I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter! There's not much action, but it's still important.
Thanks to:
Krys MarsMoonStar ME Eternal Salior Earth Zodiac Lady Aya SilverWingPhoenix Henio Pheniox Rose
Little One Hikari Kage Shi Kairinu WaterAngel1 Lady Silver Chaos Little-Moonlight Ivy Tearen Rynn
Imperial Saturn Silver Mystic Erika SurfAngel Ishtar Krazi Pandi Chibi-Ami Alessandra Zaeria
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The curse of the DADA teacher
Chapter 5: You come and you go
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"Did she wake up?" Severus asked to Pomfrey when he arrived at the infirmary.
Poppy shook her head negatively while she finished bandaging her up. "She didn't, and maybe it's better this way. With all the products I've put on her wounds, she would have screamed in pain and probably pass out again. I've used all the healing salve I had left, I'm afraid."
Severus eyed her nervously. "Then I'll go make some more!"
He was about to run out of the infirmary when Poppy gripped his sleeve to stop him. "It won't do any difference now, Severus. I've already done all I could, and the healing salve isn't strong enough. There's something about her wounds that's limiting her healing. I'm going to inform Albus of her condition, so it would be better if you just stayed here with her just in case she does wake up." Mme Pomfrey nodded to him one last time and she was out the door to find the headmaster, who was probably still comforting the traumatized children near the entrance doors.
Severus sighed tiredly and sat in one of the chairs near her bed. He took one of her bandaged hand in his and caressed it tenderly. "Why am I such a stubborn prat? I should've listened to you from the start." It was a shame she was sleeping, or else she would have nodded energetically to his statement.
*~*
"So Poppy, how is she?"
Pomfrey shook her head and Albus's spirit dampened.
Sirius growled menacingly and Remus put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "I wonder what kind of *beast* would do that to her, to anyone! The thing can't possibly be human!" exclaimed Sirius, while cracking his knuckles. Remus just asked him to stop doing that, he was scaring the kids even more.
Harry just stood there, his eyes widening, and he marched to the headmaster, tugging on his sleeve gently to gain his attention. Dumbledore looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and they went to a more secluded area where the students couldn't hear them. "Headmaster, do you think Voldemort did that to Miss Moon? He has been showing more signs of activity these past few weeks with his Death Eaters and all…"
Albus seemed to consider Harry's idea seriously, a hand on his chin in a pensive manner. "Though it's a scenario to consider, I don't think Tom did this. It's not in his tendency to act like this. He would rather kill someone and boast about it by showing the dead corpse to the journalists of the Daily Prophet than let someone go in this state. He's crude, but not that much. Even with the Crucio and other methods of torture, I don't think he would ever be able to recreate the tortured image of Miss Tsukino. I think the evil she mentioned earlier is worth considering, though I did not think for an instant someone else than Tom could be so evil, maybe with the exception of Grinderwald. Then again, months ago I didn't dare think about another dimension existing of this planet. I thought Miss Tsukino had been taken far away, but still in this world…" he let his phrase trail and hummed softly.
Harry watched as the light in his eyes dimmed and he almost jumped out of his skin when Sirius put a hand on his shoulder by behind. Remus and Mc Gonagall were with him. "Any news of what could have caused this, Albus?" Minerva asked with a hush, her eyes showing a certain fear and great concern for the children of their school.
The children had been ordered to go back to their common rooms and to stay there. Hermione and Ron had greatly retaliated, but as their duty of Head Boy and Girl, they hadn't had a choice in the matter. Albus gazed at Minerva and gave her a reassuring smile, which did not reassure her at all.
"Our young Mister Potter here has just evoked the idea that Tom was behind all of this."
Minerva gasped audibly and put a hand on her mouth. She willed herself to stop quivering while Sirius was glancing proudly at his godson for having thought of it. However, the animagus blinked when Albus explained there was only a 40% chance that it was truly the work of Voldemort, unless he had radically changed his methods of torture.
"So, you're thinking about this enemy of hers she mentioned days ago when Meioh-san came back, aren't you?"
Albus nodded to the ever perceptive werewolf. "There's a bigger chance, yes. Though, if she found her enemy, I wonder what would make her forget about her safety and reveal herself, unless her enemy found her first, which I doubt; she has strong cloaking ability. She's able to hide her magic signature so that nobody can find her; trust me, I know, I tried" Albus said with a look.
"If that is the case, it must have been pretty bad if she had to show herself before the time was right. I hope she wasn't that desperate…" Sirius muttered to himself, and Harry gave his hand a light squeeze. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"
Albus frowned. "Yes, and unfortunately, our 'way' is out of order for now. Minerva, you better go find the other Head of Houses and asked them to stay in their house's Common Rooms with the children. Don't bother going to Severus, I have a feeling he won't be leaving Miss Moon's side until she recuperates. I'll ask Filius to go check on the Slytherins later. Harry, you go back to your Common Room and I don't want you to go marauding, is that clear?"
Harry nodded with a gulp, a slight blush crossing his cheeks. He was halfway to the steps when Dumbledore whispered to Sirius and Remus; "I want you to go with him. We can't be truly sure if Riddle did this or not, but I'm not willing to take any chances. Make sure he doesn't try to get out with his cloak. I know he's become quite fond of Miss Moon and he'll try to see her the moment the opportunity would present itself."
