Chapter 37: Him

*Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters therein

It was plain and simple to anyone who noticed that he had the best of luck. Unfortunately, few people ever really looked his way, but then again that was just part of his good luck at work. Here he was out for a little stroll and what appears before him?

Four little Gryffindors all lined up in a neat little row, just for him.

He bit off a dark laugh that bubbled up and thought about what spells he wanted to inflict them with. Especially the bitch, Heather. She'd been keeping what was his from him for too long. He decided she'd be his first target. Get her out of the way so his sweet ex-girlfriend would be unprotected once more.

Ripe for the picking.

He moved into the shadows with a curse on his lips, casting almost silently, but not quite non-verbal.

It was that little whisper that gave him away. One of the lions hit the deck as a black and electric blue spell whizzed overhead. Wands in hand, the other three turned with backs to each other and covered the area. Ron, the highest in rank of the group, called orders.

"Neville, other form, now. Scent them out, maim, don't kill. Mya high, Heather low. Stunners and cutters. Search and seize. Go." They spread out, one girl to each side and kept to the shadows as well, seeking out the wizard who dared to try attacking them with their backs turned.

He was unprepared for the military fashion in which they moved and was glad for his disillusioned position. It would buy him time. He recalled his favorite family spell that released a grenade like explosion of cutting curses. He sent one at the feet of each person and the...was that a panther?!

Neville, in his animagus form hissed ferally and showed his fangs at the explosion at his feet. He growled and leapt over it, hunting down the person who dared try to hurt him and his Pridemates.

He watched warily as the animal came closer to him and hatred rose in his soul. He moved from his place inside the alcove and watched as the panther paced closer, using his nose to find the enemy. His face contorted in an evil smile as he thought of a spell no one would know how to counteract. The spell especially 'for enemies' that he'd found. He waited for the beast to get close and pointed his wand at its face.

"Sectumsempra."

Elizabeth Zabini-Mkapa had always roamed the halls of Hogwarts at night. It was just what she'd always done. It was her favorite past time when she missed home, when things were hectic, when she needed air. Was being the operative word.

Elizabeth had not roamed the halls for months, not since that day...during the last spring term. That day in January when...he came along. They were in different Houses, different years, so when he first introduced himself she was curious. She had seen him around school, of course, and heard about him through others, but never something concrete. They soon began dating, but things went sour quickly.

When she first met him he was a gentleman, sweet and caring, always asking how she was and if she was comfortable. They had sex a few times, but it never felt right, it was never good for her like the other girls said it should have been. She started pulling away from him, and things changed for the worst that fateful April. He was too manipulative for his own good. A true wolf in sheep's skin.

When she started standing up for herself, telling him that she wasn't interested in him anymore he got possessive, angry and jealous. He refused to let her be near her friends, and isolated her from everyone he could. He'd pressured her, manipulated her, and when she'd had enough, had finally, officially broken things off, he'd stalked her, threatened her, and generally made her life miserable any time he caught her alone.

So she had stopped going anywhere without someone with her, especially Heather.

Going to the professors hadn't helped. She went to the Deputy Headmistress as it was an inter-House issue, but McGonagall told her to talk to Dumbledore. He in turn told her to make a better choice in suitor next go round.

As if he would let her date someone else.

Elizabeth fell pregnant in March, but she didn't know until the end of June. She'd broken off her relationship in May, when he'd started becoming violent, but she thought all the signs that should have been so obvious to her as red flags were just stress related.

He was a violent sort, though not where anyone would notice, and it scared her. Especially that day. The last time she'd been trapped alone with him he threatened to throw her down the stairs if she didn't come back to him. He'd backhanded her hard enough to rattle her sense and cut her cheek with his ring, and that was when she cursed him and ran to Gryffindor Tower for the first time.

It wasn't until she found out about the baby over the summer break that she'd begun really wondering what she was going to do to get him out of her life. He had no idea of her condition, and she would glamour herself to the nines to make sure he never did. She was due to deliver the baby over Christmas Break, and the Pride members had sworn to protect her when Heather had told them.

Elizabeth had not wandered the Halls of Hogwarts in months, but tonight the baby was restless and she needed air. Her roommates were starting to notice things, and she couldn't allow anyone to know.

