Disclaimer: The Amazon Queen, her horse, and the plot are all me…
everything else is courtesy J.K. Rowling.
Dark splotches above her slowly came into focus as the glare from the bight light dissipated. An old man, who she somehow recognized was staring at her intently, along with a stiff, yet gentle looking woman with rectangle spectacles.
"Poppy... " one of them said, she couldn't discern whether the voice was male or female. An overtly chipper lady came over and laid her hand across the paitent's forehead, blocking her vision for a moment.
"She just needs rest..." the chipper lady chirped and walked out of her field of vision.
Then she realized that she was laying down. Guerin! She shot upright, only to moan and grab her forehead.
"Do not try to rise yet, Miss. You are far from recovered." the old man said. At least her hearing was getting better.
Wait. Recovered? From what? And where was her horse? And her weapons?!? "Where... what..." was all she managed to get out before slumping back onto the pillow.
"All will be explained once you can fully comprehend it..." the woman spoke this time.
No, explain now... she thought, but couldn't force the words from her throat.
She heard footsteps coming closer, the clicking of men's shoes on the hard floor. "How is she doing?" came a silky voice. That voice! No, not the voice!! The familiar voice which lived in her head, replaying constantly since it was branded there. "I am so sorry..." the voice whispered in her head. "Sorry, sorry..."
A rush of adrenaline created a moment of clarity and she jumped from her bed and stood, prepared for battle. "Do you dare come near me again... I will not let you repeat what you did, I will fight this time... oh I have dreamed of this..." she growled at the tall, pale man with black hair that hung to his shoulders. "I have..." she tried to continue but fell to her knees on the floor.
The tall man immediately bent down to help her up but she wretched her body away from him and even tried to bite his hand.
With help from the old man the other woman carried her to the bed and covered her with a blanket. In seconds she was asleep.
"Severus, I do believe that you have some explaining to do..." Dumbledore said, jesturing to the Amazon woman lying on the infirmary bed.
Professor Snape just looked at Dumbledore, dark eyes empty of even the constant sneer the he usually held. "I..." he couldn't find words.
Dumbledore nodded. "Come, come to my office. Minerva, go to the Common Rooms and try to keep everyone calm. I don't care what story you concoct, just don't allow the students to break into hysterics." For the first time since Severus had known the Headmaster, his superior seemed afraid.
"Swedish Fish." Dumbledore said in passing to the gargoyle which allowed entry to his office. They treaded up the spiral stairs and into the main room. Fawkes cooed happily and shifted on his perch upon seeing Dumbledore.
Severus slumped into a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk and stared into the even-blazing fire. Dumbledore sat and waited quietly for his Potions Master to begin.
"You know my past... the things I have done..." he winced for a moment. "Only a year after my induction into Voldemort's ranks he called on me to prove my loyalty during a raid upon a village... a village of Amazons. I hadn't set to the task of killing them immediately, as the others had. I just couldn't bring myself to have a hand in the annihilation of an entire ancient and legendary culture." he paused for a moment, pondering something even Dumbledore could not read. "Voldemort was not happy with such actions. He... he took the young Amazon Queen... she must have been only 15 or 16... mind you I was not much older... and he said that I would get the honor of raping and humiliating her in front of the rest of his dark army, right there in the middle of the village..." he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in pain. In one swift motion he turned to Dumbledore and slammed his fist upon the desktop. "And damn myself, I did it... I took her, right there, in the blood soaked dirt in the center of her village... " he slumped back into the chair, covering his eyes with his hand. "She realized her fate immediately as she was thrown at me, her hands crudely bound. She only protested once, growled as I threw he to the ground in mock domination. Then she only cried, rivers of tears which soaked the ground and packed mud into her hair..." he snorted "I'm rather surprised she didn't kill me when she recognized me... I'd deserve it." he meant to whisper that last part just to himself, but Dumbledore heard it.
"You are far from deserving of that fate, Severus." Dumbledore said, his voice comforting like an old blanket. "But I do need you to talk with her once she recovers. I can't have her aggression towards you interfereing with her duty." the Headmaster sighed.
