AN: Thanks to my beta Regina for being patient and helping me as much as posible. More notes at the end of the chapter, and decided to reduce the amount of chapters into just the prologue and the whole past explanation and feelings of Neville, Snape, etc etc, and start working from there. Sorry for the issues!
Survivor guilt
"A deep feeling of guilt often experienced by those who have survived some catastrophe that took the lives of many others".
0oooo0oooo0ooo0
It didn't matter how many times Severus Snape shook his head to keep himself awake, he kept slumbering in the chair next to the bed where Hermione Granger remained deeply asleep.
Almost hours seemed to pass really slowly these days and it felt like decades, just hiding inside a little cabin closer to the Hogwarts grounds. It felt almost like living with whatever the woods could provide, even with the castle a few meters away, trying to keep the faith that the situation would improve in the near future.
It sounded a bit silly that nobody went to look for them in there, but he kept praying for a bit more luck to remain unnoticed.
It didn't matter how many times he tried to shake his head to keep himself awake, he still felt like he was living inside in one of his worst nightmares.
That damn accident and then… Potter and Weasley were dead. No wonder why Hermione Granger got the title of "The brains of the trio".
Stupid brats...
Fighting without a good plan and just listening to their "brave hearts", forgetting to use their brains just for once.
Maybe he had to give a bit of credit to the Weasley boy. He came up with a few good ideas at the end, but they were poorly executed…
"Professor Snape… sir?" just a little whisper and a cold hand touching his shoulder almost had him jumping out of the chair, not really expecting any visit at that hour of the night. He seriously hated the damn deep silence in the woods where every little noise had him jumping on his feet and getting his wand out, only to end up scaring little squirrels or any other animal that came around.
Poppy Promfrey stood behind him, looking really pale and tired, making him wonder if the situation in the castle had got any worse. He was still a teacher there, but every time that he left the castle using a little passage in his own private chambers, during midnights and these free hours when he wasn't teaching, he got the horrible idea that the place could end up burned with every single student and staff member inside during his absence, and then he would be the one to blame for not being there and supporting the resistance.
The woman quickly unbuttoned her black cloak and walked straight to the young witch lying on the bed, while the black eyes of the potions professor followed every one of her movements. There was a tiny pause where the head of Slytherin wondered if he had to start any kind of conversation or just keep watching.
"Yes? What's the matter, Poppy?"
"I'm sorry to scare you like this, but Professor McGonagall sent me to check if there was any change…" the woman replied without even looking at him, placing one of her hands over Hermione's forehead like if she were trying to check her temperature.
"No change since the accident in the fifth year". His voice was barely audible, like a little whisper coming from the dancing flames of the fireplace standing a few centimeters from them. "And I'm not exactly sure that there will be any change at all. We have tried everything we could and there has been no improvement. I asked Longbottom about it, so many times, that I think that we will end driving him mad and then losing our last hope of defeating the Dark Lord".
"The poor boy feels terrible! Totally excluded during his school years and then forced to see his friends die, constantly being told that everything was his fault. Maybe Hermione was an important part of the solution, but that doesn't mean that we should torture him for this!"
Funny…
It started like any other potion class. He could remember himself just walking around the cauldrons and laughing at Gryffindor, supported by his own Slytherin students.
Nothing new, nothing to worry about.
Except for just one little thing…
Longbottom making another of his failed attempts at brewing a decent sample.
He fucked it up and fucked it up really bad.
All that he could remember was the fumes coming out from his cauldron, whistling madly. Suddenly the entire classroom was covered with a disgusting red smoke and every single student inside, started to scream while trying to escape and save their lives. He couldn't see too well in the middle of the disaster, but suddenly he noticed the body of Hermione Granger lying on the floor and apparently unconscious.
No matter how many times he followed the "steps" of the boy, the girl kept deeply asleep and then everything got worse.
At first, Minerva kept saying that it was just an accident and that for sure there was another cure, somewhere. A spell or maybe another potion to counteract the effects of the first one, but soon he realized that maybe there wasn't anything that they could do to fix it.
Day after day, Neville Longbottom started to isolate himself and started to be excluded by his own friends. He usually sat alone in every class or meal, even when Minerva tried to encourage her students to have faith that the things would get better.
But it simply never happened. He could still remember the day when they had to talk with her parents about it. Dumbledore made it feel like a normal… "happens every day" thing, but the truth literally killed them. For days, they discussed the destiny of Neville Longbottom and the Ministery of Magic decided that he had to be expelled.
