Familiar faces
~present~
Back at a draughty room in a motel in one of the little villages surrounding The Northwest border of Sherwood Forest a twisting figure tried to get some sleep. Albus Dumbledore was a wizard who'd never had any problems with sleeping, but these excruciating last months had drained him, both from the ever-closing battle with Voltimore, and the ever-nagging insecurity about his child. After the recent discovery of Severus' grave Albus never enjoyed the fine arts of sleeping any more. His nights were filled with nightmares and poor slumber, and now as the war drew closer little rest comforted the weary wizard. And it was in this state of restlessness his child's scream reached his mind. Six months without any form of contact, had left Albus convinced he had lost all contact with his child for good. Now he almost hit the ceiling in surprise and despair as one sentence carved its existence into his brain like a knife:
And then.. silence. Nothing but the dreaded nothingness of silence. Albus flew out of bed, not aware of the tears staining his night-gown or the frantic mumbling his mouth was making. Was that it? Was it the death cry of a dying man he'd heard? Had Albus just witnessed Severus' last living second on this earth? The wizard hyperventilated as he started throwing old books and parchments around, frantically searching for an old church book he had somewhere on his desk. For Merlin's sake! There had to be something there he could use! No time for reasonable thinking, no time to analyse, think things through. Just the primal urge to act, as a parent in great distress. Alone. That was what Severus was, alone. Albus swore while his eyes searched page after page of the old church book, tracing, searching, scanning... THERE!! He'd found it!
Albus had no idea whether doing what he now was minutes from doing would have any effect at all. Severus might already be dead, beyond anyone's saving. But he had carried the child to term before he died, of that Albus was certain. If not the world would probably look a whole lot different by now.. That would, hopefully, mean Severus was still alive, still in need of comfort and aid, both things Albus couldn't give him. But he'd found a lead in the church book, a name. Ronja Geasly was the name, one of the many pre-Weasly's during the time of earth. One of Ron Weasly's foremothers actually. According to the books she would be 14- 15 years old the year Severus went back. Merely a child, but Albus' only hope.. With determined steps Albus went back to bed. Breaking yet another rule that he had placed on himself so many years before he broke the wizarding code (or renewed it) yet again, he sent a dream into the past. Back into the muggle dark ages.. to a young orphaned girl.
*-*
~past~
Ronja was one of oh so many girls her alike. She had no family. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father, who saw no use in a puny baby girl, sold her to the Sheriff of Nottingham for a limp goat. And Nottingham Mansion had been her home ever since. Here she took her first stumbling steps, here she started working already as a three- year-old - a raggedy little girl whose tiny hands served as help everywhere it was needed. And here was where she'd lost her virginity merely eight years old.. She had accepted this sorry excuse for a life, simply because it was the only life she knew. She had learned to cope with the wrath of the lord of the manor, she knew how to act in all his given moods and how to mend her wounds after another encounter. A true survivor, but slowly drowning in her faith.
She shared room with five other maids and servant girls, a stinking hole in the wall served as their bed. And here the dream from the future found her this faithful night, waking the witch-instincts in a girl who'd never dared to stand up against anyone in her entire life. She awoke with a gasp. The dream had seemed so lifelike! And the old man's voice, so powerful, but yet so grieving. A man, a king, from a land far away, from the land where the fairy in the vest-tower came from.
With swift steps Ronja hurried down the halls and up the stairs, heart beating faster for every step. The Sheriff would kill her if he found her wandering around in the middle of night, dressed and with such a daring plan brewing in her head. The plan wasn't hers. The old man, the King that had visited her night's slumber, had planted it there. He had given her instructions, told her to hurry, for the fairy, his child, was in great peril, and she was his only hope for survival. A great responsibility to be placed on such young shoulders, but the young witch accepted it without questions. She knew in her heart this was important. No matter how she hated the face the fairy bore she had seen and learned he was not like the Sheriff. He was kind. He was fair. And now he needed her help.
Too late. They had already taken him away. Was it the sheriff? No. For there was a note on the fairy's bed. She had never learned the art of reading, but she could recognise the seal of Robin Hood any day. He had taken him, to the forest.
Deciding within a heartbeat a stout-hearted little girl headed for the secret pass ways only she and the Sheriff knew about. Light as a hare on the foot she ran all the way to the forest, hoping, begging she wouldn't be too late.
