A/N: Acknowledgements go to CaughtinalandSlide, Azteka and xXImperfectionXx7. The movie was Ninja Assassin. By the way, guys (and girls), two words does not make a review and I would appreciate it if you wrote something a little more substantial next time. As always, dedicated to Reader-anonymous-writer for the support since chapter one! You saved this from the terrible black-hole in my stories known as The Plunny Zone. You don't want a story to go there. It never comes back out again. *rubs back of neck* You know what sucks? Walking a mile and having blisters right on the ball and the heel of one foot and a busted one on the other. I hate my Converse knock-offs right now. To do a Meekakitty; tink, tunk, FLIP TABLE. Words with one of these (*) at the end are explained in the Ending A/N.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned either series, most people wouldn't want to read/watch them. Alas, I do not and no matter how much I deduce or wave my wand, I will never own them. Thank Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the lovely Ms. Rowling for these characters as well as the BBC for modernizing Sherlock to make this sort of thing even possible...
WARNING: This is an Alternate Universe. If you did not catch the drift within the A/N, let me point it out in big, bold letters. THIS IS A YAOI FIC. As with all my warnings, if you do not like slash or the pairings mentioned above, stop reading and click the back button. It isn't that hard to do. Reading any farther than the third line of this warning means one thing only; you enjoy slash. Excellent. There will be the probability of M-Preg as this is magic and anything goes! If M-Preg bothers you, please follow line three to the back button. If you appreciate a good story even if it's not your thing, then you're welcome to it. Emotional catharsis via art.
Ryder
P.S. READ THIS FIRST! Not all of the characters encountered will have Talent*. In fact most of them are perfectly normal. Don't freak out if your favorite character doesn't have it. I might even write an omake or two if you review prettily.
DMMWw Everyday Superhero DMMWw Everyday Superhero DMMWw
Severus didn't consider himself a hero. He knows his reputation is not exactly clean and this does not bother him in the least; except when people approach him about the 'terrible' things he did in the two wars. Those people... Well, Severus did the sensible Slytherin thing.
"How could you do that to-"
He cast a nonverbal Silencio as he talked down to them as though speaking to a five-year-old. "That happened nearly two decades ago, you misbegotten fool. I am happily married with a child on the way with my husband whom I love very much. What I did and why I did it is none of your bloody business and I'll thank you to keep your nose out of mine." He released the spell before opening his Apothecary with a complicated mental chant complete with a Blood Ward Key. Yes, it was paranoia of the highest level, but was it really paranoia when they were still after his blood nearly twenty years later? No it most certainly was not.
Theodore was late and panting for breath as Severus closed up for lunch.
"What is your excuse this time, Healer Nott?"
"Huge backlash in the Magical Maladies room. The Longbottoms... They're speaking... a hell of a lot and demanding... their little boy Neville. It's all a bit crazy right now. You need to see them."
"Looking like this?" He had on Muggle clothing, his hair tied back haphazardly with a green ribbon and his wand holster under a thin long-sleeved shirt. The Metallica t-shirt over it had been a gag gift from Teddy; Severus liked the band, so the joke was on his godson. "The last time they saw me was nearly two decades ago and much younger. I was the spy to them and they were never truly comfortable with me." he answered, his boot tapping out an impatient rhythm as he listened. "Look, I have lunch planned with Harry. I can take a few moments but not a lot of time, do you hear?"
He straightened his holster and decided nothing could be done about his hair in its current state. Theodore motioned him in, a curious look on his face as Alice and Frank Longbottom took in his appearance. The bright room in St. Mungo's had sunlight streaming in through the window.
"Snape? Where's Dumbledore and the Order?"
"Dumbledore's dead. Most of the original Order is dead. For Merlin's sake, you've been out of it for the past two decades. Nothing is the same as it was." he said bluntly, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.
"Bellatrix?" Frank asked softly, the rasp proof of the long time spent locked down in the Maladies Ward.
"Molly finished her when she went after Molly's daughter."
"Where is our son?" Alice's voice took on a nearly desperate tone.
"I doubt he has been notified of your sudden awakening. He teaches Herbology at Hogwarts. Theodore had to run to my Apothecary to even catch me. I was about to have lunch with my husband." he replied calmly.
