snarryhols (snarryhols) wrote in snarry_holidays, @ 2007-11-24 09:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | fic, post-dh: ewe, rated: nc-17 |
Talks and Silence, for screaminglungs
Title: Talks and Silence (2/2)
Author: alexis_sd
Giftee: screaminglungs
Word Count: ~14,400
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Snape/Harry, reference to one-sided Snape/Lily and some Ron/Hermione
Warnings: Post DH, EWE, MPreg, Character Death (not Harry or Snape)
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Talking to someone, even when they don't talk back, might help a person to understand themselves and those around better.
Author's Notes: For screaminglungs who wanted angst with happy ending, Top!Snape, Bastard!Snape, Harry who pursues Snape and well done M-Preg. I loved the assignment and I hope I did justice to her request.
Happy Snarry Holidays, screaminglungs, and I apologise if the ending is a bit off, that's because I had to rewrite it at the last minute due to a power cut-out that wiped out my hard drive and I had to rewrite the last few scenes.
Also thanks to Mat and Rol who took the time to help me out with polishing this fic. Any remaining mistakes would be mine.
Go back to part one
Talks and Silence
Part two – Severus: Devotion
Severus Snape felt someone trigger his wards and clenched his teeth. He should have known that Potter wouldn't keep his word. After all if he had, he would have been the first person to do so in his life. He cast a stasis spell over his potion, grateful it was at a stage that allowed interruption of the process and headed for the front door.
When he opened the door however, he was surprised.
"Professor," Hermione Granger looked rather horrible.
He had excellent memory and it was hard to reconcile this woman with the girl he remembered. Granger before him whose clothes hang on her frame as if on a hanger, whose eyes were surrounded by a pair of purple circles, whose face looked ashen and drawn and whose hair looked lifeless and dull, had nothing in common with the young witch he had once taught.
"Miss Granger." He didn't invite her. "I see Mr. Potter once again managed to say more than he was supposed to."
Granger stared at him tiredly, still her eyes shone with the powerful light of determination.
"I have no idea what Harry was not supposed to tell me, but rest assured he told me nothing. I found you on my own. And it is Mrs. Weasley now. "
"I stand corrected. Still I can't help but feel awfully popular these days." Severus spat. "Maybe it is the far too thickly populated area, I should consider a more secluded spot for my next home."
"I need your help." Granger said after he had finished his words.
"The last person who sought me for the same reason, left disappointed." Severus said bashfully.
He saw a brief flash of pain contort Granger's face but she didn't react in any other manner.
"I know," she said after a brief pause. "Still, I have no other choice but to ask for your help again." Snape finally got tired of her and let his mind graze over hers. He was surprised to find her Occluded. Her eyes showed that she had expected it.
A particularly strong gush of wind made her bury her hands in her pockets and her head in her high collar. Severus himself felt the cold even stronger as he hadn't bothered to dress.
"Come in." He gave in. She was rather interesting, he could allow a little time for entertainment. Her mind was at least one that wouldn't bore him, if she had continued to develop it.
"Thank you, Professor." Granger, no, Weasley now, was as polite as ever.
"I am not your Professor any more." He didn't offer her tea. He planned to be rid of her as soon as humanly possible. Yet he knew she was disgustingly insistent in her own bookwormish style. "How did you find me, Mrs Weasley?"
"Blood magic," She said calmly. Too calmly.
Severus regarded her. He hadn't thought she had the balls for it.
"I am not sure if I am more surprised that you drabbled into such dark and frowned upon matter as Blood Magic, or that you managed to find someone related to me. I'll have to say that Potter's way sounded easier. Why didn't you extract my location from him?"
"He wouldn't speak, ever. He implied he was bound by an Oath and I didn't ask further."
Severus looked at her. She seemed a bit cowered now that she had found him. It didn't seem very much like her at all. He decided that she had changed over the years.
"I am curious to know how many times you had to attempt the spell before it worked. It is highly unreliable when the relative is a distant one."
She seemed to straighten.
"It worked the first time, as it was expected." She answered with determination that told him there was more to her answer than the straight information it provided.
"I am surprised even more." He said not letting her intimidate him. She was neither wise, nor fearsome enough for that.
"You shouldn't be. After all I had access to your child." She said the last as if she was tasting and enjoying every single word.
If Severus Snape was one to sputter and stare in shock he would've done so at that moment. As he was not, he looked at his opponent, for she was that now, and calmly, collecting all of the control that had helped him deceive Voldemort for years and relaxed in his chair. It was Weasley's show. Let her control it for now.
"Harry is pregnant with your child." She said. He saw her hands clench into tight fists. She was not as calm and composed as she wished to seem.
Severus nodded.
He pondered on her words. It was not impossible, he reckoned. He had taken the boy and there had been no protection, the simple fact that Weasley here had managed to use Blood Magic to locate him – it all spoke in favour of her words.
"So did you come here to ask me to make an honest man of him?" He asked nastily.
She stared at him obviously not expecting him to be this vile. She jumped from her seat and pressing her hands on the table leaned over it towards him.
"He'll die if you don't help him." She shouted. "I asked him to go to you, I knew you were alive, I knew you provided those potions that made Rhianna's last days easier," she lost some of her anger at the last words. "I guess I owe you gratitude for that. So, thank you! But he wouldn't hear a word of it. He insisted he'd manage on his own."
She stopped, sat back and took a few deep breaths in a desperate attempt to compose herself. Severus stared at her. This angry determined woman was more like the girl he remembered.
She continued.
"I wouldn't have managed to find you if he hadn't descended into coma. I had found the necessary spell, but I knew he'd never let me get blood from the child to make it work. When he collapsed yesterday I finally did it." She stared at him, her eyes intense and searching, though for what Severus had no idea.
"I'll do whatever you ask me to, but help him, please. Or if not, just use your right as a parent and let the Mediwizards remove the foetus."
Now Severus had to admit he was surprised. He hadn't expected that Weasley would even consider this option.
"He is now in the," the maths was not that hard, "sixth month. It would be quite a serious procedure to remove the foetus. If he is as bad as you say, it might kill him." He added.
She sighed and hung her head defeated. "I know, but his chances are even more meagre if we let the pregnancy progress." Severus observed how her fingers constantly moved, rubbing on those of the other hand. She continued. "After it became obvious he wouldn't manage to carry the pregnancy we all pleaded with him to make an abortion, but he stubbornly refused." She buried her hands in her pockets again. She seemed to get lost in the enormous winter coat. "Help him please."
And she cracked and started to cry.
Severus stared at her. His mind raced to process all the information. He hated sobs and he filtered her annoying hiccups.
At the back of his mind he remembered his potion. He wanted to go back to it and forget the last half hour. Only he couldn't. His personal vow to Lily demanded that he saved her annoying brat once again. Well, at least an abortion was a fast procedure.