It Rains

The Soulless one

Laurel wished it were just a nightmare. The abrupt sensation of weightlessness produced a void in her stomach that made her want to vomit, and the sudden gust of icy wind on her face made her close her eyes and clench her teeth. Her first impulse was to try to free herself from the solid arms that carried her, but a brief glance at the lights that illuminated London thousands of feet below produced in her the opposite instinct. She pressed herself even more against Severus's body trying not to die of hypothermia and buried her face in his chest, praying that this infernal flight would end soon.

Severus' black eyes were fixed on the woman in his arms, trying to understand the miracle that he had just witnessed. Only one person in the world had survived the Killing Curse and it was only because the infant Harry Potter had been protected by the love of his mother Lily, but this woman was a muggle and she had no magical protection.

He had realized that Greyback had tried to torture her with the Cruciatus curse and had failed. In that instant, he thought it was just poor aim or simply the werewolf's ineptitude for magic. The woman shifted in his arms and for a brief moment her wild eyes stared directly into his with fear. Severus wanted to penetrate her mind and learn more about her, but it was like crashing into a solid concrete wall. It had not been because of his nervousness that he couldn't use legilimency on her earlier. That woman was immune to magic. He remembered hearing about those soulless beings, an infamous race that many wizards considered cursed and believed almost extinct. A chill ran through his body at the thought that it might be true. The Death Eaters would not stop until they found her and most likely would offer her in sacrifice to the Dark Lord.

She closed her eyes again and wrapped her arms around the his body. Severus barely let out a gasp of surprise as he felt her warm breath against his chest. It had been a long time since he had such intimate contact with another person. He shook his head, refocusing his thoughts on the immense problem in which he had been involved. Greyback would want revenge and surely the Carrows would be looking for the Muggle who had survived the killing curse. He looked down and could recognize the creek that circled Cokeworth.

A few minutes later, which seemed centuries to Laurel, Severus stepped onto his feet in the dark, silent street of Spinner's End and allowed Laurel to stretch her legs and take a breath before pushing her into his house. She was speechless upon realizing that she was in Tobias' old house in Cokeworth. The entire room seemed to be frozen in time. The same worn armchairs occupied the small living room. The chipped walls were the same as the ones in the photograph that she had so often looked at. The only difference was the tall shelves that seemed to be about to collapse from the immense number of books they were holding.

Severus just pointed to one of the rickety chairs and said without looking at her:

"Sit down."

Trembling, Laurel obeyed, her gaze following the wizard who was currently scrambling around in the kitchen. He returned with a glass of water, which he bluntly offered to the young woman as he went about the room casting spells to prevent Wormtail from spying on them. Laurel didn't take her eyes off his wand, ready to run as soon as it was pointed at her. However, that did not happen. The wizard dropped exhausted into one of the armchairs in front of her and snapped:

"I have not poisoned the water. Drink it."

The young woman took a sip and felt grateful as the cold liquid soothed her dry and sore throat after inhaling the smoke from the fire in the club. She immediately thought of Rebecca and Edward and ruefully she dared to ask the man if her friends were safe.

"I do not know."- he replied dryly. - "And that's the least you should worry about now."

"Is it true, then?" - she asked. - "Tobias was not hallucinating. You are a wizard? "