Hello all! This is a one shot that I imagined up late one night while listening to my YouTube playlist.
It is based off the song The Willow Maid by Erutan
The characters are obviously owned by JK Rowling and I'm just playing with them
This is a 100% AU other than the names in the story
Beta love to Starkiss666
Hope everyone who reads this enjoys it as much as i enjoyed writing it
Please make sure you head to YouTube and listen to the song after (or before your choice) reading this!
Much love to you all!
17-year-old Severus Snape stalked through the woods behind his parent's house, he'd been sent out with a handmade bow and a quiver of arrows to hopefully find a couple fat rabbits or something to eat tonight. They hadn't had meat in weeks, his father spent almost every coin he made on alcohol. He'd taught himself how to shoot a bow once he was old enough to understand he couldn't depend on either parent to keep him fed. His mom spent all her time and effort to keep the house clean so his father didn't beat her on a nightly basis, his father was an alcoholic who preferred to spend the evenings drinking at the local pub then coming home to force his wife into her marital duties.
After checking the few traps he'd had set he grew more upset as they were all empty, he wandered further into the forest, a twig snapped to his left and he froze, turning slowly he saw something that made his mouth water, a rabbit had just darted out from under a bush and was currently sitting on its haunches watching him. As he pulled an arrow out of his quiver and nocked it, calming his breath he drew it back, but right before he let go someone close started singing, spooking the rabbit back into the underbrush. He let out a frustrated cry before spinning to follow the singing, he was going to make this person pay for making him lose the best meat he'd seen in months.
He grew weary as the song brought him deeper into the forest than he'd ever been, it grew darker with each passing step as the trees grew larger and closer together, he tripped over a root rolling down a small hill before coming to a stop in a brightly lit clearing, the trees making a perfect circle that was rimmed with red toadstools, a small pond with a huge willow tree sat in the middle. He gasped as his black eyes took in the oasis he'd stumbled upon, then he realized the singing was coming from underneath the weeping willow.
Severus stared in shock at the creature before him, its beauty was something unparalleled in his dreary world. Fiery hair hung in long waves pooling around her as she sat cross legged under the willow, as the song finished, she opened her eyes, he was stuck by the bright emerald that shone from behind long dark lashes, the creature gazed at him curiously.
He didn't even notice he's started walking towards her until he stepped over the toadstool border and felt what he could only describe as magic wash over him, he sighed as he felt a sense of peace fill his mind for what was probably the first time in his life. He joined her in sitting under the willow as she eyed him cautiously before nodding to herself and starting another song.
Severus closed his eyes and let the sweet sound wash over him and almost lull him to sleep. He didn't realize how much time had passed before he saw the sky growing dark. He knew he had a long walk back and stood up, stretching his arms above his head before reaching down and picking up his bow and quiver he'd dropped. He held his hand out to the young maiden and said, "Come with me my maiden, come from thy willow bed. I can take care of you."
The girl just looked at him and only shook her head. He dropped his hand in defeat before nodding and leaving the circle. He chanced a glance back to see her still watching him intently. He smirked as he walked home through the forest, he knew he could win her over, his heart had been hers from the moment he laid eyes on her.
He had made it around 3/4ths of the way home when he heard twig snap to his right, he'd been watching his feet to make sure he didn't stumble in the quickly darkening woods, snapping his head up he froze. There in the distance was a large buck, he couldn't believe his lucky. He quietly pulled his bow and an arrow from his quiver and nocked it, he took a steadying breath, taking aim before letting the arrow fly, he winced as the deer let out a pained bellow when his arrow sunk through its eye. He watched it stagger around for a bit before nocking another arrow and letting it fly, hitting it right in its heart it fell with a solid thud. He rushed forward triumphantly and quickly hoisted the buck onto his shoulders and made his way home. Hopefully the lure of fresh meat would be enough to keep his father calm for a few days.
A few weeks went by and he'd spent every night wandering deep into the forest, always finding the young maiden sitting under the willow, her pale dainty feet regularly were dipped into the small ponds cool water, she never stood to greet him or even really moved from the spot he'd find her in. He'd learned she went by the name Lily, his days were spent in town, doing odd jobs to earn a bit of coin to hopefully buy his love a courting gift.
Walking through the woods he nervously tucked a strand of his lank black hair behind his ear, tugging his new green jacket closer to his body. He's spotted it within a shop and it reminded him of his love's eyes so he purchased it immediately.
He smiled as he heard her soft voice echoing through the woods as he drew closer to her oasis. He double checked the bright yellow bloom he held tightly in his hand, he'd spied it on the walk here, it nearly glowed among a dark thatch of ivy and he knew she'd love it.
As always when he entered her oasis he was struck by how young and beautiful she was, her beauty was only amplified by the serenity she emitted. He held out the bloom as he approached her, she ran her small fingers over it'd petals and held it to her nose as he knelt on the soft earth. He grabbed her free hand and held it in his, marveling at its softness and the warmth it radiated. He gave her a gentle smile, "Girl my heart you've captured, let me be your groom?"
Lily looked at him, her serene mask never faltering and shook her head, "I'd wed you never, not near nor far nor soon."
He stood abruptly, anger flashing though his dark eyes and he fled, storming through the woods and away from his love. He could hear her singing, but the song that he used to enjoy only served to fuel his fire.
"See me now, a ray of light in the moondance.
See me now, I cannot leave this place.
Hear me now, a strain of song in the forest.
Don't ask me, to follow where you lead."
He flung the door to the small shed behind his parents' house open, not even flinching when it slammed against the wall. His eyes locked on his woodcutting axe, grabbing it he sharpened it to a lethal point and polished it till it shone with a deadly gleam.
He quickly strolled back into the woods, his mind racing with only one thought, 'I'll take the green eyed faerie and she shall be my wife, with her I'll raise my children, with her I'll live my life.'
He wasn't going to take no for an answer, she would be his. As he broke through the tree line into the clearing he called to her, "I'll set you free, then you shall be MINE."
Lily wept as she heard him, and could only watch in horror as he used his axe to bring down her ancient tree. Severus turned to her, puffing from the exertion of felling the tree. He didn't notice the sky darkening and the clearing seeming to lose its magic.
"Now your willows fallen, now you belong to me."
He wrapped his large hand around her tiny wrist tugging her behind him, her hair looking like a wave of fire as he drug her through the woods.
She followed him out the forest, and collapsed upon the earth, her feet had walked but a distance, from the green land of her birth. Severus stopped and turned to her, his eyes widened in horror as she suddenly started to disappear. He fell to his knees and wept when he realized what he'd done.
She faded into a flower, that would bloom for one bright eve every month. He could not take from the forest, what was never meant to leave.