Chapter 21
Lupin left Andraste in McGonagall's care, and headed two doors down, into Severus' office. Immediately he was addressed by the painting of Salazar Slytherin. "Professor Snape has requested that he not be disturbed."
"Open up or you're coming off the wall, Salazar," Lupin growled.
"I can't. Professor Snape has requested that he not be disturbed."
"Very well, I'll do it myself." Lupin said, banging fiercely on the wall beside the painting. After several minutes, the door swung open to reveal Severus looking disheveled and rather angry.
"What do you want, werewolf?"
"Shut up and listen," Remus said, forcing his way past Severus. "Professor Andraste..."
"Is none of my concern," Severus interrupted.
"How dare you, you bloody bastard. She..."
"...is a whore," Severus said smoothly. That was the breaking point that Remus had hoped he wouldn't reach. Without thinking about it, Lupin clenched his hand into a fist and punched Severus Snape as hard as he could in the face.
Remus shook his hand, happy to know that Severus was hurting much worse than he was. "If you are quite finished being a prat, this is rather important."
"Then talk," Severus said, wiping the blood of his face, and standing back up, "and get the hell out."
"I tried to tell you that something wasn't right with Jeremy, Severus."
"Get to your point, Lupin."
"The kids came and got me in my office about 15 minutes ago, I assume they must have seen or heard something; because Hermione was crying and they said that Andi was in trouble." Remus could see Severus pale and wondered if he was really the best one to deliver this particular bit of news.
"Where is she?" Severus demanded, his voice slightly panicked.
"You need to shut up and listen to me," Remus said. "When I got to her room, I had to break down the door. Andraste was unconscious, Severus, and it looks like she's been beaten pretty badly. When I came in he was raping her."
"Where is she, Remus?"
"Still in her room, I would assume," he said as Severus ran out the door. A few seconds later Professor Snape came face to face with McGonagall and Dumbledore, both of who were standing in the hallway outside of Andraste's room.
"Madam Pompfrey is with her, Severus," the headmaster said, "you can go in when she comes out."
"Where is he?"
"St. Mungo's," Dumbledore said dispassionately.
"If he doesn't die, I'm going to kill him myself."
"You may not have to extend the energy, Severus. He is in very serious condition. Lupin threw him against the bookcase hard enough to split his skull open."
"What the bloody hell happened, Albus?" Severus asked, his voice between pleading and fury.
"We're not sure. From what the children told us, they got in an argument after potions class because he said that Hermione reminded him of Andraste. It seems she started yelling at him to stay away from Hermione, and then he hit her. He dragged her into the bedroom, and the students ran for help."
"Dear God, Albus; how could I have let this happen to her?" he asked, obviously close to breaking down.
"It's not your fault, Severus; I should have sent him home when I saw how oddly she was behaving around him. I never thought Jeremy could be capable of something like this."
"Actually, it is Albus," he said, sliding down the wall, his head in his hands. "Lupin warned me that something was off, and this morning when I talked to Andraste I was jealous and mean. They came to my door first, Albus, and I told them I didn't care what they had to say. I could have stopped this if I had just listened to them... if I had just listened to them when they came." Tears were falling freely down Severus' face, and no one knew how to comfort him. They sat there in silence for what seemed to Severus like hours, though he knew it had probably only been one, if that. Eventually, Madam Pompfrey came out of the room.
"She's awake, and needless to say, very upset," she said, addressing Dumbledore. "She'd like to speak to Professor Snape if we can find him."
"I'm right here," he said, standing up from the place he had been on dungeon floor. He started to go in, but Madam Pompfrey stopped him momentarily.
"She really is very upset, Severus. You have to stay calm, and you have to keep her calm." Severus nodded his head in understanding as he went through the hole in the wall that used to be Andraste's door and rushed to her side. Andraste looked worse than he had imagined. Both of her eyes were blackened, and there was a large bruise forming down the left side of her face. Judging by the discarded potion bottles on the bed stand, Madam Pompfrey had given her a variety of strong pain killers.
"I'm so sorry baby. I should have been there, my God, I'm so sorry."
"Shhh." Andraste said, putting a finger to his lips. "I don't want to be in here. Can you please un-kick me out of your room?"
"Of course darling," he said, moving to pick her up; but she winced when his hand touched her back.
"I'd think I'll walk if it's okay," she said, standing up. Severus quickly told the others that they were going back to his room, and that he would send for them if they were needed.
