Good day, Readers. I've let Morgan and Severus hang on a little too long. Hopefully these longer days will mean a bit more time to write and finish. Speaking of finish...
Enjoy,
DN
"All these sad feelings, they'll be gone soon enough. No more crying over being jilted by your lover." Hunter heard the sneer in Ethinian's voice and felt his vise-like grip as she was bound from behind. He wasn't much of a wizard, but his physical strength was formidable.
"I have no lover, thanks to your lies," she said icily, and felt a spark from his wand burn into her skin. A vial, smelling strongly with the acrid sting of scorpion venom, was placed under her nose. He meant to kill her. Not with a curse, which he was probably too incompetent to execute properly, but with straight scorpion venom. Nothing magical, just a direct poison. How like him, a talentless hack. How talentless must she be, then, to be defeated by him. She'd let her defences down, allowed her emotions to get the better of her. Now she faced her own supply of venom.
"If it's money you want, I'll give you everything I have." She felt a slight decrease in the pressure on her neck, confirming her assumptions about his motivation. "Think about your soul, Ethinian." If you still have one. "Think about Janiss. You've put her through enough already…"
He hadn't eased up enough for her to twist or reach her wand. One arm still bound her small torso and arms tightly, the other drew the vial of venom closer to her mouth. She could feel every breath he took in, smell the firewhiskey as he exhaled, sense his rage and determination.
"I know what you've done, Morgan. This isn't about money. Not anymore." His firm grip returned, tighter than before.
Not waiting for her to open her mouth again, he pressed the vial between her clenched lips, the burning liquid coating them, seeping in between her teeth, the bitter taste coating her tongue. Her lips promptly became numb and she began to lose control of them. Against her will, they fell open slightly and more of the powerful poison seeped into her mouth. She pressed her tongue forward to push some out, but before long, it, too, became numb and out of her control. Having nothing to lose now, knowing she had already taken in far more than a lethal amount of this powerful poison, she writhed and twisted, reaching for her wand. No number of hexes or curses could save her now, but she might be able to at least injure him before her death.
He tightened his grip painfully and held her, ribs bending. She was barely able to take a breath now. She tried to utter some wandless curses, but found her tongue and lips uncooperative. Silent magic wasn't possible, either. Words alone or wand alone, one could still inflict some damage, though it would be considerably less than when used in concert. With neither available, plus her hands bound, her powers were limited to a withering glare, grunts, and gurgles, not even able to shout for help as her throat had shut down. She leaned her head forward and began to drool profusely, hoping he would release her in disgust from the spit now running down his hand and arm. He didn't change his tight grip. Her tongue and throat were now completely numb, the bitter taste vanishing.
Whatever waning desire for life may have passed over her in these past few months was swept away by a burning urgency to live, now that it was too late. She thought in despair of the things she might have done once she returned to Sedona, what she could have still made of her life, how she might have moved forward and been productive and useful, despite loneliness. She might have found ways to fill the void with teaching students, training peers, serving others. So many possibilities, now fading. I'd rather die by my own hand under the stars of the desert than from this worthless wastrel in a back alley in a grubby little village in Scotland. She looked up to the sky, blue and cloudless, knowing the stars hid behind the light. This was to be her last view.
Then, a blue flash and a familiar, powerful voice shouting "Accio Venom." The vial flying away and Ethinian's wand pulled away from her throat as he turned, dragging her with him, using her as a shield. Blocking the way out of the alley were Snape and Trelawney, wands drawn. She turned too, trying to draw her wand, to at least protect Severus and Sybill if she could. It would be her last act, a final gesture of love.
Her arms did not respond, the venom spreading now into her shoulders and arms. Snape circled, wand drawn, looking for an angle to safely launch a hex at Ethinian without hurting her. If he had but known her life was as good as over, he wouldn't have hesitated, she thought.
Severus had never looked more malevolent than he did now, teeth clenched, eyes narrowed, every inch of his posture ready to kill if need be. It was no great mental leap for her to imagine him as Death Eater now. How many such duels had he fought before? Against whom and for what reason? And what happened to his opponents? She silently wished he would send a fatal Unforgivable Curse in their direction, so she would know that Ethinian died with her.
She expected an Expelliarmus from the Headmaster, but he clearly had more damaging spells on his mind. His wand was pointed directly at the pair of them, gripped tightly. She could nearly see him thinking, plotting, waiting for the opportunity to present itself. At last, Ethinian launched a Stunning Spell towards Snape and Trelawney, but aimed poorly, the spell striking several boxes nearby, which then spilled their contents. This gave Snape an opportunity to cast a Dislocus hex at Ethinian's outstretched arm and shoulder, attempting to disconnect his wand arm. Ethinian anticipated the hex. He released her and dived sideways, hurtling his another weak hex at the pair as he rolled. Snape's Hex hit the wall behind them, several bricks loosening and crashing to the ground in fragments. She couldn't save herself at this point, nor Severus or Sybil. She couldn't save anyone.
Hunter could no longer stand, as her legs became numb and gave out underneath her. Falling to the ground, she knew that, now that the venom had reached her legs, she didn't have much longer until the venom froze her lungs.
Her fall would have been quite painful, had she been able to feel anything. She had no ability to break her fall and met the ground with such force that blasted out the breath from her lungs. Her face still looked down the alley.
