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.