Sirius nodded seriously and darted towards Harry. Remus was about to go too when Albus spoke even more silently to him. "And Remus, just make sure Sirius follows my order, will you?" he asked with a grumble.
Remus sweatdropped heavily. "Ummm…Of course, sir…" The werewolf turned around and ran beside Sirius. 'Jeez, is Sirius *that* predictable?' He asked himself, sweatdropping again.
*~*
Pluto leaned on her staff, worried about what had happened to her princess. She frowned and opened a portal in a rough movement and disappeared, leaving her post at the Gates.
The senshi weren't prepared to see a peeved Pluto appear suddenly in the Outers's mansion. "Pluto?! Why are you here?!" asked a surprised Rei.
The Time senshi frowned even more and poked Rei on the chest to accentuate her point. "*I* am here, against Serenity-hime's will no less, to rectify one of *your* stupid mistakes! Because of you, the hime has been hurt by Chaos who is rampaging wildly in the other world! YOU-" she pointed towards the shocked Hotaru and then took the smaller girl by the arm, "are coming with me to rectify that mistake! It's the least you can do! And *no*, you others are not permitted to come. Hotaru will heal her and will come back right away. No talking to Serenity-hime! You're healing and leaving; it's as simple as that. Now come!"
She took Hotaru by the arm and dragged her in her newly opened vortex, while muttering; "I only hope Serenity-hime will forgive me for this!" And then they simply vanished, leaving a bunch of speechless girls behind.
*~*
Still, it was in the middle of the night and Severus kept on watching the wounded girl. He had watched as her breathing became ragged several times, demanding the immediate attention of Poppy, until she calmed again. He had taken one of his potions to stay awake all night. He wasn't about to let her down this time. He would react to the slightest movement coming from her.
Suddenly, his eyelids dropped and he couldn't help himself. He yawned and slumped a little on his chair. Though his demeanour looked suspiciously like he was about to fall asleep from tiredness, his brain was in full alert. What on Merlin's name was going on?! His potion was flawless, so why did he felt like falling asleep all of a sudden? Severus wanted to yell for someone to come, but he was in Morpheus' own way before he had the time to open his mouth. He was asleep in seconds, his head and arms leaning on his girlfriend's bed.
Silently, a portal appeared behind him and a small senshi stood out alone. She couldn't help but to gaze at her surrounding in curiosity; the place had a weird aura to it and many things she had never seen before were scattered about. She strode to the nearest bed, convinced it was the right one. Nobody would lie down like this if the bed wasn't occupied, and she deducted accurately, seeing that all the other beds were empty anyway.
She spared a fleeting glance at the person leaning on the bed, but mainly focused on her hime. Her eyes became misty when she saw that she was almost all bandaged up. Saturn put a hand on her princess' forehead and concentrated hard. 'So many wounds!' was the only thing she could think of at the moment.
The dark glow of Saturn surrounded the sleeping rabbit and started to heal her slowly. Many times, the frail girl had to stop to regain her breath.
Finally, the glow receded and Saturn could step back and breathe in relief. Her princess's breathing had become normal again and all wounds that hadn't been bandaged were healed, and the hidden ones also. But she wouldn't have enough time to take them off, pity.
She heard a slight noise beside her and her attention diverted to the still sleeping man. He shifted his head to the side and she just stared at him emptily, as her eyes as Saturn always were.
She felt a portal open behind her and the Time senshi walked just behind the younger girl. She, too, gazed at the man.
"He is not like what he appears to be." It wasn't a question, only a statement, from Saturn.
Setsuna nodded even if Hotaru didn't see her, her gaze still locked on the man. "He cares for her, that's all I ask."
Then, the soldier of Silence let out a quiet snort, as if she was laughing at herself. "We truly are fools."
Setsuna nodded again. "That we are." She stepped back into the portal silently, and, gazing one last time at her hime, Saturn vanished with the older woman she often called her mother.
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I was able to make a quick update! Isn't that cool? ^_^
If any of you guys have questions or commentaries, do ask or tell! I'll be happy to hear you out!
The 'Talk' between Sev and Usa is next chapter! ^.^
Oh! I was just wandering…I've kinda been having this idea for a while…A Sailor Moon/InuYasha crossover. It would be Usagi/Sesshoumaru (Thought I really love InuYasha too). Kagome would still be there with the others. It would be a story about how Usagi could soften Sesshoumaru's heart, or something like that. (Ohhh! That's a tough one! ^_^;) But there would be a lot of action nonetheless.
Please tell me if I should do it or not! (Though I really want to do it…I think.^_^;) I have most of the plot in my head, so I think I would be able to pull this over! Thanks you guys!
Also, I don't think I'll be continuing 'And then there was you'. I wanted to, a lot, but even by reading it over and over again I wasn't able to continue it without messing the entire story up. This fic was truly meant to be a one-shot. I've tried and tried, but nothing good would have come out of it; I would've completely screwed the story. I love it as it is, and believe me, it pains me as much if not more than you to not be able to continue it.
I'll be writing more stories anyway, so at least it's a plus. I hope you're not too disappointed…--_--
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Love ya all!
Eternal Cosmos ^_~