"... The Healer wasn't lying then." came Frank's grim assessment. "Voldemort's really gone?" Severus smirked as he rolled up his left sleeve to show them the grey, dead Mordesmorde. "It didn't... He is gone. They're saying James and Lily's boy did it."
"Harry did defeat that snake bastard a decade ago. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a husband to get back to. Theodore, compile back copies of the main events and fill them in with as much as you know. Contact Molly, she'll explain the rest."
He spotted his husband in the cafe, teaching a child how to fold a paper crane with an easy smile on his face. The mother of the child looked exhausted; trust his husband's 'saving-people thing' to kick in at the most inopportune moments...
"Luv, what are you doing?" he asked as he settled a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Hiya, Sev. Sorry?"
"Do not apologize. Shall I go and get us lunch?" he chuckled, sliding his hand through Harry's mop before pulling away.
"Would you?" He laughed as two pairs of puppy eyes looked up at him.
"Is that your husband?"
"Yes." Severus feels a gentle smile tug at his lips and he orders in a good mood. He winds his way back to their table with the grace of a feline, balancing the tremozzini* and their coffee. Using one of his feet he pulls out another wicker chair to sit next to Harry, pressing a kiss to his husband's forehead. "How was your day?" Harry waits for the woman to leave with her child before asking Severus his question.
"It went well, as far as most days go. Apparently the Longbottoms have awoken."
"... Neville has no idea, does he? Have they even bothered to contact him?" Harry scowled at the thought of the Healers at St. Mungo's.
"No and no. Theo's a bit busy doing damage control and getting them caught up on major events. Do you want to do it?"
"I can't Apparate."
"Levitating and Disillusionment Charms, my Seeker." Harry gave him a mischievous smile.
"I remember the last time we tried that..."
"No shenanigans. I swore to myself to never drop you again."
"It was a bit like a Wronski Feint." Harry hummed, stirring his coffee before taking a bite of egg and white asparagus tremozzini.
"Only you would compare it to a Quidditch move." he laughed as they finished their lunch in relative peace.
They used an alley as cover before he engaged his Talent, easily floating up above the smog of London Proper before steering a course towards Scotland. His husband smiled as the wind ruffled through his already messy hair.
"Can you do a loop?" Harry asked, spreading his arms as they increased speed.
"Why-You want me to do stunts, is that it?" he sighed as he tightened his hold on Harry.
"They like the air as much as I do, Sev." As if proving his point, Severus felt the babies squirming around excitedly as he did a loop-de-loop. "See?" Harry laughed as he did a free-fall pulling up a good ten meters from the ground. "You said you didn't like brooms or stunts."
"You are a little dare-devil who pulls stunts like you breathe air, my Seeker. Of course I worry for you. I vividly recall your very first Quidditch game and do not wish for a second heart attack in that form. The dragon was bad enough."
Harry looked up and replied cheekily, "Well, when you put it like that, husband mine, it sounds terrible. Besides I led it on a merry chase around the castle so that it was super tired by the time I retrieved the egg. The handlers had an easier time with her than with the others. I asked Charlie afterwards and he said the Horntail just puffed smoke at them when they moved her back into her enclosure."
"Only you could see the brighter side of destroying most of our home." he stopped suddenly as he realized what he'd revealed.
"Yeah, Hogwarts is home in a way no other place can be, Sev. I feel that way too and it's weird to explain it to someone that's never felt the feeling of her welcoming you after another rotten summer. Sometimes I wonder if all Tom Riddle needed was a home and a family to care for him." Harry's verdant eyes are distant, deep in thought as they continue for a few more meters before touching down at the end of the Express terminal.
"Halt! Who wishes to access the castle?" The enchanted knights had been Minerva's idea after the wars that had ravaged the Wizarding World. She'd taken inspiration from her chess game in Harry's first year and had constructed knights to guard the entrance to Hogwarts. She did not know about the secret passageways still; Severus wasn't about to correct her either. The knights were intimidating for those who did not know of them.
"Severus Snape and Harry Potter-Snape." he stated clearly, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist as his husband yawned.
