Author: Crimson Moonlight

Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews and patience (along with those who've added this story or me to their alerts). I'm very excited for Halloween, and I hope you all feel the emotions coming with it. I hope you all love this chapter, well, it's kind of a cliff hanger, so I'll try to hurry with the second part. Reviews are appreciated! :) you know who you are!

Disclaimer: The mind J.K. Rowling is he only one who could have invented such wonderful characters of Harry Potter.

The First Word

Hedwig was hiding.

Snape was in a dreadful mood, and it was from him that she was shielding herself from.

Hedwig was eager to learn, and Severus admired that in a student. But, after she had gotten better, she got more than she bargained for from him as a teacher. Instead of taking it step by step, the man made her leap and jump off the cliff! She wasn't told why 'c' not only make a 'k' sound, but it also made a 's' sound. She was asked to spell words she didn't even know. She didn't even get a copy of the alphabet till today(it slipped his mind apparently)! It was like making something from thin air. It was impossible for her without the right steps, and Severus expected nothing but perfect. He had gone on about how they had lost time when she was sick.

After she got better with her letters, the man started to push her. They started with vocals. It was fun at first. Hedwig still hadn't been able to say anything yet, but she was able to get some noises out. As the days went on, he became harsher in his manner, his criticisms, and his grading! Hedwig didn't even know she was going to get tested on these things. He made her feel stupid and incompetent! The name-calling was the worst.

He called her dumb! How could he?

What he said was so painful. She was dumb. Stupid. An idiot. She was sitting on a rock that was surrounded my shallow water of the shoreline. The ice that had formed over the lake was more slush than a solid, but near the bank the ice had become stronger allowing her to walk on where shallow water would have been. A very chilly wind blew kept blowing her cloak up.

She sighed. This whole week she had been working hard, but it wasn't enough for him. Hedwig wanted Severus to be proud of her. She really did, but the way things were going now made her think she was far away from that happening. He was being so mean! He was cruel!

No, no, not cruel.

She remembered how kind he had been when she was sick. The days that Hedwig was sick was the best of her life. Almost as good as the day when she had met Harry. Perhaps, it was better being with Severus than Harry.

When she was an owl, Hedwig was always catering to Harry's needs. Wasn't it supposed to be that way with master and servant? It was different with Severus. He helped her get better. The man had even bought her new clothes so she didn't have to wear the off-colored white ones anymore. One time, she could even swear that he was singing her a lullaby. What happened to that Severus? He was being Snape right now.

That's right! From now on, when he was nice, he'd be Severus. When he was mean and insensitive, he'd be Snape.

Hedwig crossed her arms and nodded decisively. In a moment she started to sob. How could he call her dumb? It hurt when he said that. Hedwig took out the flute that Hermione had given her. This was the cause of the fight.

Hedwig had kept on using the flute to express herself. At first, the man seemed to not mind, but then then Severus-no, Snape- then Snape said, "If you keep on using that to substitute your lack of voice, you'll remain dumb for the rest of your life."

Remain dumb.

It felt that the world had swallowed her whole.

So she was already dumb? Small whimpers had started to come from her mouth. Was she stupid? That was why she couldn't say anything? Even so, he shouldn't have been so…mean. She put the flute to her lips to spite the man who was nowhere near her. Just before she was going to blow through it, she stopped. Hedwig put the thing back under her coat and pulled out a piece of paper. On it was a paper with the alphabet. Hedwig pointed to the letter 's' and the paper started to fold itself into a pair of lips.

"Ssssssssss" the pair of lips made the sound of the letter before returning itself to its original form.

Hedwig made sure no one was around. She lifted her lips apart and tried. A rather pathetic 's' sound came out, and she sighed. Instead of 'ssss' she got 'sh'.

She crossed her legs Indian style on the rock and began to practice some more. She wanted him to be shocked at her progress before she went back. Her mouth was rather dry though. The whole time after Snape had called her 'dumb', she was vexing him by making constant noise with the flute. A branch that was overhanging her rock was slicked with icicles. She broke of a piece and started to moisten her lips.

Hedwig swallowed. "Shhhhhh…ttttsss….sssssssss!"

