Protection In The Dungeons

Down By The Willow

I woke up one night. I don't remember why. I probably had another nightmare, but I couldn't remember. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up to sit with Snape as he graded potions. (A occurrence that had begun to be a regular event.)

I opened the door to his office, and I saw that he wasn't there. "Snape?" I called out to him, but he wasn't there.

By chance, I glanced out the window, to see the whomping willow going crazy, but it froze. I saw two black figures ducking under it, and disappearing near the roots. I found this odd, and waited, watching. I saw a slightly larger black figure with a billowing cloak walk up to the whomping willow, and freeze it again, and disappear between the roots much like the other two figures.

    I immediately recognized the figure as Snape.

    I snuck out of the castle, and walked until I was about a few yards away from the whomping willow to check on Snape.

    For a few seconds, I saw nothing. Then, I watched as professor Lupin, and another man who I assumed was Sirius black, another man who was fat with buck teeth, Hermione, Harry, and Ron (who was limping) come out from under the tree.

"Why is ron limping?" I wondered to myself "More importantly, where is Snape?" I had known that Ron, Hermione, and Harry all had their differences with Snape, and I knew Harry could be... rash at times. I began to fear that they had done something to him, especially since they were with Professor Lupin, and Sirius Black.

I suddenly heard whispers very near me. I looked around and saw-no, it couldn't be! I saw Harry and Hermione just a few feet away from me, near the forest. But... they were over near the whomping willow. How could that be possible?

I heard screaming, and someone yelled: "Run! RUN!" I heard a howl, and they ran off. I looked back to where the original Harry, Hermione, and Ron were. The fat man was nowhere to be found. I felt something at my feet, and I glanced down to see a large rat run across my foot. I flinched, and kicked it off.

I saw Snape body shield the three, as a big black dog, and a large werewolf (I know what they look like because I read some books on the subject.)

I started to panic. Snape was body blocking them and he didn't have his wand. "No." I whispered. I wanted to run over, and grab Snape. I wanted to pull him to safety. I wanted to keep him with me, forever. I wanted to be close to him, to save him like he saved me... I couldn't lose another person. Not again. Never again. The werewolf swatted my professor/guardian, and he fell down, with the children stumbling away behind him. Hermione screamed, as did I.

A large black dog jumped into my view, and tackled the werewolf to the ground. Snape got up quickly while the black dog and werewolf fought. Snape got back into his protective position, holding the students behind him, ready to give his own life for them. The black dog fell backwards, and the werewolf turned to attack Snape again, but the black dog bit the werewolf, and ran off, the werewolf chasing after it.

Harry broke away from Snape, exclaiming: "Sirius!" And running after them.

"Come back here, Potter!" Snape commanded, but Harry didn't listen. Hermione tried to follow Harry, but Snape held her back.

We all waited with bated breath for a couple of moments, where we heard lots of growling, and whining.

"We have to help him!" Hermione yelled. "He's going to get himself killed!"

Snape shook his head. "Thanks to Mr. Potter, I dropped my wand in the shrieking shack. And-"

"We can't leave him alone, Professor!" Ron argued.

"I have to make sure you two get to safety, Mr. Weasley." Snape answered. "I might not enjoy having you fail my class constantly, but I will not allow you to get hurt. It's my job as a professor to ensure the safety of my students, even though some students don't want to be safe."

Hermione looked after where Harry disappeared. We all heard a howl in the brief silence that followed their exchange. Another howl quickly followed, and the growling and whimpering died down.

"Don't even think about it, Ms. Granger." Snape warned. "I will not hesitate to hold you down if that is what I must do to keep you from rushing off to get yourself killed. Merlin knows what happened up there, and going up there to find out would mean almost certain death."

Hermione nodded, and looked down at the ground.

"Come, we must get Mr. Weasley to Madame Pomfrey." Snape said, briskly. He picked Ron up, with a grunt.

"What about your wand, professor?" Ron asked.

"I can get my wand later." He answered. "You, on the other hand need immediate medical attention. It looks like a Wolfpack was fighting over your leg."

Snape carried Ron back over the hill towards Hogwarts. Hermione followed close behind.

I ran back the way I came. I sat down in bed, and laid down, pulling the covers over myself. I pretended to be asleep when the prefect checked to see who all was still in bed, but as soon as she left, I jumped back up, grabbed a blanket, and practically flew down rhetorical hall to Snape's study. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders like a shawl, and sat down on the cushy couch in the corner of his study.

    I waited for a few hours, and Snape opened the door to his study, grumbling and mumbling about something.

    "DAD!" I ran to him, and hugged him. "I was so worried-"

    Snape looked down at me in shock. "Katria... I didn't realize you were in here-did you just call me dad?"

    I nodded. "Thats okay, right?"

    Snape nodded. "Of course it's okay... why are you crying? Did some of the kids bully you again?"

    I shook my head no. "I... wait... promise you won't be mad?"

    Snape sighed. "What happened?"

    "I woke up from a bad dream, and decided to come sit with you in here until I felt better..."

    Snape nodded. "Why would I be mad about that?"

    "Well... you weren't there, and I looked out the window, and saw you down near the whomping willow. I snuck out of the castle, because I was concerned." I looked up to see what his reaction was.

    Snape pursed his lips. "You saw what happened?"

    I nodded, tears welling up. "I saw the werewolf, and how you almost died, and-" I choked up, crying. "I-I th-thought I w-was going t-to l-l-lose you."

    Snape handed me a tissue. "But I'm still alive, right?"

    I nodded. "Please don't ever die on me..."

    Snape knelt down so his eyes were on the same level as mine. "I cannot promise that I will not die, as I cannot control fate, but I will promise to be careful in the future. But, if one of my students is in danger, I will have to protect them over myself. Okay?"

    I stared into his onyx eyes. "Okay..."

    Snape stood up. "I'm going to brew some tea." He walked over to his fireplace, and set the kettle on. He grabbed a wooden box, and brought it over to me. He opened it, and there were many different varieties of calming teas inside.

    I picked a chamomile, lavender, hibiscus, passion flower, and echinacea tea.

    He grabbed two teacups, and put one teabag in each, and sat down on the couch with me as we waited for the water to boil.

    When the water boiled, Snape got up, and poured it into the cups. He put two sugar cubes into mine, and handed it to me.

     I took the cup, and smiled. "You remembered how I take my tea!"

    He smiled, and nodded. "When you're done with your tea, I want you to go straight to bed. Understand?"

    I nodded, and finished my tea. "Goodnight."

    He nodded in acknowledgment, and I went back to my room.