For the second night in a row, Allyna was awoken in the middle of the night. But this time from a nightmare instead of a half-dead body of a certain snarky professor flying through the fireplace. She woke, shrieking and sitting upright, breathing hard and her heart feeling as if it were breaking. She buried her face into her hands, sobs ripped from her body. Her body started to chill in the cool air of the dungeon room. Just as the tears tapered off, there was a loud, booming knock on her door.
She hurried to open it, only to find Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore standing there. Allyna immediately felt awful. "Miss Wilson, what's wrong, are you all right?" Severus asked, his eyes bleary with sleep and slightly wide with what Allyna thought was surprise or worry. Allyna blushed, surely Professor Snape wouldn't be worried over her?
"I'm so sorry, Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore. It was just a terrible nightmare and it frightened me. I forgot about the charm, sir." Allyna whispered, tucking her head against her chest. Professor Dumbledore took her hand and patted it.
"Happens to the best of us, my dear. Why, I remember one time-"
"Headmaster, perhaps that story should be left for another time, seeing as it's already 2:45 in the morning and I have to teach a class of first year Gryffindors first thing in the morning," Severus griped.
Dumbledore sighed and patted Allyna's hand again. "Very well, Severus. Good night, Miss Wilson. Perhaps you should take the charm off before you try to sleep again." He noticed her shifting nervously and a thought popped into his head. "Actually, Severus, I would like it if you would stay and watch over Miss Wilson tonight."
Severus' eyes popped wide open. "WHAT?!" he shouted.
Dumbledore just gave him a look that clearly stated, "I will have it no other way."
Allyna was too shocked to actually say anything, but Severus finally groaned and said, "Okay, fine. I'll stay and watch the girl. But make a note, Headmaster, that I am not pleased about this!"
"Duly noted, Severus. Good night, Severus. Good night, Miss Wilson." And with that, Dumbledore was returning to his own warm bed.
"Professor, if you want, you can take the bed and I'll sleep in the chair?" Allyna said quietly, not wanting to face his wrath.
He glared at her. "Absolutely not. Sleeping in your bed once was just asking for a scandal. I'll not make the same mistake again. Now get in bed and shut up. I'm tired and need some real sleep."
Eyes wide, Allyna nodded and climbed into the bed, tossing a pillow and one of the quilts at the foot of the bed to Severus. He grunted a "thanks" and settled into the chair, after moving it closer to the bed. He closed his eyes and was asleep in moments. Allyna sighed and scooted a bit closer to the chair, she felt safe around Professor Snape. Maybe he could keep the nightmares away. She closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.
Neither noticed that while in the realm of dreams, their hands entwined.
Severus groaned when he realized where his dreams had taken him. He knew this dream-memory only too well. The day he had lost Lily the first time. The day when he had horridly called her a mudblood and lost his only friend. He was currently hung upside down by his ankles, James Potter having used Severus' own spell against him. Sirius Black was beside James, laughing as Severus hung in the air, twitching and trying to get free. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were standing behind James and Sirius, Peter laughing with them, Remus looking a bit ashamed of his two friends. How had he never noticed that before?
Suddenly there was a commotion. He heard a familiar voice call out, "Expelliarmus!" and Potter's wand, as well as wands from at least six other witches and wizards were torn from their grasp or their pockets. Stunned, everyone turned to see who had done it. Severus was shocked to see Allyna standing there, her face filled with the most rage he'd ever seen. Lily had come running to see what was going on, and she began shouting at Potter, neither of them paying any attention to Severus or Allyna. Sirius began advancing towards Allyna, demanding their wands back.
"So you think it's funny, do you, to hang someone up by their ankles? To publicly humiliate them? Maybe you need a taste of your own medicine! LEVICORPUS!" Allyna shouted and not only Black, but Potter and Pettigrew as well, were hoisted into the air. Everyone in the courtyard laughed, except Lily, Severus (who was still hanging) and Allyna.
Allyna made her way over towards Severus. "All right there, Severus?" she asked quietly. His face burned in anger and humiliation.
"I don't need your help!" he shouted at her.
Instead of getting angry with him, as Lily had, Allyna merely smiled. "I know. You're quite capable of taking care of yourself, Severus. But I'd like to be your friend, if you'll let me?" she said softly.
