Severus Part III

CHAPTER 11: Severus Part III

Feeling as though he'd been punched, Severus sank back against the arm of the sofa. His deep black eyes slid out of focus as he let her words swim through his mind. She had seen Samantha in a dream, and then she rushed to him the moment she awoke. She loved him; he had heard those words come out of her mouth.

"Severus?" Hermione said softly, reaching out to his face. "Are you alright?"

She stared into his ebony eyes trying to decipher what was going though his mind. His pulse pounded beneath the pads of her fingers and a muscle ticked in his jaw as he ground his teeth. The longer she looked at him, the more his eyes slipped in and out of focus. He drew several deep breaths and tried to swallow, but failed.

Hermione withdrew her hand nervously and folded them in her lap. Warm tears welled up in her eyes. Maybe I was wrong to come here, she thought, feeling as if she were choking. With trembling fingers, she pushed her hair away from her face and stood up. "I'm sorry, Severus. I shouldn't have come."

The tears poured silently down her cheeks as Hermione made her way toward the door. Hand on the doorknob, she turned and murmured. "Please tell Andromeda that I love her, and that I won't see her this evening." She felt her heart skip a beat and a sob catch in her throat as she walked out of Snape's sitting room without a backwards glance.

It was several minutes before Severus came back to himself. He looked around the room, his eyes finally coming back into focus. He could hear Andromeda talking to her stuffed rabbit in the kitchen. Hermione, however, was nowhere to be seen. Her words echoed through his mind, sounding as if they came from far away.

Severus stood, feeling the blood rushing from his head. He stumbled across the sitting room, groping for the wall to steady himself. Leaning against the doorframe between the kitchen and the sitting room, Severus looked at Andromeda, who was still munching on her remaining kippers. "'Meda, stay here for a moment. I'm going to find Hermione."

Drawing a deep breath, Severus steeled himself and strode through the room and wrenched open the door. The dungeon corridor looked as dank and gray as he felt. He stood in the doorway for a long moment, looking up and down the empty corridor before heading toward the entrance hall. His footsteps echoed hauntingly, amplifying the emptiness that rumbled through him.

He was nearly to the stairs leading up from the dungeons when he heard muffled sobs in a shadowy alcove. He stopped to listen, his heart drumming against his ribs. It sounded as if whoever was crying was trying desperately to stifle the sound and pull themselves together.

"Oh, please," came Hermione's voice, soft and strained. She hiccoughed and a fresh wave of tears flowed. "Please, I don't want to hurt anymore. I don't want to live without Andromeda and Severus, but I can't go on loving someone who doesn't love me. Please help me stop loving Severus. Please."

Hermione sounded so miserable that Severus could barely keep the anguish from exploding out of him. Before he could make a move, she appeared out of the alcove, wiping tears away from her red and swollen eyes. Her face was pale and blotchy and her hands were shaking.

Severus felt his heart breaking at the sight and let out a strangled sob. Looking up, fear and humiliation passed over Hermione's face. "Oh no," she moaned, burying her face in her hands. Her entire body began shuddering and she leaned against the stone wall behind her.

"Hermione," he murmured, reaching out to her. She moaned again and struggled away from his hands. "Hermione, please listen to me. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't know what to say."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "You didn't have to say anything, Severus. The look on your face was more than enough for me. Now please, just let me go. I'd like to have a lie down in my room." Hermione pushed away from the wall and tried to get by Snape's outstretched arms.

"Hermione," he said, his voice cracking as she tried to get away. He could not bear the thought of her walking away from him, not now and not ever. Not knowing what else he could do, Severus grasped Hermione by the shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. He rested his chin atop her head and held her as she beat her fists against his chest.

"Please let me go," she wailed, her voice muffled. "I understand that you don't love me--"

"Stop, Hermione. I do. Merlin, but I love you," he replied, his arms wrapping around her even tighter. He kissed the top of her curls. "I never dared to hope that you would love me."

Her sobs lessened and she stopped beating him. She drew in deep, calming breaths of the soap and sweet grass that always followed him. Her arms grew lax and she put them around his waist. "Oh, Severus, please don't say that if you don't mean it."

Severus squeezed her gently. "But I do, my little darling. I love you desperately. You have helped me to deal with Samantha's loss. You have become a mother to my daughter. You are everything I could ever hope to have. You are so much more than I could ever deserve." He ran his fingers through her hair, savoring the silky feeling as the curls slipped between his fingers. The faint scent of perfume wafted around him as he held her securely.

Hermione looked up into his eyes, searching for the truth in them. The corner of his mouth curled upward slightly and he willed his eyes to show her everything he couldn't say. She stared at him for a long while before a faint blush crept over her cheeks and her eyes glistened with tears once more.

"Let's go have some breakfast," he said, entwining his fingers with hers. They made their way back to Snape's quarters, where Andromeda was sitting quietly at the breakfast table with her rabbit and Hatter purring at her feet.

"'Meda," Hermione whispered as they entered the kitchen. The little girl leapt down from her chair, making Hatter hiss in fright, and ran into Hermione's open arms.

"Mummy Herminny!" she squealed, clutching Hermione as if she hadn't been by in days. Hermione cried softly as she hugged Andromeda close, feeling her heart beating in time with the racing beat of the little girl's. Andromeda's breath came in gasps as she, too, began to cry.

"Oh my darling," she whispered, stroking Andromeda's hair soothingly. She kissed her cheek softly. "My darling 'Meda, what's wrong?"

Andromeda hiccoughed and turned her tear-streaked face toward Hermione. "I thought you were going to weave us." She began to sob again and buried her face in Hermione's neck. "Don't weave us, mummy!"

Hermione turned her head to Severus, who was watching the scene from the doorway. They looked at each other for a long moment before he nodded curtly. "Never, my 'Meda. I will never leave you. No matter what."

It took several minutes for Andromeda to stop crying, once she was certain that Hermione wasn't going to leave. She grasped Hermione's hand in her own and refused to let her out of her sight at all. And so they found themselves in the sitting room, the battered copy of Alice Through the Looking Glass in Severus's hand and Andromeda curled up in Hermione's lap. Hatter was stretched out on the hearthrug, basking in the warmth from the fire.

Two pale figures watched from the corner, their presence hidden by the flickering flames, as the couple snuggled together with the little girl between them. The pale woman smiled almost sadly, a silvery tear streaking down her cheek, her eyes fixed on the little girl in the other woman's lap. The pale man put his arm around the woman and kissed the top of her head. "Everything will be fine now, Samantha."

"I know, Sirius. But I will miss them all the same," said Samantha sadly.

Sirius looked at the family on the sofa, all loathing for Severus Snape swept from his heart by the woman next to him. He only wished he had known Samantha Cole Snape in life rather than in death. "This isn't goodbye. You may not be able to visit Severus and Hermione any longer, but no one said you couldn't visit Andromeda."

A smile spread over the woman's face as she floated over to the sofa and, unnoticed by either of the adults, kissed her daughter softly on the cheek. The little girl grasped in the air in her sleep, as if she could feel her mother's presence so near. Andromeda mumbled "Mummy," to which Hermione stroked her hair and whispered, "I'm right here, darling."

Samantha straightened and returned to Sirius in the corner. "I suppose I could, but I think my work here is finished."

And with that, the pale figures dissolved into silvery vapor and never again emerged from behind the veil.

Notes from The Mistress: The epilogue is on the way. I'm sorry for the rating change, but I thought this was a nice way to end the story without the NC-17 rating. Sorry if I have disappointed any of you, but I promise I will write a few one shots of pure smut to make it up to you!