I Love the Way We Communicate
Chapter 5 of 10
livvy6Severus finally takes fourth-year Katherine into the Forbidden Forest to replenish his stores.
A/N: Thanks again to my beta, MadBrilliant. Please Review! I live for reviews!
***
September, 2001
Severus Snape was pacing up and down the entrance way, waiting for his star pupil to meet him. She finally came rushing down the stairs, out of breath, and apologizing.
“So sorry, Professor! It won’t happen again!” she said breathlessly.
“It had better not, Miss Hannover!” he snarled. “Otherwise, you might not be invited again to join me on these outings!” He glanced at her attire. She was dressed in Muggle clothes. Well, he wasn’t about to waste any more time on her going back to change! She had irritated him and wasted enough of his precious time as it was!
She meekly followed him as they walked towards the forest. She had her bag slung sideways across her chest and had her vials ready for samples.
They came to the edge, and she stuck her hand out in front of him. “Halt!” she commanded.
He stared down at the little bossy witch. He was about to give her a tongue lashing when she whispered, “Do you smell that?”
“What?” he said in irritation.
“Close your eyes and breathe deeply.” He did as she asked, just out of curiosity. “Now, what do you smell?”
“Mint?” he queried.
“Right!” she exclaimed. “Open your eyes, and I’ll show you how I do this.”
“How you do this? What do you do, precisely?” he said sarcastically.
She was far too entranced by the sights in front of her to bother looking at him as she gazed over the plant life in front of her. “Oh, Professor, you would pass out if you saw my own personal stores back home. There!” She pointed.
She reached down and showed him. “Isanthus brachiatus, otherwise known as—”
He interrupted her. “Yes, I know what it is, Miss Hannover!” he snapped. “Why don’t you enlighten me as to how you sniffed it out?”
She sighed and began. “Fluxweed, or false pennyroyal, is a part of the mint family. You and I know it best picked at the—”
“… full-moon,” they finished in unison.
“Which is because of its uses for Polyjuice Potion. Tomorrow it is the full moon,” she said proudly.
“I know this, Miss Hannover!” he growled impatiently. “I do happen to be a Master of Potions,” he snapped with a glint in his eye. “That was not what I asked you.”
“It is a part of the mint family, sir,” she replied. “If you train yourself to the scents, even the more subtle ones, you can’t miss. I found mint to be most overwhelming once we reached the forest, and of course I would because it is at the precise time for it to be harvested.”
Snape was furious at her impudence, yet impressed with her knowledge. Fourteen years old, and she could know all that? Of course, it would never do to show his pride at her abilities, she was insufferably smug as it was already!
“Twenty points, Miss Hannover, for your talents. But ten points will be taken for not answering my question when asked. If you hope to be a good apprentice, you had better learn to keep that gaping maw of yours shut, think, and then answer precisely and accurately what I ask of you!” he snapped angrily. “And by the by, don’t you ever think to tell me when I may or may not step wherever I wish. Your attitude is most unseemly. I am the teacher and you are the student! Am I clear?”
She quirked her lips to the side again. He noticed she tended to do that when she thought he was wrong. Finally, she muttered, “Yes, sir.”
He snorted at her weak attempt at humility and whisked from her. She went ahead and bottled the fluxweed. When she reached him again, he was gathering belladonna.
He sensed her presence without turning. “Go and gather daises. I trust you to be able to locate a daisy, correct?” he snarked.
He could hear her irritation as she stomped off. He smirked at himself. Good, I don’t want to be the only one annoyed today!
At the end of their work, they had gathered nettles, peppermint (which Katherine sniffed out), privet, valerian root, sage (which she sniffed out again), ginger, knotgrass, and asphodel.
Snape saw her bag was bulging with more than just her vials. “What have you here?” he asked.
“Oh, heather—I’m going to dry it for you—and I also found lemongrass. I want to make some Lemon Balm Tea. Can we do this in the lab? I want to see if you like it. I want to thank you for bringing me. I know I can be difficult, and I definitely badgered you for a long while now.” She was going on and on at a mind-numbing pace.
