The After

by D3adlyG33k'sMistress409

What happens after Severus Snape dies? AU where Luna dies as well. SS/LL

Summary: What happens after Severus Snape dies? AU where Luna dies as well. SS/LL

Disclaimer: I give all credit to the divine JKR for creating such a wonderful world that 'bewitch(es) the mind and ensnare(s) the senses.' As such, I do not plagiarize, nor do I mean to infringe. Furthermore, I do not own anything in the Harry Potter Universe nor any characters therein.

Acknowledgements: Special thanks, as always, to D3adlyG33k as well as UnwittingVictimB for beta testing.

And too, as always, any grammatical, textual, factual, and existential mistakes found within are my very own!

Enjoy!

DGM

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The After part I

Severus Snape was in hell.

No. Literally. He was in hell.

For nothing else could explain the all-encompassing darkness. The cold. The misery. He opened his eyes. At least, he thought his eyes were open. He could see nothing but black in front of him. He tried to move his hand. It was weighted to his side. Stuck, like the rest of him in the mire. How long had he been here? Seconds? Hours? Years?

He had no way of knowing.

Vainly, he tried to reach out with his other senses as he had numerous times before.

He felt the presence of others surrounding him, trapped just as he in this accursed place. The miasma of tortured, writhing bodies offered no warmth only all-encompassing cold; their screams as desperate, frightened, and tortured as his own.

The smell. The God-Awful wretched smell of offal and decay pervaded every inch of this place.

He felt something grab his foot, then his hip, and he screamed even more knowing that whatever it was could only mean him harm. In vain, he kicked and jabbed at the hands now holding him imprisoned.

"Hold still, Professor." At once, he stilled, his terrified moaning stopped. He was calmed by the voice. The voice was not panicked. The voice was tranquility itself. He felt gentle hands come up around him and suddenly, he was enveloped from behind in sweet-smelling warmth. "That's right. Just like that. Relax." He laid back against the sweet-smelling warmth and breathed. He focused on breathing in the sweet smell of orange blossoms and breathing out the smell of stench and decay. The hands continued to soothe, holding him, running their warmth from his face to his neck to his chest and back again. And boneless, he felt himself relax fully against the warm cradle of someone's arms. "You can open your eyes now Professor."

Severus didn't want to. He didn't want to wake from this exquisite dream. The hands held him still, but he knew that if he were to open his eyes then that would stop. The hands held him tighter as the voice implored in his ear, "Sir. Open your eyes." Drawing one last deep breath for comfort and strength, Severus obeyed.

And was amazed at what he saw.

An explosion of color the likes of which he had never seen. Yellows, blues, reds, and greens: every imaginable shade so vivid it hurt to look upon. He quickly closed his eyes and groaned, feeling nauseous and disoriented. The hands continued to hold and stroke, cradling and grounding him still. He turned into the hands embrace and buried his head into her neck. Her?! He jerked up and away, blinking into the blindingly white light.

His eyes finally found focus—

And there before him was a blond haired, blue eyed vision.

He knew her. He knew he knew her. What had she called him? Professor? Was that right? Was he a professor … …from the time before?

She smiled, and his heart jumped. Moving slightly, he noticed the piles of spun gold intricately braided behind her, and immediately, he knew who she was. Luna Lovegood: a former student who was still continuing to hold his hands even as he pulled away. "No! You mustn't!" she grabbed and held his reluctant hand within her own. "Not yet, professor."

She continued to hold and stroke his hands, keeping as much contact as he would allow. "Miss Lovegood, release me at once!" Severus was startled to hear his voice ring so loudly in the, until now, silent place. But wait. Where were all the voices? The screams? Where the hell was he? Her response was to only hold him tighter, moving to where she was once again cradling him from behind.

"You need to stay grounded to me, Professor. Otherwise, this was for naught." He felt her warm hands come behind him and begin to gently massage his neck and shoulders.

"Miss Lovegood, explain yourself." He stiffened and made to distance himself from her. She clung tenaciously. And with ill grace, he allowed, yes allowed, her to hold him.

At length, he was startled to realize he had relaxed minutely within her hold; his posture no longer ram-rod straight but bowed slightly by her ministrations. How long had it been since he had felt a touch in kindness? Humming to herself, the chit began to rock herself, and him, to a rhythm he could not hear.

"All will be revealed in time, Professor. For now, just be."

"Just be what?!" he asked harshly, reluctantly letting his head fall forward the tiniest bit.

"Just be." she shrugged philosophically.

Severus felt himself stiffening once again in her embrace, but he refused to be rocked by her. However, she held him tighter to her, and insistently, she rocked them both. He quickly found he didn't have the strength in this place to refuse her even as he willed it to be so.

He groaned in frustration, and he heard her mutter soothingly, "You must calm, professor. Surrender and let go. I know that's a lot to ask one such as you, but you must." Ignoring her sing-song advice, Severus opened his eyes, bracing himself for blindingly bright colors only to be shocked yet again when they were in his quarters at Hogwarts. He looked behind him. Miss Lovegood still held him as they sat on his sofa, soothingly rocking them both. "There now, professor. I thought a more familiar setting would be better for you. Tell me, how do you feel?"

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "You are an irritation, Miss Lovegood. Cease your pawing of my person this instant!" Her only answer to his vitriol was an ethereal smile as she reached up and gently stroked his face. In frustration, Severus lifted his hand, belatedly realizing he now could, and placed it over hers, forcing it away from him. "Stop this!" He rose quickly, breaking away from her tentacular hold, but even as he did, he felt himself slipping away, back into the nether. Instantly, the screams and the cold returned louder and colder than ever before, and he began to moan with them, cringing with shame and fear and crying into the darkness.

"Professor! SEVERUS!" Her warm hands were back, pulling, embracing. He now clung to them. To her.

"Professor, you MUST hold on to me! It is the only way, you see?" Severus still felt the biting cold, the unnatural writhing of those bodies around him, but he held onto the warmth, the thought, and the reassurance of her small hand within his. After a moment… a second… a year perhaps… the screaming lessened and then was gone, and silence once more reigned.

Slowly, Severus lifted his head, and as he opened his eyes, he met her cornflower blue gaze. Her eyes were kind, bottomless in depth and patience, and he relaxed slightly in spite of himself. He looked around. They were back in his dungeon quarters only standing this time, her hand tightly holding his own. "You must have patience in this, sir. One cannot run without first learning to crawl." She squeezed his hand, and his gaze was once more drawn to hers.

"Why are we here?" His voice was quiet in the stillness, and he saw her smile gently in understanding.

"We are here because you wish it to be so."

Severus was at once was puzzled. "What do you mean, Miss Lovegood?"

