Severus Snape Revealed Shorts, Story TWO:

Pure Romance

Part 10: Werewolves Are Everywhere

AN: JK Rowling created most of these characters and the universe from which they hail…

I can't leave the house these days without some stay-at-home Mom trying to sell me some Pure Romance. I assume this type of stuff is sold worldwide, but I live in the town that started Pure Romance. Yes, a family in Cincinnati, Ohio came up with the idea years ago and it's grown into a monster. If you are unaware, it's a company that sells sex toys. Yes. So I'm going to write a story about it for no good reason. No, I don't work for Pure Romance, no, I've never been to any of their parties, but I'm invited all the darn time!

It goes without saying this installment is rated M for mature language and some graphic…um…depictions. Okay, it's just plain raunchy.

(This story begins during the first week of October, 1985. Rhys is long gone, as is Lily, and after four years of mourning, Severus is still deeply affected, however, he's slowly beginning to emerge from his self-imposed mental-exile.)

AN: Still have a bad wrist, through this together as best I could. :-)

Without even thinking, Severus grabbed Kathleen, and instantly Disapparated to the first place he could think of, the edge of the Forbidden Forrest.

"What the fuck?" Kathleen shouted, still holding her ears and crouched down near Severus's feet.

"I'm sorry, I had to think fast," Severus replied, panting heavily.

"Where are we?'

"The edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts is near."

"What about Damocles?"

"Fuck him and fuck his werewolves!" Severus shrieked. "I feared this would happen; I knew you shouldn't have come tonight."

"I better still get paid!"

"Your love of money will be the death of you," Severus said as he and Kathleen turned in the direction of a howl they heard to the west.

"There aren't werewolves in this forest, are there?"

"Werewolves are everywhere," Severus said, taking her hand and leading her in the direction of Hogwarts. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"You really think there are werewolves here in the forest?"

"I know there are, Hogwarts is locked down every full moon for a reason, but we're not far," Severus pressed, leading her in the direction of the ancient castle. "Let's go," he nearly whispered, wanting to listen for critters and other unsavory beings that could be lurking nearby.

For a few moments all he could hear where the leaves crunching beneath their feet and the quick pace of Kathleen's breathing. The light of the full moon shown through the branches of the tall trees and shed some misty white light on their immediate surroundings. Severus's heart was pounding and he was perspiring despite the chill in the autumn air. The duo picked up their pace and Severus could tell Hagrid's hut wasn't much further. A moment later Severus heard another howl but that time it was much closer. The two stopped out of fear when from the trees a large, grey colored beast came barreling towards them. Kathleen screamed as Severus's jaw dropped.

"Greyback," Severus said in a hushed tone. He had instantly recognized the horrid creature known as Fenrir Greyback. For a moment, he hoped Greyback would perhaps recognize him as a friend of the Dark Lord and Lucius Malfoy, and not attack. Kathleen continued to scream as she hid behind Severus, who stood perfectly still beneath the tranquil moonlight that shown from overhead.

"Shhh!" Severus commanded to the shivering woman behind him. She clutched onto his robes very tightly and instantly quieted as he stood with his arms out as if to protect her. Greyback stopped dead in his tracks twenty feet from the terrified couple.

Severus remained still and silent. Greyback stared at Severus methodically. There were gobs of drool clinging to his massive jaw. His fierce eyes stared straight into Severus's. Severus thought perhaps he was recognized, as Greyback just stood and stared at the pair, and surely he could smell Kathleen's condition. Severus slowly took a step to his left, and noticed Greyback's eyes followed him, but he remained still. A moment later Greyback began to sniff the air harder and faster. Severus's heart began to race. He knew dogs could smell fear; he assumed the same to be true of werewolves. He closed his eyes and tried his best to calm his nerves, but there wasn't much he could do to control Kathleen's fears.

Greyback seemed to calm for a moment. He stared at Severus but continued to sniff the air aggressively. Severus wondered if all werewolves had some small part of their true human selves in their wild brain on full moons. Greyback would not have taken any experimental wolfsbane, but he seemed to recognize Severus. Severus took another step and then another and then another. Severus took a deep breath and lifted his foot for another step when Greyback stood up on his rear legs and howled as loudly as the wolves in Belby's basement had a few minutes earlier. The sudden and terrifying sound made Severus put his hands up to his ears.

