Chapter: 9. The Redemption Song.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

A/N.: I want to tell you guys a secret: I've got the most wonderful betas in the Fandom, and they go by the names of Writermerrin and Annie Talbot.

Wanting to hug her father, Rose ran towards him. "Daddy! Daddy! You came back!" But she could not embrace him. He did not have a solid mortal body. He came in a spiritual form. Rose could tell he was not a ghost like the Bloody Baron or Sir Nick. Dad was less substantial than living bodies but much more than ghosts.

It surprised Rose and she asked, "You are my dad, aren't you? Why can't I hug you? You are not a ghost, I've met ghosts. How did you come here? Can anybody else see you?"

"I am your dad, as always. I'm here because you wanted to see me; you're the one who brought me back, Poppet. You are in possession of a very special stone: your Uncle Harry's resurrection stone. It brings back the loved one if one wishes to see them after their death. I am not real in a sense that you are, but that does not mean I am your imagination either. Nor am I a ghost."

Her dad told her the whole story behind the legendary stone that was gifted by Death to the second Peverell brother. Harry'd had this stone and decided to let it go and not seek it anymore because one could not really bring back the dead as if nothing had happened. It only complicated things, and dead people are not really eager to come back if they were good and had a happy life like Rose's dad had had.

"Rosie, you have to move forward with your life, and your life is with your mum and your little brother. I cannot be on earth physically, but that doesn't mean I'm not watching over you."

Rose wanted to know if her dad really would have disowned her because of her house. The spirit of Ron Weasley gave a hearty laugh at that and said, "I could not have been any prouder! I'm the father of the first Weasley in nine generations to be sorted into that house. You accomplished the impossible. Don't you know, nothing you do can ever make me love you any less? You are my child; my love for you is eternal and unconditional, and so is your mum's love."

He told her that part of him always would be with her, Hugo and their mum.

Dad wasn't mad at Mum when Rose told him her suspicion about Uncle Neville, even though he thought it was highly unlikely. He told Rose that he wanted Mum to be happy as she had been before, that he did not like seeing her so sad. She and Hugo should welcome anyone who would make her happy, even if it were Neville.

He told Rose to be a good girl for Mum and mindful of her studies and Hugo. He told that her any time she needed to talk he would come back, but that she really should give the living a chance.

Rose felt much better than she had in a long time, to have her dad only a "stone-call" away.

sssSSSsss

Even though it had been more than a few days, she was still angry with him. He could tell by how stiff her shoulders were or how her eyes never met his. She had waved off his attempted apology by saying it was unnecessary and she saw "no difference," whatever that meant.

He was still weak, so she had not released him yet, but he was getting stronger by the day with her amazing care. He had to admit, no one had ever cared for him in this way, even though he had been on the verge of death many times before. He could tell she applied that 'clinical detachment' to her face forcibly. No one could take care of a person the way she did and not care.

He'd had enough. He had wanted to see some expression on her face. If she was angry, he had wanted her to scream at him, hurl some insult, as many of her friends had done before. He had wanted to see her big brown eyes raging with emotion. He'd wanted to her to... look at him.

Tonight, he had thrown the soup she had sent with the house-elf flying to the opposite wall and demanded her presence. She had come, and when she'd asked what he required of her, she had looked somewhere by his left ear.

He had really had enough.

"Look at me!" Severus thundered. Then he added in a softer tone, "I have told you, I am sorry to have wounded you. Now that I know what happened, I understand your pain, I really do. Why will you not accept my apology?"

She looked into his eyes evenly, saying, "I don't know what to do with your apology truly. I never had it before; I am used to your insults. Cruelty, thy name is Severus Snape, I used to think..."

She looked away again as she trailed off, not noticing how Severus flinched at that. Was he really as cruel to be defined by it? Then he remembered. From the first day in his class, he had ignored her fresh young mind as if she didn't count. She wasn't important enough for his attention, as a very odd little Muggle-born, in comparison with the boy who lived to remind Severus of his father's cruelty and his mother's wrong choice.

The harder she had tried, the more harshly he had berated her. The more she had wanted to please him with every bit of knowledge acquired of a world new and unknown, the more he had insulted her for being a show off, a brown nose. Nothing she did had been good enough. He'd seemed to hate her with a blind passion, never given her a chance, and never tolerated anything less than perfect from her. He remembered how he had humiliated her publicly for Rita Skeeter's dreadful lies. He remembered the teeth incident and understood why the 'no difference' comment was directed back to him.

Severus Snape felt ashamed of himself and looked up to truly beg her forgiveness. But he had been quiet for a long time, longer than what was polite. And once again, she had left.

sssSSSsss

It had been two days since she had come to him, leaving Longbottom to see to his care. Severus pretended he hadn't noticed the change. He'd never even mentioned her name.

Severus could no longer stay in that room; the walls were closing on him, he needed to get out. The students were not yet back from their holidays, but even if they had been, none of them would have been out that late at night. He was free to roam around.

