Crannchar – Scottish Gaelic for "fate"


Chapter 4

'Severus, I know you're awake. Open your eyes and sit up, you have a visitor.'

The wizard groaned.

'Poppy, for the love of Merlin, why can't you send away Potter. I don't want to talk to him anymore.' He opened his eyes and the bright light in the infirmary blinded him for a few seconds. Slowly he sat up and scowled at Madam Pomfrey. She fluffed his pillows and he leaned back. 'And when can I go home finally? I've been here for 2 months now!'

'Yes, but you woke up only 10 days ago. You need bedrest until the snake's venom disappears from your body. Besides, it's not Potter,' she said smiling.

'It's Granger, then. Insufferable Know-It-All,' he huffed. His voice was still raspy after Nagini's attack but the wound on his neck healing quickly. He scratched his arm, he hated the itchy infirmary issued pyjamas. He hated to be in Hogwarts, he wanted to go home – if his house on Spinner's End still existed – and be left alone.

'It's not Hermione.'

'I don't care, I don't want to see another Gryffindor for the rest of my life.'

'How fortunate then that I'm a Ravenclaw,' a female voice piped up.

Snape turned to the door and couldn't believe his eyes.

Adele Leavensop didn't change much since her graduation 12 years ago when Severus saw her the last time. Her blonde hair was still short, her smile was still nice, though her body was more feminine. Her waist was still thin, her legs toned, her ass round but her breasts got slightly bigger.

Severus never forgot their kiss. At that time he still loved Lily very much but he couldn't deny that Adele was a pretty and smart girl and when she kissed him he couldn't resist to kiss her back. He was a young, heterosexual male after all. Since then he had some flings with female Death Eaters, occasionally visited the prostitutes in Knockturn Alley but it was only for sexual release not for sensual love making. He convinced himself that he will never love anyone else than Lily and he stuck to it.

Yet, quite frequently, in his dreams, a smiling young witch with short blonde hair was the one who pleasured him, who gasped in his ears and who screamed his name in ecstasy.

'Adele,' he whispered.

'Hello, Severus,' she went closer to his bed and sat down on a chair. 'I was afraid you won't remember me.'

'Why wouldn't I?'

'You've taught so many kids in school, sure you don't remember every one of them.'

'I do remember the ones who kissed me after their graduation,' he smirked and the witch blushed. 'Believe it or not, there weren't many of them.'

Adele laughed a little.

'I can see you're feeling better now.' She noticed that he didn't change much during the last decade. His skin face still pale, and his hair black, a tad longer though than 12 years ago. There were small lines on his face caused by not his aging but by the stress in his life.

'Don't exaggerate. This place is a hell hole,' the last sentence was addressed to Madam Pomfrey who smiled back at him and left the room. 'What brings you here?'

'I came to help to rebuild the castle. In the last two years I was working in America. When I heard about the Battle of Hogwarts and that the castle was almost destroyed, I came back to help.' She looked down at her hands. 'I wasn't here to fight the Death Eaters, it's the least that I help now.'

'You don't blame yourself for not fighting, do you?'

She shrugged,

'I feel like a coward.'

Snape rolled his eyes.

'Because you didn't come back to die? Merlin, you should have been sorted to Gryffindor.' She looked up at him and smiled at him slightly. 'Weren't you in the Ministry before?'

'I was, I worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. I helped to organize the Quidditch Worldcup. We put so much work in there, I was really proud of it, then came the Death Eaters. It was a huge blow for all of us and from then on, things only got worse in the Ministry. When a friend of mine offered me a job in an American wizarding school, I took it at once.'

'What did you teach?'

Adele smirked.

'Potions.' Snape arched an eyebrow. 'I was Horace Slughorn's apprentice.'

'I thought he was in retirement.'

'He was and he is but he stayed the same: when I told him about my work in the ministry, he took the opportunity to place another trophy on his mantel.'

'How very Slytherin of you,' the wizard drawled with a hint of playfulness in his voice. 'And what are you planning after the renovation of the castle? Going back to the US?'

'Well, just before I visited you, Professor McGonagall asked me if I could stay in Hogwarts after the summer to teach.'

