CHAPTER EIGHT
A CHANGE OF STARSThe powerful Enigma sank to the floor of Professor Snape's chambers after the boys were gone. She sat with her face in her hands and wept for an eternity. 'How could this happen? I'm supposed to be immune to his evil. I've failed miserably. How am I supposed to protect anyone?' She looked up at Severus, who was lying unconscious against his bed. She wiped the tears from her eyes and picked him up. It was a difficult task. She decided to suspend him in the air as she took his clothes off, layer by layer. Then she finally made it to his bare chest. He looked so bulky with all those layers on him, and now he floated before her, not scrawny, not bulging, but well defined. It was the only way she could describe it. 'Snap out of it, Orion.' She took off his shoes and socks. Not even wanting to think about it, she removed just his belt. Then she folded back his gray covers and tucked him in his own surprisingly soft bed. Orion pulled up a chair from the fireplace and was watching him with misty eyes.
"I might as well rehearse what I came down to tell you, Snape," she started, "I want to apologize for my hostility toward you. I am an antagonist by nature but with you I've gone too far and I deeply regret it. Albus is right; a war is brewing and we mustn't let our past interfere with our future." She looked thoughtfully out the window. "I guess I was just intimidated by you when I was younger. All us kids were, but I expected you to be intimidated by me for what I was, like the rest of the school. I was hurt by your immense dislike for me, and I thought that you should have been afraid of me like all of the professors. But you, you were the only one who treated me like any other normal witch. I should have respected you for that and even thanked you. Now I see the error of my ways. I'm afraid I am all too late, though." She sank back in her chair, now directing her attention to the wall of books to her right.
"The Scarlet Letter? Don Quixote? A Midsummer Night's Dream?" she said to herself, "All written by Muggles. Hypocrite."
Severus awoke an hour later.
"How are you feeling, Professor?" He looked down at his bare chest.
"I think it's about time you stopped calling me Professor." He tried to get up but Orion placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. He always though himself to be quite strong, but her strength surprised him.
"You are not yet well enough to get out of bed, Severus," she stumbled at his name.
"What happened?"
"Why don't you tell me?" Snape studied her intently.
"All I remember is his voice. Telling me he needed me. Needed you. I tried to keep a clear mind, but he was too powerful. He said I would enjoy this, and then, black." Orion told him how he tried to molest her, and how Harry and Ron came to her rescue.
"I'm so sorry," was all that came from his lips.
"It wasn't you, it was him. Don't worry about it. I still have my innocence don't I?" Severus looked at her with wide eyes. She cleared her throat nervously and looked up at the ceiling. "Listen, Profes--er, Severus, the only reason that I even came down here in the first place was to--" he put his hand up to silence her.
"I know--I heard everything you said." She grabbed an extra pillow and playfully hit him on the head with it. Severus laughed.
"You should do that more often. Laugh, I mean."
"There's nothing really to laugh about these days." Orion understood. "I'm sorry also," he said, "You're Godfather is right. Our past is in the past."
"Well, I shall leave you to rest. Get some sleep." She had her hand on the door handle.
"Orion?" The woman turned to face her greatest challenge and most hated professor. But was he so hated by her as she thought? The times have certainly changed, she thought.
"Yes Severus?" He had propped himself up on his elbows, and was now transfixed on her.
"Thank you." This simple statement--without sarcasm, but with sincere gratitude--nearly knocked Orion off her feet.
"You're welcome. Sleep well Severus."
Before Orion had a chance to close the door, Harry and Ron had reappeared, with faces as pale as a ghost.
"There's been...an incident," gasped Harry. She could sense their anguish. Severus had heard the news, and hastily threw his clothes on. There was no stopping him. The two adults followed the boys, running at full speed, outside to the greenhouse. Upon their arrival, Orion saw a horrific sight. Professors Jones and Sprout were lying at an awkward angle on the ground, and their status looked fatal.
"Where's Hermione?"
"She went to get Professor Dumbledore."
"Good," she replied, as she knelt down to check their pulse. Tears filled her eyes and she started to shake. A hand rested on her shoulder. She turned to look into Snape's deep eyes.
"This is all my fault. I could have saved them." Her face was expressionless but he could tell her heart was broken. Behind him Orion could see Albus Dumbledore and Hermione Granger coming down from the castle, and running right behind them were Professor McGonagall and Sirius Black.