Once he had settled her comfortably in his bed and had gotten them both tea, he started to talk again. "I'm sorry baby. I was so stupid, I was jealous, and it cost you so much. I am so sorry. I love you, I hope you know that. I wish I could take it all back, make it all better."
"I know you love me, Severus, and I hope you know how much I love you... but right now I think I owe you an explanation."
"You owe me nothing, Andi. I was being a fool and I'm sorry."
"Then let me say this for my sake, please?" she asked, begging with her eyes that he listen.
"Of course, beautiful. Anything."
"Thank you, Severus. I'm just going to start at the beginning, okay?" He nodded his head in agreement. "I met him when I was thirteen. I was living on the streets at the time, and had been for three years. I guess he sensed my magic, because he took me back to the school he taught at with him. He told the headmaster there about how he found me, and that I didn't have a home; and Professor Calibrese – that was the headmaster – but Professor Calibrese agreed to let me stay with Jeremy acting as my legal guardian. He gave me a lot of extra tutoring sessions, as I know I told you, so I ended up sleeping on his couch most nights instead of in the dorm. I loved it. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere, and that's not something I had ever had." Andraste took a deep, staggered breath; reaching to find the words to continue.
"About three weeks after I got there he told me that if I was able to make this potion that was supposed to be really hard that he had a surprise for me. He said it would show me how special I am." Severus' stomach turned as he resisted the urge to throw up; or to go to St. Mungo's and make sure that Jeremy died. Or change it if he didn't. "So, naturally I was really excited and I made it just right. You can probably see where this is going..." Severus nodded, trying to blink away the tears forming in his eyes. "When I woke up that morning I was a virgin, when I went to sleep I wasn't. I felt dirty and disgusting and worthless, but Jeremy said that it was to show me how special I was, that he wouldn't want to touch me if I wasn't; and if I didn't want to be special that I could go live on the street again. I didn't want to, Severus. I thought I had found a home finally and I didn't want to lose that." She struggled to pull in a deep, complete breath and then wiped the tears off her face. Severus wanted nothing more than to pull her close and promise that she would never be hurt again, but he sat there silently, listening to her talk and cry.
"So I stayed, and I started sleeping in his bed every night. He gave me a home, Severus, and if that was all he wanted out of me in return... he said that it'd be selfish of me not to; so I did. I tried to leave more than once... after nights that made me feel even more disgusting than usual; but I always came back. I didn't want to lose what I had found. I didn't want to be completely alone again. Then one night he went too far. He brought some friends over to help make me feel special." "Dear God I'm going to throw up. Then kill him with my bare hands," Severus thought to himself. "I left the next morning, and never saw him again. Until last night. I don't know what happened. I was happy to see him, I really was. I thought things would be different now, that we could be friends. I guess you can see how that turned out," she said, forcing a weak smile in an even weaker attempt to make a joke. "That vial he gave me, it was a potion that we invented while I was there. It was designed to pull out certain properties of my blood; in that case... my mind reading. The vial he gave me had his blood in the potion, so we were able to talk with our minds, like we always used to. I don't know why I even took it. It just didn't dawn on me that I could say no. That's why I changed my mind about going to bed. He said that we were going for a walk, and it was never a suggestion with him. It was just the way things were, and I hadn't forgotten that I guess." She paused, but he waited silently, somehow knowing that she wasn't finished. "Tonight, after the last class, Ron and Hermione and Harry stopped by to visit. He said that she reminded him of me when I was her age, and something in me just snapped. I told him that I'd kill him if he went anywhere near her, and he knew I meant it. I think for the first time I really understood that what happened wasn't my fault. I never realized before that he was the adult, that he took advantage of my weaknesses until he said that about Hermione, but it was enough to push me over the edge. I guess he didn't appreciate me standing up to him finally though, because he dragged me to my room and hit me over and over. I know what happened, but I passed out pretty quickly into it. I guess he hit my head one too many times." Andraste drew a deep breath, giving Severus' the first sincere smile of the night. "You know, Severus, with the exception of falling in love with you, I've had a pretty crappy week."
"I know, beautiful. We're going to make it better, I promise."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Anything."
"What happened?"
Severus took a deep breath; he knew he was going to have to face this, and now was as good of a time as any. The last thing he could do was lie to her. "If I were you I would hate me, Andi."
