Hi!  Here's a new chapter for ya!  …I know it took some time to come out, sorry!  But I explained before that I didn't intended to make this a many chapters story, so I have to think hard to find some ideas and how to write them properly.  At least I managed to write another one! ^_^;

A BIG thanks to:

Me     Koldy     Erika     Moon-n-Universe-Goddess     MarsMoonStar     SilverWingPhoenix     Shade     Yadrianne     Henio

Jewelclaw Lady of Wind     Lunar Princess     WaterAngel1     Krazy Pandi     Darkness     SilverBunny5     ..tyne..

Hikari Kage Shi     Imperial Saturn     SurfAngel     fanfiction fanatic     Pheniox Rose     Chibi-ami     Alessandra     Alcandre

J-chan     Loony Space Bunny     Chibi Hikari1     Zaeria     Eternal Salior Earth Zodiac    

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The curse of the DADA teacher

Chapter 4: Close encounter with the Chaos kind

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  "Finally! I never thought I'd be able to get away from them!"  To escape from all the questions and commotion, the rabbit had teleported just in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.  It was dark outside but she didn't mind; it would be harder for them to find her, thought she didn't think they could trace her anyway.

    She was leaning against a tree when something nudged her side calmly.  Her first thought was 'How come I didn't sense

 anything coming?!' but she thought better when she saw what had found her.  "A unicorn?"  She voiced her question out loud, while said animal cocked its head on the side, looking at her strangely, inspecting her.  She approached her hand slowly since the unicorn nickered with uneasiness, and petted its nuzzle reassuringly when her hand finally touched it.

  'Are you not the Tsuki no Hime?'

    Serena startled and took a few steps back, looking around her suspiciously.  There was nobody around, so where did that voice come from?  She was startled out of her thoughts when the warm nuzzle found her hand and nudged her again.  'Are you not the Tsuki no Hime?'

    Her eyes widened slightly.  The voice was coming from the unicorn!  But its lips weren't moving, so she guessed it was some sort of telepathic power.  "Yes I am.  How do you know of me?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

   The horse neighed and pawed the ground, but still asked the rabbit to pet her.  'You are not in your proper world, hime-sama.  It truly is an honor to meet you here, yes it is!'

   Serena eyed the beast carefully when it didn't answer her question directly.  "No, I am not in the other dimension, as you said.  You have rendered me curious, majestic one.  How can anybody know of my true identity in this world when none of the magic I possess exists here?"

   The unicorn gave off what sounded like a happy and proud neigh and pranced around her a little.  'Oh! You are very often mentioned in the world of Elysion, Hime-sama!  Do no look so shocked!  Unicorn weren't originally born on Earth, you know!  I'm from Elysion, nothing more than a simple unicorn there, but here, I am a rare and pure creature in the eyes of the humans.  I decided to live here as many others did, many years ago.  You may call me Hope!'

   The blond girl smiled softly, before sitting down and leaning on the tree once more.  "Then call me Serena.  I hate the formalities when I don't have to use them."

   The unicorn calmed and lay down beside her, putting her head on Serena's lap.  'Something ails you, ne?'

   Serena blinked at Hope owlishly.  "Am I so easy to read?"  She could swear she saw the horse shrugging, but continued nonetheless.  "Well, in any case, you're right.  One of Chaos' remnants escaped the other dimension and is now lose in this world.  It's a major threat to the balance and I have to locate it before it's too late.  Thing is, I just told this to everyone in the castle, and some people didn't fair with this information pretty well.  I kinda also told them I possessed a different kind of power aside from their magic and I don't know if they'll trust me anymore.  Maybe teleporting out of the castle wasn't such a good idea after all…" she muttered the last part.

   Hope took in the information calmly.  'Those are indeed some bad news…But I wouldn't worry myself even more by thinking about what the others think of you.  Humans are so full of prejudices; it's almost easy for them to ditch someone because of who he or she is, instead of looking what's inside the person's heart. You have to concentrate on finding Chaos and destroying it first of all.'  Hope paused, sensing that something else troubled the girl, and called her on it.

   Serena gave a sad smile.  "I also told them…that I was with someone else at the time…And I fear what Severus will think of me now."

   A tear made its way down her cheek and Hope wiped it away gently with her nuzzle.  'Ah yes, the potions master…A very curious one he is indeed.  I personally think he doesn't have anything to say in this.  Destiny controlled your life, but not your heart.  He will have to listen to reason eventually.  It's starting to be really late, Serena.  You should be heading back to the castle.  Just do what you have to do and all will be well.  Ja ne!'  Hope trotted back to the dark Forest after one last caress, leaving a smiling blue eyed girl to watch over her retreating form.

   "Darn, I wanted to try to spot Chaos today…guess I'll do this tomorrow."

