Serena woke from another strangling nightmare and swiped her sweat-drenched hair back from her face with clammy hands.

"Fuck," she muttered to herself as she looked around the dark bedroom carefully.

She had been lying on the stone floor again. She could almost taste blood in her mouth. She had been trying not to scream, she remembered. Severus' black eyes had been watching her and she had promised herself she wouldn't scream. She had, though.

Serena swallowed the bile that threatened to rise up and winced as her entire body ached.

"Tempus," she muttered, touching her wand and watching the time form in whisps of white light.

She had been sleeping for four hours. It was two o' clock in the afternoon.

She felt like shit. Her entire body was aching and protesting, but it wasn't the ache of muscles, but a deeper, more profound pain. Her bones had been mended but hadn't quite recovered from the trauma inflicted upon them yet.

Serena shivered as she remembered the sensation. It had felt like fire, crisping her tissue and veins from the inside.

She blinked away the feeling. She could hear footsteps on the stairs and then a soft knock on her door.

She tried to sit up, pulling the covers up to her chin, but she couldn't even lift her head properly.

"Serena, it's me. I have your potions. May I come in?"

She let out a breath and collapsed back down onto her pillow. She pointed her wand at the door which opened and allowed Remus to enter.

"Hey," he said softly, casting a silent Lumos to see his way in the dark room.

"Open the curtains," she said quietly, "I only closed them for a nap."

Remus pointed his wand at the curtains and the high, warm sunlight poured into the room, making her blink furiously.

Remus pulled out a chair and dragged it closer to her bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been trampled by a Hippogriff," she grumbled honestly.

"To be expected, I suppose. Here, Severus asked me to make sure you took these two."

"Did he now? And when exactly have you both been conspiring against me? Is he back?"

"No, and we're not conspiring, we're helping, co-parenting, if you prefer."

Serena snorted.

"He came out into the hallway to talk to me whilst you were sleeping last night," Remus said. "He was very worried... I think it will take him a while to calm down and reassure himself... You didn't see him, when he appeared here with you... His face, he... He looked demented..."

Serena swallowed hard. "I can remember him apparating with me, but I was barely conscious..."

"Yeah, you'd passed out by the time we got to you... Be patient with Severus, though. Let him look after you-"

"I don't need looking after, he's got way more important things to do-"

"Trust me," Remus said in a firm voice. "For him, there is nothing more important. It will help him see that you're okay if you let him aide you with your healing."

She grunted and then looked at the two potions he was carrying.

"Hand them over then."

Remus helped her into a sitting position and she swallowed the two potions uncomplainingly.

"I am hoping to move back to Spinner's End once Severus is back," she said quietly. "I'll miss you."

Remus looked surprised by the news. "I'll miss you too," he said softly. "It will be strange not having you here."

"Don't be silly, I'll be here every day for the rest of the holidays, I imagine."

"I hope so," he smiled.

Serena could see the dark emptiness lingering in his eyes as he was reminded of the hollow crevasse left by Sirius' absence.

She reached out and squeezed his hand tightly, trying to breathe through the grief she felt and not react to his intense feelings.

"How are you doing?" She asked softly, and Remus swallowed hard and looked towards the window.

"Alright," he said nonchalantly. "The nights are the most difficult, but... Vinnie is getting me through it all... It just breaks my heart sometimes that he can't see her growing up, you know... All he ever wanted was a child, and..." Remus shook his head and she squeezed his hand again tightly.

"Yeah, I know," she said quietly. "Sirius was so happy with his little family, and now you've got to carry on just the two of you... You're doing a great job," she reassured him.

He gave her a brave smile. "Thanks. Now, lie back down, you should try and rest."

Serena made a disgruntled sound but allowed Remus to help her lie down again only because her neck was hurting.

"Can you stay for a bit? Is Lavinia napping?"

"Of course I can," he said warmly. "I've just put her down."

Serena smiled. "Here." She scooted her body awkwardly over to one side of the bed and patted the free side. Remus sat next to her, on top of the covers, and leant his back against the headboard.

"Vinnie's learning loads of new sounds and words, honestly she'll be babbling spells soon," Remus said proudly.