"Why?"
"The kids saw him drag you to your room, and they came to me immediately. I refused to listen to them, they never even got the chance to tell me what was happening before I slammed the door in their faces. I could have stopped it, and I didn't, Andi. I am so sorry."
"If you weren't the one..."
"Remus. They went to him after I wouldn't listen. He ran back down stairs and broke the door open."
"Where's Jeremy?"
"In the critical care unit at St. Mungo's. Remus threw him through your bookshelf."
"What happened to your face?"
"Lupin knocked some sense in to me, literally."
"Why?"
Severus searched in his mind for what he should answer, but eventually settled on taking the consequences of the truth. "After he found you he came to tell me what happened. I refused to listen to him. I said that you weren't any of my concern and that you were a whore. I didn't mean it, Andi, but I did say it. So he punched me."
"The least you deserved, I think."
"At least we agree on something, beautiful."
"Severus, I love you."
"I love you too, more than I think either of us will ever really know. I wish I knew how to make this up to you."
"I have a suggestion."
"Why am I suddenly scared?" he said, a hint of his smirk on his lips.
"Don't be. I just want a bath. Could you help me get in there?"
"Of course, beautiful." Severus helped Andraste up, noticing that she was flinching no matter where he touched. When they got to the bathroom instead of dealing with the pain of undressing, she waved her hand, making her clothes disappear. The sight that Severus saw was enough to make him forget to breathe for a moment. Her entire body was covered in striped bruises as if she had been beaten with a heavy object. A particularly dark one on her chest drew his attention, and he reached forward, running his fingertips lightly across it; and saw her wince again. "Andraste, did Madam Pompfrey examine you?"
"A bit. After she woke me up, we really talked more than anything."
"I think you have a couple broken ribs. We need to take you up to the infirmary to get checked out."
"That's really not necessary, Severus. I just want to take a bath and try to sleep."
"Okay, but we still need to get that taken care of." He thought for a moment before continuing. "I believe I have an idea. Why don't you get in the bath and I'll be back in a minute?" He helped her sit down, swearing to himself and all the powers that be that he was never going to let anyone hurt her again; and then left the room. She heard him talking in quietly to someone for a few minutes, and then he returned; a smile on his face. "We can fix you as soon as you're done with your bath."
"How?"
"I sent for Harry. Your Dragons Tear Diamond should take care of all of this pretty easily."
"Thank you."
"I think we should save the thank yous for them. I definitely don't deserve it."
"They're good kids."
"Maybe," he replied tersely, making Andraste laugh in spite of how much it hurt to do so. 'Maybe' was definitely an improvement.
Andraste finished her bath, and was just sitting back down on the bed when the sound of someone knocking echoed from the living room. "That should be them," Severus said. "I'll be right back." True to his word he came back just a moment later carrying the chain that she had given Harry. He laid in across her, this time centered on the broken rib; and waited while it worked. The injuries, thankfully, weren't as severe this time because in just a few minutes all of her pain was gone and the bruises had faded substantially. "I'm going to take this back out to Harry so they can go, I'll be right back."
"Wait," she said, standing up, "I want to go with you."
"Are you sure you feel up to it?"
"Yeah," she replied, taking the lead towards the living room. As soon as she stepped into view of the students, Hermione jumped from her seat and charged her, enveloping her in a huge hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so scared."
"I'm fine, and again a lot of that is because of you. Do you play guardian angel for everyone or am I just lucky?"
"No, I get it too," Harry piped up from his seat.
"Hi guys. Thank you for what you did."
"Which was what?" Ron asked. Running like bloody babies for help? Not very impressive."
"Well, I'm happy," Andraste said, laughing.
"And I owe you three an apology," Severus said. "Professor Andraste already got hers."
"It's okay," Ron told him. Hermione started to object, but was silenced by a sharp elbow in the ribs, so she settled for shooting Snape a dirty look.
"I think we should leave, guys. I'm sure Professor Andraste needs to rest." Hermione said and then turned back to Andi. "If you need anything, please send for me."
"Absolutely," Andraste agreed. "There is one thing."
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"Could we drop the 'Professor' when it's just us. You can call me Andraste, which is really my first name, or you can call me Andi."
"Cool," Ron said, and then turned to Professor Snape. "Does that mean we get to call you Severus?"
"Don't push your luck," he growled back, and everyone in the room broke out laughing.