Alphabet brain-ache

[louiselux]

“Attack!”

Behind him, Snape could sense the crackle and spit of powerful magic. Caught in the bone white of the moon were ragged black figures, swooping down into the clearing.

Delicate scents of earth and crushed leaves filled his nostrils as he scrabbled and ran through the long grasses to the trees. Eternity was blindly waiting, if he didn’t make it to safety. Forbidden, he thought grimly, slipping into the gnarled and treacherous arms of the forest. Glad that’s not strictly enforced. He could hear the Death Eaters behind him, calling his name, the voices of women and men without hope.

“I want you, Severus,” came a foul breath on his neck, that slithered into his ear and wrapped itself around his thoughts. Jerking forwards, Snape increased his pace, not daring to look back, the mark on his arm sending a knife-sharp pain to his bones. Knowing that the devil rode at his back was a great incentive to his thumping heart and straining legs, hot and aching from such exertion.

“Let me have you, Severus.”

Muted voices behind him now, falling back, crying in dismay: just that sly whisper in his mind. No, never, he answered, redoubling his efforts. Out of the shadows he ran, the forest clutching at his clothes and hair with frost-hardened fingers. Patches of moonlight lit his path, clear across the frozen grounds of Hogwarts. Quickening his pace, he fell from the bounds of the forest and pitched forwards onto the grass, lying there spent and exhausted and safe.

Rising eventually to his feet, Snape listened: nothing. Silence all around him, but far away he could just hear sounds of retreat, of hate and fear and inhuman howls. Taking out his wand, he waited patiently at the edge of the forest as the moon slowly slid behind the trees. Under the achingly cold night air, a trail of heat wound its way to him, and he shivered as a hot, wolfish scent came nearer and nearer. Velvet soft skin touched his fingers, as the wolf’s nose gently butted his hand, offering his head to be touched.

“Why help me now, after what I’ve done to you?”

X-ray vision wouldn’t have helped him to decipher the expression in the wolf’s eyes, he thought grimly, fingers instinctively spreading to meet the grey fur. Yellow, alien eyes looked into his for longer than he knew how to cope with, and he blinked hard to break the contact, but couldn’t pull his gaze away. Zodiac signs wheeled overhead as the moon vanished, and the man inside the wolf came out.

Comments

[millefiori.livejournal.com]

Oh, very nice job! It's much tougher than it looks, isn't it?

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes. You'll never know how long it took to come up with 'x-ray'. *g*

Woah

[snaples.livejournal.com]

Damn. That's, like, a gazillion times better than anything I came up with! *grins happily* You even used X! This is SO beautiful. Hmm. Thanks so much for pointing this out, and I'm glad the challenge inspired you to get this lovely piece out. :)

Re: Woah

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks! Glad you liked it - it was a fantastic challenge idea. I could write them all day, and in fact, may well do that. *g*