Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy!
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The gleaming sunlight felt like a mocking contrast against Severus Snape's flowing, black robes as he strode into St. Mungo's Hospital one warm, summer afternoon.
Seven years had passed since the war's end.
Severus had spent that time dutifully continuing his duties as Hogwarts' headmaster after surviving his wounds and having his name graciously cleared by Harriet Potter.
Harriet Potter.
Severus had tried to forget her.
His sins had been atoned for, his duty was done, he had protected Lily Potter's child and assisted her in avenging her murdered mother.
Severus was finally free to pursue his own life, whatever that may be.
It was only after Harriet had returned to the castle and completed her magical education, more as a grown woman and a war veteran than a student, that Severus started to realize that a life of his own may not be possible.
Severus Snape considered himself a formidable alpha.
He did not let himself become easily consumed by idle follies or fleeting, lustful longings.
So then, it bothered Severus greatly that he remained desperately haunted by Harriet's smile.
After her graduation, during the rare occasions when she visited Hogwarts on business from the Auror office, Severus had kept his dark eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched as he breathed in the alluring scent of the omega.
There were times when he looked at Harriet and wondered if she enjoyed his scent too?
She certainly seemed to remain close to him during her Hogwarts errands, but Severus tried not to pay her any attention.
When he heard of her marriage to another alpha from a far away country, Severus tried to cleanse Harriet from his thoughts, but it was difficult to forget the person who had dominated the last twenty years of his life in one way or another.
When he heard that Harriet was expecting a child with her mate, he wished that he could close his ears and his heart.
A year had gone by since.
Severus had forced the news and all of the musings that were spawned from it out of his mind.
As his black shoes clicked down the hallway of St. Mungo's that afternoon, the notion entered his brain for a split second as he passed the sign that pointed towards the maternity ward.
Perhaps if he had done something differently, if he had acted, if he had spoken…….
No.
There was no point in wasting his time on the hypothetical.
Severus climbed into the lift and rode to the ward designated for psychological care.
St. Mungo's hospital was the only readily available source of a rare herb that he used for one of his potions.
In his younger days, Severus had grown the herb himself, but his job as headmaster left him little time to tend to such a menial task.
His stores required a very small amount of the herb anyway, and the staff at St. Mungo's were happy to share some of their ample supply with the man who had been instrumental in winning the war.
As Severus walked up to the reception desk, the secretary recognized him right away.
She gave Severus a polite nod, stood from her seat, and turned to go retrieve the small package that the healers had already designated for his collection.
While he waited at the desk, Severus happened to glance around at the lobby and the large room behind the nearby glass window.
There were a few people seated in the waiting room.
Several other people were in the glass room, some sitting down, some ambling about, but…...
Severus squinted as he looked at who sat in a wheelchair near the room's corner.
Was that…….?
Yes.
It was definitely Harriet Potter in the wheelchair, although her face was pale and the happy light had gone from her green eyes, those green eyes that Severus knew so well.
Harriet was in front of a small table.
A red-haired woman sat across from her.
Severus narrowed his black eyes to slits.
Was that……..Molly Weasley?
When the secretary returned with the small bag in her hands, Severus kept his dark eyes narrowed as he asked, "Pardon me, but are…..visitations…...permissible?"
The secretary blinked as she handed Severus the bag, "Well, that depends, sir. Who do you wish to visit?"
"Harriet Pot-...she used to be...Harriet Potter." Severus said after a moment.
He didn't know her married name.
He did know that he should have turned and left.
Severus had completed his task, he had shielded Harriet against Voldemort, it was over.
His curiosity would be the death of him.
Severus scowled as the secretary checked her records for a moment and then smiled up at him, "It seems that's exactly how she's been registered. If you can sign in here, you may visit Miss Potter, sir. I don't see any restrictions outlined about her preferences."
Severus kept his scowl as he used the quill the secretary handed him to sign his name on the visitors page.
Miss Potter?
What happened to 'Mrs.'?
After Severus finished, the secretary nodded to him and gestured towards the door close beside her desk, "Right through there, sir."
As she gave Severus another small nod, he frowned at her before he turned and walked through the door.
The air was heavy as he stepped into that room behind the glass window.
