Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Chapter 13

Sev's POV

I handed the bowl of paste to Madam Pomfrey who expressed her gratitude in the overly enthusiastic way she usually did, I was the Potion Master yet she was constantly over expressive with her thanks after I brewed something for her.

I nodded in response, taking a deep calming breath to hold back the tick that emerged when dealing with people that liked to faff about...and hover, and the school matron was an annoying combination of both.

She pushed off the covers and made do with the buttons on Saber's shirt with haste, quite a feat considering she used her left hand as her right was already holding a glob of the thick burn-healing paste that I had prepared for her upon her request. I watched as she smoothed over the thick orange paste on the raw flesh at his chest, he must have sustained the injury by actually running through fire...and it must have been quite harsh has most of his other wounds long since healed, long scars marring his body in its wake, due to canine gene. It also helped matters that his skin was considerably tough thanks to the vampiric trait but not even that duo seemed to make him immune to damage in the fight on Brockdale Bridge.

"His other wounds healed so quickly, this one is quite deep, I think the burn-healing paste will push it along nicely. Was it much of a bother to alter it for his composition?"

"A matter of changing the aloe vera to mulberry leaf ratio." My brows rose as the reddening dulled down right before my eyes...fascinating Palbei maybe, but their strength can only be explained by the darkest of magic...

I walked up the stairs, tossing a look at the red cloaks that stood shoulder to shoulder at the entrance to the dining room, unmoving. Furniture. Furniture that could kill on instruction, that is. I shook my head, it may indeed have been a wise decision to send the boys and the half breed after Karetnikov, she definitely was not someone that we can afford to overlook.

"Ahhh Severus." I nodded at Narcissa who met me halfway up the stairs, "Draco is just changing, thank you again for escorting us to the Hogwarts Express."

"No need to thank me, Narcissa." None at all, considering what you and that blithering bitch of a sister made me vow to just the other week. I needed to speak to the boy, especially after what the Dark Lord intended him attempt to accomplish, Draco had the tendency to indulge in foolish whims and I had to ensure that he refrain from such...

I turned away from the drivel that Narcissa was spouting and my eyes fell on the male Palbei, he had his light brown hair tied at the nape of his neck, his long ears sticking out in a vulgar sort of way but it was not the house elf like ears that caught my eye...it was the motion...the movement...the flicker of the brown eye to the left accompanied by the small adjustment of the neck. I followed the movement...landing on the ancient grandfather clock that Lucius had boasted was a gift to the Malfoy's from the Regalien family centuries ago.

I turned back to the man, staring into his brown eyes...what made him check the time when all he did day in and day out was stand at those doors and observe the comings and goings in Malfoy Manor. My eyes narrowed as I cast the spell and I felt the usual out of body experience but there was no invisible barrier keeping me out and I floated easily into his mind, my luck had me find a Palbei that was incapable of occlumency, or had too much house elf in him to accomplish the act.

I stopped flitting through endless images of this very staircase after finally hearing a familiar voice...the Dark Lord. All I could see was the grey wall of the Dining Room, steadily before me, but the voices from the table were well in ear shot.

"...absolutely sure Bella?"

"Of course My Lord. My daughter has known this for months, the Potter boy and Dumbledore's girl are indeed lovers."

"Anybody could tell you that." Karetnikov drawled and I heard Bellatrix hiss at the interruption. "This is stale news."

"I have to agree with Katerina in this case Bella, I hope you had not summoned me here to waste my time!"

"My Lord! Never! Each and every passing minute of your time is the most precious gem to me. I have always counted myself not only amongst the most loyal but also the richest of your followers for the amount of time that I have been blessed to exist in your presence My Lord."

"And yet here you sit, wasting Our Lord's precious..." Karetnikov scoffed out the last word, "Gems."

"Now now ladies. Though Katerina is right, my gems are fading and so is my patience...spit it out!"

"We use her as bait!" Bellatrix blurted out, her voice electrified with high pitched insanity, "Lure out the boy, using the girl."

