Chapter 22

A/N: I would have updated sooner, but apparently this site really doesn't like me...at all. Haha...anyway, thank you to all that reviewed, you have no idea how much it means to me that people actually read this, and then take the time to tell me what they think. Thanks!

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By nightfall the rain had died away, leaving behind a cloudless night sky. The stars twinkled beautifully in the cold darkness, and a full moon hovered over the lake shining with a brilliant silver glow.
"Look at the moon." Katherine remarked dreamily. "I've never seen a moon this clear before."
The crunch of footsteps on the worn dirt path slowed as Severus glanced over at the moon, looking even paler than usual in its vivid light. A nervous look flashed across his face for a moment, but it was gone before Katherine had time to ponder it.
"Why are we doing this again?" Severus said in a voice like sounded suspiciously similar to a whine.
"To have a good time." Katherine remarked, now nearly bounding down the path. "Or at the very least, to have something to do."
Severus made a face as if she had just said something very distasteful, but didn't bother to voice his opinion. In truth, he didn't need to. By now, Katherine knew that he socialized as little as possible, and barely even managed to remain polite at times.
"We won't stay long, it just that, I've never been to the Three Broomsticks before. I hear that its one of the oldest.."
"Shhh!" Severus suddenly commanded as they broke through the thinning patch of woods and passed into the village of Hogsmeade. "Do you hear that?"
He stopped short in his path, and grabbed Katherine's arm, gently pulling her behind him. She pressed herself against his back, and peered over his shoulder into the darkness.
"What is it?" Katherine whispered in alarm, frantically looking around her.
All she could hear was the soft whisper of wind in the trees, and the distant sound of voices and laughter drifting over from the Three Broomsticks.
"I don't hear anything." Katherine whispered, standing on her toes to reach his ear.
Severus turned his head, his eyes boring into a patch of bushes by the side of the path. Katherine took a small step backwards as the bushes rustled, reaching for the wand that was tucked into her jacket. Severus already had his wand drawn, and was pointing it at the offending gathering of leaves.
"Lumos." He whispered, his wand sending a small shaft of light into the darkness.
The bushes shook again, and the distinct sound of whispering could be heard. To Katherine's surprise Severus let his wand fall, and nearly plunged with eagerness into the bushes, shoving his hands into the mass of branches and digging around for something.
"What in the world..." Katherine wasn't sure whether to join him, or to run.
A small yelp was heard as Severus yanked a pair of young wizards from the brush, looking as if he had just won the Grand Prize Galleon Draw. They were both clinging onto their brooms, which looked suspiciously like Cleansweeps the school kept in the Quidditch storage shed, and wore looks of horror on their faces.
"What is it exactly that you think you are doing." Severus hissed, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"Hiding from you apparently!" Katherine sputtered, a vast feeling of relief flooding through her.
"Mr. Bradely and Mr. Cragg is it?" Severus asked, looking down at the two young men that he was holding by the collar.
Neither boy responded, and both looked as if they were mere breaths away from passing out in sheer terror.
"Did you boys sneak off the school grounds?" Katherine asked in a very amused tone.
Both young men shook their heads wildly, but offered no other explanation. Severus let them go, giving them a harsh shove up the path in the direction of the school.
"Two hundred points from Ravenclaw, this sort of behavior is inexcusable. Detention for the both of you as well, and I'll be speaking to the headmaster about this. This could very well be cause of expulsion." Severus gave them both an furious glare, and then pointed at the castle shining in the moonlight. "Return to the school at once before I drag you there myself!"
The young men both jumped, and then leaned down to pick up the brooms.
"Leave them!" Severus nearly shouted. "Stolen school property no less!"
"Really, what were you boys thinking?" Katherine piped in, suppressing a small laugh.
Bradely and Cragg left the brooms were they lie, their faces turning a feeble pink color. Katherine shook a finger at them, but could barely contain her smile. She had snuck off of the Beauxbaton grounds many times, although she had the good fortune of never being caught.
"What are just standing there for!" Severus demanded. "Back up to school, now!"
Katherine chuckled as the boys broke out into a run, nearly tripping over themselves in their eagerness to escape from their dreaded potions master. Once they had disappeared around the bend Katherine began to laugh even harder, thinking that she would never forgot the looks of those boys faces when Severus pulled them from the bushes.