Suddenly Lily was there, pushing Allyna out of the way. "Sev doesn't need you! He has me!"
"Yes, I see that. You, who leave him hanging. You call yourself his friend, but a friend doesn't do what you just did. You allowed James Potter to publicly humiliate your friend because you have a crush on him. That's not a friend. That's a convenience." Allyna said, softly, and it made even more of an impact because she hadn't shouted it.
Lily looked horrified when she realized the truth of Allyna's words and burst into tears. Allyna reached out and patted Lily's shoulder. Allyna turned and held her hand out to Severus, who sighed but took it. Allyna smiled and whispered, "Liberacorpus." Severus would have fallen hard to the ground, but Allyna's hand steadied him. He landed on his feet like a cat.
And gasped in surprised when Lily threw herself into his arms, sobbing his name and exclaiming how sorry she was. Allyna smiled and turned to the three Marauders who were still hanging in the air. "So, I propose a truce. You idiots leave Severus alone, and he leaves you alone. You can still snark at each other in halls, but no wands, no curses, no nothing. Understood?"
The three boys nodded vigorously; Remus, stll on the ground, nodded his acquiescence as well. "Very good. Liberacorpus!" she shouted, and all three boys fell to the ground, landing hard on their behinds with loud groans and "Ow!"s.
She turned to see Severus and Lily sitting on a bench, smiling. She turned and walked towards the Black Lake. "Allyna! Wait up!" She turned to see Severus running towards her, so she stopped and smiled. He caught up with her and was breathing hard.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Breathe, Severus." she said, smiling. He grinned back at her and it did strange things to her insides. He had a very nice smile.
"You're bloody brilliant, you know that?" his voice lacked the smooth silkiness that it held as an adult, but it was still enough to make her shiver slightly. He looked hesitant for a moment before yanking her into his arms and hugging her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered, pulling back and looking into her eyes. Just as he leaned down to kiss her, the dream shifted again.
Into a place that Allyna was all too familiar with. She could feel the tears building, the grief already working it's way through her. It was her home in the United States. It was midnight, storming and there was shouting coming from her parents' bedroom. Allyna had shrunk, after all, she was only eight. She didn't see Severus behind her, following her, as she crept towards her parents' bedroom, having been awoken by the storm.
The distinct sound of a slap and a body falling, followed by loud sobbing came from the room and Allyna flinched back. Severus wanted to scoop the child up and take her away. He knew all too well the sounds of abuse. He only hoped it hadn't progressed towards being used on Allyna as well. Suddenly there were screams of a woman, and Allyna raced towards her parent's room, throwing open the door. A woman, beautiful like Allyna, with golden hair and blue eyes, was laying on the floor, eyes wide and clearly dead.
A man, who Severus assumed was Allyna's father, stood over her and kicked her in the side. "I told you, you're never getting away from me. Bitch!" he spat and turned to see Allyna standing there. "What are you doing out of bed, brat. Get back in there before I kill you like I killed your whore of a mother!" he shouted, a hand raised.
Allyna screamed and launched herself at him, beating him with her tiny fists. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Mama!" the tiny girl screamed and then was silent when her father slapped her hard across the face, leaving a clear imprint of his hand. He picked up his wand and pointed it at the girl. "Obliviate!" he shouted and Allyna crumpled to the ground from the force of the spell. She laid there, and finally Severus could see the floor of the room was covered with water. It reminded him of the spell Allyna had used when she had saved the Whitwood girl.
He knew then how Allyna's mother had died. She had drowned, completely in the safety of her own room, by magic wielded by a man who was supposed to protect, honor and love her. So Allyna, too, knew the betrayals of a father who had no love in them. Severus watched as Allyna's father picked up her mother's body, and took it into the bathroom, filling the tub full. He slid her body down into the water, until her head was under the water.
Her father then returned to the bedroom and used a spell to dry everything. While he was otherwise occupied, Severus walked over to Allyna, picking the little girl up and carrying her back to her bed. As he watched, her breathing deepened and she began to age, becoming her own true age. Knowing he shouldn't, but not caring anymore- after all it was only a dream- Severus leaned down and kissed Allyna's lips softly.
Severus and Allyna both awoke at the same time, gasping. Their eyes followed a path down their arms to where their hands were clasped. Allyna's eyes began to fill with tears and she could only say softly, "Severus?"