Second Chances



Chapter 13: Nooo!



A/N: There are a few bad words in this chapter, as well as some violence. If you think you can't deal with it, don't read it. Thanks.



Although the night was short for them as they had to get up quite early, both of them felt better rested than they had for a long time. Relieved to find that what they had shared the previous evening did not result in awkwardness this morning, he prepared breakfast while she fed and groomed the mares.

"Today we will leave the DarkWood and enter the Forbidden Forest," Lily said to Severus when she came over to him. "I guess we'll arrive at the border around noon. It 's a ravine with a wild river on its bottom and the bridge we're going to use is the only way to cross it for a five-days-ride in either direction. We have to be very cautious there, because some of the smarter predators in the area are well aware of that fact and occasionally lie in wait for unsuspecting victims. But if my weather-sense is not mistaken there is a storm approaching, so most of them will resort to the wood for easier prey, and the only creatures we really have to worry about are the Harpies, for the bad weather will cover their stench and allow the ugly beasts to hunt."

"There are Harpies living that far north?" He frowned.

Shrugging, she helped herself to some bread and cheese. "When a creature is of a dangerous race, best just expect that it can be found here. That's safest."

"What the hell is the secret of this forest?" he exclaimed in frustration.

She reached for him and squeezed his arm comfortingly. "You know I can't tell you even though I'd like to."

"I know," he grumbled.

Sighing, Lily resumed their previous topic. "Be that as it may, today it is essential that we remain silent. Any spoken word might alert the Harpies. As will the smell of blood or any magic being cast, or, for that matter, steel shown openly. Consequently my sword is going to stay in its scabbard and you'd better refrain from using any magic except in utmost emergency.
We will leave the mares with the Fays, the bridge is too narrow and fragile for them, and Glimmer and Ardent know a way to the other side that is better suited to them. I'd rather that we didn't split up, but the paths down to the river which they will take are too steep for them to carry a rider and we would just slow them down. So we will meet them later in the Forbidden Forest. If all goes well, you may be at Hogwarts in the evening."

"It's an odd feeling, to know our goal is almost in sight when I thought I'd never live long enough to come back," Severus wondered, shaking his head.

She smiled. "Your students will surely be glad to see you again."

He snorted, finishing his breakfast and rising to start packing. "I highly doubt that. I'm certainly not everybody's favorite teacher. On the contrary, the few that stayed over the Christmas Holidays will probably be fairly disappointed to find they will still have to put up with me as their greasy git of a Potions' Master."

She rose, too and after cleaning it, handed her cup to him, catching his hand with hers when he reached for it.

"Though I don't know enough for claiming to be able to judge this properly, I get the feeling that you tend to be a bit too hard on yourself," she said, looking into his onyx eyes questioningly.

They remained like that for a heartbeat, then she let go of his hand and the cup and walked towards the horses.

He just stared after her and after a moment, shook his head and continued to gather their gear while she tacked up the two mares and helped him with fastening the bags to the saddles. When she had given her last instructions to the Fays, the two of them mounted and took off for the hopefully last stage of their journey.

The later it got, the more obvious it became that Lily had been right with her prediction of the weather. Dark clouds amassed above their heads, and what started as a gentle breeze soon increased in strength to a strong wind. Saga and Goa simply lowered their heads and kept their steady pace, unimpressed by the squalls around them that tore at their riders' cloaks and made them shiver in the cold air.

Around noon, Lily and Severus abandoned their friends a short walk away from the bridge and watched them disappear into the wood, searching for the spot where the small path would lead the four of them down and to a shallow spot where they could cross the river. The two humans, however, set off for the suspension bridge that spanned the chasm separating the DarkWood from the Forbidden Forest.

Both of them were extra alert and stayed close together, though no danger could be seen nor heard. They double-checked the area before they dared to approach the bridge, still finding no threat was near. Lily had made a wooden staff out of a long bough she had found on the way and kept it ready the whole time. Arriving at the bridge, Severus saw it was solid enough to carry the two of them, but not anything as heavy as a horse. He kept watching their surroundings while she tested if the bridge was intact and the storm wouldn't hinder them too much. After her confirmation that everything was okay, they set to cross the ravine. The river rushed far beneath them and Severus had to fight the urge to look down for a moment, knowing that it would just serve to make him dizzy. The strong wind howled around them and shook the bridge thoroughly, as if trying to pull them into the depths. For a second, he thought he had heard the beating of wings and an insane cackle over the noise, but nothing happened and he blamed his over-active imagination. Then they had made it.

