Chapter 51: Through The Desert

{A/N: Here's Another Update...}

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

{"On the first part of the journey...I was looking at all the life...There were plants and birds and rocks and things...There was sand and hills and rings...The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz...And the sky with no clouds...The heat was hot and the ground was dry...But the air was full of sound...I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...It felt good to be out of the rain...In the desert you can remember your name...'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain..."} Horse With No Name,America

Unknown Location, Unknown World...

Blazing heat surrounded Severus Snape as he climbed out of the cramped camper he had purchased on a whim a few months prior to the events that lead to his dismissal from Hogwarts. He had been at peace with it given the circumstances and felt it was time to move on from there as it were. The former Potions Professor took his time surveying the desert location he found himself in and smiled. He had been truly at peace since the first time he opened his eyes and found that he had been alive following the events of the second wizarding war.

The stench of booze still lingered on him as he took off his sweat soaked white men's tank top and tossed it back into the camper. He surveyed the land for a quiet place to park his camper and set up for the night given he had no use for anything due to his magical aptitude. He sent word to Lucius Malfoy of his travels now and again but ensured the rather clever wizard couldn't exactly find him.

He had not been in any mood to be found as of yet and the freedom of roaming about was more or less that called to him at the moment. Lucius had urged him to return home to Malfoy Manor in every letter but Snape refused stating that he was better off where he was. He had not gone back to Spinner's End since the last night he spent there with Hermione.

He suppose he had to get use to seeing the woman he had fallen for as the insufferable witch whom had been his former student at this point.

Stretching a bit in the wake of the blazing heat, Snape made his way toward an old bush and promptly emptied his bladder in the wake of all the drinking he had done. The sound of the wild had been amusing as he continued to empty his bladder near a dry shrub. The screech of a hawk had gotten his attention as it circled around in the sky above providing an unusual patch of shade in the process.

Once he finished up, Snape turned his attention back to the place he had parked.

It was a nice secluded spot despite being along the open highway. Traffic had been low due to the nature of the place, and he was as far away from Hogwarts as one could get.

Hermione Granger still lingered in the darkest recesses of his mind but he suspected that she would be fine. She had Potter and the staff of Hogwarts to support her, he had made sure of it. She'd be at Hogwarts when their child was born and from there she'd be safe. It was all he could do given the circumstances to ensure his child had some type of advantage in life. His muggle father had been nothing short of a drunken brute that made each day a living hell in the wake of his bitterness.

Severus Snape had not wanted that for his child and his rage in the wake of finding out what Hermione Granger had done to him would have promoted that in spades. No. The former Potions Professor thought it better this way for the sake of the unborn child and everyone else. The isolation had been good for him believe it or not, not necessarily for his drinking habit but he couldn't hurt anyone because of it, not like Tobias.

Feeling the heat from the sun become too much on his pale skin, Snape climbed back into the camper and closed the door. A quick spell made him disappear even from roadside view as he moved back along the numerous bottles and into the bedroom for a quick nap. He had warded the camper and placed traps for curious muggles in the wake of his stopping here. Now all he needed was to get some rest.

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The Camper, Unknown Location, Unknown World...

Snape awoke in the middle of the night and the drop in temperature prompted him to apply warming charms. He moved toward his mini fridge and pulled a chilled root beer from the selection of muggle assortments he had on board. He wasn't much for eating at the time but it was nice to relax amid the elements. He moved toward the small sofa and sat there watching the world from the windows of the camper. He saw a few animals roaming about as if he had not been there at all although they had stopped to look in his direction a time or two, as if they could feel his obsidian gaze upon them.

The former Potions Master smiled sipping the root beer, he had not recalled having this much clarity in all the years he spent in the wizarding and muggle worlds combined. He had been almost sorry it had taken a colossal blunder on the part of Hermione Granger to inspire such a drastic shift in the winds for him.

In a way he believed he had to thank her one day, when his heart had not been bothered by the pain of her deception. For the most part he was enjoying his new found freedom far away from the world that had not accepted him from the moment he arrived at the age of eleven. He had given everything to the wizarding world and in return, it had nearly destroyed him.

Now he was living the life of a man free of burdens and escaping an imperfect past. Snape thought back to the pregnant young witch whom had made this all possible once more.

"To Hermione Granger, the only student that I have ever managed to teach bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses." he said amused before finishing off his root beer.

It felt good to be on his own and out into the world, but in the back of his mind, he would always wonder, what if "Virginia Holton" had been a real person and what his life would have been like then?