The palm of my hand supported my chin as I leaned forward onto Severus' desk, the chair I was sitting on too far away to make my leaning elegant, but the positioning was surprisingly comfortable. I watched as his quill glided across parchment, his letters looping and graceful as he etched a message with which he did not agree. The words he used were convincing and straight-forward as they flowed from his pen, not needing even a moment of consideration, his deceit was so practised an art it came almost as quickly as if the ideals he scrawled were his own.
This moment was easy, spending time in one another's company. Normally we would work together on our separate projects. I would be finalising reports for St. Mungo's or writing up injury reports for the various students I had seen in a day and he would work on a potion or a communication, but not tonight. Tonight, I was just an observer. I enjoyed watching him work, I always had. Even when I was a student and meant to be working on assignments I would often find myself distracted by him while he completed his mundane tasks. His movements were so practised, precise, and calculated, besides, I just liked looking at him. I loved the flow of his robes, the confidence of his stride, the smooth strokes of his quill, and the brightness of his eyes when they were filled with focus.
A piece of his hair slipped out from where he had it tucked behind his ear when he dipped his quill in ink. It fell in his face and I wasn't sure if he was too concentrated to notice or if he simply didn't care, but he made no attempt to fix it. I became aware that I was staring at him, smiling like an idiot. I leaned back in my chair, forcing composure onto myself. My movement caught his attention and his gaze flicked up to me, the fallen piece of hair obstructing one of his eyes. Something about his appearance sent a jolt through my heart and dispersed around my body filling me with warmth. The smile returned to my lips, greeted by one of his own before he shook his head, returning his focus to his writing.
"I'm going to miss you." I said out loud after repeating the phrase several times in my head.
"You can stay as long as you'd like. There's no reason to miss me." he said, his attention not breaking from his task.
"Thank you, however, that does not stop the coming of tomorrow when I will be forced to leave." I said, leaning forward onto his desk again.
His head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise. "Leaving? Tomorrow?"
"Today was the last day of classes before Christmas." I began, in case, like me, he had completely lost track of time. "I ran into McGonagall this morning and she informed me that no students have signed up to stay over the break."
His eyes traced over my face as his quill hovered over parchment. He nodded his head slowly. "A perfect opportunity for you to be able to spend Christmas with your family."
I paused. "I suppose."
His brow furrowed with slight confusion. "Is that not your intent?"
I breathed in sharply, unexpectedly and inexplicably nervous by his reception of my next words. "Actually, I'd have rather liked to spend Christmas with you." His expression was unreadable as his eyes continued brushing over my features. I could feel myself fluster. "But, I know that's not possible for appearance sake."
"Aren't I the one that is supposed to be concerned with keeping up appearances?" He asked, a corner of his mouth tugged up in a half smile. "If you want to stay, I won't make you go."
"Really?" I breathed out in surprise.
He put the quill down and slid the parchment to the side. He leaned forward across his desk, closing the space between us. He stopped, our faces inches apart. "Really." He whispered, closing the rest of the space, pressing his lips softly against mine. He leaned closer, pushing his mouth harder to mine. I lifted my hand, sliding my fingers through his hair as I parted his lips with my tongue. He inhaled deeply, melting into the kiss as we remained suspended over his desk. A moan vibrated from his throat, turning into a growl as he pulled away.
"Go sit over there and read." he ordered, gesturing to a chair across the room. "You're a distraction and I need to finish this." He threw himself back into his seat, sliding the parchment back in front of himself and picking up the discarded quill. His eyes flicked to mine, a heated wanting radiated from them as they flowed downward, cascading over my form, filling me with the same warmth they exuded. He returned his attention to his writing. "We'll continue this once I'm finished." A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he pressed his quill to the parchment.
I made my way over to the chair he had indicated, picking up one of his many books along the way. I plopped dramatically into the seat, throwing my legs over the armrest. I opened the book to the first page, my eyes glazing over at the words, not taking in any information. The movement of Severus tucking hair behind his ear drew my attention away from the book. Watching him complete his task was far more interesting than the book on…what was it? I closed the cover, reading the words The Useful Book of Unuseful Potions Vol. 3. I let out a small sound of laughter, wizards are a decidedly silly group when it comes to titling books. My attention returned to Severus writing, his eyes were focused on the looping letters coming into being on parchment. I wondered if he'd ever actually read The Useful Book of Unuseful Potions Vol. 3. I gave a quick glance around at his impressive collection of books that took up an even more impressive amount of space in this large room. There was simply no chance that he had read all of them. I looked back to him, his attention unbroken, biting his bottom lip as he formed some sort of consideration of his work. Of course he had read them all and I was even more sure that if a specific title was requested he would know precisely where to find it. I wondered if his knowledge would extend to knowing which books held information about specific topics.
