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Entry tags:
Ghosts (repost), Severus/OFC, 38/48
Ghosts (repost), Severus/OFC, 38/48
Rating: G – hard-R; this chapter R
Author’s Notes:
If you don’t know what this is, please read this.
Despite a recent tune-up, this was written in 2001 and is not compliant with the current state of the HP universe.
Your feedback and commentary are always welcome, even for a time capsule such as this.
You can find all chapters here.
If you’re looking for slash, het, poly, Book-6 compliant Slytherin backstory please visit the recently updated Fascilis Descensus Averno a WIP written with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kalichan. It features Severus Severus, Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix & Rodolphus Lestrange and Regulus Black and mostly takes place in 1979 – 1981 but has forays both significantly forward and back in time.
Disclaimer: It’s JKR’s world, I just mess about with it.
As Severus emerged from the Malfoy mansion, he was deeply thankful for the crisp and clean night air.
Refusing the assistance of the door attendants, he made his way down the front steps and made a left towards where the carriages waited. Hearing voices from the trees, he paused, before choosing to wander the grounds in search of useful information and perhaps a little peace before returning home to Hogwarts.
Despite his disgust at the party, none of it was surprising, and he had, all in all, gotten off easier than expected. Walking amongst the dark with sighs of lovers heard behind hedges, Severus allowed himself to think of Allosia. On one level, wisdom demanded he tell her as little as possible of the evening and certainly nothing of his conversation with Lucius. But on another she was no innocent, and she was part of their focus now because of him. There was little doubt she had some sort of right to know even without consideration for their budding relationship. Severus knew instinctively that she was going to be furious, and he suspected his dread of that was part of what was keeping him on these foul grounds.
As he walked deeper into the planned woods he heard voices and found that his body and mind had tensed to alertness. Two men, laughing, and something rustling, a quavering noise, an animal. Taunting it. Nothing useful. Severus turned, and began to walk away, annoyed, when something burst through the trees bumping into him. Reflexively he grabbed at it, slamming it against a tree and pinning it there with his own body. It was a woman, clothes tattered, eyes wild and hair like Allosia's when she was young. Severus shuddered for a moment as she continued to stare at him, shaking.
"Can you hear me?" he whispered.
She shook her head yes.
"Can you speak?" he asked.
She shook her head no.
"Have you been hexed?"
She nodded and looked down; he took a step back, arms still holding her to the tree and looked down at her. Her flesh and what lay beneath was as tattered as her clothes. Severus doubted very much she could be healed.
Putting his hands on either side of her face, he stared into her eyes, turning her head this way and that. They had cursed her so that she'd be utterly terrified, so terrified she would not have it in her to speak. Severus shook his head and made a noise of disgust, as if these wounds wouldn't be enough to terrify.
"Are you in pain?" he asked.
She nodded and rolled her eyes, but wheather it was commentary or agony, Severus couldn’t know.
He made a soothing noise at her. "I don't know your name, and you can't tell me," he said sadly. "My name is Severus, and I want to help you, do you understand?"
She nodded again, very hurriedly.
"Good, good," he said smoothing the hair from her face again. "I can't heal you though, do you understand?"
She nodded again and pressed her eyes closed.
"Don't be scared, please, don't be scared, sweet." He bit his lip. "Will you let me end this? Give you some peace?"
She nodded again, weakly.
"Alright, hush now, hush," he said as he fumbled in his robes for his wand. He held it to her head and muttered a sleeping charm, and he exhaled with relief as her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Putting the wand away, he listened, heard the men whispering to each other, that she must be here somewhere. He continued to make soothing noises even as she slept now. He smiled at her weakly and made to sit on the ground, bringing her with him. With her torso pressed up against his own, he pinched her nose shut and covered her mouth with his hand and waited until after a few brief spasms, she stopped breathing.
The men crashed into his field of vision.
"Where is she?" they asked, out of breath, but only vaguely alarmed.
He looked up at them and used his sadness to fake calm, "You should keep track of your toys better, lest other people break them," he said, leaning her against the tree, and attempting to brush his robes off as he stood. "What was her name?" he asked, coolly.
"Why?"
"Because the memory serves me better with all the details," he said in the best imitation of Lucius he could muster.