Greyback stood still, turned his head up to face the moon and howled so loudly that it caused the earth beneath Severus's feet to tremble. Severus took that opportunity to grab Kathleen tighter and run, even though logically he knew Greyback could easily outrun him. He figured he got a few seconds head start since Greyback was too busy howling at the moon and probably didn't immediately notice the pair leaving his presence. Severus ran as fast as his feet would take him, with Kathleen right next to him, towards Hogwarts. A moment later, Severus heard the horrifying yowl of Greyback steadily approaching him from behind. Severus and Kathleen ran in a snakelike formation in order to slow Greyback down, but Greyback was still gaining on them. Severus stopped and turned to see what was barreling towards them. Greyback had hunger in his eyes as he quickly approached the pair who were nearly paralyzed with fear. Severus didn't know what to do, but he had his wand in his hand even though he knew magic wouldn't stop the werewolf barreling towards them.

"Do something!" Kathleen shouted.

"Magic doesn't work, you know this!" Severus screamed back. He saw Kathleen hold her wand out toward the ever approaching Greyback and then she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Avada Kedavra!" nothing came from her wand and the werewolf continued his prance in their direction. "Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra!" she shouted. "Fuck, it's worked for me in the past!"

"Not on werewolves!" Severus shouted back, secretly hoping the forbidden curse would work on werewolves. He had always suspected that the killing curse would be the only curse that would work, but clearly he was wrong.

"What do we do? There's nowhere to run!" Kathleen exclaimed. Severus had to think fast: there was no where run, she was right, and Greyback was so close, Severus could smell him. There was no time to be modest or really even think. Acting on instinct, Severus grabbed her as tightly as he could and flew up into the tree, about twelve feet from the ground. Kathleen screamed during the entire ascent but the pair managed to land on a fairly strong branch. "What the fuck was that?"

"Nothing...werewolves can't climb trees...can they?" he asked turning to the scared woman cradled in his arms.

"How the fuck would I know?" she shouted.

"You're the defense teacher!" Severus shouted. They both looked down at Greyback who was at the base of the tree, staring up at them. He howled and then growled causing the tree to shake. He jumped on his hind legs and came surprisingly close to their dangling legs. "We need to get higher."

"Do whatever you did and get us higher then!" she pleaded. Severus looked up and noticed the higher branches didn't look very thick or sturdy. Greyback was still jumping and was mere inches from their feet. "Severus! Do something!"

"Hold on!" Severus instructed. He grabbed her tightly and concentrated as hard as he could but nothing happened. Greyback scratched the bottom of Kathleen's foot and tore her shoe clear off. She screamed in pain as Severus closed his eyes, gripped her as hard as he could and tried his best to fly to the next tree, which was taller and thicker. A moment later he took flight and they slammed hard into the neighboring tree. When they smashed into the bark, he lost his grip on her. She slid down the massive trunk some, but finally grabbed on. He too began to slide down the massive trunk a little before getting a tighter hold on it. He slowly began to climb up to the nearest large branch, which was about three feet above his head. He glanced down and saw that Kathleen was clinging to the trunk and trying to climb up behind him. A moment later, Greyback was at the base of their tree, jumping to try to capture them. Greyback clawed at Kathleen's robes, tearing the lower parts as he tried to claw her. Kathleen screamed and quickly began to climb up the tree behind Severus.

Severus got to a large branch and reached down to help pull Kathleen up to him. He noticed her nose and brow were bloody. Once he got her on the branch he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as Greyback just screeched as loud as he could at them. Greyback's screams were too loud for Severus or Kathleen to holler over. They embraced each other and shivered as Greyback tried to jump as high as he could to get to them. A few minutes seemed like an eternity. Severus glanced down and noticed Greyback was only inches away from clawing at them. Kathleen got her wand out again and aimed it to the east. A moment later a glowing white raven flew from her wand and hovered around Greyback for a moment. The patronus seemed to break his concentration. The raven flew off to the east and Greyback followed it.