"If Rubeus Hagrid was expelled because of the Chamber of Secrets, then the boy has to be expelled for killing a student!" That was the argument they used in front of a really disappointed old woman that he was pretty sure, never expected to face that terrible moment in her entire life.
He knew about his parents in St. Mungo. He knew about Bellatrix Lestrange and everything that the Longbottoms suffered thanks to her…
He seriously tried to see the funny side of the situation, but at the end he couldn't do it.
There wasn't anything to laugh at.
"It still amazes me how her hair keeps growing! It's so pretty and abundant!" the medi- witch smiled, running one of her hands softly through her long curls, while seated next to her in bed and helping him to stop thinking in the worst for a moment. "It seems like I will have to cut it again soon".
"Granger isn't dead…" she barely heard the professor's voice, over the sound of a spoon mixing what it seemed like black tea on a cup. "Her hair and everything else will keep growing as if she were awake and perfectly normal". The head of Slytherin made a tiny pause and then added, reflexively, staring at the dancing flames of the fireplace. "Now that I think of it… there wasn't any reason to kick Longbottom out of the school". "She's obviously alive so… Longbottom didn't kill anybody".
"I know... I know…" the woman sighed heavily, whispering a soft "thank you" for the warm cup of tea that Snape handled to her and looked down at the young girl, lying motionless in the middle of the bed. "Hermione Granger was the smartest witch of her age and definitely didn't deserve to end like this". She paused to give a few sips of her tea, trying to swallow a hard lump in her throat that came with the memories. "I still can't understand how all this thing happened…"
He couldn't understand it either and her words immediately sent him back to that dark past again.
Two years ago, Albus Dumbledore asked him to teach Occlumency to the spoiled Potter brat. Somehow the Dark Lord noticed the connection in between their thoughts and it was his job to teach him how to close his mind from external penetration. Or in the case of Potter, internal penetration.
It didn't make any difference anyways and it felt like a valuable time lost. The boy was really stubborn about it and for sure made him feel special; being the only one capable of knowing what the Dark Lord was thinking.
Knowledge that didn't work for anything, once the Dark Lord understood how to use it against the boy. Dolores Umbridge ended being the headmistress of Hogwarts and after suppressing all the defense classes, the students were an easy target for any death eater.
Nobody seemed capable to stop her and without Granger around, there wasn't any common sense that could avoid Potter and Weasley to fall into the Dark Lord's trap or at least, learn some defenses first. A fake thought that Sirius Black was being captured and tortured inside the Department of Mysteries, so that he could attract the boy to a prophecy that he couldn't finish hearing years ago, was just enough to send them directly to the Ministery of Magic and into a useless fight.
Of course that for Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, a bunch of untrained kids, weren't a real treat and soon they had the battle turned into their favor.
He wasn't really sure of how the other students survived enough to be saved by Dumbledore, but Potter and Weasley didn't had the same luck and ended as dead as Black did after being hit by an Avada Kedavra from his cousin Bellatrix and falling inside the veil.
No doubt that Potter was as good duelist like his father, but he didn't count with Voldemort appearing in the middle of the battle.
He heard the story from the lucky students that survived and as much as he tried to believe in all these compliments that Albus and the other professors used to say about the boy, he kept believing that he didn't had anything special at all and all his past victories against the darkness, were just pure luck and friends help. Potter didn't have enough training and the fact that Albus tried to ignore him, the entire school term, didn't help either and soon he was dead and joining his parents into the heavens.
He seriously loathed Black, but really preferred to have him alive if that could change in anything, the terrible present they had now.
From there, everything just went as worst as possible. Albus Dumbledore tried to destroy one of the Horcruxes to try to stop Voldemort anyways and ended cursed, with a foot on his grave. He did everything he could to stop the curse and trap it into his hand, but the Dark Lord had a plan and soon Draco Malfoy was happy to oblige.
He could tell that the headmaster felt really guilty after what happened in the Department of Mysteries and seemed a bit careless about his own life and what he represented to the magical community. His death could signify the loss of the last hope to stop his master from conquering everything around, but Dumbledore was much more worried about the soul of the only son of the Malfoys.
"Kill me and help me to save Draco". "I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want to do it. That the boy is really scared".
"Please… Severus…"
It didn't matter how much he tried to forget these images, the green light and his body falling from the astronomy tower, kept haunting his restless dreams.
