how could he be? All he was was a little bit sore.

"Well, will you lie down with me?," she asked quietly. She wasn't sure she would fall asleep, but she figured it was worth a try, since they both could use some rest. It had been a long day.

He nodded. "Sure," he said as they laid down on the bed, Carl's arms still around her. He kind of hoped he wouldn't fall asleep incase Mrs. Weasley came back, but he doubted he would be able to anyways.

"Thank you," Wenny said quietly, "for everything." He might have thought he let her down or that he could've somehow prevented the attack, but she didn't see it that way. And the fact that he had offered himself in her place had truly touched her. She had never known anyone who would go to that extent to protect her. Not even her parents.

Carl really didn't think that she had anything to thank him for, but he said, "You're welcome," anyways. "And thank you too. For everything," he told her, kissing her cheek.

Wenny simply smiled and closed her eyes. Surprisingly, she soon found herself slipping into sleep, and whispered "I love you, Carl." A few moments later, she was sound asleep.

Carl watched her sleep for a long time. After awhile, he saw the black sky outside the window turning to a dark blue and then a lighter blue. He decided to go downstairs to see if Mrs. Weasley was awake yet.

Sure enough, Mrs. Weasley was bustling around in the kitchen making breakfast. "Hello, dear. The gang will be in in a couple of hours for breakfast like usual," she said happily.

Carl sat down at the table after getting himself a butterbeer. "Mrs. Weasley, do you," he paused, trying to think of a good way to word his question. "Do you know who my birth father is?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed as she walked over to the table. She handed him a butterbeer and then sat down. "I suppose you're old enough to know. And I suspect that it won't come as too much as a shock to you."

Carl took the butterbeer and guessed who it was before Mrs. Weasley got a chance to tell him. "It's Snape, isn't it?" he asked quietly, looking from her to the table.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "I know this is alot to handle all at once, but he's not a bad guy, Carl." She gave him a motherly hug and went bustling around the kitchen again.

Carl silently left the kitchen and went back upstairs with his butterbeer. He went into his room, not wanting to wake up Wenny. He sat down on his bed, staring at the floor.

As usual, Wenny slept later than she should and even then had to force herself to wake up. The first thing she noticed was that Carl was gone...which made her wake up a bit quicker than she usually did.

Thinking he had possibly gone down for breakfast, Wenny walked downstairs and into the kitchen. She didn't find Carl, though...only Mrs. Weasley. She couldn't very well ask Mrs. Weasley where Carl was because she would've expected him to have slept in his own rooms, not hers.

She started to simply turn around and go up to check Carl's room, but she didn't want to be rude, so she said a quick "Good morning, Mrs. Weasley" before going back upstairs. If nothing else, it'd let the lady know she was awake.

Wenny reached his room and softly knocked on the door.

Carl quickly looked up at the door after sitting there for awhile in shock. He slowly stood up and walked to the door and opened it to see Wenny. "Hey," he said quietly, with a half smile, something between a grin and a frown.

Wenny frowned when she saw him. She could tell that whatever had been bothering him had somehow gotten worse. She gave him a hug, then looked at him, "Carl, please tell me what's wrong."

Carl sighed as he sat his butterbeer down on the table. He grabbed her hands and gently pulled her into the room, closing the door behind them, and led her to the bed.

They sat down and he turned to her, taking a deep breath. "Severus Snape is...he's my father," he said quietly. He began wondering about his mother, but at the moment he didn't care to know details or anything more than he already did.

Wenny looked at him, rather surprised, "Professor Snape? You're sure?" It was definitely an interesting development, but not an entirely negative one. After all, according to Mrs. Weasley, Professor Snape was risking his life spying on Voldemort. Then Wenny had a thought: no wonder Carl had been strong enough to fight against his 'father.' It all made sense to her now.

She looked at him with a small smile, "Carl...why do you look so sad about this?"

He took another deep breath as he looked away. "Almost six years. I've known him for six years. And he couldn't even tell me." He had always had an admiration for Snape as a professor, but as a father...he didn't think so much. But at least now he knew where his anger came from, which made him grin slightly.

"You heard Mrs. Weasley...they couldn't tell you, 'for your own protection.' That isn't Professor Snape's fault," she said. She looked at him for a moment before continuing. "Carl, Professor Snape is a brilliant man. A bit...snarky at times, but brilliant. And if what Mrs. Weasley said is true, that he's risking his life for the Order, he's not only brilliant, but he's somewhat of a hero as well."

The more she thought about it, the more alike the two guys seemed.

"And what's his excuse? He just...didn't want me?" he said, starting to get angry. He took another deep breath to control it. He put his head in his hands and then brought them up to run through his hair.

Wenny watched him for a moment. To be honest, she hadn't thought about that...but, she was sure that Professor Snape had his reasons. But how could she say that to Carl? She had no idea what Professor Snape's reasons were.

