I needed something to get my mind off of things. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Draco for a while, and I was a little bit worried about him. He had been blue lately, but then again we were all a little subdued. So, in order to distract myself I decided to go to the library and search through the new potions books that Laura had mentioned to me on the Hogsmeade trip. Somewhere in the back of my mind I also knew that Laura was not working in the hospital wing today and therefore would be helping Madam Pince. Alright, so perhaps I wouldn't have minded a conversation with her. I found her intriguing. Anyone who started out as a Curse-Breaker and ended up a Healer had to be interesting.

It was quiet in the Library, as expected. I wandered over to the potions section almost absent mindedly. There was indeed a few new volumes, and I perused them enthusiastically. My finger dragged along the spines, and no dust came off of them as with so many other rows of books in the library.

Way back in the potions section where I stood was quiet, very quiet, and yet it took some time for me to realize that a slow rumbling noise was taking over this quiet. I felt a gush of wind, and to my horror I saw a huge shadow pass over the shelves. Something was making its way to the front of the library. I could hear girls screaming and the library door banging against the stone wall as it was thrown open. I didn't see what it had been, but my heart raced anyway, though not as quickly as my thoughts.

Merlin, the school is under siege, the Dark Lord has come; that was him flying over. Damn, Hell, Bloody Hell ...

I couldn't see over the tall shelves to find out what it was and so I waved my wand, a row of volumes soaring out from their places and hovering to create a narrow staircase of books for me to go up. I heard screeching noise as I reached the top of the wide bookcase and looked around. I didn't see anything; I didn't see Him.

I turned around, and was immediately met by some sort of monster, which was careening toward me like a freight train. I gave an involuntary yelp as the face of a dragon stared me down, and I took a leap off the tall shelf, cushioning my landing with magic but still stumbling and falling onto my back. I stared in confusion (and a fair amount of relief) as I saw the beast soar over me. With great surprise I realized that it was made of books. A dragon made of books. This had to be some sort of prank, because while magical, the books in the Hogwarts library did not just get together and decide to form a giant beast to scare the daylights out of everyone. I knew a person capable of a prank like this. In fact, I knew two. I groaned, and went to climb back up onto the shelf, a new book staircase before me within seconds of waving my wand. I knew I had to get higher up, for I had no hope of vanquishing the beast from the ground, as it would be only too easy for it to sneak up on me or reign in terror from above. As I set foot on the top of the bookcase, a shadow began to eat up the light, growing nearer as the beast soared overhead. By now the library was almost completely empty. With no other targets in the room, it saw me with eyes of foil embellished books. The teeth clashed together, the spines of the books that formed them creating a strange clapping noise as it circled. It was taunting me, flying closer and closer to where I stood on the shelf. For one wild second I thought I recognized my old potions book in and amongst the volumes, but on second glance it was a later edition with similar tears on the spine. I was caught off guard, and wasn't looking where I should have been.

"Severus, watch out!" yelled a voice from down below as the tail swung forward. A heavy, enormous dictionary lay at the end of it. I hit the wood of the bookcase with a thump and my hands grabbed tightly to the sides of it as I lay belly down. The dust on the wood swirled up as the dictionary swung over my head. I felt my hair ruffle as the fluttering of pages travelled through my ears. Then I sprung up, careful not to fall as the back of the beast shrank and travelled to the other end of the high ceilinged library.

"Thanks Laura!" I shouted over to her as she ran through the main aisle between the shelves, blasting spells at the dragon of books.

The dragon reached the other end if the library and slammed up against the rafters, candelabra claws curling around them and holding it fast. It looked ready to spring.

"Irma is getting the remaining students out!"

"Maybe you should go too," I called back to her just before the dragon gave a loud roar, billows of dust blowing from its nostrils.

She let out an incredulous laugh as the dragon sprung forth and began to rocket through the air once more, pages flapping. "You'll have to try harder than that!"

In seconds she was up on top of the shelves too. The dragon grew closer and I prepared to make my move. With a whistling screech it was upon me, but instead of catching me up in its claws I leaped over to another bookcase, and it flew past. It was unable to turn so sharply and fought to keep its shuddering wings steady as it swung around as quickly as it could. I shot a finite at the dragon in hopes that it would put an end to whatever magic was holding it together. My action had no effect, but Laura shot some sort of blasting spell at the dragon, and it clipped the wing of the beast, making it lose altitude and crash toward a shelf. It landed there for just a moment, the shelf creaking and almost buckling under the weight, and then it pushed off back into the air. As it did so, the dragon was distracted by a pair of students at the end of the library where the door was. Irma was waving her arms and gesturing to the door, but they didn't pay attention as they were arguing too fiercely.

