Content Warning: Mentions of the Sexual Assault from the previous chapter and Language
Chapter 7: Simply Wonderful
When Brixton awoke she wasn't sure if she had been asleep for hours or days but she kew it was night. She was still in agonizing pain, but she knew she had to get up. She managed to wrap her bedsheet around herself as lightly as she could and reached for her wand. She tried a couple of the healing spells and had no luck from either of tem. So she carefully made her way to the Ravenclaw common room. Once there she began screaming the only name that came to mind. The only person she knew could hear her from anywhere in the castle.
"Dobby! Dobby! Please hurry!" she cried out.
Within seconds there was the faithful house elf with fear and concern in his eyes. "Mistress Brixton what has happened to you?" he asked in dismay. Looking down Brixton could see the large blood filled boils and could see that her bedsheet was already covered in blood.
She took a deep breath and with much effort said, "Madam Pomfrey. I need her now."
Dobby shook his head forlornly, "Mistress Brixton, Dobby can't fetch Madam Pomfrey for you. She visits her family during the holiday."
Brixton squeezed her eyes tightly and tears rolled down each of her freckled cheeks. "Snape, get Snape." She was barely able to get the words out.
With a snap of his fingers Dobby was gone. Brixton wasn't sure how long she laid on the common room floor but it felt like an eternity. She had never been in this kind of pain in all her life and she had taken quite beatings from her father in the past.
After what seemed like hours but was truthfully only minutes Severus came rushing into the common room looking disheveled and hair wild around his face. It was clear he had been sleeping. When he got to Brixton she was curled up in the fetal position on her side. The sheet was mostly covering her but enough of her back was visible that Severus immediately recognized what was responsible. His blood boiled seeing the young witch in such a state. He knew this was an exceptionally nasty curse that was extremely painful and hard to heal. Even the likes of James Potter had never been cruel enough to attempt such a curse in his day.
Turning to face her professor Brixton let out a whimper. "Please. Help me."
Severus gritted his teeth trying to hold back his anger, "Of course. It will be alright. This is going to hurt like hell but I can heal you. Do you think you can walk?"
Brixton shook her head. She had barely managed to make it the few feet to the common room. Severus tried to talk in the most soothing way he could his deep baritone barely above a whisper, "I'm going to have to carry you to my classroom, alright? It's going to hurt but I will do my best to hurry."
With a nod of consent from her Severus shook off his cloak and wrapped it around the sheet as loosely as he possibly could. She let out a small breath of protest, "The blood..."
"Hush, don't fret about that. This will keep you covered a little better than the sheet." He said as he quickly cast an invisibility charm over the two of them. What a scandal it would cause in the unlikely event they were to be seen.
As he was about to pick her up Brixton stopped him. "My necklace," she strained "It hurts." Understanding immediately, Severus unclasped the blood coated necklace and slipped it into his pocket.
Brixton cried out in pain as her professor picked her up and began making his way toward the dungeon. "I'm sorry" he whispered in her ear. She clung to his shirt tightly and tried her best not to make any noise. She could feel the boils popping and refilling over and over again everywhere that his arm touched them. The pain was almost enough to make her pass out again, but she concentrated on being quiet and awake.
Eventually they made it to the Potions classroom. The familiar dimly lit room was a great comfort to Brixton. With a flick of his wand Severus cleared a large table toward the center of the room. He placed her down as gently as he could. She rolled over onto her side with her arm outstretched above her head and the other arm clutching to his cloak. Severus looked down at his left arm that had been wrapped behind Brixton's back. He couldn't see it through the dark black cloth but his arm was soaked in her blood. The anger rose up in his chest again that anyone would want to do such a thing to someone so kind and brilliant.
"I will be back shortly. I'm going to get the balm from the storeroom needed to make this go away," he said softly. Brixton just nodded in response. It hurt too much to think or to talk. True to his word the professor was back in just a moment. "Alright," he said "this will hurt immensely. I will work as fast as possible. The boils will pop as I touch them, but this balm will stop them from regenerating. As the balm works it will feel soothing. It looks like you have quite a lot of them but I will do my best to be quick. Do I have your permission to move my cloak and the sheet and touch your back?"
Brixton nodded. Severus sucked air in through his teeth, "Can you say it?"
