Disclaimer- All cannon characters belong to JK Rowling and anyone else belongs to me just like the plot, unless stated otherwise. It will likely be awhile until I can add another chapter or update this story. I've got a lot of other things I'm working on now; school assignments and stuff but this fan fic will be one of my top priorities. Please bear with me-Gadget

Also, Diogenes Pendergast belongs to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. That he is a werewolf is something of my design, not something from their novels. Thanks for reading, how about a review? -Gadget.

CHAPTER 10

HALO'S POV

I held out my left hand, commanding my Sidhe magic to show a larger version of the symbol left for me. Pend and Remus both gave the symbol a wary look and kept their distance from it as it floated in the air, represented by my flame.

"This symbol translates into 'Vertus' and it's the name of the Sidhe that attacked Alessandro." I said, mostly to Dumbledore. "Before I left the Seelie, this glyph was found at three murder sites within the Mound."

"Is that why you left?" The Headmaster asked.

"No, there murders happened after I announced that I was leaving. I didn't know any of the victims, I had seen them around and they were just young ones. Probably near the same age as Alessandro."

The Headmaster nodded and gestured for me to continue. I looked over at the two werewolves; they were sitting awfully close lately.

"I'm sure it's the same Sidhe, and honestly, we're blessed that all she did was sedate the kid." I closed my hand which pretty much turned off my power and killed the glyph. "The bodies that were found inside the Seelie Mound were badly… disfigured."

"What is this Sidhe's Hand of Power?" The Headmaster asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I don't even know what she looks like."

The Headmaster nodded understandingly. "Is there a reason you failed to mention this when I hired you?"

Oh yeah… "I… just wanted to put it all behind me…"

PAGEBREAK

The very second Dumbledore was done talking to me, I bolted for the door. I heard Pend yelling for me to stop and his footsteps following me at a sprint. And I could vaguely hear Remus' steps behind Pend's, I only ran faster. I needed to get to my room before Sev left the Hospital wing, I needed to pack and get out of the castle before the shit really hit the fan.

"Halo, stop!" Remus yelled as I turned a corner and then suddenly, Pend grabbed my shoulder and kept me from moving.

"Let go!" I yelled.

"Is my brother involved in this?" My friend demanded. "Did this Sidhe pull Diogenes into her plot to destroy you?"

God, I thought, that's a leap in judgment. I had no way of knowing if Diogenes was involved with Vertus somehow. Remus was the one that had seen him, so if anyone knew it would be him. But here Pend was, demanding answers I didn't have.

"Has she brainwashed him?" Pend asked, shaking me.

"Let me go," I told him, grabbing onto his arms and trying to loosen his grip on me.

"Answer me Halo! What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?" He was screaming at me and I lost it. I lashed out with my Sidhe-borne strength and shoved him away from me.

I twisted away, slamming into my door and then into the room. I heard Remus yelling behind me.

REMUS LUPIN'S POV

Aly slammed into the wall with a deafening THUD! He crumpled to the floor and didn't move. "Aly!" I ran to his side just as he was opening his eyes, and just like on the full moon, there was no pupil. His irises had completely taken over his eyes, bright silver in the light of the corridor.

He shook himself out and slammed his fist into Halo's door, leaving a large dent. Whatever it was that he'd hoped that would accomplish didn't happen however and he growled in frustration. Finally, he seemed to become aware of me standing next to him.

"Remus," He said softly, passing his hand through his now tousled blonde hair.

"What?" I asked, stepping just a little closer.

I had never seen him- or Halo for that matter- loose control of his temper. It was a frightening thing and I desperately didn't want to set him off again.

"Come with me," It wasn't a request because he grabbed my wrist and wrenched me in the opposite direction.

HALO'S POV

Sev had gotten back to the room before me. He had been sitting near the fire place but he stood as I burst through the door. His hair was swept back in a ponytail and he'd taken off his cloak so that he only wore his favorite black shirt and loose slacks; his feet were bare under the hem of his pants.

"What's wrong Halo?" He asked.

I crossed the room quickly, my hands grabbing his face and pulling him down for a hungry kiss. He hesitated to kiss me back at first and then it was like were we devouring each other, our tongues battling as he kissed me back. His hands traveled along my spine, up to my shoulders and then into my hair. I clutched Sev to me, lingering in the kiss before I finally pulled away.

"What was that for?" He asked me but he was smiling as he tickled the base of my neck.

"Do you love me Severus?"

Sev didn't even blink, he didn't do anything. "Of course I love you Halo."

"With all your heart?" I pressed him to me but didn't take my eyes away from his.

"Yes Halo, with all my heart and all my soul." His peaceful expression dissolved into confusion. "What's going on here Halo?"

"Severus…" I licked my lips, suddenly very afraid of what I was about to ask. The question would change everything between us, but I had to tell him that I was leaving first. "Severus I have to leave again; I don't know if I'll be back."

His face darkened and I felt his magic in the air like the weight of a summer storm. "No," He all but growled. "You're not leaving, not again Halo. I won't let you."

"Severus…"

"No Halo, you left me for ten long years after I told you I loved you the first time. And now, after you ask me to confess my love to you again, you tell me that you're going to leave me once more. Halo, I love you, I truly love you with all my heart but if you leave me this time, I won't be here even if you do come back."

I jerked him down into another heated kiss. "You're coming with me Severus."

It tool a few minutes before what I had said finally sank in. "What are you saying?"