Severus silently hated himself for every step that he took.
This wasn't his issue, this wasn't his concern.
Why not just leave?
His interest was further roused when he walked forward and saw that it was indeed Molly Weasley who sat in front of Harriet.
The kind woman was smiling softly at Lily's daughter as Severus heard her murmur, "The pain never really vanishes, dear, but you can't torment yourself forever. It wasn't your fault, that's what I remind myself of every morning. I miss my darling Fred more than words can say, but I can't stop living! He'd be angry with me if I did! Does that make sense, Harriet?"
Severus's frown had taken a mournful turn as he listened to Molly's speech, but her words failed to elicit a response from…...Miss Potter.
Molly drew a deep breath and prepared herself to go on when she glanced over and saw Severus standing beside them.
"Oh, Severus, dear!" Molly said as she quickly rose to her feet, "Sorry! I thought I had the afternoon slot with her. No one told me you were coming!"
"...No, I…...I wasn't scheduled." Severus admitted as his gaze flickered from Molly to Harriet, "I came here by coincidence. Don't disrupt yourself, I'll take my leave."
"No! No! Stay! Sit down! Chat with her!" Molly insisted as she moved away from her chair and smiled at Severus as she spoke to him, "It may do her some good to see someone else today."
Severus gave Molly an unreadable look.
He wanted to ask her everything that she knew concerning Harriet's startling condition.
He wanted to ask Molly many things but for an older woman, she was rather fast and managed to bustle away before he had the chance.
That left Harriet, the empty chair, and Severus all alone in the awkward silence.
Not knowing what else to do, Severus cleared his throat and dared to sit down across from….Miss Potter.
He noticed that a tattered chess set was between them on the table with all of its pieces in place.
That wasn't surprising, Molly Weasley didn't strike him as much of a chess player.
Severus stared at Harriet calculatingly while she gazed off numbly into the distance.
Her green eyes were dull and glassy.
As Severus gave her a closer look, he saw that her hair was matted at the roots, and her arm looked alarmingly gaunt as she used it to prop her head up with one hand while she sat in her wheelchair.
Severus hesitantly began, "Well, Potter?...What have you done to get yourself put into a place like this?"
Harriet was silent.
After a long moment, he spoke again.
"...I understand if you don't wish to see me." Severus said as he reached an elegant hand out and moved a single chess piece on the board.
When Harriet's silence continued, Severus stood from his chair.
He had made an attempt, if she chose to shut him out, there was nothing more that he could do.
Severus had just turned his back on Harriet when he heard a noise.
THUNK.
Severus whirled around and saw that Harriet was still staring off into the distance, but that she had moved a piece on the board and taken a turn.
He scowled as he hesitantly took his seat again and began to play against her while he spoke, "I thought that you'd be raising your family by now. That's what I heard, the great Harriet Potter, a married mother in a happy home at last."
Severus stopped speaking when he glanced up and saw the look that Harriet gave him.
Severus wasn't certain that he'd ever seen a more tortured expression than the one that he saw on her pallid face.
Tears watered in her bulging, green eyes and her teeth were gnashed as if she were bracing against some unbearable pain.
For a terrifying second, Severus wondered what part of his speech had offended her and if he should retract one of his statements when Harriet reached a thin hand out and grabbed him.
Severus bristled at her touch.
He had lived so long without close physical contact that he did not particularly enjoy it and Harriet's gesture was unexpected.
"You could have died that night." Harriet whispered dryly.
Severus narrowed his black eyes as he listened.
"You could have died that night…….in the boathouse." Harriet repeated.
"I nearly did." Severus replied, but her grip on his tightened as she squeezed his fingers in hers.
"You were someone's baby once……." Harriet whispered in a horrified gasp as her tears began to pour from her green eyes.
Severus didn't know what to say.
He pulled back from Harriet slightly but that only made her strengthen her grip as she repeated, "You were someone's baby once……."
"Attention, everyone! Visiting hours for the day are finished!" A voice announced.
Severus looked over and Harriet slowly let him go as she sank back into her wheelchair and put her emaciated hand to her head as if she were exhausted.
"What's happened to you, Potter?!" Severus called out desperately as the nurses wheeled Harriet and the other patients in the room away.