Flying always was the best way to clear one's mind, but he was too weak to fly around without a proper broom, and Severus had never liked flying with a broom that much; he preferred the natural way. With that option out, he decided to take a walk by the lake instead. Walking had also helped in the past.

Lily used to walk with him sometimes. Those were the only times he had walked with someone by his side; every other step he had taken had been alone and only alone since.

He Transfigured the hospital gown to his usual winter wear and the pillows from his bed into boots. Even though that much wandless magic was a stretch for any regular wizard, Severus hardly bothered with wands when he was alone. His wand was on display at the War Museum along with one of his teaching robes, anyway.

He walked in the moonlight by the lake. He stopped, took a pebble, threw it in the water, and looked at the ripple it caused.

He needed to figure out what was going on inside his mind. What exactly was he feeling towards her? Why did her anger bother him so much? Why did his chest hurt, remembering her face? When had he started seeing shadows of Lily in her? Why did he want to see her face light up as it had when she first saw him awake? He wanted to fill her big brown eyes with laughter, with life. She shouldn't mourn for a lost love like he did.

It had been a long time since he had felt this pull towards anybody; he never thought he would feel this way for anyone after Lily.

Like Lily, she was bright, brilliant, and beautiful. He had once wanted to make Lily happy too, but Lily had chosen James Potter over him. He'd appealed to the Dark Lord to spare her for him, but Lily had chosen to die instead for the son she had with Potter. She'd never thought of him as more than her best friend, he was the one who had wanted more.

He had spent a lifetime fighting a war, secretly mourning a love he could never have, and he had died for it... only to wake up and live, a vast, empty life of more than a hundred years ahead of him. What was he to do with it, alone?

He had never thought to live through the war. He'd lived dangerously, without a care for his life. He had willingly let both sides use and misuse him.

Lily was not coming back; the memories he treasured would always be his. Could he live off memories alone? Could she? She had more memories of her husband than he had of Lily. On his way out, he had seen the wedding pictures and her family photos that showed her children. He had seen the joy on her husband's face and the adoration in her eyes. No one ever looked at me that way; will she ever? He asked himself.

Never! he answered himself bitterly, She won't even look at me. She would probably be happy to see me gone...

His musing was stopped by the sound of running feet.

It was her. Why is she running at this time of the night? The way she was looking all around her with her wand pointing forward, it looked like she was seeking something with the Point me spell. His curiosity got the better of him.

"Have you lost something?" he asked.

"Oh!" she gasped. Startled at the sudden sound of his voice, she turned around, hurried towards him, and halted just a second away from embracing him, remembering last time.

"You! You are here! THANK GOD!" She stretched her hand to touch his face. "You are okay, aren't you?" The tone of her voice betrayed how anxious and shaken she was. "I've been looking all over for you! You gave me such a scare, leaving without a word! Never, never, ever do that to me again, do you hear me?" She couldn't stop her tears as the words rushed from her mouth.

He stepped closer. "What did you think happened to me, Hermione?" he asked softly.

"I thought they had taken you...Lucius and his gangs. I thought I'd lost you to the Death Eaters." She realized as she said this how unfounded her fear had been, as Lucius had no means to know about Severus.

"What would the others think if Ms. Perfect lost her charge...was that it? Is that why you're looking for me alone? To cover up your faulty record?"

Why did he do that every time? Why did he slice her up with his words? Because the train of his earlier thought had returned at the moment she halted before hugging him. Even though he was the one who teased her for it, he didn't want her to stop this time. This time he wanted her to embrace him.

She went pale at his barb, looked away for a moment, then looked back and quietly said, "Yes, that's exactly what it was. Now that I've found you, let's go inside. You're still too weak to stay out this long, and the night is getting colder. So let's set my records..."

He put his hands on both of her shoulders saying, "Don't lie to me, Hermione. I can tell, since the troll incident, whenever you're lying. You came here because you care about me. You said, 'I thought I'd lost you.' Not we, I."

She turned her face away from him and said, "No I didn't, I don't. I never cared for you...I left you to die, remember? I didn't even check on you. Neville did. I left you to die a horrible, horrible death." She couldn't hold it inside anymore; tears were streaming from her eyes.

Severus took her in his arm, and Hermione sobbed her heart out against his chest. He gently caressed her hair and said, "Shh! Shh! It's all right. I've been terrible to you, too. It's all in the past. I forgave you a long time ago; you need to forgive yourself now." Her grip on him tightened at that, and she calmed down somewhat. Severus rested his head on top of her head.

Still not raising her face, she said, "I've wondered for a long time, you know... I've wondered, if you had seen the moment of Voldemort's death, what would have you done?"

"I would have just walked straight to the prettiest woman and kissed her breathless," Severus joked.

Now she looked up with laughter in her eyes, "Should I Floo-call Lavender Brown, then?"

She reminded him of how he had thought Ron had left her for the pretty blonde. Severus was not joking anymore. He looked down at her very seriously and said,

"No need. I have the prettiest one right here in my own arms." And he kissed her as promised.