A War of Nerves

CHAPTER 4: Something More

"Merlin!" Lily said, dropping the box and rushing over to examine him. His eyes were, for lack of a better word, dead. They seemed to have developed a fuzzy, unclear quality, that Lily felt was an unwelcome change from his usually sharp eyes. She ripped open the front of his robes and knelt down so she could here his heart beat. It was still there barely.

Just then, Dumbledore walked in. "It seems that there was a confusion and my...What happened here?

"Albus! He needs help!"

Dumbledore looked at the situation he took out his wand and said, "Mobili Corpus!"

Snape's body was lifted into the air and followed Dumbledore and Lily down a secret passage to the infirmary. Lily cast several question glances to the floating professor, while Dumbledore plodded amiably along.

"What happened to him?" Madame Pomfrey asked when she saw Snape.

"I, quite frankly, have no idea. I was tending to, well, your problem," Dumbledore answered. "However," he continued, "Miss Lily saw the whole thing though, she can tell us."

Lily frowned and began to tell what she had seen. Madame Pomfrey began doing a routine check over of Snape, taking his temperature and the like. She frowned every so often and when Lily had finished, said, "This isn't good."

"What is it Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well...he is showing many of the signs of possession. His temperature is fluctuating, his heart is barely beating, and his sweat glands don't seem to be working. I'd say this is a job for an exorcist. I hear Remus is well equipped in handling such things, call him down here."

Lily looked at Snape. He appeared to be okay, his breathing was nearly visible now, but that was the way it went with possession. Many times the victim didn't even know they were possessed, not until it was too late. Everyone was basically calm about them because of this. If they could identify the spirit trying to possess him, they would have it out of him in no less than an hour.

Remus Lupin walked into the room, took one look at Snape and said, "That isn't good."

He knelt down by his unconscious form and put his head on Snape's heart. He sniffed his mouth and said, "Definitely not good. Smells like mint."

"Damn it!" Lily cursed under her breath.

Poppy looked questioningly at the headmaster and Remus. Her knowledge of possession was shaky.

"You see, mint means that a Wind spirit has invaded his body, the most dangerous of demons. They aren't particularly evil, but powerful. They tend to roam the heights of mountains in Romania, Austria, and Peru I believe. They are very knowledgeable and it is said that they will grant anyone who knows their true name a wish."

Dumbledore nodded at this and Lupin continued, "One of you will have to stay with him at all times, I have to collect some necessary herbs from the forest. I won't be gone too long," he said. He put on a heavy jacket and said, "If I'm not back in an hour, it is because a certain Whomping Willow has gotten the best of me."

"Who wants first watch?" Dumbledore asked. "Not it!"

"Not it!" Madame Pomfrey said, a childish grin on her face.

"Oh, and Lily," Dumbledore said as he turned in the door way, "Don't mind if he talks, it isn't him, most likely the Wind spirit."

Lily's eye managed a little spasm and the corner of her mouth turned up. She had no qualms in admitting, in her head of course, that she knew absolutely nothing about possession besides what was taught in schools, and that wasn't very much. Three hours went by and the only thing that moved was a house elf sent by Dumbledore with a cup of tea. Then out of nowhere, he spoke. However, it was apparent to even her it wasn't him speaking.

"Release me!" he croaked.

"You will be free soon enough," Lily said calmly.

Lily had never conversed with a demon before, and doing so now was, well for lack of a better word, weird. But her drive for knowledge kicked in and she soon found herself questioning the possessed professor. "How is it you came to be trapped in the box?"

The demon hissed, "A man. He smelt of unicorn blood. He was a cursed man, a snake man, a man of the wind, the twisted eastern winds."

"Why are you here?" Lily questioned.

"I was commanded to kill the traitor to the cause, what other reason?"

"What are you doing?!?" Lupin yelled as he entered, dropping his items unceremoniously on a bed, "Never talk to them! Now it has a link to our world, damn smart wind demon we got ourselves!"

"No one told me not to talk to it!" Lily said in a surly voice.

