Along The Shore

The Quidditch League Competition
Title: Along The Shore
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Chaser Two
Prompt: Mermaid/Sea Creature
Extra Prompts: (Dialogue) "I'm only a monster when it's practical."; (Color) Silver; (Character) Lily Evans.
Word Count: 2,985

Severus Snape only went to the seashore one time in his life. It was the summer before he entered Hogwarts. Lily's family had taken a special trip that summer, and she invited Severus to go with them; his curiosity and desire to see the ocean got the better of him, so he accepted. His decision was born partly out of wanting to be with Lily, partly because of his intrigue over finally getting to see the ocean in person, and partly to bug Petunia.

They had spent several pleasant days at a place called Ladye Bay at Walton Park, in the town of Clevedon. The Inn they stayed in was just north of Clevedon's central business area, and only several dozen yards from the beach. A few times they ventured into the town, but most of their visit was spent at the sea shore, playing in the sand and waves. Severus, though he would be loathe to admit it, was having an excellent time, except for the fact that Petunia was getting on his nerves. She either complained about the sun, or the cold water, or that she was hungry, or that the glare of the ocean was too bright. And if she wasn't complaining about those things, she was complaining about Lily and Severus and their "freakishness".

It was three days before they were scheduled to leave whenSeverus saw her. Lily and Petunia were having yet another row, and Severus needed some space. Leaving the two sisters to their argument, he walked a little way down the beach. He was staring out over the sea with a wistful look on his face. It was almost a smile, which was exceedingly rare for Severus. Outside of Lily and his mother, there wasn't much that could make him smile.

But the seashore relaxed him, letting the cares of the world roll off his back for a short yet blissful time. The way the waves rolled in and then back out again intrigued him, and the sound they made brought him a measure of peace. Therefore he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking.

Not, that is, until a girl's voice loudly exclaimed, "Hey! Watch where you're walking!"

Severus, eyes wide, looked down and jumped back a few feet. A girl who appeared to be not too much older than he (perhaps fourteen at the most) was sitting on the sand close to the water, legs stretched out in front of her. So close was she to the water, in fact, that the waves rolled up to her toes every time they came in. And Severus, so enamored by the waves, had nearly stepped on her legs.

"I—I, um, my apologies, miss. I didn't see you!" His face was burning with embarrassment, and he let his hair fall over most of it to hide the dark red blush from view.

The glare that had covered the girl's face was replaced with a contemplative look which quickly morphed into a smile. "Eh, it's alright. No harm done." The contemplative look returned to her face as she observed Severus, still blushing and refusing to make eye contact with her. Smiling again, she patted the sand beside her. "Come on, take a load off."

"I—I, uh, shouldn't. I should get back to my friends." He was still not making eye contact with the girl, who smirked and glanced back down the beach the way he had come. "Nah, looks like your friends are still busy yelling at each other."

Severus glanced back as well, He could see Lily and Petunia in the distance, and they did indeed appear to still be arguing, though thankfully the sounds of the waves drowned out the noise of their argument. With a sigh, he sat down beside the girl, but far enough away that there would be no accidental touching…outside of Lily, Severus did not know how to interact well with others, especially beautiful girls his age.

And the girl was beautiful. Wavy silver hair cascaded down her back. Skin tanned by the sun to a lovely light brown shade. Severus reckoned she must be a local who came to the beach often. Her face, when he finally worked up the nerve to look her in the eye, nearly took his breath away. Her eyes were so blue they were almost green, and matched the colour of the sea water. Her nose, her lips, her cheek bones—everything about her was perfectly proportioned.

And besides the color of her eyes, the expressiveness of them astounded him. They were so kind and deep and compassionate looking. And it brought him a greater measure of peace, just staring at her. Never before, apart from Lily, had he felt as at ease and comfortable in another's presence.

The blush returned in full force as he realized he had been staring at her, mouth slightly ajar, and he looked back over the ocean, clearing his throat as he did so.

A gentle smile covered the girl's face, and she laughed. Severus found that he liked the sound of her laugh very much indeed. Glancing back at her, a tiny smile crossed his face as well. "So, are you going to introduce yourself?" She asked, but her tone of voice was teasing, not mean.

"Oh, um, y-yes, I apologize." He held his hand out to her. "Severus Snape."

Another beautiful smile covered her face as she shook his outstretched hand. "Severus Snape. I like your name. It's very unique. I'm…Maureen. It's nice to meet you."

Severus had noticed the slight pause the girl had made before telling him her name, but most coherent thought had fled his mind at her words of praise for his name. "Y-you like my name?"