"Oh Bellatrix, what ingenuity! Whoever could have thought of such an ingenious plan!" Karetnikov's voice dripped with sarcasm, "Actually, no, that does sound oddly familiar. I do believe your family had attempted, and dismally failed, to do the same thing with Potter just last year, only thing instead of a sixteen year old girl, you used your cousin-"

"SIRIUS BLACK IS NO COUSIN OF MINE!" Bellatrix screeched, "And this is completely different My Lord."

"How?" Snapped Karetnikov, "How do you figure this is different? Lure the boy out by making him believe we have someone he loves hostage-"

There was a screech of wood on stone floor and the heaviness of thumping footsteps, "We don't make him believe! We show him! We take her! Hold her half beaten body in front of the boy and he will have no choice but to follow-"

"And you think the Order would just let him!"

"The boy is blinded by love! He was willing to leave with Alya the other day, just to protect that Dumbledore scum! And the boy has a tendency of maneuvering out of sticky situations, if we let him merely glimpse that she is taken, send him a note saying we will kill her if he doesn't comply with our demands and make him come with us, he WILL find a way to get away from the Order members. He would not risk her life!"

"Well it seems we have a huge fan of Potter and his lucky escapes here now don't we?" The Dark Lords voice ghosted through the room and Bellatrix gasped,

"No...Master...I don't mean any of those things as a compliment, merely that the boy is weakened by the affection he has for the girl...he is weak and it is not hard to slither out of the dim-witted Order's grasp so it is not that farfetched of an-"

She stopped and I could imagine the pale hand being held up instructing her to do so. "First, you would have me grant you permission to attack the girl because she is a Dumbledore. Next Katerina informs me of her powers which are indeed valuable, which lead to a two month long man hunt across most of Europe...yet where is the girl? She is certainly not dining with us tonight..."

"My Lord, this is why I request of you to give me the order to pursue the girl. Let me hunt her down Master, I would not fail like...her." She spat out the word and I heard Karetnikov sigh.

"I admit nobody knows the in's and out's of failure, especially at the hands of teenagers, quite like your family Bellatrix. But Our Lord is aware that the girl is about as well guarded as Potter, hence your attempt to convince him-"

"You have had your chance! Two months of it! Give me the chance and I can get both the boy and the girl for you My Lord! I beg of you Master."

I could imagine Bellatrix on her knees, and the Dark Lord's smile...Karetnikov rolling her eyes. "Bella...ahh...Bella...ever so determined...so loyal...tell me, is Dumbledore dead?"

"My...my...-"

"Because I do remember that is the task I had left for your family. Yet Bella, such an over achiever, you have come to help my cause, giving me information, no matter how fruitless it maybe, to help with the capture of the boy. What valuable and cherished information...leave."

"My...my Lord." Bellatrix sputtered. "Master."

"Crucio."

There was no sound of pain, just the rasping sound that I had witnessed just once before...Bellatrix was the only person who suffered the torture curse in silence...

"I know you do not mean for me to speak twice, did you Bella?"

"No...no..." Bellatrix's gasped out. "My Lord." The words shook but they left her mouth never the less and I caught a glimpse of the shaking woman as she made her way to the doors. With the click of the shut door the hall was silent once more.

"My Lord-"

"Enough Katerina. Bellatrix may be a bitter disappointment to me but she is a bitter disappointment that speaks the truth. It has been two months! I have allowed you the resources to develop this army of yours yet the girl is not in our grasps! How hard can it be to kill, if you cannot capture, a sixteen year old girl!"

"My Lord, she is heavily-"

"Three. There are three in her guard. I may not think the girl high in my list of priorities at present but I know there but three yet your hordes of Palbei cannot touch them."

"Sabre is-"

"Do not. Do not belittle me with your excuses! I HAVE ALLOWED YOU ENOUGH! Enough time, enough resources, enough leeway because the numbers you have brought to my cause, but do not, for a second think that you are above heeding my word. And my word is, I want Potter. And if to get Potter, who it seems is attached to the girl, Bellatrix seems to think attached enough to defy orders from his superiors for, then I will push the girls capture higher up in my priorities. So high even above capturing Potter, so high even above taking over the Ministry. So high, that by Salazar if I do not have the girl and subsequently Potter before they leave for school, this house will echo with your pain with the blood to match it."

