harleyscars Chapter 309 What Happened After I Was Taken Away by Riddle
Chapter 309 What Happened After I Was Taken Away by Riddle
These words struck me like a hammer blow.
The deep wounds hidden in his heart had never truly healed.
I gently stroked the messy black hair on his forehead and pulled him back into my arms: "I'm not Lily anymore, and you're not that helpless boy you used to be."
He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his hot breath spraying on my skin: "I'm scared..." He said those three words very softly, but they were as heavy as a thousand pounds: "I'm scared of losing the most important person in my life again."
I hugged him tightly, gently patting his back to comfort him, avoiding his wound.
Beneath his seemingly calm and composed exterior lay such surging fear and unease.
"No, we won't be hurt," I repeated, my voice choked with emotion. "We'll all be alright."
He finally raised his head, and the gloom in his eyes was replaced by a kind of determination.
He slowly leaned down, his lips gently brushing against my forehead and the tip of my nose, finally stopping on my lips.
This kiss carried the relief of surviving a disaster, and also an unquestionable promise, as if it wanted to use all its strength to imprint me deep in its soul.
When his lips finally parted, our foreheads were still pressed together, our breaths mingling.
His thumb gently stroked my cheek, as if to confirm that I truly existed in his arms.
“Do you know?” His voice was low and gentle, “every second you were taken away, time seemed to be slowed down by a spell, moving so slowly it was maddening.”
I placed his hand on my chest, letting him feel my steady heartbeat: "Now, time is finally back to normal."
Her fingertips probed into the back of his neck, which was soaked in cold sweat, and her breath caught in her throat when her other hand touched the sticky blood again. "Severus, your wound... I'll go get the medicine."
I was about to get up and go behind him to get the healing potion for wounds that I always kept in the cabinet.
He gripped my wrist, the blood seeping from beneath his potion-soaked robe already congealing into a dark purple lump at my waist: "It doesn't matter."
As he spoke, he tore off his scarf and carelessly wrapped it around the wound, his movements unusually rough.
“Severus!” I grabbed his trembling hand and immediately took out my wand to cast 'Healing Touch' on him.
His dark eyes remained fixed on my face as he watched me treat his wounds one by one. It was as if he wanted to etch every expression of my earnestness into his memory.
“After you were taken away,” he suddenly broke the silence, the tip of his wand unconsciously rubbing against my knuckles, as if trying to confirm my existence through this subtle touch.
A lingering sense of panic welled up in his dark eyes. "Sirius Black, like an enraged lion, gripped his wand and tried to chase after the afterimage of Riddle's black mist. Harry Potter's knuckles were white as he gripped his wand. If Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger hadn't held him back, he probably would have followed Riddle's trail right there and then."
As I imagined that tense scene, a warm feeling welled up in my heart, mixed with a lingering fear.
Severus's thumb brushed against my palm, his voice laced with a cold, self-deprecating tone: "The remaining Weasley lads are quite composed, George even cracked a joke. But I can see their hidden blades and Patronus Charms are lurking in the shadows, ready to strike."
He suddenly tightened his arms, his breath carrying the scent of herbs brushing past his ear: "When they retreated back to Hogwarts, I discovered that Sirius had led everyone into the Headmaster's office. Even through the closed door, I could hear him slamming his fist on the table—'What kind of riddle is Headmaster Dumbledore playing now! Ayers has been taken away!' That's what he was yelling."
I was jolted. Harry's stubborn profile and Sirius's furious expression overlapped in my mind, and my throat tightened: "And then?"
"And then?" A low chuckle escaped his throat, accompanied by an almost imperceptible tremor. "The old bee's light switch flashed three times in the darkness, and the entire principal's office suddenly became eerily quiet."
When I finally emerged from the shadows, I bumped into Hermione rushing out carrying a stack of divination books, her eyes gleaming—clearly, they already knew your 'bait plan' was just an act.
"I never intended to hide anything from the beginning." Although I didn't tell them anything, even Severus only had a vague understanding, everyone was not stupid and could see the whole story and its outcome.
Hermione is incredibly intelligent, but how much of Dumbledore's knowledge did he actually reveal? Severus seemed to read my concerns and continued, "Professor McGonagall's cat form was pacing back and forth in the corridor, a stack of unfinished protective charms under her paws. And Harry..."
He paused, a ripple appearing in his dark eyes. "The child stood alone beneath the Astronomy Tower, a flickering Guardian Angel hovering at the tip of his wand, like a flame that refused to go out."
A chill crept up my spine and up my neck.
I could almost see Harry's stubborn back—the boy who always charged into danger, now forced to endure anxiety and self-blame.
Severus's nose brushed lightly against my forehead, and his voice suddenly lowered: "The most interesting one is Sirius. When I passed by the House of Requirement, I heard him venting his anger at the wall full of armor, and the incantation made the knights in the portraits curse."
“He shouldn’t have taken that risk.” I gripped his collar, imagining Sirius’s still-burning violent temper after years of imprisonment. “Riddle’s spies are everywhere…”
“So I put an anti-tracking charm in his cloak.” He suddenly raised an eyebrow slyly, his thumb rubbing my reddened earlobe. “And I also put a silencing charm on the sole of his boots—that guy’s roar almost ripped the ceiling off Hogwarts.”
I couldn't help but laugh out loud; they're all such a handful.
It turns out that everyone was protecting things in their own way, even in places I couldn't see.
Severus placed his hand on my back and pulled me closer to him, his body heat seeping through my thin clothes. "Don't worry, no one is hurt." His lips touched the top of my head. "Everyone you wanted to protect is alright."
Severus's deep voice acted like a tranquilizer, finally easing his tense nerves completely.
I buried my face in Severus's herbal-smelling shoulder and listened to his gradually calming heartbeat.
Severus glanced down at his pocket watch, a helpless smile playing on his lips. "Less than half an hour until morning class." His fingertips gently traced the dark circles under my eyes. "Did you not sleep a wink last night?"
"Yeah, I didn't sleep a wink last night, but I have class soon." My voice was hoarse with sleepiness, but I still struggled to stand up.
Severus's arms tightened, pressing me back into his embrace with undeniable force.
"You stubborn fool." His voice was tinged with a sigh, and his wand suddenly tapped lightly on my shoulder. A warm magical energy coursed down my spine, and my weariness miraculously subsided by more than half.
When he let go of me, there was a hint of tenderness in his dark eyes.