Livia
A/N: I started a story a few months ago called The Last of the Winter Roses. I didn't like how that turned out, so I rewrote it as this. This is pretty much brand new, and moves more quickly but keeps my original characters and basically the same overall premise. Please read and review!
Prologue
He was dreaming of a blood red moon, hanging silently in a starry sky. A creaking sound drew him from his restless sleep, and his dark eyes fluttered open. His breath stilled as a shadow moved across his bed, and his mother appeared at his bedside. Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent in the moonlight, and the ghostly image sent shivers up his spine. Before he could speak she lay a cold hand on his forehead, brushing aside his long black hair.
"I have to go away." She whispered, her dark eyes shining. "But only for a little while."
Severus Snape nodded, too stunned to respond. He suddenly felt very small and alone, and silently pleaded with his mother not to leave.
"I'll stay until you're sleeping." She said, smiling in spite of her tears. "Do you remember when I used to sing to you?"
He did remember, though he would never admit the truth. At eleven he was still very much a child, innocent and shy, but strived always to be stronger and wiser.
His mother began to sing a familiar song, one that she loved. Severus shut his eyes, and let her voice carry him through memories of days long ago, spent safe and secure in her warm arms. Soon he drifted off into an untroubled sleep, her voice lingering in his dreams.
When he awoke to the hesitant rays of the morning sun, his memories of the night before took on the hazy quality of a dream. He felt vaguely anxious, but at the same time was convinced that he must have been his own imagination. His mother would never leave him, though she might have been quiet and frail, she was loving and dependable.
His heart began to beat a painful pace when he came downstairs to find the kitchen empty, the hearth cold. His mother never slept in, unless it was his father's hand that drove her to bed. His breath quickening, he searched the rest of the small house. Finding each room empty and cold, he began to panic. This couldn't be happening, any moment he would wake up and find that this too had all been a dream.
He raced back up the stairs, and threw open the door his parents bedroom. His father was standing at the side of the stripped bed, toweling his hair dry. A crumpled pile of dirty clothes lay at his feet.
"Where is she?" Severus asked in alarm, suddenly unable to catch his breath.
His father glared at him, and waited a long while before answering.
"She ran away with some...muggle." He spat out the last word with such a venomous tone that Severus began to back away from the door.
Severus crept backwards towards the doorway, his hands searching for something steady to grasp onto.
"If you ever mention her in this house again..." His father began, his teeth clenched together.
There was no need to finish his sentiment, anything would have sounded frivolous. Severus knew full well what his father was capable of, having experienced much of it himself.
"I won't." Severus croaked, his eyes beginning to sting.
He brushed past Severus, pushing him aside. Once he had disappeared down the creaking stairs, Severus bolted for this mother's old oak wardrobe, frantically throwing the doors open. Her clothes still hung inside, untouched. They smelled of her, a rich scent of powder and peppermint, but without her to fill them in, they hung like lifeless ghosts. It scared him in a way he couldn't describe, but at the same time he longed to climb inside and surround himself with everything that was hers.
"Severus!"
He could hear father shouting from downstairs, he wouldn't want to be kept waiting. Severus slowly turned towards the door, feeling almost as if he was turning his back on her. She would come back, she had too. His mother would never leave him, she was too much a part of him to ever go.
As he made his way down the stairs to met his father, he resolved himself not to cry. He would simply have to wait patiently for her. He knew if he waited long enough she would come back.
He would never stop waiting.