The words were stated nonchalantly, yet the cold voice rang with conviction. "My...my-"

"Now, since it appears that you are almost as disappointing as Bella these days, I will point you in the right direction. The travel to the train station would be where the both of them will be weakest. Of course the Order would know this and they will use all their force in protecting the boy, that is why you will use any and all force you require to get to the girl. Capture her, do not kill her as yet, Potter needs to see that she is alive, but make her cooperate by any means necessary. You, aside from what I am currently made to believe, have some semblance of wit and can plan out the rest, or am I to be dismally disappointed yet again?"

"No Master. I will not disappoint you."

"Excellent. Now, you were telling me about the progress you were making in Germ..."

There was a slight jolt of pain as I exited the memory, the brown eyes continued staring forward, unaware that I had invaded his mind moments ago.

"Narcissa, I apologize, it seems that I have forgotten to send an urgent message..."

I bit my tongue, concentrating on my panic not to be outwardly expressed, something I never had to even try prior as it came so naturally, but my eyes flickered to the clock...thirty minutes to eleven...Saber was to escort Bane to the station at ten...I might already be late...no...no...my hands shook as I cast my patronus, I was now in the corner of the road from the Manor but I didn't have time to be precautious, I transpired the warning to the doe and watched it gallop to Linus...

My hands trembled again at the memory, I heard the soft click that announced Madam Pomfrey's exit and I leaned forward in the armchair, reaching forward and grasping her hand. It was so small, the fingers so dainty...I placed in onto my palm and stared as the tan skin barely even filled out the space. It had been three days of unconsciousness...I don't know whether it was her body recuperating or side effects from the many potions she had to take...her chest rose slowly, her breathing slow but thankfully steady. I stared at her face, even in this unconscious state there was a stubborn lilt to the set of her lips.

I ran my fingers over the soft skin of her hand, an overwhelming need came over me...I wish those little fingers would just move...

I scratched at my neck, Minerva paced beside me...muttering nonstop. I heard the click that preceded an apparition and I wrenched the gate open, Minerva close behind.

"NO!" She screeched, falling forward and I pushed my hand out, preventing her from falling onto the gravel as Linus ran toward us, blood lacing his face from the many cuts and clothes in disarray yet there was nothing hindering his walk as Bane lay motionless in his arms. I didn't realise that my hands were the only thing holding up the transfiguration mistress and my mind blanked for a moment as I spotted tears mingled in the blood upon the boys face.

He passed us, not even glancing at us as he sprinted for the school and I pulled Minerva with me. I glanced back, Len walked behind us, with a limp to his left leg and a body hanging over his right shoulder. I didn't care who it was, turning around again to follow Linus, suddenly not feeling an inch of rejection of the feel of the transfiguration mistresses hands as they grasped at me for support, feeling that her body held mine up just as much as I held hers.

"You're so cold, Bane." I rubbed her hand in my own, "So cold." I could remember the feel...the feel of coldness...the coldness of death...that set in a body...for a moment I saw a flash of red hair and I closed my eyes, dipping my head over her hand and pulling it to my face, I cannot think of her...not now. Somehow...my lips fell onto her hand and my shoulders shook as I succumbed to the memory, of holding a dead witch that I so loved in my hands and my voice trembled as I mumbled incoherently into her palm.

"The cold does not suit her, does it Severus." I didn't lift my head, not wanting to be exposed to the x-ray that was his eyes...already so weak...I took a deep breath that calmed me nothing.

"Neither does the quiet. Saber seems to be healing well."

I didn't give a damn about Saber, he could be dead for all that I cared.

"It seems that he had saved many lives on Brockdale Bridge. The Ministry of Magic had a challenging time covering up the events that occurred on Sunday, but from many testimonies that were collected from muggles, obviously prior to administering memory alterations, Saber was a saviour of sorts. Risking life and limb to save as many as he could."