An evil laughter broke out from Snape, "Go ahead, guess my name!"

"I know your name already, it wouldn't be much of a challenge," Lupin said, preparing the things he gathered from the forest calmly.

"Ahh, the werewolf! Never thought I'd see you again! What, still a werewolf?"

"Silence, you will soon be gone, for good this time."

More laughter escaped Snape and Lupin poured some liquid into a vile.

"Now what?" Lily snapped.

"Now we have to wait an hour for the serum to set. It will make it easier for Professor Snape."

"Hmm..." the demon said, "Now lets kill some time by delving into the mind of, who am I? Ah, Severus Astron Snape. Now this is interesting, he is a purebred wizard, but his parents disowned him when he got sorted into Slytherin. His mother died shortly after this, and his father blamed him for her death every time he saw him.

"Wait there is more! It seems that his favorite color is black, his favorite food is Muggle food, and his wish it to make Lord Voldemort suffer painfully for all the hurt he has caused!"

"Stop it!" Roared Lupin.

"The three most re-occurring thoughts in her head are killing, sex, and Lilith Merrins, hardly healthy thoughts for a teacher of young children.

"Hm, his father beat him, so he killed him with a burning curse. After that he spent some time at St. Mungo's, the local psycho ward. They determined him fit to socialize a short half year.

"But it doesn't end there. Severus is a spy for none other than Voldemort, the main reason I have to kill him. And his main reason for joining the Death Eaters, which I'm sure you all want to hear, is-"

"Shut up!" sobbed Lily, no longer able to take the gloating voice of the demon.

"We'll have to give him something to make this stop!" Lupin yelled over the ranting demon.

Lupin searched his robes and found what he was looking for. He poured the liquid down the throat of the possessed Snape and he swallowed. Almost immediately fell asleep.

"Super concentrated newt sweat," he said tucking the vile in his robes again.

Lily fell into the chair and said, "I don't even want ta know why ya have that on ya."

They sat in silence for a while. Then Lily spoke up, "Everything it said, is it true?"

Lupin did open his eyes and paused a moment before answering. "Wind demons only tell the truth. They find it more shocking than lies. So yes, everything it said was true."

"Dumbledore must know all of this."

"No doubt he already does," Lupin said tiredly.

Lily looked at her teacher, "It said ya'd met b'fore."

Lupin nodded, "Three years ago. I was looking for an out, a cure. I stumbled on an old text that said Wind demons could grant wishes if you could tell them their true names. Finding the name was easy enough, finding the demon however was the tough part. It turned out it couldn't grant my wish."

Lupin sighed. "Only forty-five minutes left. Lets call a house elf for some tea, I have a feeling this will be a long night."

Lily looked over at Snape. His eyes were moving around under his eyelids and he was twitching slightly. She barely noticed when the house elf handed her a cup of tea. She kept on thinking back to what the demon had said. She was always on his mind? Why? She was pretty sure her stupid infatuation was one sided. She frowned and watched him intently.

"Miss Merrins?" Lupin called, bringing Lily out of her thought. "Miss Merrins? It is time."

She nodded and said, "What should I do?"

"Just hold him down. He is drugged pretty well, but I don't want to take the chance."

"What will happen to the demon?"

"It will disintegrate at this altitude, they don't live in the mountains because the view is good you know."

Lily managed a weak smile.

She grabbed hold of his arms and pinned them over his head, she noticed they were very cold, deathly so. She saw him bare his canines and cringed, his newt's sweat might be wearing off, but she doubted it.

Lupin tilted his head back and poured the purple jelly-like substance down his throat, massaging his neck so he would swallow. He immediately gasped and coughed, the jelly sliding down his throat. Then silvery iridescent mists began flowing out of his open mouth. They hovered for a while and disintegrated.

"That wasn't so bad," Lupin said.

Lily gave him a half hearted smile.

"Um, Miss Merrins?"

She looked from the window to him and said, "I think it would be a betta' idea if I stayed. Ya know, so close ta the full moon. Not that I donna trust ya Remus."

