Senses

Chapter 6

Night had completely fallen, dinner had been had and the last reading lamp extinguished. A gentle calm had settled, soft sleeping breaths filled the otherwise silent room and the world laid seemingly at peace.

Severus was just falling into his own tumultuous nightmares when a soft breathy whine startled him awake. Partially confused, partly startled, he pushed himself from his pillow blinking out into the inky blackness of night. A soft spell lit his bedside lamp with a low light, chasing away the shadows leading towards the window.

His brow furrowed as his heavy mind tried to understand what he'd heard. Just as he was certain he'd imagined it the noise came again and he raised himself up further, sitting on his bed.

Granger was laying on her side, facing him. Her face flushed and her mouth open. Her breath passed her lips in soft yet heavy pants. Her legs were curled, halfway to her chest but he could guess what was going on between. She didn't seem conscious. Her body's response much more muted than when she was awake.

Severus' heart ached to do something—anything. Slowly, he pulled his head from the bed shuffling over until he sat down upon the bench. Her fingers were curled by her head, opening and closing with the unseen ryhthym. He reached forward wrapping her hand in his and held it tight.

Her hand curled around his own, not searching, not pulling or pushing. Merely holding on, as if he was the last life-line she had left. He lowered his head down, resting his forehead against the mattress as he brought her what little comfort he could. He had to do something, he had wasted too much time.

oOOo

"You promised me a willing whore, to slate my men's lust, now you stand before me with two of my men dead and nothing but a Stone dragon? Do you take me for a fool Wormtail?"

"Your men can find their release with this, I assure you. I will have her again."

oOOo

The next conscious feeling that would rouse Severus was of small fingers lightly tracing his eyebrow. His brain sparked to life with dizzying speed before his eyes fluttered open.

Dawn was just breaking, his back and neck stiff from the position he'd held himself, by some miracle, in all night. A deep groan mumbled past his lips and he shifted his head, the fingers slipping down the ridge of his nose as he pulled himself up.

He blinked dumbly for a few seconds before he registered a hand still laid in his. He shifted his head down, watching the hand that had explored his face retreat back under the blanket before slowly pulling out the blue firestone. He followed its path up to her lips before his brain supplied him with a reason for the action.

He gave her hand a small squeeze, trying to tell her he understood before he managed to pull the appendage back to his person. Thirsty, she was thirsty.

oOOo

Severus frowned deeply. He had removed her robe to assess how well her body had healed overnight. Her skin was improving exponentially with the salves but her frame was still weak. The meager meals she'd been able to eat, two small servings of mashed potatoes, was not going to suffice, she would need another nutrient drip. There was no question.

However, what worried him now was the blood that had dried along the backs of her thighs. The dragon's head had presumably made her raw. It was clear that the dragon's head had been active well after he had fallen back asleep. He cursed himself internally for having let himself find comfort in the dark void, having left her to suffer. His dreams did not wake him as he believed they would, in fact, he hadn't dreamed at all.