The few people who had come as visitors that afternoon began to leave, but Severus was left standing in the room behind the glass window with an incredulous scowl on his face.
He would use his supplies of the herb quickly so that he would have an excuse to come back next week.
Severus Snape couldn't stand not knowing things and the question burned within him……..
What had happened to Harriet Potter?
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As he had promised himself, Severus worked diligently to use all of the herbs he had collected from St. Mungo's within a week.
That task usually took a month or more to do, but he accomplished it with alarming speed.
Severus had no choice, he had to have an excuse to visit Harriet again.
When he returned to St. Mungo's, he looked through that same glass window and saw Harriet sitting alone as she stared off into the distance again.
A question, a nod, a signature on the visitor sign in page, and Severus was walking towards his former student once more.
Harriet didn't say anything when he sat down across from her, but she did come back to the world enough to look at him at least.
She was in the same wheelchair at the same table, in front of the same chess set.
Slowly, hesitantly, Severus took a turn and moved a pawn.
"I would ask how you are, Potter, but I believe my answer is already obvious." Severus quipped as his dark gaze scanned over how profoundly defeated Harriet still appeared, with her skin pale and her hair matted.
"I don't care how I look." Harriet snapped irritably.
"Do you care about anything anymore?" Severus calmly asked as Harriet reached a trembling arm up and moved a chess piece.
"No." Harriet replied.
"I thought not." Severus remarked.
Turn by turn, they played their game.
Severus won.
He reset the board and they played again.
Harriet won.
Severus stayed with her until visitation hours ended and she was wheeled out of his sight by a nurse.
He watched Harriet disappear behind the heavy door with a frown.
It was too late for him to back out at that point, his heart was as invested as his mind in Harriet's welfare.
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Week after week, Severus came by the hospital to visit Harriet.
Twice a week.
Three times a week
Daily.
Harriet began to eagerly anticipate the chess games and chats that she shared with Severus.
Each time that Severus arrived, he found Harriet looking at him through the glass window.
She blinked while she waited patiently for him to check in and sit with her for an hour or two.
The more that Severus visited Harriet, the more they talked, and the more he learned.
Harriet's divorce had been finalized a few months earlier after her husband abandoned her.
It was a difficult situation regarding the life that had been lost between them, but Severus still found fault with Harriet's former spouse.
From Severus's viewpoint, the death of a child was no reason to run away and leave a living lover behind.
If Severus had been the father of the lost one, he would have held Harriet in his arms, grieved along with her, and together, they would have healed each other's wounds.
Harriet never would have wound up in St. Mungo's if she had married Severus instead.
It was difficult for her to talk about everything that had happened, what had happened, and how it had happened, but eventually, she grew comfortable enough with Severus to confide in him.
Months later, whether it resulted from Severus's visits or not, Harriet became strong enough that she was eligible for release.
Severus signed to verify his belief of her ability to care for herself, but Harriet didn't walk out of the hospital alone.
Severus was right beside her.
Severus allowed Harriet to live with him, in his chambers at Hogwarts, while he helped her sort out the remains of her broken life that lay in the home she had shared with her former husband.
Once the wretched dwelling had been sold, along with its contents, Harriet finally felt free.
She and Severus were married in a quiet ceremony a little over a year later, and soon afterwards, against her consent, her heat cycles returned.
It devastated Harriet when she learned that she was pregnant.
Severus was next to her the entire time, he held her close, kissed her, and loved her.
It broke his heart the way that Harriet clung to him, as if he were her last hope.
On the day that Imelda Snape was born, Harriet still had Severus's hands clutched in hers when the midwife raised the wriggling, new baby up over the mound of Harriet's tummy and placed her on her mother's chest.
A dry, strangled cry of joyful relief and tortuous angst came from Harriet's throat as she clutched her daughter tightly and sobbed.
Severus leaned over and gave Harriet a gentle kiss on her forehead while her cleansing tears poured down her cheeks as their daughter cried in her arms.
As in love with his new baby as Severus was, he couldn't take his eyes off of his wife.
To Severus, Harriet was beautiful, exposed, and powerful…..
Harriet Snape was a broken doll no more.