Disclaimer: All belong to J. K. Rowling
The Run
They were on the run.
Ethelinda's right hand was dripping blood. Whoever cursed her did a very thorough job, she could not shake the pain away even with the help of Severus' potions. She blinked a few times to get a better look, but her eyes remained unclear. A wave of headaches came by, making the young woman hiss painfully and stop in her tracks. The headaches had begun to happen more frequently since her mother came back. She did not know if it was due to her injuries or something else.
Walking in front of her was Severus, whose condition was not any better than hers, but he had endured pains much worse in the past, these right now were nothing to compare. He noticed her sudden stop and turned around. The young woman's eyes were completely shut with her back resting against a tree. The sound of her breathing was uneven. He could tell that her injuries caused a difficulty in her breathing. His eyes were soft although his face remained impassive. The man made his way to the young woman and pulled her closer, resuming their path.
It had been more than ten hours since they miraculously escaped the wrath of Freya and they had not rested. Mostly because they feared that Freya would somehow figured out their location. Therefore, they had no choice but to kept moving. However, being running non stop like that had exhausted their body. And with their injuries, their energy went downhill quite fast. Right now, all they needed was a safe place to rest.
Severus put his arm around Ethelinda's waist, preventing her to lose her balance again. She barely opened her eyes and leaned completely against him. Their walk had slowed down due to both of their tiredness. Then, without a warning, her knees gave up and she fell down to the ground.
"Ethel, can you hear my voice?" Severus hurriedly pulled her close to him and asked. His fingers pressed onto the side of her neck, checking for her pulse. It was there but not very strong. He opened her eyes and looked at her irises and saw them dilate slowly. She was losing her strength and he quickly took out his emergency potions box. It was the third time of the day that he needed to feed her his potions.
They were in the middle of nowhere. He could not tell if they were close to a civilization or completely surrounded by trees. His gaze moved from tilting her head back a bit as he poured the potions down her throat, to observe the area. Then something caught his attention, a cave. It was barely visible due to the different layers of trees and molds. Yet, it was a perfect place for them to rest. Also, it had been ten hours, if her mother knew their location, she would already be here. Thus, he took a risk by choosing the cave for the night. Her condition began to get worse and without rest she would not last long.
His gaze was back at her. In moments like this he would forget the distance he tried to create between them for the past few days. Instead, the man's eyes could not hide his concern for the young woman. He did not even realize that he called her, Ethel.
After he settled both of them in the cave, she regained consciousness. Her eyelids opened slowly. They stared at him for a second as if she was seeing something else and not him. Then she nodded and coughed hard, resting her head on his chest. Some blood spilled out from the corner of her lips. "You know I cannot die right?" She attempted to joke but it did not come out right. Her voice was weak and she was losing her focus again.
"Don't talk too much," he ordered gently. "You might escape death but a coma is awaiting if you keep bleeding like this."
"Where are we exactly?" she whispered again.
"In a forest," his oddly short reply met a soft chuckle from her and his lips curved up pleasurably. "I don't know exactly the location, but we're probably in somewhere in the far East."
"How do you know?" she asked curiously.
"We have passed a few trees which only grow in a warm and humid environment," his teaching voice suddenly came back. "And a few countries in the far East have the perfect condition for them to develop. That is why I know we are somewhere in the far East. I can do a spell to determine our location but that may draw unwanted attention from the ministry."
"Why can't we apparate back to the mansion?" she asked again as she remembered of their failure to retreat to the mansion.
"I don't know," he honestly answered, "but theoretically, the mansion no longer recognizes us as its master and mistress."
"Freya," she hissed the name in a disgusted tone. That woman must have something to do with the wards because no one would have known how to un-ward the place, except for the current head of the family and an ex-one. The woman clearly had planned well as she closed off their only way of retreat. She definitely had no intention of having her daughter stay alive after getting the box. Despite her mother's twisted plan, she was still amazed of how they managed to escape in the nick of time. Mostly thanks to two unexpected people, Jonathan and his mystery friend. They appeared right when Freya cast her signature spell to kill Severus.
