littleblackbow (littleblackbow) wrote in smiths_potters, @ 2008-12-02 10:19:00 |
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Current mood: | sick |
Entry tags: | alstromeria, fic, littleblackbow, severus |
Title: Whispers in the Dark
Author: littleblackbow
Word Count: 544
Characters: Severus, Alstromeria
Disclaimer: Allie's mine, Snape is not.
Author's notes: Just had to write out this scene that was plaguing my mind. Now I can get back to what I'm supposed to be doing.
The day was nothing special to anyone else. It was not a birthday of anyone he knew, or any sort of publicly recognized holiday.
No, to anyone but Severus Snape, this was a day like any other.
But to him, looking down at the little girl sleeping on her bed in the corner of the room, the day had more meaning than almost any other day in his life. He could count on one hand the days he would actually choose to celebrate as a joyous occasion. Alstromeria's birthday was one of them. The Winter Solstice, of course, was another.
And then there was today. It was the fifth anniversary of the day upon which Alstromeria became his and his alone.
Five years they'd been together, just the two of them. Snape chose not to think of the girl's mother on this day. It was a time for him to celebrate his daughter – when they came to live here, away from the rest of the world.
He knelt next to her bed and gently brushed back her hair. It was almost time. On this day, they would pack a breakfast together, and go out onto the cliff to eat their meal and watch the sun rise. Sitting at the edge of the land, looking out at the ocean, with the one true treasure in his life in his lap, he found he could be at peace.
The first time he'd done this – when he and Alstromeria were living in a tent at the edge of the cliff, he felt the change. As he sat there, eating bread and cheese and plums with her, he felt everything he'd done simply melt away into the ocean. All of his sins, all of the mistakes that he'd made were gone, and he found Atonement.
Forgiveness.
The world had gone on turning. The people were starting to forget. All of his former masters, his past missions, his loathsome and vile existence were just gone, forever. He had one purpose in life now, and this one task was far more important than anything else he'd ever done.
Snape smiled.
"It's almost time," he whispered, nuzzling his daughter's face with his cheek. "We'll miss it if you don't wake up, my sleepy one."
Alstromeria curled up tightly into a ball and giggled. She had been pretending to be asleep again.
"You're doing this to make me speak again, aren't you?"
The little girl rolled over, her cherubic face simply glowing with the smile. She nodded, giggled some more, and threw her arms around her father's neck.
"Come along then," Snape whispered. As he wrapped his arms around his daughter and lifted her from her bed, he smiled. This wasn't one of those guarded smiles he'd used around other people his past life. No, with Alstromeria, he did not hid his happiness. His face split wide in a smile that showed his crooked teeth, awkward cross-bite, and emphasized every wrinkle in his face.
"We have yet to make breakfast, and it will only be dark for another quarter of an hour."
In the dim candle light of their home, the whisper echoed.
"I love you, daddy," Alstromeria said, breaking the silence.
Far, far more important than anything else he'd ever done.