Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling does. I only use her characters and settings because she hasn't said 'No' yet. (Please don't tell her- I can't come up with my own characters!)

Xiomara stepped into the shower, the slightly too hot water flash-expanding her pores and turning her skin pinkish red. She lowered the temperature at the flick of her wrist. This was her second shower in an hour- she felt so dirty, it was as if her skin was covered in snakes. Severus had certainly been happy to see her and at first she was pleased with that, but it was just too soon since… She let the thought die as she felt another scar.

She was so ashamed of herself, ashamed for everything that she had done since yesterday.

"Come in, Xiomara." Severus glided his hands over her shoulders as he helped her remove her cloak. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you, Severus." She sat in a chair by the fire, rubbing her hands together to drive away the cold.

"May I offer you a drink?" He pulled out a bottle of wine and poured a glass, then looked to her.

"No, thank you. I'm trying to cut down."

"Alright, then- why do you need my help?"

"I don't need it- I want it."

"Then why bother?"

"Why do you think?" She snapped at him. "I asked you because you can keep a secret. I don't want this spreading around the school."

He nodded and sipped his wine.

"Why don't we continue our conversation from this morning?" He responded enthusiastically to that suggestion.

She toweled off and stepped into a pair of long johns- it was a cold night and she didn't want the fire to be lit lest anyone should decide to come for a visit via Floo. Of course Albus had already stopped by- he came as soon as he found out (he said that Severus didn't tell him, so she had no idea how he could have known).

"Severus!" she moaned as he found that special place along her jaw. She pushed him off of her and pinned him down firmly when he started to undo the buttons on her untucked shirt.

"What's wrong?" he asked between breaths, squirming one of his hands out of her grip and around the back of her thigh.

She balked at his touch, but quickly regained her composure, "Everything's fine- it's just been awhile."

He propped himself up on his elbows and glared off into space, frustrated. "If you can't go through with this, Xiomara,"

"Don't be silly, Severus- I'm fine! Now where were we?" she started to unbutton her shirt, but he stopped her.

"If you can't…" he let the phrase die as she shifted her weight and finished unbuttoning her shirt.

"I can."

She whipped the sheets off of her bed and checked for any foreign objects, then replaced them and climbed in with her wand held tight in her hand- it was going to stay there the entire night.

She screamed and rolled off the bed, prompting a surprised yelp from Severus. "Oh Gods, Severus, I'm so sorry!" her shoulders shook with contained sobs, but they soon gave way to manic, hoarse cries. "I'm sorry, I ca-an't d…do…it, Sev-ver…Sev-ver-us! I'm so sorry!"

"Xiomara,"

"Please, I can't do it- I can't go through with it!"

"Stop crying!"

She screamed again at the sight of Igor Karkaroff's silhouette leering at her from the doorway. "Let me go, please, by the Gods just let me go!" Her skin burned with white-hot flame, her scars opened once more. "Please!"

"Please, Xiomara- just calm down!" Severus' face slid back into focus as he knelt on the floor and reached to her face. "Just be calm."

She took a few steadying breaths and looked toward the doorway- there was only light coming from the opening.

"If you can't go through with this, Xiomara," he sighed and wiped her tears away, "I won't force you."

Xiomara jumped out of bed with a quiet yelp upon hearing something coming from downstairs. There it was again! She listened carefully, ignoring the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She realized that it was someone knocking at the door, so she slipped her dressing gown on and checked the peephole before opening the door and allowing Poppy inside.

"Oh, Xiomara- are you alright? Sit down, I've got something here that will help… God, why did this have to happen to you again?"

"What are you talking about, Poppy?"

"With Severus, earlier this evening! Oh, that man deserves nothing less than a good, sound thrashing! He should be castrated along with Karkaroff, that's what! That will teach him a thing or two about 'no means no'!"

"Where did you hear this from?"

"From Minerva McGonagall- she had to speak with Severus, so she let herself into his rooms (thank God she did- you may have had to stay there with him if she hadn't come and startled him!) and saw him towering over you with a crazy look in his eye, watching you huddled in a corner, crying and begging him to let you go!" She mixed some clear liquid from a flask she had brought with her in with some brandy from the cabinet. "I know what I said earlier about alcohol, but this is a special exception. Drink up, Xiomara; it will help you sleep."

"Albus must have heard that from Minerva, then." She accepted the drink, but didn't bring it to her lips. Instead, she leaned back into the sofa with a sigh. "That's not what happened, Poppy. It looked suspicious, I'm sure, but that's not what happened."

"Then what did happen?"

"I'm sorry, Poppy, but I'm very tired- both physically and emotionally. I don't think that I could ever explain this to you, and although you deserve an explanation, I'm going to have to ask you to trust me when I tell you that I'm fine, that Severus is innocent- well, innocent enough to do with me- and completely undeserving of castration or a good sound thrashing, that Minerva was wrong, and that there's no cause for alarm."

"Please, just come and stay in my rooms tonight." Poppy begged.

"I'm fine, really. Please, just trust me; I'm very tired and very shaken, and all I want to do is rest."

"Alright," she said after a long pause.

"Thank you, Poppy."

Still not the Great American Novel, I know.