Run! RUN! Quicker! The faster you fly through the forest the faster you can get to the boy! The Forbidden Forest was alive with movement, though the moon barely penetrated the trees and something was hot on the Sidhe's tail. The hungry lycanthrope, formerly Remus Lupin, was going to make her his next meal. She had heard the boy, the one they called "Snivellus", as if the pack of young males who called themselves "The Marauders" could conjure up a more fitting name, cry out. It wasn't her duty to protect the boy, but, if he was supposed to be her ultimate master then she couldn't exactly let him die.
The half man and half wolf leapt at her haunches but the doe kicked him square in the mug as hard as she could with the tips of her cloven hooves, slicing into his face and getting blood in his eyes before she bounded away from him and towards the willow. Where had the stag gone? She quickly changed direction as the scent of the buck and blood filled her nose and led her back to the forest she had just bolted out of, but it was only the stag and the boy, the grim and the rat were nowhere to be seen.
"Move aside." She pushed the stag out of the way, her face only fractions of inches away from Severus's face. If he were conscious, it would have been the perfect opportunity, but trauma and possibly blood loss played in the doe's favor.
"And who the hell are you?" the stag snorted back, shaking his antlers at the much smaller doe who kicked at his face and barked in response, her guard hairs along her back rising like needles on a porcupine. Immediately the memory of the doe attacking him came back in a flash and he knew it was the very same deer.
"What the bloody hell happened? Where are the other two idiots?" the hind looked around quickly before her gaze returned to the stag who, for the most part, seemed rather bewildered.
"You…you…you can speak?" the doe merely nodded in response, too frantic to worry about where the other boys were. She looked over his wounds and at first glance she hadn't seen it until she picked up a stick to move his clothing, if she actually physically touched him and he woke up he would claim her as his own and frankly, that didn't need to happen now. There it was, a large section of arm torn away by only one very obvious creature.
"Damn it, I was afraid of that." She turned quickly to James, "You there, Potter, how sharp are your horns?"
"Um…you're a fucking talking doe, mind explaining how you are making S-OOOOOOUUUUUNNNND-ZZZZ?" the doe rolled her eyes and kicked at him again, missing him by mere inches.
"No time. I'll owe you a favor later; just stab me with your sharpest tine." The doe waited but James Potter didn't budge, until she suddenly turned on him and he had no choice but to gore her in the shoulder. As they stepped back from their deer-squabble, James blabbered apologetically but the Sidhe was far too busy to hear him. She began to lick at Severus's werewolf bite, picking up the blood with her tongue and swallowing it, trying to take as much of the saliva out of the wound left there by Lupin. Before her own blood clotted, she used her tongue again as a brush to paint her blood onto his forearm and finally to drop some of her blood into his mouth and stepped back.
The flesh around the arm began to heal quickly, the muscles going first but not before the injured Snape regained consciousness, and rather vocally expressing his gratitude while rolling around in extreme pain. Though the doe didn't seem to be in better shape, she bolted a good distance from the boys (James had now reverted back to his human self) and writhed in her own agony.
"SON OF A BITCH! BLOODY HELL! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"You're lucky I heard you screaming you moron! Next time you can have fun being a werewolf!" the Sidhe seemed to have trouble standing but eventually she darted off deeper into the forest as the Headmaster made his way through the woods and towards them.
When the hind found a suitable thicket to collapse in, she lay there panting, her wound had disappeared completely but she could still feel the searing pain experienced by the boy. A rustle in the bushes around her made her quiet herself and get as low to the ground as possible.
"You've finally found yourself a master." The doe heaved a sigh of relief as it was only another Sidhe, except without the added insult of being a hind.
"You scared the shit out of me." The doe breathed, lying quietly on the cool earth as the other Sidhe spoke to her again.
"Maybe you'll finally learn your lesson." The Sidhe who wasn't a doe was actually rather human looking, hell, she could have been a Muggle with the way she had been dressed. Long auburn hair ran down past her shoulders like a mane while her ensemble was very plain. She wore nothing more than a white tunic, though over her shoulder was a bow and a quiver of arrows.
"Just because we are blood now doesn't seal our bond, you know that." The hind looked up, "You think after all these years of being free, though in the form of a fucking deer—you know how many idiots took shots at me? Or how many times I nearly got hit by one of those Muggle machines? I was free Mother! FREE! I know the rules of my punishment, but you haven't won yet!"
"Daughter, is it so hard to believe that maybe learning a little servitude is good for you? You out of all the others, my own blood betrayed me and took the longest to complete her sentence." The woman hesitated, even though her daughter was stubborn and even difficult at times, mothers always had a soft spot for their offspring.