"Wands, please." the knight answered. He handed over their wands without protest and allowed Harry to rest his weight on him. "Proceed forward. You will be met by the Headmistress." Harry yawned again before shaking his head, taking the lead up to the castle that had been hole for them both.
Minerva met them at the top step, smiling as she saw Harry.
"Harry, Severus, what a pleasant surprise. Did you come to visit or is this business?" she asked, the streaks of white even more prominent than before.
"Business, actually, Professor. Could you tell us where Neville is?"
"Drop the Professor, dear. It's been years since I've been your teacher. Neville is out in Greenhouse 6. I trust you know the way?" she chuckled as Harry blinked.
"Of course Minerva. By the way, did you ever figure out who did that mural?" He asked, wondering what had happened to it.
"Hogwarts has made sure the mural is in good shape. The answer to your question is no, Severus, though I did find a similar mural on the seventh floor." Oh, that one was full of memories he'd rather not talk about and not all of them good. "It was... vicious in a way Harry's is not. I have yet to see if this artist has left any more of these strange murals."
"Oh. Perhaps we shall see it after we deliver our news to Mr. Longbottom." She shivered at the mention and waved them on, flashing Harry a brilliant smile as they turned towards the greenhouses of Hogwarts.
"What mural, Sev?"
"My self-portrait. I was... in a dark place when I did that piece. Your Father had been particularly vicious that day; even your dogfather refused to join in. Lucius Malfoy had begun taking me to Death Eater meetings to test my courage and I met the Dark Lord that day. I cannot remember what triggered the piece but I did not dare go to the seventh floor after I had finished it. I refused to look at it. This will be cathartic in more than one way." he answered, lacing his fingers with Harry's as they stopped in front of Greenhouse 6.
"Expecto Patronum." Harry said evenly, the bright stag erupting from the tip of the holly wand with a quickness that shocked him a little. "Nev, I think you should come outside. We've got some startling news." The stag cantered into the greenhouse and they sat on the bench across from it, waiting for Longbottom to emerge.
The boy he remembered had become a mixture of Alice and Frank, the gentle brown eyes having a steely edge to them inherited from the war.
"What is it?"
"Nev, did no one send you an owl? Your parents are up." Harry went at it head-on, which was better than him saying it.
"Wait, did you say my parents? As in... They're awake?" the shaky tone was forced out as Neville sat on the bench next to Harry.
"I was convinced to stop by courtesy of Healer Nott and yes, they are aware and awake. They've been asking the staff for you. I might have been a bit blunter than necessary." he admitted, smiling at Harry as he was elbowed by his husband.
"No, I'm sure they're used to you more than anyone else... Oh. You're the only one from the Order aside from the Weasleys and Mrs. Tonks, aren't you?"
"There are a few others. I was simply the closest at the moment." he huffed, frowning at his ribbon as it tangled.
"Sev turn around." Harry laughed, holding out his wand. "I'll fix it for you."
"Oh, thank Merlin. I cannot reach it and it is bothering me to no end." He relaxed as he breathed in the late Spring air, a small smile on his face as he closed his eyes under Harry's loving ministrations.
"What do you remember of my parents, Professor?"
"That is disturbing. No wonder Minerva insisted I call her by her first name all those years ago... Please, call me Severus. Alice was gentle, much like you, and had-" He stopped mid-sentence and changed his tense. "She has an affinity with plants and dislikes your grandmother. I never did get the full story as to why. You'll have to ask her. Frank is an Auror and a damn good one at that. I'm thankful we were allies for as long as we were; he's also an excellent duelist and I barely beat him during the second round of England's Finest Duelists. That is all I know." he answered, opening his eyes when Harry had finished sorting his hair out. "Thank you, my Seeker. The Potion I was working with did not seem to like anything near it."
"Umm, I have to ask; when did the two of you act more like a married couple?"
"You mean after that kiss in the Great Hall? We got married as soon as they passed the law in Muggle London. We did have a Wizarding ceremony but it was very small. Sorry?"
"Seeing as Luna forgot to invite you for ours, I think we're even Harry. I'm going to go see my parents."
"Part of a triad?"