She almost dropped the paper from shock. She did it! She made an 's' sound! For a split second she turned around expecting Severus to be there, but then she remembered they had a fight.

This low feeling…was kind of familiar.

That's right.

Her fight with Harry. Well, it wasn't really a 'fight'. But Harry had been angry at her and gotten himself a new owl. Or, that's how she saw it anyways. Hedwig looked up. Would Severus get himself a new student?

No…who'd want to be his student? This thought comforted her, but it was short-lived.

Hedwig wanted to be his student, but she didn't want to admit it.

She looked at the paper again. What letter next? 'n' or 'e'?

As she realized that the wind was her only companion out of the castle walls, she started to feel…lonely. Was he feeling the same way right now? Probably not. Hedwig was saddened at this. The man had a pretty strong defense against these feelings it seemed.

----

"So I finally completed my entire card collection! See?" A student from the House of Ravenclaw was proudly showing off his latest card. "I finally got Dumbledore!"

The other student was far from impressed. "You're joking right? I've got fifty of him at least. Dumbledore's the easiest to find."

"What?" The first student whined. "Then why didn't you give me one?"

A dark shade passed the open door to the room after its head had quickly peeked in.

The two students paused to look at the door then at each other.

"Was that Professor Snape?"

"I…think it looked like him… but…he looked-"

"Worried."

They looked at the door again and laughed. "Yeah. As if that'll happen sometime soon. Hey, have you checked out that new girl in his class? His 'assistant?'"

"Yeah. Nothing special."

"I think she'll get invited to the party. She's nice. In my class, she sneaked into the supplies and got extra ingredients for people who did their potions wrong. Snape didn't even notice."

"Wait, which party?"

"Halloween's coming soon. Everyone's handing out invitations now so that people can mark the day before another party comes along to steal the limelight. The students from America are having some American holiday party for next month too. Homesick, I guess. I'm definitely crashing that one. It sounds fun."

The other student looked at his friend with a bizarre look on his face. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"You weren't?"

An awkward silence filled the room.

----

A squeak pierced the ears of Luna Lovegood.

"Neville!" Luna shouted as the clumsy boy ran into the wall.

"Ow!" He dropped his books and clung to his poor nose.

"What on earth were you thinking?"

"I-I was so scared! Did you see him?"

"See who, Neville?"

"Professor Snape!" Longbottom bent down to pick up his books while the blond started to help him.

"I don't think so…"

"B-but he was there! In the corner! Looking straight at me!"

"Oh, Neville."

The boy's ears turned red. "Sorry I made such a silly noise."

"Oh. That was nothing. By the lake, I heard the most peculiar sound. It was like a harpy. Rather slurred in a way. Hm, oh, while we're on the topic of the lake, it might be best to stay away."

"Huh? Why?"

Luna handed the boy his books, "You know those boys that Hermione beat up from Hufflepuff?"

"Yeah. I thought they were expelled."

"Dumbledore has a bigger heart than expected. Anyways," Luna brushed a lock of hair from her face. "They're hanging around the lake. Just stay away from them. Ever since Hermione beat their leader, they've been on edge. They're just waiting to pick on someone."

----

"This is creepy." Ron's voice cracked a bit. "I'm telling you something odd is going on."

His two other friends ignored him. Harry was busy reading a book, and Hermione was writing a paper for extra credit.

"Are you not listening to me?" The ginger head whined. "And did you hear the rumors going around? Something's not right about that girl he's with. I asked Dumbledore about it when I got to see him. He and I saw Severus actually…doing something weird with his face. Dumbledore said the man was smiling! Can you believe it? When I stated that the Bat had nothing to smile about, the Headmaster said that I'd understand when I'm married. What the devil was he talking about? Now he's gloomy! More than usual! I can actually see storm clouds gathering over his head!"

The two others were silent.

"Guys!"

Harry and Hermione sighed.

"What, Ron?" Harry closed the book he was reading and gave his friend some attention. "Yes?"

"The way he's been creeping about the castle and such. Don't you think it's scary? That girl is strange too. She never talks, or has friends. All she does is hang around Snape. Like a dog."