"It isn't funny." Severus said in an angry voice. "These seventh years think they can run about doing whatever they wish. They have no respect for the rules of this institution or its professors. They had the gall to think that they could hide from me, the little fools."
"Why didn't they just apparate?" Katherine asked. "Why even bother with the brooms."
Severus gave her the oddest look, and then just shook his head.
"Honestly, if you even paid any attention at all, you would know that the wards prevent anyone from apparation on or off the Hogwarts grounds."
Katherine picked up the brooms and set them down on the grass underneath the brush. When she was certain they were fairly well hidden, she straightened up and turned towards Severus.
"Shall we?" She said, holding out her arm to him.
"Might as well." He sighed, taking her outstretched arm and walking in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.

The Three Broomsticks was crowded and loud, and the entire place held the intense and sickeningly sweet smell of butterbeer. Severus looked positively miserable as they took a seat at the end of the bar, eyeing the busty barmaid and his fellow patrons with an intense look of disdain. Katherine on the other hand, held the overjoyed appearance of a child on Christmas morning.
"Isn't this great?" Katherine exclaimed as she took her seat.
Severus leaned his arms on the bar, and then drew them away quickly when his skin touched something damp and sticky.
"There are simply no words." Severus said dryly as the barmaid approached.
"Professor Snape!" Rosmerta exclaimed as she reached the pair. "I haven't seen you in here in years!"
Severus gave her a cold look, but Rosmerta either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it.
"And this must be your infamous wife." Rosmerta said, turning her gaze on Katherine. "You know, Hagrid was in here just the other day talking about..."
"Can you just get our drinks please." Severus said, giving a longing look towards the front doors.
"Two glasses of red currant rum." Katherine said, smiling brightly at Severus.
Rosmerta left and then promptly came back with two glasses nearly overflowing with red liquid.
"Well, bottoms up." Katherine said, picking up her glass and taking a hesitant sip.
Severus did the same, but didn't crinkle up his nose the way Katherine did at the drink's strong taste. After a few moments of silence Katherine set her glass down, and turned towards Severus.
"You don't like children very much, do you?" Katherine said, looking at him thoughtfully.
"Why would you say that?" Severus said, wondering why she had decided to ask such a question.
"Just the way you act around them, like you want to push them away with a very long stick."
Katherine laughed, and was surprised when Severus smiled as well.
"I suppose that isn't an unfair assessment. It is not that I entirely dislike all of them, but there is only so much I will tolerate."
"Why are you a professor then? You don't seem to enjoy it very much at all."
Severus looked over his shoulder, and then at the mass of people pressed together around him.
"I can't really say here, but I fell into the position more or less. Hogwarts has rather grown on me over the years. After...if they would finally give me the position I want, I'd stay."
"I bet you can't imagine leaving." Katherine said wistfully. "I've never really stayed in one place long enough to feel that way."
Severus shrugged, even though he had the tingling realization that this was true. He had thought about leaving often, especially during any situation that involved Potter. But he had the odd feeling that if the opportunity ever really came to leave, he would have no idea what to do with himself.
The hours quickly passed by, as the pub became even more crowded and overheated. After nearly running out of things to discuss, having already exhausted the peculiarities of Hogwarts, the afternoon's Quidditch match, and the shops on Diagon Alley that they both enjoyed visiting, Katherine leaned over and whispered in Severus's ear.
"Do you want to go? I need some air."
Severus nodded his head in agreement. He looked uncomfortably warm, his face was flushed and he couldn't help tugging at his collar. Throwing a few coins down onto the bar Severus helped Katherine get into her jacket, and the two nearly charged out of the pub and into the cool night air.
"That feels better." Katherine exclaimed as they stepped outside.
She pressed her sweaty forehead against Severus's shoulder, and sighed in contentment. Walking up towards the path leading to Hogwarts, Katherine wished that she could stay in this moment forever. She was tired, but happy, and her worried seemed very far away.
"We should get these brooms." Katherine said through a yawn as they reached the bush where the students had been hiding.
"I suppose." Severus said, his eyes looking a bit glassy from fatigue.
Katherine bent down and dragged them out from the brush, shaking off the dead leaves and twigs. She gave them an appraising eye, and then chose one to mount.