"Climb down, fast!" Kathleen whispered as she instantly descended from the tree, with Severus close behind. Once on the ground, the pair ran towards the direction of the castle. Severus noticed she was limping, more than likely from Greyback clawing at her foot. They ran until they got closer to Hagrid's hut. "Should we go here?" she asked to s who was just behind her.

"I'm sure a werewolf could claw down even Hagrid's door, we're not far from the castle and you need medical attention."

"So do you!" she said as Severus brought his hand to his forehead, which was throbbing. There was blood all over his hand. The two crossed over the Apparation point and stopped for a moment to examine each other in the shining moonlight. Kathleen's nose didn't appear broken, but Severus was certain he'd need sutures near his eyebrow from where he slammed into the tree. They heard another growl and started to sprint again towards the castle.

The duo ran and could see Hogwarts when from behind a nearby tree, a very large black werewolf started to barrel towards them. Both stopped dead in their tracks. Severus grabbed Kathleen by the arm and pulled her back so she was behind him. When he turned to run the other way he saw a white werewolf approaching from the north. The black werewolf ran towards Severus and lifted his mighty paw high in the air. Before Severus could react, he felt the flesh on his shoulder rip open. Though he felt no pain, he did feel warm fluid instantly pour down his arm, and onto his neck.

Kathleen screamed as Severus fell to the ground. The black werewolf stood before Severus and got up on its hind legs while the white werewolf ran over and lunged for Severus. He got a hold of the bottom portion of Severus's robes, tearing them as s rolled over to avoid getting eaten. Kathleen produced another patronus which made the white werewolf run off, but the black one only looked away. Kathleen helped Severus get to his feet and the two began to run towards the Womping Willow.

"Stop! That thing is more dangerous than the werewolves!" Kathleen yelled. Severus managed to run ahead of her and grab her hand.

"Trust me!" he shouted. Severus aimed his wand at the crazy tree, causing it to stay still long enough for him to lead Kathleen to a place he swore he'd never venture to again. They crawled painfully through the tunnel in darkness. Once inside he continued to lead her through the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. Once inside, Severus fell onto a dust-ridden sofa. Kathleen collapsed next to him. The two panted and coughed out some of the filth from the stale air.

Kathleen lit her lumnos and sat up with her back leaning against the sofa. She looked around and found some candles to light. She then sat down next to Severus, who was still bleeding badly.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"In a safe place. They can't get to us in here. We'll stay here until sunrise."

"Only three more hours," she commented. She wiped some blood from her nose and sniffled hard. "How the fuck did those werewolves get on Hogwarts grounds?"

"Werewolves are everywhere," Severus replied. He was feeling weak and cold. He couldn't even move his left arm anymore. "How's my shoulder?"

"Well let me see," she said, moving closer. He felt her peel part of his tattered robes from this raw, bloody skin. She made a sound that indicated it was not good. "Well I'm no healer but I'd say you're really fuckin' bad off."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Well, I see a huge gash; looks deep, a lot of blood...can you move it?"

"No," Severus replied. "Do me a favor."

"Anything."

"Spread the gash apart, slowly, and tell me if you can see the bone."

"Are you serious?'

"Don't ever ask me that question, and yes, I'm deadly serious. I need to know how deep the wound is."

"Oh this is no wound, this is catastrophic."

"Wonderful, well tell me how catastrophic." She made a face like she was going to be sick. She put the candle as close to s as possible and moved in to open his gash. The second she pressed her fingers on his skin he shrieked in pain. She removed her hands from him and backed off. "No, no, just do it, do it!"

"Okay!" she quipped. She slowly moved closer to Severus again, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt sharp, strong pains as she pressed down on his torn flesh. When she pulled it apart he felt it burn as if a candle had fallen into the abrasion. "Oh god."

"That sounds bad."

"Yeah, I see your bone, um, but it's a nice looking bone."

"Did it look broken?"

"Uh, you don't really want me to go digging back there, do you?"