And of course, nobody believed that Albus Dumbledore was trying to save the magical community and ended blamed of conspiracy, of making an army against the Ministery of Magic and the actual minister. And also, for the death of Harry James Potter and Ronald Billius Weasley. Rita Skeeter wrote the entire article, once she got away from Hermione's trap and he never felt that sick by just reading an article on a newspaper.
Dolores Umbridge returned to the school as the headmistress and he was a part of a resistance movement that worked secretly under her nose.
"The secret of a good haircut is the study of the shape of your face" he heard the voice of Poppy Promfey and blinked a few times to return from his thoughts. He wasn't sure of how much time passed, but for him felt like two more years just by thinking in everything that happened since then. The cabin in the woods was almost like their only place to hide and obviously that the girl had to be there.
"Would you like to know… how to do it, professor?" the woman kindly asked, pointing her wand at Hermione and levitating her to a sitting position. "I'm pretty sure that is a task that you will end liking and it will help you to distract a little from everything that happens in the school. Maybe you could talk to her a bit, while cutting her hair. Or read something. I've heard that in this case, most of the patients can hear what we are saying and even think about it".
But he wasn't precisely there, to learn how to cut the hair of a young girl. He barely kept his multiple roles balanced and was scared to make any wrong move and destroy everything he worked for.
He was the potions professor, the head of Slytherin, a spy and also a death eater. He had no time to learn how to cut hair or give the proper care to a young and deeply asleep witch. He had better things to do.
"Have you talked with Longbottom lately?" He suddenly asked, his expression was unreadable in the middle of the soft lights of the fireplace and the candles around. The cabin had enough size for two people to live there, with two beds, a wardrobe, a nice bathroom, a kitchen and windows with white silky curtains, chairs, tables. Everything anyone could ask to have a decent and quiet life.
"Not really…." The medi witch sighed deeply. "I think that Minerva still writes to his grandma when Dolores Umbridge isn't around and the last thing I knew was that she still doesn't know where he is. He must be hiding somewhere after your last letter, asking him what he put on the potion back then". "The boy is really scared after all what happened with Granger, Potter and Weasley. He used to visit her every day like you and offer his help in whatever we needed to bring her back. I think that the only one that hasn't turned her back to him is this girl…" She thought in the name for a moment. "Miss Lovegood…" "Yes, she sure knows where he is. Sure they keep any sort of contact".
Neville Longbottom.
Before ending expelled, the boy used to visit Granger every day. He brought her flowers or any other gift that Snape thought, meant any kind of apology. He tried to remain friendly and also tried to convince his classmates and the other students from the rest of the houses, that he was the same boy of everyday, but failed miserably.
Day after day, Longbottom was left alone and Severus noticed a slightly change in his behavior. He was much more scared than before but also started to develop a new personality that felt a bit familiar.
Hate…
Anger…
Depression.
Somehow, he saw his own reflex and didn't like the view. And as much as Snape wanted to deny it, he had another thing in common with the boy that he noticed during the accident of Hermione. He indeed enjoyed the company of someone else during these long nights or "having friends", like others would call it. He started to enjoy having someone to talk with and to exorcise his own demons, slowly sharing what bothered him. Of course that Hermione Granger really didn't count as company since she was deeply asleep and he didn't want to start sharing all his life's story with her, out of nowhere, but Poppy Promfey offered him a strange sense of relief that he never experienced before and slowly started to open himself to her.
"Well… what do you think of her new haircut?" Poppy said suddenly, in a cheerful tone "I always thought that she would wake up any time soon, so she had to look really cute. You know… to cheer her up a bit". Severus simply raised his head and stopped staring into his glass of firewhisky, shrugging. "She will receive so many bad news after waking up, that I'm afraid she will end really depressed and wishing to be back in bed".
"I think that it looks great" neither his voice nor his face betrayed any emotions, but Poppy smiled anyways. Her new haircut wasn't really different from the past one, but her hair was indeed shorter than before and perfectly showed the shape of her face, like the woman said.
"Fantastic!" She added, casting a cleaning spell over the bed. "May I ask you a favor, professor?"
"What is it?"
"Could you check the grounds around the house and the lake?" Snape frowned a bit, so she didn't meet his intense gaze and looked away, awkwardly. "Professor McGonagall wants to make sure that the cabin still remains undiscovered. So far, Dolores Umbridge only knows one little cabin in the forest and that's Hagrid's cabin. We have to make sure that the protective spells are still there".
