Disclaimer: All belong to J. K. Rowling.
The Mansion
Severus held Lalla's body close to his. The minute he apparated to the designated location, he ran inside the mansion. He wandlessly opened the front door. Inside the mansion was soulless. He did not have time to dwell on the mansion's condition but could not help to notice how rundown it was. He carried her up to the second floor and chose the first room he saw. Another wandless spell at the door and it opened for him.
Surprisingly, the room was different from what Severus expected. It was neat, fresh, and human. He quickly laid Lalla down on the bed and did what he needed to. He vanished her coat and rolled her t-shirt passed the fresh wound. He closed his eyes and hissed painfully when he saw the wound. The spell cut deeply into her flesh, almost revealing the bones inside. This was not the first time he saw a wound, but his mentally battle could not get over the fact that he failed to protect her. He breathed heavily, trying to focus back to her. Then, he waved his wand and cast Tergeo then followed by Vulnera Sanentur. The wound healed slowly with the tip of his wand moved carefully along the wound.
After Lalla's wound sealed up, he took out a small box from his jacket's pocket and expanded it. He opened it, revealing a fairly amount of potions. He took out Blood-Replenishing, Pepper-Up, and Sleeping Draught. He lifted her head up and let it leaned back a bit before opened her mouth and pour in the potions, slowly one-by-one. When the last drop of the potions slipped into her throat, her face regained its healthy color. He let her laid back down to the bed while cleaning up the blood on her t-shirt, fixed her clothes, and tugged her in.
Finally, he pulled a chair next to her bed, sat there, and stared at her sleeping face. His breathing slowed down. She was out of danger and it made him felt less guilty about the event. But it did not mean that he stopped thinking about it. The image of her laid lifelessly on the ground, the blood soaked her white t-shirt, the paled face, the wound cut through her flesh, and everything of today replayed in his head like Muggle-film. His eyes began to get heavier. He closed them for a few seconds then opened again. He feared of losing the sight of her because last time, he did, she almost died. Eventually, he could not fight against his sleepiness, he drifted off to his world.
Neither of them knew how long they had slept, but when Lalla opened her eyes, she saw Severus's head rested on the edge of her bed with his hand held her. She traced her thumb on the back of his palm while remembered the previous event. She still remembered the face that grabbed her throat and threatened her life. His words echoed endlessly in her mind, "Stop running kid, we know where you will go."
She sighed as she came to a sad conclusion, someone must tip her off to the Death Eaters. Only three people knew about her mission and she felt a wave of sadness if one of them turned out to be a traitor. Her eyes fixed on the ceiling while trying to process her thoughts.
"Hey," Lalla heard a soft and familiar voice called her and before she registered what happened, a hand touched her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Severus," she saw his face came close to her and her hand subconsciously touched the line of his jaw. "I'm sorry."
"Shh…" he put his finger on her lips. "It's not your fault." His hand was still on her forehead, "You have a fever." He headed to the bathroom and came back with a cloth soaked with warm water and put it on her forehead. "Feel better?" He asked gently.
Lalla nodded and left out a heavy sigh, "I should have listened to you."
"Partly of your injury is my fault," Severus sat down to his chair. "I should not make an assumption that you know how to fight. Surrounding mainly with the Golden Trio, sometimes, I forget children should not involve in this mess in the first place."
"Circumstances create chaos," Lalla looked back to the ceiling. "It was a stupid mistake that neither of us should make. However, I will take your offer."
"Without pissing off this time?" his usual mood was back.
"Yes, without pissing off," she chuckled softly. "I have been thinking about the last three locations we went, something is off."
"I notice them too," Severus agreed with her points. "How many people know about your mission?"
"Three…" her voice broke off. "And without of their supports, we will have a hard to time to finance ourselves. That's why we need a new plan and…"
Before Lalla could continue her talk, both of their stomach protested angrily. They could not hold their laugh from embarrassing. Severus took the cloth off and felt her temperature. It was still a bit warm but she did not show any sign of tiring anymore.
"Do you know where we can look for foods?" Severus asked her while soaking the cloth with warm water in the bathroom.
"The kitchen may have some," she replied.
"Are you sure?" he walked out with disbelieving in his eyes and put the cloth on her forehead again.
"Why did you ask?" she sounded surprised.
"Your house is a very bad shape, barely holds up," he said firmly. "I don't think the kitchen has any food at all."
"But this room…" she began to say but realized something, she smirked. "Severus, give me your hand."
Severus frowned, not understanding her motive, but he still gave her his hand. She held his hand gently while removing one of the rings from her pinky. When he saw the ring, he almost withdrew his hand away but she grabbed his wrist before he could do anything else.
"What are you doing?" he yelled horrifying.
"I'm not proposing to you. If that's what you are thinking," she giggled and placed the ring to his thumb. The ring adjusted its size when it touched the wizard's skin. There was a small glow when the ring fitted into his thumb. She was chanting something, and he was sure, he heard the words Semper Sodales (Forever Soulmate).
"Please say the name, Cadfael," she told him.
He hesitated and his eyes still glued on the ring. He kept looking back and forth between the ring and her eyes. She gestured to say the name. After a while, he finally called, "Cadfael."
A small white fog gathered from inside their room and quickly form into a human figure. A middle age man with silver hair, who was in a butler suit, stepped out of the fog. He bowed politely at them and said, "Welcome home, Master and Mistress."
Severus's face turned as pale as he saw Lalla laid lifelessly on the ground when he heard the word, "Master." He turned to her and pointed to the ring, "I definitely heard you said Semper Sodales."
"Yes, I did, but not in that context," she defended herself while trying to hold her laugh. "The spell is for the rings, not for us. I do not have the power to call for Cadfael, this house's butler. However, you have the capacity with both power and magic. Therefore, I transfer half of the ownership's right to you. I believe Cadfael put on a protection enchantment to make the house looked like a rundown house. Is that right Cadfael?"
"Yes, Mistress," Cadfael nodded.
"But I did not feel or sense any ward's protection while carrying you inside," Severus questioned but his eyes never went away from the ring.
"Cadfael took down the ward at the moment we apparated here. He has the ability to sense anyone who entered the property and he knows I only share this place to people I trust the most. He takes it down so whoever with me can enter without getting themselves killed," she explained.
"And you prepare this room as well? Why not the whole house?" Severus turned to Cadfael and asked.
"There are limitation in what Cadfael can and cannot do," Lalla replied.
Before Severus could continue his interrogation, their stomach growled again. He groaned annoyingly and gestured Cadfael to leave the room. When he was at the door, he turned around and said to Lalla, "This conversation is not over."
Lalla gave Severus that unusual smile which showed all her teeth. He grumpily walked out of the door and joined in with Cadfael.
"Now, Cadfael. Let restore the house and cook something," Severus groaned again, lazily walking along with the butler.
"Yes, Master," Cadfael nodded politely.
"And stop calling me Master," Severus snapped at the butler.
"Yes, Master," Cadfael totally ignored Severus's order.
Severus shook his head and took the lead, walking down to the first floor. Cadfael followed after his new Master, and Severus failed to see the interesting smirk on the butler's face. He definitely enjoyed annoying him.
Author: And Lalla's still alive. Woohoo! This chapter was the worst of all. I wrote and rewrote more than ten times just to make it right. It was frustration T^T Anyway, it came out alright. Enjoy and review. Love as always ^^