"I was kind of hoping that you could watch him, just for tonight. I'm feeling...well, I'm not feeling well."

Lily walked over to him and took his hand, "I think yo' a very admirable man Remus. I'm sorry ya were cursed so."

"Thank you, Miss-"

"Call me Lily."

"Lily," he conceded. "You know, you remind me very much of a person I once knew. Her name was Lily too. In fact, she was Harry's mother, my best friend's wife. She was a good person. You do her name proud."

"Yer the only one who has acknowledged that this year. I was kinda' hopin' Harry wouldn't brush it off as easily as he had, I wanted ta talk to him about his parents. They were great people. I know that people look at me oddly 'cause I don't 'show proper respect' for Harry, you know, for being the Boy-Who-Lived. They proba'ly think I'm some sort of arrogant American. It really isn't that, I just don't see him that way, and I don't think he wants to be seen that way."

Lupin smiled and said, "You are right, on both accounts, Lily. They were great people. And I think that Harry needs a friend like you, and Ron and Hermione. Keeps his head small enough to walk through doors and the like," he said with a light chuckle.

Lily laughed for the first time that night, "Yer a very easy person ta talk ta, did ya know that, Remus."

Remus Lupin sighed, "I've been told that, but only by a few."

"Thank ya for talkin' ta me. But I don't want ta keep ya from yo' bed. Feel betta', Remus. An' could ya tell Albus 'bout him," she said with a flick of her head to Snape.

Lupin nodded and walked out the door.

Lily sat down on the chair next to Snape's bed. "Yer a deliciously mysterious person, did ya know that?"

She looked at him from above steepled hands. His features were younger when he slept and she couldn't help but wonder what he looked like smiling. Why? Why you? She wondered. There was something...something she couldn't pin point. She had known when she first saw him, he was different from every person she had ever met. She wanted to know him, to be a person he talked to. Although talking can be over-rated, she thought idly. Gods Lil, you are worse than Raja, lusting after teachers like that! Merlin, you need Mungo's. How many weeks till the holidays, seven, eight?

She looked up as Dumbledore opened the door, "Ah, Miss Lily, the dutiful watchdog I see."

Lily managed a brief smile and she said, "This is all my fault, if I hadn't...I'm sorry, Albus, I really am."

"I'll have none of that Miss Lily," Dumbledore chided, "We all make mistakes-"

"Well I don't! I almost got some one killed! I don't know how ya can believe in me after...after I failed you," she drifted off when she realized how stupid and whiny and childish she sounded, "Well that was rather uncharacteristic, wasn't it."

Dumbledore nodded knowingly and said, "Happens to the best of us my dear. Now, did you need some relief?"

Lily bit her lip, "No, I doubt I could sleep t'night anyway. Thanks though. An' I would like another cup o' tea, if it ain't too much trouble."

"None whatsoever," Dumbledore said cheerily, "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Lily."

Dumbledore left and a house elf bearing food and tea came, Lily thanked the little elf and at the food appreciatively. Settling down on the chair next to Snape she focused once again on him. She knew if Raja saw this, she would have a field day. Katie and Gwen would laugh and Brigid, well, Brigid would laugh harder. Lily was notoriously known for being a bit...promiscuous. She looked at sex and men the way she looked at Quidditch, a game, a game that had better rewards. Sure it was a game that was a little harder to play, and you could get hurt worse, but a game none the less. But looking at him made her want to look just at him. And he isn't even nice to me, her internal dialogue began again, he isn't particularly easy on the eyes like I usually like them. Though he is well built, slender, not beefy. And he has strong features, defined. It is like a god started a work of art, and then just stopped when it was still a rough draft. And then there is the matter of his attitude. I'll just say it Lils, he is a bastard. You've heard Ron and Harry say it plenty of times, 'Snape the Bastard.' No wonder you are attracted to him, 'Lily the Bitch,' 'Snape the Bastard,' we were made for each other.

Snape muttered something in his sleep that sounded a lot like her name.

Lily got up from the chair and knelt by Snape's bed. "An' yer too honorable ta look at me. I'm a student and yer a teacher, that is the way it is isn't it...Sev'rus."