He watched her look around. "This is your home. Your safe place, sir. The place where you feel most comforted." She began to walk and tugged him after her to the lounge before the fire. Without relinquishing his hand, she sat herself cross-legged on the lounge and then patted the space beside her invitingly whilst tugging on his hand. He at once went to remove his hand, but at her quickly indrawn breath, he thought better of it and sat beside her. He did not want to hear the screams, feel the cold again. "You must have many questions, sir. I think I should perhaps begin by telling you that I am your Guide."

Severus grew puzzled. "Guide. Guide for what, Miss Lovegood?"

He watched as she gave him a sad little smile. "For the After, professor."

"After—after what?" He could not help the caustic tone as his frustration grew. What fresh hell could this be?!

"Afterlife, sir."

Severus paled. Afterlife. That meant… did he…?

"What happened to Riddle? Potter? Tell me, did we succeed?"

He watched as she smiled at him sadly. "I think you'll find, professor, that none of that matters anymore." WHAT?! He couldn't believe what he just heard. Throwing up his hands in frustration, momentarily forgetting why he was holding hands with Looney Lovegood in the first place, he drew breath to give her an earful. What he heard instead were a thousand voices in terrified song. What he felt instead was bone-chilling cold. And suddenly, her hand was once more in his, her body once more cradling his.

"Please try and stay with me, professor. You are making this ever so much more difficult than it has to be." Severus snorted. He couldn't believe what he just heard. She thought he was making things difficult. HA! He would have liked to remind her of his attempt at teaching her how to brew Siren Song elixir while she touted the existence of such a thing as sirens as fact AND proceeded to grace him with one of their songs. He did say, with only a small touch of irony lacing his voice, "That was not my aim, Miss Lovegood, I assure you." He felt her squeeze his hand, and she moved until she was beside him once more; their only connection a holding of hands. Briefly, he recognized that he missed her warmth, but she began speaking again.

"Some call this place Valhalla. Some Summerland. Others Heaven." He watched as she looked around, "Me—I prefer to call it the After. Her preternatural gaze found his, and he was at once awed and frightened by the far-away look in her eyes. At that moment, she looked much older than her seventeen years.

He cleared his throat, and spoke into the silence, "So why am I here?" He watched as she shook herself and her eyes once more settled on him.

"You are here because it is where you are meant to be…even if you don't believe this to be so." Placing his hand in her lap, he watched as she clapped her hands twice. He began to blush as he realized where his hand rested, but then grew amazed when his well-appointed quarters fell away into nothing, and they were suddenly plunged into the Hogwarts lake. He clutched at her hand, his lifeline and vainly tried to swim, to drag them both above water to shore. She only looked upon him with measured calm as she began to sink to the lake floor. He pulled and tugged at her hand but nothing he did stopped her momentum. In a panic, he realized he was running out of air, her hand a manacle pulling him under with her. He fought to be released from her hold. Oh Merlin! The pressure in his lungs was reaching critical. As he touched bottom, he heard her say Breathe, professor!

Startled, he did just that, realizing that she had spoken to him through a mental path, not by using her voice. Instead of lung-fulls of water, he drew a natural—or rather unnatural breath. Looking at her, she smiled her encouragement and briefly squeezed his hand. You're doing rather well, you know? Tightening her hold, she gave him a mischievous smirk, and crouching down onto the sea floor, she shot up, soaring through the water and spinning into the air. Severus was startled to feel himself lifted, propelled into flight. And yet, it was not a flight for which he was accustomed because suddenly, he was riding a phoenix. He looked around for Miss Lovegood. She was nowhere to be seen, but the phoenix feathers were of a golden hue, the exact shade of her hair, and he realized with a start that he was riding—being transported— by her. She looked behind, and he could see the color of the phoenix' eyes were the same cornflower blue. She bent her elongated neck and gave his hand a small nudge with her beak. Hold on, professor! a whispy sing-song voice laughed into his mind.

With a yelp, Severus did just that as she dove suddenly, plummeting towards land. He hugged her feathers tightly as she dipped and dove, climbed and spiraled, and then suddenly, he felt her straighten out, and they were flying properly. She looked behind her, Look around professor. What is it you see?

Severus looked at the phoenix with disgust. "I want down NOW, Miss Lovegood."

He heard her sigh into his mind. Look around, professor. What is it you see?

"I see a phoenix that is going to be missing a few tail feathers if you do not PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Her only response to his bluster was a tinkling laugh and a waggle of said tail feathers in the air causing him to further hold on tighter for balance.

Come sir, please tell me what it is you see? Her mental voice was slightly pleading this time, and he knew she would not be refused.

With an inborn sigh that was at the very core of who he was, Severus looked away from the gir—phoenix, and with a gasp, he almost let go of her as he looked around in amazement.

It was the hills of Scotland—Hogwarts land to be precise, but it was most unlike anything he'd ever witnessed. The land looked so peaceful, serene; intrinsically magical and unspoiled by creature or man. The colors were vivid, the smells fresh and new. "It's Scotland. But it is not." he murmured absently.

Exactly, sir.

With a start, Severus realized they were coming down from their ascent. He recognized the hills. The castle should be coming upon them any second, and he prepared himself for the mixed feelings the sight would invoke. But it never came. He looked around. Yes, these were the correct hills, but where was the castle? Miss Lovegood must have sensed his confusion for she turned around and rubbed her beak on his hand. In this reality, Hogwarts does not exist, professor. Magic itself has yet to come into being.

Severus looked around in confusion. "How?"

This is your reality, Professor. You create what you wish. The phoenix bowed low, shook itself. Quite suddenly, she was restored once more to the ethereal girl of his memory dressed now in a long sheathe of mauve silk with a cerulean turban twisted in her hair, and he was once more holding her hand. He looked down. She wore no shoes. Examining himself, he noticed he was wearing the teaching robes he wore when he died. Lifting his hand, he felt his neck, remembering the excruciating pain of Nagini's bite. He felt nothing. His neck was whole. Distantly, he heard her say, "You are not marred, sir. You are perfect. Your soul is intact—perfect!"

Severus looked up in incredulity. Soul?! Not marred?

But wait, that meant…

Quickly placing her hand on his shoulder, Severus undid the buttons of his left coat sleeve and rolled it back gasping at what was revealed. The mark—histwisted, hate-filledmark— was still there! He cried in strangled fury, falling to his knees. He felt her grasp him and kneel beside him on the verdant earth. She stated gently, "You will find, sir, that some marks, some experiences, cannot be discarded so easily. They imprint our souls. But after time, they will fade. I promise."