"I can't believe how fast she's growing," Serena smiled, thinking of Vinnie's chubby little fists and how she pulls herself along the floor.

They chatted quietly and when Serena started to feel tired, Remus told her stories about Vinnie.

She was just drifting off when there was a faint creak outside the bedroom door and her eyes fluttered open.

"That's Severus," she murmured tiredly as the doorhandle turned and Severus stepped silently into the room.

At some point, Remus had shut one of the curtains, so Severus' face was in shadow as he stepped into the room, but even if the sun had been flooding in, Serena wouldn't have had time to look at it.

She shrieked as Severus moved so quickly it could not have been without magic, and seized Remus by the collar with both hands, pulling him up from the bed and spinning him hard, ready to slam against the wall, but Remus, who had his two fists on Severus' robes too, span with him and managed to slam Severus against the wall instead, his head hitting the plasterboard with a sickening crack. Serena was on her knees now, ignoring the pain as she looked at the two men in horror, as they panted heavily, glaring into each other's eyes, their noses mere centimetres apart.

"Never underestimate the strength of a wolf," Remus warned in a low voice, his eyes flashing in a way that Serena had rarely seen.

"You're lucky to even be alive Lupin, I come here and find you in bed with my wife-"

"Severus!" Serena cried, suddenly realising what was happening. "Severus, no! Leave him alone, he hasn't done anything wrong-"

"Careful now," Remus growled, slamming Severus a little harder against the wall and showing him who was in control. "You don't want to go overreacting."

"Remus, please let him go, he won't hurt you, he's, he's been with the Dark Lord, he hasn't sorted his head out yet," she said quicky, looking quickly between the two threatening faces. "Severus, Sev, think back, please, think about what you really saw when you walked in here… I asked Remus to stay… he was telling me stories to help me fall asleep… Look at me, please, Sev?"

She could see his chest rising and falling heavily under his long, black robes, but after several long seconds he turned his head and looked at Serena. She sent him a wave of calm and reassurance but the darkness in his eyes confirmed what she had guessed. He hadn't had time to visit his mind palace yet and lock his Death Eater persona firmly away. He had been hurrying to get back to her and hadn't waited to sort his thoughts out.

She saw him grit his teeth and then his fingers loosened on Remus' collar, and she saw Remus drop his hands too and step back from Severus warily, a dark glare still present in his eyes.

Serena let out a slow, steady breath.

"Have you replayed what you saw?" she asked Severus softly, and he gave a curt nod before gritting his teeth and turning to Remus, not quite looking him in the eye.

"Remus," he said in a voice bordering on anger. "Thank you for looking after my wife."

Remus looked exasperatingly towards Serena, who could only give him a pleading glance and a look that told him that they would talk more later.

Remus turned back to Severus and gave a curt nod, before speaking in a crisp, angry voice. "She had the two potions at ten past two. Serena… come and see me before you go."

She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Thank you, Remus."

Remus merely nodded and strode from the room, shutting the door rather noisily behind him.

Severus' dark gaze turned to her and it was her turn to be on the receiving end of his glare.

"Don't make this into anything more than it is," she said softly. "Remus came and helped me take the potions. I'd had a horrible nightmare and didn't want to be alone, so I asked him to stay and help me drift off… He was on top of the covers, in case you didn't notice…"

"Why was he on the bed at all?" Severus said stiffly, still not moving from the other side of the room.

She sighed, wondering whether to be totally honest with him. She still wasn't sure of his state of mind. "Because he's my best friend. He's one of my only friends. And he makes me feel safe, he always has. And because it comforts the both of us, to be close to each other. Remus doesn't have anyone left. We weren't touching each other, Severus. The bed wasn't a sexual place for us… we're just two friends who get support from each other… the fact that we're of the opposite sex is of no consequence. Remus lost his partner less than two months ago… he's not ok, I know he may look it, but then so did I… can you understand this?"

Severus' dark eyes seem to glaze over and he looked her over from top to bottom before frowning. "You're in pain."

She sighed, frustrated by his lack of response, and shook her head. "I want you to go and sit over there, take as long as you need, sort your mind out, come down from wherever you are and whatever you have had to endure today. I'm going to lie back and close my eyes for a bit."

