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Chapter Five

Snape's Vigil

'That's what your father said right before I killed him.' That one sentence softly echoed in her head, over and over again like a dream. She felt as if she were floating on a sea of black, punctuated by flashes of light and that voice echoing its tone haughty and vicious. Off in a distance shone a bright white light and she as drifting toward it, slowly, the voice constant and taunting. She struck her arm out, in the direction of the voice, it's constancy threatening her sanity, but it eluded her and came from a different direction every time. The voice seemed to surround her as she sped faster and faster toward the brightness of the light. The chanting voice growing softer joined by other, more familiar voices.

"Will she be okay, Poppy"

"Oh yes Severus she should be fine. She wasn't hit with any curses. It's a broken wrist and some cracked ribs. The only thing that concerns me is she is showing signs of a major concussion. We need to watch her for the next few hours."

"Oh, is that all?" he replied ironically

"Well its not too bad, actually, considering who she was fighting, Severus." Dumbledores voice was soft. "I'm sure that Poppy has things well in hand, and you look tired. Why don't you get some rest?" Hero could hear her Uncles voice. It traveled to her across what seemed a great distance. It summoned and called to her and she could feel the soft warmth of his hand on her head.

"I'm not tired," replied Severus, "Besides, I want to be here when she wakes up. She knows about her father." Snape responded

"Do you think so, my boy?"

"Yes. He would not have missed his chance in delivering such devastating news. She was muttering his name as I carried her up here. I'm positive he told her. It's just the sort of thing he'd do." He ignored Poppy's astonished look.

"I see." Dumbledore continued to stroke her head. "Very well, then, Severus. It's ten o'clock, do try to rest anyway. Poppy, why not bring him some broth or tea? No, Severus, I insist. We have all had a rough night and I've ordered the same for all who've participated this evening. Drink what Poppy brings you, tomorrow we must meet and decide what to do next. Notify me as soon as she wakes up."

"Very well, sir." he sighed as he sat down in the chair next to her bed. He watched her for a moment and then closed his eyes. He was exhausted from the night's battle, which was an obvious attempt to terrorize the citizens of Hogsmeade and flush out members of the Order. He had been in the middle of a duel with one of the Death Eaters, when he or she suddenly disapperated. Breathless, he had looked up at the sky and noticed the telltale flashes of battle. Wanting to go help, he drew out his phone and checked the GPS screen for the location of his fellow witch or wizard. Then he hopped back onto his broom and took off in the direction of the coordinates he had received.

As he flew high over the village, he could tell that the battle was a fierce one and that the spells being thrown were very powerful and potentially deadly. It was also a moving battlefield, and he had to be careful how he inserted himself into it, lest he get hit by a stray hex. Approaching from the west, he was startled to see Hero stumble backwards out of the alley and fall over, striking her head hard on the road. He watched in horror as Lucius Malfoy calmly walked toward her, as she slowly got to her feet and faced him. She was wandless and unsteady on her feet.

Without further thought, he had hurled himself and the broom toward her, rapidly firing off two spells as Malfoy raised his wand to cast what he was sure would be the Killing Curse. She broke into a run as his spells hit their mark, but he managed to pull her onto the broom with him as he streaked by her. She was trembling against him; blood pouring from her head, then fainted as she resheathed her now retrieved wand.

He flew to Hogwarts as fast as he could, pushing his broom to it's limits and beyond, as her blood soaked his robes. He couldn't let her die, Dumbledore would never forgive him.

He sighed again and opened his eyes. Pomprey was standing before him, a steaming cup of tea in her hand. He wordlessly accepted it and sipped as she turned toward her patient to check on her.

"She should sleep the rest of the night through at least, Severus. Wake me if you need to, and try to rest yourself." the Mediwitch said softly, then turned and walked away.

Sipping his tea, he studied the woman that lay sleeping in the bed beside him. She had changed the whole dynamic of the war by her presence, and he had uncomfortable with it in the beginning, as they all had. The very idea of using muggle technology had been, well, astounding. Yet, when one thought about it from a half blood point of view, it made sense. She had been right, loath, as he was to admit it, eventhough he took up for her at the meeting on her first night back. What a night that had been.

He was pulled from his reverie by Hero's sudden cry. "No!" and he flew from his chair and to her side. She was dreaming, her chest heaving, he noted as he placed a hand on her forehead and shushed her softly. Stroking her head with his thumb, he waited until she settled down again before he returned to his chair.

