About a quarter of an hour had passed since their near discovery by the muggle woman in the car. Lucretia placed her best healing charms on Severus, and he started coming to.

"Mmmph...no..." he groaned, still half-conscious.
She took his hand and squeezed it softly, "They're gone... everything will be okay."
"Hmm?... oh...." he said, finally realizing that time had past since all went black.

Suddenly, the tree carrying them began to slow. It groaned weakly and started to topple over. Lucretia screamed as she flew off and landed on the ground. Her fall was mostly broken by the already-battered-enough Snape. "Sorry! Are you alright?" she asked. He nodded.

She helped him to his feet, and let him lean on her as they entered the thick evergreen forest up ahead.

One of the side-affects of this spell was that the tree used would inevitably expire. For this reason, it was best to use it only in a dire emergency. Unfortunately, this was one of those times. But alas, there were no suitable trees standing nearby. They were now several yards within the dark forest, their path lit by the waning moon.

Lucretia looked around for the best direction to go. "Quite a... mess you've gotten us into,... isn't it Miss Morrigan?" Snape said, still attempting to keep his cool, in-control demeanor. She blushed and glared at him then looked towards the sky in search of Proxima Centauri (The North Star), to find out where they were.

A rustling sound of twigs snapping came from the nearby thicket of shrubbery. Not being known for courage, Lucretia gasped and clung to him. He lit the end of his wand and began scanning the area. "Honestly, you silly girl... It's likely only some sort of—"

"Lost, are you, my dears?" a cracking voice drawled from behind. They turned to see an old, wrinkled woman, with crooked yellow teeth and several large, hairy warts on her chin illuminated in the glow emitting from Severus' wand. "What—um, who are you?" Lucretia asked nervously. The woman said calmly, "Never mind that... what are you doing here?"

Lucretia was silent for a moment, considering the smartest thing to say. "Can you help us?" she asked. "I would be glad to, child! Just follow me..." The old woman turned and gestured with her long bony finger for her to follow. She had not taken but two steps before hissing, "He will stay behind."

"But he's the one who needs help! Please," Lucretia began to cry, "he's been injured by a curse, and—"The woman stopped and stared at him, squinting in the bright light. "Alright then," she said, "Come." And they followed her through the trees into the night.

They reached a crude little hut in a small clearing, the glow of a fire shining through its window. The ugly woman opened the door, which gave a loud creak. She helped Severus limp inside to sit in a chair. "Now," she said, closing the door, "what curse has done this?"

"Cruciatus," he panted; the short walk had exhausted him. "Ahh...I know just the remedy. I'll have this potion ready in a few moments," she said sweetly. Snape watched her every move with great attention. He was suspicious of being poisoned; reasonably so, as this strange woman fit the description of a hag to a tee. She had not attacked them on sight, so maybe she was a rare, helpful kind? Either way, they were desperate for help, and this was very convenient. Perhaps too convenient?

Lucretia noticed that he had not looked at the woman suspiciously yet, so she assumed she was not trying to kill him. He was a potions master of course; he would definitely know a poison in the making when he saw one. The cauldron began to bubble over, and the woman scooped some of the strange, gooey substance into a goblet. "This should help very much... drink up!" she said cheerfully, handing him the concoction.

He swallowed it quickly, but not before inspecting it thoroughly. He grimaced slightly at the taste. Which was not surprising, as she had seen some bat's wings being added earlier. Suddenly he didn't look as pale, and was able to breathe more easily. "Thank you..." he said, standing up again, "We had best be going now."

"Oh but why not stay? It's rather late in the evening... and I was just about to prepare supper," the hag said in that sickly-sweet voice. "We're very sorry...we're on a bit of a schedule," Lucretia apologized. "Please stay, I'd love to have you for dinner," She said, creeping closer to them, "I don't get many visitors often." Snape furrowed his brow in suspicion. "You'll be just right," the hag said, grabbing hold of Lucretia's arm. "Hey! Let go of me!" she shouted.

He grabbed her other arm to pull her away, and made a move to pick up his wand. "Not so fast!" she said, magicking his wand away from him. "You cannot leave without repaying me!" The hag pulled Lucretia out of his grasp; he was still a bit weak. She grabbed a large, rusty butcher knife from the table and held it to Lucretia's throat. "Don't you dare try anything...or else! Leave now!" she yelled at him threateningly. In a fit of sudden brilliance, Lucretia seized the hag's wrists and pulled her arms away to free herself. But she did not let go then; no... she shoved the old hag into the nearby heated oven, and slammed the door shut around her neck.

Snape grabbed his wand while Lucretia stole the hag's broomstick, and they ran outside. The hag was still alive in the oven, screaming, flailing, and cursing. He told her to lead; he was never very skilled at flying. He climbed on after she had mounted, and she attempted to kick off from the ground. "Come on!" she screamed at the mediocre, shabby broom, as if it would be listening. But to her relief it finally did. The moment they had touched off the ground, the hag came barging out of the doorway. Her voice shrill and furious, and face melted off, she feebly tried to chase after them.