*-*
The man placed between his thighs during the ride back to the Sherwood passed out after a few minutes. Afraid the stranger would choke to death John Little removed the bribe in all secrecy, making sure Will and Bull especially didn't see him while doing so. If the man awoke and started screaming now it wouldn't matter anyway. When crossing the boundaries to this forest the only men you could hope to come for your rescue was precisely the men this man was captured by. Therefore he could scream as loud and heart-shattering as he pleased, nobody would act upon his pleas. He didn't wake up though. And as familiar terms were closing in and John Little could feel the atmosphere surrounding the little forest community, he felt as if he'd been away for a thousand years. He was a gentle man, had a heart as big as the rest of him, and you didn't see this man lift his sword against another human being unless he deserved it. He was as curious as the others who the Nottingham Castle's secret guest could be, it was a mystery that Robin hadn't got wind about him before. They didn't get a glimpse of the man's face as they took him. The room in which he lay was pitch dark and there was no time to investigate any further.
Little John thought as they rode into the camp. Robin led his men to the outskirts of the clearing as he didn't want the entire village waking up and gathering round the camp's new addition as a pack of old women on a cattle-show. Brother Tuck came scrambling like a rat smelling blood though, but that wasn't surprising to say the least..
"Here, Little John. Toss him down so we'll get a look on this mystery- man," Robin said and pointed at a nice spot with some snow on it. Just about then the captivated wizard started coming back to reality with a soft moan.
"How nice! He's been SLEEPIN all the way!" Will Scarlet hissed as Little John instead of tumbling the waking man down on the ground did the "honors" of unveiling the stranger while he still was placed more or less on his lap. There was a simultaneous gasp from the men standing on the ground in front of Little John who was the only one left on horseback.
"What is it??!" he asked as the shocked faces around him looked like they'd seen a ghost. With a firm but still gentle grip, the big man grasped the hair of the half-unconscious man in front of him and turned his head as far as he needed, to see..
"NO!!!" he gasped and pushed the man away from himself with all the strength a criminal deserved. The man fell hard on his back with a thud and big, black alarmingly well known eyes glistened with pain, but they didn't shut. They kept staring at him, staring, staring... Little John climbed down from his horse that sighed silently with relief.
"The Sheriff," he breathed: "we have him! We actually got the Sheriff!" And as the memory of all the inhuman acts this man was responsible for ran through his head Little John raised his sword, ready to get rid of a filth not worthy of walking the earth.
"Let's kill the swine now, kill him while we have the chance!"
He wasn't the only one with this desire. It was burning in the eyes and hearts of all of them standing around the frozen heap down on the ground. But Robin grabbed the arm of Little John just before he would commit the only murder in his life done hastily and in cold blood.
"Wait, Little John, there's some things that doesn't match up with the Sheriff here.." John lowered his arm as some reason crept back into his mind and drowned the bloodlust he'd never before encountered in his entire life.
"What do you mean, "doesn't add up"!??!", Bull said and looked as irritated as his nickname: "Look at that face! Don't come here and tell me Mother Nature would be so cruel as to curse two men with that foul face!" he said and spat at the man down by his feet. By the looks of it his feet wanted to taste the stranger to.
"Bull, you're always talking when you should shut your yapper!" Brother Tuck finally joined the squabble with his hands firmly planted at his side: "If you're so sure that's the Sheriff, would you mind telling me when he added the extra 40 pounds??!!" The man stared down at a considerable large belly, only covered by a thin black fabric.
"But how do you explain that.. face!?" Little John still didn't want to let go of the belief this man was the filthy beast he wanted to slay.
"Maybe they're brothers..." Will Scarlet nudged the stranger's fat belly with a toe.
"I actually think you're up to something!" Robin said and didn't notice the frown on Scarlet's face as he said it. He crouched down to look closer at the stranger. He was oddly dressed, and he looked sick. And the way he just lay there, as some dog that'd been beaten so many times it didn't dare to stand up on his feet anymore was creepy to say the least.
"Strip him!" he ordered and pointed at Little John as he backed a few steps away from the Sheriff's mirror image. Little John got a look of absolute disgust on his face:
"Why do *I* have to be the one to.." But he stepped forward nevertheless, as Bull and Will grabbed the now weakly struggling man between their arms so that he wouldn't think of running away when Little John were to strip him of all his earthly clothing. He came as far as to rip of the top buttons of the man's dress looking shirt, when a high pitched wail from some nearby bushes made him jump away in surprise.
Suddenly the four men and one monk found themselves attacked with kicks and fists by a half-starved girl who came lunging at them through some bushes.
