Disclaimer: Not Mine
The Uninvited
Chapter 6
They apparated to the pavement just outside Grimmauld Place. Severus was still a little disconcerted that yet one more person now held the secret of the safe house and pulled her along roughly behind him, hoping to make in inside before they were seen. He held her wrist tightly and yanked her forward despite her muttered protests of stupid old men and slow witches and pulled the door open angrily, pushing her in front of him.
They entered through the front door opening to a long dark hall. Mrs Black started screeching at them from her portrait when they were only just inside the door. The witch walked up to the picture and stared at Mrs Black's image darkly, putting her hands on her hips and leaning close to its surface.
"So, what are you? Are you some harpy intent on ruining the Black's good name with this type of behaviour? Some sort of whore yelling in the stairs? Calling out your trade?" she scolded the portrait.
Mrs Black stared back contemptuously, opened her mouth to yell back, and then snapped it shut.
"That is better. Now act like the true lady of the house and stop screeching like a banshee in heat. The House of Black is receiving guests." She stood watching the woman in the picture, until Mrs Black huffed in displeasure and stomped out of sight.
"I must say, that is better," she frowned at him. "I am surprise she is allowed to act like that. Hasn't anyone ever told her to be quiet before?"
"However did you do that?" A plump witch with unkempt hair stood wiping her hands on an apron and looking at her strangely. "Molly Weasley, my dear, and who might you be?"
"Doris Bentley, Madame," she answered, giving a quick and formal curtsy.
"Oh my no, we will have none of that here. We stand on manners but nothing that fine," Molly said with a laugh then came to put her arm around the witch to take her to the kitchen.
The witch froze at Molly's touch. Stepping back and shaking her head, she looked back at Severus who was watching her intently, still smirking over the encounter with the portrait.
"Sir?" she asked quietly.
"It is fine, go with her," he frowned and stepped toward them. "She is a member of the Order."
"I am truly sorry, Madame. I was just… I mean…" she turned her eyes away from Molly's as a blush of red crawled up her neck.
"That is just fine my dear, sometimes we Weasleys can be rather overbearing," Molly laughed easily. "Come dear. Severus, dinner will be ready in just a few moments. Albus wants to start on time."
"We have just left our own dinner. However we will join the others for a cup of tea."
"Nonsense and fiddle de, we have plenty. Why, this child is skin and bones. Don't you feed her?"
Starting toward the kitchen Severus saw Doris shoot him a wide grin. She was already eagerly looking forward to eating again and hurried behind Molly as the smell of roasted meat and carrots floated toward her.
Severus had seen the witch's body when Poppy had shown him the wounds. He had seen her ribs, and seen how the bones of her hips jutted out at sharp angles. He had seen her collarbone defined under the scared flesh and remembered how each separate vertebra ran up her back like the ridge on a Razor Backed dragon. He wondered how often she ate and knew it was not often enough.
From her reaction to Molly, and her quick acquiescence to allow herself to be lead into the kitchen when food was tossed into the equation, he scowled thinking she was too easily swayed. How easy would it be to sway her back to the side of darkness if she got what she wanted? How easy to lead and control. He was still frowning as he strode after them down the hallway wondering what that something would be.
When the three arrived at the kitchen, they walked into an unusually quiet Weasley kitchen. Only Arthur sat at the table, reading the Daily Prophet. He looked up and saw the couple Molly had in tow.
"Severus, how good to see you. Ah, I see we have a guest." He stood and smiled easily, extending his hand only to let it drop when Doris did not approach him but turned her eyes away.
"Doris Bentley, Arthur Weasley," Severus introduced them, guiding Doris around to the back of the table, near the wall as he gave Arthur a slight shake of the head at the missed handshake. "Arthur works for the Ministry. He and his wife Molly have been members of the Order from the beginning."
Then leaning down so only she could hear, "It will serve you well to behave and watch your manners around them"
"That's right Doris," Molly smiled at them from the stove, giving Arthur a quizzical look. "Would you like a spot of tea before the others get here dears?"
"That would be fine Molly. However fire whiskey may make this easier to take," Severus smirked. He was surprised to receive a small kick under the table, and looked at the witch next to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Manners Snape," she hissed under her breath.
Severus could only stare at her. Never had anyone dared to correct his manners. Never had a mere witch presumed not only such familiarity, but to act this way in public was inconceivable. He was in awe, and for what would not be the last time, was speechless.
.
Arthur had witnessed the small exchange and was chuckling, looking at Severus and Doris with a snort of laughter.
"Well, Doris you are just what we need around here," he said as a commotion of new arrivals began. "Where ever have you been all his life?"