He interrupted her. “Miss Hannover, you and I will be spending a great deal of time together in the future if you wish to become a Potions mistress. There’s no need to bring your house mascot into it! So, let me be frank with you. You talk far too much. Just do as you are told. I expect immediate obedience! Remember from now on that I only do the things that I wish. No one forces my hand. So, let me see how you make your Lemon Balm Tea,” he said exasperatedly. Merlin, I am getting soft!
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Latest 25 Reviews for Silent All These Years
39 Reviews | 5.31/10 Average
It was an interesting story. Thank you.
I adore this story. I started it on another site and went looking for extra chapters. I thought your ending was perfect.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
I'm so glad you liked it. It was real tricky, but I thought I did them justice.Thanks,Livvy
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
I'm so glad you liked it. It was real tricky, but I thought I did them justice.Thanks,Livvy
a lovely end to an excellent story!!!!!! i love the way u pair severus with other witches...... and the wya you explore his character.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you very much, I'm so glad you like my fics! Snape is such a complex character I can not help myself! :)
Livvy
First and foremost...I want to say that you're an excellent writer, I had originally seen your work on a different website and followed you over to this one. I spend a lot of time on the road and I've been reading your stories using a link I sent to my cell phone. Yes, by cell phone. It's worth the hassle and the amount of time it takes the pages to load just to read what's going to happen next. It's something that I've grown to look forward to over the past few months. Very few people have ever captured my interest the way your writing has, let's just say it's been few and far between. I've been waiting for the chance to get home and sit down at this computer and give you the review you so rightly deserve.That being said, I believe you handled the subject matter of this story perfectly. You have really taken the time to consider the emotional nuance of your characters, giving them a life that seems more realistic than mere words and sentences. After reading, you get the sense that you could have known them as living, breathing individuals, not just simple creations of fictitious imagination. Your capability to create the perfect OC to match Snape time after time is a skill I have grown to envy. Thank you for providing me with the pleasure of your work, and I look foward to your next masterpiece.~Carma
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Carma,
My whole life I have been writing. I wrote even when my family told me over and over it was a waste of time, I wrote when teachers told me I couldn't write. But I continued to write because I cannot NOT write.
I can't tell you how wonderful your review was and how much it meant to me. I will cherish it forever and whenever I feel like a failure, I can look at your review and know that I'm not, that I have a voice and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I have touched people's lives.
I am honored more than words can say and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Livvy
I couldn't have imagined a more perfect ending - well done!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Oh! Thank you very much. I'm so glad you liked it.
Livvy
What a very sweet ending. Well done!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you very much! I appreciate you continuing to review during this fic.
Livvy
And here ends yet another lovely story of yet another wonderul OC. You are the mistress of OC mates for Severus, Livvy! Wonderful!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you, so much! I just got done responding to your recommendation on the Live Journal.
Now, hold on to your socks! My next fic is already in the queue and I'm doing a HG/SS. My first - ever. I am scared shitless! If I'm the Mistress of OC mates for Severus, then YOU are the Mistress of HG/SS.
If I bollocks it up too bad, I'll blame my Muse and Cissy_n_Snape, since she is the one that talked me into doing it in the first place (just joking).
So glad you liked the ending!
Livvy
Response from mia madwyn (Reviewer)
I can't wait to read your Hermione--and you'll end up with more readers, because so many people don't read OCs but we all love HG/SS!
Very satisfying. What was the daughter's second name? When she goes to Hogwarts it could be a little awkward to have the same first name as the headmistress, especially when the headmistress was talking with her. It souinds as if Katherine was completely prepared when she went to see him in Potorfino. You say they married immediately and in his memory she was wearing a white satin wedding dress on their wedding night, so she had to have brought the dress with her. Obviously she knew what she wanted and wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Her full name is Minerva Katherine Snape. It could be awkward, but being the daughter of Severus and Katherine, everyone will know that McGonagall is a family friend and also Godmother (although I didn't put that in the story).
