As soon as the door closed behind them, Annalee found herself pinned to the bed by a very aroused Severus. She kissed him deeply, tangling her fingers in his black hair.
Suddenly, the pain she had been trying to ignore broke through, making her groan. Severus looked down at his lover.
He and Annalee had been seeing each other for the better part of sixteen years. She had helped him move on from Lily, and he had helped her put her past behind her as well. He had been planning on proposing to her for a year now, but he had been unable to escape to visit her. While he was enjoying the kiss, Severus decided that he would tell Annalee exactly how he felt before she went home. Her groan broke him out of his musings.
"What's wrong Anna?" he asked concernedly, sitting up and pulling her into a sitting position as well.
Immediately, her hand went to her chest. Even as he worried, Severus couldn't help but look at Annalee's chest. Focus Severus, he scolded himself, but his aroused state was not helping his concentration.
"My… chest…" Annalee gasped, the pain leaving her breathless.
"What happened?" Severus demanded, worrying even more now. Annalee is too used to pain to complain about something so minor. If she's admitting she's hurt, then it is something serious.
"Hurts…" she gasped, unhelpfully. "Cruciartus… times five… focused on my chest…"
Before she had finished, Severus was up and moving, rummaging in his bedside table's drawer for a potion he had invented that relieved the pain caused by the Cruciartus curse.
Finding the correct phial, he quickly moved back to his love, saying, "Take this Anna, it'll help."
Looking at the potion, Annalee recognized it as one of Severus's own creation. He helped her drink, and the pain eased, leaving her able to draw in a deep breath without pain.
"You should have told me you're hurt Anna," Severus scolded lightly as he vanished the now empty phial.
"It's not your job to look after me Severus," Annalee replied, taking his hand in hers once more. "I'm used to taking care of myself; I've certainly had enough practice."
"Too much so," Severus muttered, lightly brushing a piece of her dark hair out of her eyes. "You spend too much time taking care of Bellatrix; you should think of yourself once in a while. Where is your Slytherin sense of self-preservation?"
"About the same place yours is," Annalee quipped, running a finger lightly down his nose. "Have you forgotten that you put yourself in danger every day for a boy who hates the man you pretend to be?"
"This isn't about me Anna," Severus growled, trying to stop her from changing the topic. "Even I have someone ask for help. Every time I needed you, you have been here for me, for sixteen years."
Annalee smiled blushing a little as she said, "You've helped me too Sev. Do you think I could have dealt with my miserable exile without you? You've kept me sane, kept me from turning into my sister. You are my light in the dark, my tiger."
"And you are the light in my life, my tigress," Severus answered, flicking his wand and conjuring his patronus. It had changed a few years ago, and was no longer a doe. It was a silvery tigress, the complement to her patronus although he did not know that.
"Sev," Annalee breathed as she looked at the tigress. Without hesitation, she drew her wand and cast the spell, her tiger joining Severus's. He looked at her with hopeful eyes.
"Does this mean you care for me after all Anna?"
"Of course Sev," Annalee said with a small smile, "Don't you know a patronus never lies."
"Will you stay with me?" Severus asked, reaching his hand into his pocket and withdrawing the ring box before going down on one knee in front of Annalee. "Will you be mine, forever?"
Annalee didn't answer with words. She flew at Severus, knocking him to the floor as she pulled him into a passionate kiss. He kissed her back, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss with a slight moan as she pulled away.
"Yes, I will marry you Severus," Annalee said, her eyes alight before she kissed him once more. No more was spoken as they made short work of their clothes and rediscovered each other's bodies, forgetting, for the moment, all of their worries. For now, it didn't matter that they were both playing a very dangerous game that they couldn't afford to lose. All that mattered was that they were back together and would stay that way.
A/N: I don't update this story as much, because not as many people read it, but I am trying. I have the ending (two different possibilities) planned, but it is getting to that point that will be difficult.