"Minerva, please, the children," said Albus. The professor was already rounding up the three children and hurrying them back to the castle. Orion turned to her Godfather.
"Albus--"
"It's all right. Can you tell what happened?" The great Enigma gathered up what little strength she had and knelt once more to the deceased professors. She placed a hand on each of their foreheads and concentrated hard, digging into their last memories. The three men stood around her, watching, waiting. Orion started to shake once more, and Sirius went to stop her. She had stopped herself though. Their memories were over. She looked at Sirius with extreme anger and hatred and he backed off. Her eyes immediately softened.
"I'm sorry," she said as he helped her up, "It seems as though we have a traitor in our mists." The men looked at each other, then back at Orion. "Colin Creevey murdered these two individuals, then took the Angeleye leaves that resided in Professor Sprouts pocket. He...took...pictures...of them," she started to shake with anger once more, "then he ran off to the forest."
"No doubt to report back to his master," whispered Black. The others nodded their heads. Orion waved her hand and the two teachers disappeared.
"I sent them to the infirmary," she said, answering their puzzled looks.
"Thank you, Orion, I know that was hard for you," Albus said, placing an arm around her and motioning for the other two men to follow them back inside. She started crying.
"There was nothing I could do, Uncle. They were beyond death." Her Godfather shushed her. "Why do I feel so powerless?"
"Because you have not yet accepted your true self," Dumbledore stated, "Come, you need rest." And for once in a very long time, Sirius and Severus looked at each other without knifes in their eyes, but with the deepest sorrow for their friend.
***
Dumbledore had matters to sort out, so he asked that Severus look after Orion. Snape took Orion in his arms and carried her to her chambers. Filled with much more light compared to his, he ascended into the room and placed her on her bed. Then he proceeded to do the same thing she did when he was weak. He pulled off her robes, boots, and shirt. Then he placed her under the covers, pulled up a chair, and dozed off himself.
"It seems we keep taking turns watching each other sleep," Orion said three days later. Severus had not stayed the whole time, for there were other matters to be attended to, but he came to sleep with her every night.
"Yes, it does seem that way. How do you feel?"
"My body feels fine, but I'm hurt, confused, even frustrated inside." Severus leaned down to her.
"You still need to rest. The answers you seek will come in time." Then he kissed her on the forehead. She could hardly believe it. Yes, indeed--the times had certainly changed.
The day after Orion awoke refreshed and renewed. She had dreamt of her parents. They sat in their old living room, chatting for what seemed like a very long time. They told her that they were so proud of her and her accomplishments. She told them of her feeling of worthlessness; they responded, telling her that all she had to do was believe in herself. She got out of bed and strolled over to the mirror. There she was as she always looked, but this time she felt more confident.
Dumbledore was sitting in his office, staring solemnly at the letter he had received from the families of the two deceased teachers, thanking him for his sympathy. A tear escaped his eyes, and Fawkes cooed softly in an effort to comfort him. Orion entered just as he sent the letter up in flames.
"I believe," she stated. Albus looked up and chuckled. "I'm serious, Albus. I had a dream about my parents. They made me feel better about myself." She certainly looked different. She had always presented herself as a proud and noble woman, but this person who stood before him was no longer Orion the Adventurer. She was now Orion the Enigma. He went and embraced her. "I knew it would come."
"With time. Thank the Lord it only took four days," she laughed and wept at the same time. It was like being reborn, and now she wanted to prove her existence. "I'm ready to face him Uncle Albus. It's what I have to do. He's still in the forest, I can feel his presence." She had a glint in her eye that he had never seen before. Dumbledore followed his Goddaughter out of his office and out onto the grounds. Severus, Sirius, and McGonagall were all waiting. She had no doubt told them her plan.
"So? What is our plan my dear?"
"There is none. There is only our unity," she said with a smile. Albus looked worried, but he had never trusted her more than he did right at that moment.
"Lead the way." Severus walked next to Orion, with the other three adults behind them.
"Look familiar?" she asked. They were following the same trail they had the night she first confronted Voldemort in the forest.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Of course," she saw he was not satisfied. He too, noticed she was different. "I'm ready, Severus. I believe in myself now. Don't worry." He hadn't done anything the past four days except worry.