"Carl, maybe he was spying for the Order even back then...that might explain Mrs. Weasley's 'for your protection' comment," she suggested.

He sighed, realizing Wenny was probably right. But he wanted to be mad at all of them so much. "Why did it have to be Rabastan?" he asked out loud, more to himself.

She put her arms around him, "look, I know this is tough to deal with, but let's try to see the bright side, ok? You've just found out that you have 'hero' blood, as opposed to 'monster' blood." She smiled a little, "Not that that surprises me at all."

He smiled as he put his arm around her waist. "Thanks," he said quietly. He still wondered why it had to be Rabastan. The thought of the Order testing him made him get a little bit upset again.

"You're welcome," she said with a slight smile. She noticed he still seemed to be having trouble dealing with it all, which was totally understandable, so she said "would you like me to leave you alone for a bit? So you can...think...or something?"

Carl wrapped his other arm around her. "No," he said. "Unless you want to," he added sadly, removing the arm he just put around her. He actually felt he might blow something up if he was left alone.

Wenny looked at him, "Carl, I never want to leave you alone. I just don't want to be in the way if you need time to think things through." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Wenny, you're never in the way," he said, smiling and kissing her back on the cheek as he put his arm back around her and stared nuzzling her neck.

She giggled a little and closed her eyes, as his breath on her neck tickled. This guy seemed to always know exactly what to do to make her crazy.

Carl grinned as he made Wenny giggle. He rested his chin on her shoulder as he kept nuzzling her neck a little bit longer.

"You know, you better hope Mrs. Weasley doesn't catch you doing this," she whispered, grinning.

He laughed as he began kissing her neck. He started kissing from her neck to her cheek and then slowly made his way to her lips.

Wenny's breath caught as she felt Carl kiss her neck, and she bit her bottom lip lightly. When he reached her lips, she continued the kiss as she put a hand on his cheek.

He kissed his way to the other side of her neck, his hand on her head, stroking her hair lightly as he did so. His other hand had moved to her waist.

She could barely breathe, let alone speak, as he was driving her absolutely insane. She knew if he didn't stop soon, they were going to be in a very dangerous situation, so she turned enough to reclaim his lips with hers.

Carl continued the kiss for the next few moments and then finally pulled away, smiling at her as he grabbed her hand and put his other arm back around her waist.

Wenny wasn't quite sure what to say, or if she could even speak yet, so she just looked at him, a shy smile on her lips.

The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable so he figured they would be best to go downstairs with more people, unless of course Wenny wanted to stay. "You want to get some breakfast or something?" he asked her, playing with her fingers.

Wenny didn't really want to leave the room, but she knew that perhaps they should. So she nodded slowly, "we can do that if you'd like."

Carl raised an eyebrow at her and then kissed her gently. He stared into her eyes, waiting to see if she would decide if she wanted to go downstairs or not.

She looked at him for a moment, trying to decide what to do. After a few moments, she shook her head slowly and kissed him.

He smiled against her lips as he returned the kiss, putting his hands on her neck.

Wenny continued the kiss as she placed one hand on his chest and the other on the back of his neck.

Carl smiled and began kissing her on her neck again, seeing as he liked the effect it had on her when he did.

As before, she found it difficult to breathe...or even think. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she ran her hands through his hair.

Carl grinned as he felt her hand in his hair. He roamed her neck, placing kisses as he did so.

Wenny pulled back a bit, looked at him for a moment, then began softly kissing his neck, running her hand through his hair as she did so.

Carl grinned as he turned his head slightly to one side. He allowed his hands to roam over Wenny's back and shoulders.

She continued kissing his neck and slowly kissed her way to the other side of his neck. She hoped it made him as crazy as it had made her.

He moved his head to the other side, a smirk forming on his face. "I see how it is," he said as he pushed her back onto the bed playfully, moving a piece of her hair out of her face before kissing her again.

Wenny was very rapidly losing herself in his kisses. She knew it, but she felt powerless to stop it. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to stop it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him closer to her, if it were possible, as she continued the kiss.

Carl deepened the kiss and continued it for a few moments. Then he broke the kiss as he looked into her eyes. "I love you," he said softly.

She reached up and tucked some of his hair behind his ear, "I love you, too."

He smiled and watched her for a moment, then finally leaned in and kissed her again.

Wenny continued the kiss as she let her hands slowly slide from his shoulders down to his lower back.

Carl moved his hand that was on her cheek to the back of her head as he kept his other hand on her waist.

She continued the kiss for a few more moments, then pulled back a bit and looked at him, with one question on her mind.

He played with a strand of Wenny's hair as they laid there, looking at each other for a while. It was as though they both knew what they wanted to do, but weren't sure whether or not they should take that step.

After a few minutes, Carl finally smiled and kissed her again, deepening it as they rolled over on the bed.