'She is so damn stubborn' he thought as he recalled the events of the night he had come back from what would be his final Death Eater meeting, half dead. He hated being touched after those meetings, she insisted on helping him. He hadn't hated her touching him, eventhough he made out like he did. She stirred something in him that he didn't want to name or even acknowledge. Besides, there was no one, besides Dumbledore, who infuriated him the way she seemed to be able to do. Their verbal sparring was refreshing after so many years of no challenge what so ever. She didn't fear him when he was in one of his tempers, unlike many of his colleagues, and she didn't back down. He enjoyed the hurled insults; he enjoyed the quiet way the worked together when they weren't arguing. He enjoyed baiting her as mush as she seemed to enjoy baiting him. He found himself thinking of her at odd times and dreaming of her at night.

Tonight, as he ran her to the infirmary, her blood training behind them as he began to chant the healing spells, he found himself frightened for her, frightened that she would die in his arms. She had to live, he would never forgive him self if she died. He looked down at his cloak, still stained and damp with her blood. He brushed his hands through a stain allowing her blood to stain them. He sniffed the crimson liquid, the coppery essence invading his senses and with a smile he tasted it. He had saved her life, and she was bound to him forever because of it. Her blood now mingled with his.

Hero woke with a start, her head pounding. She closed her eyes against the sunlight for a moment, taking a deep breath to quell the nausea that arose in her. 'I'm home.' she thought desperately wanting to believe it was all a nightmare. As she opened her eyes again, slower this time then blinked at the ceiling. Memories of the night before flooding back to her. Severus had rescued her on his broom. Rescued her like a knight in shining armor-'no a knight in black woolen robes'. Voices, all talking about her, Uncle Albus and Severus. 'That's what your father said right before I killed him.' That voice slammed into her head again causing her to gasp "Malfoy!"

In an instant, her vigil keeper was in her line of sight. Looking into his sleepy eyes, she said.

"You knew, didn't you! You've know all along that Lucius Malfoy killed my father!" she accused him. He stared at her as she struggled to sit up, wincing in pain. Her face flushed as anger flooded through her. "Did you participate in his murder? After all he was killed when you were still a Death Eater, were you there too?" she asked, voice rising in anger with each word.

"No, Hero. I wasn't there." He carefully kept his voice a soft counterpoint to hers " I had nothing to do with your fathers death."

She closed her eyes. She knew he was telling her the truth. Shame quickly replaced the anger.

Madame Pomprey, hearing her patient's raised voice rushed into the partitioned area. "What's all this commotion?" she exclaimed indignantly "Shame on you, Severus Snape, for allowing her to get upset."

He looked at her incredulously and growled "Poppy, I have done nothing to encourage this outburst of temper, I can assure you."

The medi-witch turned to her patient, and began to fuss over her. "You had some awful injuries, especially your head. You must keep quiet for today. Lie back down now."

Hero sighed "Poppy, please. I have had much worse than this." She said as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, stood up, and took a wobbly step toward the man in black. "Why didn't you tell me? How could you allow me to sit in your class, day after day knowing that that bastard killed my father, and not say anything to me!" She was yelling at him, her body trembling in anger. "You must have known that sometime I would eventually cross paths with Malfoy! You Sanctimonious Son of a Bitch! How dare you!" Hero wobbled a little, but kept her balance.

"I had my suspicions." he finally said in a quiet voice "He bragged about it, but then he brags about a lot of things that aren't true."

"Why didn't you tell me about your suspicions, then? How could you not say anything to me?"

"Just for the same reasons I would not have told you today. You stand there shaking with rage, just itching to hex the bloody hell out of the first person that crosses you. Because the first thing on your mind is to extract revenge on the person or persons who dare distress the great Hero Charin." Poppy gasped as Severus got to his feet, towing over Hero, "For once in your life you need to take a step back and consider your options before jumping in with both feet."

"I know my options, I'll kill that Son. Of. A. Bitch " she innunciated each word by jabbing him in the chest, "No more thinking needed."

"That's right fly off the handle! Or have you forgotten that last night he came very close into killing you." he snarled.

Hero opened her mouth to speak and for the first time in a long time nothing came out. It was almost like her brain had shut down. It was true. Last night she had expected to be killed. She swayed on her feet. Her head spinning with dizziness again. All of the blood rushed from her face. Snape grabbed her upper arms, steered her back to the bed and helped her sit down. The grief of her fathers' murder surrounding her heart, she gasped for breath as darkness started to close in on her again.

"NO!" she said to no one except herself. Her vision cleared. Looking directly into Severus' eyes she stated with Deadly Control.

"When the time comes. Malfoy is mine. "