"You promise, Miss Lovegood." Severus' voice was strangled with fury and disgust. "You said my soul is perfect; that I am unmarred. And yet, here stands irrefutable proof!"

He looked up. "Irrefutable proof of what, professor?" Her eyes were kind, inquiring. They could have been talking about the latest quidditch match for all the impact his distress was causing her. However, he did feel her feather-light touch. With a start, he realized she was touching his dark mark. He yanked his arm back out of her reach.

But with a gentle smile, she insistently took his arm in hers again and rolled back up his sleeve. "You are whole. Unmarred. Perfect, sir. It is so and shall always be so." He watched in shock as she bent down and kissed the mark, and he felt a warm tingle where her lips had been. There had always been coldness, an ice lying just underneath his skin, but now, there beat awareness, a physical presence of another sort entirely.

He looked at the elfin chit before him as she rose lithely to her feet and then he was being drawn up and away, and they were walking. "What would you like this place to be sir?" Severus was still studying his arm—his mark—there still even after death. He felt her tug on his hand impatiently.

"What is it, girl?"

"Luna, professor. And what would you like this place to be?" Her protuberant eyes stared at him inquiringly.

Severus just shook his head. He didn't want this—Scotland.

It was beautiful. It was magical, but it wasn't home. Not any longer. With an irritated shake of his head, he turned away from the girl and the empty land and was no longer surprised at the feeling of her hand connecting with his. The girl slowed their pace until she was facing him wearing a thoughtful yet vacant expression. "Hmm…perhaps what you need, professor, are examples of what the After can be." So saying, the girl put her arm around his waist, and quite suddenly, they were gone. He would have liked to say it was Apparition, but that was not the precise feeling he experienced. It was more in line with blinking in and out of existence. He was there and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't.

When next he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of a carnival. Distantly, he heard gypsy violin music playing as the people surrounding him laughed, sang, and danced. They were all of them gaily dressed and colored—literally, some of them were different colors—from bright maroon to yellow puce, and sea foam green. His heart began to beat faster. He had always hated crowds, and here he was in the thick of it. "Come on, Professor! It's starting!" He felt a tug on his hand, and then he was being compelled to run by the elfin-witch as she skipped and laughed, weaving and dancing them through the throng. With as much dignity as he could muster in the face of the hold he was forced to endure by the hand of his idiotic Guide, Severus gritted his teeth and reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled forward. He garnered many a curious stare from the spectators; after all, he was the only one in black. It was with a start that he realized Miss Lovegood had stopped running and had turned towards him.

He plowed head-long into her.

However, instead of falling, as he was sure they were wont to do, they flew backwards, almost as if they were defying the physical law of gravity. "Figured that one out on your own, did you?" Puzzled, he looked into her laughing blue eyes as she stated, "Come on, silly! We're going to miss it!" And as much as he hated to admit it, her excitement was contagious.

With a low mutter of "Galloping imbecilic nitwit", he allowed—yes, allowed—her to lead him.

What he saw next had no words for articulation. It was a dance, a ballet, but these creatures were not of the Earth—not even the magical ones! Absently, Severus registered the wondrous feeling of holding another, stroking another's arms in time to the rhythm of the dance, but his mind was far more occupied with cataloguing the visual display before him.

Were they some type of fish? Were they reptilian? They had scales of the most reflective material he had ever seen. It was like watching liquid mercury perform underwater acrobatics. And yet, these creatures were sentient—alive. The crowd oooh'd and aahh'd over the lyrical display, and Severus, for once, quit analyzing the implications of what he was seeing and just saw it—absorbed it without catalogue. He felt a squeezing on his arms and looked down to find his idiotic baggage looking up at him with a proud smile.

With a start, he realized was holding Miss Lovegood, and in such an intimate way! She was folded quite neatly into his embrace! How on Earth had that happened? Make that how on Earth had he allowed that to happen?! Stiffening, he withdrew his arms from around the witch, but she stubbornly held onto his hand. He turned away from the mystifying display before them feeling cold and very much alone in this cheerful crowd.

But still his personal harridan kept hold of his hand, and he realized he would not—could not let her go. To let her go would be to return to that terror-filled place, and that he could not do. Not when he had seen such wonders and felt such warmth.

"… …and then, of course, Fred always has the best surprises. Even though Lavender gives him fair competition when it comes to creative genius. This was her idea, you know, professor? Professor?" Her blue eyes were inquiring, and he did not have any idea what she was talking about. In frustration with their plight, he pointedly took her hand and placed it on his arm—his right— and began to walk away from the crowds and the entire sordid scene.

Never in his life had he been touched this much. And it, indeed, was beginning to irritate the hell out of him.

He was not used to touching and being touched. He was not used to standing amidst crowds, being a part of things. His was a scorned and lonely existence. That's how it had always been. That's how it always would be. But for this golden-haired hoyden beside him who refused to let him go. He heard her say offhandedly, "Hmm, perhaps I should not have taken you to the faire so soon." He watched as she looked him up and down, and nodding at what she saw, she confided, "Yes. I believe, Professor, that some quiet would do you good." He started as he felt her small arm draw around his waist, yet again, and then they were blinking out of and then back into existence once more.

This time, however, they were in a library. But it was unlike any he had ever seen before. He glanced, as far as the eye could see, row upon row of books stacked higher than he could impossibly imagine just waiting for perusal. His heart beat faster and his palms began to sweat, but this time, in anticipation. He heard a delighted giggle beside him and rolled his eyes to the booked heavens in irritation. "Oh, I just knew you would like this place! You know some have even made this their After. Hermione Granger being one such person. Oh, look! There she is now!" Severus looked up, the bushy-haired know-it-all drifted past him reading a book as tall as he. She did not even look up from her perusal but acknowledged them both with a slight wave as she floated by: the enlarged book anticipating her every movement and moving accordingly in front of her.

"Come on, professor. There is a section I believe you will especially want to see." Severus was immediately apprehensive. If Miss Lovegood's faire-journey were anything to go by, he would sooner not be exposed to things that would make him so basely uncomfortable. But then, considering the company he was obliged to keep …Severus snorted. "Keep doing that, professor, and you will be mistaken for a loxytwill—they make that very same noise, you know?" Severus blinked down at his 'guide'. Loxytwill?

Surely the girl was not still trying to fabricate and verify the existence of such impossible creatures. "Miss Lovegood, if you would kindly keep your observations to yourself. Now, where are you leading us?" Severus tried to infuse his tone with as much ennui as he could muster but was very much afraid he sounded interested.

