Holly

'Our first place together. Just us. Can you believe it?!' She was shrieking like a harpy, unable to keep the joy from pitching her voice. 'No one else. No sneaking about. It would be cooler if we weren't running. But you know.'

'It's only a tent, Princess,' he drawled, levitating the string of fairy lights she'd insisted on bringing near the arrowed tip of the ceiling. The lights bobbed in the emptiness like the Great Hall's candles. Holly looked around their sparsely furnished abode. It was big enough to accommodate a sizeable bedroll — one she preferred describing as a Japanese-style bed — and a couple of armchairs transfigured from books. On the far side, Severus had prepared a small makeshift cooking area and a little iron stove. Holly had mainly assisted by staying out of his way as he worked to set up their den. She'd transfigured a rug out of a towel, and sure, the patterns were wonky, but it somewhat resembled the Gryffindor common room's, and that made her feel at home. Needless to say, she was proud of it.

'I love it,' she declared, gesturing around the tent before folding the flap away to let in the sweet spring air. It was dusk and still warm outside. The days were becoming hotter and the field outside was heavy with flowers. The birds and other small creatures that were buzzing about everywhere earlier were gone with the fall of darkness. Only squeaking bats filled the purple sky.

'I can't believe it's real,' Holly said, turning back to the dark wizard adjusting the centre pole of the tent. Trying to read his impassive face was like trying to guess the future in tea leaves. It was worse when considering most of his face was hidden behind a curtain of inky hair.

'It's real,' Severus said quietly, stealing a look at her through his hair. 'I hope you're not a messy roommate.' He was his snarky self again.

'Nah—' she started, but then remembered he saw her room at the Dursleys. 'Ask Hermione...' she started countering instead but faltered at the thought of her friends.

Hermione. Ron. Dumbledore's army. All left behind. Will I ever see them again?

'Holly,' his honeyed voice broke through to her. 'You have to learn to use the ones you love as light. As power. They will guide you in the darkest hours.' He drew closer, brushing a lock from her cheek. 'I told you I would break you, that first time. I told you I would tear you apart. Do you remember? Do you see now what has happened?' He was close enough to kiss if she lifted her lips to his now.

'I thought you meant physically.'

'That too.'

'Well, you haven't torn me. You fit perfectly after a few tries. And besides, it's not your fault. HE broke everything. It's HIS fault, Sev. That's why I will find him and kill him –'

A muscle in his jaw jumped, and his eyes black eyes flashed with fear. 'Your passion is admirable. But the Dark Lord won't be easily thwarted—'

'—Then let's practice again,' she put up her wand and bowed to him. It was so annoying when he told her how powerful Voldemort was. She knew. Better than anyone. And yet, she wasn't scared. Not like the rest of them. Not like Severus. 'Come on. Get out your wand.'

He huffed and swept to the far side of the circular floor. He pushed an armchair aside to make space, bowing stiffly to her. If he was surprised that she suggested practice out of her own for the first time, he hid it well.

'Expelliamus!' She shouted.

He blocked the red streak easily. 'Don't. Yell. Keep your cards close to your chest. You're wasting energy. And use some other spell, for Salazar's sake.'

Was he trying to upset her? If so, it was working.

Holly sped up her casts and got much more inventive with her spells. She even sent a memory charm his way. He knocked it aside with a chuckle.

'Good girl,' he purred.

Motherfucker. She wasn't trying to amuse him. This was serious.

So she hit him with a Crucio.

He cast a shield, but she could see his hand jerking with the impact.

'You have to truly mean a Crucio. Or it's just a waste,' he warned her in a silky soft voice. Annoyance creased his forehead.

Good. I want him pissed too.

He threw a flaming purple hex at her, it was difficult to block and he fired another two quick spells in concession. She spun out of the way, seeing a spell burn a black hole in the tarp behind her. Without the months of secret training with Dumbledore's army, she would surely have slipped up already.

'That looked more like a waste to me,' she taunted him, laughing at his expression.

They were soon forgoing all curtesy. Severus was merciless in his onslaught, lips barely moving as he bombarded her with light and energy. Holly started using a few pieces of furniture to help block spells. The armchair worked particularly well. For a while. She hid behind it until there was precious little of it left. He did not hide and instead advanced aggressively toward her.