   When she entered the castle, all was peaceful.  She was almost afraid Severus would jump on her any second now, but looks like he had locked himself in that infernal office of his.  She didn't feel like facing Dumbledore in one of the halls either, so she directly teleported to her bedroom, falling asleep as her head hit the pillow.

*~*

   Serena woke up next morning with a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach.  'Looks like Chaos decided to act swiftly.  His activity is growing, I can feel it.'  She dressed up quickly and concentrated on the insight power of Mars, and frowned.

   "Shit.  Those dementors didn't have any chance against it, I can almost pity them.  This is becoming dangerous with Voldemort around."  She was speaking to herself, with her eyes still glazed.  Unconsciously, she got up and exited her bedroom, her senses telling her where to go.

   She wasn't even seeing the students as she passed them in the corridors, nor didn't she saw them moving away from her quickly and heard them whispering in her back.  She was focusing on Chaos at her maximum, so she didn't see Severus coming her way.

  The connection was abruptly stopped, however, when she found herself being pinned almost roughly to a wall.  She gasped in surprise and shifted while Severus restrained her harder as she tried to pull herself free of his grasp.  The students were looking at them with apprehension.  "Stop moving, will you?!" Severus hissed at her.  "What's going on with you?!  I tried to call you many times and you didn't answer me!  You were starting to scare the students away with your empty glare!  What was that anyway?  Where were you going?"

   He eyed the entrance doors of Hogwarts, before resuming his rant.  "You have classes to teach today, or have you already forgotten?  Though I would gladly skip the classes and lock you in a spell proof chamber and administer you a not very healthy dose of Veritaserum in order to listen to the things you would have to explain about your…your past!  Not to mention your inappropriate behaviour towards the staff members yesterday night, and to Dumbledore himself!"

   Serena glared at him and his foolishness.  "My behaviour is none of your matters, Severus!  And just so you know, by waking me up abruptly like this from my meditation, you've just made me lose contact to Chaos!  He's already begun to change the fate of this world and I don't even know what he's going to do now!"

  She was losing her patience fast, and this, she knew, would lead her nowhere.  She took a big breath and closed her eyes to relax.  When she reopened them, her bright blue eyes clashed with Severus' midnight orbs.  She gazed tenderly at him and he fidgeted under her stare.  His mind was already loosing the battle to his heart.

  "Please, Severus.  I will go to my classes, and I will meet you in your office at 9 tonight.  I will then explain things more properly to you, alone if you so desire.  But in the mean time, I need you to regain your trust in me.  Please, Severus!  Don't leave me alone now, because it's now I need you the most.  I…I don't know what I would do without you, Severus…"  She whispered the last part, and Snape's heart almost shattered.

  He regained his composure, and slowly let go of her hands which he had both pinned at her sides, but not before giving them a squeeze of what could only be understanding.  She knew he wasn't looking at her when he stood back, so she didn't even try to lift her gaze up to him.  It was comforting enough to know he would try to be patient, and wait a little bit more to have all the information he wanted about this man in her past.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder but didn't turn around as she knew who was behind her already.  "Did he hurt you?"  Sirius's deep voice cut through the silence that had taken its place.  Nobody dared to move, just waiting for her reply.  She took Sirius' hand off of her shoulder and glanced behind her.  The animagus was just looking at her emptily, while a disconcerted Harry was half hiding behind his godfather's back.  Remus was looking at her with worry.

  She shook her head and walked to the staircases.  Sirius frowned with concern.  "Serena!"

  He didn't have time to finish as she turned around again to meet his gaze.  She held it with a forced happy smile and he almost took a step back in surprise.  "Don't worry about me so much, Sirius-chan!  I've lived through worse things, yes I did!"

  She then got up the stairs and proceeded to go to her classroom.  "Yes, I sure did…" she whispered when she was out of earshot, her hands fisting tightly beneath her teacher robes.

*~*

  "What a day!"  Serena whined while she shed her clothing on the cold floor of her bathroom.  She stepped into her rather gigantic bath and let the warm water calm her stressed out body.  It had been a more than unusual day, what with the students eyeing her every moves in class as if she was going to explode any seconds now.

  It was nearing 8pm when she felt Chaos starting to move again.  She cursed softly and vanished, leaving her book on the dark arts to fall on the ground with a small thud.

  She reappeared in what looked like an underground tunnel, for it was dark and damp.  She had a chilling sensation all of this would not end well.  She tried to hide in the shadows as much as she could and hid her energy signature just in case.

**

  "What are you?  What have you done with my Death Eaters?  Answer me or I shall kill you!"  Voldemort was pissed.  That *thing* had appeared in the middle of his 'throne room' and rendered his guards unable to move.  His eyes widened a little but he didn't flinch when the dark being in front of him started to laugh darkly, even more so than You-Know-Who himself.

