XX: Lay Back in the Arms of Your One True Love

My dearest readers,

All things must come to an end, and now we have arrived at the final chapter of A Gift of the Goddess.

Once more, I want to thank JKR, for creating the Harry Potter universe and Severus Snape, and my beta, Apple Blossom, for her terrific work.

Now, grab a hankie and enjoy the last chapter.

Chapter XX: Lay Back in the Arms of Your One True Love

'The best advice I can give you, Severus,' Poppy started in a grave tone after she had examined him, 'is to take it easy.'

Severus sneered. Just how on earth was he supposed to take it easy? He didn't have the time to take it easy. He had NEWT exams to prepare, lesson plans to set up and a wedding to arrange. Taking it easy did not fit anywhere in his schedule.

He was just about to explain this to Poppy, when the medi-witch thrust a phial into his hand.

'Since when have you ever listened to anybody's advice when it concerned your health?' she muttered and then became serious again. 'I want you to take three drops of this potion every morning. It will make your heartbeat slow down and your blood pressure sink. And this is not a suggestion. This is an order, Severus.'

He pocketed the phial just in time to be presented with another one that contained a bright red substance.

'If you feel uncomfortable in any way, any pressure or squeezing sensation in your chest or pain spreading from your chest to your shoulders or arms, you take a big gulp of this and get your behind right to me or to St. Mungo's. Is that understood?'

Severus nodded. He understood very well.

'Please, Severus, take the warning signs seriously,' Poppy continued in a now much softer tone. 'I know that you think that you're still young. And by Hippocrates, sixty-eight is not a high age for a wizard. But your body has been through enough hardships to fill three lifetimes. And if you don't slow down, your body will do it for you. Please, take it easy, Severus.'

He resisted the urge to shake off the hand the medi-witch had laid upon his shoulder. She only meant well, he knew that.

He disappeared behind the curtain to put his robes back on. He didn't need to count the scars on his upper body to know that Poppy was right. His body had certainly been through a lot. And although the last thirty years had been a piece of cake, the damages he had suffered earlier could not be undone.

'When is the big day?' Poppy asked as Severus stepped into her office some minutes later.

'Beltane.'

'Beltane? Eydis is getting married on her birthday?'

Severus shrugged. 'What better day to get married than her twenty-first birthday? Sibyll has consulted the tea leaves, and Aurora has gazed into the stars. It will be a fine day.'

'I'm sure it will be,' Poppy replied, once more giving him a pleading look. 'Just make sure that you will be around, Severus.'

~ ~ ~

The air was filled with the scent of roses and lilies. And Severus secretly wondered where his daughter had learnt to love flowers. It was certainly not part of her genes. He would have to blame Ginny for it.

But first he would have to thank her. She had been working tirelessly for weeks, putting together flower arrangements, choosing tablecloths and matching plates, talking to the caterer and the musicians. She had even sewn Eydis' dress, white silk sprinkled with fairy dust.

Yes, he would have to thank Ginny. And not only for the wedding, but for all the times she had been there for Eydis when the little one had needed to talk to a woman, to a mother. And he would also thank her for all the times she had been there for him. But for the time being, a smile in the direction of the mother of the groom was all Severus had time for. He had to go and find the bride.

Eydis was sitting on a bench in the garden. The fairy dust made her dress sparkle in the sunlight as if it were embroidered with a million tiny diamonds. And her long red hair that hung loose around her shoulders looked like a sea of flames.

'Are you getting cold feet?' Severus asked in a soft tone as he took a seat beside his daughter.

She looked up at him and smiled. 'No. Why? Were you planning on giving me a pair of knitted socks?'

Severus laughed. 'Your mother has tattled, I assume.'

Of course she had. Cassandra had shared everything with Eydis over the last fourteen years. Naturally, she would have told her how Severus had gotten the jitters before their wedding and how she had presented him with a pair of dark green woolly socks. Hopefully, she had omitted his attempts to hex her for it.

'You are going to go through with it then?' Severus went on. 'You are going to break your poor father's heart and marry a Potter.'

Eydis playfully slapped him on the shoulder, and he raised his hands in a defensive gesture. She knew he was joking, of course. The years when he had held a grudge against any male who went by the name of Potter were long since gone. He would never go as far as saying that he liked the late James Potter, but his hatred for the man had faded. And the love he saw in his daughter's eyes when she talked about her future husband made it impossible for Severus to hold any kind of resentment against the James Potter she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with.

He wrapped his arm around Eydis' shoulders and pulled her towards his chest.

