3 months later
I was so tired. 3 days I had sat here, barely moving and waiting for some sign of movement. The Final Battle as it had been dubbed had ended 4 days ago now, the next day was spent rounding up the remaining death eaters and searching for survivors, that's when they found Severus. A group of senior death eaters had cornered him and although there time would have been better spent running; for the Dark Lord had fallen, instead they had tortured my Master, blaming him for their defeat. The order had found him the next day and brought him to Madame Pomfrey, many had been killed or died of injuries and I had overheard Madame Pomfrey talking to the Headmaster that if he survived then it would be nothing short of a miracle, his body although strong due to previous tortures may not be able to withstand this one, there is only so long that you can suffer under the cruiciatus curse until death is certain or insanity. It looked like a physical blow to Dumbledore; he had survived but was a lot weaker as a result, although the survival of all members of the "Dream Team" had certainly been supporting him as best they could. Although one was usually absent from Dumbledore's side. Hermione had been with Severus almost constantly, she had been helping Madame Pomfrey with the variety of patients, and most of her spare time was spent sitting with me at Severus' bedside, it was so reminiscent of when Severus had last been tortured that it was scary. Although this time he had not woken up.
Arching my back slightly so as to rid it of some of the aches I looked at the girl. Her shoulders sagged and she had black circles under her eyes, she looked as bad as I felt. Her hands shook from exhaustion as she reached for a pitcher of water on the bedside table, noticing as she did so where I was looking. Smiling thinly she re-folded her hands on her lap.
"Don't tell Madame Pomfrey" she whispered "she'd kick me out" I nodded my acquiescence, who was I to stop her taking care of Severus, we both strived towards the same goal. But the girl needed sleep, I over the years had become adjusted to Severus' insomnia had learnt to sleep deeply for short periods of time, she on the other hand was used to getting a good nights sleep, not to mention the toll the final battle had taken on her. Instead she had opted for taking sips of pepper-up potion every now and then, after the second day though I prevented her from doing so hissing and biting her until she gave up reaching for the bottle. Pepper-up could become addictive after a while and I did not want to deal with a craving Hermione as well as an injured Severus. But the girl still needed to rest, she was doing no good watching my Master sleep, leaping down from the shelf over Severus' bed I landed neatly on the bed, noticing that the girl's attention was completely focused on Severus I swiftly left the curtained area and raced towards the headmasters office.
Panting I paused to catch my breath as I reached the door to Dumbledore's office, my ears perked up as I heard voices on the other side, Weasley and the boy-who-still-lived, as rewarding as it would have been to see Potter panic at my appearance it would only slow me down. Placing one paw on the door I waited a few moments before a cat flap appeared in the wood (well how else would I move around the castle!) gently easing myself through I crept towards my goal, sticking to the edges of the room. Someone noticing me would result in questions from Dumbledore, something I could not be bothered to deal with in my tired state. Reaching the large and ornate bird stand at the edge of the room I scaled it (much harder than it sounds, apparently claws can't grip on smooth metal). I reached the top and swayed slightly, note to self never climb narrow and slippery bird stand when tired. However the motion awoke the purpose of my trip.
"Sophia" murmured Fawkes opening one golden eye "what is it?"
"I need your help"
It was inspired really, Hermione wouldn't sleep and I had already tried slipping her a sleeping draft but she was too clever for that, getting Fawkes to sing to her was perfect. She resisted for a few minutes before succumbing to his lullaby, whispering a quick thank you I leaped onto the bed and settled next to my Master. Another brief spurt of song filled the area causing me to turn to Fawkes, eyes questioning, but he had already left. Yawning I prepared to join Hermione and Severus in their slumber, only to leap up as the hand I rested against twitched. I was frozen for a few moments; the quiet moan broke the trance. Paws scrambling at the bedclothes I finally rested on my Masters chest, holding my breath in anticipation. After a few minutes I was rewarded with his eyes fluttering open slightly, clearly he was fighting to regain consciousness but soon after his eyes closed again, well I wasn't having that.
"Severus" I said gently. No response.
"Severus!" I yelled pounding my front paws into his chest, I got a response then. His eyes opened wide and he shot up causing me to be thrown backwards but after a few rolls I landed in a heap at the bottom of the bed.
"What?!" he croaked only to be faced with a bundle of very happy ferret.
"Severus" I cried in joy, burying myself in his arms.
"Sophia" he mumbled "what..? Why am I here?" Clearly he was not aware of what had occurred but at that moment I could not have cared less, my Master was conscious he was clearly just confused and not insane as I had feared, I was too happy to answer his questions. Finally he got a firm grip on me and I found myself being held in front of him, "Sophie" he said "tell me." So I did, I told him of the battle, the outcome and the fear that he would never recover. After my tale had finished he brought me back into his arms, but I was curious.
"Can you not recall anything Severus?" His arms tightened slightly and I could sense his unease.
"Just the pain" he whispered "I thought I was going to die" As I had done many times in my life I hid my emotions from him, I couldn't let him know how I had worried and the pain I would have felt at losing him, Severus never liked emotions, he saw weakness in them so I followed a brisker route.
"Well you're alright now," I replied settling myself more comfortably "It's over Severus your finally free."
"Yes" he smiled slightly "I am." We settled into a comfortable silence which was only broken by a sleepy sigh. I knew instantly that he had seen her by the way that he froze, although I was able to hide my emotions from him he had always had trouble hiding them from me, probably because he had never had anyone else to show them to, I could feel his heart soar while fear crashed down on him, there was such a mixture of emotions disbelief, anger, fear, hope and something that came and went so fast that I could not tell what it was.
"What is she doing here," he choked; the girl was still sleeping in her chair her hair which had previously been restrained in a tight bun was cascading down her back.
"Watching over you"
"What?!" he exclaimed quickly I dug my claws into his arms.
"Hush, she has only just fallen asleep we've been at your bedside for 3 days now, she was exhausted so don't you dare wake her" I could feel his shock.
"But why?" he gasped clearly out of his depth. Males of all species could be so stupid sometimes.
"She cares for you Severus surely you've noticed" his look of surprise clearly indicated that he had not "and I know you care for her to"
"I do not" he scowled at me
"Don't try to lie to me Severus, I've known you too long and I really can't see why you're denying it"
"I'm her teacher"
"Not anymore"
"I'm too old for her and too bitter"
"Shouldn't she be the judge of that?"
He grumbled to himself, I wasn't going to get any further with him, not in my tired state and seeing the girl stir again, I decided to leave Severus with her. There was only so much I could do for him, it was up to him now and despite his protest I knew that he cared for her. So squirming out of his arms I once again left them together, ignoring Severus' hisses to come back. I was in need of a rest and the area above the kitchens was perfect.