"That's very distracting." his low voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I asked.
"You're staring at me." he said, his eyes remaining focused on the parchment. "It's making it very hard to concentrate."
"Hmm," I considered. "Perhaps you should take a break? We could figure out some sort of…activity that we could do together."
A smile spread across the lips that I desperately wanted to kiss. He shook his head, still not looking up to me. "I'm almost finished, I promise. We can play a round of Gobstones once I'm done." His eyes flipped up to me, taking in my reaction to his teasing. His mouth tugged into a smirk that sent flames licking at my inside. He had to know what he was doing to me and that it was torture.
The portrait of former Headmaster Black made a disgusted, disgruntled noise before vacating his frame. The other headmasters and headmistresses were sleeping or at least pretending to be. Most of the time I forgot they were there, but when I remembered I still felt a jolt of embarrassment at what they had witnessed between Severus and I. We never did anything too scandalous in this room, but they have witnessed quite a bit of flirting, kissing, and caressing. I imagined it could be quite sickening.
The click of him laying his quill on the desk brought my attention back to him. He picked up the parchment, his eyes scanning the lines as his lips silently moved to the words. His eyes moved back to the top, scanning the words again. He seemed satisfied as he set the letter back on his desk. He reached for his wand and tapped it wordlessly on the corner of the parchment. It rolled itself up and disappeared in a burst of flame and puff of smoke.
I sat up straight, flinging my legs off of the armrest in a smooth, rapid movement. "What was wrong with it?" I demanded, irritated that I would have to wait even longer to have him to myself. "You seemed satisfied with it."
His head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise at my raised tone. "There was nothing wrong with it, I was satisfied with it, and so I sent it. Why are you yelling at me?"
"You sent it?" I questioned. "Is that how you've been sending messages to me as well?"
He nodded. "An incantation of my own design." He said, nonchalantly. "Owls leave such a mess and I have so many different communications that need to be sent. Besides, sending things like this makes them far less likely to be intercepted."
"So, do you just need to know who you are sending it to?" I asked, "Or do you need to know where they are? How precise does your knowledge of their whereabouts need to be? Is the incantation complicated?" Severus stood up from his desk and slowly walked to me, a smile spreading across his face with every added question. "Do others know how to do it? Could you teach me?"
He leaned forward, hovering over me as he placed his hands on the armrests of the chair. He stopped, his face so close to mine any further questions I had were lost as I gazed up into his dark eyes. He moved closer, his forehead pressed against mine as the distance between us became almost nonexistent. My eyelids fluttered closed as I waited for the impact of his kiss. "You are such a Ravenclaw." I could hear the smile in his voice. "I can teach you all manner of things." His lips brushed over mine as he whispered. Electric pulses coursed through my body as the anticipation of his touch built. I tilted my mouth up to his, but as our lips touched he pulled back. I opened my eyes, tilting my head in confusion. His eyes were dark with lust, his expression serious. He lifted a hand to my cheek, running his thumb along my jaw and over my bottom lip before tilting my chin up, greeting my lips with a deep kiss. His hands moved to mine, lifting me from my chair, his arms moved to my waist as he pulled my body against his. My lips slid from his down to his neck above his high collar. My fingers made quick work of a few buttons as my lips followed them down to his clavicle. I looked back up to his face. Flames from the nearby fireplace reflected in his eyes, dancing across his dark irises as he looked at me with a libidinous gaze. My gut erupted with desire and I pressed my lips ravenously to his. He returned the passion of my kiss as he led me from the warm firelight of his office into the dark moonlit space of his bedroom.
Ordinarily, the Hospital Wing possessed a quiet not found in the rest of the castle. Today however, the commotion from the halls found their way into the quiet, cavernous space, reverberating off the walls turning my space into an echo chamber. I hadn't realised until this moment how used to the silence I had become. St. Mungo's certainly couldn't be considered quiet. There were some spaces that were quieter than others, but with all of the running around I did, I hardly had time to enjoy them.