'Have you chosen a name for the baby yet?' he asked.

Eydis lovingly caressed her rounded stomach and nodded. 'James has, actually. Cassandra if it is a girl. And Severus if it is a boy. If you don't mind.'

Severus Potter. Severus couldn't help but sneer. If someone had told him thirty years ago that he would let his daughter marry a Potter and that his grandson would combine the names Severus and Potter, he would have declared the person insane and probably hexed them into the next century.

But a lot of things had changed over the last three decades. He had changed. He had almost died, had been given the chance to a new life. He had taken it and found love. He had laughed. He had cried. And he had learnt how to go on.

Things had changed for the better, indeed. And here he was now, sitting on a bench in the garden, holding his beloved daughter in his arms, ready to walk her down the aisle, ready to let her go.

~ ~ ~

'Daddy, will you dance with me?'

'You should be dancing with your husband, little one.'

Eydis crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted. 'James hates dancing.'

'So do I,' Severus replied. 'And pouting does not become you, Mrs. Potter.'

Eydis grinned. 'Sounds horrible, doesn't it? Eydis Potter. What was I thinking?'

'Were you thinking, little one?' Severus asked, arching his eyebrow. 'At all?'

Eydis laughed. 'You will never get over it, will you? You will always hold his last name against James.'

Severus smirked. 'As long as he makes you happy, little one, his last name could be Riddle, and I would not care. But the day he hurts you, I will risk a life sentence in Azkaban and put an Unforgivable Curse on him.'

Eydis shuddered theatrically and then smiled. 'My Daddy,' she said and grabbed his hand. 'My hero.'

Despite her being five months pregnant, she felt feather light in his arms, and when the song ended, Severus let go of his daughter only reluctantly. It did not feel right to let go of her. And when he retreated from the dance floor and blended into the shadows of the night, he suddenly felt cold.

He watched his little angel dance with her brother-in-law for a few moments and then retreated into the garden. He felt like being alone for a while.

The warm spring night air smelled of freshly cut grass and apple blossoms. And the stars seemed to be competing about which one of them could shine the brightest. Even the moon seemed to have been polished. Eydis had surely picked a wonderful night for starting her new life.

Severus sat down on the bench and rolled his head and shoulders. The muscles in his neck had been tense all day, and over the last couple of hours, he had gotten a pounding headache. No surprise, really. He had been clenching his jaw all day. He should have listened to Ginny when she had told him to relax already during lunch.

As if she had heard him, Ginny was suddenly standing right beside him.

'Are you alright, Severus?' she asked. 'You look pale.'

'I am always pale,' he replied, surprised at how shaky his voice sounded. 'And it has been a long and tiring day.'

Ginny sat down beside him and looked up at the starry sky. 'It has been a beautiful day, though.'

Severus nodded. 'It has, indeed.' He paused for a moment and cleared his throat before he went on. 'I want to thank you, Ginny. For everything you have done for my daughter.'

'Oh, don't be silly, Severus,' she said, cutting him off. 'It's my son's wedding as well. And to be honest, my mother and Narcissa did most of the work.'

'I am not talking about the wedding, Ginny. You have no idea how much you meant to Eydis over the years. You were the mother she never had. And that is what I want to thank you for.'

Ginny smiled at him. 'You would have done a wonderful job even without me, Severus. You turned out to be a wonderful father. And you have surprised us all.'

Severus snorted. 'You have no idea how much I surprised myself.'

Ginny giggled. 'How about you surprise everyone else once more and dance with me? My dear husband hasn't danced with me since we got married. And to be honest, my feet are actually rather grateful for it. But I would really like to dance with you. Just once.'

She got up and held out her hand for him. And Severus took it. Dancing with Ginny was the least he could do. But when he tried to stand, his head started to spin, and he sank back onto the bench, clutching his chest.

'Severus, what's wrong?'

He knew exactly what was wrong. But this must not be happening. Not now. Not today. Not on his daughter's wedding day!

'Potion,' he managed articulate. But he couldn't take the phial from his pocket. His arm felt heavy, and he was sure that his hands were shaking.

Thankfully, Ginny understood. He felt her hand in his pocket, felt the phial being pressed against his lips. And he swallowed, felt the liquid trickle down his throat and waited. But nothing happened. Ginny was talking to him, he knew that. She was asking questions. But he couldn't make out her words, and the tightness in his chest prevented him from speaking.