I licked my lips again, this time searching for the taste of his kiss. "I want you to come with me when I leave," I repeated and dropped onto my knees in front of him, holding both his hands in mine.

"Halo," He whispered, eyelids fluttering.

"Severus Ezekiel Snape," I said. "Will you be my life-mate, my pair bond?"

"Are you asking me to marry you?" He whispered as if he couldn't believe what was happening.

"Yes," I said. "I'm asking you to marry me Sev."

He jerked me to my feet and laid the most satisfying kiss on my lips that I'd ever had. He had given me his answer and now I knew, at least as Sidhe Law was concerned, that he would be safe. Even if I wasn't.

SNAPE'S POV

Halo slept unmoving with his back pressed into my side and my arm underneath his head. The day had been one of the strangest I'd had in a long time. First Lupin and Pendergast had gone off together and then Alessandro was found on the grounds. The poor child, his parents were already with him in the Hospital Wing waiting for him to wake up. Hopefully, their wait wouldn't be too long.

Then Halo had asked me to be his pair-bond; to marry him. I had nearly fainted I was so surprised; I didn't even have to think about my answer. Yes, of course, yes. After all this time, after everything we had been through together, he had finally acknowledged my feelings for him and he wanted to be with me. Merlin, he'd really asked me to marry him, to be his mate until death parted us. It seemed like some beautiful dream.

He shifted next to me, turning to face me with his hand resting on my chest. I felt every breath he took and I knew I loved him. I brought his hand to my mouth and kissed it; he opened his eyes and smiled at me. As he moved to snuggle closer to me, the smile abruptly vanished. I followed his gaze across the room… to where a woman sat glaring at us.

"Severus," Halo whispered to me. "Don't move…"

What I thought had been a shadow stepped up behind the woman and suddenly she wasn't the only unwanted person in my room. It was man, several inches taller than me, he had angular features with a neatly trimmed goatee that was as gingery orange as his hair. He was leaning over the woman and I realized that she wasn't human quite abruptly. Her hair had varying shades of purple for one thing and her eyes were like Halo's with three differently colored irises. As if that wasn't enough, her skin was blue, pale blue like the sky and I knew she was a Sidhe.

"Ave Halo," The man said in Pendergast's voice, the soft buttery drawl of the southern states. But it wasn't Pendergast, he was too tall, and his presence too menacing.

Halo sat up slowly, one hand rummaging beneath our shared pillow. "Ave Diogenes," He said softly and I felt his hand grasp something beneath my head.

The man, Diogenes, was faster than my lover however and had a gun pointed at me before Halo could pull out his own. "None of that now," He murmured. "Give the gun to Vertus, clip and all."

Halo pulled out the gun, obviously hidden beneath our pillow, and gave it to the woman. The look she gave him boiled my blood, it was possessive and longing. It was a look for my lover that she didn't have the right to wear on her face.

"So… You're helping her…" Halo said as the woman gave Diogenes the gun. He put it in the waistband of his pants.

"That goes without saying Halo." He smiled and I shivered. The man was dangerous the same way a hungry, feral animal was dangerous. It was in the very air around him, the promise of danger and death spoken like the whisper of a snowflake. I found that I had stiffened so suddenly that my muscles were all knotted up from anticipation.

"Point the gun at me," Halo ordered Diogenes, his tone nearly a growl.

The ginger-haired man smiled slowly. "And why would I do that?"

The Sidhe woman spoke for the first time, her soft voice sounded like the tinkling of bells despite her obvious annoyance. "Look at the wizard's eyes." She told Diogenes and he squinted to do as she asked. "He's been pair-bound to Halo. According to Sidhe law you cannot harm him in any way."

I felt Halo go rigid momentarily and then he turned me around to face him. He stared into my eyes and stroked around them tenderly.

"What is it?" I asked him; the Sidhe woman and Diogenes easily forgotten.

He smiled at me. "Your eyes have turned gold to match mine. Old magic, Sidhe magic most have bound you to me independently after you agreed to be my mate."

"Fascinating," Diogenes commented dryly before gesturing at me with the gun. "Leave wizard,"

"No," I said. I felt a sudden surge of protective fire that bordered on possessiveness. I didn't want to leave Halo alone with either of them, the both of them mass murderers.

Diogenes cocked back the hammer on his gun pointedly; letting the sound fill the room instead of his voice.

"No," I repeated. "I'm not leaving Halo alone with you."

Chips of paint and plaster rained down on me seconds after Diogenes pulled the trigger. Luckily the bullet had embedded itself in the wall above my head instead of in my head. I didn't know if it was because of the magic protecting me or if Diogenes had even really been aiming for me. His expression cleared up all doubt however and he put the gun in a holster under his arm that was similar to the one Halo had used to wear.

Halo relaxed slightly and though his back was to me, I heard the grin in his voice. "Hey man, nice shot." He taunted Diogenes brazenly.

The Sidhe woman stopped Diogenes before he could do anything to my lover. "Please leave wizard."

Halo smiled at me. "Everything's fine Sev," He promised. "I'll meet you in Dumbledore's office."

"Halo-"He nudged me toward the door. "Halo,"

"I love you Severus," He whispered; it sounded like an apology as the door shut in my face.

"I love you too Halo."

Soory it took me so long to update, I've been really really busy here. I've got maybe two more chapters to type up and then this one is done. Thanks for reading- Gadget.