"How so?" He asked, scrutinizing her with his black eyes in a way that made Poppy feel like another child from his class. "Did she notice something wrong?"
"Nothing so far, but Professor McGonagall suggested that we should do it as soon as possible, so we would make sure that any snitcher would come across with the cabin".
Silent fell over the room and after this has gone on for a few minutes, Poppy thought that she had to say it again.
"Very well, I will be back as soon as possible". He gave a quick glance to the clock hanged over the fireplace. 2 am in the morning, but he didn't like to sleep anyways. "If I'm not back as I said, then send a Patronus to Hagrid with orders to stay with Granger and go back to the castle and make sure that everything is alright there".
"Of course, Professor Snape". He heard Poppy whispering softly, once he turned his back to her. "Just be careful please".
He nodded and as soon as he felt his wand inside the pockets of his teaching robes, he walked straight to the front door. Placing his hand on the door knob, he gave a quick glance around the room and then walked into the deep silence of the woods that surrounded the little cabin.
For some odd reason he felt really anxious about walking outside in the middle of the night. He felt like if tons of eyes were watching every little movement he made, just waiting for the best moment to get him with his guards down. He just gave a few steps away from the cabin, suddenly hypnotized by the fireflies flying around him and somehow ended in front of the lake that surrounded the school grounds.
Memories suddenly came to his mind from these old times where he used to visit the lake to study and to escape from Potter and his stupid friends and then, felt suddenly comforted by the full moon and its light, reflexed over the quiet water.
Why everything couldn't be like that peaceful night?
And then…Minerva...
He had somehow, mixed feelings for her. He knew how affected she was after the death of Albus Dumbledore, Potter and Weasley and letting aside the fact that she never trusted him from the beginning, he felt that he owed her a lot and that he should spend most of these nights of insomnia, thinking in how to compensate her for every fight that they had.
"Everything alright, Professor?" he was startled by a quiet voice that felt like a whisper coming from the wind around him.
"Everything good… Firenze". Severus said, standing up after kneeing for a bit to feel some wet dirt in between his long fingers. He wasn't really accustomed to talk with the creatures inside the forbidden forest, but he thought that he had to be as polite as possible, cleaning his hand with his wand. "I didn't know that Minerva let the centaurs pass through the protective charms".
"She actually didn't, professor Snape". The centaur gave a little kick with his legs in the air and the head of Slytherin felt a bit uncomfortable. "Professor McGonagall casted the spells around our domains, after Hagrid talked with me and the other centaurs about a secret place that needed to be protected". "She knows that we already live here and she respects our territory. She kindly asked me for protection and I will help as much as possible to defeat the darkness".
"A smart move". Snape said softly, looking around and making sure that there weren't any enemies lurking around the woods before mentioning. "Minerva will need all the help she could get, from every wizard or creature that wishes to fight against the Dark Lord's twisted desires".
"The other centaurs and me, never saw a sky as grey as this one tonight". Firenze added, looking directly to the sky above them. "The dark magic is killing everything around and covering it with big black clouds. The air around the castle feels heavy and full of sadness and the winds carry the sound of tears and screams of pain and misery…"
And then, he remembered why he didn't like to talk with magical creatures. All the relaxing feelings he got from the lake, felt like suddenly drained from his body by the words of the centaur standing in front of him.
He didn't like to remember what the air or the sky used to be before the accident, but sometimes he just wished to obliviate himself and forget everything and everyone.
But he knew that he couldn't do it.
Albus Dumbledore trusted him to "save" the world.
000ooo000ooo000
"So… you sent Severus away?" Poppy heard the voice of Albus Dumbledore, from the only portrait hung out in the living room.
"I had to." She glanced at the clock over the fireplace. "3 am. He usually sleeps, once he has patrolled enough to be physically exhausted from a long night with no dreams."
"I see. So, you are worried for him."
"Of course, I am!" The medi-witch replied immediately, staring at Hermione Granger. "He's paler than usual, which is saying a lot considering his normal skin tone." She sighed deeply. "I'm pretty sure that he has been feeling… guilty since the accident." And she ended whispering; remembering her earlier words that maybe Hermione could listen and internalize her words.
"Sadly… he indeed must be feeling guilty. Harry died and he promised me and someway promised Lily too, that he would take care of her son. And he failed…"
"Poor boy…" She added, trying not to cry. "He must be feeling terrible!"