"Snape, take it and get Ethel away! Now!" Novas yelled from across the place as he threw a small amulet to Severus' hand. The older man flicked his wand and sent Freya's spell away from the two people. Jonathan followed shortly behind and quickly put up a strong protection spell around them, preventing Freya and her men to get closer. Apparently, Severus recognized Novas as he nodded at the man while Ethelinda had no idea of who was accompanying Jonathan.
It happened too quick. Before she was able to comprehend what was happening, Severus pulled her close to him as he flipped the amulet and they disappeared. The amulet was a portkey.
"You should have taken the chance," her hoarse voice whispered.
It was a short moment before Jonathan and Novas appeared. She had been hiding behind his back while he fought off any attack from Freya and her men. Her little hand clapped with his and their rings were brushed at each other.
"I retrieved the item," she sent her thought to him. "You fulfilled your promise, and I think it's time for you to take your second chance."
She waited for him to reply, to say that he would take the offer now, because she could see that their chance of surviving was very low. But his answer never came.
"No, I'm not leaving you behind, knowing you will not get out alive," he shook his head, patting her back gently.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"It's not your fault," he soothed her as his hand continued to move up and down slowly on her back. "I have made the promise to protect you and I will not break it until you're safe from… everything."
She did not say anything else, just continued to rest in his arms. It was one of the few rare moments they stayed close like this and she wanted to treasure it. She loved the sandalwood scent that his clothes gave off and sometimes a bit of peppermint. While she buried her face in his clothes, he was holding her tight. As much as his mind began to reason of how wrong their current position was, he did not want to let her go. His logical mind had lost the battle to his heart, the moment he held back to his arms again. He wanted to protect her, not because of their promise, but purely because his heart felt right to be there with her. Everything would be fine as long as they were together.
"I don't think they would follow us now," he finally spoke up but did not let her go. "There is a cave just a few meters away. We can stay there for the night."
"I think it's a good idea," she looked up and smiled at him.
His lips curved up and formed a very faint smile. Then they both stood up, unbalanced, and head to the nightfall was beginning to show.
oOo
"I never thought we would end up in this ditch," Novas cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Language, Novas," Jonathan groaned, leaning against the cold wall. "Well, at least we sent them away on time. I have no regrets now."
"I didn't plan for her to gain that much power," Novas sighed, remembering the moment Severus and Ethelinda disappeared, Freya had put both of them in a body bind with just a flick of her wand. "Did you notice that the magic around Ethel was flicking uncontrollably?"
"I did," Jonathan arched an eyebrow as the image of Ethelinda's magic leaking out without her noticing appeared in his mind. "Do you think it has something to do with Freya?"
"I'm not sure," Novas shook his head. "This is the first time I see someone's magic manifest beyond its capacity. However, I hope it has nothing to do with her mother. It's bad enough that the woman wants to kill her daughter. I don't want to see her devour her as well."
Jonathan nodded as he agreed with Novas. Freya's mind was not something they wanted to process. If she could kill her daughter without blinking her eyes, then eating was the least they would want to witness. "So what will happen to us now?"
"Torture us until we spill Ethel's location," Novas did not blurt out, his face was distant somehow. "Or starve us, and at the weakest point, I will consume you."
Jonathan chuckled but remained unmoved, "Well, that's something I want to see. I don't mind becoming a vampire. At least they don't run around and kill their family."
"We're not saints, Jonathan, but I have to agree with you that we don't attack our family," Novas closed his eyes and continued. "Being a vampire, we accommodate with loneliness. We can turn people, but how many of them willingly spend their eternal life with us? If their will is stronger than the lust of blood, then the turn will lose its effect and their body will dissolve into dust. Or they turn into something like a zombie, thirsty for blood but has no brain."
Novas' explanation ended with a long silence. Neither of them wanted to continue with the subject. Loneliness, they all experienced it, just in different forms.
oOo
The girl's eyes fixed on the boy, who lay on the bed with his eyes shut completely. It had been months since the end of the war. Many things had happened but the boy remained in a coma without any sign that he would wake up. People came and went, eventually, only she was left, waiting next to his bed.
