"Seasons of Change"

Author: Mistress Sara

Rating: M – there's going be violence and questionable language for sure.

Summary: Persephone was known as the Greek goddess who brought the changes of the seasons. In Severus' life what changes will Persephone Lupin bring?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I'm sure this will shock everyone. However Persephone is my character so keep your hands to yourself.

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"Persephone?" A familiar voice called out. The front door was easily opened with a simple spell. Remus was surprised; normally impenetrable wards protected the house. Obviously she had just come in and didn't take the time to reset them. That had to be the explanation; goodness knows that she wasn't planning on leaving herself unguarded. "Persephone?"

She had to be here somewhere. The house was massive; it was actually more of a manor. Lupin Manor. Despite Remus' fondness for his shabby, patched robes, he actually came from a wealthy family. He might've rejected the lifestyle but his sister hadn't. Even after the death of their parents she continued to live in their childhood home. The truth of the matter was it was the only place she felt safe.

Remus climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor where their bedrooms once were. Persephone still used her old bedroom. Which was a bit silly considering that the master suite was empty, however they both still considered that their parent's room. With a steady stroll Remus made his way down the long hallway to a closed door he knew well.

"Persephone?" He called, knocking on the door. After a moment or two of silence he decided just to go in. There was blood on the hardwood floor, a steady streak of it, like a twisted interpretation of a breadcrumb trail, leading him straight to his little sister.

Remus was speechless. There she was, robes torn, blood gushing from a staggering amount of wounds, how she made it upstairs he would never know. All he did know was that his sister needed help, immediately. Without hesitation he rushed to the fireplace across the room and activated communication to Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts, desperately hoping that the elder wizard would be nearby.

Sure enough the familiar face appeared.

"I'm at the house Albus. They got to her first, please send someone immediately." Remus said without taking a breath before glancing back over to his sister.

Albus just nodded, not wasting time talking. Returning to his sister's side, Remus began to heal some of the smaller wounds the best he could. Without flinching he could have defended her against the men who did this, however healing was a different story completely.

A familiar pop made Remus aware that he and Persephone were no longer alone in the room. The blood seeping from his sister's wounds was so severe that he didn't pay attention to who had arrived, just that there were two new sets of hands helping now. The Woman was trying to pull Remus back so that the man could move Persephone's body.

It took a minute for Remus to realize that Minerva McGonagall was the one trying to move him out of the way.

"Remus, Remus please. Let us just move her to the bed." Minerva urged. The sighed of irritation that came from the man holding his sister finally alerted Lupin to the identity of the man. He watched in violent anger as Severus Snape lowered Persephone onto the bed.

"He doesn't touch her." Remus said, snapping out of his state of shock.

"If you want your sister to live you'll get over it."

"If it weren't for you she wouldn't be in this situation."

"She got into this mess on her own. Don't blame me for Persephone's mistakes."

"Remus, lets leave Severus to work. If anyone knows how to heal these wounds it's him."

Remus hesitantly let himself be pulled from the room. Leaving Severus to work in silence. His gaze moved to the woman in front of him. With great ease he got her to swallow a blood-replenishing potion after he finished healing the large gashes.

"Stupid girl." He muttered. It wasn't supposed to go like this. He was supposed to be at the camp when she arrived, it was his responsibility to get her out of there before things got… bloody. It was easy to blame the unconscious girl rather then himself. However, she was going to wake up eventually and the finger of blame would return to him. "Fool."

"You've called me worse." Persephone muttered without opening her eyes.

"If memory serves you've called me a great many things as well."

"So long as we're even."

"How are you feeling?"

"As though I've been in and out of a Death Eaters camp." She took a shaky breath and sarcastically asked, "Wonder why that is?"

Severus rolled his eyes and looked over her body, double-checking for any injuries that he might have missed. Persephone looked incredibly like her brother. The biggest difference being the look of exhaustion that Remus constantly wore. Some how, despite everything, she still looked as youthful as she did when they were in school. Her long hair was darker then her brother's, no grey to lighten it. The Lupin children had identical eyes, the same slender faces, and shared that gentle tone of voice. Although there were differences too.

Persephone had been sorted into Slytherin when she arrived at Hogwarts a year after her brother. Her voice easily carried a sarcastic tone which helped her exchange jabs with Severus. Beneath her robes was a slender, rather hourglass figure that men on both sides of the war would dream about. Severus smirked at his own observation, thinking back to when he knew her in school. Before she looked so desirable. Back when she was a freckled, gangly, not yet grown into her height. Then the male population of Hogwarts thought her of as 'cute'… even if she was a Slytherin and a Lupin.

"Severus is there a reason why you're staring at me? I can feel the frost bite beginning to form."

"I didn't miss any wounds did I?"

She nodded. He did another sweep across her front before realizing that there might be something on her back. With a hiss of pain she rolled over onto her stomach with his help. The robes stuck to her back with dried blood that had seeped from the two long slashes. These weren't made by magic… a long dagger was used, it wasn't a quick cut. Whoever did this took their time and made sure that Persephone felt every cut that blade made.

Severus managed to remove what was left of the robe and cleaned the sticky blood away from the wounded areas. The lacerations took the crude shape of a 'V' that began at her shoulder blades and met at her lower back. The surrounding skin was an angry red. Once the area was cleaned Severus was able to see that the cuts were thin, a minor comfort, at least it would make this easier to heal.

"Is it bad?" She asked quietly, lifting her face from a pillow.

"Not for long." He paused for a moment. "I'll do what I can to reduce scars."

"Thanks." Her voice was soft.

"I feel compelled to remind you once again how stupid this was."

"And I'm sure you'll get the urge to remind me again later as well."

"Do you have any healing potions around here?"

"Down the hall, ask Remus."

"How did you know he was here?"

"Sibling bond probably. Or the two of you getting into a shouting match."

"Your observational skills are as astounding as ever." His hand slipped and put a little too much pressure on the raw flesh of her back. With a cry of pain she managed to bite back her retort and, somehow, her tears. "Sorry." He muttered.

She rested her head and listened as Severus walked towards the door. He wasn't at all surprised to find Remus and Minerva waiting in the hallway. Remus had taken to pacing nervously, like a caged animal. Persephone heard him ask about the potion, someone else took this moment to enter the room.

"Seffie?" Remus asked quietly, using her nickname from childhood. Severus rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, waiting for Minerva to return with the potion.

"Hi Remus."

"How are you feeling?" He sat down next to her, gentle not to cause a great deal of movement on the bed.

"I've had better days, but Severus does good work." She could faintly make out her brother muttering something. "It wasn't his fault Remus."

"What happened?" Severus asked. "I thought that Dumbledore was clear on what the plan was."

There was a sudden burst of green flames from the fireplace and the wizard in charge stepped out.

"I too would like to know what happened."

Persephone took a deep breath and began to speak.

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Let me know what you think. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon. Reviews are appreciated.