"No," Severus replied, panting and scared he'd pass out from the pain and blood loss. "I guess if it were shattered you'd noticed."

"Yeah, and no, I didn't see that, I just saw some white and I assume it's bone."

"You're right, I'm sure.'

"Um, don't you like, need help?"

"Yes, but those shit-eating murderers are out there, we're trapped."

"And you're the healer, brilliant.'

"You may have to close the wound enough for Madam Pomfrey to fix it in a few hours," Severus instructed, feeling very light headed.

'"Um, I don't know how to do that."

'I'll talk you through it," Severus spoke in nearly a whisper. "Aim your wand, at a 45 degree angle to the top of the wound..."

"Uh...math was never my strong suit."

"Know what 90 degrees is?" he asked as she nodded. "It's half of that."

"Oh, well duh, okay, now what?"

"Make sure it's at 45 degrees or as close to it as possible or you'll do me greater harm."

"Ok, no pressure," she said, beginning to drip beads of sweat from her forehead.

"Don't worry, believe it or not, this suture is not that difficult, okay, 45 degree angle, now, twirl the wand once counter clockwise, just before you finish the rotation say vieo."

"Okay," she spoke. He saw the concentration on her face; she then spoke aloud the word 'vieo.' Severus could feel the top of his wound pinch, the magical suture appeared to work. "It looks like a small part closed."

"Good. You did well. Ok, now, move down to the next open part, repeat, keep repeating until the entire wound is closed."

"But this isn't a cure?"

"No, this is just suturing the top layers of skin, the muscle and tissue needs more complex magic, when you are done, I'll take some blood replenisher."

"You have that on u?"

"I'm a potion's master, aren't I?" he asked, wincing again in pain as he took a deep breath. Kathleen concentrated deeply. Every few seconds he felt his wound pinch tightly at the skin. It felt as if it'd all tear open if he moved his arm even a centimeter. He seemed to drift off to sleep when she felt him squeeze his other arm.

"Sev, wake up, I'm done," she said as he struggled to open his eyes. "Okay, um, where's the blood replenisher?' she asked. Severus was too weak to respond, he hoped she'd be logical enough to dig in his pockets. A moment later she did just that. She pulled out a handful of glass vials, each one a different color. "Um, which one?"

Severus mouth the words blood red as the witch looked down in her palm and fingered through the numerous vials.

"Pink, yellow, white, blue, green, lime green, puke green, emerald green, purple, black, shit Sev, no blood red!" she panicked. She looked at Severus for more help but all he could do was stare back. "Okay, okay, okay, um...clear, silver, brown, uh, oh! Blood red! Is this it?" she asked, holding the tiny vial up to Severus's black eyes. The vial was a quarter of an inch in length but Severus knew it was the right one, he also knew it was the only one. "Okay, how many are there?" she asked. Severus just shook his head. "What? Just one?" she asked. He closed his eyes. "How many do you need?" Knowing each vial equaled a pint and judging by how he felt, he knew he needed at least two and a half, or perhaps even three.

She caught on that he couldn't answer and regardless of the answer, he needed the vial. She unshrunk it and fed it to him, being careful not to spill a single drop. Within a few seconds, Severus felt a tad warmer and a little more alert. She put a filthy pillow beneath his head and then pulled a large chair over to sit near him. The two sat in silence for a few moments until he was able to speak.

"Charming place, huh?" he asked.

"Why didn't we go to Spinner's End?"

"Ah, a question to which I have no answer," Severus replied, suddenly feeling stupid, something he rarely felt.

"So what is this Shrieking Shack? Does someone live here?"

"No, it's uh...haunted...but I'd not worry," Severus assured as she bit her bottom lip. '"We're safe here," Severus replied, suddenly remembering Lupin and how he used to live there once a month. Severus hoped Lupin had not escaped Belby's lab.

'"What's a Greyback?' Kathleen asked.

"Oh, he's uh, an infamous werewolf."

"What about the others we saw?"

"No clue," Severus replied, beginning to feel weak again.

"You're getting pale, rare you sure you only have one vial of blood replenisher?"

"Yes."