"Yes," she struggled, "you have my permission to touch my back and everywhere else you need to touch to make the pain go away."
Severus bowed his head a little in thanks and gently pulled his cloak back and pushed it towards her chest so that she could remain mostly covered in the front. He saw that the sheet wrapped around her was now more red than white. He quickly peeled it from her skin causing Brixton to wince as it came unstuck from dried patches of blood. Once her back was exposed Severus could see that the boils started at her shoulders and covered all the way down to the just above her hips. He started at the small of her back and worked his way up.
Brixton had worked his cloak into her mouth and was biting down to stop herself from screaming aloud. He hummed a quiet tune to her as soothingly as he possibly could. He felt so bad for her that it was overwhelming, but he had a job to do. He knew once it was over she would feel much better. Blood spilled out of her back with every movement of his hand and poured down the table. It wasn't long before he had covered her back and shoulders with the balm. As he had expected, the balm healed her cursed skin and stopped the boils from returning. He pushed her hair aside to get the one on the back of her neck.
Now it's time for the difficult part. He couldn't help but thinking. The last thing he wanted to do was put Brixton in a situation that made her feel uncomfortable "Alright, now roll over onto your back. It shouldn't hurt as bad now." Brixton did as she was told and was relieved to find the cool table soothing on her back. "How far down do the boils go?" he asked, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I probably should have gotten Professor McGonagall to help with this. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." He had just wanted to end her suffering.
"No, it's okay. Please just get it over with. They don't go that far down." She shifted herself on the table a little and winced as she pulled the cloak and sheet down to just above her breasts. She tilted her head back so that the two blood filled boils on her throat were accessible. The deep red blood was a stark contrast against her pale skin.
Severus managed to hide how unsettled he was about the whole situation. It felt so intimate and inappropriate, but he wasn't sure what could be done about it other than to get through the task at hand. This time he started at her throat and worked his way down. Guilt flooded him as he realized that he would most certainly be aroused by touching her in these places had it not been for the seriousness of it all.
Relieved to be finished Severus said, "Alright now. I'm finished. Do you feel better?"
Brixton opened her eyes and looked down at herself. She and the sheet were absolutely covered in sticky blood and she imagined so was her professor's cloak. She went to pull the sheet up a little higher out of modesty and found that her hands were trembling too much to do it. Brixton tried to sit up but found that she was unable to and the room began to spin.
"Damn it!" exclaimed Severus as he saw her eyes rolling into the back of her head. He rushed out of the room. He came back with a vial of Blood Replenishing potion and popped the top off. He gently grabbed Brixton's chin, parted her lips, and poured the concoction into her mouth.
It took several minutes but Brixton regained consciousness. Severus' hand was still on her chin and his face was close to hers. Their eyes locked. She didn't know if it was from the blood loss or if she had lost her senses altogether but she slid her hand through her professor's dark black hair to grab the back of his head and pushed her full lips against his desperately.
Severus' eyes widened and his heart rate quickened. Without thinking he leaned down further and grabbed her face and neck with the hand that had been touching her chin. He kissed her back hard as their lips both parted and his tongue gently pressed against hers. Her mouth tasted slightly bitter from the potion and faintly of mint. He wrapped his other arm around her gently pulling her in closer to him. Brixton gasped against his mouth and she sat up and grabbed his shoulder with her other hand forgetting all about the sheet and cloak that had been covering her. It fell to her waist.
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Severus pulled away from her quickly and looked away as fast as he could trying not to catch a glimpse of the bare chested young woman before him. His fingers went up to touch his lips. They were damp from the kiss and he quickly wiped them with the sleeve of his shirt. He cleared his throat before speaking, "We can't. This is exceedingly unprofessional on my part. The last thing I want for you, Miss Winchester, is to be put in a position of impropriety," He said although that was the last thing that he wanted to do in that moment. He wished he had never pulled away from her.