A rather piercing shriek made me jump as I was working my way through a report that had been waiting for me when I returned from Severus' room this morning. The owl had been rather annoyed that it had taken so long for me to retrieve the delivery, pecking at my fingers as I attempted to remove the parchment from its leg. A smudge of drying blood remained on the parchment as a memorial of the battle. I settled back into my examination of case breakdowns, bed turnover, and various notes. My team was doing very well without me, I was afraid they would realise they didn't need me. Perhaps this absence was a mistake.
"Auntie Ruby!" The high pitched, excited voice made me flinch away from my thoughts, startling me more than it should have. I looked up to see Laura skipping to my desk, a large bag swinging from her elbow, the contents of which must have been items she deemed worthy of coming home for break. "Mummy wants to know when you'll be over for Christmas Eve dinner."
I had forgotten Susan had invited me weeks ago. The invitation was added in at the end of one of her first letters just after I started at Hogwarts. It was after a large paragraph asking how horrible Snape was and what kind of dismal state the school was in with him in charge. The answers to those inquiries were likely met with disappointment as they were that I hadn't had any interactions with him other than being led to the hospital wing and that most of the dismal state seemed to be caused by the Carrows and not the Headmaster. Perhaps I could take a little bit of time away from Severus to attend Christmas Eve dinner. I knew he wouldn't mind, he'd likely be encouraging.
"I can probably be there around–"
"Miss Winston!" A strong Scottish accent wailed. "What are you still doing here?" McGonagall was now also approaching my desk, an incredulous look upon her face.
"I assumed I should stay until the students had all boarded the train." I said, which would have been true even if I hadn't been planning to stay. "I wouldn't want anyone to injure themself when I wasn't here."
"Well," she said, nodding her head. "No one could accuse you of not being dedicated. If I were a temporary placement, I'd have been gone first thing this morning if not last night. As it is, I am tasked with making sure students board the train before I am allowed to leave. Speaking of which, Miss Wood, you are going to be late if you keep dilly dallying. Miss Winston, you are welcome to walk with me to Hogsmeade from where we can apparate away from here."
"Thank you, that is very kind." I said. "Laura tell your mother I'll be there around–"
"Is everyone ill?" All three of our attentions snapped to the entry of the Hospital Wing. Severus stood in the doorway, a very austere expression on his face. No one answered his question, annoyance replaced austerity. "Is everyone injured?"
"No." McGonagall said, bitterness dripping from her tone.
"Then there is no reason for anyone to be here." The speed of his speech sounded as though he were explaining something to someone very stupid.
"I was just–" Laura started, her voice filled with defiance.
"Laura," I cut her off before she became too snarky. "Train. Now."
"But I was just–" she argued.
"Train." I doubled down. "Tell your mother I will write to her."
She sighed and turned slowly. Severus had already moved to the side to allow her by, but her speed was agonisingly slow.
"I was telling Miss Winston that she could accompany me to Hogsmeade once all of the students were gone." McGonagall told him.
"Why would that be necessary?" he asked, eyeing the slow movement that Laura was still making towards the door.
McGonagall paused for a moment, clearly trying to make sure she understood the question. "So that she can leave."
Severus' attention moved to me, it was not the gaze I was used to receiving from him. My blood felt as though it had become ice water. He was quite a convincing actor. "Miss Winston will not be leaving."
Laura stopped mid-step. "What? But that's not fair!"
Severus turned his head in the direction of her whining. "Laura, get out of here." I snapped. "You're going to miss the train."
She stomped her foot in anger, but continued out the door. She turned to glare at Severus as she passed and if looks could kill, he'd have dropped dead on the spot.
"What reason could you have for keeping her here?" McGonagall demanded. "No one is staying."
"I am staying." he stated, coldly. "The Carrows are both staying. Are you suggesting that we shouldn't be allowed care should the need arise?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" She asked, her words acidic.
The corner of his mouth twitched. "If you are not in need of whatever care Miss Winston is here to provide, Minerva, I suggest you go and do your job." She paused for a moment, having some sort of silent battle with Severus before finally moving to leave. "Miss Winston, I'd assumed that since you headed an entire floor at St. Mungo's that you should find no difficulty in maintaining order in a small school hospital." He said to me, as McGonagall was walking past. "It appears that my assumptions were extraordinarily misguided and you struggle to maintain even the most basic control." He looked quickly out into the hall before turning his attention back to me.
