Dream & Shadow

20* The Antidote

Leonor was once more curled under the blanket. The study was dark and gloomy. The green shimmering light in the dungeons faded with the daylight, and the air was humid from the boiling potion. Severus nursed the fire examining the office. Leonor's clothes lay folded in muggle fashion in a lower compartment of the bookshelf. Severus must have hexed the complete contents of the wardrobe from the seventh floor. It looked like moving in, a frightening and thrilling thought at once. He never wanted company, not after so much loss by own fault, not with so much at stake. Leonor had to survive the night, and he had to cope with whatever it meant and after that, it was over, and he would go his own way again.

The antidote was ready and a cup with the aromatic smelling liquid placed into Leonor's clammy hands. Severus watched her drowning it at once and clinging on the warm outside while staring to the empty bottom. There was no immediate effect and Leonor fell apparently into another doze. He took the cup and returned to the workbench cleaning and checking again the cauldron just to return to make sure she was alright given the circumstances. She had still high temperature, the skin felt warm now. The eyelids moved rapidly like thinking of something in a restless dream. His long slim fingers moved some dark hair out of the hot glowing forehead. She looked so fragile, so much different from usual. Severus just sat there and waited.

Unexpectedly Leonor rolled to the other side, sitting upright and straight to stare eerily like the man opposite was the enemy. She sized Severus at his robes and started punching and screaming. The actions originated from a mix of agony and self-defence. Severus recoiled taken aback by the sudden change. When regaining composure, he quickly cast a silencing spell around the room, better to let nobody hear and see. He hesitated to use a spell on Leonor. It felt so wrong and Severus shied away from the fists instead of taking his wand. It angered her more and more. He was already close to the wall and retreating further was no option anymore. Severus caught Leonor's wrists with a few skilled moves ducking the punches quickly. She tried to wriggle herself free, but he was keeping the arms and pulling her close into a strong embrace while hoping it would calm her down. Leonor still raced, but Severus didn't let go and brought her back to the armchair safely gripped with both arms and in his lap. It worked, she quieted floating into a steady breathing, sleeping. It was time for the next cup of antidote.

The evening turned into the night. Leonor was nothing of herself. The disoriented fury changed into the desire of close contact. Fighting the nightmares resulted in resistance. Holding her close hushed the demons away. The exhausting change of temper and the need to care for the antidote tired Severus. It felt like forever. He relaxed embracing the woman, listening to the still body before the next helping was due; just to bring another round of chaos. It was wrong to touch her; it was wrong to stroke her back and to feel the soft skin below the fabric of the shirt. She couldn't object to whatever he did, yet he sensed it was the only thing required to live through the strange toxic hallucinations. It was what he needed to continue defeating the dragon's venom. The realization of why she chose the office over the hospital wing dawned in his mind. She knew it. The battle ended in the morning a short hour before the sunlight illuminated the hilltops around the Black Lake.

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The place was cosy. A soft pillow adjusted Leonor's head in a comfortable position. The blanket ensured nice warmth. A male scent and a light snore tickled her nose and ears. An arm embraced her waist without adding weight, moving lazily from time to time and caressing the skin below the shirt. It felt like everything was right in the world. She snuggled closer to the body to hold on to the loving dream and drifted into another deep healing sleep.

XXX

Leonor dozed realizing the surroundings slowly. The twilight made spots in a warm golden light. She watched them moving until clouds covered the rays of sunshine with the dull bleakness of November. She recognized to have loads of space on a box spring mattress. The window was above the top sending the fading daylight of a late afternoon into the room. Ceiling-high shelves with books framed the king-size bed. Some space in the lower compartments was used as a bedside cabinet. Half-finished crosswords, pens, and few recent periodicals were left in the dark wood and covered a stick looking like a handle of a wand. There were a wardrobe and two doors. Both stood little ajar without showing anything of the bordering rooms. It was quiet, and Leonor fell back into the numerous soft pillows. She recollected what happened and remembered vaguely to have left her wand on the workbench, she'd changed into shirt and sweatpants and took the first cup of the antidote. It tasted unusually fruity and sweet for an antidote, almost as aromatic as it smelled. There was no memory after that. The bed covers emitted a fresh masculine identity, a woody scent with a note of bamboo and mint, something she became addicted in her dream. Was it really a dream? The dragon-keeper; the young lad who unfortunately suffered the same injury was restless for weeks; saved from the poison but fighting dire nightmares in every sleep. The antidote didn't solve it. Peter's wife saved her husband from the demons; she'd been caring and strong enough to hold him while his life was at stake. He recovered fast and the evil spirits vanished with the love.