Written for the Midnight Channel Challenge
Severus looked at the blonde sat opposite him and at the small blue crystal that sat between them on the table. The small piece of dumortierite was a conundrum, the properties it supposedly held were going to help him attain inner peace, well the crystal and the blonde Ravenclaw he was drinking tea with. He had been expecting to die in the final battle, possibly even before it and he had made peace with that, he intended to die and find Lily and make peace with her. That hadn't happened though, he was alive and although Potter had forgiven his sins and his part in Lily's death he had wanted to make amends with her.
He had been surprised when Luna Lovegood had tracked him down, explaining that Potter had told him about his issue and offered her services. He hadn't really believed what she was offering at the time, especially as nobody did anything out of the goodness of their hearts. She had agreed with that, telling him that for her help with his issue of guilt he would help her and make her a very specific potion that she needed. The potion was difficult and time consuming to brew so she had agreed that he could start it after she had helped him and that way he knew that he wasn't being messed about or scammed.
He still didn't think that this was going to work, but he was willing to give it a try. He had warded the room tighter than the goblins warded some of their vaults, and he would know if anyone or anything living that wasn't him or Luna entered the space. He watched over the little blonde as she went into a sort of trance her fingers brushing the blue crystal lightly, it was supposed to help enhance psychic abilities. He kept an eye on her for her own safety and in curiosity he doubted anything would come of this, but he did hope. He was so focussed on watching Luna that he was completely startled when someone touched his elbow, his wards hadn't been breached.
He turned to see what was touching him and almost passed out when he saw that Luna had been right about her talent. At his elbow was a ghostly impression of Lily Potter. Severus just stared at her for a moment before he began to speak, trying to explain all his actions to her at once before she disappeared, ignoring the blonde Ravenclaw who shared the table with him, not minding that she was listening to him spilling his sins to his dead friend.
The whole experience was cathartic for Severus and he felt much lighter when he was finished talking and when Lily disappeared and Luna stood to leave he actually gave her a small smile as he thanked her, promising that he would start work on her potion the next morning. Luna just smiled back thanking him, it would be good not to see all the dead walking around her, once his potion took effect she should be able to build up her shields that had fallen during the battle and be able to get back to her normal existence.