"I'm so sorry." he mouthed silently, as he approached my desk. "I didn't mean a word of it." he whispered once he reached me. "You're doing an amazing job and I would never actually say any of the words I just said."
I smiled up at him, the warmth he normally regarded me with was present once again in his eyes. "You don't need to clarify."
"I do, though." he said, making a quick glance around before placing his hand on mine. "Every word of it was… I need you to know that I would never actually speak to you like that." He slid his hand from mine, his eyes lingering on the slices through the knuckles on my first two fingers. He let out a sigh, "What have you done to yourself now?" His index finger gently brushed over one of the cuts.
"Owl attack." I stated simply.
"Owl attack?" He asked, eyebrows raised in amusement. I nodded my head. "You should alert St. Mungo's that their delivery system is causing injuries."
"I don't know how long he'd been waiting for me." I said reasonably. "I'd be cross too if I had to wait hours for someone to remove a letter from my leg, wouldn't you?"
He smiled at me before shaking his head. "I had a reason for coming here," he said. "You're distracting me."
"I do apologise." I said, straightening my posture. "You have my full attention."
"Before I walked down here to find half the school huddled around your desk," he began.
"My, what an incredible exaggeration." I interrupted.
"Thank you." he said, a smile curving his lips. "I had intended to ask you if you would like to go for a walk with me in the Forbidden Forest, like we used to."
"Ingredient hunting?" I asked, unable to mask my excitement.
He nodded once. "Ingredient hunting."
"I would love to."
"Wonderful, I'll come get you this afternoon when it's time to go." he said, taking a step back from my desk. "In the meantime, finish your work." He waved a hand at the parchment in front of me, furrowing his brow he leaned in closer. "Is that blood?" He shook his head at me before turning and walking from the room. I sat smiling as I watched him go.
"Susan's daughter really doesn't like me, does she?" Severus said, our footsteps crunching through the thinning layer of snow as we walked deeper into the forest. He had draped his arm over my shoulder as soon as we had entered the cover of trees and was holding me close. "I thought I was going to burst into flames the way she looked at me."
"I don't think you've been able to exactly present yourself in a very likeable way." I said, leaning my head into his shoulder.
"I wish I could." His voice was barely a whisper. "It's exhausting, pretending all the time."
"So why don't you?" I asked. "At least to McGonagall. I can tell her hostility hurts you. Why don't you tell her the truth?"
He shook his head, sadness set in the line of his mouth. "I can't. In order for this to work, everyone needs to believe the lie. Minerva being privy to the truth could only put her in danger. She would need to pretend she didn't know. What if she slipped, said something accidentally that would put my allegiance into question? What if they tortured her in search of more information? I can't put her in that position. I can only hope that she learns the truth when it is safe for her to know. I'll probably not live to see that day, but hopefully it will allow her to remember me with less.." he paused, searching for the correct word. "Disdain."
I hated when he talked of his death. He always did so nonchalantly, as if we were discussing the weather and not the day when I would be parted from him for good. I bit my tongue, we'd argued about this so many times already and nothing ever came from it except aggravation. Instead, I wrapped my arms around him, giving his torso a loving squeeze. "If it makes you feel better, I think Laura would like you if she got to know the real you."
He smiled and shook his head. "Her mother's hatred of me is so strong I fear it may be something she passed onto her young."
I laughed. "Susan may be her mother, but that girl has fashioned herself after me." I stepped out in front of him, halting his forward progress. "And I don't know if you know this, but I am quite fond of you."
He took my gloved hands in his, "I think, perhaps, you are just blind to how unlikeable I am."
"I remember, vividly, how deeply unpleasant you could make yourself appear." I assured him, giving his fingers a squeeze.
"If I was so, as you put it, 'deeply unpleasant' why did you want to spend time with me?" he asked, his dark eyes holding a spark of teasing.
"Oh, I didn't." I shook my head. "But you gave me all of those detentions and then I saw a glimpse of who you might actually be. Did you expect me not to investigate further?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked with a slight laugh. "What glimpse?"
"You stayed." I said, reminiscing as I pulled on his arm to continue on our walk.
"What does that mean?" He asked, following me with his arm outstretched as I tugged him forward. "I stayed?"
"In the Hospital Wing. You stayed by my bed until I woke up. Someone as mean as you acted wouldn't have done that." I turned to look at him as I walked. "I'd considered that you might've just stayed there to perform damage control when Madam Pomfrey asked what happened, but I was on alert to keep my eyes out for more glimpses of who you might really be." He met me with a smile, one of the ones that made my stomach fill with butterflies. "And that's what did it."
