Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned from the Harry Potter books belong to JKR. All other characters mentioned in these pages belong to Velvet Song or myself. No monies changed hands during the writing of this story.

Author's Notes: This is the sequel to Velvet Song's "Damsels and Dragons" which she allowed me to complete and post to this archive. If you have not read the first story, I strongly encourage you to do so to avoid any confusion while reading this story. The first chapters by Velvet Song can be found here: http://www.thepetulantpoetess.com/viewstory.php?sid=18337, and my concluding chapters can be found here: http://www.thepetulantpoetess.com/viewstory.php?sid=19501.

Thanks to noybate for the prompt beta.

Chapter 11

Later that night, Severus lay in his bed, in the half state between waking and sleeping. As he lay there, he felt a tickle at the back of his mind which forced him from his drowsing state. "Is that you, dragon?" he thought to himself.

"I am called Athair."

"I am listening."

§§§§§§§

"We can't go wandering the corridors of Hogwarts in the altogether," Severus said, struggling to pull on his trousers after getting out of bed.

"Why?"

"It's just not done in polite society." Severus looked around for a shirt but, not seeing one handy, opted for his dressing gown.

"Why do you place cloth on your body? It hampers the wings."

"I don't have wings," Severus snorted. "And as you're using my body right now, neither do you. Therefore, we will wear trousers and a dressing gown to visit Hermione."

"When we used my body, there was no cloth to hamper my wings. I removed it before leaving your den."

"And left me to wander the halls in my nakedness," Severus snarled. "Or so I was informed by a rather entertained Lucius."

"Is this Lucius your clutch mate?" Athair's questions were relentless, almost like a child learning about the world for the first time.

"No, he's a friend." Severus picked up his wand and slid it into the holster strapped to his left arm.

"Friends are companions?"

"Yes. Some people are better friends than others."

"Hermione is a good friend." Athair sounded confident.

"Agreed." Severus peered out his door into the corridor. Seeing no one in sight, he slipped out of his quarters and up the stairs. "Be quiet now, or we'll have the whole castle in our business."

"Where is Hermione?" the dragon asked petulantly. "When do we see her again?"

"Shhh!" Severus reached the top of the stairs and peered into the entrance hall. "We've still got some stairs to climb. Now be quiet and let me listen."

"I will listen," Athair insisted. "I can hear much better than you."

"Can you do that through my ears, though?" Severus asked.

"Yes." Severus felt his hearing sharpen considerably. "Do you hear that?"

A thump came from the bottom of the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. Just how Severus knew it was the Astronomy Tower was something he would think about later. Right now, he had other concerns. "That came from near Hermione's quarters," he told Athair.

"Let me out!" the dragon screamed. "Hermione's in trouble!"

Without conscious thought, Severus allowed Athair to take control of their shared body. He felt his muscles elongate and strengthen as the dragon shot up the staircase and down the corridor towards the Astronomy Tower.

§§§§§§§

Hermione, awakened from a sound sleep, sat up in her bed. In the back of her mind, she could sense the familiar and welcome feeling of Athair. Smiling, she slipped out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown, intending to go to Severus' quarters and talk to them.

When she opened her door, someone grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the opposite wall of the corridor. Her back hit the stone with a thump, followed by her head. Half unconscious, she struggled to see her assailant, but could see nothing.

Touching her wand through the fabric of the gown's pocket, Hermione muttered, "Finite...", but her spell was interrupted by the sound of pounding feet. Her assailant, from the sound of his footsteps, apparently whisked up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower as Severus came racing around the corner from the staircase.

"Hermione!" he shouted. "Are you all right?"

Hermione winced as she tried to stand up. Perhaps it was because she hit her head, but Severus' voice sounded like it was echoing. "I'm fine," she said, wavering onto her feet. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping my friend Hermione."

"Athair?" Hermione looked at Severus. "Is that you?"

"Yes. I use the body of friend Severus to help my good friend Hermione."

"Severus?" Hermione stared at his eyes. "Are you awake?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," he snarled. "Of course I'm awake. So is that damned dragon."

