I need a mother

Author: Leta McGotor

Disclaimer: I owe nothing but Cassy. The other belongs to JKR.

Chapter 12

„Minerva?... Minerva..." Severus still held the lifeless body of Minerva McGonagll in his arms, silent rivers of tears pouring down his face. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up in the brown eyes of Remus Lupin, who shook his head sadly.

"Let her go, Severus, let her go."

"No" He said and lifted her up. "Albus, Albus, do something. Help her." He said stumbling towrds the Headmaster. "Help her."

"Severus, I …I can't. She has given her soul to the Rain. I can't help her."

"To the Rain? What do you mean?"

"She has told you the the history of her family, about the 13 children? The wizard who supported the 13th child was nothing but rain in person. Do you see the clouds at the sky? Only minutes ago there was not even one to be seen and now there are so many. The Rain got a new soul. We can't help her, Severus. Remus is right, let her go."

"No…She… Minerva… she isn't… she can't be gone. Liar!" He lifted her agin and ran along the corridor, around a corner, along another corridor, again and again until he was standing outside. It had started raining and only seconds later his clothes were soaked. He lay her on the ground. The drops pouring down their faces, mixing themselves with his tears.

"Minerva… Minerva, you can't go. I love you. Please, stay. I love you…" He whispered. "Minerva." He bent down and kissed her on the lips. They felt cold and rigid against his own, her whole body felt cold and lifeless.

"Minerva, I love you.", he repeated. He lifted her up in his arms rubbing her back, kissing her again. But Minerva didn't show any reaction, she remained motionless. Severus looked to the sky, to the dark clouds above him.

Cassy couldn't wait any longer. She had to do something. She was scared never to see her father alive again and she didn't want to wait until somebody would come and tell her that he was… No! She wanted to help her father, wanted to be with him, wanted to fight by his side.

She looked around in the small kitchen of the pub she was forced to stay in. There had to be a possibility to escape. There were dishes in different shapes and sizes, cups with coloured pictures upon them, all kinds of glasses, ashtrays and cutlery. In the back of the kitchen was a refrigerator and beside that a freezer.

Cassy opened the refrigerator. She had an idea and hoped to find the things she needed for that. And she was lucky. Beside eggs, some bottles of beer and some other things she found a red bottle in the back. Ketchup. She took the bottle and one of the glasses and splashed the red liquid on her one hand and a bit on the glass. Then she hid the ketchup behind one of the shelves and threw the glass to the ground. It shattered with a loud rattle in several pieces and Cassy started screaming like mad and as loud as she could.

Only seconds later the owner of the pub stormed into the kitchen. His gaze fell on the broken glass and then on the red hand of the girl with tears in her eyes.

"I have cut into my fingers. There is blood and it hurts.", she said whining.

"Oh, it's ok. Sit down and I look for a plaster." He said leading her to a chair and trying to comfort her. Then he vanished out of the still open door to take a plaster from somewhere. A grin crept on Cassy's face. All worked like she had hoped it would. Fast she jumped to her feet and ran out of the kitschen to find herself standing in the middle of the crowded pub. But Cassy wasn't interested in the people staring at her with open mouthes or let fal the one and other glas. She didn't look around but hurried to the door. It didn't matter to her that she nearly bumped into a few people or that she kicked a chair away, she ignored the calls of the owner until she finally reached the door and stormed outside.

Instaed of stopping to catch her breath she started running faster to the house crowning the little hill in the village, the house she so deperately never wanted to get to know.

The dark clouds whirled around again and again. Here and there it seemed as if the sun would shine again but in the next second the clouds were swirling before it as if they would tease Severus, who was desperate looking up to the play above him.

"Why? Why do you take the ones I love? Why have you taken Merina and why do you wanted Cassy and tell me why, why do you take Minerva from me? Why?" Severus waited but nothing came. He waited for an answer. He was right. He always thought, that the death of Merina McDrake, Cassy's mother, was no accident, he always feared that something he didn't know had taken her life and that she was already dead before falling down from the balcony and breaking her neck. Sometimes Cassy seemed not to notice what she did and he was worried but couldn't explain it. Now he had the knowledge and now he wanted answers for the one question: Why?

He looked to the sky. Have the clouds moved there? For a short moment he thought he had seen a forget-me-not blue sky but now it all was dark grey again. But what was that? A bird with a greenish black colour and a sad expression came to him. He screamed that horrible that Severus got the first signs of a headache. The bird landed on Minerva's shoulder and looked at her stopping with it's screams. Then the bird looked to Severus, who held his breath. What was the meaning of all this? Where had he seen this bird before? The bird looked back to Minerva and started screaming again. Simultaneous it flew away, made some circels around Severus and Minerva before vanishing once for all.

Severus gaped at the vanishing figure of the bird. If he was not mistaken the bird was an Augurey, better known as Irish Phoenix, a bird screaming when it rains badly or short before a thunderstorm.

"Severus?" It was barely a whisper, probably less than a whisper, nothing more. Severus looked down and in the clouded green eyes of Minerva. He was so relieved that she wasn't dead. He was so scared that she would maybe never open her eyes again, that he never would hear her voice again never see the rare signs of a smile again. But now she was lying in his arms, weak but alive, and looked up at him with her undiscribable green eyes. He didn't know why, but all he could do was smile at her.

"Minerva, I thought… thought… I had lost you. But you are alive." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her carefully on her forehead.

"Dad… Dad" Cassy came running up the hill. Although she wanted to help as fast as she could she had looked for a way that the evil man, who had kidnapped her, would not see her. But than had she seen her father and Minerva McGonagall and she couldn't stand it to wait any longer. Arriving at the two of them she flung herself in the arms of her father while tears of joy poured down her face.

"It's ok, Cassy, it's over." Severus said quietly to his daughter while Minerva, although very weak, put her arm around the shoulders of the little girl and pulled her close to herself while closing her eyes.

Okay, there will be one more chapter, I believe. But until then like everytime:

Thank you for reading. Please, tell me what is good and what I've to improve.

And thanks to Crazy-Physco and Lady Henrietta for reviewing (To all who have read a cake and to those who have reviewed an especially big one )