It Rains

Autumn

Laurel was sitting by the window, looking out at the desolate gardens that at that hour were barely lit by the faint rays of the sun of that autumn afternoon. She let out a rueful sigh as she saw no sign of the beautiful albino peacocks that had entertained her during the last weeks she had spent alone in the suite. It now served as her luxurious prison, since Severus had to return to Hogwarts to fill his position now as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Every evening, the familiar figure of the only sorcerer who had - to this point - shown her any kindness, stepped over the threshold and breathed life back into her withering confinement. He brought interesting anecdotes from his class, rumours that circulated through the castle corridors, new ideas to apply in his investigations. Often, he brought clean clothing, Muggle cigarettes, and the odd delicacy pinched from one of Hogwarts's many banquets. His presence was a lifeline in the sea of tribulations in which Laurel was barely able to stay afloat.

However, the relief he provided was short-lived. Severus always said goodbye before dawn, with a bow of the head, a brief caress on her hair and a look in his eyes that suggested a deep nostalgia, an uncertain longing that produced mixed feelings in her. The gaze lasted only a moment, before the thick darkness took control of the jet-black eyes. Then he would turn around, walking to the doors with his wand held high, reinforcing the protection spells that kept the Death Eaters at bay and Laurel resisted the urge to run after him when seeing the brim of his long cloak disappear behind the door.

She dropped back into the armchair and took one of the hypodermic needles that she had insisted on getting after they had decided there was no other way to investigate further without obtaining samples of her blood. She tightened the elastic band on one of her arms, and took a deep breath, trying to locate her vein in the reddish skin, sore from so many puncture wounds that she had had to inflict on herself daily. This was better than having to cut her skin with a knife, she thought, remembering the shine of the sharp dagger with which wizards used to take their blood to use in their potions. Unlike them, who could cure their wounds instantly, Laurel had to learn to draw her blood with the Muggle method that she had seen the nurses perform at the nursing home so many times.

There it was, she could feel the elasticity of her bulging vein and tried to find a point where she had not punctured before. She brought the needle close to her skin and was about to insert it ...

"GET OUT OF THERE, YOU FILTHY SCUM!"

The doors of the room cracked under the strong ramming of Greyback, who at least once a week tried to enter the suite of the Akardos. Insulting and humiliating her just as he was treated by wizards throughout his life as a werewolf. Finally, he had within his grasp a being that was even more despised than him and he wanted to make her suffer all kinds of humiliations, he wanted to hear her beg for her life, bite and tear her body apart, he wanted to feel the taste of her blood that now invaded the entire wing of the manor where the suite that Snape had adapted as his laboratory was situated.

Laurel cursed when she stuck the needle in wrongly as her body shook in panic at Greyback's bellow. She yanked the needle out furiously and tossed it aside, ignoring the stabbing pain and trying her best to fill the test tube with the blood that was now trickling down her arm. She turned her eyes towards the door and could see how the magical wards that Severus had summoned around the room vibrated with the savage thrusts of Greyback, who had discarded all magical attempts to break them and now called on his bestial physical strength. Little glints of golden colour descended from the ceiling of the bedroom and flocked to the cracked door, reinforcing it and repairing the splintered wood. The werewolf's snarls of defeat rang out over Narcissa's protests and Bellatrix's demonic laughter.

"I don't understand why you keep bringing that lycanthrope into my home! You know very well that it is not welcome!"

"But Cissy, Greyback just wants to play with the Akardos a bit! Sharpen his claws with her body! You won't stop that poor beast from having a bit of fun, right?"