"The bond hasn't officially been sealed yet, until he touches me and verbally claims me as his, I'll have to live with the consequences. The boy feels pain, I feel pain. The boy feels pleasure, I feel pleasure. The boy dies…" the hind's voice broke off and the woman smirked triumphantly. Although they were now bonded by blood, her daughter had made a fatal mistake, even if she had indeed saved the boy's life.
"The punishment ends, but not before you experience death yourself, you will feel everything he feels the moment he dies and you yourself will experience what it is like to die." The woman adjusted her bow before moving off, but not before warning her daughter.
"If the dark one captures you, you best not tell him who your master is, if he kills the boy—we don't stand a chance at bringing balance back to this side of the veil."
"Greeeeaaaat…." The hind relinquished a heavy sigh before curling into a ball and for once, actually sleeping, it was going to be a long time before she was needed by the boy again.
Severus in the meantime, was not a werewolf, although Dumbledore suspected that the boy's lack of wounds had meant that he had been treated by someone or something. Sitting in his office, the Headmaster stared down at the fifteen year old who was very obviously bruised now that he owed James Potter a debt of gratitude. As he rounded his desk, he cleared his throat and waited for Severus to look up.
"Curiosity killed the cat, and in this case, nearly yourself. I don't think if the doe had been hanging around here, for whatever reason, that you would have survived." The headmaster paused and the teenager shook his head, being completely unaware of the exchange of blood between the two of them.
"What do you mean?"
"You were bitten." Dumbledore replied quietly whilst the young man's expression of fear turned into an expression of anguish. He immediately pulled up his sleeve to see the obvious mark that now branded him as a werewolf but—there was nothing. Severus was amazed but confused; his arm had no evidence of the bite wound it had suffered. How? How was this even possible?
"The Sidhe healed me?" he turned his arm over a few times in the light but it never changed.
"Precisely," the headmaster paused, "I've known for some time that the creature is, well, the fabled creature of legend. Though why she has chosen to stand sentinel over you I cannot possible fathom. Have you captured her?"
"No. She won't let me near her, well, she will but…" the teenager's voice trailed off, after all he did have plenty of opportunity to capture her but she had repeatedly claimed that he had not been ready to handle such power.
"Your greed hasn't gotten the better of you; consider it a good thing, until you both consider yourselves ready for the commitment ahead. After all, it will be a lifetime one. She can teach you many wondrous things, knowledge that has been lost for centuries to time. I am surprised by your lack of ambition in not fully trying to capture and tame her; a lesser man would've placed her in a cage and ordered her to bring to fruition their deepest desires." Albus thought it very strange that a boy of nearly sixteen was not in any rush to obtain such a powerful creature, but perhaps it was better for both of them that the Sidhe remained an ally and not a servant. No telling what sort of powers, good and evil, had been searching for the beast since the beginning of time. The fact that the last one was here, following a boy around was surprising, if not completely unsuspected.
"Sir, if I have no bite wound, does it mean that she's prevented me from also becoming a werewolf?" Severus looked up from his arm and the headmaster shrugged.
"That's a question you'll have to ask her, I do not possess the knowledge of how it's possible." The headmaster paused, with that characteristic twinkle in his eye.
"Unless you care to wait until the next full moon to see if you become one."
Winter came when Sidhe had returned again back to the paddock, though she often left and went about her usual business. Her return had brought a small herd of red deer along with her, but it was always easiest to spot where the Sidhe was within the confines of the herd. The specks of dander that fell from the havens, and then slowly, turned into chunks that made the hind almost disappear completely during snowy days. It wasn't until right before Christmas vacation that Lily had come to her, standing contently gazing into the fortress where the nearly invisible hind could be seen. The Sidhe hadn't twitched a muscle as she watched Severus come behind Lily and the two began to a long talk, which of course, the hind eavesdropped.
"Aren't you cold?" He asked gently, but the girl shook her head and shrugged, glancing at him for only a second before returning to the intended target of her gaze.
"No."
"Evans, it's freezing out here!" He did something he never would have done on a normal day but it was his chance to finally bust a move. He removed his winter cloak and placed it around her shoulders, she moaned lightly in reply, annoyed by this but yet, thankful.
"Sev, you are the best Slytherin I know." The boy blushed and felt the warmth spread all over his body. He glanced away from her and when she didn't look back, he sniffed her hair. The hind would have laughed at the priceless expression on his face, she had never seen him so contented, but she knew the truth and the reality of it all. His dreams were to never come true.
