It's been years since I last wrote a story. People still read my old ones, which makes me very, very happy and helped me decide to work on this idea of mine about how Snape's life could have continued after his surviving Nagini's attack. I hope you'll like it. Here we go:
1: Morning Walk
Reaching the top of the hill Severus Snape paused, leaning on his walking stick to admire the view and to catch his breath. He couldn't help feeling proud of himself. He'd made it to the top in under an hour, a new record in his four-year-long list of early morning walks. He raised his face to the sun, eyes closed, soaking up the warmth and the light, taking deep breaths to fill his lungs with the clean, cool air of the Yorkshire Dales. Life was good.
The barking of a dog in the distance made him open his eyes and look around. He could make out the dog and its owner halfway down the hill, going in the opposite direction. Good, so he would be able to enjoy the sunshine and the view without distracting company.
His eyes followed the two little moving figures and then his gaze swept through the valley in front of him. Green was the predominant colour. Green pastures criss-crossed by grey stone walls, the occasional wind-bent tree. A few barns here and there. Whitish dots everywhere – sheep. The silvery, glittering ribbon of the river winding its way in the centre of the valley. Beautiful. Life was good.
Yes, life had turned out much better than expected. He had healed well, his walking almost back to normal and his voice – well, it wasn't back to normal, but he could make himself understood.
Living with his mother had also turned out better than expected. She had nursed him and supported him in every possible way during his convalescence, but always in a detached, almost professional way. Eileen Snape had not been the emotional type in her first marriage, and this obviously had not changed after her second one.
As soon as he had been well enough to manage his daily routine independently, she had encouraged him to live his own life. They shared a cottage, they shared most meals and they were business partners, but in their free time they usually went separate ways. Eileen, due to her late husband's profession, was involved in village life, a member of several committees organising charity work and the different village festivities, which kept her busy all through the year. The well-meaning villagers had attempted to involve her son in their activities, but the company of so many chattering middle-aged women constantly enquiring after his health and gushing over him as the only male present was not his idea of good company and a good time, and as his mother had warned him against treating her friends to a dose of his "Professor-Snape-Mode", he soon found excuses to stay away. Now Severus did what he preferred anyway, being on his own, going for long walks, reading or listening to music. His only contribution to village life was helping his mother to brew the harmless potions she sold to her friends or at the village fair.
And then there was Ann, his neighbour. A woman his own age, who had moved to the village three years ago. They had become friends and – more. Could it be called a relationship? If so, it was a no-strings-attached-relationship based on mutual understanding and personal freedom. Just the way he liked it.
It was a good life. Quiet and un-eventful, far away from wizarding society and politics. One day was more or less the same as the one before and as the following one. He enjoyed it thoroughly. Oh, yes, he did! By Merlin, he'd had plenty of excitement in the first 38 years of his life. Enough to last a lifetime, even if he'd live to 200 – which was highly unlikely anyway. His life expectancy would be less than the normal one of a wizard. The healers had been quite clear about that. But Severus Snape didn't care, as long as he was able to enjoy every minute.
The cold shadow cast by a large grey cloud tore him from his reveries. He looked up at the sky. So the forecast had been right, the fine weather wouldn't last, rain was coming from the west. Time to go home.
Disclaimer: As usual, this story relies on ideas and characters created by J. K. Rowling