"What?" He asked, speeding up to walk next to me.
"I think it was the first time you helped me with defence, I did something well and you smiled at me." I looked over at the face that had become so familiar to me and thought back to a time when it was new. "It was a genuine smile, the kind that goes into your eyes." My words faded as I memorised this moment with him, there was a voice ever present in the back of my mind reminding me that every sweet moment could be the last. His eyes held mine and lightning struck in my gut. I shook my head bringing myself back to my point. "That smile made me so suspicious of you, however, I knew that someone with a smile like that couldn't possibly be as bad as you would have everyone believe you were. I am well aware of how you can make yourself seem, but I also know who you really are."
His attention was on me as we walked along a winding path, there was a dreaminess in his eyes. The crunch of snow was gone from under our footsteps, the only sounds now came from unseen, faraway beasts. The canopy of trees was so dense that sunlight struggled to get through, submerging us into a twilight dimness in the middle of the afternoon. Despite the darkness, plant life was exploding this deep in the forest. He hadn't mentioned what it was he was looking for but he no doubt knew where a supply existed as he pulled me off the path and up a rocky incline in between tree trunks.
"Keep an eye out, they should be somewhere near here." Severus said, scanning the ground and treetops with his eyes.
"What exactly am I looking for?" I asked, looking around aimlessly.
"All of this time we were apart and you never learned how to read minds?" he asked, continuing to look up and down. He pulled his attention away from his search to give me a teasing smile. "There is an Occamy nest around here that I have been monitoring for weeks. I'm hoping that the eggs have hatched and I can find the shells."
"Occamy shells, got it." I mumbled as I continued my search with the new and important knowledge of what I was looking for.
"Promise to be careful," he added, "Centaurs still roam here and I am certainly not a favourite of theirs right now. They probably won't hesitate to kill you for trespassing either since you aren't a student anymore."
I always forgot that the forest was dangerous. He and I had gone through it so often that my mind associated it with us, as though it was our place, instead of the dangers within. I always felt safe with Severus and hadn't given a thought to all that lurked under the cover of treetops since our very early trips. The cautious solemnity on his face reminded me that this wasn't a leisurely date walk. I suddenly became aware that he and I used to regularly face serious injury or death in an effort to spend time together. I wasn't sure whether to be impressed with our dedication or disappointed with our stupidity.
He watched me, waiting for a response. I nodded quickly. I suddenly wasn't sure if I wanted to be there anymore. I contemplated asking him if we could leave as he returned his attention to searching. I watched him circling tree trunks looking for the valuable silver shells and decided that I wouldn't wander far from him.
I copied his tactic of circling the trees, being more careful than normal not to make noise. His warning had put me in a state of paranoia that I'm sure he didn't intend. I climbed down a series of stones acting as steps bringing me to a lower area of trees and let out a gasp. Within a fraction of a moment, Severus was to me, his expression focused ferocity, wand lifted as he pushed me behind him, shielding me from the perceived danger. His head swivelled back and forth as he tried to locate the attacker. He made several scans, each one lacking some of the urgency of the scan before. He turned to me, wand still raised and pointed out in front of him.
"What is it?" I asked, fear running through me.
His brow furrowed in confusion. "Did I imagine you gasping?"
I took in a sharp breath, realising what made him react. "No." I whispered, shaking my head. The fear from a second ago was replaced with embarrassment. "I did. I'm so sorry if you thought I was in trouble."
"What happened?" he lowered his wand, relief smoothing his features.
"Er," I began, wrapping my arms around myself. "Do you see those vines climbing up that tree?" I pointed across the small clearing. Severus followed my gesture and returned his attention to me with a nod. "Well, you see, I didn't know that particular plant grew in Scotland. I was surprised and a bit excited."
Severus met me with an amused grin. "And what exactly is it?"
"Mucuna Pruriens or velvet beans." I said. "Nothing particularly exciting, but I thought they were only in Asia and Africa, so I was surprised to see them here."
"The forest holds a number of unexplainable things." Severus said, looking at the rather unremarkable vines.
"St. Mungo's sent someone all the way to Nigeria when I needed those leaves for an experimental treatment. To think, they were probably in here the whole time." Severus gently took my hand, pulling my attention from the vines.
"You created an experimental potion?" His eyes were alight with interest.