"Okay, um, let's see, I know when people are losing blood, we're supposed to keep you awake, right?" she asked, but he was too tired to answer. '"Come on, wake up...um...let's see, uh, you like Def Leppard right?" she asked. Severus mouthed the words 'so-so' which made Kathleen smile. "Who else do you like? Any magical bands?"

"No," Severus struggled to say.

"Me neither, most magical bands all sound alike, and alike means, all sound like crap."

"Yeah, I heard American ones were a tad better than British ones."

"Um, a tad perhaps, but what Muggle bands do you like?" she asked as Severus closed his eyes and wanted more than anything to fall asleep. The pain was growing unbearable. His shoulder was throbbing and swelling and he thought the magical sutures would pop at any moment.

"Get the white, pearl white, vial, it's pain reliever," Severus said. He always hated to take any kind of pain killer, but he needed to get Kathleen safely back to Hogwarts and he feared the pain would make him lose consciousness. "Give me half a vial full," he said, knowing the full vial would make him loopy. She found the vial and fed it to him. He couldn't help but notice his own concoction had a nice, coconut flavor to it. Within a few seconds his pain started to decrease. "Okay, now there's a burnt orange one, it's anti-inflammatory, feed me the entire vial," he instructed. It took k a moment to find the correct shade of orange. Once he drank it, the throbbing lessened in intensity.

"Do you need some water?" she asked.

"Yes," Severus replied, feeling more parched than he ever remembered feeling. She cast the spell and let water trickle from her wand and into his mouth. She drank some as well and then held Severus's right hand.

"How are you?" Severus asked.

"Oh, horrified, terrified...bleeding..."

"Most on your face has dried..."

"I'm bleeding from um, the bottom of my foot, which fuckin' kills, and uh...well, I'm still on the rag," she said with a smile. "Is there a uh, loo around here?"

"I have no idea, I guess go look but don't go far," Severus spoke as she rose to her feet and limped towards the darkened hallway. The walls in the Shrieking Shack were squeaking and outside Severus could hear wolves and werewolves howling. Severus couldn't believe the predicament he'd gotten them into. If he lost his arm, he felt he deserved it for being so stupid.

"Oh, I found it!" he heard her say. Severus took some deep breaths and wondered what time it was. A moment later she was back next to him. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."

"I hope you didn't sit on the seat."

"What? Shit, I took one look and came back! I'd rather cop a squat in the corner!"

"Go for it, all it can do is improve the look of the room."

"Wonder if there's a chamber pot anywhere? I gotta pee," she said, looking around. '"Hmm, there's some old, ugly ass vase."

"Do it," Severus spoke in a low, monotone voice. She wandered over behind him and then vanished to a far corner of the room. He could hear water trickling and then heard her giggle.

"Never thought I'd use a filthy doily as toilet paper before," she stated as Severus smiled.

"We'll get you an antibiotic when we get back, we need one just from being inside here."

"Yeah, seriously, this place is highly disturbing," she said, coming back over to sit next to Severus. "Well that was pleasant. Never pissed in a vase before."

"See, I can show you a really good time, can't I?" Severus tried to joke as Kathleen smiled and took his right hand again.

"Well, good, I'm not so sure about, interesting, well yeah, it's one of the most interesting nights of my life," she smiled. "So, uh, what Muggle bands do you like?" she asked as Severus closed his eyes. He was still in moderate pain. He was dizzy and terribly weak. All he wanted was water and a nap. "Stay with me Sev, come on...bands."

"Depeche Mode aren't so bad," he struggled to say.

"Yeah, they are okay I guess...I like R.E.M."

Severus curled his top lip in disgust. Kathleen chuckled and bit her bottom lip.

"Who else? Come on Severus, stay with me here, talk to me...who else?"

'"Um...The Cure."

"Yeah, that was pretty obvious...who else?"

"Siouxsie and the Banshees," Severus spoke slowly.

"Ja, are they really Banshees?"

"No...posers."

"I thought so. So, uh...tell me about...Spinner's End...where is it? What's it like? Do your family live near it?" she asked as Severus slowly began to drift into and out of consciousness. "Sev! Wake up! Talk to me, come on! Spinner's End!"