"You're being ridiculous. That girl is too sweet, and Snape, he's a creep." Harry supported his head on one hand. "She probably owes him something. That's the only reason she'd hang around that…"

Hermione heard a bit of bitterness in the boy's voice.

"Yes, but this time it's really scary!" Ron emphasized his words with his hands.

Hermione looked at Harry's book as she got up. "American sports?"

"Ah, yeah." Harry covered the top of the book. "I got invited to a party and I heard that there's going to be games. Just want to be prepared."

"You should be using that determination for studying." Hermione said with disapproval. "Anyways, I'm going to Hagrid's now. Are you guys coming?"

Ron frowned. "I thought you needed another owl flute since you gave that girl the one needed-"

"It was you?" An angry voice directed itself at the trio's direction. Snape entire being became very threatening. "You gave her that insufferable piece of hollow twig?"

Hermione kept herself from shaking and acted calm and collected. "Yes, sir. Is there a problem?"

"She hasn't stopped breathing life into that unbearable instrument since she got it. And now I know who to blame." His eyes narrowed.

"Well, at least she's got something now." Hermione grumbled. "She could have been seriously hurt that time. All because she couldn't make a noise! And I hear you're being unreasonable with your lessons. Why are you so hard on her?"

Snape frowned and leaned forward to the student. "And how would you know of any of this, Miss Granger?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Hermione was arguing. With Professor Snape. In the library. The tension between the two most intelligent people in the room was becoming so thick, no one could breath.

"I saw her leaving the castle at the gates. She was so upset she didn't even hear me calling her." Hermione lowered her voice. "What did you say to her?"

Severus's cold demeanor melted away. Was she that upset? This whole morning he'd been looking for the girl, yet he should have known to look outside the castle.

Why was she so distraught? All he did was point out the truth. If she didn't stop using that flute, she'd never learn how to speak. She had already begun to rely on the thing to express her emotions. All of them.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. And there were so many emotions!

Being dumb was no excuse to parade around a room making noise that shouldn't be classified as music. Wait…did she know that the word 'dumb' also meant 'mute'? Was that why she ran off?

What a mistake. That would explain things. Now he had to clear up the misunderstanding. She must be feeling hurt right now. He'd have to apologize…no! Why should he be have to apologize. It was her fault for picking up the wrong meaning! Owls were supposed to be smart.

The man was arguing himself. He didn't want to feel the guilt that was building up. It wasn't even guilt he should be feeling, it was just taking over his emotions. He tried to shut it out. Severus decided he wasn't going to apologize for something she didn't understand.

"Uh…" Ron stood up from his seat. " 'Mione, let's go to Hagrid's now. He'll be needing help to get…er…fish. To go fishing."

"Yeah." Harry took this as Ron's excuse to get away from the professor who seemed to be in deep thought. "Let's go."

Ron nodded. "You have the flute to lure the beast right?"

Hermione nodded.

Severus stopped. A beast? Something about the lake…Severus recalled something about Madame Pomfrey. So it was Hagrid's pet. That explained it. He'd have to have a talk with the gamekeeper. Just as he passed the little trio to exit the great hall, Neville and Luna joined the group.

"Leaving so soon?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, we're going to help Hagrid." Ron tugged on Hermione's sleeve.

Neville interrupted. "Are you sure you want to go down there? Those Hufflepuffs that Hermione ruffled up are hanging around down there. Oh, are you going to see that girl Harry?"

Harry was puzzled. "Girl?"

"Yeah, the girl you said looks familiar. The one who liked your owl."

Hermione thought about this for a moment, and then let out a terrified cry. "She's at the lake?"

A new strand of thoughts entered Severus's mind. 'Flute ' 'lure' 'lake beast'. If Hedwin still had the flute on her…

Hermione started to race out the room with a very horrified looking Snape following her.

---

It was too hard to get the whole word. As much as Hedwig tried, she could only get out the first syllable. Would that be enough? No. She bowed her head. She was tired of practicing for now. The wind blew once again to add to the melancholy mood that surrounded her.

Why was it so hard to form words. She felt like a child while everyone around her could speak so easily. Some people even spoke two languages! Hedwig's mind hurt at the mere thought of a bilingual. Darn those people! Hedwig became frustrated. She pulled out the flute and put the end in her mouth.