'Let me guess, potions?'

Adele grinned.

'Yes. She said that you refused the offer.'

'Correct. I've had enough of teaching.'

'And what are you planning to do?'

Severus turned away and shrugged. He didn't think about it, it was still an uncommon experience for him to be free.

'I was in Hogsmeade yesterday and I saw that the apothecary there went out of business. Maybe you could …'

Snape looked back at her with a frown.

'Could you … if you have time, could you ask the owner of the shop how much does the rent cost or if he is selling it?'

Adele smiled at him.

'Of course. I am free today, I will go and ask everything. So you're interested?'

He nodded, she stood up.

'I'm really happy that you're alright, Severus. I was very scared when I heard that you got injured.'

'Thank you,' he whispered.

'I leave you now, you still need to rest.' She bent down and kissed the top of his head. She heard him gasp. 'See you later!'

Before she reached the door, she turned back to him.

'You know, the kiss we shared … It was my first.' Severus gaped at her, Adele smiled, then left the room. The wizard closed his mouth, laid back on his pillows, and when he shut his eyes, a small but clearly visible smile appeared on his face.

~0~

'If you don't buy it, put it down, Mr Stevens,' a deep baritone voice drawled and the 5th year student from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry quickly put back the bottle of dragon blood on the shelf. The student murmured an apology and scurried out of the shop. Severus Snape headed back behind the counter and didn't see there was another person in the apothecary he opened two months before.

'You still got it, I see' a female voice asked. He looked up and saw Adele Leavensop standing at the door, smiling at him.

'Thank Merlin, yes. These ingredients are expensive and dangerous, they aren't toys from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.'

The witch stepped closer.

'I'm pretty sure that the Puking Pastilles can be as dangerous as aconite.'

Snape snorted.

'How can I help you today, Professor Leavensop? Or are you just chaperoning the students?'

She pulled out a parchment from her robes.

'God, no. I need some ingredients for my inventory. Here's the list.' She handed him the parchment and he started to read it.

'I thought you knew that you can find half of the ingredients in the Forbidden Forest.'

Adele blushed furiously.

'Oh, yes … It's just … that I would have to wake up early or stay up late to gather them and this way … is easier. And your goods are of excellent quality.'

He looked up at her and snorted.

'And I also have an invitation for you,' she added.

'Minerva?'

Adele nodded.

'She would like to invite you to the Hallowe'en dinner tonight.'

The wizard sighed, put down the list on the counter and pinched his nose.

'Thank you for the invitation but I have to reject it.'

'Oh, do you have other plans?'

He picked up the list and started to look for the ingredients on the shelves.

'No.'

'Then?'

'I don't want to go.'

Adele followed him to a shelf in the back.

'"I don't want to go." How old are you, three?'

Snape turned around.

'I don't celebrate Hallowe'en since …' He grabbed a bottle from the shelf and stormed back behind the counter. Adele stayed at the shelf, gaping. A few seconds later she followed him to the front of the shop.

'You're still … You don't celebrate Hallowe'en because of … Lily?' Snape winced. 'Severus, it was 17 years ago!'

'It feels like it was yesterday,' he spat at her.

Adele ran a hand through her hair.

'Severus, that's not normal. You can't grieve for the rest of your life!'

'I can! AND I WILL!' he roared. The witch never heard him shouting.

'Can't you see Severus that there are people who are ALIVE and who CARE ABOUT YOU? Can't you see that they want to spend time with you?'

'That's their problem,' he hissed.

Adele shook her head and left for the door. Before she reached it, she turned back and Severus could see the tears in her eyes.

'This last two months … I thought we were friends! I thought that maybe we could be …' She sobbed. 'Do you really think that you're the only one who lost a loved one? I did too Severus, and guess what, it hurts like hell. And the pain will never ever go away completely.' Her voice trembled. 'It stays until the day we die. But the pain will ease and in the end it will be only a small sting in your heart. It means that you are capable to love but it doesn't mean that you're not allowed to love someone who is alive. It's not cheating, it's carrying on with your life.' With that she left the shop.


Only one chapter to go, I hope you won't be disappointed :)