He heard his guide begin to hum, ignoring him and his question completely. The pressure on his hand lessened slightly as they turned from a corner of the library into a rounded room the color of blue gemstones. He saw that the center was filled with a blue hemisphere. He followed his vacant guide as she approached the hemisphere and suddenly, he was afraid. "Miss Lovegood, what is this place? And why have you led me here?" He looked around. They were the only two in the room, and he felt very much alone even as his grip tightened on her hand. He watched her bend over the hemisphere much as one would a pensieve, and then she was entranced. "Miss Lovegood. Luna! Answer me dammit!"

She broke out of the trance with a blink and a vacant smile. "I apologise, professor, but I was only following your explicit command that I keep my observations to myself."

There were many times in Severus Snape's short life that he felt like gnashing his teeth. He never allowed himself to give into the impulse though considering it too overly dramatic. However, he did so now with a spoken oath and watched in satisfaction as her eyes widened. But then he watched her smile slightly, and her other hand made its way to his face, smoothing out the tension and creases found there. "You know, sir," she stated airily, "you really do need to learn how to relax. The muggle expression, I believe, is 'to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.' She squeezed the hand she still held and then turned back to gaze at the sphere, a look of wonder on her face.

Severus suddenly wanted out of the room very badly. "Come, professor. It is time." she stated liltingly. He suddenly felt very chilled and balked at her entreating pressure on his hand.

"Miss Lovegood. Luna… … please… I cannot!" Both Severus and the girl were shocked by his words. Severus doubted he had ever uttered 'please' before—and meant it—in his adult life to another human being and certainly not a student, former or otherwise. The girl smiled softly to him in understanding, but she still would not back away from the sphere. And he knew, knew with every fibre of his being, that he was going to be compelled to look.

"Do not worry, professor. You will not be alone. I will be with you." Severus only just barely suppressed the snort that wanted to escape. Great Merlin! What the hell did he do to deserve this hell?! An eternity spent at the whim of Looney Lovegood. Severus knew he had done some truly despicable things in his life, but did his sins weigh more than the outrageously crazed feather before him? He did not think so.

With a deep breath for courage, Severus approached the sphere.

In her sing-song voice, the girl explained, "It's called a Latimer Scrying Ball. It shows what has, was, will, and will never happen. All of these options unfold before you. I will be with you, professor, but if you prefer it, I will close my eyes and hum so that you may have some privacy." So saying, she began to do just that. But Severus shook her hand in his.
"Miss Lovegood—,"

"Luna, if you please, professor." She still continued with her eyes closed to hum.

He sighed. "Luna… I do not want… that is to say I do not wish… MERLIN'S BALLS, WOMAN! WILL YOU DESIST WITH THAT RACKET?!" Immediately the humming stopped, and she was looking up at him, unperturbed and blinking slowly. He stared down into her tranquil visage and stated with much irritation, "Let's get this over with, shall we?" So saying, he tugged on her hand with force and pushed them both headlong into the sphere. It was a thousand times worse than using a pensieve. He could feel emotion stirring all around him as scenes from his life flashed like pictures before his eyes.

There. That was where he was beaten up for the first time by the neighborhood boys.

As he watched, the scene played itself out. He saw himself, no more than seven, coming home from a day spent trying to fish. He was dressed in his father's hand-me down coat, shirt, and trews rolled up so very many times so that he could walk in them without stumbling. He had on no shoes even though it was nearing October. Severus recalled then that he had outgrown the last pair towards the beginning of the spring, and his parents could ill afford another pair for him until around Christmas. He had a choice—go barefoot or wear his father's castaways. If he did, he would end up looking like a circus clown for his father had preposterously large feet.

Severus had chosen to go barefoot.

Having read up on how to fish at the local library, young Severus had made his own fishing line and lure and had went searching for worms by the trash heap near where they lived. Meat for their family was a scarce commodity, and young Severus, so eager to please, knew that being able to bring home might help his father and mother be happier with one another …and perhaps him.

And yet, for some reason, he had not caught a single fish. They seemed to somehow avoid his line even as they bit at the others around him. Hours past in this manner until, looking around, young Severus realized he was the only one left by the lake. With a growl of frustration, he threw his makeshift pole into the water, and yet again rolling up his too long sleeves, he began to make his way back home.

"Aww, what's a matter, little buddy? The fish givin' you a hard time?" Young Severus looked behind him. Three older kids were walking towards him. They all three looked like they were spoiling for a fight. Young Severus ignored them and walked a little faster. "Say, kid! We're talkin' to you! Look at 'im, Beaner, he's trying to run in that getup! Say, little buddy, that's quite the outfit you got on." Young Severus indeed was trying to run now, but he couldn't. The rolled hems of his pants had come loose and began to unravel. With every step, he began to trip as his pants moved further down his waist. He flinched as one of the boys caught up to him and stepping on his pants leg, tripped him up.

"Look'ee what we have here, Beaner. I've seen poor, but man is this kid poor!" The others arrived and held young Severus down while the biggest of the group looked him over and exclaimed, "Good God, you can count his ribs. Why, I bet that flea-bitten bitch stray near Haggot's farm gets more to eat than this kid. Say kid, you want a sandwich?" The boy held up his fist and smiled cruelly. "You let me know how good it tastes, huh?" And just like that, the boy began to punch young Severus. No inch of flesh was spared from the boys' brutal assault while his friends held him down, looked on, and jeered. Throughout the attach, young Severus never uttered a word, having learned long ago that it was far better to take his lumps in silence than in voiced anger or pain. It made the beatings all the worse.

After what seemed hours, the boy eventually tired of his sport, and with a leer to his two friends, he laughingly stated, "Come on. Let's go home. Mam's cookin' dinner for all of us tonight, and I don't want ta be late. We're havin' pot roast." Young Severus winced as one of the boys deliberately stepped on his hand and another kicked him a final time in the stomach.

Alone, he curled up into a ball and lay there on the cold, wet ground. Even then, he did not shed a single tear for his plight, he just lay there. Waiting. It was full-on dark by the time he was able to make it home. Stumbling into the shack his parents owned, he was unsurprised to get a sound trouncing from his father for being late. A split upper lip and bruised shoulder later found him outside his mother's bedroom door. He got an unconcerned lecture on the importance of being home at a decent hour. She had not even looked up at him as she tiredly said the words. Had she, she might have taken notice of his numerous injuries, some possibly serious. But young Severus knew even then that she had noticed; she just hadn't cared.

The scene changed to his first day spent at Hogwarts. His name was called by McGonagall, and young Severus went solemnly up to the stool and sat down. Immediately when the hat was placed on his head, he heard, "hmm, quite the intelligent lad. You would do well in Ravenclaw, my boy. There your intellect would flourish. Hmm, it seems you want Slytherin though. Well, better make it so… … …SLYTHERIN!" His housemates clapped unenthusiastically for the small, impoverished boy, and Severus was given a seat at the end of the table, quite separate from the rest of his housemates. Fast-forward numerous beatings later, both from his fellow housemates and the Mauraders, found him a quiet, studious fourth year hidden from view as he looked on at a girl with red hair and forest-green eyes.