"You're hurtin him, you're hurtin him!!! You have to stop! Sheriff does that, you gotta stop!!!" Little John recognised her as one of the poor creatures under the Sheriff's "care". Now she was throwing herself at Bull and Will, screaming at them to let the man go as she threw her tiny fists around like sharp wasp-pricks. Will was stupid enough to laugh at her and kick the man he was holding on the shin. In response he got a terrorised howl and a kick aiming for his groin. In all the hoopla, the black clad man was dropped to the ground, where he lay like a stone, black eyes staring with terror at the scene unfolding before his eyes. The men watched as the girl curled up besides the alarmingly still and quiet man, crooning and gently petting him as if he was a sweet little baby boy in his mother's embrace.
"He sent me to you, Severi. I won't let them hurt you, I wont!" She patted the man's black hair and turned her gaze upwards, towards the gaping men standing round her. The motherly look on her face turned to burning anger.
"You're no better than Sheriff! You would've killed im, just like that, just because of that face!" She had a look of desperate concern on her face when she had another look at the curled up figure on the ground besides her.
"He's fairy! They took im.. I saw it.. he fell through hole in the ground.. right into the courtyard and the witch gave him that face... so no one knows he's fairy, but he is! Treat him bad they have, just like Ronja.. If the fairy die...all land cursed forever!" Now the girl gave in to some mighty sobs as she looked at the trembling man beneath her with all the pity and heartfelt sorrow a human being is able to posses.
"I know it," she whimpered between sobs: " he told me, the old man when I is asleep. Hide him from the Sheriff, or all will be lost. So I had to ..he told me to hide him.. take him to Loxley and ask for protection ..take me childe and hide him away ... if he dies, so does the land. But he's gone when I came there, you'd already taken im! But it wasn't kindness, no! You wants him dead, just as the Sheriff!! But I won't let you! You'll have to kill me before killing Severi! And then you'll have my blood on your hands as well!" She sent the lot of them a look worthy the absolute lowest scum , before she turned all her attention to the shivering creature in her embrace.
"Don't you worry, Severi! I won't let them hurt you! The King sent me, I gave my promise. I won't let them take you!" The man of whom she now was trying to warm with a small rag that served as her winter- coat glared at her dumbly, as if he believed the girl had fallen from the moon. His eyes were filled with such emotion even hot-tempered Will felt a twinge of pity for the strange looking man. Robin had watched the whole spectacle in silence. Now he sighed and said as he looked at Little John:
"I think there's been enough screaming for one night, I'm pretty sure the girl woke half the city with her howls. We'll place him in a tent for the night, tomorrow we'll decide what to do with him. I'm pretty sure we can raise the ransom, I bet the Sheriff wants his twin- something back soon enough."
*-*
Severus was using the last of his strength to fight against two mere squibs that were holding him firmly as it wasn't an effort at all. The big man, beyond any doubt Little-John, came closer- disgust etching his features. The wizard went limp between the arms of his depressors. The battle was lost before it had even begun. Severus accepted his faith silently and prepared for the last minutes of his life.
It's truly odd how things sometimes can turn in a fragment of time. Just as he gave up salvation came. It wasn't Albus. It wasn't even a fairly skilled wizard. Out of some bushes something most resembling a human scarecrow flew out with a terrible howl. Red hair were flying everywhere and fractions of sentences were spitted around as the tiny raging figure lunged itself upon each of the wizard's captors in turn, while the flow of words continued. In all the confusion Severus was dropped to the ground. The man called Bull started laughing as the furious attacker turned its wrath against him. The next the alchemist knew, he was the centre of attention of the creature he first now recognised as the servant girl he once helped. But no angry words were shouted into his ears. Soothing and cooing incessantly, mentioning a King that had sent her. He couldn't catch the words, he was too preoccupied with his own deafening heartbeats.
Why wasn't the girl dragged away from him instantly, or killed even? She was no match for four strong men, even the monk should manage her rather easily. But she stayed by his side, while cooing at him and spitting harsh remarks to the others.
Through the ground where the wizard lay tiny tremors went down, deep into the soil and spread rapidly until the whole Sherwood Forest was awaken from a centuries old slumber. A silent whisper went from tree to tree as the treetops stretched and became aware.
One time the forest had been a border, and the land still held a great deal of the older earth magic. Blood of the ancient kings.. Loxley had it, so had a few others, but not the magic, not the spark. They felt the call from the agent woods. Like werewolves their blood still sang, but their hearts and minds could not understand and so the call went unheard. But the wood remembered and waited for the return of the other race. The man creatures were kin to them but their bloodline was so diluted and faded with time, they had forgotten who they once were.
