Cry Wolf

X: Wolf Cry

A moan sounded through Snape's cold dungeon office as the man shifted in his chair and sat up. His head pounded with the sudden movement as the liquor's toxins still radiated throughout his body, but he forced himself to ignore it. Luckily for him the torches on the wall had burnt out sometime throughout the night so he did not have to worry about his eyes being harassed with their assaulting light.

Slowly he gathered himself together and then stood clutching to the side of the chair as his vision whirled and he fought to keep his balance, finally the spell passed but through the confusion and whirlwind of random thoughts something had come back to him, a dream he had been having. Someone had been there in that dream, someone strangely familiar, but who had it been? Scanning his mind he felt a sharp twinge of pain as if his brain were trying to refuse him of such deep thought when it was still so disoriented but he again ignored it as he searched for the memory. A face flooded into his vision and he felt himself turn to ice as a name chained itself to that face. How could it be? He had used the liquor as a diversion, to forget about her, but she still continued to haunt him.

He had dreamt about Lily, dreamt about being in this very dungeon, he had been pleading with her but about what he could not remember, and what she had done had also refused to be acknowledge, except for the single image of her hand clasping his as she helped him to walk. Rubbing his hand through his greasy hair in frustration he felt the dream slipping away from him as if it were water flooding through his fingers until he could only remember that there had been a dream and nothing else.

With a snarl he quickly forgot about trying to remember the dream, he did not need this nonsense. A wave of surprise swept these thoughts from him as his hand pulled his hair loose from where it had been pinned behind his ear, allowing it to quickly flood back into his face. Since when had his hair ever been pinned behind his ear? He pondered over the situation, as far as he knew he had never participated in that habit in his entire life. But if that were true, how had it gotten there?

Shaking his head and deciding that this was far too confusing to think about in his troublesome hangover state, plus the fact the his head still pounded and he had a crick in his spine from sleeping in such an odd position, he quickly dismissed this oddity as an effect of the alcohol and moved to his desk, thinking that the would put off drinking for a while he settled behind the highly polished wooden surface he peered through the darkness, with no intention of lighting the torches as he began to mark the essays of those unfortunate enough to be receiving their marks while he was in such a state.

Although most of Snape's weekend was filled with heated moments of anger and fits of rage as he continuously tried to force himself to remember a 'dream' that just wouldn't grace him with it's presence, Ginny's weekend could be nothing less than the exact opposite.

Every time she passed a couple in the hallway, the two holding hands and talking softly her mind would race back to the memory of what had occurred on Friday night when her hand had been clasped in Snape's. She would watch the two as they sauntered along and would remember the incident as well as feel a pang of jealousy. As real as the event had been; she knew it would never happen again. But still she had the memory, and although a niggling voice in the back of her mind constantly reminded her of how drunk the professor had been she refused to acknowledge the circumstances under which the incident had occurred, the fact that it had taken place was good enough for her.

In short, the results of her visit to the dungeons had left her feeling happy and fulfilled and yet empty and lonely at the same time. It was especially when the couples passed that she realized just how lonely, because that would certainly never be her with the potions professor.

'I should just forget the whole thing.' She told herself angrily one night as she sat on the windowsill of her dorm room, wrapped in a blanket and gazing out across Hogwarts grounds through the frost that covered the window panes. It was really beginning to turn quite cold as fall rushed through its cycle, clearing the way for winter to make its entrance. She smiled, suddenly anticipating the Halloween feast that would be taking place in roughly two and a half week's time.

'Nonsense, you're a Weasley, Weasley's do not give up, no matter how hard the task.' Her conscience chastised, obviously setting her in her place. Ginny tried to think up an argument for this but quickly gave up on it, as much as she doubted that she would ever have a relationship with Snape, the thought of convincing herself that it was not possible was one she did not wish to explore right at this moment.

Suddenly a low mournful howl drifted in through the window and cut into her thoughts, breaking her out of her silent argument. The sound dragged on and on, low and pitiful as if it were filled with all of the sadness in the world. Quickly shifting her weight so that she could peer between one of the frost gaps on the window pane she spotted the dark outline of a wolf near the lake, its head tipped back as the dismal sound continued to drain from it. Curiously she wondered if it was the same wolf that had given her such a fright during her little jaunt around the grounds over a month ago.

"He sounds so sad…" Ginny said softly to herself as she watched its head fall and then tip back in another wolf cry of anguish. Did wolves even have feeling as humans did? She remembered her classes with Hagrid in care of magical creatures and how some of the beasts they had tended to had certainly seemed almost human, especially the hippogriffs who listened closely to conversations beingabsolutely sure that insults were not being thrown their way, but those had been magical creatures, could regular animals react the same way?

'Maybe Grawp has chased him out of his home.' She thought as she remembered just which one of Hagrid's relatives currently resided in the forests' dangerous depths. As soon as this possibility leaped into her mind she clung to it, it was the most plausible; why else would the creature venture out of the forest? Besides the time it had come to investigate the racquet that she had made of course. If, however remote the possibility it was even the same wolf that had appeared to her on that night.

Feeling a rush of sympathy towards the creature she silently wished it the best before leaving her windowsill. With a wide yawn she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes before she gave up, wrapped the blanket a little tighter around herself and wandered off to bed.

A/N: Because I am really, really, really bored and waiting for laundry to finish drying, I thought I'd personally answer reviews from the last two chapters, especially because I didn't do so last time. (Yes I know this chapter is short and I apologize, but there just wasn't anything else to work into this stage, it is just how the story is going.)

From Chapter 8:

Masterdeeds: Thank you for you're kind words and do not worry about the wolf, as you can see he appeared in this chapter, and he will appear again. But as for Snape ignoring his rounds, it is unlikely; after all, belittling students would be just the thing to help him clear his thoughts. Nothing distracts better than getting someone into trouble. :)

PyroChk358: You always have something nice to say, and yes I agree that squiddy does rock.

Junsui: Don't count on Snape figuring it out real soon, he's a bit slow when it comes to matters such as these. ;)

Admiral Jackal: Thanks a lot.

Green-eyed-angel: Thanks for the review and I do agree that Snape is more believable when he is written mean, that's partly why I wrote him this way.

We b Freaks: Glad you liked the raven and don't worry, we'll see him again.

From Chapter 9

Green-eyed-Angel, Junsui, and Admiral jackal: another thanks, glad you could review.

Eriksdiva: Glad you took the time to take a read and even gladder (which should be a word even though it's not, but then again maybe it is I'm not sure.) that you enjoyed it.

Okay, so there's the review responds, sorry but I have to say again that I only did this individually because I was really extremely bored, I wouldn't count on a complete respond to every review happening again (sorry). But if anyone says anything… interesting… I'll be sure to respond to it for everyone to see; perhaps it will get people guessing.

Oh, does anyone want to finish my laundry for me?

-Darth Depravious