Adult Severus drew a deep breath at the vision of Lily laughing before him. "Come on, Lily! We don't want to be late for the Leaving Feast!" Young Lily motioned her companions on, and then turning around quickly, made her way to the spot in which young Severus was standing.

"It's impolite to skulk, Sev. I don't see why our friendship need be kept hidden."

Severus watched as his younger self smiled, a corner of his mouth lifting up as he shook his head, "No. You wouldn't would you? Listen, there's supposed to be a meteor shower early tomorrow morning. Would you like to come to the Astronomy Tower and watch it with me?"

"Sev, you know it's forbidden to be out that early." The girl looked at him in censure, but then bit her lip. "Besides, what if we're caught?"

He watched as his younger self smiled cockily and tap her on her pert nose. "That's easy, Lily. We won't be." Severus could see that his younger self wore his heart on his sleeve for the girl and a tinge of bitterness and regret filled him at the sight. The scene fast-forward and there was his adult self three weeks after the first fall of the Dark Lord. He had tried alcohol, he had tried both muggle and wizarding drugs. Nothing would erase the pain, the heartache, of knowing he was responsible for her death.

In desperation, he turned his wand on himself. "AVADA KADAV—" Suddenly, there was a noise in the front hall, and Severus looked up through a drug-filled haze of grief and pain to see the headmaster looking down on him in hate and disgust.

"Is this truly how you wish to end your life? I admit it would be fittingly ignoble, Severus. However, I think there are better, far less selfish ways to atone than to waste her sacrifice. Drink this, and meet me in the living room. We have much to discuss." Without a backwards glance, the headmaster turned and walked away from the broken young man leaving him to choose his path.

Drawing a deep breath, Severus drank the sober-up potion and followed the headmaster.

The next few years of Severus' life flashed by in a blur of pain, anguish, and subservience. When he was not teaching loathsome brats, he was learning legilimancy and occlumency at the hands of one who refused to offer him any measure of kindness or absolution. He watched as the man he was became more and more bitter, isolated from any and all but the most foul of human emotions. Tentative offers of friendship from his colleagues and acquaintances were met with scorn and disdain. His romantic entanglements could be tallied up by the amount of gold he had paid them.

When the Dark Lord rose for a second time, the man Severus became was resigned and quite happy to meet his fate. Thoughts of suicide had never left the younger man, and each time he met with the Dark Lord, he always embraced that this day, this breath might indeed be his last. The thought thrilled as much as it terrified for nothing could atone for what he had done. He knew without a doubt that his afterlife would be just as tortured as his life had been, and he accepted this fact with stoic grace.

Because he deserved it.

Fast-forward to his last breath: his last glimpse into her eyes as seen from the child of his most hated enemy. Instead of relief, his death only brought more pain as he was plunged into a dark, cold abyss from which there was no escape. Only terror. Quickly, he felt a hand pulling on him, tugging him, and suddenly, he was back once more in the vaulted room gazing down into the blue hemisphere. He was panting, gasping, and he realized that he had a crushing hold on the hand that held his.

Immediately, he gentled the hold, hearing her ethereal voice from far away say, "The child is the father of the man, Severus."

He turned to her with hatred in his eyes, still breathing heavily. She clutched his hand to her breast, "You never really gave yourself or others a chance. You always assumed the worst." Her imploring eyes held compassion and certain strength. "Look again."

Severus balked.

No. He would not look again. She smiled gently at him. "The worst is over, Severus. You've confronted what has been. It's time to look at what could have been." If anything, this thought filled him with even more dread. Choices. For better or worse, he had made them, and he had had to accept them and the consequences they had brought, but here the girl was telling—no demanding— that he examine his choices, critique them as he would a first year's potion's essay, and the thought filled him with dread.

He looked into her bottomless eyes, they were so full of compassion and strength, and felt something within him break. He heard himself mumble, "I don't think I can."

He found himself enveloped by her: her smell, her warmth, her gentle laughter, and yes, even her love. He realized all of these things at once, and he allowed himself to be comforted. He even went so far as to bring his arms around her to hold her as well, however awkward and foolish he felt, as she held him closer. He heard her sigh slightly and nestle more into his chest, and he realized that she was gaining as much satisfaction from the embrace as he. They stood there holding one another for minutes, hours, years. He didn't know, but he knew he never wanted it to end. At length though, he felt her slowly begin to pull away, and already, he lamented her absence.

Still, she held his hand in hers, and her gaze when it found his own steadied and calmed him. "I think it's time, Severus." He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Yes, it was time.

Time for him to see the full measure of how he had royally fucked up his life. With resigned dread, and once more bowing to his fate, Severus allowed the girl to lead him back to the hemisphere and down.

Blinking up at the sky, he realized that this was the first time he and Lily had ever met. He had been watching her play with her older sister in the park. And he just knew that she was like him—magical.

However, instead of greeting her with kindness, he greeted them both with scorn, calling her mudblood spawn and shoving both her and her sister into the mud. The girls ran off crying and suddenly the scene fast-forwarded, and he was in Hogwarts, accepted into Slytherin, but Lily…Lily was not there. She had chosen not to attend Hogwarts or further enhance her magical ability. The scene fast-forward. Younger Severus immediately took the dark mark upon reaching his majority and gave his life to the service of the Dark Lord which admittedly wasn't long. He watched as the world descended into chaos. Muggles and muggle-borns persecuted and enslaved, made to work and toil as another dark age spread over the land. He was struck down the day after the Dark Lord took over the Global Ministry. It seemed he had risen too high in the ranks of the Death Eaters, and the others were overcome with jealousy.

Rewind, it was the sorting again. Lily was in attendance, and it was his turn to be called. The sorting hat suggested Ravenclaw, and he accepted its choice. A cheer and applause erupted from the Ravenclaw table where he was led and seated with his fellows who were quick to shake his hand. Fast-forward a few years, he and Lily were sitting by the lake, enjoying the antics of the giant squid. James Potter and his gang came up to them, but instead of treating them with hostility, Severus smiled and nodded when Lily invited them to join. A fanged frizzby was found, and Severus was invited to play. He accepted, and a game with the Mauraders ensued where young Severus soundly trounced all four of them including the infamous seeker himself. Lily looked upon him with shining eyes. Fast-forward, rumors of Lord Voldemort's power and influence were gaining strength. Severus, a young man, looked over at the red-headed beauty sleeping next to him. As he had refused to be recruited for service to the Dark Lord, and as his girlfriend was muggle-born, Severus began to make plans to get them out of the country—permanently.