Since it had been well enough to look over, it was him that stepped onto the massive rock which formed this other side of the ravine first, with Lily covering his back. Again they checked the forest in front of them for possible perils, and, once more finding none, proceeded into the underwood. They had gotten no farther than perhaps half a furlong when Severus saw Lily tense and her eyes go dark out of the corner of his eyes. Then his field of vision was filled by the black-clad figures who were surrounding them all of a sudden and a Cruciatus hit him square in the back. The familiar pain was even more excruciating than usual which told him that the Unforgivable was being cast by more than one wizard simultaneously.

'Death Eaters!'

Even before he had completed the thought, Lily had already reacted by knocking out the first of his former colleagues, and was now bringing the staff down on the second one. Still taken completely by surprise, the remaining Death Eaters didn't respond to her actions until after she had taken down the third of them, and disarmed two others by knocking the wands out of their hands, leaving them looking dumbfounded at her and clutching their broken wrists. But by then, some of them had recovered enough to fling the Expelliarmus Spell at her and deprived the red-haired woman of her wooden weapon. That was when Severus was released from the curse and found himself in a circle of wands pointed at him as well as put into a Body-Bind, while a second circle of the Dark Lord's followers closed around Lily, separating her from him effectively.

"Well, well, what have we found here?" Lucius Malfoy drawled in his all-too-familiar manner and came to stand facing both of them. "A traitor who is going to wish he was dead only too soon and a Mudblood who had better remained so."

"For someone who shows so much disdain for Mudbloods you spend a surprisingly great amount of time licking the boots of the son of one, Malfoy," Lily sneered, chin raised and eyes glittering defiantly.

"How dare you, you red-haired bitch," the blond Death Eater hissed, turning to her and entering the circle. Her insult had obviously hit home.

"Unlike you, Death Eater, I possess the courage to speak for myself, even if I don't have a bunch of toady fellows that intimidate my opponents for me," she challenged.

That made Malfoy temporarily forget what he had just seen about her fighting skills, and he moved into her reach, oblivious to the fact she still had her sword.

As a result, he found himself staring unbelievingly at the blade that cut slightly into the soft skin of his throat a mere moment later.

His face distorted into a grimace of unmasked fury and he bit out the words through clenched teeth.

"Don't go too far! You seem to forget who is over there, encircled by my men. One word from me and he is dead."

She eyed him unimpressed. "I believe it's difficult to speak with a slit throat, isn't it? And wasn't there something about Voldemort wanting his 'traitor' alive?"

"You can't fool me, woman. I know all about your secret affair with the 'inaccessible, mysterious Slytherin' back at Hogwarts. And as for the Dark Lord's wishes, while he will certainly enjoy punishing Snape personally, it is no longer necessary to keep him undamaged. We have found a well-suited replacement for him in the meantime." Malfoy smirked. "Sending my son to that useless school seems to pay off eventually."

'Damn!' Severus felt his eyes widen. 'The red-eyed bastard is going to use Draco Malfoy's form to get into Hogwarts! While I am stuck in his dungeons! I have to find a way to warn Albus! But how?'

"Now take that sword off my throat and give it to me, before I tell my colleagues to kill your sweetheart," the Death Eater threatened.

Lily looked past the blond to Severus and seemed to hesitate a moment. Then she took the blade down and handed it to Malfoy without any further comment. Her opponent sneered and, after tucking it into his belt, turned back to her and hit her across the face, so hard it sent her stumbling into the wall of Death Eaters' bodies behind her. Those to her left and right grasped her arms and wrists and held her, while their leader smiled maliciously at the redhead, closing the space between them with several gracious strides. His fingers caught her chin in a rough grip and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"At first, I thought I would simply hand you to my men as a reward for their loyalty, but your little show here has succeeded in changing my mind. Now I think I will teach you a lesson you won't ever forget before. And then turn you over to them."