"Only recently and it's... new. Rolf was the one to invite me in."
"Didn't you and Luna have a summer fling?" Harry asked as Neville started to get up.
"Yeah. She said it wasn't quite time yet. Now I know what she meant."
"Go on, Nev. I'm here with Severus."
"Thanks, mate."
"You're welcome."
He led the way, his stride hesitant as they reached the corridor where the mural was on the wall. He hadn't even looked at it after he'd finished, like most of his work... But then again, he'd been swiping at the tears welling up from all of his emotions finally showing here in this tiny corridor. He took a deep breath and strode forward with confidence. Harry's presence relaxed him in a manner he'd never realized before.
They stopped before the mural, taking in the stark words in white along the black and red self-portrait. They were words that had not faded for the years of sunlight it had stood in, as clear as the day they had been written in absolute agony. He knew he'd been followed that day and he was sure it had been one of the Marauders; they'd suddenly turned their formidable attention onto the other Houses until graduation. All four of them had disappeared after the ceremony and had come down from the top staircase with somber expressions.
"... Did you really think that of yourself, Sev?" Harry's voice was understanding, soft but raw in ways that seeing this particular mural was not as bad as it could have been. Harry mouthed the words (afraid, worthless, alone, no friends and it continued on in much of the same vein) his eyes showing deep sorrow.
"Yes. As I said, it was a dark place and I ran headlong into the Death Eaters to escape the derision which only got worse. I was balancing between true Dark and Light. That Prophecy brought the Dark crashing down around me in ruins and I knew what I had to do to preserve my Light." he admitted hoarsely, surprised to see tears spatter against the ground.
"Severus..." Harry turned him around, facing away from the violent, self-erasing mural to see a blank wall. His beloved conjured up chalk and handed them to him, motioning to the huge wall space. "Show me how you feel now. Show me our love, everything that you know to be true in your heart. I'm Warding this corridor. After you're finished I want you to look at it, see what you have to live for. Then turn around and leave all of your past where it belongs; in the bloody past. Okay? Can you do that for us?" Severus looked down at the chalk, before looking at his husband.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me just yet, husband."
The colors blended as he thought about his life now, brilliant cobalt underneath shining raven, tawny flecked hazel surrounded by dirty blond, glowing emerald enhanced by ebony immortalized on the quartz of the wall. London bloomed in the background, melting into Diagon Alley, seamlessly sliding into their flat which flowed to Hogwarts with the sense of time. He allowed for it all to spring from a single dark space with a single word; survivor.
He allowed the staff of Hogwarts into it, their words coming slower but still as sincere. All around them come the words he associated with his husband and his lovers, written in loving Copperplate like Harry's mural in the Entrance Hall. He shaded in every detail by hand, smudging where necessary and using every bit of talent he possessed. Taking a deep breath, he put the last touch in place and stepped back as Harry had instructed him to; he smiled as he saw what his mind had come up with. Harry took down the Ward. Severus blushed as the staff took in his chalk-smudged hands, arms and even a bit on his cheek.
"Harry..."
"Turn around." He turned on his heel and flinched at the harsh words of his very first mural. "That isn't you anymore." And Harry was right; no part of that anguish had followed him into his future except for small parts in the second war when he was forced to re-take his role as spy.
"Severus, these are yours?" Minerva's fingers hovered over the darkest part of the first mural, her eyes flicking immediately to his newly finished masterpiece.
"My handwriting surely has not changed that much, Minerva." he managed as he made to Banish the chalk.
"No. We're keeping those as a reminder." Harry took them and sealed them in a plastic baggie.
"If you insist, my Seeker." he sighed, his mind pleasantly numb from the catharsis of putting how he felt into his craft.
Ending A/N: I... honestly don't know what I was thinking for this chapter. It was written to the title song, Hymn For The Missing by RED, Survivor by Destiny's Child and more of the title song. Yeah, mish-mash of songs but this one is one of those musically influenced but not strictly written to music chapters of mine. As always, folks, please REVIEW! They make me happy and type faster.
* Tremozzini - traditional Italian rolled sandwiches that use white bread (sans crust) and a variety of toppings; my favorite is egg and white asparagus so that's why they're eating them
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