Fast-forward, they lived their lives in peace, getting married and having a black-haired daughter named Penelope with eyes as green as moss. Unfortunately, the peace they attained was not to last. Voldemort had waged a wizarding campaign on a global scale, and Penelope's name came up in the registry for Hogwarts. Death Eaters found their location immediately, killing Severus as he went to protect his wife and child, and then torturing and killing them both.

Severus watched the scene and fell to his knees as the vision unfolded before him. He felt Luna at his side, holding steadily to him. Rewind—and on and on the visions went showing Severus his choices and how they impacted his future. He conceded, privately, that the choices he had made weren't as horrible as they could have been. But they weren't as good either. In every scenario, however, Lily—whether with him or not—died prematurely. And he did as well. It seemed neither one of them were destined to live out the entirety of their life spans. "You see, professor?" He looked up at the elfin chit holding onto him, and he realized he was holding her as one would a lifeline. "Your choices could have been better, but they also could have been so much worse." She smiled slightly and placed her hand on his cheek, and he just barely refrained from nuzzling into the comfort she provided. "Come on, we have one more place to go to before you journey back. She tugged him up, and once more he was towering over her. "Hold onto me, professor."

"It's Severus, Luna." He state gruffly, and arched a laconic eyebrow. "I believe after what you've just witnessed, you may drop the honorific." Her answering smile could have blinded the sun, and Severus felt his pulse quicken. She placed her arm around his waist once more and they blinked out of and then into existence. Severus was momentarily blinded by white light, and then suddenly, he was surrounded by souls. And they were each of them beautiful looking exactly as they did when he knew them, only unburdened. Just before him stood Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. He felt an embrace and knew he had just been hugged. "Congratulations Severus. You finally got over yourself, I see."

Severus snorted as he was embraced and kissed on the cheek by Narcissa. "It's so good to see you, my old friend. We are so very happy you made it here." She smiled up at him, and he felt the burden of emotion slightly lessen as he stared into her smiling face.

"Severus, you've arrived!" He looked behind him. His mother and father stood before him, and quite suddenly, he was embraced by them both. "We have been so very proud of you, Severus! So proud. This past life was hard on us all, but we feared for you especially." His mother gulped and then embraced him tightly. "But you did it! And well, frankly, I can't believe she was able to do it! Bring you back as she did. I hear the celestials are still discussing it."

Severus looked at his mother questioningly but was led to the side by his father. "Severus, I—" he was at once horrified and gratified to see his old man tear up. "Son, you did well with what you were given. No, you didn't always make the right choice, but in the end, you did the right thing. And that, Severus, is what it's all about." He saw his father, his hated and hate-filled father, smile at him, and suddenly, Severus felt a large burden of grief he hadn't realized he had been carrying fall away. He drew a cleansing breath and felt lighter.

Absently, he noticed a brightness surround him. "Now where is that little girl that brought you back, hmm?" Severus started as he felt absently for her hand. Miss Lovegood—Luna— was no longer with him. His hand felt empty without the reassuring weight hers brought.

"Hello, Sev." Severus looked up.

Thoughts of Luna were pushed to the wayside for just before him was Lily. Lily sans James. She reached to embrace him, and for just a moment, their essences merged, and he felt it: love—love for him and for their friendship.

"Lily, I—"

"Shh, Sev. It's okay! You have more than kept your vow. Harry is alive because of you, Severus. He succeeded because of you!" Severus felt another burden, another stone drop from his shoulders and he sagged at the feeling. He heard her laugh, bubbling and sweet, "Oh, Sev, your aura is blinding." She smiled and hugged him again, and he realized what he felt for her—it wasn't romantic love or even passion. It was something kindred. "That's right, Sev. We're family." He watched as she wrinkled her nose, "…of a sort…" She hugged him again fiercely as he mentally absorbed this turn of events. They began to walk as she held his hand. "Well, you see, hmm…but perhaps you don't. Better to start from the beginning I think.

"Okay, so you're in what Luna calls The After." She smiled warmly at him, and he felt his heart fill from the joy of it. "Souls have soul groups: souls destined to re-occur/travel through their lives together. You are in my soul group, Sev. You and Luna, Harry, and James." At the mention of both the Potter's names, he expected to feel the old hatred come over him. But was surprised to feel nothing but interest at what she was explaining. "Would it surprise you to know that James and I are the youngest members of our group?" Severus' eyebrows rose. "Oh, yes. That was only our fourth journey. But it's really quite something for you to be here at all. Luna risked everything to get you back."

Severus stopped walking. "Lily, stop for a moment. What do you mean 'risked everything'." He watched as she bit her lip.

"Well, it seems you and she are 'twin souls'." Severus drew back at this. "Oh, yes. It's very rare. You share a common soul—not soul mates exactly but more forged from the same. She is your other half, you see. The compassion to your logic. The free-thinker to your critical analysis. I believe this was her ninth life, your eighth, and she's due for graduation." Severus tried to absorb all of what she was telling him, but his active mind just kept spinning out the possibilities.

"She was going to wait for you to catch up, I think, but when it became obvious you were floundering, well… that's why she came back as she did, and you had to deal with such an age discrepancy. You see, you committed suicide in your previous life before this one and left her alone. It seems the body or vessel you chose could not overcome the crippling despondent tendencies to which it was prone. And since suicides tend to repeat themselves over again in another life," He watched her shrug and couldn't help but feel lost as all of this information was absorbed.

"Why don't I remember?" His voice was hushed.

He watched as Lily bit her lip and shrugged, "This last journey was really hard on all of us, Severus—especially you. You see, you had much to atone for because of your life before last, and it is my belief that you went into this life not fully prepared for the challenges the vessel of Severus Snape would bring. You wanted to prove to yourself, and to her, that you could face the challenges set before you.

"However, it became apparent that you could not go it alone. Luna volunteered three weeks to the day after I was killed to go back and help you in any way she could. Which by then, unfortunately, wasn't much. Her soul provided as much comfort as she could that final year before you both were killed." Severus started. He had a sudden memory of assigning her detention for painting on the walls, and yet, being heartened all the same by the messages she would write. When he thought back to the memory, her luminous eyes never once accused him of the actions he had been compelled to complete. And he had, momentarily, felt comfort from her regard. But then she was kidnapped, and he had tried everything he could think of to get her to be released. Even going so far as to ask the Dark Lord about her absence.

All he received for his pains was a bout of crucio.