'It's almost as charming as this place...it's...small...it's in...Derby..."

"Derby? Never heard of it, what's it like?"

"It sucks."

"What's the wizarding village there like?"

"Isn't one."

"What? Really?"

"Really, no wizards there..."

"Well there's at least one wizard there," she smiled.

"No, I'm not there, so the current wizarding population of Derby is, none."

"It was just you?"

"No, there were...three, total...but now, well, none."

"I see. Wow, growing up around all those Muggles, just like me...between you and I, I don't care for Muggles much."

"Me neither. But come to think of it, most wizards I've met suck too," Severus replied.

"Well, I'm forced to agree, and I'd also like to add, mermaids suck, oh, and werewolves."

"Yes, we should move to Mars or something," Severus mocked as Kathleen laughed.

"One more hour to go, think you'll make it?"

"Who knows. Show me your foot," Severus said. She put her foot up on the sofa where he could see. She must have been in really bad pain. The bottom of her heal was split down the middle, but the blood was all scabbed. He stared at the witch who was remarkably calm. Severus still was cold and feeling very weak. The thought of standing up and crawling through the tunnel and walking back to Hogwarts scared him.

"My foot is bad, huh?" Kathleen asked.

"Yeah, but you'll be fine. I'm sure Damocles will pay you still," Severus replied as Kathleen began to rummage through her robes. She removed a lipstick, breath mints, and a tiny black box.

"Want a mint?" she asked. Severus just shook his head no.

"What's in the box?"

"Oh, that's my sex-toy box..."

"Thanks but I'm not in the mood,' Severus joked.

"Me neither actually. No, I always have it with me, never know when you'll run into some nymphomaniac on the street and make some extra money."

"I need to roam the streets more. I've never really encountered a random nymphomaniac."

"You've not spent enough time in New York, Sev," she jibbed. "Oh, Narcissa placed another order, want to know what for?"

"No..."

"She custom ordered a green butt-plug, I didn't ask who it was for. Oh and I forgot to mention, for their birthdays last month they got matching cat-of-nine-tails, his was green and hers silver in color, isn't that sweet?"

"I may vomit."

"Yeah, that was a difficult order to place, but the commission man, wow! I'm making a fortune off them. So do you have any other rich perverted friends you can refer me to?"

'I'm sure I do," Severus spoke in a low tone.

"What's the sickest thing you ever did?"

"A really ugly chick in Lucius's back yard...in front of his house-elf."

"I didn't take you for the exhibitionist type."

"I'm not but his elf is retarded and a voyeur apparently...you?"

"Oh, I had this boyfriend who liked to be handcuffed and called a bitch when he came, so I uh...well..."

"Handcuffed him and called him names while he came...you and I really aren't that sick as it turns out."

"Why was she ugly?"

"Huh?"

"The ugly chick you boned in the Malfoy backyard."

"I didn't think she was that ugly but Lucius let it be known that she was haggish. I was a teen and any chick that wanted to shag a slimy, skinny fuck like me didn't have to exactly beg for it."

"Aw, shag, that's so cute...oh and you're not that skinny," she mocked. "What's the deal with the hair anyway?"

"Well being in a steamy basement all day with concoctions, mixed with a natural tendency to have greasy hair, mixed with a potion I need for my eyesight which adds a little extra goo to my not-so-silky sheen doesn't exactly help the matter."

"Wow, bummer!" she smiled and then paused for a moment. Severus was about to close his eyes when she resumed making small talk. "So, Sev, wake up...um, you said there are no wizards in derby now? Where are your folks?"

"Gone," Severus whispered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how did they die?"

"They are not dead, they are just gone...I'd rather talk about Lucius's butt plug actually."

"I have a sample one here in my box if you want to see it."

"No, I was mostly kidding."

"Don't fret; your friend isn't gay, if that's why you're so uptight."

"I'm uptight because I don't care to think about anything going into or out of his ass, or really, anyone else's. I know very well that there are many nerves in the rectum and this little thing called a prostrate that when massaged causes one to feel intense pleasure, not that I'd know."