He blasted through the stuffing just when she crawled out from behind the ruined chair. She got up and shot a Levicorpus at him mid-run. He blocked with an easy flick of his wrist. For some reason, her spell seemed to cause him to visibly lose his cool. He spun around and retaliated with a series of hexes, the whites of his eyes showing, lips a thin white line.

When she had nowhere left to run, she resorted to a classic Expelliamus,rolling over the bed roll to get away from his flashing wand. But he got her with a leg locker first. Her legs clamped shut as if with glue, becoming a heavy burden where she'd trusted them just moments before. She fell hard, cushioned by the bed.

He approached, looking down on her struggling like a dewinged bug. He was breathing fast, but he didn't have that mad look anymore.

'Wonderful.' He grinned triumphantly, wiping the hair from his black eyes. 'I should have done that a long time ago,' he raised the hawthorn wand to perform the counter-hex. 'Tell me, what does the winner get?'

'He gets to stand first watch,' she stuck her tongue out at him, stretching her freed legs.

'I rather think we should make it something more desirable. It seems that you perform much betterin the face of competition,' he lifted a brow at her.

'Oh yeah? Sounds like you've got an idea for a prize already.'

'The winner gets his —or her— choice of activity,' he knocked her calves apart with the tip of his boot.

'I can make you do whatever I want already,' she studied her nails, feigning interest in them as she lay underneath his towering presence. She closed her legs again and glanced at him through her lashes.

'Why you little—,' he sunk to his knees on the bed and yanked her closer by an ankle. 'I tried asking nicely.'

Holly rolled around in a fit of laughter as he pried off her skirt with his teeth.

Soon he was biting at her inner thighs, and she gave up the wrestling. Her laughter turned to moans and she settled for weaving her fingers through his long hair and pulling him closer to her weeping core. He buried his face between her legs, watching her watch him. His black eyes burned.

She whimpered his name as he ran his tongue over her mound, pausing in his descent to suck all the right places. He made an appreciative noise and she felt herself gush into his mouth. They twisted around and he speared her with his tongue before hooking a finger into her.

Holly bucked with the growing urgency. Severus kept her down with his forearm, pinning her hips to the bed when she got too rowdy.

'Come for me,' he murmured into her skin.

She did. He lapped her up like a starved man, groaning as she fell apart underneath his lips and around his finger.

Her world stilled. The tent swayed in the breeze. She unclenched her legs from around his head and allowed him to detangle himself from her.

'Aren't you going to come too?'

'Would you like me to?'

'Yes,' she panted, tugging on his trousers.

He rose to his knees and freed his cock, stroking it as he watched her catch her breath.

She decided to give him something to look at and pushed up her breasts to lick the nipple of each. By the deepened frown and a flash of teeth, she guessed he liked it. So she rolled her hips and begged him to come all over her.

His hand moved quicker until his breath hitched and he shuddered, spilling himself onto her belly with his head thrown back.

Afterward, he scooped her up and cradled her against his chest. Holly slept there until he pushed her off and tucked her under the blanket. She was vaguely aware of him tinkering about in the kitchen.

She smelled frying onions, then mushrooms. Eggs. Beans. Sizzling bacon. A candle was lit and suddenly a plate hovered in front of her.

'Princess.'

She sat up with a stretch and accepted it, 'Thanks.'

'Breakfast for dinner,' he said, sitting down next to her on the low bed with folded legs.

'I love breakfast,' she said through mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. She shoveled mushrooms and bacon into her mouth. He watched her surreptitiously, not commenting on her manners.

'Sorry. I was so hungry.'

'You eat more than me. I won't wait so long to feed you next time. I apologise.'

'But aren't you hungry? We barely had food yesterday,' she said in disbelief.

He chuckled, laying down his cutlery. 'I forget to eat, and after a while, it doesn't bother me anymore. Come. I will draw you a bath by the fire.'

Severus helped her into the transfigured metal tub, and, sitting beside it on a small chair, he added a few drops of rose essence from his stores. The warmth of the water and stove loosened her muscles and she focused on his hands sponging her down.

'Stand. Please,' he said as he reached the water.

She obeyed, remembering the last bath they had together.

He finished his meticulous trail down her legs and spoke again, his voice low and dark. 'I read Beyonde Darkness. I believe I know what we have to do.'