"Hedwin!"

She lowered her eyebrows. And what was with that stupid name! Her name was 'Hedwig'! Not Hedwin. What idiot would call her that anyways? Most people around here addressed her as 'you' or 'hey'. But not this person. They always have to be one letter off!

She stood up from the rock and onto the hardened water. She turned to face the person.

Hedwig opened her mouth to shout, but it wasn't Severus.

An angry looking trio had come up from behind. "Never thought we'd find you without your precious Snape."

"What is he? Your bodyguard?"

Hedwig stood up quickly from the stone and planted her feet onto the ice below her. The grip she had on the flute tightened so quickly that her knuckles began to turn whiter than her usually pale color. These boys were the same ones who had harassed Hagrid.

One of the boys realized she had a flute in her hand. "You play? Why don't you give that here?"

The flute was the only thing that Hedwig could use to make any significant noise. She quickly scanned the scenery behind the slowly advancing boys on the shore. There was no one around! Of course, when she was upset it seemed a good idea at the time to be alone. Now, it seemed such a stupid idea….stupid? So she was stupid. Hedwig started to cry again.

The three boys looked at the girl with shock. They didn't mean to make her cry. Yet, anyways. First things first. They had to get the noisemaker away from the girl. The leader of the group smiled innocently at her. Because of stupid Granger, Snape, and that ugly giant, the three had ended up in serious trouble. The one thing they all had in common was that they seemed to have become fond of the girl called, Hedwin. If anything were to happen to her, they'd be killing three birds with one stone.

"Look, I want to apologize for acting so rude that night." He smiled again. "Your name's Hedwin, right? I heard Professor Snape talk to you so I picked it up." To any girl, the boy would have been charming, but Hedwig wasn't one to be fooled so easily. This boy…

"Mind if we talk for a while?" He reached out for her hand.

This boy…was lying. Hedwig pulled away and slapped the hand that was offered to her.

The other two put up their guard. "Why you little-"

Hedwig used the flute to hit the boy and ran away from the group towards the center of the lake. In her haste, she didn't realize that the ice was becoming thinner.

"Forget the formalities and get her! And that bloody flute!" The boy was furious now.

Just as Hedwig was about to take another step onto the ice, a strange feeling of warning told her to stop. She wasn't able to perform a halt in time and one of her footsteps fell onto the thin ice. The sound of cracking hit her ears and she tried to stop herself before completely submerging into the cold, dark and murky water. Luckily, the ice beneath her center of gravity didn't give, but her foot was already in the water. It was so cold! Hedwig took a quick intake of air. It stung!

"You know what I hate the most about people like you?"

Hedwig stood up straight and leaned on her better leg.

"You're a freak." The leader was making fists with his hands, "And like all freaks, they group together. Like Snape, for example."

The fine hairs on Hedwig's neck stood on end.

"That greasy haired git…just seeing him makes my blood boil." He continued. "The man is a murderer and Dumbledore still allows him to wander free in a school? There's something wrong here. Snape is a cold-blooded-"

The boy didn't get a chance to finish his criticisms. He was interrupted when a fist collided with his jaw.

A thought clicked in his head. This girl has a mean…right hook! That was his last thoughts before he was tackled to the ground. Hedwig didn't let up her attacks just like last time. How dare this boy, this child mock her Severus? This pathetic human would be foolish enough to ridicule her master-

She paused.

Hedwig found herself standing up for Severus. It was the same with Harry. Whenever Dudley would try to harm Harry, Hedwig would get infuriated. And now, here she was, defending Severus. She was defending the jerk who called her 'dumb'! She punched the guy even harder. When his comrades came to help him, she even kicked a boy under the belt. Without realizing the strain she had put him under she continued to hit the boy on the ground. The third one barely got a hold of her when she turned around and bit the kid on the neck.

She was acting as if she was possessed!

"Grab her arms! You idiot!" Blood was flowing from the leader's face as he got up. The second boy quickly went to the third's aid and held Hedwig's arms firmly behind her.

Hedwig was crying again now. Not because she was scared, but because no beating in the world could be more painful than Severus's words.