"What are doing?" Severus said, suddenly looking very much awake.
"Well, they are brooms." Katherine laughed. "Isn't it obvious."
Severus took the broom Katherine handed him, eying it as if it was a dangerous creature. He paled a little as Katherine kicked off and hovered above the ground, her body level with his head.
"I'm too tired to fly." Severus said flatly, making no move to mount his own broom.
"Well, I'm too tired to walk." Katherine insisted. "Come on, it's a perfect night for flying."
Severus took a few deep breaths, and stared at the broom with an intense look on his face that Katherine could not decipher.
"I think I'd rather walk." Severus said. "You should as well. You shouldn't drink like that then just go off flying."
Katherine smoothly led the broom in a small circle around Severus before touching down on the ground again.
"We only had two, it'll be fine. Come on, live a little."
"I don't enjoy flying." Severus insisted. "So I'll just walk."
"You can't fly, can you?" Katherine suddenly blurted out.
Severus gave her a murderous look, and took a few steps back. He looked like he was deciding whether he should scream at her or break the broom he was clutching in his hand in half. Katherine took his silence as a resounding no, and gave him a very kind look.
"You don't have to be ashamed. I know plenty of wizards and witches that can't..."
"It's none of your business whether I can fly or not!" Severus said, tossing the fraying broom to the side of the path. "And I wouldn't be ashamed either way."
"Do you want to ride on my broom with me then?" Katherine asked, giving Severus a wide smile.
"You can't possibly be serious. That thing has to be older than the both of us, it would break in half."
"It feels sturdy to me." Katherine said, rising to the tops of the trees and then swooping down again. "Very sturdy."
Severus felt his pulse start to race of the thought of being that high up in the air, with nothing but the hard expanse of ground beneath him. The very thought made his palms go sweaty and his stomach start to quiver.
"You can consider it a flying lesson, and all it cost you was a couple of drinks."
Katherine landed on the ground again, giving Severus a hopeful smile.

"It's not some life altering decision here Sev, just hop on and get it over with."
Severus blinked in surprise, had she really just called his Sev? He had never had a pet name before, and even though part of him found the thought nauseating, another part felt oddly touched.
"If anything happens to me, I'm holding you personally responsible." Severus said, taking a few hesitant steps towards the broom. "I'll take you to court."
Katherine laughed as she moved forward on the broom, making room for Severus to sit behind her.
"Just hold on tight, and try and lean with me when we turn." Katherine offered.
At the moment, Severus have rather drown himself than climb on that broomstick. He forced his slightly quivering legs to mount the broom, and his arms immediately wrapped so tightly around Katherine's waist that she gasped.
"Sev, not that tight! I need to breath."
The broom wobbled unsteadily for a moment when Katherine kicked off, and Severus kept his eyes shut tightly as they rose higher and higher into the air, their long jackets flapping in the cold wind. When he finally forced his eyes open they were halfway over the murky waters of the lake, the bright lights of the castle shining in front of them.
"See, this isn't so bad." Katherine yelled back to Severus, who loosened his grip on her just a little.
She was right, it wasn't as bad as he imagined. He had never managed to fly this high before, and even though the thought of how far from the ground he really was made him feel slightly sick, he couldn't deny that it was an exhilarating experience.
"We'll just land right over there." Katherine pointed to the grassy field beside the Quidditch pitch.
Severus felt his stomach lurch as Katherine stopped the broom and hovered in midair for a moment before dropping towards the ground at a quick speed. Severus felt an odd rush of wind to their right, but before he could turn his head he suddenly felt as if his entire body had collided with a brick wall. He lost his grip on Katherine in the startling impact, and then there was only the sickening feeling of thin air beneath his body. At the last moment Severus had the sense to throw his arms up to protect his head. When he hit the ground for a moment there was only a sudden silence, and the feeling of intense cold. Forcing his eyes open, he found himself staring up at the sky, where Katherine hung clutching onto her broom, looking down at him with a look of pure horror on her face. The cold feeling that engulfed him was quickly being replaced by hot tingles of pain. Severus couldn't even begin to guess where he was hurt, because the pain seemed to be rushing in from all over. It didn't help either that he suddenly felt so very tired, and the vision of Katherine handing onto her broom in mid-air was quickly become blurry.