"Interesting." She held open the door to her sitting room. "Come in, and we'll talk about all of this."

"Including the fact that someone attacked you," Severus growled. "I don't like that at all. Minerva assured me the wards had all been changed."

Athair growled as well, sounding deep and menacing even to Severus' ears. "I do not like this, either. If I could fly, I could find who attacked Hermione."

"Not now," Severus hissed.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, waving over the now steaming teapot. She levitated it over to the coffee table, then sat down in her armchair. "Did you say something, Severus?"

"Talking to Athair," he said, sitting on the sofa. He took the cup of tea she handed him. "He wants to go looking for your assailant."

"Thank you, Athair," she said, nodding in Severus' direction. "But I would imagine he's long gone by now." She took a sip of her tea before adding, "I took the opportunity of calling Minerva. She'll be here as soon as she's dressed."

Severus' eyes widened. "Oh!" he said, taking in his dressing gown. "Hermione, would you please...?"

Her eyes sparkled with suppressed humour. "Where's your wand?"

Severus held up the sleeve of his dressing gown. "If you mean the wand I got from Ollivander years ago, it's in my arm holster. If you mean the other one, it's where it belongs," he quipped. "If I could use transfiguration as well as you, I wouldn't have to ask."

"What is transfiguration?" Athair asked, his mental voice full of confusion.

Hermione laughed. "It's changing something from one thing to another," she answered. "In this case, changing Severus' dressing gown to robes."

"If you would get on with it," the wizard in question muttered, "rather than giving the dragon a private magic lesson."

"Of course, Severus." Pulling her wand from her pocket, she quickly transfigured Severus' dressing gown to a set of his normal robes, then did the same to her dressing gown, resulting in the both of them being fully dressed.

"Thank you," he said as Athair grumbled, "More cloth!"

"Hush, you. I'm not meeting with the headmistress in just my dressing gown." Severus thought his reprimand to the dragon. "It's not seemly."

"Is this headmistress your clan matriarch?" Athair asked.

Hermione giggled. "I think you could call her that," she said to Severus' surprise.

"You heard him?" he asked. "Have you been hearing our conversation right along?" He thought of some of the comments he had made and breathed a sigh of relief to know it was nothing too personal.

"Only if I want her to," Athair commented at the same time Hermione said, "That was only the second or third time tonight."

"The second or third time tonight?" Severus asked. "Have you been hearing Athair before this?"

"I'd like to know that as well," Minerva said as she passed through the Floo into Hermione's sitting room. "What is so important that it couldn't wait until morning, Hermione?"

Athair, or was it Severus, growled. In a voice much deeper than his normal tones, Severus snarled, "Hermione was attacked. The person ran up the stairs. Severus would not let me follow."

Minerva's empty teacup clattered to the table as Hermione paused in the act of pouring out the tea. "Athair?" she gasped, looking from Severus to Hermione and back. "Is that you?"

"Yes," said Severus/Athair, and again his voice echoed as wizard and dragon tried to speak at once. Severus shook his head and snarled, "Do you mind, dragon?" He listened for a moment. "Thank you. Hermione, did you see who it was?"

She shook her head. "I think he was using an invisibility spell. It certainly wasn't a cloak." She paused. "At least I don't think it was."

"What do you mean, dear?" Minerva asked, keeping one eye on the struggle between Severus and his alter ego. "Couldn't it have been a cloak?"

"No, he grabbed me, Minerva," Hermione answered, rubbing the back of her head. "I think I would have at least seen his hand if he were wearing a cloak."

"I'll ask the questions, if you don't mind," Severus snapped suddenly. Minerva and Hermione looked at him curiously. "The dragon is trying to push me to get his own way," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "I think I know which questions to ask."

"Be that as it may," Minerva said. "We need to check the wards. I can't see how someone from the outside could have gotten past them."

"He went up," Severus pointed out. "Mightn't he have used a broom? Or did you change those wards as well?"

Minerva groaned. "I don't think any of us thought of that," she said. "It'll have to be addressed as soon as possible.