The leader picked up the flute that Hedwig had dropped and threw it into the wind. "You won't be needing that. Ugh, this is the second time my beautiful face has been bruised by your-" He looked at the blood dripping down from the girl's fingertips. She had also scratched, "hands….Hold her tight alright? Don't' let her loose till I carve her face up good."

Good? Good is an adjective. Adjectives don't describe verbs. He should have said 'well'. As in, I'm going to carve her face well. Wait. Was that right? She almost laughed. Hedwig was thinking about grammar at a time like this? She was thinking of Severus's voice. His stupid voice, his stupid face, his stupid way…tears formed and fell…his stupid way of taking care of her. Why couldn't she get these stupid thoughts of him out of her head?

She really missed him.

"Don't-"

"Don't you touch her!"

Two voices made the group freeze. Two voices had said one word in unison. Was it her imagination? Only one finished the phrase, but Hedwig was sure that there were two voices. She looked up from the ice that she found out was breaking and into the short distance.

Harry!

----

Severus was first to see the four figures on the lake. Without thinking, he began to run onto the ice. He didn't care if the ice was thinning, he didn't care that he was showing more emotion than he had ever shown in his entire life. Hedwin could die!

It would be all his fault from such a small misunderstanding. He shouldn't have yelled either. There were so many things to explain and take blame for. She can't die! Not now! He never even thanked her for that song she had played. It was implied that he liked it, but he never…

His heart almost stopped. In the hands of one of the boys was a knife. Rage overcame him. They were going to hurt her! For what?

"Don't-" Severus began his words, but a knight in shining armor cut back his moment of heroism.

"Don't you touch her!" Harry Potter, the offspring of his enemy, took the limelight.

It was alright. As long as Hedwin was safe. That's what Severus tried to tell himself, but he felt a dark feeling come over him when Hedwin looked at Potter.

----

If Severus had only known that Hewig wasn't looking at the Golden Boy. Rather, she was looking at the dark figure looming behind him. She couldn't believe that he actually came to find her.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione froze the boy with the knife while Ron patted the boy on the back.

Ron spoke with sympathy, "Sorry, but you kind of deserved it." He was referring to when the girl had kicked him in the lower region.

Severus went to the boy behind Hedwig and aimed his wand at the student's neck. "Do I really need to explain the routine?"

The boy took out his wand slowly and offered it to the professor as Harry went straight to Hedwig.

"Are you alright?" Potter seemed to be seriously concerned, and he lifted Hedwig' hands into his own. "Your hands! There's blood…does it hurt?"

He was being so considerate, but Hedwig wasn't listening to him. She pulled away and was about to tug on Severus's robes but he stopped with his back turned to her as he was making his way to the shore. "We'll talk later."

That cold tone of voice wasn't the one she wanted to hear. So he was angry?

I missed you so much in such a short time, and you didn't even…

Hedwig's outstretched hand fell to her side and the Potions Master began to walk again with the idiot hufflepuff infront of him. It seemed that everything was going to be just as it was from the day she met Severus.

As the rest began making the light trek towards shore, an odd hollow sound reached everyone's ears.

Hermione froze, "That's the flute! We have to get off the lake!"

A strong wind picked up speed and the lost flute began to cry shrilly into the air. Where was it?

Call it animal instinct. That was probably what it was. Hedwig sensed something moving underneath the ice. It wasn't heading towards her or the other students…no, it was heading towards…

It was funny how time worked. Whenever a person is having fun time seems to have a twisted sense of humor and speeds up the minutes making the hours fly by. However, this was not that time. For some reason, Hedwig found herself moving it what seemed to be slow motion. She saw danger coming, and she couldn't move fast enough to reach Severus in time. Was it her own physical strength or the fact that time seemed to be taunting her?

If only she could run faster!

She closed her eyes and her emotions released adrenaline into her veins. Fear was pumping her with the energy needed to run faster. She was so close!

She had to get his attention! "Sev!"

----

"Sev!"

Did she just say my name? Severus turned around, but a horrifying sight would come all too soon. Hedwig pushed Severus back just in time as a long pale pink tentacle broke through the frozen lake and wrapped its way around Hedwin's leg. It pulled her to the ground and dragged her towards the broken ice and the cold, black water.