Above ground, Katherine clutched the wooden handle of her broom for dear life, trying to use all her strength to pull herself back up. She wasn't even sure what hit her, she had only felt the rush of air, and then she was blinded by a wave of blackness. There was a split second of terrifying free fall, but she had managed to instinctively grab onto her broom just before it was out of reach. She could not suppress a scream of horror as Severus continued to fall, and then hit the ground with a nauseating thud. For a moment she thought he was dead, and it wasn't until he opened his eyes that she was able to breath again. Forcing her shaking arms to support her weight, Katherine tried in vain to pull herself back up.
"Help!" She finally cried shrilly, as one hand slipped from the broom.
She desperately clawed at the broom with her free hand, but she only managed to graze it with her fingertips. With a sharp cry she felt her other hand slip, as she too came hurdling to the ground. She screamed again as her body came in contact not with the hard ground, but with something warm and soft.
She threw her eyes open, and found herself staring at a figure cloaked in black, riding on smooth glossy broomstick.
"You knocked him off!" Katherine cried, remembering the flash of black as she fell. "You bloody bastard."
Katherine tried to fight against the hands were now clutching tightly to her, but the broom's rider was silent until they reached they ground. When his feet touched the ground he threw her off, sending Katherine staggering to the ground.
"You worthless piece of shit." Katherine hissed, sending a worried glance towards Severus out of the corner of her eye.
She was rewarded with a hard slap across the face, but was on her feet again before he had time to strike her again. Stumbling backwards Katherine reached for her wand, clutching it tightly in her hand.
"It isn't going to work this time Lucius. I'm not scared of you anymore."
Like a caged tiger, Katherine suddenly pounced. In a single smooth movement she drew out her wand, and pressed it against Lucius's throat.
"Drop your hood, you miserable bastard." Katherine ordered, her eyes quickly darting over to Severus.
Lucius obeyed grudgingly, revealing his unkempt hair and his sallow looking skin.
"Life on the run doesn't suit you Lucius. Did Narcissa finally throw you out? I thought she would, after the ministry started coming around again. That old hiding in plain sight routine never works."
"I could kill you." Lucius hissed, but his hands remained pressed tightly against his sides.
"You expected me to run, but I'll kill you before I'll run."
Lucius snickered, but his eyes looked oddly dead. Katherine recognized this as an advantaged, and quickly shoved the wand deeper into his skin, until she was pressing against his windpipe. Such weakness from Lucius was rare, and she guessed that it was from a mixture of her sudden strength, and his quickly dwindling power.
"You'll have to let me go." Lucius whispered. "Or else he'll die."
Lucius nodded his head towards Severus, but Katherine forced herself to keep looking directly into his dead gray eyes.
"If he dies, I'll kill you." Katherine said plainly,"So it would be in your best interest to shut your mouth."
The confident smile of Lucius's face flickered, but did not disappear completely. Katherine knew very well the game that he was playing, and she knew it was vital that she have the upper hand.
"Are you lovers?" Lucius whispered, quivering slightly as Katherine pressed the wand even more firmly against the delicate flesh of his throat.
"No. "Katherine said truthfully. "But we will be."
"Not if he dies. I've wanted to kill him for ages. I've been waiting for so long, I thought you would have slipped up sooner."
"You had spies in the Three Broomsticks." Katherine said slowly.
"Bravo, you're as sharp as ever. Too bad you didn't realize before, then maybe he wouldn't be here dying in vain."
"Shut up Lucius!"
Katherine slapped him hard across the face, the sound echoing across the empty field. Lucius brought his hands up to cradle his face, but quickly dropped them when Katherine nearly impaled his throat with her wand. Looking through an unruly veil of hair Lucius drew in a ragged breath, and then spit at her. Katherine said nothing for a long while, but let Lucius regain his composure. She could not believe her own sudden surge of strength, but she was more grateful for it than she had been of anything her life.
"I'll put you under the Imperius again." Malfoy warned, none too discreetly reaching for his wand.
"I'd resist it, I know that I can." Katherine let her own
wand drop slightly, so it was now pointing at Malfoy's heart.
"Do you have a soft spot for him Katherine? For the worthless greasy little bastard? He's a disgrace to name of purebloods, and a disgrace the Dark Lord."