Draco looked up suddenly, and upon seeing the beast coming at them promptly tried to drag Harry toward the door. Harry saw it and clearly swore, raising his wand, but Madam Pince stood in his way, and then pushed both of the boys from the library. I let out a breath of relief. This relief was short lived however, for the dragon, with no target, turned on Laura. I shot another blasting curse at it and hit it in the side. It roared and was knocked off course, just in time. When it had swung back around it came at me instead this time, and now Laura shot a curse at it, hitting it in the wing. I suddenly understood what she was trying to do as it veered off course and hit the ground. It launched itself back up again, though rather unsteadily. Laura hadn't missed earlier; she was trying to ground it so we could fight it better. It was an easy target if we were up on shelves and it was down below with damaged wings. The dragon's wings had steadied once more, and it began to turn around. Laura tried to leap to another shelf to get a better shot at it, but didn't quite make it. I inhaled sharply as she slipped, the great shadow growing ever nearer. She managed to get her stomach on the shelf but her legs were dangling at the end of the case, where there were no ledges to push off of. The dragon rocketed toward her mercilessly.

"Oy!" I yelled brazenly, a sudden onset of courage making my voice louder, "over here you dusty bastard!" I sent a heavy book flying at the beast with magic, and it hit it square in the back of the head. It stopped going forward, and instead hovered for a few moments as it gave a couple of beats of its wings and looked around for the source of the book. I heard a few students scream from where they were watching through the half open door. They promptly shut it when the dragon sent a roar in their direction. I didn't pay much attention to this, for the dragon's gaze had found me. It bellowed and soared around, just as I sent a blast of magic at its left wing. Books went flying as the powerful burst of light connected, and the beast let out a screeching cry and veered left suddenly. It crashed into shelves, sending them flying. I hadn't anticipated that my spell would be that strong, and to my horror the shelves were toppling like dominoes toward the direction Laura was in. I didn't have a chance to raise my wand for the shudders that reverberated through the room, rocking my own shelf.

Laura had only just gotten up on the bookcase across the room when it fell. Books were flying in the air and the dragon lay in a heap upon the floor where the wreckage had begun, a harmless pile of books once more. I was down off the shelf faster than you could say Hogwarts. I sprinted across the library, stumbling over books, the world rushing by. I was coughing and wheezing but I didn't care. All I knew was that I couldn't live with being responsible for another death.

"LAURA!" I shouted between coughs, voice rough and cracking. I located her through magic. A fallen shelf lay across another, and I hastily pushed books aside. There was no way for me to lift the shelf with magic, for that would require all the other shelves to be lifted too and I could not perform a spell that powerful. Instead I pushed away books, and sure enough she was there, in between the shelf and the floor, in the crevice the two shelves had made, rather like a lean-to. She was huddled in a ball and her breathing was coming in gasps. Both our ragged breathing made a strange, unnerving song as I pulled her from under the shelf. She looked unhurt, much to my relief. My lungs were feeling less tight now, and my coughing had started to subside to the occasional small hack. I was glad to be on my knees, for waves of dizziness had begun to wash over me.

"Laura, are you alright?" I asked hesitantly as we sat by the shelves, in amongst the torn pages and scattered books. "Laura, can you hear me?"

She nodded, her breath still coming in gasps. Her eyes were wide, her face pale. Otherwise, she appeared to be alright

I looked at the small space between the book cases and the floor. Something clicked in my mind as I recalled the conversation over drinks in the Three Broomsticks, when Laura had been talking about why she had quit her job as a curse-breaker. "That and I almost died when a tomb collapsed."

"You're claustrophobic, aren't you?" I asked her. She nodded, gasping for air and blinking rapidly.

I sat with my back up against a fallen bookcase, her beside me and sitting up against the piled up bookcases too. I didn't know a whole lot about what I should do, but I remembered that when Lily was really upset or crying she had liked me to hold her hand. So I took Laura's hand, and she squeezed it hard. I sat with her until her breathing slowed. We remained in silence for a while, until she shakily broke it.

"It was so long ago but ... it was ... there was only a split second before everything just ... fell in."

"The tomb?"

"Yes," she muttered, voice trembling. "Some idiot went and took the wrong treasure. It was rigged, and set off a shock-wave that crumpled the supports. A huge rock just missed my head. My wand disappeared too. I was trapped for hours before they got me out. I don't remember much. I don't know ... maybe I'm overreacting but ever since then I just can't stand small spaces." She hiccupped slightly. She seemed to want to justify her fear, to show she wasn't weak.

"That is a good reason if I ever heard one," I said, squeezing her hand. I wasn't entirely sure why, but I didn't want to let go. She squeezed back. Rather hesitantly, I admitted, "I don't care for tight places much myself."

"Have you got a story behind that too?" she asked, seeming to read my mind, or at least the distasteful expression upon my face when I talked of small spaces.

"Yes," I said, grimacing. "It is a bit ... unbelievable."