She felt his hand twitch and she looked into his face, he wasn't awake, or didn't look awake at least. She took his hand in hers and spoke again to him, "Sev'rus, it feels nice, no natural, sayin' that name. It feels natural being near ya. An' that is precisely why ya'd never let me near ya, natural isn't something ya do is it?

"An' I thought I couldn't talk ta ya. Here I am blabberin' on, guess it is easier talkin' to unconscious people than those awake. I guess I can tell ya that I no longer suspect you, now that ya listen so well. An' I'm sorry 'bout that lake thing, and the box, I'd no idea, really.

"It feels good gettin' that off my chest. Though I can't help wonderin' why I'm one of the things that are on yo' mind, I guess that is the drawback o' talkin' ta someone who canna talk back. Oh, well. Some things were never meant to be, were they...Sev'rus."

Lily kissed Snape's hand and laid her head back on the bed, falling asleep.

Lily woke slowly that morning, but immediately wished she hadn't. She had been having the most wonderful dream. She was safe and warm in her dream, she never wanted to get up ever. But slowly, she opened her eyes.

She took a deep breath and sat up a bit, not enough to wake him, but enough so that she could look at his face. "What is it about you?" she sighed.

"I don't know, you tell me," he mumbled, his eyes not open yet.

Lily jumped sky high in fright and landed on her butt, skidding a few feet with a look of surprise on her face. "Bloody hell!" she said loudly, scrambling to her feet.

Snape sneered and threw the covers off of the infirmary room bed. Then he stood up a little too quickly. Clutching his stomach he fell on one knee. Lily was over there in a flash, her shoulder under of his arms, hoisting him up on the bed. "Not so fast," she said softly in his ear. Then she noticed she was way too close and stepped back quickly.

"You were um...possessed by a wind spirit las' night," she explained. "Remus-"

"Professor Lupin," he corrected.

"Remus," she repeated with a bit of steel to her voice, "exorcized it from ya."

Snape snorted, "Well what are you doing in here then?"

"I had watch," she explained.

"And it never occurred to you that Madam Pomfrey couldn't handle it?"

"She couldn't handle the exorcism," Lily replied. "But I suppose she could have, weren't she busy with," and Lily smiled at this, "otha' things."

Then she began to get angry, Unfortunate side effect of Weasley blood I guess. "Who died and made you grumpiest guy in the universe? Can't you take the fact that I was worried 'bout ya! That I was sorry I caused so much trouble! Good Merlin, if I ever meet a mo' annoyin' man, I'll go become Voldemort's right hand man!"

"Well it seems we are on the same page then."

"Ya've already done so," she said under her breath.

Then Snape turned to her sharply, "What did you say?" he asked in an intimidating manner, backing her up into the wall.

"Ya heard me," she hissed bravely, but backed up anyway. What, he was scary!

"Watch how you speak, girl. You have no idea about anything, especially this," he said in his cold drawl.

"Ya don't scare me," she said, correction, she lied. She was a bit scared. "And I won't let ya intimidate me either!"

By now she was flat against the wall, him looming over her. He looked about ready to snap. Maybe provoking him wasn't one of your best ideas Lil.

"You should be though, scared," he said darkly.

Lily swallowed hard and replied, "Ya think a bit high o' yo'self, eh?"

Snape smiled evilly, "How do you know I'm not the Death Eater, the traitor, in the castle? It could be me, I certainly have enough motives."

Where is he going with this, Lily wondered. "But yer not."

"How do you know?" he said. His breath was coming very quickly now, hot and warm on her face. Don't let him distract you Lil.

Lily licked her lips, "I know."

"But how?" he urged.

And that was his first mistake. I understand. Dumbledore hasn't told him. He wants to know who I am. He suspects something, but he doesn't know what. So he wants to trick me into telling.

"I heard it from a little bird," she spat contemptuously.

Then she heard Snape growl and his hand went to her neck, squeezing it just enough to be uncomfortable. "Tell me now," he said, his anger now showing in the glints of his eyes.