No, Severus finished packing and they Apparated to Rome where they bought the dress and wedding rings and then married. Katherine isn't a Slytherin. She would have accepted Severus' "No" if he really meant it. She came to him not knowing how it would end out, but she was going to give it her best shot! She's a Hufflepuff and is sensitive to other people's feelings. But also she is very in tune with her own, and that's what makes her so passionate and loyal. She's just the kind of woman Severus needs.
I like to think Severus got the happy ending you wanted for him: happiness, respect, love. Same for Katherine as well!
Thanks as always for reviewing. I'll be e-mailing you back when I get the frame of mind to think about it.
Livvy
Response from Trickie Woo (Reviewer)
Yes, that was the kind I happy ending I was hoping Severus would have.
Wow, Livvy, you really blew me away! This was a really well-written, moving chapter. Good job!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thanks! I appreciate the compliment. Hope you like the epilogue, it'll be up soon!
Livvy
It's a lovely end to the story, but I expect that there will be times in their future that either his ghosts from the past and his guilt or her own ghosts from the past will crop up and they will have problems. But that happens in every marriage, even the happiest, because you can't change the past. They couldn't have a normal relationship or a normal marriage without those problems.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Well, the end isn't until the epilouge. And some of what you pointed out will be said. I hope you like the final chapter.
Livvy
Very well written, very sensitively written..........well done.
Glad to hear that's not the end for them. My heart almost broke when Severus cried.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you. I worked harder on this chapter than on any I have ever written for fanfiction. Yes, lots of tears, but it is not over for these two! Next chapter is in queue!
Thanks for reviewing!
Livvy
How very tormented Severus must have been! Interesting plot twist. It was like a punch in the gut. I feel so terrible for both of them. Quite Sensitively written!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you, I worked hard with my beta to make sure that this chapter wasn't too gory and also keep in mind the age of Katherine. THe next chapter will show how the next three years gives them time to process and rebuild their lives apart from one another. So I'm not done with them yet.
I hope you like how things will end.
Livvy
I was kinda scared to read it since I really dont like rape scenes. But you managed to get your point across without making it so horrible. I cant wait until your next chapter. And great job as always.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you, because of Katherine's age and just, the way the I wanted the story to be told, I did not want there to anything more graphic than needed to be. THe whole situation is ugly, you can't work your way around that, but there are things that can be implied without have to spell out every gory detail.
I am excited about how the next chapter will be recieved. It's chock full of three years of Katherine and Severus trying to rebuild their lives without each other. I hope people will like the conclusion of that chapter.
Thanks for reviewing!
Livvy
You managed to write it so that I could read it and not feel revulsion. Minerva and Katherine were both right when they told him he was violated too; he was raped too.
I can understand Kathrine's reaction. It's unfortunate that the rest of us don't have someone like him to protect us and provide and maintain that innocence that is so precious and rare. I think anyone would forgive him for what happened.
You ended this chapter as though it were the end of the story. Is it, or does the story go on to the ending I've been expecting?
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
First, I want to say I am so happy you were able to read the chapter and not cause a big problem or stumbling block for you. My beta and I worked hard towards that.
Second, I was very anxious as to how people would respond to Katherine's reaction. I am so glad I was able to convey what was in my heart and mind and you, the reader understood.
Now, this is NOT the end! In fact the next chapter is in queue. It is a very full chapter, a lot of stuff, but it will deal with three years after Katherine found out the truth and how she and Severus deal with getting their lives on track - alone. I wonder what is the ending you were expecting? You'll find out at the end of the next chapter.
Livvy
Response from Trickie Woo (Reviewer)
The ending I'm expecting is the one I always want for him, Love, respect, and happiness.
that was amazing...but...wait....that's not the end right?
i hope not. great plotline and everything. tonz of smiles and claps for you.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you very much. It was the most difficult chapter of any fic I've written. And no this is not the end. The next chapter will be very interesting, but I'm not done with Katherine and Severus yet. :)
Thanks,
Livvy
whew!!! it sure is different from your usual style and i love the way u've portrayed snape.....just wish he finds the healing!!!!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thanks, I hope you will stick with the story and let me know how you like the way it unfolds.