He also remembered being told that something had gone wrong in the Malfoy Dungeons, and she had been killed. Inexplicably, he had felt a wave of grief so large well up inside, it threatened to overcome him.

At the time, he assigned it to the helplessness of his situation and the fact that he couldn't protect the students charged under his care. But with this new perspective, he knew better. They were connected, and his soul mourned for what his body could not.

He did, however, have another question. "But why has it been related that our situation is unusual?"

He heard her laugh, "Oh, Sev! Your situation is unusual! You were in HELL! Literally rotting in hell. You must understand that Hell is not a place one is assigned to go to when one dies, Sev. It is a place a soul chooses to go: a kind of greater all-encompassing punishment that lasts eternity. Once the soul believes it belongs there, there is no coming back. Dante had it right, you know?"

Severus thought back to what he remembered about his time spent in hell, and cringed. Abandon all hope indeed. He felt Lily put her hand on his shoulder, and suddenly the evil, cold thoughts of that place were chased away by the mere fact of her presence beside him. "I guess it's kind of like that saying, 'Anyone can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven'. Well, your soul chose hell.

She shrugged, "It's my belief, that this past life was hardest on you because you had to endure so much adversity and pain. And this was all due to the mistakes you made in your previous life that caused you to commit suicide in the first place." she sighed, "And then, you castigated yourself further by refusing to let go of the mistakes you made, both latent and remembered. And so, you've basically tortured yourself, Sev." He saw her look away, a suspicious gleam to her eyes. After a moment, she muttered, "She couldn't accept your loss."

He watched as she swallowed, her throat working to phrase something he knew would be hard to hear, "She followed you, Sev. Tracked you down. There was a possibility that your tortured reality would have become her own, and she accepted that fate for you." Severus felt his very being contract and then expand and reverberate. Had anyone ever risked so much to see to his happiness? His throat worked, swallowing a nameless emotion as it welled up inside of him. Looney Luna Lovegood—his student, his rescuer, his soul's mate. "That's the reason the celestials are talking, you see? Because it is the first time it's ever happened: a soul able to find and convince another from its chosen path. It's unique." She smiled crookedly up at him, "However, I believe the fact that you are twin souls has something fundamentally to do with it."

Severus saw Lily's throat tighten as she uttered the words. "Anyway, she braved hell for you Sev, risking her soul in the process of finding you. James and I went as far as we could on the journey with her, but the cloying despair, the absence of hope. Well, you were there. You remember. It's like being Kissed for eternity.

"But Luna never once gave up. She never once accepted that she wouldn't be able to find you. Somehow Severus, she sensed you. And I, for one, would dearly like to know how, and then she brought you home to us." Severus looked around. They were in a brightly lit corridor of starlight and white marble. A more celestial place he had never seen, and yet, it was incomplete.

He swallowed and stated gruffly, "Where is she?" and watched as Lily bit her lip again.

"That's the thing, Sev. It's Luna's time to graduate. And as a condition of her return with you, she was compelled to meet with the celestials concerning her fate."

"But why couldn't she tell me these things?" Severus looked at Lily, a mystified expression on his face.

She smirked. "Really, Sev. Would you have believed her? You still can't remember who she is, and you just knew her as a former oddball student who tried your patience." Lily tsk'd and rolled her eyes. "For now, you're just going to have to take my word for it."

He watched as Lily looked up and smiled. James Potter stood there, a self-deprecating grin on his face, and Severus felt like punching the shit out of him. "Now, now Sev, you really need to be forgiving." James stood there in all his smirking glory, his eyes agleam with laughter as he held up his hands. Severus looked for the old hatred, but all he found was a form of long-suffering affection. He smirked instead. "Aw, there he is!" Severus was unsurprised to be enveloped in a brotherly embrace. "I'm so sorry, brother! This past life for you was torturous, but I think the next one will be better." Severus saw James wink as Lily clapped her hands.

"You mean she—?"

"Hush, Lil. I don't know for certain. But I'm thinking she was able to swing it."

Severus felt lost yet again. "Swing what?"

They both just laughed and began to walk away, holding hands together. "You'll see, Sev. Patience." Severus blinked and quite suddenly, he was no longer in the vaulted room and was alone. A mild anxiety gripped him, thoughts of returning to hell became prevalent in his mind, but he took a deep breath and thought that he would like nothing more than to sit and think through all he had learned in a quiet place. Immediately, his old dungeon quarters at Hogwarts appeared in the space complete with a roaring fire and a snifter of well-aged brandy. Severus looked around. The place seemed so very familiar. It was his retreat, and yet, he knew this wasn't quite right—it wasn't home. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift.

Feeling a breeze on his face, Severus opened his eyes and saw he was once more transported to the land of many painted colors. He couldn't explain it, but the slight anxiety he felt slipped away. And he found himself lounging under the shade of a violet and gold leafed tree while sipping his brandy in solitude. He looked around.

For all its foreign colors and strange charm, the space was well-ordered and, dare he admit it, comforting. He drew a deep breath and inhaled cherry blossoms. As he looked up, the tree began to flower and bloom, turning the violet and gold leaves a dark burgundy and pink. "You know, I quite liked how it was before, Severus. Change it back." He looked down. Luna was seated beside him, cherry blossoms weaved through her golden locks forming a burgundy and pink crown on her head. One of her curls had come loose, and unthinking, Severus lifted his hand and tucked it back into place. He drew a wary breath as he realized what he had done, but he kept his hand where it was, cradling her downy cheek.

When he spoke, his voice was gruff, "You risked everything for me, Luna." Closing his eyes, he bent close to her, inhaling the comforting scent of cherry blossoms in her hair.

She backed away from him, and he felt her small hand mirror him as she cradled his cheek in a caress, "And I'd do it again, Severus." He opened his eyes and met the unblinking truth in her stare.

He had no words. How to articulate what he was feeling at that moment? Instead, he showed her with a kiss, a promise, exactly what he could never say. His lips gently brushed hers and then he was engulfed by her: sight, scent, sound, taste, touch, and soul.

And finally. FINALLY, Severus Snape felt whole.

He felt himself begin to tremble with the power of the love he felt for this being before him—the other half he needed to make him complete—and suddenly, he couldn't get enough of her. He heard her gasp as he lifted and sat her down on his lap, deepening the soul-shaking kiss they shared. And then her hands were in his hair, and his hands were roaming over her naked—naked?! when had that happened?— form. She looked up at him with an impish smile, and he gasped to feel her hands on his bare flesh, kneading skillfully. And then, with a mutual breath they merged, and were one. One body, one mind, one beautiful soul. Separate but merged.

And he felt her essence surround him, and he shattered with the beauty of it, murmuring her name in supplication to the heavens.