"Should I write him a sonnet?" I gritted my teeth, Saber was to protect Bane, not any of that useless muggle trash!

"Oh Severus, emotional displays at such depth might just place you in a catatonic state."

"HOW..." I lowered my voice, glancing at Bane but she remained still. "How can you joke, at a time like this?"

"Look at her, Severus. She may feel cold, but look at her, look at her chest rise and fall...we have so much to be happy for. Our child is alive."

"She could have died!"

He was silent, I didn't raise my head but I could feel him peering down at us both, "You are angry at me."

I gritted my teeth, "You should have sent more protection with her."

"I did. There was a motor vehicle full of aurors, unbeknownst to Kyrianna, mere meters from them. That was the first car that The Palbei set on fire, and probably what notified Silvestre that something was amiss."

"You should have apparated her straight here, she should never have made to the trip to the station. You should have made an exception like I requested of you! I would have done it-"

"And Kyrianna would never have allowed it. She would have fought me on the decision and I do not blame her because merely living life preventing death is not living. You cry Severus because you are terrified, terrified that you had come so close to losing Kyrianna but I stand here and make jokes because I am proud...so proud that she survived. That I will be leaving her in the care of men who will fight such devils to protect her, even the devils that live within themselves."

"Stop!" I hissed at him, finally turning away from her palm, "Stop making this into some life lesson."

He smiled down at me, "Severus, from the day this child barged into this school this had become a life lesson, and you grappled so much at the beginning and now look at you. You see those tears as weakness but I see them for what they truly are, love, Severus. This is a life lesson that you are passing...that you are doing outstanding in. I thank you for loving her, Severus, I thank you for saving her."

I looked away, at her sleeping face and I closed my eyes. I didn't want his gratitude, I didn't want to be reminded that I loved this child...

"I never understood." I gulped, my eyes burning, "What...she...had done...children...they were entirely replaceable in my eyes...for a long time...too long..." My voice broke and I was silent for a moment, "I hated him for her death. There was no reason for her to die...none...she chose Potter... let that be... let the child die...they could have another." I ducked my head into my palms, my fingers pushing into the skin of my forehead, "I was so wrong. So...wrong...if Bane died...I cannot..."

For years that past like days I resented the love I felt for her because it left behind a gaping hole that ate at my soul...why did I have to love her! Why couldn't it go away, just like her life did? Yet the love I feel now...for Bane...that replenished this soul, that closed that hole...if Bane died everything would go with her, and I would stand before dark lord and death eater to protect her from any and all harm, be it hex, or curse.

"Kyrianna will live because of the sacrifices you make Severus."

"She will hate me!" I screamed at the man, "She will despise me when he fails. Please-"

"Severus-"

"Don't make me do this! Anything else!"

"We have discussed this already Severus!"

"PLEASE!" I stood, I didn't care that I was screaming this time, I didn't care that this was begging and that this man saw my weakness yet again. "Please, she is all that I have now. I started this for...for Lily." The name sounded foreign, spoken out loud, as if dust unsettled as it left my lips having never spoken it for fifteen years. "But I do it now for Bane. She is my own!"

"And as your own you need to protect her Severus. Protect her by keeping your word."

"She will HATE me!" My hands shook at his placating look.

"Yes. She will hate you, she will turn cold to you...but watch as her chest will rise and fall as she breathes...as she lives on...our child...our little survivor..." He walked forward, placing his left hand upon my shoulder, his blue eyes filled with tears, all the bravado of jokes gone and the truth shone at me in his old face, "and when the time comes...when life leaves you, Severus, you will not wish this love, this beautiful, pure love, to follow with."

A/N: So what do you guys think? I am really interested to hear your thoughts because this was extremely hard to write, I know the last half is pretty incoherent but then considering his state Sev isn't actually coherent at the moment.

Please review, I'm really anxious about this chapter...was it a complete miss?

Kalina