She didn't wait for a reply, but slowly lowered herself back against her pillows, using her occlumency to shield her pain from his intense regard. She closed her eyes and tried to make her body relax, all the while listening intently. After almost a minute, she heard his quiet footfalls moving towards the chair and desk. She heard the rustle of his cloak as he sat down, and then nothing.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed until the mattress near her knees lowered with the weight of his body, and she felt a hesitant hand resting near her head. She opened her eyes slowly and was relieved to find the black eyes gazing down at her void of darkness. Instead, beyond his occlumency, she saw softness and uncertainty. She slowly pulled her arm from out of the covers and took his wrist in her hand, before gently moving his hand to rest on her forehead. He took that as an invitation, and she felt some of the tension move out of his body as he caressed and stroked her hair tenderly.

She closed her eyes again and focussed on his feelings that pulsed into her forehead and spread down to her core. She could feel his guilt and regret, she could sense the ever-present self-loathing, she could almost taste his worry and love for her, and, in the undercurrent of his sentiment, a darkness trickled through her veins and made the hairs on her arms stand up. She wondered how she was going to deal with this.

"Serena, I'm-"

"Don't," she interrupted quietly, opening her eyes and looking up at him with soft eyes and an open mind. "I'm not going to make excuses for you, but the truth was that it wasn't entirely you that walked through that door… you still had your Death Eater mask slid into place and you weren't to know that Remus was going to be here, it took you by surprise. Perhaps, next time, no matter how much you need to rush and get back somewhere, you can take a few minutes to put your mind back in order… it must be very difficult for you to juggle all these personas and memories and tasks and trials, never mind your feelings."

Severus opened his mouth as if to speak, and then closed it again, and she felt a trickle of fear from the hand that hadn't stop stroking her hair.

"I think that for a man who thought he saw his wife in bed with another man, you acted with a huge amount of self-restraint," she said, allowing herself a tiny twinkle of humour in her eyes. "The Severus Snape I met a few years ago would have cut out his entrails and asked questions later…"

Severus' eyes searched her face scrutinisingly, looking for any sign of mockery, so Serena opened her mind up to him and let him in.

If I had been the one to find you in bed with a witch, I'm not sure I would have been quite so composed, she murmured in his mind.

Severus gave her an internal eye-roll and she felt thoughts along the lines of as if, and no other woman is crazy enough to be in bed with me.

She smiled and sent him a wave of love, trying to not show that she could feel the dark and torment inside his mind. It felt horrible inside there, she thought. Horrible and lonely.

She hesitated. Can I come in? Properly, I mean?

She could feel his steel barriers shoot up immediately at her tentative request and Severus pulled back, breaking their connection. His eyes searched her face accusatively, but she kept herself open and brought up an unsteady hand to touch it gently to his cheek.

"It's a mess in there," she said quietly, "I don't know how you can think straight."

"Only I can make it right," he said in a gruff voice, and Serena realised that he had subtly admitted that she was right, and that his mind was in disorder. "I won't let you in there, it's too dangerous right now."

"Okay," she said softly, brushing her thumb over his pale cheek. "Well, I'd like to go back to Spinner's End… perhaps, once there, we can shut ourselves away for twenty-four hours… just me and you… we can try to put everything right again."

Severus let out a tense breath and slowly lowered his forehead down so that it touched her own and his large nose rested against her smaller one.

She cupped his head in her hands and rubbed his cheek and hair comfortingly.

When he finally pulled away, he was protecting himself again, but she could see that he had let go of some of the tension he had been carrying.

"Very well," he drawled in his usual, sarcastic voice. "If that is what the lady wishes."

"It is," she smiled, playing along with him.

"Then I shall pack you a bag and get that wretched, interfering house-elf to prepare our chambers. Stay here and rest, I shall fetch you in an hour."

She let him fuss around her, packing her belongings, before swinging the bag over his shoulder and sweeping out of the room.

He was broken, she knew. What had happened with Albus had broken him beyond repair, but somehow, ironically, it had brought the two of them more closer together than ever.