I shrugged. I was worried his expectations were too high for what I had actually created. The plants I used already had rumoured properties that I wanted. I simply combined them and hoped for the best. "It was just a salve and–"
I was cut off at the snap of a nearby twig. I felt my heart speed up, my breath and words trapped in my throat. Severus pulled me close, raising his wand as he ushered me away from the sound. His eyes were locked on the spot. Darkness seemed to spread out from between the trees as though it were smoke. I swore I could see a figure lingering, but it was unmoving and I wasn't sure if it was light reflecting off a deeper tree. Severus' grip tightened.
"If I tell you to run, you run. Understood?" his whisper was so low that I almost missed it. His eyes remained locked on the dark space between the trees, his face a mask of concentration. "Do you understand? No arguing, no insisting that you can help. I say run, you run."
"Okay." I whispered. My heel collided with something heavy but moveable. I looked down to find a collection of broken shells glistening silver in the dim forest light. I moved from Severus' grip for a second to scoop them up. An arrow whizzed over my head, narrowly missing me.
"Depulso!" Severus yelled, sending the spell into the gap between trees that his eyes had been trained on.
My fingers gripped the heavy shells, fumbling them momentarily at their impressive weight before shoving them into my pockets. I stood to find that Severus had placed himself in front of me acting as a shield, wand still raised, his hand steady, his demeanour impressively calm.
"Severus Snape." A gravelly male voice growled as a centaur stepped out from the shadows. "Murderer of Albus Dumbledore, lapdog of He Who Shall Not Be Named. Do you dare desecrate our home with your presence?"
"We meant no harm." Severus said, his voice even and controlled. "We were just leaving."
"I cannot allow that." The centaur replied. "For too long, Wizardkind has trespassed and taken that which does not belong to them. We have been far too kind with our warnings, but that stops today. Especially for murderers like yourself." He lifted his bow and aimed another arrow.
"Wait!" Severus shouted, panic becoming audible in his voice. "At least let her leave. She hasn't done anything wrong." I gripped the upper part of his arm. I had already decided I wasn't going anywhere without him.
The centaur's eyes rested on me, his face showed no evidence of his considerations. "No." he said, raising his bow again. "She should learn to be more selective of the company she keeps." His fingers released the arrow, sending it straight for us.
With a flick of his wrist, Severus sent the arrow off course where it planted itself into a tree. "Run!" He shouted. I maintained my grip on his arm as he flicked another arrow to the side. "What are you waiting for? Get out of here!"
"Not without you!" I said, my fingers digging into his muscles as I attempted to pull him along.
His face contracted with anger as he sent an arrow skidding off a rock face. A frustrated growl reverberated from his chest. "You agreed!"
"We both know I don't listen." I argued, shoving my hand in a pocket and withdrawing my own wand. I had a plan, it was rash and dangerous, but it was better than leaving him. "Accio bow." I shouted. The bow was ripped from the centaur's grasp, flying straight for my outstretched hand. It landed with an audible thump in my palm. Both the centaur and Severus' mouths gaped open with incredulous shock. I looked at the weapon in my hand and back to the creature I had stolen it from. Oh God, this plan was so stupid, why did I allow myself to do this? "Run!" I shouted, pulling on Severus' arm.
He sprung into immediate action, grabbing me by the hand as we ran together. I could hear the drumming of hooves behind us as the centaur took chase. We ran side by side, hands locked over the uneven path within the forest. I chanced a look over my shoulder, the centaur was gaining, and the look on his face suggested the kind of trouble we would be in when he caught up. I returned my attention forward again, hoping to see the light of day at the end of the forest, but was met with continued darkness. This was a really stupid idea. The drumming of hooves swelled to a thunderous rumble. Severus and I both threw a glance backward to see three more centaurs join the first, all of them gaining momentum.
Severus jerked me to the side, pulling me with him through a narrow space between trees, forging an unmarked path. Branches scratched at my arms and face as we ran past, Severus pulling me along, weaving in and out of trees. An arrow flew past my ear, planting itself deeply into a tree trunk. I let out a shriek as another zoomed between Severus and I. I threw the bow that was still clutched in my hand to the side. Part of me was hopeful that the original centaur would stop to pick it up, but most of me was sensible enough to know that hope was in vain.
