As predicted by Vera, a group of Death Eaters showed up at the shopping center. Before any muggles were injured, Arouras from the ministry apprehended them. The news of this event traveled back to Voldemort, who to say the least, was not pleased. It was now three days into the month of October and the students were progressing well with their extra classes. Linnet made sure that there was no confusion about what they really were and taught her class in her wolf form. Vera had no more premonitions as of late and things were progressing well at Hogwarts. Five days before Halloween, Voldemort summed a meeting of his followers. Snape of course was forced to go and spy for Dumbledore. Once he arrived at the meeting ground he was confronted by Voldemort and questioned about how the ministry knew about the shopping center.
"Tell me Severus, how did the ministry know about my plans" he hissed.
"I do not know my lord" Snape replied.
Of course Snape knew, Dumbledore told the whole faculty about the wolf's vision, but he wasn't going to tell Voldemort that.
"Do not lie to me Severus" the voice hissed again.
"Master I do not lie to you" Snape said.
Anger was quickly rising in the Dark Lord and Snape could sense that he was not going to come out of this unscathed. Voldemort was tired of playing mind games, so he settled on physical ones instead. Pointing his wand directly at Snape, he uttered the most painful word that Snape would ever hear, Crucio. Snape's painful cries echoed though the empty graveyard as he writhed on the ground in immense pain. Voldemort help the cure just long enough so it didn't cause permanent damage. When Snape somewhat regained his composer, the Dark Lord hit him with another round. This continued through the night.
Linnet was walking the halls, patrolling for students out past curfew. It was 1am so she didn't think there would be anyone out anyway. A noise from the entrance hall caught her attention causing her to investigate. When she reached the hall, all she spotted was a black mass on the floor. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was a very bloody and unconscious Snape. Apparently Snape had only enough strength left to make it to the hall before he collapsed and passed out. Linnet rolled him over on to his back and tried to gently shake him awake.
"Snape, can you hear me?" she asked softly.
Still nothing.
"Come on Snape, wake up. Come on" Linnet begged his limp form.
There was no response, but she kept trying. This time she tried calling him by his given name.
"Severus, squeeze my hand if you can here me" she said.
After a long moment, there was a weak pressure on her hand. Linnet was determined to get him to become conscious again. Several long minutes later with soft words from Linnet, Snape open his eyes. He groaned in pain and tried to move but Linnet stopped.
"Let go of me, I can do it on my own" he whispered.
"No you can't. You are in too much pain. I will take you to your chambers and give you something for the pain" she told him.
Changing to her wolf form for more strength, she gently picked him up and carried him down to the dungeons. She asked which was his room and what the password was. Reluctantly he told her and she made her way though the sitting room to his bed chambers and placed him carefully on the bed.
"Severus, I will be back in a few minutes ok. I'm going to get something for the pain" she informed him.
He weakly nodded but didn't say anything. Taking one last look at him before leaving, Linnet rushed through the castle until she reached Vera's room. Banging loudly on the door to get her up, Linnet opened the door and demanded and pain reliving mixture.
"You're very lucky. I have one chilling on the table right now. Tell me though, who is it for?" She inquired.
"Severus Snape. He has returned from the meeting in unbearable pain" she stated.
Vera nodded and pointed to where the basin of liquid was sitting. Linnet poured a generous amount in a goblet and took off out the door and back down stairs. She reached Snape's chambers in no time and stepped inside. Quietly slipping into the bedroom, she walked over to the bed to find him unconscious again. She was able to wake him and told him to drink all the liquid.
"That smells revolting" he sighed.
"Yeah well, it doesn't exactly taste good either" She chuckled.
He managed to swallow all of it then promptly gagged. Linnet eased him down on his back and told him that the drink had a sleep inducing effect and well as the pain relieving. In a few minutes Snape was asleep and Linnet pulled the blanket over him. She walked out of the bedroom and found a comfy spot on the sofa in the sitting room. She wasn't going to let him be alone after a meeting like that. She said a few soft words in Gaelic and it slowly began to rain lightly on the castle grounds.
The next morning Snape woke with an entirely sore body. When he got up to make some coffee, he remembered the events of the previous night. Quickly glancing around he, noticed a black haired figure asleep in a very uncomfortable position on his sofa. Snape cleared his throat in order to wake the person. When that didn't work, he walked over and nudged Linnet. She woke with a start and fell of the sofa. Standing up and stretching she realized that her neck was completely stiff from sleeping with her head at a right angle to her body. She looked at Snape and saw that he looked much better than he did last night.
"This is a little awkward" the said in unison.
Linnet laughed nervously and looked down.
"Um, I'm not very good at this. But, um, I appreciate you bringing me here and not the infirmary" Snape spoke.
"Don't worry about it. I was acting on instinct and figured that this would be the better place of the two. Plus if we went to the infirmary we would have to deal with Dumbledore" Linnet pointed out.
"Yes, I suppose so. But, did you stay here the whole night" Snape pondered.
"Yes, I wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong." Linnet said.
Snape grunted and offered a cup of coffee to her. She declined and said that she had some things to do. Snape nodded and walked over to hold the door open for her as she left. In a minute, Linnet was completely out of sight from Snape and completely out of the dungeons and in the morning sunlight. Sighing and rubbing her neck Linnet journeyed to the great hall from an early breakfast. Catching the eye of Vera and the rest of the pack as well as Dumbledore, she sighed again and sat down for breakfast. Remus Lupin, who had seen her last night from the shadows walked over to her and sat down.
"How is he" Lupin asked referring to Snape.
"A lot better this morning than last night" she mentioned.
"That's good. It's a pity about what he does, he has been through so much and yet he still puts his life on the line for Dumbledore" Lupin noted.
"I know. Dumbledore uses him to get the information he wants and it's not fair to Severus" Linnet agreed.
They quickly finished the conversation as Snape walked into the great hall. The rest of the day past by as it normally would with no catastrophic events, except for a 5 year Hufflepuff melting his cauldron in potions.