The girl laughed again, sending chills up Severus' spine. But they weren't chills of fear.

"Of course I do! I love unique names. They set people apart from the mundane. And you have a good face, Severus Snape. I like it too. It looks genuine and unique, just like your name. It suits you. You seem like the type of person to stand up for yourself despite the odds."

Her words caused something inside Severus to collapse, like a dam bursting. And words poured from his mouth. He and Maureen spent a good half hour on the beach together, just talking and laughing. He found himself telling her things he had never told to anyone but Lily.

"Oh, here you are, Sev. I've been looking for you." Lily had come up unnoticed, and was giving Maureen a somewhat nasty look. Maureen smirked back at Lily, not bothered in the least by the glare on Lily's face.

"I—I, er, umm…"

Maureen laughed and stood in a fluid movement, brushing the sand from herself as she did so. "It's all right, Severus Snape. I should be running along now myself. It was nice talking to you. Maybe I'll see you again before you leave." With a wave, and a parting smirk at Lily, she sprinted into the water, and swam away from shore.

"So, who was your friend?" Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, uh, she said her name was Maureen." Lily gave him a petulant look, and he looked away from her and at the ocean once more, hoping for one last glimpse of Maureen. But she was nowhere in sight. "Well if you're not too busy pining over some strange girl, father said to tell you that we're going to get diner now. Probably some take away and head back to the inn to eat."

Swallowing hard at the look that was still darkening Lily's features, Severus got to his feet, wishing he could have done it as smoothly as Maureen had. Lily turned and walked ahead of him down the beach, Severus hurrying his steps to keep up with her.

The next two days were spent entirely at the beach. Severus was always on the lookout for Maureen. But he never had to look very hard, because he seemed to see her everywhere. Curiously, he only saw her out in the water, swimming gracefully in areas where there weren't other people. She would send him a wide smile and a wave. Lily rarely saw her, as almost every time Severus would wave back Maureen would disappear with a laugh into the water as Lily would spin around to see who Severus was waving to.

The night before they were scheduled to go back to Cokeworth, Severus couldn't sleep. As excited as he was by the thoughts of finally going to Hogwarts in a few more weeks, he dreaded going home until then. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, Severus got up and snuck out a side door of the inn, walking the short distance down to the beach, keeping an eye out for anyone who might question why an eleven year old was walking around outside at Three in the morning. Reaching the beach, he sat down on the sand and stared out at the dark water, listening to the soothing sound of the waves rolling up onto the beach and back out to sea again.

Severus thought he must have dozed off for a bit, because a quiet voice suddenly said, "Hello again, Severus Snape." He jolted upright, realizing he had been lying on the sand. There in front of him, her back to the ocean, sat Maureen. Her silver hair was wet and sticking to her forehead and down her back. She was grinning at him. "I was hoping I'd get to talk to you once more before you left."

Her voice had a calming effect on Severus. He returned her smile with a wide one of his own. "So was I, actually," he admitted shyly, looking down as he did so. Maureen put a gentle finger under his chin and slowly raised his chin. "Look at me, Severus."

He did so, and had to stifle a gasp. Maureen's features had changed a little. She was still beautiful, but her eyes were brighter and fiercer. Her teeth looked to be much more pointy and sharp than they had appeared when he'd first talked with her on the beach. And her eyes looked as if they were almost glowing. But she was smiling her radiant and gentle smile at him.

"You are an amazing young man, Severus Snape. Never forget that, whatever comes your way in life. You will do great things in your world and for your people." She gave a light, watery laugh at the look of doubt that spread across his face. "And I am very glad that you almost tripped over me the other day. My life is fuller for having met you."

Severus sighed and hung his head. "I'm leaving in the morning, going back to my regular life. And I don't want to. I've had such a good time here this week, the best time I've ever had in my life. And now it's over."

Maureen sighed and moved to sit beside him, their shoulders touching, staring at the ocean as well. "I know how you feel. My life has always been the same too. Until I met you."

Severus glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "You…you're not human, are you?"

She was silent for several moments. "No. No, I'm not."

Severus nodded and continued staring at the dark water. A few moments later he broke the silence again. "What are you then?"

Maureen sighed. "The closest I can come to that you would understand is a Selkie. But while all human myths and legends have their basis in fact, they often get it mixed up at some point. What you call mermaids and Selkies are actually the same thing in reality. Partly what you think both are, and partly something entirely different."

"Aren't you supposed to be rather monstrous in real life?' He was almost afraid to ask, but had to know.