"I will return as soon as Severus is back. Let me know when that happens. Perhaps I could speak with him and give him some sort of motivation."
"Yes, that would be perfect. I'm uncertain that he has lost that motivation, but it could help him to understand that we support him and care about him. You are usually good at that."
Albus chuckled softly before replying. "Severus has the strange ability to twist every word to his purpose."
"Yeah, "She couldn't help and giggled at what she would say next. "Oh, my…he's definitely stubborn all the time!"
"He can't help it. He had a hard life so far…"
After that little talk with Firenze, Severus felt mentally exhausted. Truth be told he just wanted to take a dreamless potion and just lie on the bed till he had to go back to the castle. As soon as he reached the door knob to go back inside, he looked for his wand inside his pockets and mumbled a spell to make sure that Poppy Pomfrey knew that he was about to enter.
"Amicus" As soon as he savored the word in his lips, immediately thought of that despicable death eater and his sister, but quickly pushed these thoughts away. Focusing on the spell that was coming from the tip of his wand, instead. Like a tiny red glow that immediately glowed in Pomfrey's wand.
He entered as soon as he saw the light through the window.
"Everything okay, professor?" The woman asked gently, getting up from one of the chairs next to Hermione and walking to the kitchen to get him another glass of fire whiskey.
"Everything okay." Before the woman could handle him another glass, he refused by shaking one of his hands and headed to other bed next to Hermione. He usually slept just the necessary, but he felt so damn tired that he had a challenging time keeping his eyes open.
"You look tired." Poppy said pointing out the obvious and trying to coax him to sleep. Severus suppressed a yawn, smiling sardonically. – Bravo, captain obvious! - He thought, resting his head on the pillows. "Actually, like if you were about to catch a bug or something… A bit pale."
"That's hard to say because pale is my normal skin color." He replied with a bit of bitterness in his voice and she scoffed a little. "But yes, perhaps I am little tired and actually could take a nap."
"Oh!" she said, feigning surprise and walked quickly to the portrait in the living room. Remembering Albus's wishes of speak with him first. It seemed empty but as soon as she stopped in front of it, a figure inside the painting seemed to walk in her direction. "Hello, Albus." She happily smiled and he did the same, nodding.
"Poppy, Severus."
"Professor Snape feels rather tired and could use some sleep. Could you stay and watch him and Hermione, while I'm not here? If something happens please let me know immediately and I will be back as soon as possible." She said a bit matter of fact, trying to sound as if it were their first time talking that night.
"Don't worry, Poppy, I will take care of them. Now go back to the castle and please say hi to Filius if you see him. He was telling me an interesting story about the origins of the dragons and sadly I had to interrupt him to come and check on you two and Hermione, obviously."
Snape growled softly in bed and Albus chuckled, understanding the meaning as if it were saying something like: "But nobody actually told you to come anyways…"
"I'm sure that he will finish that story later. He likes that, you know? He's a bit too chatty for my like but sometimes tells nice stories. Good night, Albus. Professor…"
But Severus wasn't listening and was staring at the ceiling, trying to concentrate enough to not fall asleep so easily. It sure sounded a bit silly, but he needed a sort of preparation. A kind of night ritual before falling into the arms of Morpheus that consisted of pushing away any guilty or depressing thought, and just think of the few good memories he had. He even thought about the use of a dreamless potion, but exhaustion consumed him to the point where making the trip through the portrait to his private chambers for the little bottle was too daunting a task.
How bad his dreams could be that reality wasn't anyway?
"What a beautiful night, don't you think?" He heard the distant voice of Albus's portrait and shrugged.
"Funny, Firenze thinks otherwise. For him, the sky is all gray and covered with black clouds. The wind carrying the sound of tears, agony, and misery."
"I don't have the blessing of the third eye like him or Sybill. I guess that my appreciation of the sky isn't as correct as his."
"With that you mean normal, right?"
Albus chuckled into his portrait, looking at the young professor's slim form from the living room. He heard his yawns and raised one of his eyebrows. He thought about it for a minute, but he couldn't remember his young pupil feeling that tired like that night.
"It's something troubling you, Severus?"
