sweet as lemonz: no she wont be captured by death eaters. Good guess though. And the third chapter of The Sorcerers Tale is up just in case you hadn't see it already.

LiL.CaT.AnImE: glad to see you're still reading and enjoying it

Chapter 14: Valentines Day pt 2

I blinked open my eyes to see Severus leaning over me.

"Well I've woken up to prettier sights."

He snorted. "You're simply lucky that your skull is harder then the rocks that landed on it."

I managed a grin and went to get to my feet only to have pain shoot through my left leg.

"Your minor abilities with wandless magic seemed to hold the stone off enough that they didn't squash you, but they were unable to stop that from landing on your leg."

'That' was a stone block twice the size of me.

"Suffice to say your leg was broken. I set it but I suspect Madame Pomfrey will hardly find it adequate."

"Wonderful," I muttered dryly. Looking at the rubble surrounding me I tried to determine the best way to hop out of it. Then Severus grabbed me, picking me up as if I didn't weigh a thing. Startled I threw my arms around his neck to keep him from dropping me.

He carried me easily over the rubble and to my surprise didn't put me down once we were on the other side of it.

"Umm, you can put me down now, I can hop."

"It's faster if I carry you. You're not that heavy, and I wont be the idiot who tries to use magic to levitate you."

Deciding that it wasn't worth arguing with him I rested my head on his shoulder and allowed myself to relax. His cloak smelt like smoke from the caldrons he spent all day working with plus a mixture of herbs that I spent the remaining time of our journey back to Hogwarts trying to identify.

Once we were back at the castle I raised my head off his shoulder. "Okay, you can put me down now."

The slightest smile seemed to be tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It's still easier for me to carry you."

I had a feeling that this was revenge for a few nights ago when I'd helped him even though he hadn't wanted me to.

McGonagall came running out to meet us. "Thank goodness your both alright. Albus was almost beside himself with worry."

"Was anyone else hurt?" I ask twisting to look at her.

"Flitwick obtained a nasty gash and Mr. Weasley got on the wrong end of a nasty hex but other then that it's just minor injuries." She studied me. "What happened to you?"

"They dropped a building on my head," I said. "So I ended up with a broken leg."

McGonagall simply shook her head. "Only you would say that like it was an everyday occurrence."

Once at the hospital wing I tried again to get Severus to put me down but he simply tightened his grip on me so I couldn't struggle away from him, and used his foot to open the door.

Putting me down gently on one of the beds he said, "Your pride did indeed survive being carried."

I sighed. "Thank you, I think."

Madam Pomfrey came bustling over from where she had been tending to Ron Weasley. "Now what did you do to yourself?"

"I didn't do anything. They, on the other hand, decided it would be a good idea to drop a building on me."

Harry chuckled from where he was standing next to Ron's bed and Grandpa smiled from where he stood at the foot of my bed looking relieved.

Madam Pomfrey frowned at me before costing a charm on my leg to see what damage had been done. "Who set this," she demanded.

"He did," I said with a nod at Severus.

"Next time bring her straight to me without doing a crude mending job."

Severus simply crossed his arms and glowered.

"I'm going to have to re-break this in order to mend it."

I nodded gripping the edges of the bed tightly. "Do it."

"Without a pain potion?"

"Yes."

She looked at Grandpa uncertainly and at his nod does as I ask. The pain ripped through my leg causing me to snarl as the tables on either side of the bed shake slightly.

After further examination of my leg she announces, "I'm going to need a few drops of skeletal grow as well."

As Severus moves off to get it I protest, "Skeletal grow! There's got to be another way, that stuff tastes awful."

"Then perhaps you should make sure you never have to drink it," said Severus returning with the bottle of skeletal grow and a glass. "After all, some of us never have to taste it."

"Couldn't you make it taste better?"

He uncorked it and began pouring it into the glass. "Since you are the one who makes a habit of drinking it that might be something you would want to invest time in."

"You're the brilliant one."

Smirking he handed me the glass. "Flattery will get you no where."

Madame Pomfrey gives me a pointed look and with a sigh I swallow it all in one gulp resisting the urge to retch. Satisfied that I had drank all of it she casts a complex healing charm on my leg.

"There you go. Now you'll need to spend the nigh while that heals, I can give you some dreamless sleep potion now if you wish."

"I don't want to sleep. It's the middle of the day. I'll mark papers."

"Well enjoy yourself," Severus said sarcastically before sweeping out of the hospital wing.

I resisted the urge to gesture inappropriately at his departing back and instead ran a hand backwards through my hair. "He's impossible."

Madame Pomfrey spotted the cut on my forehead and pointed her wand at it healing it instantly. "There, now it won't scar."

"What if I wanted a scar?"

She looked at me like I'm crazy, and Grandpa smiled and said, "I'll go get you those papers."

- - - - -

Just after one o'clock that night Severus entered the hospital wing almost silently his black Death Eater robes blending in almost perfectly with the darkness around him. I pushed myself into a sitting position as he took a seat on the bed next to mine.

"I'm surprised Madame Pomfrey didn't force a dreamless sleep potion down your throat."

I gave him a slight smile. "She tried, I just held it in my mouth then spat it out and vanished it once she was gone."

"Lucius was in endless amounts of trouble for this afternoons escapade. I was commended for telling him to get out of there and no one's the wiser."

"Is Hogwarts a target?"

"Yes. Dumbledore already knows, I told him when it was first hinted at. Now the Dark Lord is simply waiting to see how much damage Lucius caused to his plans."

I frowned. "The wards should hold them."

"Just because things should happen doesn't mean they will."

The lights went on in Madam Pomfrey's office and she stepped out in her nightgown looking around. Severus and I both sat perfectly still not daring to attract her attention. Suddenly Ron let out a horrendously loud snore and Madam Pomfrey seemed satisfied that that's what she had heard and the light went out.

"I'd better go," Severus said starting to stand. Then he lent over and placed a kiss on my cheek before whispering in my ear, "Happy Valentines day."

I stared after him as he disappeared into the night and the door clicked softly shut. Sleep was a long time coming after that.