An arrow shot past Severus' head, embedding itself into a tree trunk as he pulled me to the side through a narrow opening again. A growl ripped from his throat. I looked over at him, his face was screwed up in anger and I could tell by the tightness of his jaw that his teeth were clenched. His grip on my hand tightened so much so that it was painful. I could only imagine how angry he must have been with me. I had disregarded the very clear instructions he had given 'I say run, you run'. I had refused to run, summoned the weapon from the hands of a centaur, and now we were running for our lives from even more weapon wielding centaurs. And for what? Because I refused to leave him. I wasn't even sure if this rash, stupid, decidedly suicidal plan would pay off. Arrows were still being shot and narrowly missing, all it would take was one that made contact and either one of us could be dead. Had I killed Severus Snape?
I returned my attention forward again. Bright winter light was peeking between trees in the distance, we were getting close. I looked over my shoulder to see two centaurs still on chase, bows lifted, and ferocity in their eyes. I pulled Severus between trees, changing course again, still heading for the opening. I sped up, feeling the burn of the cold air piercing my lungs like needles. My chest hurt, my hand hurt, and my sides were in agony. I pushed with everything I had to run as fast as I could to the end of the forest, to safety. Severus lagged behind, I willed him to go faster, I made a silent plea as I turned to look at him, anger still apparent on his face. I looked back at the opening, it was so close I could feel the breeze coming through the trees. I realised that I didn't know if the end of the forest would mean the end of this chase. Panic rose in me as I considered the possibility that they would not back down and would continue on without the protection and obstacle of the forest. I chanced another look at Severus, his face was pale, much paler than normal. Was he having the same thought as me?
I pushed myself harder, my legs screaming in protest, through the opening in the trees into the open air and frigid light of the setting sun. The road back to Hogwarts picked up in front of us. I couldn't continue running, centaurs or not. I felt my legs collapse as I tumbled in the ditch. My lungs burned with every breath, I could feel my muscles spasming, my sides felt as though they had been ripped open, perhaps they had. I waited for the centaurs to finish the job and kill me, I was completely defenceless.
"Are you alright?" Severus' frantic and panting voice sounded. "Are you hurt?" He crawled over to me, seizing me by the shoulders to look me over for injuries.
"I'm fine." I said, relief flooding through me that he wasn't angry enough with me to just abandon me. "I'm fine, I think."
"What were you thinking?" he shouted, flopping awkwardly to the side. "Stealing a centaur's bow? Are you mad? Are you completely insane?"
"I understand it was a stupid idea–"
"A stupid idea?" Severus yelled, "Ruby, a stupid idea is–" His speech was interrupted by a wince as his hand moved to the side of his leg, just below his hip. He took a deep rattling breath as he closed his eyes.
"Severus!" I gasped, moving closer to him. The snow next to him was stained red. I reached out, wrapping my fingers gently around his wrist to move his hand so that I could inspect the wound. "Let me see." I ordered when he resisted.
"No, it's fine!" he argued, pressing his hand against his leg. "I can handle it."
"What is your aversion to showing me your injuries?" I demanded.
"It's nothing," he insisted.
"Well, it's certainly bleeding a lot for being nothing." I scoffed. "Just let me see it."
He growled but removed his hand. "You never listen! I think I would drop dead of surprise if you ever do as I say. I told you, very clearly, that you needed to run. You agreed that you would, but when the time came, you did what you always do! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is, wanting to protect someone, having the means to protect someone, and all they do is disregard everything you say and do as they wi–" I pressed my lips hard to his in the middle of his tirade. I wasn't sure if my action would distract him (as I was hoping) or if it would simply make him more annoyed. I positioned my wand over his wound, using a spell to extract the arrow tip that was still lodged in his leg, pulling with it a scream of pain.
"Ferula." I said, pulling away. Bandages flew from my wand tip and wrapped around his thigh. "We'll have to go back to the Hospital Wing so that I can clean it and bandage it properly. Also, you've lost quite a lot of blood and I'm assuming you'll lose more on the journey back to the castle, so you'll probably need a blood replenishing potion." I sat back on my heels, his brow was still furrowed in anger. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I frustrate you. I don't mean to, but since I found you, you've continually told me that you are going to die. Over and over, you've made this statement as though it were fact. There may very well come a day where I am not able to save you, but until then, I am damn well going to try, no matter how much you object." Any fight that had been present in him was gone. He stared down at his bandaged leg as I reached into my pocket, revealing the Occamy eggshells and holding them out to him. "Let's head back to the castle."