Livvy
Oh dear, I feel as though Severus' heart is about to break.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
It's already been broken, I'm afraid, for many years. Now I think the fear is that Katherine will pick up the pieces and start pitching them at him. That's the real question for me looking outside in, (because I know the whole story) is how Katherine accepts the truth and what does she do with it? So we'll see. But yes, Severus is in a very bad way.
Thanks for reviewing, like always! :)
Livvy
I wish they had given her the choice of whether or not she wanted to view those memories. I think she would have chosen to view them, but I think she may have chosen to wait because she didn't feel strong enough physically or emotionally to look at them yet. She obviously knows that it's something terrible that was very damaging to her and her instincts must tell her it will be emotionally devastaing and that she may not yet be ready to face it.
Everything should be her choice, she had no choice in what happened and in what they did to protect her afterwards; and she had no choice on her wedding night or in the annulment. From now on she should be left to make her own choices in her life and everyone else should give her advice only if she asks them for it.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
I agree Katherine should be making her own choices. That is why I did it this way. She kept on asking in the hospital "Why?" "What has happened to me?" "Why won't anyone tell me what happened to me?" She wanted to know even when she was younger and kept asking "Why" and the answers were kept from her. I kept that in mind when I did it this way. The time for the truth was long overdue, and she was going to just wither away if she didn't get the truth.
I hope you are able to read the next chapter. Because of her age, there is no graphic sexual content, it is all implied, but there are momets that are disturbing and full of angst. But what I am most interested in is how you take Katherine's response to it. And I'm not done yet with Katherine. This revelation will be her turning point.
The next chapter will be up soon.
Thanks,
Livvy
Errr I can not wait untill the next chapter!!!!!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Next chapter will be the BIG reveal, where all will be told and Katherine's reaction to everything. It should be up in a few days.
Thanks for reviewing!
Livvy
Oh dear. It just feels like that as bad as I think it was? It's going to be worse.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
I just posted THE chapter, so it'll be up in a few days. It's not going to be pretty, that's for sure, and there will be tears, but do remember at the end of the chapter it will not say "the end".
Livvy
Oh, after all the pain, this is an interesting turn of events at the end of the chapter. Hmmm....
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Yes, we're getting closer to the "all shall be revealed" chapter. But this story isn't close to being over. Still have a few more twists and turns.
Livvy
Thank you for the warning, it wasn't as graphic as I feared it could have been. I am confused by what was going through his mind at the very end, I hope it isn't the thought that struck me after I read that part.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
There are some realities that need to be eased into. My beta writer and I worked hard on this chapter and the one to come when the whole truth comes out. I want to make sure it is done as tastefully and abstractly as possible. I don't want to focus on the graphic, horrific things, but somethings have to be sad and are distastful, but abuse, no matter how you present it, is ugly.
Yes, I wanted there to be a question at the end of the chapter. Like, what was that?
I do hope, if only for you, because you have been such a devoted reviewer and with our private talks, I've gotten to know you and respect you very much, that you will like how this story resolves itself in the end. All I can say is that it is always darkest before the dawn.
I haven't forgotten your last e-mail. I'm sick right now with some flu, but I MUST answer my reviews! My husband thinks I'm insane :)
Livvy
Oh dear I have the terrible feeling that Severus was made to do those things to the young Katherine.
Brilliant chapter.
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thanks for reviewing. I won't say either way, just that I hope you'll be pleased with the end. Thank you for your compliment and for reviewing!
Livvy
I love her. She's wonderful!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you!
Livvy
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Thank you!
Livvy
No wonder he feels so responsible. The angst!
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Oh yeah, and it's going to get worse. A lot of pain for these two. But the darkest is always before the dawn!
Livvy
Response from livvy6 (Author of Silent All These Years)
Oh yeah, and it's going to get worse. A lot of pain for these two. But the darkest is always before the dawn!
Livvy