"Oh, nothing at all, what makes you think that!?" Sarcastically said, mimicking his eyebrow lifting. "Just Granger here…" He pointed with a slender pale finger. "Deeply asleep till Merlin knows when. Potter and Weasley dead thanks to their stupid "brave Gryffindor spirits". Yourself dead because you couldn't wait for me to find out what was inside that blasted ring, before trying to destroy it in such stupid and definitely not heroic way, as you may think it was…Seriously…What makes you think that there is something troubling me!?"
"That's what I thought." Albus simply smiled even with the expression of evident sarcasm that the young professor had all over his face. "But you should understand that nothing of this is your fault."
"Of course, that is my fault!" Severus yelled, opening his arms wide and hitting the bed in the process with his palms as an expression of despair. "I couldn't even teach something to that Longbottom boy, so maybe I'm entirely useless to teach anything to any student and now I'm starting to worry that this could happen again and that we end killing the next chosen one!"
"You know perfectly that that isn't really true. You have to admit that maybe you were a bit too harsh with the boy and that could have caused the accident."
"Thank you for helping me to see it more clearly!" He growled, turning to face the wall and giving his back to the portrait.
"Don't act like if you were a child, Severus. You know that it was just an accident. Actually, it could be more like a chain of reactions than just a simple accident."
"Anyways, if you are still thinking of staying, please just be quiet and let me sleep. You know how much it takes to suppress any emotions before actually acquiring a decent amount of slumber, so I would really appreciate if you wouldn't say anything else."
"Of course, Severus, as you wish".
"Thank you."
He thought that after that talk, that it would be difficult to get some rest, but it took him less time than he expected. He event felt somewhat relaxed just by talking about what bothered him. But the nightmares soon joined him in his first few hours of rest, resulting in tossing and turning. It was the most lucid dream he had ever encountered.
I'm so sorry. Please, Lily… listen to me! I'm… I'm sorry! I tried to protect him…"
Suddenly his cheeks stained with tears.
"I tried everything I could…"
"No! Please… don't go! Don't leave me here!"
But as much as he pleaded and tried to chase her in his dreams, Lilly kept levitating far away from his reach. Always just beyond it, in fact.
"Please stop! You can't be angry with me forever, you have to forgive me one day!"
"Lily!"
And as soon as he tried to run after her, something warm tickled his nose enough to startle him and make him jump in bed.
It was just a cat. Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, to be exact.
He looked at the bright light on the windows and then awkwardly glanced at the clock over the fireplace. It was seven a.m. and he felt so dizzy already.
The cat seemed happy of finally wake him up and confirmed it with a little "Meow", before yawning and just curling itself on his lap to sleep a bit more.
"Oh, for sure that I woke you up with my nightmares." He complained to the cat, but the only answer he got was a tiny movement of its tail. "But I guess that I should thank you for waking me up anyways".
For god's sake! He was talking to a damn cat and worse, the cat seemed happy of just sleep over his belly and wasn't the least bit scared of him like everyone else. In fact, this was the first time that the cat had come to the cabin after his owner's accident.
He thought that the animal missed her and wasn't ready to see her in such state. But of course, he was talking about cats.
And somehow, he felt that the feline he had on his lap, wasn't really a regular one. It had something that made it different from the others.
"Good lord…" Severus whispered, putting his head back on the pillows, cleaning his face with one of his hands. "Worst nightmare ever, that's for sure."
"Meep…"
"You have two choices." He answered to the cat over his belly. "Stay and sleep or go somewhere else. It's too early yet to get up and eat."
"Meeeeeep…."
"I'm not Minerva; I can't speak your language."
But the cat simply untangled itself and stirred, snuggling closer and softly licking his chin.
"Wha… stop it now!" He tried to push the cat away, but it didn't help as it had the claws firmly gripping the bedsheets. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? Are you a female cat or something!? I'm not a potential partner so you can stop it right now!"
"It's just trying to comfort you, Severus." He heard McGonagall's voice and immediately jumped to a sitting position, blushing softly. "Somehow the cat must think that you needed a hug and it's trying to give you one. Or… some kind of affection."
00oo00oo00
Amicus: Latin translation of the word friend.
AN: Thanks to my wonderful beta Regina, for all the help, betaing my fan fic! And also thanks to TycheSong for helping me to see my syntax mistakes and guide me to take the decisión of merging the chapters I had into prologue and past (withouth separating them and make them a lenghty one) and to start from there. I have to stop my fear of make serious mistakes and stop cutting the chapters, for fear to continue. I will work in my confidence. Sorry for the issues guys ;(.