It was just like him to wear formality like armor. "I'm sorry," Brixton said wrapping his cloak around herself covering up as best as she could. She was thoroughly embarrassed from the cloak falling; she had been too engrossed in the moment to realize. "Please don't stop teaching me. I promise I won't do anything like that again. I just…"
He turned back to his student and held a hand up. "I'm not going to punish you. We just can't. You have to understand that. I'm just a man with essentially nothing to offer you. My love will always belong to another." The words hurt as they came out of his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again fervently. What he said was true though and he felt it so deeply that it couldn't go without being said. Despite his growing feelings for Brixton he felt like he would never be able to give her what she deserved while his heart would always be Lily's. He knew that Brixton had seen his memories through the Pensive so he had nothing to hold him back from putting it into words.
Brixton went to stand up and was unable to and she fell forward. Severus' fast reflexes saved her from falling face forward onto the stone floor. She still felt incredibly woozy. Her eyes met his, "I understand if my feelings for you are not mutual, Severus." She liked the way his name felt on her tongue, "But you need to understand that it is okay to love her with your whole heart and still find happiness elsewhere. You think so little of yourself. You may be much older than me, but you are a fool if you think she wouldn't want to see you happy. I think she would be so proud and thankful for all the things you have done for her son. I know I didn't know her so that is all I'm going to say about it."
Severus was both absolutely stunned and filled with mixed emotions. On one had he was flattered and a little embarrassed. On the other he was irritated that Brixton would dare to speak about a person she had no way of knowing anything about. It was just an opinion. An opinion doesn't mean anything whatsoever he thought bitterly. He had an unusually hard time finding his words. Finally he just said, "You need a bath. It will wash away the last bit of the pain. Allow me to assist you to the bathroom." Again flicking his wand the bloody sheet and the blood all over the table and floor were gone. Instantaneously everything was back in its place on the table.
Again Severus cast the invisibility charm over the two of them before leaving his classroom. They were silent as he helped her through the castle. She was able to walk, but just barely. The Blood Replenishing potion just hadn't had enough time to reach its full effects yet. Eventually, they made their way to the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor of the hospital wing of the castle.
Once they were inside Severus guided Brixton to have a seat on the edge of the grand bathtub. It was practically the size of a small swimming pool. He began turning knobs and checking the temperature and soon the tub was full of warm water and bubbles. "Do you need help in?" he asked her hoping that she would decline his offer. He had already gotten himself into enough trouble.
"No," she said weakly "I think I can take it from here. I'm sorry again for all of the blood."
"This wasn't your fault" he replied. This reminded him that he still had to find out the identity of the scoundrel that would do such a horrid thing to her. "I'm sorry but I don't feel confident enough in that single potion to leave you alone. It would be dreadful for you to pass out and drown in here. I promise I won't look. In fact, I am going to go stand over there by the stalls and wait until you are done, alright?"
Brixton nodded and waited until Severus was out of sight to drop the cloak onto the floor and slip out of the rest of her clothes. Sinking into the soapy bathwater was indescribably soothing. She eased herself down until the water came all the way up to her chin. Severus had been right. The water seemed to literally wash away the remaining pain. Brixton never had time to use the prefect's bathroom. She usually just used the showers in Ravenclaw Tower closest to her dormitory. This was absolutely decadent. She made a mental note to take the time to have a real bath more often.
"Are you still alright?" Severus' deep voice echoed from across the bathroom.
"Yes," replied Brixton "I am much better, thank you."
Not wanting to waste any more of her professor's night she only allowed herself about ten minutes to soak in the luxurious tub. "I'm getting out now." She called.
"You will find a towel and a fresh set of clothes on that bench nearby. I sent Dobby for them" Severus answered back.
She quickly dried herself off and started to get dressed, but she paused when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Everywhere that one of the apple sized boils had been left a red raised circular scar. She was covered in them from her neck down to just above her breasts and all across her back. "Uh, Professor, how long will it take these marks to go away?"
Severus audibly groaned from over by the toilet stalls. "They won't. That's part of the curse, I'm afraid."
Brixton couldn't stop the tears that fell. Rikkon had been right about making her ugly. He had gotten what he wanted… or at least his consolation prize. Looking at herself made her feel sick to her stomach. She quickly put her bra on and stepped over to the toilets where Severus was standing. "Look at me!" she exclaimed as she spun around for him to see her back as well. "I'm positively ruined" she cried.