Albus and Minerva arrived and took up positions at the head of the table as Severus scowled at the witch sitting beside him. A large, deep spoken Wizard was introduced to her as Kingsley Shacklebolt, his dark skin and round face put Doris at ease at once. He looked kind and even his voice seemed to smile as he greeted her. She stood and leaned over the table, extended her hand and smiled widely as he greeted her.
Then a quiet, sandy haired wizard took up the seat next to Doris, followed by a pink haired witch dressed in loud colours who sat next to him and winked at her.
The witch was relieved to see Poppy come in, the more people she knew at the table the better she felt. She looked around the table and tried to move closer to Severus. There was a large barrel shaped man with hideous scars that stood looking at her with one magical eye spinning in circles and another who walked in with his shirt half unbuttoned and openly winked at her.
She did not know, nor was she introduced to these or the later arrivals. Although, the noise and activity made polite introductions near to impossible, Severus had also seen the look of withdrawal come over her. He understood the nervousness she must have been feeling in such a place and sent a scowl at Albus for suggesting that she attend.
"Is she a mother?" she whispered, nodding toward Molly.
"Yes, she has seven children, so whereas that may brand her a fool, she is most assuredly a mother."
The witch did not feel comfortable sitting next to the sandy haired wizard at on her left. She pulled as far as possible away from him, leaning over to Severus and putting her hand on his leg. She needed to ground herself and to hold on to something familiar as she felt the urge to stand and run. Swallowing hard as her head began to swim she tugged on Severus' sleeve.
"Yes witch?" He looked at her with obvious annoyance.
"Professor, I think I need to leave."
"You think do you? Well, unless you know for a fact I suggest you sit there as you have been told," he sneered down at her.
The wizard on her other side leaned forward slightly to talk to Severus. Doris caught the smell of earth, damp and dark on him. She shuddered slightly, and looked down to avoid his glance.
'Severus, I have not met this lovely witch, perhaps introductions are in order," he smiled shyly.
"Doris Bentley, this is Remus Lupin, he is also a member of the Order and a one-time Professor at Hogwarts. Professor Lupin, Miss Bentley, a guest of Hogwarts," he intoned.
Remus smiled at the witch, who shyly looked up to meet his eyes. In the same instant that she saw him, the image of a wolf, running free in the darkened woods came to her, his stench in her nostrils. Reaching up to throw her arm around her face, she was on her feet at once.
"NO!" She shouted. "Do not let him please," she begged no-one in particular, her eyes darting around, looking for a way out. The back wall was too close to squeeze between it and the seated guests to obtain freedom.
As Severus came to his feet to grab her shoulders, she was sinking to her knees to crawl under the table. Severus looked at Remus in anger.
"What did you say to her wolf?" Severus spat at Lupin.
Remus stood, his face reddening. "I said nothing Severus. Nor would I ever say anything offensive to a witch. Her or any other." He stood to leave the kitchen, in turn forcing four others to leave their seats and enable him to get from behind the table.
While Remus was taking his leave, the witch was still under the table, seeking escape. She saw a space, an opening across from where Remus had sat, vacated by the wizard she had seen wink at her, redoubling her speed she hurried toward it on her hands and knees. Once she was out from under the table, she rose to run only to feel arms around her waist.
She twisted against the restraint and screamed, kicked, and begged. She was aware of being carried out of the room and roughly shoved into another as she thrashed her arms and legs in an effort to free herself. She fell to the floor when Severus let go of her and seeing a heavy desk leg, she crawled to it wrapped her arms and legs around it, and held on.
Severus stood and dabbing at the scratch on his face and examined the back of his hands where she had drawn blood in her attempts to free herself. He had no idea what had just happened, and as much as he disliked Lupin, he knew that the wizard would never have said anything inappropriate to a witch.
Albus and Minerva rushed into the room with him as Molly brought up the rear. Arthur kept the rest in the kitchen away from the scene in the library.
Molly did not stop to stare, to consider her options or to decide what to do. She pushed Albus aside and sat on the floor, to pulling the witch to her and engulfing her in her arms.
Molly looked up at the others. "What in the world just happened? This child is shaking!" She questioned the three and they in turn, looked to each other.
"Now child, you tell me what is wrong," Molly said to the witch. "Tell me now, yes that's right. How can I fix what I don't know is broken?" she smiled warmly.
"Please, don't let them do it again," the witch looked wildly around the room. Spotting Severus, she pointed a finger at him. "He said you were a mother."
Molly looked up at Severus, seeing him shrug his shoulders in confusion as well. "Yes dear I am a mother."
"I want to leave now, he said I could," she said, again pointing at Severus. "He said I didn't have to stay. I know I have to leave. He said as soon as I knew I could."