She spat him at the face.

"You dirty Gryffindor whore!" he roared and slapped her once more before he took a step back, and, wiping the saliva off his face, fumbled for the sword at his side. Turning back to her he raised the blade threateningly, but she just looked at him with a strange calmness, blood sliding down her cheek from a cut his heavy signet-ring had left.

Terror rose in Severus. 'Damn that woman! Is she out of her mind to provoke him like that?"

Then he heard it. The same sounds he had thought to perceive over the howling of the wind before. The beating of many wings, screeching and cackling.

'The Harpies!'

Malfoy had heard it, too, for he looked up at the same instant a dark shadow dived towards him. The Harpy's claws raked over him as she pulled out of the dive, beat her wings to stay in the air and settled on a new victim. More of them followed the first, their muddy brown and gray plumage making them difficult to spot against the storm clouds, their woman-like heads screeching obscenities or laughing madly, all the while screaming 'Blood! We want blood!", "Make them bleed!" or "Rip them apart!".

After the initial shock, the air was soon heavy with hexes, and the two circles scattered as the Death Eaters battled for their life. Lily, who had broken free and gotten her staff back during the first few moments, was now trying to fight her way through to Severus, who still lay in the Body-Bind, unable to escape any attacks directed at him. She was almost there, when a dark-gray Harpy dove down at the Potions' Master and snatched him by the legs.

"No!" she cried, hurrying after the dirty predator that took off in direction of the ravine.

Severus concentrated frantically on his animagus form, knowing the transformation would break the curse that kept him immobile. Dangling head-down from the claws of a stinking Harpy which shook him violently on her flight through a winter storm while her sharp talons were piercing his legs didn't exactly help, though.

"Severus!"

That was Lily's voice! She was still down there. Among all the Death Eaters.

'I have to try harder! I must not fail her! Not again!'

He closed his eyes, shut the Harpy, the Death Eaters, the wood, the storm, the cold; shut all that out and channeled his whole being into the mental image of the black panther.

The angry shriek of the Harpy told him all he needed to know, and opening his eyes again, he bent upwards and clawed at the creature. The ugly thing screamed, but didn't let go of him. Only after two more strikes did she let him fall. And only then did he look down, horror flooding him when he realized they had been directly over the ravine when the blasted beast had released him. Her insane laughter followed him on his plunge.

And another shout as well.

"NOOO!"

The rush of the air around him made her yell turn into a strange sound, and closing his eyes once more, he hoped he would reach the bottom soon, so that the shame and guilt he felt for failing her this last time would not pain him any longer.

But then the strange sound could be heard again, this time not far from him. It sounded like...

... the cry of a phoenix!

Despite better knowledge, he opened his eyes once again and indeed saw the crimson and golden shape of a phoenix speeding towards him. Changing back to human, he felt hope rise inside. Perhaps this was not the end yet!

But he was still falling and the ground was drawing nearer at an alarming speed...

A moment later, the swan-sized bird was beside him and its golden tail-feathers in reach. Severus made a grab for them and felt the strange lightness spread through his body while the phoenix started to pull them into a dive. His feet did brush the surface of the river, but then their flight became stabilized and his savior started to rise again.

Relief started to make its way through the cloud of dizziness and exhaustion around his mind, but then a thought washed over him like a bucket of cold water.

'Lily! She is still up there!'

"Fawkes? Fawkes! Bring me back to the bridge! We have to save Lily!" he shouted to drown out the noise of the wind.

The phoenix showed no sign whatsoever that it had heard him and, much to Severus despair, continued its flight towards the Forbidden Forest, and thus, Hogwarts. He tried frantically to gain its attention by struggling and tugging at the strangely hot tail-feathers, but the magnificent bird just warbled and otherwise ignored his attempts.

"Please!" he demanded desperately, "Please take me back to her! I can't let her down! Not her! Not the only woman I've ever loved! Please!!!"

But the phoenix seemed deaf to his words and carried him steadily towards the school grounds, no matter how much he begged it to turn back. He thought briefly about just letting go of the bird to put an end to his misery, but then remembered that someone was still needed to tell Albus about Voldemort's plan. So he had no other choice but to cling to its tail. The sharp wind cut into his face like hundred tiny knifes and he realized he was crying. It didn't matter. Not anymore.