"You've not lived till you've had a finger in your ass Sev."

"Shit...I'd hate to die of infection knowing I never truly lived...shucks," he remarked as she laughed."

"I'd be happy to finger your ass right now, before you die."

"Can I get a rain check on that?"

"Yeah, besides, that stink stays on your finger for freakin' ever and there's only one special magical solution that removes it."

"Acid?"

"Ha! Ouch. No, but it's used to remove grime from pots and pans."

"Oh yes, that will clean anything, even the ever popular shit-finger. Who's ass were you fingering?"

"That same weird boyfriend..."

"Okay, thanks, not sure why I asked. Is it time to head back yet?"

"Almost...don't you have to pee or anything?"

"Yeah but I can hold it..."

"I can hold it for you!"

"I thought you weren't horny?"

"All this butt plug and ass talk has begun to turn me on just a little, I have to admit," she said and then began to laugh.

"I must be really, really bad off...I'm not randy at all," Severus admitted. She made a phony sad face and then leaned in closer. She ran her fingers though his bloody and sweaty hair and stared into his eyes. She kissed him gently on his forehead and smiled at him. All Severus could do was squeeze her other hand and take a deep breath.

"You pushed me behind you tonight, and held out your arms to protect me...like that would work...but you were acting on pure instinct. It was so sweet. No, it was chivalrous. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips and then sat back up in her chair. She let go of his hand and wandered over to the window.

"I see light in the horizon."

"Until the sun actually rises, they won't turn back."

"Oh."

"Don't you know anything about werewolves?" Severus asked, wondering why no DADA teachers ever seemed to know anything about their subject.

"No, we don't have them in the US, remember?"

"Yeah. You said the killing curse worked for you in the past...what did you kill?" he asked. He sat in silence for a moment. He couldn't turn his head to see her, but he knew she was still near the window.

"Okay, I see the actual sun, should we leave?"

"Give it five minutes, then we have to crawl out of here, I'm sure my wound will reopen," Severus instructed.

"Is there some kind of suture reinforcing I can do?"

"No. Just um, help me to my feet," he said, instantly feeling dizzy as he sat up on the sofa. She limped to him and placed her arm around him. He slowly got to his feet, only to fall right back down on the sofa. "Gimme a second."

"Need more potions?"

"Yes but what I need, I don't have...okay, help me up again," he said as she helped him stand. He pushed all of his weight up against her, which caused her to lose her balance for a moment. She regained her footing and the two headed back to the tunnel that got them there in the first place. Severus took one look at it and knew he'd not be able to crouch. "We need to exit from the front door and Apparate from here to the forbidden forest I think."

"But we're so close to Hogwarts..."

"There's no way I can crawl, not with this shoulder."

"I'll go, you stay for now..."

"No! I'm not staying here alone!" he urged, which made Kathleen turn to look at him funny for a moment.

"Um, what's the stretcher spell?" she asked. He again felt stupid for not thinking of it himself. He transfigured one and laid down on it. "Just drag me to the front of the tree, I'll walk from there...last thing I need is any student seeing me lying on a stretcher."

"Won't they rejoice?" she joked. Severus tried to smile but was too weak. She lead him out through the long, cavernous tunnel. Once he saw sunlight, he got off the stretcher and used her as a crutch to help him to the castle. The two limped, slowly, in the direction of Hogwarts. Even though it was so close, it seemed very far. Each step caused immense pain from his shoulder to flow down his torso and up to his head. In the sunlight, Kathleen's facial injuries looked far worse, and he noticed her limp was very bad. The witch was in a lot of pain and never once complained about it.

The massive wooden doors were in sight when s remembered something that made him scream.

"Fuck!"

"What?" she asked.

"It's fuckin' locked!"

"Don't you have a key?"

"Yeah...in my cloak...at Belby's!"

"Fuck!" she shouted. The two were standing at the doors and just about to pound on them when they heard the wood began to squeak. The doors slowly opened as they heard muffled voices from behind them. A moment later they were greeted by the horrified faces of Dumbledore and Filch.

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