"Hush dear, of course you don't have to stay, but you have not eaten yet," Molly tried to coax the witch up to sit on the sofa. "It is dinner time you know, everything is ready."
"No, I don't want to feed them," she whispered harshly looking around.
"Feed child, who would they make you feed?" Molly was growing ill at ease when she looked at the witches eyes. She was not sure what the witch was seeing, but she was quite sure it was not the library.
"Please, let me go, I cannot feed them anymore, please, they are too big," she hissed, leaning close to Molly's ear. "You can let me go. I won't tell him it was you. He won't know, I promise."
"Take her back to the castle." Remus' voice came from the hallway. "Take her back now, before she loses what little sanity she is so obviously trying to hold on to."
"Do you understand this?" Severus turned to Remus angrily. "What the bloody hell did you say to her?"
"Witch," Remus walked to stand near her. "Do you fed the pups, do you wean them?"
She nodded, sucking in a breath, her breasts heaved as she swallowed great gulps of air.
"Please sir," her tearful face turned up to his. "Please sir, no more."
He sat down with Molly on the floor and pulled the witch to him, stroking her hair and rubbing circles on her back. Dragging her onto his lap, he laid his head on hers and closed his eyes, just holding her, until he felt her relax.
"Shh, never again, I promise, never again," he whispered to her. After a while, he passed the girl back to Molly, waiting a couple of minutes to make sure she stayed still and then stood looking at Albus.
"Headmaster, Severus, a word please." He walked into the hallway, and turned to the sitting room with Albus and Severus following.
Remus looked at Minerva, who stood in the doorway as if to join the wizards, and shook his head sadly. "Please Minerva, not this time," he told her as he slid the pocket doors closed.
Remus waved toward the chairs silently indicating the other wizards to sit. He crossed to the straight-backed chair opposite them, leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees as he studied the floor.
"Before the invention of Wolfsbane, there were many more cases of wolf bite, and mixed breeds. It is almost unheard of now, for one such as me to actually mate with a wild wolf, however it has been done in the past," he said to the floor, obviously in discomfort.
"This is not something we speak of, nor something we can be proud of, and I will ask for you to keep any comments to yourself," he said with a pointed look at Severus.
"Voldemort is said to be encouraging this sort of behaviour again. It is rumoured that a wolf of mixed blood, between werewolf and bitch, would produce offspring that is are much more intelligent, more easily trained. Such offspring will have the intelligence and cunning of the wizard, but the lust to kill of the wolf."
"He is offering a boon to those affected with, with this condition, to mate with a wild animal. Albus, how do you think that makes me feel?" He looked up into the older wizard's face. "It is an evil and perverted mind that would force this upon anyone."
"The group that I have interactions with, at Albus' request," he spoke evenly but glared at Severus, "speak of the use of a weaning witch. It is much more to their tastes than filling dishes with human blood and setting it out for the pups. As far as I knew, this was not being done yet."
"You see Severus, my dear friend, when a mixed blood pup is weaned it must be on human blood, they must be taught your taste early. They should not, however have the blood brought to them, no they must learn how to hunt." He looked to Severus coldly. "Getting the picture yet?"
"I see further clarification is needed," he said, hearing only silence. "Well Professor, one thing that is most off putting to anyone new to battle is the sound, the smell, the sheer overload to the scenes senses. Many a wizard has fallen when his attention has been taken by, shall we say, a scream."
"The same may be said for wild animals," he continued, sitting down suddenly on the straight-backed chair, as if the words themselves had weight. "Screams can be distracting, and must be learned to be a normal occurrence when feeding. That is where the weaning witch comes in. You see Severus, your witch in there has all this knowledge. You could ask her the details. I am only privy to the general set up."
"The witch is stripped and then hung upside down, hands tied. The wolf bitch then rakes the witch with her claws, allowing the blood to run down to the fingers tips where the pups wait to suck." Remus closed his eyes, holding back tears, a very unmanly thing for a wizard to cry, but he lost the fight, feeling them fall.
Severus handed him a handkerchief, but did not offer a cutting comment. He may have disliked the wolf personally, but could not find it in him to taunt the man's tears over this.
"As the Pups grow, so do their appetites. They can reach a little higher for the blood. They can inflict their own gashes. I am told that the father, when not in a full moon enjoys watching the sight immensely, and my fellow wizards it is not his flesh and blood that he watches, but the naked witch." Remus sighed, apparently done; he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.
Severus then told them of finding her in the Forbidden Forest, the state of her dress, the thinness of her disrobed body, the scars, and the fact that they did not know her name. He did so as if giving a report, coldly and with no emotion.