Allyna fell to the floor, her sword clanging loudly in the quiet room as it struck the floor as well. She laid there for a moment, wanting to sob in frustration. She was dirty, sweaty and hurting. Not to mention completely exhausted. She nearly growled when she heard Snape's voice command her, "Again, Miss Wilson!" She clenched her teeth and slowly made her way to her feet, the sword once more gripped in her hand.
She barely managed to keep her hand from trembling as she raised the blade. She arched her leg behind her, raising it slowly until she was balanced on one foot, her arm and opposite leg at equal heights. She felt the trembling begin almost immediately, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth harder to try to hold herself steady. She could feel herself leaning too far forward and moved her leg a little to counter-balance herself. Or, she tried, anyways. She gasped as she fell again, this time unable to move to get up.
Severus sighed impatiently and leaned his head back, eyes closed, moonlight gliding over the features of his face. When he opened them, he realized that their time was up for the evening, they'd been at this for almost two hours. No wonder the girl was exhausted, he thought. He himself could have gone on for a few more hours without dropping like she had, but he'd been doing this for over twenty years. It was a good way to work out his frustrations at the Headmaster and Voldemort.
He walked over to her and picked up her blade, carrying it with his own to the table. He used a cloth, dipped in a protective oil, and wiped the blades and pommels clean of any dust or dirt. He slyly glanced back and saw that Allyna still hadn't moved from where she lay on the floor, her hands on her stomach, eyes closed and her teeth clamped shut to keep herself from moaning in pain. He knew the feeling quite well, and remembered his body's reaction the morning after his first lesson. He hadn't wished to move a single muscle in his body for fear that it would cramp.
He walked beside the table and found the small basin of constantly flowing cool water carved into the wall. He non-verbally conjured two pewter goblets and filled them. He carried them over to where Allyna laid and knelt beside her. "Miss Wilson?" he said, the growl back in his voice. She lifted one eyebrow, but didn't open her eyes. "Hmmm?" she mumbled.
He would have laughed if it wouldn't have possibly frightened the girl at the strangeness of it. He remembered all too well that reaction, as well. "Drink, Miss Wilson."
Allyna sighed and sat up slightly, taking the goblet with a soft, "Thank you, Professor." She sipped the water and nearly moaned at how good the cool water felt on her parched throat. When she'd drained the glass, she glanced up at him. "So, how atrocious was I, for a first lesson?"
His lips twitched and he had to force back a chuckle. "Tomorrow you'll do better," He said simply.
She groaned. "That badly? So glad I'm not getting graded on this," she whispered. She blinked when she saw he was standing and holding out a hand to her. With more effort than she would have imagined, she slowly managed to get to her feet with a lot of help from Severus. She stood a bit unsteadily for a moment, his hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling. Allyna nodded when she felt she'd be able to stand on her own two feet without keeling over.
Severus nodded and walked to the table. He stopped abruptly when he heard Allyna gasp. His head turned briefly and he saw that she was staring at his back. He'd forgotten how the moonlight would gild the scars with silver in the moonlight. He was sure that it was a messy mass of scars and scar tissue built up over the years. He gritted his teeth and looked down at his shirt. He was surprised she moved as quietly as she did, if he hadn't been who he was, he doubted he'd have heard her. However, he was the one who gasped and jerked a little away when he felt her place a small, warm hand on his back.
"Who did this to you?" she said softly, her fingers lightly tracing over the lines, unthinking of the impropriety of it to be touch a half-naked professor. Horror, not of him, but for him, burned in her eyes. There was anger there, for him not at him, in her gaze. He'd never seen anything like it in someone else's eyes, anger for his pain. He'd always considered the pain his due for what he'd allowed to happen to Lily.
Lily. The name burned brightly in his mind, years of regret and pain emblazoned on his soul.
He jerked away from her touch, glaring at her as he yanked his shirt on, buttoning the cuffs quickly to lock away the image of the Dark Mark. "Who do you think, Miss Wilson?" he asked, watching understanding come into her eyes. And yet the anger in her eyes didn't fade, only seemed to grow.
"Voldemort, of course. Forgive me, Professor. I did not mean to be intrusive," she said quietly. "May I ask something, Professor Snape?"
He sighed, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. "I suppose I can't stop you."
"Do they hurt? The scars, I mean. My grandfather had scars similar to yours, they ached when the weather was bad. Like a terrible ache that wouldn't subside, he'd say," she explained.
Severus nodded abruptly. It was only the truth, after all. "At times. At others, I do not think about them." Until some little girl gasped at them in the moonlight, he thought, thinking of her reaction. "Come now, we are done for the night, and I'm sure that you have work to do before you retire." he led the way to the doorway and passed through it. When Allyna, too, had passed beneath the stone door, it shut behind her.
She stopped in surprise when Severus took her hand and pressed it against the door. She felt magic of an ancient kind flow over her hand, reaching into her mind and she smiled, allowing it inside her mind. It felt like sunshine wrapping around her thoughts and was done and gone in a moment. "So that my wards will recognize you," he spoke quietly, he'd been flabbergasted at her strange smile when his wards had reached into her head. He wondered why she'd smiled. Most people found his wards terrifying and cold, even Albus had shivered when they had reached for him.
Before he allowed her to leave, he forced her to drink a draught of a potion he'd concocted to relieve muscle cramps and aches. He didn't need it as often as he once had. He also gave her a small vial of oil to rub into her aching body before bed, it was scented with lavender and infused with an herb that started out cool and turned warm as it soothed the muscles.
He was surprised when Allyna waved as she left, "Goodbye, Professor," she called as she left the Potions classroom. He felt oddly alone when she was gone, something he hadn't felt in a very long time, perhaps since Lily had banished him from her life. Lily, too, had been a spot of sunshine in his otherwise bleak existence. He stopped for a second on his way to his quarters. Where the hell had that thought come from? He shook his head in denial and entered his chambers, stripping out of his clothing and practically throwing himself into bed, sleeping for the first time in many years as peacefully as he had as a child.
Allyna, meanwhile, had made her way back to her room. She was definitely aching as she never had before. She entered her bathroom and turned the water in the bathtub as hot as she could stand it, letting it fill. She carefully stripped out of her clothes, placing them in the hamper that the house elves would retrieve, wash the clothes, and return them. She made sure to leave the pendant Headmaster Dumbledore had given her on, though, as she slipped into the water, groaning in pleasure as the hot water enveloped her sore body. She sat in the water for a while, letting the water pull some of the achiness from her limbs.
She finally stood and let the water drain, stepping carefully out of the tub. She dried herself, though leaving her hair to dry naturally. She pulled on clean underwear and bra, and the nightgown the Headmaster had sent. Clean, dry, and exhausted, Allyna slid beneath the sheet and blanket, whispering a spell quickly that caused the fire to blaze in the fireplace in the chilled room. Allyna sank into sleep quickly, dreaming of Professor Snape, his scars and a way to heal them.