The snow swirled around the two as Lily leaned back against Sev and put her head on his shoulder. Severus being the sensitive young boy he was took this to mean she liked him, he didn't hesitate and he kissed her ear.
"SEV!" Lily shrieked and jumped away from him startled, her green eyes wide with horror.
"What? I—I…I'm sorry Lily, I wasn't thinking." He stammered, "Forgive me?"
"Sev, I…I'm not like that. I don't like you that way."
Ah what fatal words for such a young boy at his age, but he'll never learn. This girl doesn't want him and there's nothing he or I can do about it, still I can't but feel pity for him. I'm his dream come true and yet I can do nothing to satisfy his greed for her. Completely obsessed, totally and utter in love with someone who doesn't love him. He will simply never learn will he? The hind thought, she snorted. Pity. What is this? I feel pity for such a thing. Get a hold of yourself, but, how can I when I know he's doomed to fail from the beginning. Mortals...
"I-I'm really sorry Lily, I really am. I don't know what I was thinking."
Maybe if he just got his hair out of his damn eyes and washed up a bit maybe he'd be at least halfway decent.
"Sev, you know I love you, but just as a friend. Nothing more. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Here we go, she asked him. Wait for it…
"Me?" he squeaked, "No. No…what would make you think something like that?"
You damned idiot.
"Sev, do you…have a crush on me?"
Dear Gods girl, stop it, can't you see your breaking his already broken heart? HE'S MISERABLE!
"Ha! Ha, that's funny Evans." He ruffled his hair, "It's rather cute that you think that, me of all people…."
No, no, no, no no no NO! Foolish boy, are you that shy and insecure with no balls to tell her the truth? I should have expected it, especially from you my dear.
"Severus, you can tell me."
NOW the bitch decides to get serious, god damn Lily Evans, can't you see he loves you?
"Lily, honestly, no. I couldn't—I wouldn't."
You shouldn't…but you do, don't you?
"I should be getting back to the dormitory, I told Remus I'd study with him." She backed away before leaving completely, taking his cloak and all.
The hind watched as the ruined boy went and slumped down against the gate, talking to himself the entire time as the snow fell thicker and thicker. A half an hour passed by before the hind moved towards the gate.
"She took your cloak." That was the only thing the hind could conceive of saying, she had no comforting words for him to hear, and even if she did, he would never listen to her.
"Damn it." He was crying, again, it was the third time this week that he had been and the hind had caught him sobbing again.
The Sidhe scrambled through her gate carefully as not get stuck and lay as close to him as she could. She still wouldn't allow him to touch her, though she could tell through his anguish that it was some kind of compassionate act of touching him or letting him bury himself in her fur and sob. He still wasn't ready. She got off the ground and bounded off, eventually she turned around to gaze over the boy's still huddled and sobbing figure.
I'm only sorry I can do nothing for you.
Then she continued off, heading towards the wild where she belonged.
The spring came and then the summer. Severus spent every waking hour with the Sidhe who listened to every single rant he could possibly come up with. The hind would always listen intently and then shake her head after a while when he had to walk back to the castle. The hind couldn't but feel a twinge of guilt, if she allowed him to capture her; she could practically give him everything he could ever imagine…well, except Lily Evans. The first year of their meeting had been a pleasant one, how could she forget the expression on his face when he found out that she was what his heart sought. It had been centuries and she had been lonely all this time, but now, she could feel a part of her coming back to life again and it seemed that things were looking up. No Death Eaters had found her just yet, no Voldemort or anyone of that sort, yet. She had to remind herself that there was always the possibility that Severus could betray her secret and never claim her as his own. But, the longer they spent speaking to each other and learning about one another, the further that option went from her mind.
As far as his little insane obsession with Lily Evans, that hadn't faded in the slightest. For all the hind knew, the duo was always together, but that girl had no clue, but if she did, then why did she deny him? His attitude hadn't changed much either, he was still as bitter as ever.
Had this been the era of the emo, Severus Snape would have been the biggest one of all. Surely the obsession with the girl would fade in time. She had only one or two visions of the girl's life after school—they were not good by any means, and she knew the girl would have to die. Of course, she couldn't bring herself to say this to Severus; the poor young man would probably slit his wrists or something. Though she was surprised at his patience with her, the fact that he had not once reached out to touch her. They had the conversation about how she had managed to spare him from a fate where every full moon he would transform into something uglier than his already hideous personality. She neglected to mention the fact that he would now feel everything she felt physically and she, well him.
He didn't need to know…not yet anyway…