Katherine's mind reeled as Lucius pulled out his own wand, and pointed it not at her, but at Severus.
"Leave it to you to threaten a fallen man." Katherine blurted out, her inhibitions gone.
"You belong to me Katherine, you will never escape me. He must be punished for stealing what is mine."
Katherine had long suspected that Lucius would lose his sanity someday, and by the looks of things today was that day. Perhaps she was going insane too, because she felt no guilt at what happened next.
"Ava-"Lucius hissed, raising his wand at Severus with a crazed look on his face.
Katherine could not remember saying the words, but the blinding green light flew from her wand and engulfed Lucius just the same. She did not recoil in horror as he fell to the ground, his eyes still open and starring out madly into the darkness. Katherine turned her back to him, and ran towards Severus. Tears of pain were shining in his eyes, and his body was twisted in a way that made Katherine feel woozy.
"What happened?" He croaked, as Katherine fell to her knees beside him.
"I'll be sure to tell you later, but right now I have to get you to the hospital wing." Katherine whispered, kissing the top of his forehead.
Severus felt his eyes growing very heavy again, but fought to keep them open. The pain was nearly unbearable, but for some reason he still felt safe with Katherine hovering over him.
"What's going on 'ere?" A booming voice called out into the darkness.
The light of a single lantern dotted the landscape, accompanied by the sound of a dog's loud whine. Katherine felt tears of relief spring up in her eyes, so much so that she could barely speak.
"What the world happened 'ere?" Hagrid said, taking in the scene before him.
Lucius Malfoy lay dead, Severus was in a broken heap, and Katherine was now in near sobs. Her broom chose that exact moment to follow her path to the ground, and it fell before Hagrid with an empty thud.
"We have to g-get him to the hospital wing." Katherine said, gesturing for Hagrid to come and help her.
"I 'eard yelling, I never thought..." Hagrid's voice trailed off as his eyes fixed on Malfoy's lifeless body. "I can't say 'e didn't deserve it."
"Who?" Severus said weakly, his eye's slowly closing.
"Stay awake!" Katherine commanded in a shout.
Severus managed to open his eyes, but they had an odd glazed look to them.
"What 'appened?" Hagrid whispered out of the side of his mouth, as he lifted Severus as gently as he could off of the cold hard ground.
Severus moaned in pain, but thankfully remained awake. Katherine struggled to keep up with Harid as he quickly walked across the park towards the castle.
"He fell from my broom." Katherine said finally, as they burst into the darkened castle. "Lucius knocked him off. He was waiting for us to slip up, and I was foolish enough to put us in danger."
"Now don't go blaming yourself." Hagrid said as they pushed open the doors to the hospital wing and lay Severus down in the first available bed.

"I'll go get Dumbledore." Hagrid said, leaving Severus and Katherine behind in the darkness.
With a flick of her wand Katherine lit the room, and immedietly went to work. It only seemed that seconds had passed before Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore came bursting into the hospital wing.
"Oh dear!" Poppy exclaimed at the sight of Severus. "Well have to get him fixed right up. Just like a Quidditch injury...how did this happen?"
"A fall from a broom." Katherine said, urging Severus to swallow a blood red potion. "He'll recover thank Merlin, but there's a dead body out by the Quidditch field."
"A what?" Poppy whispered, nearly dropping the roll of bandages she had just grabbed out of the cupboard.
Dumbledore stood in silence, before nodding gravely at Katherine.
"Take good care of him, I'll return shortly."
The first rays of daylight were beginning to dance on the horizon, and Katherine could not imagine the horror of the student who would come across the dead body of Lucius Malfoy. A sudden thought occured to her, but she pushed it from her mind as quickly as it had come. Right now she had to heal Severus, only when she was finished would she allow herself to consider the full ramifications of her actions. Right then a young man was asleep in that very castle, feeling safe and secure, not knowing that right outside the castle doors lay the body of his father, the father who had been cruel at times but who he had always loved. The father who had protected him, and spoiled him. The father who had taught him to expect the best, and to give the best in turn. The father that had loved him. The father was now gone forever.

A/N: Okay, I know you all hate me now. When I started writing, I didn't plan on this chapter ending this way at all, and I really don't like it when people kill off characters, and then I go and do it. Bad me!