Snape and Trelawney continued to battle Ethinian, who was surprisingly agile and good with a blocking spell. He found it difficult to retaliate, being kept on the defensive by the barrage of hexes coming his way. Stunning, Dislocus, Diffindo, Confrigo, Expulso. By now, though, their hexes were coming more slowly. At last, he found an opening as Snape and Trelawney were both between spell casts at the same moment. He fired off a Stunning Spell at Snape.
From her vantage point on the ground, Hunter knew instantly something was wrong, very wrong. The usually agile Snape didn't move fast enough, was caught in the hex and fell. Trelawney's blocking spell was too late or too weak. Trelawney fired an Impedimenta at Ethinian as he ran toward her, but it missed. He sent another Stunning Spell at her, which she dodged, falling over Snape as he attempted to stand again, launching a jinx at his back that instead met with the wall and dissipated. Ethinian gathered momentum and ran out of the alley and out into the streets of Hogsmeade.
The back doors of shops and pubs along the alley were now spilling out their patrons, witches and wizards filling the alley, coming out to see what the disturbance was, wands drawn. Some went to the aid of Snape who was still affected by the Stunning Spell, trying to stand. Others began the chase, as Trelawney pointed down the alley and described Ethinian. Witches and wizards gathered around Hunter, casting healing spells to no avail. Someone dug out a bezoar, which they put in her mouth, but she was unable to swallow. Even with a belly full of them, it would be no use, she knew. Her situation was fatal. There was no antidote, never had been. Small amounts of scorpion venom had uses, but this was undiluted.
Through their ankles, she could still see down the way. There was Trelawney, the new Mrs. Snape, hovering over her newly-wed husband, his head in her lap, saying desperately, "Stay with me, Severus. Don't forget you future, Severus, I've seen it! Remember your child. Let's get him to Madam Pomfrey." Snape grunted weakly, still trying to recover and stand without success.
Other witches were with her, trying to revive her and check her condition. Their voices were fading away, the silence informing her that her brain was now filling with venom. Hunter could no longer hear, but she saw Snape look up at Trelawney with anguish in his eyes. What did it matter anyway if she died? First Philipus, now Severus. Even her brother-in-law and niece, the only family she had, turned against her. And no children. At least a child explained to her why Snape had married the improbable Trelawney so quickly and without any announcement or fanfare. She was going to have his child. It was just as well for Hunter to slip away. Darkness closed in and her vision faded. She only had her own breathing and the beating of her heart to let her know she was still alive. Then she could see, hear, feel no more and lay still, her breathing slowing to a stop, her heartbeat slowing, then stopping.
Snape grunted again. "Sibyl," he said with great effort. "There is a vial of antivenom inside my jacket. Give it to Morgan, she's been poisoned." Trelawney felt Snape's jacket until she located the vial, unbuttoned enough buttons, then withdrew it.
"How much, Severus?" she asked, her hands shaking.
"All of it, as quickly as you can," he said, falling back again.
Trelawney had the others roll the unconscious Hunter onto her back, uncorked the vial and poured all of the orangey potion into her mouth, then held her mouth closed, hoping that some would enter her belly and counteract the venom, hoping that her heart was still beating enough to deliver the antidote to the rest of her limp body.
Every corner of Snape's consciousness was filled with a toxic combination of desperation alternating with admonition. No, don't let her die. How could you allow yourself to be so weak? Work, for Merlin's sake, work! How could you imagine that she didn't need you? That you didn't need her enough to live. That no one needed you? Not again, no, not again. I can't lose the witch I love again, again because of my weakness.
Any lingering doubt of what he needed to do was swept away with startling clarity. If he were to live out this life sentence as anything other than an utterly broken man, it would have to be with her. Whatever it took, her motivations be damned. If she only wanted him to secure her fortune, so be it. He would need a set of skills that were utterly foreign to him. He would have to find them within himself, not matter how far down he needed to plumb. Perhaps Harry was right….
Snape sat up laboriously as Trelawney administered the potion. He continued to try to stand with the support of Madam Puddifoot and Ambrosius Flume. Once standing with some effort, he barked at them to leave him and go to Hunter's aid. He breathed quietly in the street, reaching for the wall for support until he heard footsteps coming back from the pursuit of Ethinian. Trelawney stood then, speaking in a voice he'd never heard before, a commanding voice.
"Rosemerta, Ambrosius, a Levicorpus charm. These two need to get to Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts. Now!" Snape had never heard her use such a tone. He felt himself supported and steered back towards the school by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. He did not resist. The others, wands drawn, helped move Morgan towards Hogwarts as fast as their legs would go. Trelawney was teamed up with McGonagall, overseeing the transport. Minerva, Merlin bless her, with an expression of worry on her face that would have been impossible only a few short months ago. Still others acted as an escort, wands at the ready, eyes scanning the scene for any further threat. He breathed heavily and allowed them to walk him through the dusty and grimy back streets of Hogsmeade towards the bridge back to school. He lobbed a few silent charms towards Hunter, hoping the charms would amplify whatever effect the potion might have. He had let her down, failed to protect her from an obvious threat. He silently but fervently hoped that whatever weakness he'd allowed in his body was made up for with the potion.