The men looked to each other and shrugged.
"Graceless bastards," he spat and walked away, now dirty robes billowing behind him.
As his carriage pulled away from the estate he allowed himself to consider the evening and found himself cold and shaking. Lucius' sexual decadence and cruelty had ceased amusing him the moment he had realized the man wasn't all talk. Lucius had understood that for some years and had never stopped finding it absurd. "We can have anything we desire, and all you want is books?" he had asked Severus so many times, and Severus, for his part, had never understood how the man was incapable of connecting knowledge and power. It was when he had realized people like Lucius were anything but the exception to the rule amongst the Death Eaters, and that Voldemort, worse than supporting their actions, just didn't care one way or the other, that he had started to question his allegiance. The issue had not been a matter of right and wrong, but simply one of intelligence. These people were not worthy of him. It was only later that his heart caught up to his intellectual conclusions. Teaching the children of women he had murdered no doubt helped that process. Dumbledore was clever and Dumbledore was kind, but he was not so much gentle as people suspected.
Severus leaned his head against the carriage window and closed his eyes. He focused on his breathing and pretended for just a moment, that there was nothing in the world beyond it. That peace lasted only a few moments though before the image of the dead girl in the woods came to him. He had had no choice. They would have continued to torture her otherwise, using both their bodies and multiple Unforgivables. Dumbledore would understand, but he would not be able to take the fact of her death away. Allosia, well, Severus didn't know what she would say. At least he had warned her.
He felt relief, more than anything as the carriage pulled up to the castle with the small set of rooms that were his home. As he followed the corridors a bone weary exhaustion overtook him. It had been a hard night, and his muscles were beginning to cramp from the exertion of control that had been necessary over his fear, anger and sadness.
He opened the door, and Allosia looked up at him from the far chair. Severus smiled and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he found her approaching.
"Sit," he said, hoarsely.
She looked confused. Whispered, "Severus."
"I still have blood on me," and then, as her face turned to alarm, "No, I'm fine, I'm not hurt. Just, please, let me get cleaned up first."
She sat then with a nod and a swallow and looked up at him with pleading eyes as he walked towards the bathroom.
"It's fine Allosia, it'll all be fine," he said, but his voice was flat as he tried to figure out why he hadn’t just used his wand to deal with it before he returned.
Because you like the guilt, you damned fool.
Rating: G – hard-R; this chapter R
Author’s Notes:
kalichan. It features Severus Severus, Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix & Rodolphus Lestrange and Regulus Black and mostly takes place in 1979 – 1981 but has forays both significantly forward and back in time. Disclaimer: It’s JKR’s world, I just mess about with it.
As Severus emerged from the Malfoy mansion, he was deeply thankful for the crisp and clean night air.
Refusing the assistance of the door attendants, he made his way down the front steps and made a left towards where the carriages waited. Hearing voices from the trees, he paused, before choosing to wander the grounds in search of useful information and perhaps a little peace before returning home to Hogwarts.
Despite his disgust at the party, none of it was surprising, and he had, all in all, gotten off easier than expected. Walking amongst the dark with sighs of lovers heard behind hedges, Severus allowed himself to think of Allosia. On one level, wisdom demanded he tell her as little as possible of the evening and certainly nothing of his conversation with Lucius. But on another she was no innocent, and she was part of their focus now because of him. There was little doubt she had some sort of right to know even without consideration for their budding relationship. Severus knew instinctively that she was going to be furious, and he suspected his dread of that was part of what was keeping him on these foul grounds.
As he walked deeper into the planned woods he heard voices and found that his body and mind had tensed to alertness. Two men, laughing, and something rustling, a quavering noise, an animal. Taunting it. Nothing useful. Severus turned, and began to walk away, annoyed, when something burst through the trees bumping into him. Reflexively he grabbed at it, slamming it against a tree and pinning it there with his own body. It was a woman, clothes tattered, eyes wild and hair like Allosia's when she was young. Severus shuddered for a moment as she continued to stare at him, shaking.
"Can you hear me?" he whispered.
She shook her head yes.
"Can you speak?" he asked.
She shook her head no.
"Have you been hexed?"
