Of Blood and Serpents.

Part One.

Chapter Four

Creature of the Night

It was summer again. dreadfully Lillian was once again in Severus's care. Once again Dumbledore retrieved the girl and once again green eyes met black.

yet it was different.

'alone and in your care.' Dumbledore's words sizzled in Severus's mind and he found his eyes darting away from hers. Lilly felt the difference in their reunion as well and it puzzled her when his eyes darted away from hers.

They appeared in Severus's room with a pop and fizzle of floo powder. Lily took a breath the dusty books making her chest pinch in yearning, this time she didn't stare and quickly went to dart off to her room.

"Supper at five." Severus snipped behind her before she disappeared.

"Yes sir." She said the words barely audible.

Lily wasted no time to unpack the bag she had brought, and unwrapped her special gift from hagrid

'since yer don' know yer birthday...' Hagrid had said to her giving a sniff as he handed her the paper wrapped empty tome. She now had a place to doodle, to write and to scrawl in her small wavering font. At the bottom of her bag she carefully removed a basket that was covered with a knitted doily. The familiar must of earth tickled her nose as she removed it and set it on the ground. She had decided to bring some of the forest 'home' to severus's so she might not miss it quite as much.

Severus was in the the square book lined living room when he heard the stairs creak. Curiously he peered over his book to see pale skin flash from the bottom of the stairs then disappear behind the wall. Shortly followed by a metal croak that was the all to familiar noise of the back door.

'whats the brat up to?' he wondered at her getting herself into trouble this quickly, but he was quite used to snotty little brats being mischeivious in class. A younger version might have even less sense. With a dutiful sigh he rose from his chair to go take a look himself.

Her arms were half way buried in soil. Images flashed breifly of another woman stooped there, far older, with bitter lines creased in her pallid features. Severus shook himself from the thought.

"What do you think your doing?" He probed, not particularly annoyed at this point so much as wondering if she was about to make a mess. She froze like a rabbit would or a doe. eyes wide, biting her lip.

"G-gardening.. I want to make a garden." Severus let silence fall between them. the girl holding her breath it seemed waiting for his answer. He gave it slowly, thinking to himself all the while 'the garden is dead and old, nothing will grow there any ways'

"if it so amuses you then. hands better be washed for dinner and don't track soil through the house." He said firmly.

"Okay." Another pause before Severus exhaled and left her to the dead earth.

It took lily awhile to start breathing regularly, certain she was going to get into trouble she was pleasantly relieved. She marveled at the feeling of the dry crumbling earth between her fingers and set to work again.

Her hands were spick and span at dinner. Severus glared at them trying to find some fault perhaps before assenting grudging ly and doling her portion of food on the table. it pleased lily oddly that she passed this test and she smiled slightly to herself as she went up to bed.

The first few weeks of summer Lily found her entertainment in the garden. it was quite hard work and she foudn herself hungry and exhausted by the task. Soon though neet little rows could be seen, most being juvinile plants she'd transpalnted from the dark forest, one in particular caught Severus's eye. Hillywig plant. Several rows of it were in a shaded part of the garden Lily thought would mimic the forests shade. With that work done Lily was once again left to her books and other hobbies of interest. In particular she found herself reading the boys diary feeling herself connected to the younge boys plight.

'father hit her again. I wanted to hit him with the cruelest curse I'd ever read about. I didn't have mum's wand though. If I had I suppose i'd have to go on trial for murdering my filthy muggle father.'

Lily felt saddened but also felt the kernels of rage feeding her own fuel in the night. He never stopped thinking or trying new things, she wouldn't either. The thought of which is what brought her creeping down the stairs at night despite the restless cries that frightened her and that trembled through the house. She would read what she could by candle light and copy what she wished then collapse on her bed exhausted and wake up past breakfast.

Severus didn't think to question her late morning, he didn't particularly care if the girl missed her breakfast, he tried to keep himself separate from her as much as possible in fact. But then one day as he went to retrieve a book in his living room he noticed a spine pushed deep into the recess of the bookshelf. something which was not usual and suspicion flickered through him, burning.

Lily felt his eyes on her more than usual, it was an odd creeping feeling of being watched that crawled up her spine and settled somewhere on the back of her head as if she could feel the weight of his gaze. Yet when she turned to look he was not looking at her at all. Lily brushed away her feeling as she scowled rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She joined Severus at lunch, neither speaking as they ate and departed silently from the table.