When the familiar castle appeared in sight, the phoenix started to sink lower, until it brought both of them down on a spot that lay a brief walk away from Hagrid's hut. Although it let Severus touch the ground gently and released him carefully, the Potions' Master's injured legs gave way beneath him and he fell. Hot pain throbbed through his entire body, part of it due to the Cruciatus, the aching gashes in his legs courtesy of the Harpy. He grimaced. Wounds caused by the ugly scavengers almost always became inflamed. A concerned chirp sounded beside him, but as he turned his head towards the sound, his vision started to become blurred and all he could see was a patch of crimson approaching him. The bird trilled once more, before it began to pipe an eerie song that seemed to enfold Severus in warmth somehow and eased his heart. With the forest around him sliding out of focus, he felt more than actually saw the phoenix lay its beautiful head on the injuries the Harpy's talons had left. A soothing liquid moistened the wounds, and slowly the pain started to subside.

"Phoenix Tears," Severus murmured while the world returned around him.

The bird, never interrupting his weird song, settled itself on his knee and looked up at him. Black eyes gazed into ...green?

Yes, the phoenix had indeed green eyes!

And then it struck him.

"Lily?" he whispered hoarsely.

The bird on his knee blinked and stopped singing. Confusion started to darken its eyes as it shifted its weight restlessly.

"Lily?" he repeated, still unsure.

The phoenix fluffed its feathers in uneasiness, gave itself a shake and hopped from his leg, coming to stand about two yards from him.

"Lily? Please come back. "

His words made the bird quiver and chirp in distress. It shook its beautiful head as if in denial, taking some steps back.

"No! Don't leave me. I... I need you." he said, half rising, one hand extended in direction of the phoenix.

The bird spread its wings, and, closing its emerald eyes, cried out in anguish as it erupted into flames.

One moment later, the fire died down and left the figure of the familiar tall, slender woman with dark-red hair in its wake.

"Lily!" Severus exclaimed, hurrying to her side just in time to catch her when she swayed and fainted.

She looked like hell. Her clothes were torn, she had several gashes from her fight with the Harpies and she looked totally exhausted. In addition, her skin felt hot to the touch, as if she had a fever. He cradled her gently in his arms, lifted her carefully and set off for the school as fast as he could.

Once inside the castle, Severus aimed straight for the hospital wing, completely ignoring everything around him. He was grateful when he finally arrived at the Infirmary, for the whole carrying Lily there had consumed pretty much of his feeble power reserve and he was feeling quite dizzy again.

Madam Pomfrey looked up as he entered the room, and stared at them in astonishment. But after an instant her training as a nurse kicked in and she directed him to an empty bed quickly. She was just starting to bustle over Lily when the Headmaster walked in, stopped short of Severus and hugged him cordially.

"My dear boy," he said in a warm voice," it's wonderful to see you are back and well! We were all so worried about you! I feared we had truly lost you this time." The older wizard released him just enough to be able to face him before he asked: "What happened?"

Severus blinked, feeling his surroundings cloud once again. He realized he didn't have much time left to tell Albus what he needed to know so he settled on that which was most important and tried to keep it as short as possible.

"Voldemort... He made me alter... the Polyjuice Potion... . It's harder to detect... and lasts longer... . He... wanted my hair... but I... could escape... . Now he... is going... to use... Draco... Malfoy... ," was all he managed to say before darkness eventually claimed him.

But it was enough.



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A/N:

Wow, that was kind of difficult to write. I don't like composing dialogs at all. Lily and Severus always do what they want, and not what I intend them to do... *sighs* And then, when they once again rush things, it's me who has to find a plausible explanation for it... *pouts*

I refrained from rising the rating of this chapter, because I think it would be a pity if some of you couldn't read it just because of a few bad words which I assume are common knowledge in teenagers. However, if you feel I should still make it R, tell me in your reviews and I will do so.

Now, how will the people of Hogwarts react to Lily? And she to them? Does her ability to change into a phoenix mean she is a witch after all?



Happy Easter!



Greetings,

Scheckie