She nodded and looked down; he took a step back, arms still holding her to the tree and looked down at her. Her flesh and what lay beneath was as tattered as her clothes. Severus doubted very much she could be healed.
Putting his hands on either side of her face, he stared into her eyes, turning her head this way and that. They had cursed her so that she'd be utterly terrified, so terrified she would not have it in her to speak. Severus shook his head and made a noise of disgust, as if these wounds wouldn't be enough to terrify.
"Are you in pain?" he asked.
She nodded and rolled her eyes, but wheather it was commentary or agony, Severus couldn’t know.
He made a soothing noise at her. "I don't know your name, and you can't tell me," he said sadly. "My name is Severus, and I want to help you, do you understand?"
She nodded again, very hurriedly.
"Good, good," he said smoothing the hair from her face again. "I can't heal you though, do you understand?"
She nodded again and pressed her eyes closed.
"Don't be scared, please, don't be scared, sweet." He bit his lip. "Will you let me end this? Give you some peace?"
She nodded again, weakly.
"Alright, hush now, hush," he said as he fumbled in his robes for his wand. He held it to her head and muttered a sleeping charm, and he exhaled with relief as her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Putting the wand away, he listened, heard the men whispering to each other, that she must be here somewhere. He continued to make soothing noises even as she slept now. He smiled at her weakly and made to sit on the ground, bringing her with him. With her torso pressed up against his own, he pinched her nose shut and covered her mouth with his hand and waited until after a few brief spasms, she stopped breathing.
The men crashed into his field of vision.
"Where is she?" they asked, out of breath, but only vaguely alarmed.
He looked up at them and used his sadness to fake calm, "You should keep track of your toys better, lest other people break them," he said, leaning her against the tree, and attempting to brush his robes off as he stood. "What was her name?" he asked, coolly.
"Why?"
"Because the memory serves me better with all the details," he said in the best imitation of Lucius he could muster.
The men looked to each other and shrugged.
"Graceless bastards," he spat and walked away, now dirty robes billowing behind him.
As his carriage pulled away from the estate he allowed himself to consider the evening and found himself cold and shaking. Lucius' sexual decadence and cruelty had ceased amusing him the moment he had realized the man wasn't all talk. Lucius had understood that for some years and had never stopped finding it absurd. "We can have anything we desire, and all you want is books?" he had asked Severus so many times, and Severus, for his part, had never understood how the man was incapable of connecting knowledge and power. It was when he had realized people like Lucius were anything but the exception to the rule amongst the Death Eaters, and that Voldemort, worse than supporting their actions, just didn't care one way or the other, that he had started to question his allegiance. The issue had not been a matter of right and wrong, but simply one of intelligence. These people were not worthy of him. It was only later that his heart caught up to his intellectual conclusions. Teaching the children of women he had murdered no doubt helped that process. Dumbledore was clever and Dumbledore was kind, but he was not so much gentle as people suspected.
Severus leaned his head against the carriage window and closed his eyes. He focused on his breathing and pretended for just a moment, that there was nothing in the world beyond it. That peace lasted only a few moments though before the image of the dead girl in the woods came to him. He had had no choice. They would have continued to torture her otherwise, using both their bodies and multiple Unforgivables. Dumbledore would understand, but he would not be able to take the fact of her death away. Allosia, well, Severus didn't know what she would say. At least he had warned her.
He felt relief, more than anything as the carriage pulled up to the castle with the small set of rooms that were his home. As he followed the corridors a bone weary exhaustion overtook him. It had been a hard night, and his muscles were beginning to cramp from the exertion of control that had been necessary over his fear, anger and sadness.
He opened the door, and Allosia looked up at him from the far chair. Severus smiled and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he found her approaching.
"Sit," he said, hoarsely.
She looked confused. Whispered, "Severus."
"I still have blood on me," and then, as her face turned to alarm, "No, I'm fine, I'm not hurt. Just, please, let me get cleaned up first."
She sat then with a nod and a swallow and looked up at him with pleading eyes as he walked towards the bathroom.
"It's fine Allosia, it'll all be fine," he said, but his voice was flat as he tried to figure out why he hadn’t just used his wand to deal with it before he returned.
Because you like the guilt, you damned fool.