Was she wrong about him? Had her being here been enough to change history drastically for him? No, she answered. He just wants something he can't have.

"Do yer worst," she choked out with a glare.

Then something snapped inside of him. She could see it. He crushed his lips on hers, pressing her roughly on the infirmary wall. She moaned as he forced his way into her mouth. She knew at some point that she must have kissed him back because she could taste the bittersweet tinge on the exorcizing potion.

Then he pulled away as quickly as he had come. A look of surprise, and perhaps disgust, on his face. Lily caught her breath, but by the time she looked up, he was gone. She slumped into a pile against the wall. Well, that was interesting, she thought.

Snape muttered to himself as he walked, ran really, down the halls that early

morning. What was he thinking? He kissed her. And what was she thinking? She kissed him back, he was sure of it. And he had been possessed? When did this all happen?

"Ah, Severus, I trust that you feel yourself," Dumbledore said, waltzing down the halls like he owned them, and in a way, he did.

"What happened. And why was she there?" he questioned rudely.

Dumbledore, as usual, took no offence and said, "Well, the other night you were possessed by a wind demon that came out of the box Miss Lily found. You were taken here and she and Remus exorcized it. Lily stayed to see that you were all right."

Snape cringed and said nothing, just kept walking. He was in do mood to have a cheery morning person around. He wasn't in the mood to have any person around. Unless it were Lily and I could ravish her again and again. Bloody hell! Where did that come form?

He then realized what had sent him off the deep end. The hair, he thought. Dark like midnight, thick and smooth, feminine hair, smelling of vanilla and apricot. And when he had her backed against the wall, forest green eyes alight with defiance and a bit of fear, her hair fell over her face, partially covering it. "Do yer worst," she had said, her southern accent and rich voice playing havoc on his ears. And he had, and then she kissed him back. He knew it was wrong, he knew it before he did it. But he had done it anyway, and that is what scared him most.

After a cold shower, several of them, he headed down to his dungeons reminding himself it was Friday, Hm, Hogsmead tomorrow. Good, I can get drunk and forget all about this. Then he remembered who his class was. Damn, double potions with Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth and seventh years...of all the luck.

He ducked into his dank dungeon and began preparing for the fourth years. They would be making the least potent of truth potions, probably a task a first year could handle. But the curriculum Dumbledore and the previous headmaster had said that this was the level of the average witch and wizard, Probably not for her, he thought absentmindedly. Merlin! Why can't I get her out of my head?

The fourth years came in from breakfast and began loud conversations over Quidditch, school, and how much school sucked. Then a little voice in his head answered, You know why. The reason you felt empty when you left. The reason you don't want to wash your robes. You know why, you just can't admit it to yourself.

"Professor Snape!" the shrill voice of a Gryffindor called out, breaking his train of thought. "Professor Snape! Horace set my robes on fire!"

Snape looked down at the sniveling boy, "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know?" he said in question form.

"Five points from Gryffindor, in your seats, now!" he yelled.

Considering he had just spent three hours with a bunch of disgusting fourth year snots, the class had gone fairly fast. The next class would be more challenging by far, Potter, Weasley, Merrins, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the same class was a deadly combination. Snape often wondered why the blocking always seemed to put Gryffindor and Slytherin together. He thought Dumbledore would get the point after some fifty odd years. Or, hell, any of the other headmasters in the past 500 years. None of them seemed to get Gryffindor and Slytherin didn't mesh.

Then the seventh years walked in. The Dream Team with their replacement, and the Slytherins. She seemed subdued, like she was thinking. He hated it when she was like that. Her eyes would get intelligent, piercing. They would put holes in your body where they made contact. Damn it all, I'm thinking about her again. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.

Surprisingly, she didn't sit next to Potter and Weasley. She sat in the furthest corner from them, away from most of the students. Snape smirked as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came and sat behind her. Just as Potter and Weasley were about to move, to back her up he guessed, he said, "Sit! Today we are making a Burn Soothing Potion, again for Madame Pomfrey. This is in your notes. Get to work."