'Yeah?' she asked, leaning on his shoulder as he washed her feet one by one.

'You are welcome to disagree, I—'

'What's the plan, Sev?' She wouldn't leave again. She'd made her point. Clearly, it'd worked. She sat back down and laid back at the end of the tub.

He wrung out her wet hair and started weaving them into an intricate plait.

'We forgo Dreamless Sleep tonight.' She turned to raise a brow at him. His black eyes had turned into thunderheads. 'You've proved yourself capable of shielding Him — at least for a while. We'll have a few minutes before He will take control. This time you will use to summon me to the dream.'

He hung her towel around her shoulders and vanished the water. The floating fairy lights in the centre of the tent bobbed with the breeze and the golden glow inside the room shifted with the movement.

'How do you know he will come? The dreams haven't worked in so long. He'd have given up, and we'd just lose sleep.'

'He is obsessed. He cannot stay away from you. He will not give up.'

'Okay. So he comes and I summon you. You'll just throw him out?'

Severus sighed, deflating. 'We have to glean information from him. Somehow. We have a few options — try to get into his head with Legilimency to find the locations of the next Horcruxes. Or,' he paused, losing the last colour from his face. Whatever he'd say next, she knew, he would rather not say. He spat it out like soured wine. 'We let him close. Bait him. And you ask him.'

'That was what I suggested at the start, yeah. But he'll never tell me, Sev.'

'You will find the Dark Lord more open about his knowledge than you think. It's how he persuades wizards and witches to join him. He promises magical prowess, and delivers on that promise.'

'Is that how he got you?' She asked, tossing a spanner into his works.

'Indeed,' he lifted his chin in defiance. 'Therefore,' he pushed on, 'it is likely he will give us something to work with. If you could convince him that: one,' he held up a wet finger. 'You want to join him, and two,' he added another. 'You want to make a Horcrux yourself.'

'But I don't want to join him. And I don't want a Horcrux.'

'Of course, Princess,' he stood, pacing away with hands clasped behind his back. 'I'll expel him, as soon as we know enough. I won't let it go too far.'

'We'll have to be more cunning, Holly.' He only used her name when he was very serious.

She said nothing, watching as he contemplated the hole from their duel burned into the side of the tent.

'I know you can do it,' he said, as if to himself.

'I can't act that well. He'll know I'm lying.'

'We can practice,' he comforted, turning back. 'There are ways he has shown not to be immune to. As you know it is his goal to—' He paused, seeming to struggle with his words, '—to court you. Thus, it's only logical to assume he will be inclined to seek your approval. He wants you. And besides what you think of him, I, for one, am certain he'd rather you be a willing bedmate. He will want to prove himself worthy of your affection. Give him a chance. If someone can convince him, it's you. The girl who lived.' He bowed his head like a mourning man.

'And you'll be okay with me doing this? Practically seducing the Dark Lord?' She scoffed. Thinking of how jealous Severus could be.

'Of course not,' he threw up his slender hands. 'I merely cannot see another way. It all leads to this. As you said, it's what you proposed at the very start.'

She sank lower into the water, 'Can't we go find him? Fight him head-on?'

'Ridiculous,' Severus laughed, but quickly paused, reigning in his emotions. 'I'm going to stand watch. Think about it. You can let me know what you want to do when you are ready. There's a towel on the stool behind you.'

He turned on a heel and marched out into the darkness. He'd reverted to his frock coat alone and lost much of the dramatic flare he'd been known for in the halls of Hogwarts.

She heard him kick a stump. He really didn't want this. But he was right. They were out of options.

The sweet smoke from his pipe drifted into the tent. It was comforting to know he was out there, even if she couldn't see him.

She felt squeamish, thinking of letting the young Riddle back into her dreams. He was evil. A vile wizard who messed up everything in her life. BUT... he was undeniably attractive, at least in the dreams...

Maybe it won't be so hard to pretend, she thought, thinking of his handsome face, his sharp eyes, the power radiating from him. It made her feel guilty, and bad for Severus. He held a different type of appeal. He was home. Stalwart and skilled. He was there when she needed him. He'd always protected her. Voldemort hunted her. He took everything away from her. Severus had given her his world.

'I'll do it!' She yelled, knowing he would be able to hear her from his post outside.