author's note - I came up with the idea a few weeks ago and I simply couldn't let it go. This OC is the same OC I used in my oneshot "The Light that Leads You Home" back in 2012. You do not need to read it to follow the story but, it would help. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this. I guess it's a bit on the angsty-side.
disclaimer- I do not own Severus Snape. I do own Rebekah.
Fifty Shades of Life Through the Veil
A Second Chance
The silence envelopes him. He is cold and his limbs feel too heavy to move. He wills his eyes to open but they remain closed, clasped tightly shut over weary eyes. He flinches when unfamiliar fingers gently sweep across his cheek. Where am i?
"Shh, It's okay. You're alright love." She touches his face again but, this time he does not recoil. He recognizes that voice. He knows it; he knows her.
"Rebekah?" His voice is raspy, as though he has not talked for some time. She strokes a hand over his hair and makes another hushing noise. He finally finds the strength to open his eyes and the sight before him makes him gasp. It is, indeed, his best friend seated beside him, just as he remembers her. But how can that be possible? It has been nearly twenty-years since he has seen her- how is it that she has not aged a day? "Bekah, where am I?"
His question is meant with a momentary silence and he decides he must be dreaming. She pulls her lip between her teeth and bites down gently. It is obvious she is pondering her answer and he wonders how a figment of his own imagination can be so frustratingly pensive. "Well, Sev. You're dead."
He laughs, a rather gravely, choked laugh. He slowly raises himself off of the floor and leans his back and shoulders against the wall. It is only then that he recognizes his surroundings. She watches him with worried eyes as the soft sounds of the lake fill the empty silence. His eyes dart around the room. It is so familiar but, so different. All of the boats are gone and the door stands ajar, revealing a clear, night sky.
And then everything comes flooding back. The cold, cold laugh, the pain of fangs as they pierce flesh, the sounds of footfalls, the feel of his hands on his neck, and two large pools of green slowly dissipating into darkness.
He is dead.
But why is he here? Why is Bekah with him?
"I know it sounds strange Sev; but, it is true." She still holds his hand, the only anchor to his new reality.
"I believe you," he whispers. "But why here?"
"It is your second chance." For the first time, she smiles and that makes him smile too.
"What have I done to deserve a second chance?"
"Everything." The answer seems so simple rolling off her tongue. "You never found true happiness before you died Severus. Now you get the chance."
"Why are you here? "
"To show you the one thing you never noticed before." She releases his hand and sits cross-legged beside him, her back against the wall.
"And what is that?"
His curiosity peaks when she grabs his hand again. He watches as she tugs back the tattered left, sleeve of his black robes to reveal a much healthier, younger looking wrist. She entwines her fingers with his again and points at the small, birth mark near his pulse point.
He can't help but feel disappointed, "Do you honestly think I never noticed my own birthmark, Bekah."
"Of course I know you have." She rolls her eyes and smirks. "If you would just be patient…."
He nods and watches as she pulls back her own sleeve, revealing the exact same birthmark on the pulse-point of her right wrist. She smiles triumphantly at him.
"So- we have matching birth-marks… that's lovely." She cringes at his sarcasm and he instantly regrets it. Should he start this life as bitter as he lived the last? Was he even sure this wasn't some kind of dream and he wouldn't wake up all-too alive albeit slightly nostalgic?
"It is a lot more than just a matching birthmark, Sev. It means we were meant to be together- are meant to be together."
This time he laughs and he does not regret the hurt that darkens her delicate features. Rebekah was always a romantic, a fantasist, of course she would believe in something as foolish as soul mates. He pulls his hand away and clambers to his feet.
"Laugh all you want, I'm telling you the truth."
He looks at her for a moment before making his way toward the door. He hears her footsteps as she follows. "I know you believe you are telling me the truth."
He hears her exasperated sigh and is reminded of the days they used to spend alone in the park, looking up at the sky. He thinks of the way she would ask him questions, longing to know anything and everything she could. He had always found her inquisitiveness to be both annoying and a gift. She had always been a mystery to him – a beacon of joy and light – regardless of the darkest of situations. He simply could not understand her.
He finds this to still be true.
He stops at the edge of the lake and watches the moonlight dance across the water. She stands beside him, her hands folded neatly before her. He finds that he can't help but take a moment to admire her.
"It's okay. I understand you need time. We have all the time in the world here Severus. I can wait. I have been waiting for quite some time. It will not hurt me to wait a while longer."
"You've been waiting for me?" The idea surprises him. He knows she cared for him. He knows they were close.
"Of course. I watched you. I watched you visit my grave once. I watched you cry for Lily. I watched as you fell into a deeper pit of depravity and self-loathing. I watched as your life spiraled out of control. Then I cheered for you when you found your footing. I watched as you taught and you cried and you died. I watched every moment of your life as if I was watching a movie. I wished I had been there for you but, I wasn't. I tried to be but, you were too angry to notice the simple ways I could touch you. You were too lost to notice the moonlight or a caress of the wind." She shrugged a slender shoulder. "I watched you waste one life on a woman who was not right for you. I was always there, in life, and in death, hoping that one day you would realize what I always knew. It was me. It was always supposed to be me."
She smiles as she touches his shoulder. "I'll be waiting for you when you're ready Severus. I'm sure you'll know where to find me."
He watches as she climbs the stairs to the castle, to the one place they always called home, and he feels a little lighter than before. He is not sure he deserves a second chance but, he feels he would be a fool not to take it.
author's note –my first attempted at a 'soul mate' au, of sorts. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.