"Tell my anyway."

"Alright," I replied, looking her in the eyes. I almost forgot what I was going to say for the rich colour, the emotion stirring behind them. Uncertainty, traces of fear, and perhaps a little bit more. But I pushed these thoughts away, and then I recalled my words quickly. I knew I could trust her, so I proceeded. "In case you didn't know, I used to spy on the Dark Lord for the light."

"Aunt Minerva mentioned it, actually," Laura said. "It explained a lot. I asked her why you are as jumpy as I am."

I nodded slightly. "The key word of course is that I was a spy," I replied thoughtfully. "Naturally, the Dark Lord was furious when he finally figured it out last summer, though he really didn't have a hell of a lot of proof anyway, but he was willing to risk it. I ended up buried about twelve feet underground in a sealed coffin, my wand snapped and arms tied behind my back."

Laura shuddered. "How did you breathe?"

"He wanted me alive for the next night, so they could ... have their revenge for my deceit. The Dark Lord charmed it so there was enough air, and only meant it to be a long and painful torture. Mostly torture of the mind, of course." I felt a slight shiver run down my spine as I recalled the terror. The feeling was snuffed quickly, for the calming warmth of Laura's hand had stopped it from grabbing hold as it usually did.

"How did you escape?" asked Laura, a look of pained understanding upon her face.

"Just as they were digging me up I managed to finish cutting the ropes on my hands with a nail sticking through the lid of the coffin. I would have gotten through the ropes earlier, but the exhaustion was almost unbearable. Once I was free I was able to get to my emergency portkey, which bypasses almost all wards. Something of Albus' invention. I ... I am very lucky."

She shook her head, a look on her face that showed of the amazement she felt.

"I think I hear someone coming," I muttered, finding it strange how disappointed my voice sounded. "We should probably go meet them. Are you alright now?"

"Yes," she whispered to me. "Thank you Severus."

"You're welcome."

"Will you swear you won't tell anyone about my claustrophobia?" she asked, imploring me.

"I won't tell anyone," I said to her. "I would appreciate if you did not speak of what I told you as well."

"It's a deal."

For a second we sat there, hands clasped. We smiled hesitantly at each other, and the more she smiled the more I wanted to. The spell was broken with the sound of running steps coming toward us, and it was only then we realized how close we were. Both of us shifted away, and then I stood up, offering a hand to Laura, which she accepted and I helped her to her feet. Harry, Draco and Albus breathed a sigh of relief when they saw us. Albus soon left to discuss the clean-up of the library with Laura and Madam Pince, who had skulked back in and looked ready to kill at the state of the library.

"Let me guess, you two had something to do with this?" I asked Harry and Draco sternly once the three others had departed.

The erupted into apologies and excuses.

"Draco, you speak first," I said, quite used to them talking over each other.

"Well, it was a dare," he said, biting his lip. "Only, it sort of went wrong."

"I never would have guessed," I replied scathingly.

"I dared Draco to turn his copy of A History of Magic into some sort of creature with a spell we found, but ... well ..." Harry said.

"Go on."

"We thought it meant only one book would be turned into something."

"Instead the whole shelf joined it, along with the rest in our book bags," muttered Draco, cringing.

"You could have killed someone," I said sharply, anger coursing through me. I let the words hang in the air for a moment before going on. "It was extremely stupid of you. Now tell me, what did you learn from this?"

"Dares are stupid?" Harry asked meekly.

"Always make sure to read up on a spell thoroughly before testing it?" Draco added.

Harry looked deep in thought. "Er, sometimes it's better to pass on a dare because it can cause more harm than good?"

"All of those are good lessons," I told them. "Well deducted. I merely wish you two would do your thinking before doing something like this, rather than after."

"You did do a thorough job, I'll give you that," Albus said to the boys, having joined us once again after inspecting the damage. "Might I suggest that as punishment they must help clean up the library?"

"I think that is fair," I said coolly. "And, you must return the books to their shelves, in their proper sections."

Both boys looked at their feet.

"Work begins now," I told them, looking to Albus, who nodded in agreement. "You must return every day until the library has been restored to its usual order. You will listen to whatever Madam Pince or Miss Baldwin have to say."

As I watched the boys drag their feet over to Madam Pince, Albus remarked how glad he was that nobody was hurt. I sighed wearily, and muttered that I didn't think that this was helping me get any better. He nodded in agreement. With a farewell, I made my way to the door. Laura was surveying the library from near the entrance, and caught my eye as I was about to exit.

She mouthed a thank you so that Harry wouldn't hear from where he was picking up books nearby. I nodded, consciously trying not to stare too long. I swept out of the door, and immediately I began to feel strangely as though something was missing. The ache in my chest returned, settling in like an unwanted house-guest. I wanted to tell her of it.