She paced a bit, rubbing her belly in small circles to calm her sweet child, her eyes drifting to the dark landscapes outside the windows. The night called to her, it always had. She leaned against the stones of the castle and watched the sliver of moon sit in the night sky, watched the quiet stillness of the grounds at night.

It was then she heard the howl of a feline in pain, the whisper of Dark Magic and a pained cry of "No!" Elizabeth, sensing she was in the wrong place and the wrong time, ran. She'd hidden in the first alcove she'd seen, and stepped right into a pair of invisible arms.

"Well hello, Elizabeth dearest. Just couldn't stay away from me could you, my sweet?" Elizabeth froze at the voice in her ear, the arm wrapped too tight under her bust. "You've been avoiding me, little bitch, and I won't stand for it any longer."

He didn't realize his disillusioned body became visible as soon as he laid hands on the girl, but he didn't care. He stepped from the alcove and laughed at the sight before him. The panther was a boy again, Neville Longbottom, and currently blinded by the wounds across his face. He was writhing in pain just as he should be.

He laughed as he noticed Heather and Hermione casting healing spells one after another on the boy, making sure to keep Elizabeth in front of him as a shield. "Poor, wittle Wongbottom. Got a bit of fluff in your eye, have you?"

Ron, assessing the situation, stepped between the girls and their enemy as they pulled Neville out of the fray.

"You've been warned before about your behavior. Let the girl go and drop your wand."

"Or what? Gonna call your guard dog? Haven't seen hide nor hair of Potter in weeks. Did he die? Please tell me he did. That would just make. My. Day." With each bit off word he pushed his wand harder into Elizabeth's neck. It angered him that he had yet to elicit any reaction from the girl, and promised himself he would break her. Soon.

He moved his arm to get a better grip on her and broke a glamour with a cry of pain from the girl. "Ooh, look what we have here. You're pregnant? Hmmm. Seems my little bitch has hidden something from me." He said as he wrapped his hand around her jaw. "We're going to have to have a talk about this, aren't we?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes, refusing to respond to him, only calling out in her mind to anyone who could hear her unspoken words.

He shook her. "Aren't we?!"

Ron paled. This complicated matters. He placed a muffliato spell up for a second and said quickly, "Hogwarts, we need your Champion." He took it down and stalled as he tried to find a way to end the situation without Elizabeth coming to any harm.

"Let her go, Goldstein."

"No...I don't think I will." He looked behind him at the clear stretch of shadowed hall. "Here's what's going to happen, Weasley. You are going to walk down this hall with your little friends. Might want to see about Longbottom's face, he looks a bit peaky. Then, when you are gone, I am going to walk the opposite direction. If I see any hint of you or your housemates, I kill her. Understood?"

Ron took a step forward but stopped when Goldstein placed his wand under Elizabeth's jaw again. "Don't think I won't kill her, Weasley. This bitch is mine to do with as I please, and I think a bit more blood is in order before the night is done." He lowered his wand to her side, aiming at her calf.

"Diffindo. Wouldn't want her to think she could ever get away from me, now do we?" He asked over the pained cry from the useless sac of skin in his arms.

Severus was making the last checks on Harry, continuing to ignore the figure in the corner, when the teen suddenly sat up in bed. His eyes were wild jade and his magic swirled around him in a frenzy as he snarled. In an instant his pajamas melted away, replaced seconds later by his armor, the same armor he'd worn to battle Dumbledore. Though it was quick, the sudden sight of his naked bondmate gave Severus a start. Harry growled low and jumped from the bed, running through the room, though Severus, after a moment to come back to himself, was hot on his heels.

"Potter! Harry, what are you—stop this! Stop this instant!" He called after the boy, but it went unheard.

The older man watched as Harry ran like a thief with the Crown Jewels. His calls for Harry to stop were to no avail. Suddenly, as he watched, the boy disappeared in the shadows of the hall, Matteo quick on his heels with a quiet, "shit!"

Severus was left alone, panting and running to the same spot. He ran his hands over the walls, but there was nothing. Nothing to tell him what had just happened, until a gust of air moved his hair and the castle's familiar magic moved around him, pulling him forward. Trusting that the castle knew what it was doing, he followed.

The dark slytherin melted into the shadows in that instant, the pull of Hogwarts' magic surrounding him.

Multiple screams rang out through the hall at the same time.