  Serena got a bad feeling about this and tried to get as close as she could without being detected.  To be that close of Chaos would be an exploit she wouldn't dare do again.

  "You're aggressive and your heart is dark, I like that in a person!  Though your soul is not completely evil…That's why I'll spare you and propose you something!" barked out Chaos, his red eyes illuminating the barely lit room faintly.

  Tom Riddle almost sputtered from shock.  "HOW DARE YOU!  How dare you say my soul is not evil!  You don't know what I did in the past!  I killed many people-"

 Chaos interrupted him abruptly with a sneer.  "But not enough!  I know what you did in the past, and believe me; you still have a long way to go before starting to join my dark deeds!"  He seemed to calm down before continuing with a small smirk, while Riddle acquired a wisp of a curious and interested gaze.

  The hiding blond almost swore aloud and put both her hands on her mouth just in case.  She focused all her attention on her plotting Nemesis.

  "I did something similar to this before, except that I had forced this person to do my every biding.  With you, though, if you accept my proposition, there won't be any problems at all.  If you accept this, you'll become the most powerful being on this planet!"

  Voldemort eyed Chaos with a critical eye and leaned back in his chair.  "Do tell, though I already *am* the most powerful person in this world!"  Voldemort's cockiness made Chaos roll his eyes, but he explained anyway.

  "You have to let me merge into your body.  My evil soul will further taint yours and my powers will become accessible to you.  I don't intend to change your personality or your appearance" Chaos added when Riddle eyed him suspiciously, "and you won't even feel me inside you, except for that need to kill and destroy that will be eating your heart.  I don't usually make deals with humans, but there's someone I really need to kill in this world.  You won't be able to do anything against her on your own, so let's just say I'm doing you a favour; you'll be able to kill that boy you're after, and I'll have my revenge against my Nemesis.  I'm growing out of patience, human, so speak up already!"  Chaos growled and took a step towards the Dark Lord when he seemed deep in thought.

  Serena took this as her cue and lunged forward with a mighty cry.  "Oh no you don't!  Not this time, I won't let you! CHAOS!"

  Her sudden apparition made Tom Riddle take a step back in shock while Chaos growled deeply and dangerously.  Before he could say anything, she started to attack him with all she got.  "STARLIGHT HONEYMOON! THERAPY! KISS!"  Her Eternal Tier appeared and her moon insignia glowed brightly on her forehead.

  Chaos thought she would attack him blindly so he erected a shield quickly, though it was unstable because of the force she used against him.

  Riddle staggered backwards with the intensity of the power emitted and went crashing into a wall behind him.  The shield of darkness cracked and Chaos didn't wait for it to shatter before launching an attack of his own at her.  "BLACK NOVA!"  Thousands of shards of black crystals came hurling in her direction and she screamed when some of them came in contact with her.

  She countered with Mercury's bubbles which created a deep fog around them.  She didn't think Chaos would find her as fast as he did when she felt herself on the ground, pinned down by Chaos himself.  He had moved so fast that he had created a vacuum, disintegrating the fog as if it was nothing.  He was cackling maniacally and she struggled to get away.

  She winced visibly when she felt many bones in her body starting to break and the deep gashes from the crystals didn't help her situation either.

  "Looks like you found me earlier than anticipated!  It's good though, I needed a little exercise.  I really have to thank your stupid senshi for 'allowing' me to pass!  I was in too much of a hurry to get here, so I didn't have the time to 'thank' them properly.  I'll do it after I get rid of you, it's the least I could do!" slurred Chaos, and he started to laugh darkly.

  Serena's eyes snapped open and she glared icily at him.  "You will do no such thing!  I! WON'T! LET! YOU!!!"  She yelled, calling forth the power of the Ginzuishou.  The pureness made Chaos rage and step back, while she slowly got up.  She was preparing an ultimate attack but didn't have the time to finish as Chaos saw her intentions.

  "NO!"  He created a swirl of black power and hurled it towards her violently.  Her eyes widened and she didn't have the time to block it; it came in contact with her, and she lost ground.  She was about to hit with one of the many stone walls and focused her last bit of consciousness into an escape portal.  It was unstable but she managed to get in, barely conscious, before it closed the moment she was in.

  Chaos howled in furry, then smirked.  "At least I know she's truly in this world."  He cackled evilly.  "This will be fun, Tsuki no Hime!  Our paths will cross again!"

  He turned to the momentarily forgotten Dark Lord, who was still frozen on the ground, and Chaos raised an eyebrow when Riddle smirked darkly.  "This was interesting!  I accept your offer.  That *girl* intrigues me!"

  Chaos nodded in triumph, then sneered.  "I promise you, your *fascination* will pass quickly once you realise the threat she is to me…us.  Let's begin!"