Then a bright light erupted in front of his eyes. And he thought that he was dying. He had seen that light before, that night when he had been lying on the dusty floor in the Shrieking Shack. Back then, he had not minded dying. He had not had anything worth surviving for that night. But today, he had.

It was first when he heard voices and saw the blurry outlines of people around him that he realised that the bright light had been Ginny's Patronus. She had called for help.

He felt himself being pushed back into a lying position on the bench, felt familiar hands on his neck and chest, and heard Poppy's voice:

'Call the Healers,' she commanded. 'We cannot risk Apparating him in this state.'

Then he saw Eydis' face. Her blue eyes were filled with fear, and her lips were trembling. 'We're taking care of you, Daddy. You'll be alright.'

No, he would not be alright. Deep inside, Severus knew that it was over. He was done fighting.

Gathering all the strength in his body and mind, he raised his hand to his daughter's face. She grabbed it and kissed it, held it to her chest.

'You'll be alright, Daddy,' she repeated, squeezing his hand. 'The Healers are on their way.'

Severus tried to squeeze back, but found himself unable to.

'I am sorry, little one,' he whispered instead. He was so unspeakably sorry for doing this to her on the day that was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

'No, Daddy,' Eydis sobbed. 'Don't. Don't be sorry.'

Once more, he felt her squeeze his hand.

'I love you, Daddy.'

Then the tears started streaming down her cheeks, and Severus tried to dry them off like he had done so many times when she had been little. But she seemed to be drifting away from him, and her face started to blur in front of his eyes. Yet at the same time, it seemed to become clearer, more distinct.

For a short moment, Severus was confused, thought that maybe the Healers had arrived in time after all, that they had managed to save him. But then he realised that it was not his daughter's face he was looking at anymore.

It was Cassandra's.

She was welcoming him home.

~ ~ ~

'Look at all those people,' Eydis said quietly as she let her gaze wander over the Hogsmeade cemetery. 'Who would have thought that so many would come and say goodbye.'

James wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder. 'Your father was a great man, Eydis. Of course they would all come to pay him respect.'

Eydis nodded. The whole Potter-Weasley clan was there, of course. So were her father's Hogwarts colleagues. Slytherin House had meant to send two representatives, but since they had been unable to decide on whom to send, there were now about ninety students closely huddled together at the edge of the cemetery, all proudly wearing their House colours.

Narcissa was standing by the gate, crying bitter tears. She and Severus had become friends over the last years. Or maybe even more than friends, Eydis didn't know for sure. But she knew that her father had always seemed very happy in Narcissa's company, and she was grateful for it.

Next to Narcissa stood Scorpius, looking thin and worn. And as much as Eydis disliked the young man for what he had done in the past, she was glad that he had come to his senses and managed to escape the clutches of evil and return to his father, who was now standing among the Slytherins. He, too, had come to take farewell.

There were Rosmerta and the man who owned the Apothecary in Hogsmeade, Ollivander and many more whom Eydis did not know. And she couldn't help but wonder if her father would even like the commotion or if he would sneer and start throwing hexes.

She lingered by his grave when all the others had taken their farewells and departed. She didn't feel like leaving just yet.

The white marble of the headstone looked like freshly fallen snow. Why ever had she chosen white, Eydis wondered. Her father had hated that colour. But black just had not seemed to fit the inscription she had chosen: Always Pure at Heart. Because that was what her father had always been, pure at heart. He had always been honest, true to his friends, and he had loved with a passion Eydis hoped that she, too, would experience one day.

She gasped as the baby kicked. 'This one is going to be a Beater, Daddy,' she said, clutching her side. 'And considering how stubborn he already is, I am sure he will be a Slytherin.'

Then her blue eyes filled with tears, and she knelt to lay down two red roses, one for her father and one for her mother.

'I wish you could meet my baby boy, Daddy. I wish you could teach him how to fly a broom and how to brew potions. And I wish you, Mummy, could read Babbitty Rabbitty to him. I still remember your voice, you know.'

'You will do all those things just fine on your own, little one.'

Eydis blinked back her tears and lifted her head. Beside her stood a wrinkly old woman, holding a bouquet of yellow tulips.

'I'm sorry, what did you just say?' Eydis asked.

'I said that you would do all those things just fine on your own.'

'No, not that.' Eydis felt confused. 'You called me little one. My father always ...'

'Yes, I know,' the crone replied and patted Eydis' cheek. 'And he is very proud of you.'

'Proud of me?' Eydis stammered. 'But how ...'

'He is standing right beside you, little one,' the crone answered with a smile. 'He and your mother will always be right there with you. Because they are part of your soul.'