The healer told her that his physical body was healed and well, but for some reasons, he refused to wake up. They even checked for Dark Magic or any type of curses, but found nothing. It was almost like he gave up with his life, which was not how the boy would do. He might have his temper, he might charge into a battle without a plan, but he was not the type to give up.
Hermione Granger crossed her arms, leaning against her chair, and watched his chest rise and fall. "What happened, Harry?" Her intuition told her that something was wrong but her hands were tied at the moment. With everyone busy to rebuild the society, she had no one to support and she could not leave Harry by himself. She worried that his condition was caused by an unknown curse, because there was fifteen minutes that he was inside a room by himself with no guard or protection wards. If anything had happened, it must have been in those minutes.
Sighing, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and held tightly, "Please, wake up, Harry! We need you… I need you…"
oOo
Severus did not know how long he fell asleep but when he regained his conscious the rain was pouring like crazy. He heard a soft sigh and realized that Ethelinda had used his lap as her pillow the night before. He stroked her hair softly, letting his mind wonder off to the conversation they had before drifting to their sleep.
"Do you feel anything different than usual?" Severus suddenly asked as he reorganized his potions box.
"What do you mean by different?" Ethelinda leaned against the cave's wall for a more comfortable position.
"Are you sure nothing's changed?" He gave a questionable gaze back at her. "Neither physically, mentally, or magically?"
She did not miss the questionable tone in his voice. He was doubting her of hiding something from him. Honestly, she had no idea of any change, except for her headache.
"Would headache count?" she arched a brow, not sure if her answer was what he was looking for.
"Only headache?" he asked again as his eyes watched her curiously. "Does it happen before or after you meet your mother?"
Her gaze was unfocused as she was processing his question. When does her headache begin? It had always been there but she was not paying much attention. However, she had a clear memory of when it began to become a bothersome. "Since I knew my mother's still alive."
He did not seem to be surprised at her answer. He had suspected that her mother's coming back had something to do with her uncontrollable magic. Headache? Is it anything like Potter's symptom? He arched an eyebrow, observing the magic aura that's still floating around her. "Close your eyes," he suddenly ordered her.
"Why?" she asked softly, confused by his request.
"Just do it," he replied. "This is something you must feel in order to understand what I will tell you next."
He saw her lips twist a bit as if she tried to argue, but she eventually closed her eyes.
"Let your mind clear," he said. "And keep your breathing steady."
After a few minutes, she nodded at him, indicating that her mind was clear. "Now focus on your magic," he continued. "Channeling them and analyzing the differences."
For a short moment, Severus saw her aura changed from one color to another, and finally ended with a neutral one, white. It had become stabilized but it was only for a short time before the color changed again.
"What can you tell?" he finally asked when the color could not stay stable.
"I'm… confused," she was not sure of what she was experiencing. "Is something wrong with my… magic?"
"Yes," he nodded and started his explanation. "Your magic has became unstable since your meeting with Jonathan and it gets more dangerous when your mother arrives. I still don't know what has caused the change but right now, you need to keep your emotions at bay. If you get too upset, your magic will manifest by itself."
"What will happen then?" she asked worriedly.
"You know that at a young age, children with magical abilities do not have the capability to control their magic, which causes some of the accidental magic. And because they are young and their magic does not hold a great power. The accident usually causes a little harm to their environment. However, at your age, it is a different story. If you lose the hold of your magic, it will look for a release at an unnecessary time and can cause both destruction and damnation that the Wizarding World does not want to face."
Ethelinda was quiet as Severus finished his explanation. Her brows knitted in with high concentration. She noticed something was not right when she heard those two words, destruction and damnation. Her eyes suddenly brightened up as she remembered she had seen it before. She quickly dug into her coat's pocket and retrieved her great-grandmother's journal. She flipped the pages rather aggressively and finally found what she was looking for.
Severus could tell by reading her expression, the young woman just found out something unpleasant. He could see her blood completely drained away from her face, leaving a very pale and unnatural skin tone. She stayed frozen like that for a while, then she opened her mouth to say.
"I am the destruction in my great-grandmother's prophecy."
A special thank to my wonderful beta: Hero of Olympus in Disguise