*~*~*~*

   In plain daylight, on Hogwarts school grounds, an unsteady portal appeared unknowingly from the others.  A weak figure stumbled out on the ground before it wavered and disappeared.  Serena got up shakily, ignoring her protesting bones and sore muscles to walk up to the castle.

   Grunting and moaning in pain, for her it felt like an eternity just to reach the stairs leading to the gigantic entrance doors.  At this point, she was fighting for consciousness, a high fever starting to grip her body.  She put her hand on the doorknob only to find them slippery.  She grunted faintly and looked down, only to see her own blood smearing the doorknob.  She gripped it more tightly and turned it, using what little strength she had left.

   The entrance doors creaked open and the passing students stilled at the intrusion.  Some gasped and some let out shrieks of horror as their DADA teacher entered and closed the door soundly.  She panted and leaned on the door, while her blood only served to smear the entrance path.  "Se..Seve-rus…" she murmured faintly, as if delirious, and then her legs collapsed from under her.   She fell on the marble floor on her rear, her back still leaning on the door.

   A Slytherin student acted quickly and took the matters in his own hands.  He used his wand on himself and with a Sonorus charm, he called out to his Head-of-House who was probably still in the headmaster's office.  "PROFESSOR SNAPE!  HEADMASTER DUMBLEDORE!  COME QUICK!"

   About 2 minutes later came down the stairs the whole lot of panting teachers, plus Harry who probably had been with his godfather.  "SHIT!"  Sirius cursed loudly, and Dumbledore didn't even think about reprimanding him this time.  The Sonorus had awakened the injured rabbit slightly, and she winced when she got up again on shaky legs.

   Snape was quicker than Sirius this time and ran past him to get to her.  "Merlin Serena!  Where were you?!  We've been searching all over the grounds for you!"

   He gripped her shoulders tightly and didn't notice her wince in pain.  She tried to stay as straight as she could be and breathed away; "What, do you mean, Severus?  I, haven't been, gone that long."  She panted the words with difficulty, and Severus still didn't notice because he was too angry.

   He started to shake her firmly.  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T BEEN GONE LONG?!  MERLIN SERENA!  YOU'VE BEEN MISSING FOR 2 WHOLE DAYS!!!  I was starting to think you had run away!  I waited for you all night long 2 days ago and you never showed up!  How do you want me to believe you if you don't hold your promises!"  He was shaking her too hard, and her stomach churned.

   She staggered out a faint; "2 days?!"  Before she started to cough violently, pushing away from Severus at the same time to keep him from seeing her face.  Snape was at a loss of words until he saw the reddish liquid beneath his shoes.  He bent down and touched the mixture, taking a sniff at it, and then stared at her in realization.

   Her violent coughing didn't seem to stop and soon she fell again on her knees.  When it subsided, she gazed limply at her hands, while nursing her ribs.  "Oh god Serena!  What happened to you?  Who did this?!" whispered Severus, completely frozen in shock.

   She gazed at him emptily, before all colors vanished from her face and she fell unconscious, her hair pooling around her like a protective curtain.  This seemed to get the nurse out of her shock and she all but ran to the unconscious woman.  The others were simply too frightened to even talk or move, Sirius included, so they all listened to the nurse's diagnostic.

   "Deep gashes and lacerations probably produced by something very sharp coming at a high speed, dozens of broken or fissured bones, some even nearing the crushed side, heavy blood loss, abnormally high fever…I don't get it!"  Mme Pomfrey took a shaky intake of breath and conjured a stretcher.  "That girl should've been dead long ago!"

   Severus' eyes widened in utter horror, or was it fear more than anything else.  Harry was hiding behind Sirius and shaking, tears making their way down his cheeks.  He wasn't the only one; Hermione was quivering in Ron's embrace.

  "Will she be okay?" the Boy-Who-Lived asked timidly.

  Poppy turned to him and her face looked tired.  "She's still alive, ain't she, Mister Potter?  But will she heal completely?  My potions and magic can only do so much.  This will take time."  And then, she was on her way to the infirmary with her patient.

  Sirius walked to the shaken potions master and put one hand on his shoulder, though he didn't look too good himself.

  "We almost lost her, Black."  Severus whispered brokenly.  "*I* almost lost her."

  Sirius gulped and squeezed Snape's shoulder a little to comfort him.  "You should go to the infirmary.  For now, she needs you more than anybody else.  Please Snape, just put her past aside and love her for who she is, it's the only way you'll bring her back.  And you better bring her back, damnit, or I'll kill you!"

  Snape only nodded mutely, for once taking Sirius's threat to his life for real.

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*takes a BIG intake of breath and slouches in her chair*  Jesus!  This was long to write!  Thank GOD this chapter's over!  I'm so damned tired… zzz-_-zzz

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Eternal Cosmos ^_~