Severus rose to leave, but turned back to Dumbledore. "Do you really think she will be able to defeat something as abstract as Nocens?" he asked.
"I don't know. But she is our only hope."
Severus nodded and headed out the door.
For the next week the Amazon Queen drifted between sleep and awake, never conscious enough to even eat or drink. The students has settled down, being told that Hogwarts was impenetrable to such forces, and had shuffled back into their regular routine.
But every day, for whatever time he could spare, usually the hour before classes began, Severus sat by the woman's bedside. He never spoke a word, just sat and stared at her, tracing her still features again and again with his eyes. He relived those horrible moments again and again, as if through torturing himself he could repent.
And yet he couldn't deny that he had enjoyed it. He was, after all, only human. But her figure had haunted his dreams for years afterward. He'd fall to his knees, crying at her feet and sobbing his confession. And without a word she'd kneel down next to him and take him in her arms, letting him cry into her shoulder. Her fingers would run through his hair and she'd murmur her acceptance of his apologies until he stopped crying.
Severus stood from his chair at her bedside and looked down at her unmoving face. He suddenly believed all the legends about men dying just to glimpse these warrior-women.
Severus watched his hand as it came to rest on her pale cheek, his thumb tracing the line of her eyebrow. His fingers followed the curve of her jawline and returned to their resting place on her cheek. "I don't even know your name..." he whispered.
In a flash Severus realized what he was doing and pulled his hand away from her as if he had touched fire. He stared at her for a moment and then rushed out of the hospital, robes whipping behind him.
The woman's eyes fluttered open and she stared in horror and confusion at the place where the man had just exited. She had awoken awhile ago and heard the breathing of another in the room with her. Then the click of the heels as the person came closer and she froze, eyes closed, hoping that the person would not realize her increased breathing or heartrate. And then the person touched her, so amazingly intimate, yet gentle and comforting. And then that voice had asked her a question. That man was the one attached to the touch. "Arduine..." she whispered to the door. "My name is Arduine..."
Dark splotches above her slowly came into focus as the glare from the bight light dissipated. An old man, who she somehow recognized was staring at her intently, along with a stiff, yet gentle looking woman with rectangle spectacles.
"Poppy... " one of them said, she couldn't discern whether the voice was male or female. An overtly chipper lady came over and laid her hand across the paitent's forehead, blocking her vision for a moment.
"She just needs rest..." the chipper lady chirped and walked out of her field of vision.
Then she realized that she was laying down. Guerin! She shot upright, only to moan and grab her forehead.
"Do not try to rise yet, Miss. You are far from recovered." the old man said. At least her hearing was getting better.
Wait. Recovered? From what? And where was her horse? And her weapons?!? "Where... what..." was all she managed to get out before slumping back onto the pillow.
"All will be explained once you can fully comprehend it..." the woman spoke this time.
No, explain now... she thought, but couldn't force the words from her throat.
She heard footsteps coming closer, the clicking of men's shoes on the hard floor. "How is she doing?" came a silky voice. That voice! No, not the voice!! The familiar voice which lived in her head, replaying constantly since it was branded there. "I am so sorry..." the voice whispered in her head. "Sorry, sorry..."
A rush of adrenaline created a moment of clarity and she jumped from her bed and stood, prepared for battle. "Do you dare come near me again... I will not let you repeat what you did, I will fight this time... oh I have dreamed of this..." she growled at the tall, pale man with black hair that hung to his shoulders. "I have..." she tried to continue but fell to her knees on the floor.
The tall man immediately bent down to help her up but she wretched her body away from him and even tried to bite his hand.
With help from the old man the other woman carried her to the bed and covered her with a blanket. In seconds she was asleep.
"Severus, I do believe that you have some explaining to do..." Dumbledore said, jesturing to the Amazon woman lying on the infirmary bed.
Professor Snape just looked at Dumbledore, dark eyes empty of even the constant sneer the he usually held. "I..." he couldn't find words.