Elizabeth screamed as the cutting curse hit her calf, blood pouring from the wound. She moved her jaw as he adjusted his grip to silence her and bit his hand as hard and deep as she could. His scream of pain was music to her ears as he released her and she limped to the side of the hall. Ron, seeing the opening, cast, "Immobulus Maxima!"

Anthony Goldstein had turned to grab at Elizabeth as the spell hit, freezing his motions. At the same time a throwing knife flew through the air and embedded itself in the inner wrist of his wand hand, causing his wand to fly away with the momentum. His screams were silenced by the immobilizing spell, but they would have been great screams of pain as the slow acting paralytic on the daggers burned slowly through his veins.

Harry growled from his position in the shadows and stalked forward. "You little piece of shit. What did I tell you, Goldstein. One chance. You took advantage the last time I was out of the castle to prey on Elizabeth, and I did nothing because she asked it of me, but no more." Harry's magic swirled around him, as green as his eyes and as feral as he felt. He moved forward and took Goldstein's wand.

"Priori Incantatem."

He watched as the last ten or so spells were read out above the parchment and made sure to read them. "Tsk, tsk, Goldstein. That is seven Dark spells, illegal as well, and that's only what you haven't already wiped." Harry looked down at the unmoving figure before him and pushed his magic into his voice. "By the will of Hogwarts, as Her Champion, I hereby expel you from her halls on grounds of casting illegal and Dark spells within her halls and with the intent to harm other students." Harry growled. "I will see you turned over to the DMLE for this, Goldstein."

The boy paled before Harry hit him with a stunner, knocking him unconscious to be dealt with later. He had students to protect.

As Harry did his job Matteo moved over to the very pregnant girl and began helping her. Harry looked over his Pride, for he'd long since considered Elizabeth one of his own, calling out, "Report."

Heather looked up, prepared to snarl at the next person who came near her as she worked, but calmed as she saw her Alpha. "Explosion of mild but deep cutting curse, healed. Need scaradicate salve in the next few hours, but not urgent. Urgent matter: unknown dark curse to facial area. I have blood flow stemmed, but the wounds won't close."

Severus watched her unique brand of healing with no small bit of awe. She had her hands placed on the boy's abdomen and pushed her magic into him to use as she directed. He looked at the wounds and cursed.

"I know this spell. Back away Ms. Jameson." He held his wand aloft and slowly began chanting, "Vulnera Sanentur" again and again to heal the cursed wounds. The blood seemed to move back in time, slowly traveling across his skin to return to his body, the skin knitting itself back together. There was a slight ridge left across Neville's right cheek from his nose to jaw, and a ridge through the middle of his right eyebrow. The scars left were only slightly raised, and would leave only leave a small hint of being there. It was impossible to completely remove traces of curse scars.

The boy had been lucky. The cursed wounds struck just millimeters above and below his eye, leaving him blind only from the blood pouring past.

Severus moved back, and let Heather and Hermione continue to heal the smaller wounds on him. "He needs blood replenishers, but should otherwise be fine." He turned and moved to Elizabeth, helping Matteo as he calmed the girl. Severus cast a healing spell on the cut to her leg as the other man softly spoke to her, drawing her mind away from what had happened and onto slowing her breathing. The wound would heal well, it was deep, but a precise laceration.

"Ron, stun Neville and levitate him to our Healing Room. Hermione, help him. Heather check Elizabeth here, then take her with Ron." He moved forward as he spoke, wanting to make sure the girl was okay. He ran his hand over Elizabeth's hair.

"You know better than to wander, especially when I was not here. You know better, Elizabeth."

The girl in question nodded her head, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed, burying her face in Matteo's shirt to hide from her friend and protector. He held her, feeling his own lion fall away as he watched his little lion return to himself as well.

Harry was losing the fight to stay conscious. As he stood with the pregnant witch sobbing into Matteo's chest he knew two things:

One, he was about to pass out. Again.

Two, Severus was there to keep him safe.

"Trust me, my child."

If magic had a voice, that's what it would have said to him as Severus felt himself pulled into the shadows. Literally.

Severus closed his eyes. There was only darkness surrounding him, but he knew he was moving. The feeling was disorienting, so he closed his eyes, trusting Hogwarts to take him where She wanted. He could feel Her, guiding him and proud of his trust in Her. When the feeling of motion stopped he remained still, listening.