"Hermione, I don't want you staying here by yourself tonight. I can see if Harry..."

"Athair and I will stay," Severus said. "Nobody will be getting past us the rest of the night." He settled back against the cushions of the sofa. "This should make a decent bed."

Minerva looked dubious. "It's your choice, Hermione. I can still get Harry and Neville."

Hermione looked at Severus while he sneered at the headmistress' idea. "I think I would feel safer with Severus and Athair," she finally said. "But thank you all the same."

Minerva nodded. "Right then. I'll call a staff meeting directly after breakfast. Get some sleep, you two... er... three. I need you wide awake come morning."

§§§§§§§

After a restless night on the bed Hermione transfigured from her sofa, Severus...and Athair...were stiff and tired. Bidding their hostess adieu until breakfast, Severus removed himself to his quarters in order to shower, shave, and change his clothes.

"Why do you scrape your face?" the dragon asked, watching through Severus' eyes as he shaved.

"I prefer to be beardless," the wizard replied shortly. "It doesn't itch as much as the beard stubble does."

"Does this scraping hurt?"

Severus winced as he nicked his chin. "When I'm distracted by dunderheaded questions," he snapped. "Would you be quiet so I can concentrate?" When no comment came from the dragon, Severus asked, "Athair?"

"You asked that I remain silent."

"At least let me know you're still there," Severus said. "I was afraid you'd buried yourself again."

"I..."

"You, what?" Severus rinsed his face, then reached for a towel.

"I wish to fly again, friend Severus. May we?"

Severus was nonplussed. "We are expected upstairs for breakfast, and Minerva has called a staff meeting. If you can wait, I am agreeable to flying after dinner this evening."

"That would be acceptable."

"Good." Reaching for his fresh robes, Severus finished dressing. "I, too, am looking forward to flying again," he admitted. "Hermione is certain that if we learn to cooperate, we'll both be better off."

"I am willing if you are."

"Indeed."

§§§§§§§

Breakfast was generally a quiet meal as everyone tried to wake up and come to terms with the new day. That morning, however, the news that Athair was awake and sharing Severus' mind was the talk of the table until the morning mail arrived.

Severus quickly Incendio'd the recent batch of letters from admiring witches...not to mention a few wizards...and looked around the table. From her scowling, Minerva looked to be reading the latest missive from the Ministry; Lucius was reading that month's edition of The Quibbler, while Narcissa had the morning edition of The Daily Prophet; Remus had the latest issue of Transfiguration Today, and Harry was sharing his copy of Which Broomstick with Draco while the two of them discussed their Houses' chances at the Quidditch Cup for the next year. Hermione was frowning over a letter on pink parchment. She quickly finished reading and returned the letter to its envelope before sighing.

"Is everything all right, Hermione?" Severus asked softly, drawing the attention of everyone at their end of the table.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," she answered, tapping her finger on the letter. "It's from Gabrielle...and Ron, too, I suppose."

"Weasley?" Severus was confused. "I thought you were engaged to him. At least, before the end of the war..."

"After the war, we decided we were better off as friends," Hermione answered as Harry snorted in agreement. "We were spending too much time arguing rather than working together."

"I know this word: engaged." Athair said happily. "You were to be mated."

"Yes," Hermione admitted. She smiled at the curious faces staring at her. "Athair was talking to me," she explained.

"I must admit it's rather disconcerting," Minerva said. "I had problems when you would talk to Severus...although I understood why...but it's like there's an invisible person sitting at the table that only you can see or hear." Severus cleared his throat. "And now Severus, as well."

"So long as he doesn't dangle me upside down again," Remus muttered into his journal, proving to everyone he was listening as well.

"Stay out of our business and we won't," Severus said with a smirk, remembering the last time he had done just that.

Minerva cleared her throat and began gathering her post together. "If everyone is finished eating, I'd like to meet in the staff room in thirty minutes. As you've no doubt realised by now, Athair has joined our ranks, and we have other things to discuss as well." She rose from the table, the men standing politely, and sailed from the Great Hall.

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