So like and yet so unlike the ones here now, one of the others had returned. Young and hurt it was, big with child yet still too small.. too little to carry the child properly, the bones were wrong so there would be much pain as the child grew. The body of a man, carrying the child as a woman, starved on the magic both needed to survive. It was in their blood and entire being.. it thrummed in them and the wood heard them as they heard the heartbeat of the wood. Sanctuary was theirs, the wood would provide for them and protect them, heal them if it could. For it felt the loneliness and the terrible grief the special one held back. He was still too weak to understand, but he would, if the others let him live...
*-*
Severus Snape was dragged to a tent and signalled to crawl inside. A blanket was tossed after him, soon to be followed by the ragged girl who were instantly all over the place, arranging for the most comfortable bed-lay for him. But when she turned back towards him after finding what were in her mind the ideal "spot" the wizard had already fallen asleep right beside the opening of the tent, lying flat on the ground. The latent witch watched with eyes that bore resemblance to both mother's love and great fear.
"Poor, poor Severi!" she whispered before she tucked the blanket around the sleeping man and curled up besides him.
He awoke to the steady gaze of a pair of grey eyes and strands of red hair tickling him on the chin.
Severus blinked in surprise when a shy smile appeared on the young girl's face. A small, yet surprisingly warm hand touched his cheek cautiously. He blinked once more in his condition of total confusion. What was going on here? And not to mention where was he? And why was this starved little girl suddenly forgetting the face that he bore?
"What... where.." was all he managed to stutter as he struggled to sit up. There was a protesting movement from his stomach as space down there decreased.
"You're in the forest, remember?" Her voice was as small as she was, tiny as the voice of a bird's and shy as the moves of a rabbit: "Right where the King told me to lead you!" Eagerness painted the girls face as she made sure the wizard was as covered with blanket as possible. Then her face changed and she continued talking in her small voice:
"Only... they had already taken you when I came. Robin Hood didn't know Severi's true face. Only I did because of the King."
"What.. King?" Severus slowly asked. He was freezing and starved, and this girl's story was hard to follow.
"The King spoke to me in my dream. He said 'Take Severi to the forest, hide him for he will be safe there. For he is fairy and if he and what he carries dies so will the people!" The king... Could it be.. that Albus had found a way after all? That would mean he was alive, that would mean his father was trying to get him out of this mess!
"He told me that you is his son, the fairy Prince Severi and that I should be your protector." She looked down at the wizard's belly: "And I won't tell them, you trust me! I'll help you keep your secret. You're not safe here if they find out."
"You... know??" Severus swallowed as a foot stapled his insides to state its presence. The girl nodded gravely.
"It's the Sheriff's. If Robin Hood finds out.. he'll... he'll kill you!" she whispered with big, anxious eyes. Severus was tired merely by sitting up for a few minutes. All his muscles seemed do have frozen to ice during his cold night on the ground. He supposed he was lucky he hadn't frozen to death. As he sat there, eyes closed, he suddenly became aware of the life unfolding around the tent in which he was placed. He could hear the happy sounds of children, the squabbling of both women and men, the clumping of steal, the neighing of horses, footsteps that approached and grew distant. Unfolding for the wizard's sensitive ears was the pulsating life of the hidden village in the morning. Not far from the east side of the tent Severus picked up parts of a conversation.
"Have you heard about the stranger? He arrived last night, you know when all the racked began. He's inside that tent over there, where Little John keeps watch. Nasty bugger, apparently the Sheriff's brother or something. Why they haven't killed the geezer already beats me. I guess they're after the ransom, and that the Sheriff will kill everybody in sight if anything happens to him. Still, they should kill the bastard, in fact they should kill anybody as long as he related to that swine!"
"You DO know Robin and the Sheriff are cousins?!" the reply came in a mocking tone. Severus sighed as he opened his eyes again. He was no safer here than he had been in the west-tower under the Sheriff's care. Maybe his death sentence had been postponed for a day or two, but that would be all. As a response to the fairy's distress the redheaded girl curled up protectively beside him while she was whispering over and over again:
"Not to worry, my Severi, I won't let them!" Surprisingly Severus didn't nudge the girl away as she gently stroke his hair to comfort him. He just sat there with eyes closed, breathing rapidly, not aware that for the first time in his life he surrendered into the embrace of a stranger. So starved for some affection his mind and body had grown after the last brutal months that the old Snape fell victim to needs and urges older than man.
He fell asleep like that, embraced by his self-announced protector. For once his slumber was somewhat peaceful, none of his old demons had the heart to haunt him this time.
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