Dumbledore nodded. "Come, come to my office. Minerva, go to the Common Rooms and try to keep everyone calm. I don't care what story you concoct, just don't allow the students to break into hysterics." For the first time since Severus had known the Headmaster, his superior seemed afraid.
"Swedish Fish." Dumbledore said in passing to the gargoyle which allowed entry to his office. They treaded up the spiral stairs and into the main room. Fawkes cooed happily and shifted on his perch upon seeing Dumbledore.
Severus slumped into a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk and stared into the even-blazing fire. Dumbledore sat and waited quietly for his Potions Master to begin.
"You know my past... the things I have done..." he winced for a moment. "Only a year after my induction into Voldemort's ranks he called on me to prove my loyalty during a raid upon a village... a village of Amazons. I hadn't set to the task of killing them immediately, as the others had. I just couldn't bring myself to have a hand in the annihilation of an entire ancient and legendary culture." he paused for a moment, pondering something even Dumbledore could not read. "Voldemort was not happy with such actions. He... he took the young Amazon Queen... she must have been only 15 or 16... mind you I was not much older... and he said that I would get the honor of raping and humiliating her in front of the rest of his dark army, right there in the middle of the village..." he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in pain. In one swift motion he turned to Dumbledore and slammed his fist upon the desktop. "And damn myself, I did it... I took her, right there, in the blood soaked dirt in the center of her village... " he slumped back into the chair, covering his eyes with his hand. "She realized her fate immediately as she was thrown at me, her hands crudely bound. She only protested once, growled as I threw he to the ground in mock domination. Then she only cried, rivers of tears which soaked the ground and packed mud into her hair..." he snorted "I'm rather surprised she didn't kill me when she recognized me... I'd deserve it." he meant to whisper that last part just to himself, but Dumbledore heard it.
"You are far from deserving of that fate, Severus." Dumbledore said, his voice comforting like an old blanket. "But I do need you to talk with her once she recovers. I can't have her aggression towards you interfereing with her duty." the Headmaster sighed.
Severus rose to leave, but turned back to Dumbledore. "Do you really think she will be able to defeat something as abstract as Nocens?" he asked.
"I don't know. But she is our only hope."
Severus nodded and headed out the door.
For the next week the Amazon Queen drifted between sleep and awake, never conscious enough to even eat or drink. The students has settled down, being told that Hogwarts was impenetrable to such forces, and had shuffled back into their regular routine.
But every day, for whatever time he could spare, usually the hour before classes began, Severus sat by the woman's bedside. He never spoke a word, just sat and stared at her, tracing her still features again and again with his eyes. He relived those horrible moments again and again, as if through torturing himself he could repent.
And yet he couldn't deny that he had enjoyed it. He was, after all, only human. But her figure had haunted his dreams for years afterward. He'd fall to his knees, crying at her feet and sobbing his confession. And without a word she'd kneel down next to him and take him in her arms, letting him cry into her shoulder. Her fingers would run through his hair and she'd murmur her acceptance of his apologies until he stopped crying.
Severus stood from his chair at her bedside and looked down at her unmoving face. He suddenly believed all the legends about men dying just to glimpse these warrior-women.
Severus watched his hand as it came to rest on her pale cheek, his thumb tracing the line of her eyebrow. His fingers followed the curve of her jawline and returned to their resting place on her cheek. "I don't even know your name..." he whispered.
In a flash Severus realized what he was doing and pulled his hand away from her as if he had touched fire. He stared at her for a moment and then rushed out of the hospital, robes whipping behind him.
The woman's eyes fluttered open and she stared in horror and confusion at the place where the man had just exited. She had awoken awhile ago and heard the breathing of another in the room with her. Then the click of the heels as the person came closer and she froze, eyes closed, hoping that the person would not realize her increased breathing or heartrate. And then the person touched her, so amazingly intimate, yet gentle and comforting. And then that voice had asked her a question. That man was the one attached to the touch. "Arduine..." she whispered to the door. "My name is Arduine..."