A Cloud Before the Moon

Chapter 54

Letha tossed and turned, plagued by a vague unease that she could not shake. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, but that did not put an end to her state of agitation. Strange images flitted across her eyelids, and finally they coalesced into the shape of a tall, thin apparition in a black robe, its face shadowed beneath a black hood. The figure stood before her, pointing a wand directly at her chest. Slowly, Letha spread her arms, her eyes fixed on the unseen face. Something fluttered into the corner of her vision, and both she and her challenger turned their gaze towards it. They watched a small white feather as it twisted and twirled slowly to the ground. Then Letha looked up again and caught the glitter of a pair of black eyes. Another feather commenced its leisurely descent, and another, and another, falling faster and faster, and that was when she realized they were falling from huge wings of blinding white that unfurled from her very own shoulders. A snowy carpet of feathers lay all about her feet. Meanwhile, the hooded figure held the wand unwaveringly, aimed at her pounding heart.

She lifted her chin and regarded him sanguinely, smiling even. "Go ahead," she said calmly.

He shook his head silently, lowered his wand, turned on his heel, and strode away.

Her smile faded. "Coward!" she shouted. "Traitor! Get back here!" Then imploring: "Wait, please! Don't go!" Feathers began flying in all directions, exposing the bare quills of her naked wings. She covered her eyes as they billowed and blew and blinded her. When she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black. Letha blinked in confusion, gasping, orienting herself to the darkness. Where was she? As her eyes adjusted, the shapes around her gained a semblance of familiarity, and she recognized her room at the Patils house. She climbed out of bed and proceeded to untangle the twisted bed sheets. The dream had already faded from memory, leaving her with only a vague sense of anxiety. She took her wand out of her robe pocket and slipped it under her pillow. Not that she was yet capable of defending herself against - whatever might need defending against - but it gave her a sense of security as she lay back down in the bed. This time, she fell, into a deep dreamless sleep.

Some time later, she again opened her eyes to the darkness. Someone was in the room; she could sense it. She slipped her hand under the pillow and grasped the end of her wand. A hand encircled her wrist, gently but firmly, and as she looked up, two long slender fingers covered her mouth, suppressing her exclamation of surprise. She wrapped her free arm around his neck and his fingers were replaced by his mouth on hers, eager and voracious. She pulled Snape down onto her, and did not resist as he tugged at her nightdress, groping and grasping, sliding one hand deftly down her panties. She pressed herself to him, as if afraid he would disappear again. They luxuriated in the moment, savoring every touch, every caress, every kiss. But then Letha pushed him away gently. "Where have you been? I thought perhaps you never wanted to see me again."

He regarded her pensively for a moment. It seemed to Letha he intended to say something but changed his mind and shook his head slightly. "I promise you, that is not so." He lowered his face into the curve of her neck, burying himself in her hair, and repeated, "Believe me, that is not so." She wanted to believe him, so she did.

Letha lifted his head away from her again, so she could see his eyes, that glowed with a warmth that few people ever were permitted to see. She ran her fingers gently over his face and as she touched a rough spot on his cheek, he winced slightly. "What's the matter, Severus?" Even as she asked, in the feeble light of the dying embers, she could see the angry red gash down the slope of his cheekbone.

"It doesn't matter." But she intercepted his hand as it again reached for the soft curve of her breast. He sighed. "It is a dueling injury, nothing serious." He smirked at her. "You should see the other wizard!"

Letha's eyebrows shot up. "Severus, you didn't..."

He kissed her fully, tenderly, on the lips. "He'll be fine. Only his ego was critically injured." A rare broad, genuine grin lit up his face. "The cruelest cut of all."

Letha could not help smiling back at him, and chose not to chastise him on the evils of dueling. Instead, she took his face in her hands, carefully avoiding the laceration, and covered it in slow sensuous kisses, pulling him down, down, so close to her that their forms would have seemed to be but one.

They plunged into one another with utter abandon, each intoxicated with the very being of the other. There seemed nothing more important, more utterly essential, than the exuberance of the senses, the ability to elicit pure and profound pleasure in another.

Responding to an ancient urge, their bodies transformed in ways that were simple yet complex, universal yet unique, the call of one generation to the next. Though both cautious planners by nature, they were swept up in the moment, hapless victims of biological destiny. Yet, despite the perfect timing, and despite the young pair's lack of caution, biological imperative was to meet its match. Three loud raps on the door, and Letha jumped up, unceremoniously dumping her lover on the floor.

'Letha, are you all right?' Anjana's voice asked anxiously from the corridor.

'Fine, Anji!" she responded, attempting to keep her voice level. "What's the matter?' As she spoke, Letha threw on her bedclothes and hastily made herself somewhat presentable.

'There is an intruder in the house!"

'Is that so?' asked Letha, endeavouring to sound concerned.

"You sound like you're out of breath. Are you sure you're all right?"

Letha took a moment and then again gave her assurances. She glanced over in Snape's direction, but to her dismay, he was already gone. She was spared the utterance of a string of curses so vile, they would have sent a witch of delicate constitution into a swoon. Letha, made of stronger stuff, wanted to utter a few rude words of her own, but she repressed that urge as she opened the door, and smiled reassuringly into Anjana's earnest brown eyes as she let her in. The twins Padma and Parvati flew in after her, making a beeline for Letha's bed. Despite the late hour, they were full of energy, heedless of their mother's concern, and proceeded to bounce on the bed with great gusto. If Letha was in no mood for such youthful exuberance, she did not reveal her dismay. Instead, she patiently sat for a while with her childhood friend. It didn't really matter, any of it. The interruption was no more than that; he'd come to see her again. He'd come to see her, to be with her; he missed her; he hadn't forgotten her; perhaps he even...maybe he actually - loved her? She suppressed the ridiculous thought, best as she could. But the possibility wriggled around her mind, and perhaps explained the tiny smile she could not seem to wipe from her face. Anjana looked at her curiously a few times, but did not ask any questions Letha might have been uncomfortable answering.