"I'm only a monster when it's practical," she replied with a smirk.

A strange keening noise came to them from far out at sea. Maureen sighed and stood up. "I have to go now. I'm glad we could meet each other, Severus Snape." She turned to him as he shot to his feet in desperation and grabbed her arm.

"No! No, please don't go! Please don't!" Severus had no friends outside of Lily, and here on this glorious vacation he had made another. Another that he could not bear to lose. "I—we've only just met, and I don't know your address or anything! Please, I need to see you again, talk to you again!"

Maureen turned to face Severus, placing her hands on his face and looking into his eyes. But he didn't expect the words that came out of her mouth. "Severus, I know you're a wizard, and are most likely going to Hogwarts soon, unless you've already started?'

He shook his head. "Lily and I start in a few weeks. But how did you know? That I was a wizard?"

A gentle smile graced Maureen's face. "Supernatural creatures can sense magic. I mean, you knew I wasn't human after all." She leaned closer until their foreheads were touching. "Severus, There are two promises I can make to you: One is that you have a great and important destiny ahead of you. I don't know all the details, I can only sense the aura of destiny about you."

Severus scoffed at that. A great destiny. Me? Yeah, right.

But Maureen, seeing the doubt in his eyes, smiled again, still resting her forehead against his. "It's true, Severus. You will do some of the greatest and most important things your kind has ever known. Your name will go down in history."

Severus pondered a moment. "What is the second thing you can promise me?"

Maureen's smile turned gentle once more. "We will see each other again. Once more, I don't know the how or where or when. I just know we will see each other again." And with that, she leaned closer, kissed his cheek, then turned and dashed into the surf.

Severus stared after her, his hand moving to the spot she had kissed him. Melancholy washed over him. Maureen was gone. Yet deep inside Sevrus, far inside where he could just barely sense it, Sevrus held on to her second promise, that he would see her again.

(XXX)

Potter and his friends—the insufferable know-it-all and the idiot red head—left as Severus began to lose consciousness. Just before the darkness took him, he heard splashing in the water, and the sounds of someone climbing up onto the dock where he was lying. Footsteps approached him, and just before he passed out, someone knelt beside him and he heard a voice whisper, "Oh Severus Snape…just look at you!"

He knew that voice, though he had not thought of her in decades. Somehow, Maureen was there, beside him, with him in the boathouse at Hogwarts, as his life slowly drained away. She had promised him that he would see her again, and here she was.

He tried to open his eyes, to get just one last glimpse of her, but she placed her hands on his cheeks, and the memory of their last night together on the beach flooded into him with the surge of a tide hitting the shore. And he remembered everything. Every tiny detail, almost as if he was there once again in that moment, on that night so long ago.

"I need to get you to our healer. You are not going to die on me, Severus Snape!" He felt himself lifted up,then there was a plunge into frigid water, and he was moving through the water faster than humanly possible. And while the shock of the cold water had for a moment revived him a tiny bit, he quickly lost consciousness.

It seemed only a second after he had plunged into the water beneath the boathouse at Hogwarts when Severus saw a bright light far in the distance. He felt warm and calm. Surely I must be dead now. He frowned. But, with everything I've done, why is it warm and peaceful and quiet? Am I in Heaven? He opened his eyes, then shut them quickly, bringing his hand up to shield them from the light.

Severus blinked in confusion. That's the sun…"That's the sun!" He exclaimed as he jolted upright.

"Of course it is, silly," a voice spoke off to his right. Glancing over, he saw Maureen smiling at him as she sat on the porch of a small cabin. A handful of yards in front of him was the sea. Maureen stood and walked over to him, sitting in the sand beside him. His hands moved to his neck and felt a scar.

"It was a bit close, but you are a strong man, Mr. Snape." Maureen grinned at him.

"Where are we?" Severus asked, looking around.

Maureen shrugged. "Does it matter? Do you want to go back? We are in Iceland. We can stay here, if you want. Put all of that behind you, and just start anew."

Severus spun to face her. "We? Truly, we?" Severus was no romantic. He didn't believe in love at first sight or soulmates. But the night he met her, something had told him Maureen felt like…home.

Maureen smiled, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Yes, Severus. We." She reached a tentative hand out to him, and entwined her fingers with his. He gripped her hand hard, but not painfully. Then he glanced out across the ocean again, and for the first time in many, many years, Severus Snape smiled.

"Let's stay."

And there, in the small cottage on the shore in Iceland, Severus and Maureen Snape lived a long, quiet, peaceful and happy life. Together.