He heard Harry, and slowly started piecing things together. "What did I tell you, Goldstein. One chance. You took advantage the last time I was out of the castle to prey on Elizabeth, and I did nothing because she asked it of me, but no more."

Snape stepped across the shadow to an alcove and kept watch over the students. He was worried over Harry's state. The boy would be running on adrenaline alone at this point, and fumes of it at that. He waited, after healing the Longbottom teen of his own curse. He knew at some point that Harry would run out of fumes. He keeping an eye on them all, and when he saw his bond mate fall, he was there.

He caught Harry, lifting his slight weight in his arms, as Matteo stood with Elizabeth. Both men watched the girl wince and limp as her calf continued the healing process, but Matteo solved the problem by lifting her into his arms, much to her protest that she could walk.

"Please allow me to help you, Ms. Elizabeth." He said, and she settled with a soft whine.

Severus sent Heather ahead to work on Neville as Goldstein's body floated behind him by a wandless spell.

At the Lion's Den Severus was allowed entrance, as was Elizabeth without any fuss. They moved to the Healing Room with ease, the lateness meaning there were few out of bed.

As soon as Severus walked in he was in awe of their healing room. He'd been shown the door during Lucius' stay inside the Lion's Den, but had no reason to enter it. He moved quickly to a bed and set Harry upon it as Matteo settled Elizabeth in another. The prisoner was put on a third with the accompanying binding and incarcerating spells. When Severus again focused on Elizabeth he ran a diagnostic scan over her and frowned.

"Come to me tomorrow. I will make you a prenatal nutrient potion to counteract some of the vitamin deficiencies you have. Muggle prenatal care is fine, but you are a witch, and your magic use creates a few deficiencies that muggles cannot account for."

The girl gave him a watery, "Thank you, Professor."

"You are welcome. You are safe now, Ms. Mkapa." He went to a cabinet and poured a half-measure of calming draught into a phial. "Taking a half-measure is fine on occasion. It will not harm you or the baby in small frequencies. I will have some pregnancy safe potions for you soon. Please do not hesitate to come to me or any of the Representatives if you need something, understood?"

She nodded, the only thing she could do when faced with such an intimidating yet soothing voice, and took the potion, drifting off almost immediately as the adrenaline crash hit her system. Before she went under Severus ran a soothing hand over hers. "Your brother will always stand by your side, Elizabeth, do not be afraid to tell him." She nodded, her eyes drooping more with every second passing.

"Will...'omise..."

Severus turned and looked around the room, proud to see Ron standing guard over Harry as the teen slept deeply. He was less happy to see Matteo moving to sit beside his little mate, but said nothing. He saw that the girls had Neville's care under control and that Goldstein was the last to be taken care of. The young man was still unconscious, but he was taking no chances. Severus made a split second decision.

"Hogwarts, I am in need of assistance. I need a room to store Mr. Goldstein until authorities can be called in the morning."

Severus watched a door materialize on the side wall of the room and bowed to it. "My thanks." He levitated the body of the wayward student and tossed him in with a flick of his wand as the door opened. It shut of its own accord and he grinned maliciously, already composing the letter to Amelia Bones in his head.

Turning back to the students he wished them a good night. With a slight pause he moved to Harry, growling low in his throat at the sight of another man so close, literally and figuratively, to his mate.

A mate he had only a tenuous bond with.

He watched Matteo lift his hands, showing he meant no harm. His wrist twirled and Severus glared as a small Muffliato dropped around them.

"I'm truly not trying to move into your territory, Professor. Harry is just my former mentee and current Alpha. Nothing more."

Severus said nothing, only waiting and watching a blush creep over the silver-eyed man's cheeks.

"Seriously, Professor. I would have more inclinations towards Elizabeth than Harry, the fairer sex and all that," he mumbled.

Severus simply nodded and moved back to his little mate. He cupped Harry's cheek for a moment before walking out, pausing only to say, "Best not to let Ms. Mkapa's brother hear, if your choice of example proves anything of those inclinations, Mr. Dare."

He never looked back on his trek to the dungeons, both relieved that his perceived competition was nothing of the sort, and determined that he would have time with his bond mate and soon...even if he had to give his brat a detention to get him to sit still for a moment.

Thanks for reading!

Sorry for the delay , work and health have been difficult, but here is the latest chapter. Next up the DMLE comes to visit.