Upstairs she opened the place in the journal she had last read from and began where she had left off.

'- found a place, secret by the dirty stinking river, but its secluded, its easy enough to get to if you just go out the back and follow the road down...' lily's quick mind absorbed the words hungrily as she thought she might herself visit that place one day a secret place her and him could share. She wondered if she would ever meet the boy, if he was long gone now moved away.

.

.

Down the stairs she crept. silence pervaded the house. Not totally unsual but tonight felt even more still, as if the house itself was holding its breath for her. She was focused though, in her usual intensity that she brushed off this feeling as she quietly crept down the stairs. Then as her foot slide across the last silent board a shrill sound errupted suddenly from her foot. Startled she leapt back, letting out her own small shreik as candles suddenly lit. Severus's face pallid in the dim yellow candle lit glow seemed to her monsterously pale. He rose from his seat, huge and engulfing his rage tangeable.

"What do you think your doing?" He snarled closing the space between them. her heart was pounding heavily in her chest, and as the space closed between them, terror filled her. Quick as a mouse startled by a cat she darted away by instinct, and just as instictually as a snake Severus's hand darted out without thought. Intending to grab her by her robe it was her long hair his hand snapped on and it jarred his strong sinuous grip jarred her back with a cry, pain blooming from her scalp making her eyes fill with stinging tears. He released almost immediatley alarmed, having been aiming to grab her robes he found himself speachless for a moment as she fell on the floor then scrambled away up the stairs, feet heavy and lound in the house, her cries echoing as her door slammed.

Hair was snarled between his fist and he shook it off a cold shudder passing through him smothering the rage that had previously bloomed in his chest with a cold dead feeling. 'I didn't mean to...' The sound of her shrill shriek had pierced him and her foot falls echoed through the air still like a guilty hum. 'If that little fool hadn't have tried to run...' his thought sniped, yet a heavy feeling filled the pit o his stomach still.

Heavily he moved himself up the stairs pausing at the door to hear crying. 'punishment enough perhaps...' he thought, but the angry voice roared again, 'let her alone again and you'll find her weaseling food from the kitchen next.' He drew an old key from his pocket and thought it was something of a compromise as he turned the key, locking the door.

.

.

She was alone. she heard the heavy sound of the churning lock and knew that she was alone. Her head throbbed, as did her palms as when she had fallen she had slapped the floor bracing herself. Her chin had hit too and it smarted as well. Her heart took sometime to stop wildly beating and her tears took even longer, although she managed to take it down from uncontrollable sobs more to a simpering stream of tears.

Finally when the tears had exhausted her, and left a feeling of aching emptiness, of stillness she sat and thought. 'I can't stay here.' the thought of seeing Severus again, the thought of facing his anger... she flinched just at the thought drawing her small arm around her legs with a hiccough. 'but where..?' Any where would be better she thought, rubbing at the sticky track of tears from her face.

She stood, wobbling and exhausted, eyes roaming the room landing on the dingy window. It wasn't very big, but she'd fit. 'but where would i-' a thought interrupted words read filling her mind. words of another boy, afraid of the master of the house. Lily darted up, quickly retreiving the book from under the bed and flipping open to the right page. she re-read the words as hungrily as she had the first time. 'a secret place-' it had said. A safe place, she could go and hide and never see him again! She thought in delirious delight.

Morning light shone through Severus's cloudy window the dark drapes half drawn. He woke somewhat ragged, having barely slept between the nightmare where flashes of green eyes haunted him. Particularly the fearful eyes of his guest. He rose and clothed himself in his day garb and when he passed her door he quickly checked the nob with a turn to make sure it had remained locked. Satisfied he continued on, wishing he could forget about the girl entirely and go about his day, he knew he couldn't. Instead he readied porridge for them both, thinking himself to be more kind then he ought to be.

After eating breakfast himself he returned to her door with a bowl in hand. without a knock or much of any warning he unlocked the door and let it swing open with a creak.

"You may have breakfast." He spoke to the lump of stillness beneath the covers. "Until otherwise stated you will stay in this -" Something caught his eye, a bit of light coming from the window hitting the floor. His eyes focused on what looked like shards of glass laying on the floor. He approached the window to feel a breeze lightly caress his cheeks, a cold feeling filled his gut as he strode to the bed ripping the blanket off with a flourish. Old bedding was rolled into a small shape beneath the covers.

She was gone..

Then he saw the blood.