Severus was torn between rushing over to comfort her and telling her to put her shirt on. Ultimately the former won. He closed the distance between them and said as sternly as he possibly could, "You are absolutely one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on. You still are and you always will be." He wiped the tears from her eyes and unbuttoned his shirt to about the middle of his chest. He pulled his shirt open to expose the trail of wide dark red scars that he had from Nagini's attack. "Some of us don't make it through this life without scars." He said as he began buttoning his high collared shirt back up. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you, but those scars have in no way diminished your beauty or your worth."
Brixton felt the blood rush to her cheeks and was overcome with the desire to kiss the man once more but this time she managed some restraint. Instead she quickly pulled her blue and bronze striped sweater over her head and quietly said, "Thank you, Severus."
His gaze met her bright green eyes and he replied, "You can never call me that where anyone else can hear. At least not until after you have taken over my position as Potions Master and we can be seen as peers rather than professor and pupil. Do you understand?"
Brixton nodded in agreement, but was happy that he was essentially consenting to her using his first name in private.
"Now," he said as he pulled her over to one of the marble benches and motioned for her to sit next to him. "Who did this to you?"
Brixton shook her head. "I won't tell. It's my problem to deal with and I'm sure that he's thoroughly satisfied in scarring me for life" she said bitterly.
Severus rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Please don't make me threaten to use Veritaserum on you." He snapped at her as his anger was misdirected. He took a deep breath and said in much softer tones, "He will be expelled. I promise you to personally see to it. Someone capable of such cruelty does not need to leave these walls in good standing with the power to do great harm if we can prevent it. No one has to know except myself, Headmistress McGonagall, and possibly the head of house of whoever did this. Although I suspect it was someone from your own house seeing as you were able to make it out of bed and to the common room. I imagine it is someone at least in their sixth year, probably seventh year considering the complexity of that particular curse and how well it was executed. I also suspect it is someone who makes very good marks in class seeing as how they must have been able to get past the spells meant to keep boys and girls to their own respective dormitories. Am I right?"
Brixton nodded and fiddled with the hem of her sweater. "It was Rikkon Brisbane." She said softly.
Severus' eyebrows rose a bit in surprise. He had personally never been fond of the boy and found him to be rather obnoxious. However, he had never seen him outright do anything cruel or harmful. "Why?" he asked.
Brixton shook her head and looked away. Severus instinctively felt like he knew what might have happened. He couldn't have imagined her taking her own shirt and bra off on her own in that level of pain. He gently grabbed her chin and pulled her face around to look at him again. "Please trust me. I will never betray anything you wish to keep secret. Not even to McGonagall." He swore full heartedly.
Brixton looked down filled with shame. "I should have had my wand. I know I would have beaten him in a fair duel but it was out of reach. He caught me alone in my bed reading after everyone else had gone for the train. He got very angry. He's been trying to get me to date him for a few years now and I have always turned him down as nicely as I could." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He held his wand to my throat and he ripped off my shirt. I, uh, I think he was going to try and rape me but I threatened him with a lie. I told him that I had a boyfriend who had already graduated from Durmstrang that I met during the Triwizard Tournament. I told him this fake boyfriend would kill him if he didn't stop. So he cursed me instead." By this point tears were streaming down her face. She tried to wipe them away and calm herself. She felt so foolish.
Severus bit back his anger and pulled Brixton into a tight hug. He stroked her long curly hair until she had stopped crying. "I'm so very sorry this happened to you." He said as he pulled away from her not wanting to her to confuse his intentions to comfort her as an invitation for more than that.
"Thank you, Severus" she said again with her eyes on the floor.
"Listen to me," he said firmly "You have nothing to be ashamed about. If I have anything to say about it you will never have to see him again."
She just nodded in response feeling at a loss for words. Severus stood and offered her a hand up. Given that it was almost daylight and he looked an absolute mess he cast the invisibility charm on them once more. By the time they made it back to the Ravenclaw common room Brixton had calmed down and was thankful to have been able to tell someone about what had happened. She was also thankful that Severus had been so kind and fast acting at curing her from the curse. She had butterflies in her stomach at the hope that maybe he really did have feelings for her. Some of the things he had said made it seem that way.
With that little flicker of hope she looked down at her feet and quietly said, "You know, that was my first kiss."
"It was mine too, and it was simply wonderful" he confessed despite his better judgement. Her heart began pounding in her ears. When she looked up in surprise Severus was gone.