At length, he looked down to the elfin chit before him, still joined with him, and his heart overflowed with warmth and love for her. She moved forward until the crown of her head was bowed before him, and she was kissing his unmarred chest, running her hands over him, christening him—worshipping him. And leaning back against the tree, Severus closed his eyes and basked in the rightness of this moment, this feeling. Sensing a glowing light, he opened his eyes and realized that it was him—them—the pair of them together that were bathed in a beautiful prism of light. He blinked, and in that span of blink, he suddenly remembered.

He remembered the playfully wise counterpart to his tempered strength. He remembered the times they had been together in the past, living their lives together and sometimes apart. Giving to and taking from one another; sharing of each other in generosity and, yes, love. It was just as they had done time and time again and would continue to do so, or so he hoped. He stayed her movements and just held her to him still. The pair of them. They stayed that way for seconds…hours…years. And he felt her tremble in his embrace, and she was smiling, and then laughing. And he felt the tremble of tiny muscles massaging him…and he was renewed from her laughter, her love.

And once more, his blood quickened as he emptied inside her a part of himself. Separate but not.

His voice, when he was finally ready to disturb the moment, was a silken purr, "What did the Celestials decide my heart?" She smiled shyly at the endearment but then turned serious.

"Well, they were suitably impressed with our feat, Severus."

He smiled slightly, "Don't you mean your feat?"

She looked up at him as if he were a particularly dim-witted child, "Noooo, Severus. Ours. It took you recognizing that you do not belong in that awful place after all. You had to be the one to understand in order for us to come through soul intact. It took us both. Me to locate and extract, you to recognize and want." She wriggled on him and lifted her blond eyebrows. They were still intimately joined, and he had no desire to change that situation anytime soon.

"Well?"

She smiled benignly, "Well what?" Absently, she picked a cherry blossom that had fallen into his hair and twirled it around her fingers. He bounced her up and down in frustration, quickening to life once again as she let her head fall back on a breathless giggle.

"Luna, if I wasn't dead already, you'd be the death of me, woman. Tell me, what did the Celestials decide? Are we still to be together in the next life? Or have you graduated to a higher understanding that precludes my own?"

She smiled impishly and rolled her hips slightly, "Oh. That. Well, yes."

He growled and gripped her hips tightly. With three violent upwards thrust, he felt her come apart in his arms. Her soul literally shattered before him in a prism of light. He caught her, just as she fell back to their mutually shared reality. "I grow weary of your games, witch." He nipped at her neck, "Tell me."

She sighed and settled more comfortably in his embrace, like a hug. "They were amazed, Severus. Those souls that condemn themselves to hell are considered lost—hopeless. You know Dumbledore is there, don't you? His sister Arianna, Grindlewald, and Neville mourn most grievously." Severus' heart gathered in his throat. It was difficult for him to swallow. "And then there's Tom Riddle. Well, they couldn't believe that magic had been used to affect such disastrous results as to shatter a soul. That, too, the celestials had never seen. A soul is supposed to be permanent. Everlasting. The fact that Riddle tampered and split his so severely has shaken them."

Severus looked at her curiously. Looking down, he realized he had unthinkingly clothed himself in his teaching robes once more. "What do you mean split?" He looked over at his blond nymph, still gloriously nude sitting astride him.

She smiled sadly, "Severus, Tom Riddle made horcruxes. Seven of them in fact." The light surrounding them dimmed drastically as Severus paled. Suddenly, bits and pieces of those last few conversations with Dumbledore made more sense.

"What's to be done with Riddle then?"

She smiled slightly, and he detected a bittersweet note in it. "That's the thing, Severus, there's nothing that can be done. All but one little sliver is all that remains of Tom Riddle's soul. It is shattered. However," He watched as she breathed in deeply, and then clothed herself in purple spangled with silver starlight threads. "It seems that you and I are to be victims of our own success. The celestials don't want me to advance without you in light of recent events and so they have chosen to send us both back." Severus' aura dimmed completely.

"Back? What do you mean back?" He rose quickly, unceremoniously dumping her on the soft earth. "I can't go back to that hell! The life of Severus Snape ended. I died, goddammit! That should be the end of it!" He paused as he felt a small hand grasp his sleeve tremulously.

"Severus. It's the only way."

He turned to her abruptly, "What do you mean only way? Only way for whom?"

He saw her take a deep breath and then say quickly, "Tom Riddle."

"WHAT?!" Severus saw red. Literally, he saw RED! The skies around him darkened to crimson and the wind threatened to blow them both asunder.

He felt more than saw Luna exude a calming breath, and the skies were restored once more to their cerulean blue depths. "Always with the dramatics, Severus." She looked at him fondly and rolled her eyes. For one such as her, it was a disturbing thing to witness. "There is no other option. The celestials refuse to have Tom Riddle's soul destroyed in such a manner." He watched as she produced a vessel that looked like a funeral urn. It was white and quite ordinary looking. She handed it to him, and he was surprised at the weight. "You will go back to the year 1997 and collect the bits of Tom Riddle's soul that remain and place them in this vessel so they will be rendered inert until the Celestials see fit to reassemble them again. When you return, you will be headmaster once again, Severus, and will have to deal, once again, with all that tremulous time entails."

Severus felt his vision dim, but suddenly there were arms around him, holding him, comforting him. He focused on that comfort, that warmth. "It will be difficult, I know it will. However, the celestials want to give you as much help as possible, and so they're allowing me to come back as well." Severus looked down at the small woman at his side; her blond-haired, ethereal beauty a perfect foil to his darkness. "However, there's a catch—as there always is." She smiled up at him and placed her hand on his cheek: their time-old gesture of understanding and comfort. "They have granted us, or you rather, a special dispensation. I won't get to remember this—us— like this. But you do.

"Again, we're breaking records and rules here, because no one is supposed to remember once they go back, but the celestials have seen fit to grant you this… boon… as they called it." He snorted and she rolled her eyes skyward and snuggled more fully into his side. "They are giving you another test, Severus. If you pass, then you and I will graduate to the next level together. If you fail, I must go on without you. And I—" she looked up at him, and words she could not say spoke volumes through her eyes.

He held her close to him, kissing the crown of her head. "That is an adventure I don't want to experience without you either, my heart."

She nodded into his chest and then looked up at him, "You know what this means, don't you?"

He sighed and nodded, impressing the feeling of her warm form enfolded with his into his memory, "When do we return?"

She winced, "Ummm, now?"

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End of Part I

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AN: I will be taking down The After and The After part II because I am going in a different direction with it. If you would like to request a copy of the more complete version of The After part II (right now at 70k), PM me with your email address, and I will send you what I have written thus far.

DGM