Everyone shuffled about, collecting ingredients. He felt Lily's eyes on him but ignored it. He could always tell when she was looking at him. It was like a sixth sense he had developed over the last two months. That is right, he reminded himself, today is the first of November, only seven weeks till break.

(A/N: I'm sure that students aren't the only ones who count down the weeks till break. Snape is probably the same way...probably...)

He heard Crabbe and Goyle snicker loudly and he turned to see what was going on. But as far as he could see, Lily was just doing her potion and Malfoy was mocking her, nothing out of the ordinary. She seemed to not hear anything and he almost admired her. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.

He saw Weasley and Potter looking over every so often, apparently either lost in their potion making, or trying to play knight in shining armor to Lily. Then they were distracted by their potion turning an odd shade of fascia. Snape walked over to his desk and began grading papers. Neville Longbottom, F. Parvati Patil, C. Harry Potter, B...regrettably. Lilith Merrins, A...as usual. Ronald Weasley, C. This is really boring, I wonder what she is doing? Mentally he slapped himself, but physically, his eyes flashed in her direction.

In that brief moment, he saw Lily spring from her seat and punch Malfoy in the nose...hard. She does have a nice right hook, he thought idly.

"You are disgusting Malfoy," she hissed. "If I ever here ya talkin' 'bout Neville or his parents that way again I will fuckin' kill ya. That isn't a threat, it's a promise ya filthy excuse fo' a human. My new life goal is ta see ya in a dark cell at Azkaban shitting yo'self over the Dementors. Bastard..." she muttered as she walked out of the room.

She must have seen Malfoy reaching for his wand because as soon as he drew it, she turned and said, "Akinisu!"

A bullet looking blob shot out of her wand and pinned Malfoy's wand hand to the wall, freezing over. Then she smirked and said, "Didn't anyone ever tell ya it isn't polite ta point yo' wand at someone when they aren't looking'? Tsk, tsk, Malfoy."

Then she tossed her head and walked out of the room. Everyone was silent, especially the Slytherins, partially because they were mystified about why their Head of House had done nothing about this exchange.

Snape rose from his seat and went over to Malfoy, examining his frozen hand. Malfoy wriggled uncomfortably as he tried to adjust so he wasn't bending his arm back so far. He looked like he was about ready to kill some one.

"When I tell my father about this..." Malfoy seethed.

At this point, Snape became utterly disgusted with the little rich brat. "You'll what, exactly. Is that a threat, Malfoy. Because I'm not shy against taking points from my own house if I learn they are committing unscrupulous acts of cruelty."

Malfoy jutted out his chin but said nothing further. Snape did a defrosting spell (twice, Damn but she is powerful!) and Malfoy dropped unceremoniously on the ground rubbing his shoulder. He glared at no one in particular and ran out of the classroom. Snape picked up Draco's wand and put it in his pocket, Won't have to worry about that now.

He turned around and found that the class was giving him unbelieving and obviously lost looks of incomprehension. Snape smoothed his robes and said in a dangerous tone, "Continue, or loose your house points."

Lily had just had an epiphany. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck, what is it? A plot masterminded by a powerful and rich organization conspiring to brainwash the public into thinking it was a duck, duh! It was too easy, just too damn easy. What was it Raja said about Winds and Slytherins reproducing? Oh yes, 'Give a woman sex and she'll give you a child. Give a woman a child and you'll get an instrument that you can shape and mold, then dispense with once you're done.' Stupid manipulative Slytherin bastards. Winds are never like this. Well, some are. But that doesn't change that Malfoy is just a finely tuned instrument that can only parrot what his father says. I'm willing to bet that he knows nothing, or close to nothing about what is going on.

Lily wrote a quick note to Dumbledore and left it on his door, then went into her dormitory. She was going to take a little field trip. Digging some Floo powder out of her bag, she stood next to the fire place and said, "Salem's Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

With the feeling of imploding upon herself, Lily was sucked through the fireplace and back to another. She walked out of the adjoining fire places and down the familiar halls of Salem's.